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ILM Assignment Help > ILM Level 5 > ILM 523 Assignment Example

ILM 523 Assignment Example

  • April 15, 2025
  • Posted by: admin
  • Category: ILM Level 5
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ILM 523 will help the learner develop and combine strategic, operational, and backup plans to keep improving how the business performs.

Assignment Questions

Learning Outcome 1: Understand how to create strategic, operational, and contingency plans.

Looking at the Bigger Picture

Sometimes, you need to step back from your daily work and think about where your company is headed and what its main priorities are. Strategic thinking connects three key areas:

  1. Mission – Why the company exists and what it aims to do
  2. Vision – What the company wants to achieve in the future
  3. Strategy – The plan to reach those long-term goals

Gaining a Competitive Edge

A competitive edge means your company stands out from others in the same industry. Competitors would need a lot of time, money, or effort to match what you do. This advantage can lead to:

  • Higher profits
  • More customers
  • Strong brand loyalty

To stay ahead, companies must be innovative and constantly improve what they offer.

The Transformation Process

This refers to how a company turns inputs into valuable outputs for customers. The inputs could be materials, information, or even people.

Examples of transformations:

  • Changing raw materials (like milk into cheese or butter)
  • Moving data, products, or people from one place to another
  • Changing who owns a product or data
  • Storing goods or managing information

These actions add value and are part of operations management, which has three key parts:

  1. Planning
  2. Organising
  3. Controlling processes

Operational Planning

Operational planning is about clearly defining daily and weekly tasks for your team. It shows:

  • What each team member is responsible for
  • How their work connects to company goals
  • What success looks like for each role

This helps boost team productivity and keeps everyone focused on results.

Strategic Plan vs Operational Plan

It’s important to know the difference:

  • A strategic plan sets the direction for the company. It includes goals, long-term objectives, and different ways to achieve them. It acts as a roadmap for leaders and stakeholders. But it doesn’t cover the day-to-day running of the business.
  • An operational plan explains how the company will run daily. It includes clear details like:
    • What tasks need to be done
    • Who is responsible for each task
    • When each task should be completed
    • How much budget or resources are needed

AC 1.2 Explain the components of a viable operational plan.

Creating an Effective Operational Plan

Once a company sets its main goals, it needs to break them down into clear yearly objectives. These objectives should be realistic and achievable. A good plan should include:

  • Department structures
  • Quality control measures
  • Long-term goals
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Also, consider changes in your industry. Are there big shifts expected? If so, how can your company stay ahead of the competition? Strong KPIs help you remain competitive and forward-thinking, not fall behind.

Setting SMART Objectives

To give teams clear focus, use SMART objectives:

  • Specific – Clear and easy to understand
  • Measurable – Trackable with numbers or feedback
  • Achievable – Realistic and doable
  • Relevant – Fits your company’s purpose
  • Timely – Has a start and end date

Key Components of an Operational Plan

  1. Techniques
     List the key tasks needed to meet company goals. This includes daily activities and department-specific strategies.
    Example: The marketing team may work on promoting products and improving market position.
  2. Timeline
     Set deadlines for both short- and long-term goals.
    Example:
  • Short-term – Hire 20 new staff within a year
  • Long-term – Double company income in 5 years
    Timelines keep the team focused and prevent delays.
  1. Budget
     Outline the financial and material resources needed for each task. A detailed budget helps reduce waste and keeps the company on track.
  2. Responsibility
     Assign a person or manager to each task. This ensures accountability and keeps things moving on time and within budget.
  3. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
     KPIs help track progress.
  • Lagging indicators show past or current performance
  • Leading indicators predict future trends and help avoid mistakes
    Both help measure success and guide improvements.
  1. Contingency Plan
     Always have a backup plan in case things don’t go as expected. This helps your team stay prepared and handle challenges smoothly.

AC 1.3 Describe the importance of contingency planning.

Contingency planning helps a team and stakeholders know what to do during unexpected events by giving them clear steps to follow. This allows everyone to work together and find the best solution quickly.

When a company isn’t prepared for disruptions, it can fail to meet expectations—and this can damage its reputation.

Think about the COVID-19 pandemic. Some businesses were badly affected, but those with proper backup plans were better able to cope and survive.

If a company doesn’t have a contingency plan, it might face problems like:

  • High staff turnover
  • Missed targets
  • Unprepared or untrained staff

Planning ahead helps protect the business and keeps it running smoothly even during tough times.

Learning Outcome 2: Continuously improve business performance.

AC 2.1 Implement changes to support continuous improvement within an organisation.

Many people want to make their workplace better. Managers especially want to help their teams grow by providing the right tools and motivation.

Continuous improvement means making ongoing efforts to improve things—whether it’s a product, a service, someone’s skills, or how a team works. These changes happen over time, not just once. Some improvements are small and hard to notice, while others can lead to big breakthroughs.

The mindset behind continuous improvement is the belief that small, consistent changes lead to major positive results over time.

