Client requirements
Inclusion Melbourne is an organization that aims at improving the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. According to Inclusion Melbourne (2012), to achieve this noble goal, “Inclusion Melbourne provides a unique form of personalized support to assist people with intellectual disability to live fulfilling lives in the community” (Para.2). As a final year university student, I understand the requirements of Inclusion of Melbourne’s client, the intellectually disabled.
Among the services provided by the organization include training and education that is accredited nationally among others. One of the key concerns of the organization is that people with intellectual disabilities encounter devastating challenges articulated to segregation in employment. This is in relation to other people in society. Therefore, the organization finds it plausible to look for solutions to this problem. Among the key options of reaching the client is the creation of a project inspired by concepts of micro-business tied within the umbrella of cooperatives. However, the organization insists, “micro-businesses must provide certainty and security to the Inclusion Melbourne service users and minimize the risk for Inclusion Melbourne” (Inclusion Melbourne 2012, Para.6).
In the context of such a project requirement, I believe the incorporation of concepts of cooperative in the implementation of this project is not only necessary but also warranted because cooperatives give room for people like the intellectually disabled to participate in the running of micro-businesses through their membership in a manner that is democratic. This may help people with intellectual disabilities to learn and integrate entrepreneurship skills through participation. Given the disabilities of these people, this is perhaps the best way to make sure that such people become self-reliant through engaging in business activities.
This way, Inclusion Melbourne will have realized its goals of making the intellectually disabled people financially capacitated just like any other member of the community. Indeed, I can help the organization realize this quest in a big way.
Information requirements
To work out the strategies and plan for executing the demanded project by Inclusion Melbourne, a lot of information is required. One of the resourceful information is about the size of the group coming up to form a separate cooperative entity coupled with the nature of the member’s intellectual disability. This information would be acquired from the organization since “Inclusion Melbourne will provide brief portraits of several service users at a class briefing covering their interests, skills, and capabilities” (Inclusion Melbourne 2012, Para.8).
The size of the group is crucial in the sense that, the smaller the group, the lower the magnitude of suggestions and opinions of how the group would run the micro-business once granted the finances. The significance of a large number of suggestions is based on the argument that the more alternatives for executing a business strategy, the higher the probability of selecting a viable option. On the other hand, the more the viability of the options adopted by many groups constituting separate cooperative entities, the lesser the risks the Inclusion Melbourne anticipates. However, when too many suggestions are available, more time is required to select the most appropriate suggestion.
This implies that the project may fail to meet the constraints of the time set for it. According to Inclusion Melbourne (2012), “Timeframe should be for 2013/2014” (Para. 11). For this reason, I would comply with the set group size by Inclusion Melbourne of seven persons because it is possible to monitor the decisions and suggestions of every person within the set time constraints for the implementation of the project.
Information about the funding of the project and the amount of funds available is critical. This information is significant because every project is normally constrained by finance issues, which are again important in the making of the budget. A budget is critical for the costing of various activities that are vital for the implementation of the project. While this may not be a big problem for the organization since it has a variety of sources of funds, it is important to note that financial resources are finite and their allocation is a matter of making decisions on the most competitive need. The most competitive need is the one that would hinder the implementation of the project consistent with the goals and objectives of the organization.
Allocation of the financial resources also needs to be done in favor of those activities that would reduce the size of risks that the organization would face including aspects such as its credibility, accountability, and integrity in conducting its mandate. Additional information that is required is about the already implemented cooperatives. Since “2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives” (Inclusion Melbourne 2012, Para.11), this information is anticipated to be readily available from the United Nations sources.
This would help in ensuring that the project would be delivered with the threats and drawbacks associated with the model factored in. Nevertheless, the design of the project will ensure that the threats do not out power the strengths for it to be feasible. Feasibility is an important factor while banks accord loans and or grants. No bank would make a decision to venture into a risky investment.
