BSBLDR812

DEVELOP AND CULTIVATE

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS AND
RELATIONSHIPS

Case Study
King Edward VII College has been operating since 2010. The College is based in Melbourne CBD and has
an additional campus in Sydney. The College offers a range of courses in management, marketing,
human resources and international business. It currently has 195 students enrolled across all of its
courses and both campuses. Courses are offered at all levels, from Certificate II to Graduate Diploma.

King Edward VII College is very popular due to its competitive pricing structure, innovative teaching
methods and state of the art facilities.

The College currently employs 25 staff members that include the CEO, a Finance manager, Sales and
Marketing Manager and Sales and Marketing Assistant, Promotions Officer, Human Resources Manager,
Operations Manager, Administration Manager, Office Assistant, Receptionist, Academic Manager,
Student Services Officer and approximately 14 trainers and assessors. There is also a Board of Directors
consisting of the four owners of the company.

Academic Manager

Administration
Manager Office assistant

Finance Manager

Operations Manager Assessors and

Board of directors CEO Trainers

Sales and Marketing

Sales and Marketing Assistant
Manager
Promotions Officer

Student Services
Human Resources Officer
Manager
Receptionist

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Information required to complete Section 1 and 2

You are the Academic Manager at the College. This role includes overseeing and managing all staff and
student academic activities required to develop the required knowledge and skills for clients to be job
ready and competently undertake their chosen role in a wide range of business areas.

Despite the College’s healthy enrolment levels, management is aware that they must be prepared to
adapt to new trends and ideas, in particular improved online learning experiences. They would also like
to future-proof the organisation against campus shut-downs (as experienced during the COVD-19
pandemic). As such, you have been asked by the CEO to establish a collaborative partnership with an
eLearning specialist. In particular, the CEO envisages a relationship where King Edward VII College
provides valuable insight and knowledge to the eLearning specialist about mandatory government
VET requirements (www.training.gov.au) and in turn, the eLearning specialist advises and consults
about eLearning best practices. He would like to see monthly reports about eLearn trends and best-
practise.

The board of directors require that all formal partnership agreements are subject to a legal review by
an external legal contractor. This is to minimise the risk of being sued. Furthermore, the board of
directors need to approve all partners before they are established.

The College already has an informal relationship with Absolute Learning Services (a small consultancy
business owned and operated by the CEO’s nephew). Absolute Learning services provides advice and
guidance to the Academic Manager about current and emerging education best-practice (but not online
learning). In return, the College shares some academic material with Absolute Learning. Absolute
Learning Solutions envisages a future where every person has access to education, but because they
are still a small consultancy business, they do not have any formal values and objectives.

To help you establish a new mutually beneficial partnership with an eLearning specialist, the CEO has
provided you with the following description of activities he would like to see take place within the
partnership:

King Edward College eLearning Partner

Provides valuable insight and knowledge to the Supply monthly reports about eLearning trends
eLearning specialist about mandatory and best-practise.
government VET requirements.

Uses the developed online learning modules Designs and develops online learning modules
created by the eLearning Partner. from King Edward College’s existing face-to-
face courses, with their own logo displayed on
the course.

At a recent executive team meeting, costs and benefits associated with the potential partnership wee
brainstormed. At the meeting, the Finance manager was concerned about the College’s cashflow
situation due to the drop in international student enrolments (as a result of COVID-19 border closures).

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He was concerned about the capital expenditure required to introduce eLearning. The CEO however felt
confident that any expenditure would be recovered. He wanted the eLearning rollout to occur as soon
as possible. Estimated financial information is summarised below:

Cost Benefit

Human resource cost $90 000 per year Increased enrolments $150 000 per year

Physical resource cost $40 000 once off, $10 Staff retention $60 000 once off, $20 000 per
000 per year year

Legal cost $20 000 one off Competitive advantage $30 000 for the first
year, $20 000 for subsequent years.

After the executive team meeting:

• the Academic manager made initial contact with a variety of potential partners. All of the potential
partnership organisation’s CEOs expressed interest but were adamant that they would only
consider the partnership if they benefited financially (e.g. received a percentage of the enrolment
fees.).

• The CEO made an announcement in the staff bulletin to alert staff of the upcoming online learning
changes. Assessors and trainers were concerned about their job security and requested more
detail about how their jobs would be affected.

