Adelaide Institute of Business and Technology - Case Study Example

Adelaide Institute of Business and Technology (AIBT) Operational Plan Big Red Kidney Walk Name Tutor Institution 1st September, 2013 The event and objectives The Adelaide Institute of Business and Technology (AIBT), though a small school, is recognized internally for its commitment to help students achieve their long term goals. The Institute has strived to develop and expands its reach outside the school. The Institute aims to be more engaged with the Australian community. Students at the institution are encouraged to participate in events which impact positively on the society. This year, AIBT has opted to organize an event dubbed 'Big Red Kidney Walk'. This event is meant to raise awareness on the vital role that kidneys play in human. The event is aimed at raising funds to aid hospitals around Adelaide which provide health care to patients with kidney ailments. Kidneys play the vital roles of removing waste products, producing hormones, and they also regulate the level of chemicals found in the blood. There are different causes of kidney infections and so are the kinds of ailments that affect kidneys. What remains constant is that the cost of treating and managing kidney infections remains quite high and beyond the reach of many patients (Halevi & Halevi 2013, p.29). The walk seeks not only to raise awareness on the need to have healthy kidneys but also raise funds. Such funds would be used to buy the requisite equipment used to treat kidney patients, purchase drugs, expand facilities for treating patients with kidney infections, and hopefully cater for the costs that would be incurred by patients seeking treatment for kidney ailments. The amount raised shall go towards funding the operations of Kidney Health Australia. This is a charitable organization founded in 1968. Kidney Health Australia aims at promoting good kidney health which it seeks to achieve by educating people, advocacy, conducting research and offering support. The vision of the organization is 'saving and improving the lives of all Australians affected by kidney disease' (Halevi & Halevi 2013, p.31). The initiative is informed by the fact that little awareness exists about chronic kidney disease as compared to other diseases. It is estimated that about 1.7 million Australian are afflicted by chronic kidney disease. Another problem with the kidney illness is that there are no warning signs that are exhibited and this results an individual would realize that they have a problem probably after losing about 90% of the kidney function. This lack of symptoms for the disease has led to the kidney disease being termed as a 'silent killer'. Kidney function cannot be regained after being lost and this means that a person suffering from it would have to under regular dialysis session. These dialysis sessions last for as long as 5 hours per day and it would be necessary to have dialysis carried out several times every week. Kidney Health Australia tries to be committed for the long term to the families and children that are affected by kidney disease. The organization also aims to raise awareness among about 1.4 million people in Australia who do not know that they have kidney damage at the early stages (Halevi & Halevi 2013, p.44). The Adelaide Institute of Business and Technology seeks to raise at least A$ 15,000 towards funding the projects undertaken by Kidney Health Australia. Resource requirements and the key stakeholders The preparations for the walk shall require quite some resources which shall be utilized to make the necessary preparations. The teams shall also organize sale of various items with the proceeds from the sales going towards facilitating operations by Kidney Health Australia. Some money shall be required to prepare fliers which shall bear the information on the Big Red Kidney Walk. The team plans to as many people as possible on the fundraising efforts being undertaken. The people shall be informed through various ways such as email. The team shall also create a Facebook page through which shall be disseminated information regarding the fundraiser walk. The team also plans to have a presence on twitter as well as other social media. The information to be shared shall seek to ensure that people understand that the amount to be raised shall be going to a charitable cause undertaken by Kidney Health Australia. The team shall seek to provide as much information as possible regarding the efforts being undertaken by Kidney Health Australia. The team shall also seek to have people understand the reason why it is important for people to get to know about kidney ailments. The information shared shall also include the fact that the prevalence of kidney ailments is at an all time high in the country and hence the need to take precautionary measures since it is very expensive to manage kidney diseases and once a kidney malfunctions, the process becomes irreversible. The team shall organize a stand at the institute to sale assorted merchandise. The team plans to purchase and sell items such as cakes, caps, key holders as well as ladies tops and shirts bearing messages relevant to the fundraising. In addition to this, the group shall talk to the school administration so that the institution's management can pledge to match every dollar that shall be raised by the group towards Kidney Health Australia. The group also plans to conduct a raffle. There are going to be a number of prizes to be won including the latest phones and laptops. This is meant to encourage other students to purchase the raffle tickets with the aim being that the ticket sales shall result in a surplus after settling the costs of the prizes. The team also plans to approach various businesses which deal with such items to provide prize items and in return such business would gain advertizing services especially to student populace that is very concerned about acquiring the latest items in the market. The fundraising efforts