1.1 Explain the phases of Management Consultancy STUDENT ASSESSMENT BRIEF: DISTANCE LEARNING Unit Number and Title:
Unit 2: Security Consultancy Process
Assessment
A security consultancy paper and a project team briefing
Assessment tasks Background information before you start Further details, a description of the organisation, its activities and its current Security Risk Management framework can be seen at Annex A and B. Please also see Annex D for Task 2. Read these first in line with this assignment as they add contextual background and important information relevant for these two tasks.
Identify situations when the organisation (Annex A & B) may find it helpful to use the services of a consultant, explaining the benefits this approach offers to the organisation, and how a consultant can add value. Consider the importance of using a consultant to help support the client’s needs and overcoming potential barriers when initiating change.
Task 1: Understanding Management Consultancy Phases and Core Skills Situation Analysis (Consultancy Report): Scenario: You work as a Security Consultant Team Leader for a UK-based NGO that operates globally, often in challenging environments.
Objective: Identify when the organisation might benefit from hiring a consultant and explain how consultants add value.
Elements to Consider Explain the phases of Management Consultancy.
Describe the skills needed for successful Management Consultancy.
Discuss strategies to overcome risks and challenges during a consultancy intervention.
Explain how security consultants enhance an organisation.
Learning outcomes and assessment criteria LO1 AC 1.1, 1.2, 1.3,1.4. Task 2: Understanding the Consultancy Life Cycle in a Security Context Project Briefing: Context: You lead a team in a Security Consultancy Project Intervention.
Client Request: The client wants a change management program to establish a security-conscious culture across the organisation.
Your Task: Create a brief analysing the consultancy life cycle that best suits the project outlined in Annex D. Show the expected deliverables at each stage.
Elements to Consider: Analyse the consultancy life cycle and its stages.
Discuss how the consultancy cycle applies in a security context.
Explain how consultancy projects are planned, controlled, and delivered.
Evaluate data sources for security consultancy projects.
Discuss effective ways to present consultancy findings and conclusions to the client.
Learning outcomes and assessment criteria LO2 AC 2.1, 2.2
LO3 AC 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
Delivery Format Deliver the brief to your team using one of the following methods:
Written document Presentation e.g. PowerPoint (with supplementary notes) Recorded presentation (with accompanying handout) Remember, the key is to meet the specified requirements while ensuring clarity and relevance.
Structure and Guidance The brief should have:
An introduction – explaining what you will cover and why
A main body covering the task contents
A summary and conclusion with recommendations for the client
The brief is to be written and delivered in a format suitable for reading by organizational management.
Information and Guidance Template – A template has been provided to assist with the structure of your written assignments. This can be found alongside this brief and should be used when completing your work.
References – All diagrams, quotations and sources of information and content are to be fully and correctly Harvard referenced.
General – The word count for task 1 should be between 1500 – 2500 words, not including your reference list, tables or figures included. Your introduction and conclusion should take approx. 10% of your word count and the rest should be balanced between the other learning outcomes. If you choose to use a written document for task 2, the above word count and guidance applies.
This is a formal piece of work that could be used by an organisation and therefore, it should be written in a way that the reader understands. No jargon or acronyms please without explaining them in full the first time you use them.
Proofread and spell-check your work. It can be helpful to ask someone else to read and check for errors before you submit.
Formatting – Your work should be 1.5 spaced and font should be in Calibri, Ariel or Times Roman, font size 12.
This assessment uses the following Unit learning outcomes: LO 1
Understand management consultancy phases and core skills
LO 2
Understand the consultancy life cycle in a security context
LO 3
Understand the management of a consultancy project
Submission details Assessment drafts should be sent to your designated tutor via email before the final version is submitted.
Once the final version is ready, the assessment should be submitted electronically. Please use the relevant submission point in the Unit area named SRMC Level 6 – Unit 2 Assignment.
Submit using the link that looks like this:
Please upload your Unit 2 assignment below for marking. Please do NOT date your assignments as your work will only be submitted for marking once all tasks are complete.
Submit your Unit 2 assignment here
Please save your Unit 2 assignment as a single word document not PDF using the naming convention:
Surname_Unit 2_SRMC 6
Y/N
POINTS TO CHECK – HAVE YOU?
Read and understood all of the Assignment Brief?
Read and understood the assessment criteria?
Met the learning outcomes and used the titles and annotations?
Used an academic tone throughout your work? Is your work formal, focused, and clear without slang or jargon?
Checked that the referencing in your work is correct?
Proof-read and checked your spelling and grammar?
Confirmed that the work submitted is your own and not plagiarised?
STUDENT ASSESSMENT BRIEF: CONTENT GUIDANCE Marketing Criteria LO1 – Understand management consultancy phases and core skills
The learner must discuss and explain situations when the organisation may require the use of a consultant. The benefits of the chosen approach must be discussed and evidenced. Reasons for the use of a consultant must include the following:
Unique solutions that reflect the circumstances and aspirations of the client.
Speed, because the consultancy team (unlike the in-house management) isn’t distracted by other tasks.
Knowledge of ‘best practice’ and effective solutions from within the client’s industrial/commercial sector. SME experience.
Exposure to expertise derived from other industries and sectors.
Provision of specific technical skills that are non-existent or in short supply in-house, and often the transfer of such skills to in-house staff.
Change management skills enhanced by the consultant’s position as independent and objective.
There are many frameworks for management consultancy. Here we are asking the learners to explain and evidence the use of the ‘phases of Management Consultancy’. It must reference the following phases and provide examples of the information the consultant would expect to gain at each stage:
Audit and scoping phase
Detailed analysis and evaluation
Implementation phase
Follow up and feedback phase
Assessment Criteria
Pass
Fail
1.1 Explain the phases of Management Consultancy
This topic is discussed clearly within the task with an appropriate degree of depth of research. The distinct phases/stages of management consultancy have been well summarised and evaluated. Each phase is broken down in detail with an appropriate amount of research to support findings which is fully referenced from reliable and current sources, with use of resources from beyond those provided in the
Unit being important. Effective use of diagrams, tables and matrices effectively explained and relevant to the task.
The topic discussed is poorly expressed with insufficient depth of referenced research and using only limited sources from the Unit pages. There is little or no clarity in evaluation.
Overused and irrelevant/poorly referenced diagrams, tables and matrices.
Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.
1.2 Describe the skills required to successfully engage in Management Consultancy
A good range of evaluation and identification of skills used to support the analysis with a focus on those required to succeed as a consultant, particularly in line with the organisation’s context (Annex A & B).
An appropriate amount of research to support findings which is fully referenced from reliable and current sources, with use of resources from beyond those provided in the Unit being important. Effective use of diagrams, tables and matrices effectively explained and relevant to the task.
Ineffective and weak evaluation of skills requirements requiring further depth of research to meet the assessment criteria.
Overused and irrelevant/poorly referenced diagrams, tables and matrices.
Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.
Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet
1.3 Discuss the strategies used to overcome risks and challenges which may occur during a consultancy intervention
Thorough and effective analysis and evaluation of key consultancy intervention risks, with the potential challenges that are likely to be faced identified. An appropriate amount of research to support findings which is fully referenced from reliable and current sources, with use of resources from beyond those provided in the Unit being important. A well thought out strategy for managing risks has also been well crafted with reference to the organisation (Annex A & B)
Ineffective and weak evaluation of strategy for the management of risk that will require further expansion and further depth of research to meet the assessm
Overused and irrelevant/poorly referenced diagrams, tables and matrices.