Operational Plans and Organisational Policy: Background Knowledge
Context
Answer the following questions (except 3 and 9) with reference to EITHER your current workplace OR one of the businesses described in this assessment activity (Vortex, Fish n Chicks etc.)
15.1 Name and describe one of the operational planning models you’ve learned about so far. HINT: this can include templates, or planning models named after the theorists who developed them.
15.2 Name and describe an alternative operational planning model to the one you’ve discussed above. In your answer, make sure you mention why it would be better or worse for the workplace/business you’re discussing.
15.3 Regardless of model, or of the format that the plan is typed up in, what are seven (7) basic things that all operational plans should include? Make a dot point list.
15.4 What kinds of key performance indicators might you expect to see in the organisational plan of your workplace/the business? Name and describe three (3) KPIs.
15.5 What is a contingency plan, and why is it an important part of an operational plan?
15.6 What are the steps in the policy development process? HINT: you should be able to list and describe at least five (5) distinct steps.
15.7 What is a policy development cycle?
15.8 How often does your organisation/the business review its policies? If there is no regular review, how often should a review happen?
15.9 What is an analytical policy development framework, and how can it help make sure that the policies developed are effective?
15.10 How would you use a framework for a policy review within your workplace/the business? In six (6) dot points, write down the steps you’d take. This means defining the actions you’d take to make each step happen. If you don’t have a framework in mind, you may use this basic procedural framework:
15.11 What kinds of things might trigger the need to review an organisation’s policies? In your answer, remember to include internal AND external changes and events.
When organisations develop policies, they have to consider the legislation and regulations that apply to them. An organisation can use policies to help them comply with their legal obligations. Organisations also need to make sure that any policies they have aren’t against the law. Just having a policy that promotes an illegal action can get you in trouble, even if you haven’t acted on it yet. For example, it would be illegal for a business to have an employment policy that said ‘no Indigenous people’, even if the business hadn’t ever received an application from or interviewed an Indigenous
person.
This is what we call the legislative and regulatory context of the policies.
THINK: if you need to revise some of the laws that apply to all organisations regardless of industry/activity, check out your Learning MaterialsDescribe the legislative and regulatory context of each of the following businesses. In your answer, make sure you cover:
the title and content of at least one Act/Regulation that applies
what you would expect to see in the organisation’s policy because of that Act/Regulation
what the organisation could NOT have in its policy because of that Act/Regulation
15.12 A carpentry business in Brisbane specialising in outdoor structures like decks and gazebos
15.13 A tourism business in Darwin offering eco tours
15.14 A home care support organisation for disabled clients in rural New South Wales
15.15 A coffee roasting warehouse in Melbourne
15.16 A fleet of food trucks serving burgers at events along the Western Australian coast