Change Management Tools & Models
Lewin’s Change Management Model

This is a simple 3-step model to guide change effectively:

  1. Unfreeze – Prepare people for change by explaining why it’s needed. Talk about how it may affect them and gain their support early. Clear communication and understanding are key here.
  2. Change – Begin making the change. Share information, encourage open communication, and involve the team. Celebrate small successes to build confidence and motivation.
  3. Refreeze – Make the change part of everyday routines. Provide training and support, get feedback, and make adjustments if needed. Celebrate overall success to keep people committed.
Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model

This model provides a detailed roadmap for leading successful change:

  1. Create a Sense of Urgency – Explain why the change is important and how it will help the organisation. Have honest conversations to get everyone engaged.
  2. Build a Strong Team (Coalition) – Gather a group of committed people with different skills and roles to lead the change.
  3. Create a Clear Vision – Describe what the future will look like and how the change will work. Make the vision simple and inspiring.
  4. Communicate the Vision – Talk about the vision often and in different ways. Be honest and open, and listen to concerns.
  5. Remove Barriers – Identify anything stopping the change and fix it. This might include removing old systems or helping people who resist change.
  6. Create Quick Wins – Set small goals and celebrate when they’re achieved. This builds momentum and keeps people motivated.
  7. Keep Up the Momentum – Keep improving by checking what’s working and what isn’t. Use feedback and continue setting new goals.
  8. Make It Stick – Once the change is successful, make it part of everyday work. Train new team members and reward those who helped make it happen.

AC 2.2 Describe business development tools and management systems that support the management of change.

Managing the People Side of Change

People often call it the “soft side of change,” but managing how people respond to change is usually the most difficult and important part of any organisational shift. When changes happen, teams are expected to work in new ways. Their willingness to accept new behaviours and processes can strongly affect whether the change is successful or not. That’s why the “soft side” can actually be the hardest part to handle.

The good news is that there are structured ways to manage the people side of change, which can greatly improve the chances of success.

Blake and Mouton’s Leadership Grid

Blake and Mouton developed a model in the 1960s called the Managerial Grid or Leadership Grid. It helps explain different leadership styles based on two key behaviours:

  1. Concern for People – how much a manager cares about the needs, interests, and development of their team members.
  2. Concern for Results – how much a manager focuses on achieving goals, being efficient, and getting tasks done well.

They identified five main leadership styles based on how much a manager focuses on people versus results. This helps leaders understand their own style and how to balance people-focused and task-focused approaches for better results.

AC 2.3 Use commercial awareness to identify and shape new opportunities.

To improve your commercial awareness, learn how your company operates and makes money. Stay updated on news and trends in your industry.

It’s important to understand what your business needs to succeed, stay profitable, and give great customer service. This includes knowing your company’s core values, vision, major competitors, key stakeholders, and current challenges. You should also be aware of the company’s assets and debts so you can make informed decisions.

Being commercially aware helps you perform better in your role. When you understand your industry and how your work supports the company’s success, you can:

  • Make smarter decisions
  • Manage risks more effectively
  • Negotiate better deals with suppliers
  • Show your expertise
  • Increase your chances of promotion
  • Better meet customer needs

Learning Outcome 3: Create plans in line with organisational objectives.

AC 3.1 Explain how organisational values and ethics impact on decision making.

Organisations support good decision-making by setting clear shared values and showing employees how to apply them. These values give employees a clear purpose in their work and guide them to complete tasks that help both the organisation and themselves.

Organisational values also set standards or goals for how everyone should behave. When you represent a company, it’s important to make moral and responsible choices. Acting ethically helps protect the organisation’s reputation, keeps employees motivated, and avoids problems with changing laws or rules.

Ethical decisions last longer and are less likely to harm the business. When your team acts with integrity, they don’t just follow the rules—they go beyond them to do what’s right for everyone involved.

Examples of ethical behaviour at work include:

  • Following company policies
  • Communicating clearly and respectfully
  • Taking responsibility for your actions
  • Being professional
  • Trusting and respecting your colleagues

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)

A cost-benefit analysis helps an organisation decide which problems to solve or actions to take based on their costs and benefits.

It compares the value of the benefits a decision brings with the costs involved. This might include clear financial measures, like money saved or earned from a project.

But CBA can also consider non-financial factors like employee morale or customer satisfaction. In more advanced cases, it might also include things like:

  • Testing how results change if situations shift (what-if analysis)
  • Discounting future cash flows
  • Comparing different options using sensitivity analysis

AC 3.2 Contribute to strategic planning and create a plan that is in line with organisational objectives

Strategic planning is an ongoing process where everyone in an organisation works together to understand the current situation and plan for the future. It looks at what the organisation is good at, what it needs to improve, the resources it has, and what opportunities or challenges might lie ahead.

The goal is to set long-term plans and define the organisation’s vision and values. These big goals help shape smaller, more practical goals called operational objectives, which are measured using key performance indicators (KPIs).

A good strategy should be flexible, so it can change when needed and adjust how resources are used based on what’s happening inside or outside the organisation.

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