• THE CEO would like a report about potential partners to provide to the board of directors.

• The CEO has requested that the Academic manager creates a communication strategy in
consultation with the new partner. He would like to review the strategy before it is approved.

• The CEO approved the appointment of an assistant to help the academic manager with the
technical administration of the partnership.

Information required to complete Section 3

date, project number, name of reviewer, person receiving feedback, comments and action

After a period of 6 months, the first eLearning courses have been introduced at the college. An internal
audit was conducted and all courses meet the ASQ requirements.

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Student feedback form online surveys have been recorded in a feedback register:

Course Feedback by Comments Will the student Action Person

recommend the responsible
course?

ABC123 Student 3 Too much No Discuss with Academic

writing on Learning Hook manager
screen, needs
to be more
interactive.

BCD321 Student 21 Embedded Yes Discuss with Trainer

videos are too trainers
long.

CDE789 Student 1 I need more Yes Discuss with Trainer

practical trainers
examples.

DEF567 Student 68 I need a No Discuss with Academic

laptop to learning hook and manager
complete the technical assistant
course – it is
not
compatible
with my
tablet.

A recent staff survey showed that the trainers felt excluded from the eLearning partnership and had
not input other than providing what was asked of them. They requested to be part of the
communication between the College and the eLearning partner.

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Executive Summary

Established in 2010, King Edward VII College is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that provides
training to students in business and management.

Our principal purpose is to provide high quality training services to satisfy students’ needs.

Our training is nationally recognised and accredited to meet vocational and educational standards.
Courses are designed by highly qualified staff with extensive industry and training experience to
achieve teaching and learning excellence, flexibility and personal satisfaction.

We draw on our established relationships with industry and other stakeholders to ensure our courses
are appropriate to the demands of our clients and consistently meet their expectations.

Quality is maintained in compliance with the national VET Quality Framework and through our
continuous improvement system.

A key objective is to develop the required knowledge and skills for clients to be job ready and
competently undertake their chosen role in a wide range of business areas.

Mission

King Edward VII College provides high quality industry training that engenders participation and
achievement.

Strategic Objectives

1. To be a leader in vocational education and training.

2. To be a leader in innovation in the vocational education and training sector.

3. To establish and maintain high quality infrastructure supporting clients and staff.

4. To be well led, high performing, profitable and accountable.

5. To develop our people and resources.

Values

The core values underpinning our activities are:

• Sustain excellence in training and assessment.

• Promote innovation across all of our business operations.

• Be a collaborative and caring community.

• Embrace difference and diversity.

• Demonstrate integrity and equality of opportunity in all activities.

• Operate with openness and accountability.

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Overview

This new business plan reflects our approach to the coming years. We commenced operations in 2010
with relatively low student numbers which then increased significantly.

We do not expect these numbers to increase significantly over the period 2020 – 2022 as we are
currently nearing capacity in our Melbourne and Sydney campuses.

We also expect stable costs for our existing campuses with no major increases expected. However,
there will be significant financial investment required for the new campuses.

Resourcing

Financial

Due to the success of the College to date, there are significant cash reserves to fund the new campuses,
plus general initiatives, including quality training and assessment and continuous improvement and
innovation.

Staffing

Regarding staffing, existing staff will perform key functions across the new campuses such as human
resources and marketing. They will also perform any new functions arising such as responsibility for
quality and innovation.

Operational Objectives

The following identifies the operational objectives we plan to achieve in pursuit of our strategic
objectives.

2020 Priorities Key performance indicators

July Improve web site information 10% increase in students by

to attract more students June 2021

Improve market share by 5%

September Conduct annual internal audit Audit conducted, and

continuous improvement
identified

October Develop and implement a All staff trained in cultural

cultural sensitivity and awareness
awareness program for staff

December Staff performance reviews All staff performance reviews

conducted

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2021 Priorities Key performance indicators

January Identify staff required for new Staff recruited and in place
campuses

January Provide information sessions Identify at least 50 potential

showcasing the College sign ups
(existing campuses)

March Develop online learning for all All courses offered online by
courses end 2021

July Conduct annual internal audit Audit conducted, and

continuous improvement
identified

Increase student numbers by

12% by June 2021

November Staff performance reviews All staff performance reviews

conducted

2022 Priorities Key performance indicators

February Undertake scoping study for Scoping study completed by

possible offshore campus June 22 and decision made as
to whether to proceed

July Conduct annual internal audit Audit conducted, and

continuous improvement
identified

November Staff performance reviews All staff performance reviews

conducted

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The Market

Market characteristics & conditions

King Edward VII College has two broad segments to its target market consisting of people wishing to
gain entry to the industry, as well as people already working in business and management who want
to formalise or develop their skills.

