SITXMGT002 - Establish and Conduct Business Relationships

Assignment Task

Activities

Complete the following activities.

This project requires you to work collaboratively with your student group to build and foster business relationships and identify and develop opportunities by way of collaboration, negotiation and setting in place formal agreements.

You will need to work in groups of three for this project. Each student will select one of the case study businesses below and assume they are the business owner or manager of this business. This is a very collaborative and creative project that will take place in the classroom with your assessor observing you as you complete the steps below. You will also record details of your meetings and agreements which will be assessed along with the observations your assessor makes.

You are to assume that the case study businesses below are located in your local area. You may use any similar local business in your area where you can access information about them on their websites for the specifics of the services they provide which must include products/services and prices.

Important note: You must all select your businesses prior to completing any of the next steps and have your assessor approve these choices to ensure that they are suitable for this project.

1. Business Wedding supplier

You run a wedding supply business that supplies crockery, furniture, and decorations for wedding events across the local region.

2. Catering

You run a catering company that supplies the food and wait staff for weddings in your local area.

3. Cakemaker

You are a local cake maker who supplies to weddings in the local area.

Once approved, ensure that you become familiar with the business, the products/services they offer and pricing. Keep some notes so that you have a record of this information, as well as anything else that you may think will be useful.

Assume that you have all heard about each other’s businesses at a local event or through mutual clients and have decided to meet together to discuss opportunities for collaboration in relation to purchasing and marketing.

Preparation

Once you have all selected and become familiar with your own case study business, you will each individually complete your own background research on the other businesses and prepare some ideas to take to your initial meeting with them. The Assessor will let you know what the businesses are once these have been approved.

You will use this document to record the information you have researched about your selected case study business as well as the two businesses that you will meet with. This will help you to negotiate business opportunities in the next task. You are required to submit the completed Section 1 of the Project Portfolio document as part of your evidence for completing this task.

Establish relationships and brainstorm opportunities

Now that you have completed your research, you are to meet with the other two business owners/managers to form relationships and discuss opportunities. These opportunities need to be in the areas of purchasing and marketing and you have the freedom and opportunity here to brainstorm and share a range of possible ideas with each other. Prior to the meeting, refer to the organisational policy Communication Protocols to help you with establishing the business relationships.

Speak with each of these networks and find out what they can do for you as either suppliers or contractors. Discuss how you might form a partnership, or how you could link your businesses to provide further business opportunities to identify and reach more customers on a more regular basis.

During your discussions, build relationships and create networks using high-level and effective interpersonal and communication styles, skills and techniques. By the end of the discussions you must broadly agree on at least two ways that you can each benefit from forming a business relationship together. This must be related to marketing or purchasing activities. After your discussions, reflect and record the outcomes from the networking event by completing Section 2 of the Project Portfolio template .

The Assessor will observe this discussion (either in person, or by way of video conferencing software or a recording of it). They will be observing the way in which you conducted yourself, using the Communication Protocol Policy guidelines. You are required to submit the completed Section 2 of the Portfolio of Evidence document as part of your evidence for completing this task.

Research contracts

You now need to research a contract or agreement that you can use to enter into an agreement with the businesses you have met with. This may be a memorandum of understanding (MOU), partnership or supplier contract, referral agreement or other such document that can be used to formally record the agreements that will be made with the other two businesses.

The contract or agreement can be a template that you have sourced or one that you have adapted to suit the organisation and industry. You may use the following information and templates to help you develop a relevant agreement

After you have sourced suitable forms of contracts you will need to work out the key components that should be included for each relationship and this must include agreed performance indicators.

Complete Section 3 of the Portfolio of Evidence document.

Now develop the contract or agreement that can be used for each business.You are required to submit the completed Section 3 of the Project Portfolio template as part of your evidence for completing this task as well as the contract for each business.

Contract negotiations

Before meeting with the suppliers again you must ensure that you are familiar with the formal negotiation process that you will follow.

Read through the guidelines and write an outline that you will follow to conduct formal negotiations. It must include:

• Principles of negotiation
• Negotiation techniques that you can apply
• Effective communication skills to use when conducting formal negotiations
• High-level communication and relationship building skills
• Clear stages to follow in the negotiation process

Complete Section 4 of your Project Portfolio template prior to the meeting

Now you are to meet with the suppliers and negotiate the terms of agreement using the formal process you identified. You will all have various ideas about how the agreements should be reached so you will need to compromise where necessary, but stand your ground on specifics you feel strongly about – or those you have identified as your non-negotiables. During the meeting, read through the contract that you have been given by each business. Think about and discuss: Are you happy with the contract? What changes do you think are required? Did they miss anything out or include anything that doesn’t look correct?

Make some notes and discuss this with each business representative. During the meeting you are to negotiate and come to an agreement using high-level relationship building skills, negotiation techniques and effective communication skills.

The Assessor will observe this discussion (either in person, or by way of video conferencing software or a recording of it). Record the outcomes from the negotiations by completing Section 5 of the Project Portfolio template. Amend the contract to reflect any agreed and approved changes made. Send an email to the businesses, confirming the terms of agreement with the amended contracts attached.

Maintaining relationships and agreements

A client had booked services that were linked to all three of your businesses and has now had to cancel their wedding with a week to go. It has become apparent that the existing agreements that you have developed are not clear enough in relation to cancellations and refunds. You are to discuss and agree on amendments to the agreements to cover this situation and further situations like this in the future. Ensure that you use this as an opportunity to maintain and nurture the business relationship by using effective communication skills during discussions and when agreeing on changes that you will all approve with each other. 

After the meeting, make a copy of the original contracts and include approved changes to the contracts as amended versions and compose an email to each of the business representatives.

Project Portfolio Template

This document will form a portfolio for submission of work for this assessment. Complete each section and submit to the Assessor for marking with the final assessment documents.

Background Research

Use the table below to record information about your case study business and research that you carry out on the other two businesses. You can use this information to help you negotiate business opportunities so ensure that you are thorough in your research so you understand what benefits and opportunities can be made from establishing a relationship with them.

Questions

1. What is the main industry sector for this business?

2. Explain the industry structure and how this business fits into it.

3. What memberships or associations does the business have?

4. What is the main industry sector for this business?

5. Explain the industry structure and how this business fits into it.

6. Do they have any current relationships or links with other businesses?

7. What opportunities are there to work with this business?

8. How does the business use social media to interact within the industry?

9. With regard to this business, what are their current sources of supply and how does this compare with what you can offer?

10. What professional networks does this business use?

11. In what way could you engage regular contact with the business based upon their current networking approaches?

12. What is the main industry sector for this business?

13. Explain the industry structure and how this business fits into it.

14. Do they have any current relationships or links with other businesses?

15. What opportunities are there to work with this business?

16. How does the business use social media to interact within the industry?

17. With regard to your business, what are their current sources of supply and how does this compare with what you can offer?

18. What professional networks does this business use?

19. In what way could you engage regular contact with the business based upon their current networking approaches?

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