Resource audit of skills
I have incredible knowledge and skills that I can bring to the consulting team. These skills include information research, entrepreneurship, risk management, marketing, and skills in developing business plans. I strongly believe that the skills are beneficial to Inclusion Melbourne to help it in achieving its objectives and missions. In the first instance, the organization does not want to venture into a business whose risks are unnecessary. In this context, risk means a situation that may make the organization lose part or all the funds committed for the implementation of the project. For this reason, I believe that I can help the organization to conduct a SWOT analysis of the project.
This is critical in revealing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats represented by the cooperative model for the implementation of the project. The need for SWOT is based on the idea that the most successful business plans are the ones that capitalize on strengths and opportunities besides refraining from areas representing weakness and threats. Weakness and threats represent the likelihood of encountering risks in any business venture.
Consequently, my skills in risk management, risk assessment, analysis, and evaluation are critical for the success of the project. The nature of the project is entrepreneurial because the groups constituting the cooperative entities would take risks in investing in some micro-businesses, which have not yet been tried by other people in the past. Consequently, my knowledge on business life cycles and costs benefit analysis acquired in the discipline of entrepreneurship are critical in helping this risky venture to become opportunities for improving the lives of intellectually disabled persons at Inclusion Melbourne.
The micro-businesses, which would be established, would fall into two categories- in the service sector or in goods production. For businesses to acquire a market share, marketing is vital. In this dimension, my marketing skills would be critical for the success of the project both in the pre-implementation and post-implementation phases. The business environment is dynamic. Thus, it is important for all my knowledge and skill areas to be further developed tantamount to the dynamics characterizing the business environment. This would ensure that all the programs engulfed in the project are consistent with new developments in marketing, entrepreneurship, and risk management. This is dependent on the capacity to conduct intensive information research: one of the areas of my expertise.
Team charter
Inclusion Melbourne depends largely on funds from the government and commonwealth government. For continued support from these sources, it is essential to enhance credibility and accountability. Consequently, it is crucial for the team charter members to subscribe to values consistent with the values of Inclusion in Melbourne. These values are “integrity, potential, individuality, and relationships aligned with the principles of cooperatives: economic viability, equality, equity, self-help, and social responsibility” (Inclusion Melbourne 2012, Para. 7).
Therefore, the team charter for implementation of the project needs to be acquitted with financial matters and organizational ethics. Knowledge of financial matters is credible for ensuring non-erroneous financial decisions and accuracy in the making of financial policies within the organization.
The implementation of the project will also require conducting financial costing. Since the manner in which accounting for the finances granted by the government and other sources form one of the criteria for qualifying for allocation of loans by banks, it is crucial for the team charter to be capable of conducting accounting tasks with precision to attract and retain the funders’ trust. Arguably, this is possible if the team charter is well acquitted with organizational ethics. Such team members need not have engaged in any financial fraud or any acts that might have led to embezzlement of an organization’s fund.
Inclusion Melbourne deals with people with intellectual disabilities. This implies that these people have special needs. Consequently, the team charter needs to have proven knowledge and ability to handle and articulate the needs of people with special needs with their own interests. Such people also have differing capabilities from other people who do not have intellectual abilities. Thus, flexibility and creativity are an essential requirement for the team charter because the team charter members need to have the ability to engineer new strategies of dealing with the emerging needs of the organization’s clients consistent with their limitations.
This way, Inclusion Melbourne would achieve its objective: “to ensure that all its activities are meaningful, fulfilling and based in the community” (Inclusive Melbourne 2012, Para.1). In addition to these requirements, commitment to organizational culture by the team charter is critical in enhancing the success of the project implementation process. Organizational culture acts as the focal point to which all activities conducted by individual employees of an organization are inspired. For the case of Inclusion Melbourne, the focal point is the need to meet the needs of the intellectually challenged people who are the clients of the organization.
Table: Learning development plan for the unit.
Reference
Inclusion Melbourne, 2012, Inclusion Melbourne Capstone 2 Briefing: Project 2. Web.