Workforce needs for this sector have been identified as the need to develop an adaptive, responsive
and diverse workforce, keep up with technology and to build effective leadership and management
skills.

This has informed King Edward VII’s choice of course delivery.

We also intend to capitalise on market needs for delivery of blended (classroom and online), as well as
online courses.

There are many training providers in our sector and King Edward VII seeks to offer a point of difference
through our competitive pricing structure, innovative teaching methods and state of the art facilities.

Although we will be setting up new campuses in Brisbane and Adelaide in mid 2021 and commencing
in the new financial year (July 1) we expect these to be loss leaders initially. Our main aim is to build
our brand. We do not expect there to be more than 50 students in each campus in the first year, as these
locations are less popular than Sydney and Melbourne but are important for building our brand.

Situation Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

• Price, value and quality • Focus on business and management

courses only
• Clear understanding of student
requirements • Substantial investment in Brisbane and
Adelaide meaning large financial outlay
• Delivery mode suitable for client
requirements • High staff turnover of trainers

• High quality learning & assessment • Lack of diversity in workforce

materials

• Committed to quality ethical practice

• Ability to adapt to changing market

conditions

• Effective and practical policies and

procedures

• Competitive pricing

• Friendly organisational culture

• Level of available finance for investment

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 Opportunities Threats

• Potential for offshore delivery • Changes in Industry/ Government

legislation affecting students
• Target market experiencing growth
• Adverse effects of government policies
• To target other States and Territories
• High level of competition
• Current portfolio of courses popular in
target markets • Other RTO’s bad/ malpractice creating poor
perception of training providers to clients
• Potential to apply for Government funding
• Predicted uncertainties in the world
• Explore innovative processes and product
economy impacting level of demand for
offerings
training

• Low price competitors

• Failing to satisfy clients demands

Marketing Strategies

Potential students make their decisions based on the reputation of the organisation, quality of courses,
pricing, employment options and personal recommendations amongst other factors.

Our strong vocational emphasis and continual industry consultation will ensure our courses are
appropriate to develop the skills and knowledge currently demanded by employers and students.

Our market decisions are based on extensive and continuous market research, targeting market
segments and clients within industry. We collect our data from a variety of sources including current
and potential clients, VET and business sectors, competitors, media and government along with many
other sources.

We plan to develop our market share by:

• offering online and blended learning

• providing face to face information sessions

• improving our web site

• continually improving the quality of service given to clients’ pre-enrolment, during course
delivery and through the provision of support services while remaining price competitive

• focusing on the provision of courses required by industry

• maintaining effective communication channels with all stakeholders to ascertain industry

requirements and then develop products and manage services accordingly

• continually improving communication channels with all our stakeholders, ensuring a flow of
timely and accurate information to facilitate effective planning and decision making

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• consistently satisfying individual client needs and demands at the same time as developing the
knowledge and skills required by industry

• targeting identified growth markets with planned, market appropriate campaigns employing a
variety of promotional strategies and advertising mediums

• offering attractive fee structures to our clients

• continually improving the skills, knowledge and effectiveness of king edward vii college through
our commitment to training and development

• regularly reviewing the effectiveness of all our operations and making improvements when and
where necessary.

Record Keeping Policy and Procedures

Purpose
This policy describes guidelines to create, preserve and access King Edward VII’s records. Its purpose is
to ensure that all records are accurate and secure.

Scope
A record is any type of file (document, spreadsheet, database entries) that King Edward VII stores in its
systems. This includes files both employees and external sources create, all legal and business
documents and formal internal and external communications.

This policy applies to employees who may create, access and manage records. The HR and finance
departments, which manage sensitive and critical information, are primarily responsible for keeping
accurate and secure records.

What records do employees need to create?

Creating and storing certain types of records are mandatory. Employees should keep records that:

• are mandated by law

• are necessary for them or other employees to perform their jobs

• indicate internal or external changes that affect operations, employees, partners or customers

• include decisions, reports, data and activities that are important to the business

• describe business ventures, deals and communication with regulatory bodies or the public.

Employees, teams and departments may keep other records if they decide they’re useful to their jobs.

Employees should:

• ensure that information is accurate and complete

• store records in appropriate mediums

• name, categorize and share records properly

• mark appropriate records as confidential

• clarify who’s authorized to access records.

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Authorisation
Records may have different levels of authorization that limit their accessibility. The authorisation level
is determined by the employee who create the records and the law where the law always take
precedence.

The following records are strictly confidential and require a high-level authorization:

• Employment records e.g. remuneration, performance review, skills assessment.

• Unpublished financial data.

• Customer/ vendor/ partner/ job applicant information and contracts.

Other types of records, like company performance metrics and internal policies, may be accessible by
all permanent employees. Employees must not disclose records to people outside of our company,
unless authorized.

Physical records
Printed records must be stored safely in filing cabinets or closed offices. Important, confidential files
mustn’t be left in open office areas.

Electronic records
Electronic records will be protected by passwords, firewalls and other security settings (both locally
and in the cloud.)

Employees are responsible for keeping these records intact. For example, if an employee shares a
Google spreadsheet, they must decide whether to give colleagues permission to edit, view or comment.

Also, when employees access electronic, confidential records outside of our offices, they should ensure
that both their devices and networks are secure. They should not leave their screens and devices
unattended while logged in to our company’s accounts.

Data retention period

As a general rule, King Edward VII will keep all records for a minimum of three years unless otherwise
stated by law. The following records must be preserved indefinitely:

• Internal policies • Financial statements and annual reports

• Employment contracts • Results of audits and legal investigations.

• Partnership and vendor contracts

Discarding records
Records may also be discarded upon request from a stakeholder.

Naming convention
All employees are required to use King Edward VII’s templates for all workplace documentation.

Documents should be named [Department_Type_Detail_Version]

Documents are to be saved using King Edward VII’s cloud-based storage system.

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Feedback
In-built software review functionality should be used, and all comments recorded in a feedback
register. Feedback register should contain the date, project number, name of reviewer, person receiving
feedback, comments and action required.

Courses should be reviewed by students through an online survey. The feedback from this review
should also be stored in a feedback register and regularly assessed.

Communication Policy and Procedures

King Edward VII aims to enhance and streamline communications (internal and external) to reinforce
the vision and strategic priorities. As such, we will continue to develop and trial new communication
platforms, channels, and tools to improve information sharing and collaboration between all staff
members.

This policy is to be implemented in a way that ensures compliance with relevant legislative
requirements and standards of best practice.

King Edward VII expects that staff will use the channels and for business purposes only and comply
with all relevant policies and procedures, the Code of Conduct.

Internal Communication channels

King Edward VII has a number of internal communication channels available, including:

Channel Purpose

Staff bulletin This contains Information from the executive to staff which is important and
relevant to their interests, including training, employment vacancies and
important announcements.

Contributions for the Staff Bulletin must be approved in advance by the

contributor’s relevant manager before being sent to the communications
officer for review and inclusion.

Staff surveys These are used to gather information and feedback from all staff members.
Surveys should be sent to staff via email link.

King Edward VII The intranet provides important information for staff in an easily accessible
intranet location.

The intranet is to be used for conveying information which is important and

relevant from the executive team to staff. It is the responsibility of the
person contributing the content to ensure the content is factually correct. All
contributions must be approved in advance by the contributor’s relevant
manager.

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 Channel Purpose

Enterprise social These may be used by groups of staff to collaborate and communicate on
networks (e.g., projects online (e.g., to share and comment on work-related ideas, news, and
Yammer, Facebook) activities). Personal use of these platforms may not be used during work
hours. Use of these networks must comply with the social media Policy.

All Staff emails Emails are used for messages to and between staff. Staff are required to read
all their work-related emails.

Email distribution Email distribution lists may only be used by the executive team and should
lists adhere to the Privacy policy.

Verbal As far as possible, all business-related conversations should first take place
communication either face-to-face or via a telephone call. All verbal conversations should
be followed up with a summary email or text message (whichever is more
applicable to the situation).

External Communication channels

A communication with external parties must occur within the boundaries of responsibility. Unless
specified in a job description (e.g., trainers to communicate with students about course related issues),
only management may communicate with external parties.

All external communication must be summarised in an email to the relevant party.

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