shall involve a number of stakeholders. These are the people who shall be playing a central role in ensuring the success of the fundraising efforts for the team. The most important participants in the fundraising efforts shall be the team members themselves. These are the students from the Adelaide Institute of Business and Technology. The team members shall be required to contribute more than just finances towards the cause. All members in the team shall act as some form of ambassadors and publicists who shall ensure that as many people as possible get to know about the fundraising efforts and that such people get to understand the motivating factors behind the raising of the funds. Members of the team shall therefore be the key pillars in ensuring the success of the fundraising efforts. The team shall set targets which every team member ought to meet and so as to achieve the overall goal of raising as much money as possible and also creating awareness among the general population on the need to have their kidney health being checked regularly as well as adopting lifestyles which do not predispose them to a possibility of being diagnosed with a kidney disease. The institute's authorities are the other important stakeholders. Most of the activities shall be conducted in the school's premises. There is therefore need to have a good understanding with the school administration so as to get authorization to carry out the different activities which are geared towards ensuring that the team raises as much money as possible. The school administration is also a potentially big contributor towards the efforts by the team to raise the funds that are needed to ensure that the fundraiser efforts bear fruit. Contingency plans In the unlikely event that participants in the walk encounter an emergency the team has put in place a number of measures to ensure that the effects of such emergencies are minimized and that participants are not put in unnecessary danger. The team shall have volunteer students who have undergone training in first aid and who shall have specially marked uniforms. The first aid teams shall also be provided with the relevant equipment. The team shall set up a medical tent and the institute should provide a few members of the medical personnel to man the tent assisted by volunteer students so as to deal with any emergencies that may occur. The team shall also have a standby ambulance which shall be used to rush to hospital any participants who may require emergency treatment in cases where the medical tent cannot deal with comprehensively. The team shall also be advising the would be participants on the type of dressing that would be appropriate for the day as well as ensuring that the course is properly marked and clear so as not to expose the participants to obvious danger. The team shall also provide some phone numbers where the participants can call in case they need to summon medical or other form of help. The team shall also encourage the participants to be undertake medical tests before the day of the event to ensure that those who could be ill are advised accordingly by qualified medical personnel on their ability to undertake the event. The team shall also ensure that the participants understand the need to be physically and psychologically fit before undertaking the walk. These shall minimize or totally eliminate the need for attending to injuries or other emergency illnesses which might occur. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and expected outcome of event At the end of the event, it would be important to determine the areas which were successful and where the organization of the event fell short. This is to be determined through a number of measures, Key Performance Indicators. These shall be important in the organization of future events so that the team can improve on its strengths and ensure that mistakes made are not repeated in the future. There are a number of indicators which shall be important in the assessment of the activities of the team and thus gauge the level of success of the activities that have been undertaken. These indicators are to be classified as: input, output, outcome, efficiency, quality. The inputs shall include the costs the team shall incur while preparing for the fund raising event. The team shall bear a number of expenses such as purchasing merchandise to be sold, making phone call, printing fliers, acquiring raffle tickets as well as the prizes to be won. The outputs for the team shall include the sale of raffle tickets, the sale of the other merchandise. Other output shall be contributions made by the team members, the institute as well as other well wisher. The efficiency of the fundraising efforts shall be determined by looking at the inputs as compared to the outputs. The teams should therefore seek to minimize the cost of inputs but maximize the amount accruing as profits or as contribution. The quality of the team efforts in raising funds shall be determined by how effective it shall have been in meeting the goals and objectives of Kidney Health Australia which is essentially ensuring that the citizenry is well informed and also that the organization is able to have funds to fund its operations in the future. An approval for plan from the supervisor The team shall ensure that every activity it undertakes has been sanctioned by the relevant authorities. To this end, the team leader shall liaise with the school administration, the Kidney Health Australia as well as any other relevant authorities whose authorization is relevant to ensure success of the event preceding the walk as well as during and after the fundraising walk. The team recognizes the need to have authorization and also the necessity of following guidelines that are offered by the relevant people as to how it should conduct its activities. Management of resource acquisition a. Resources: The team shall require quite a lot of resources to ensure that the fundraising walk shall be a success. The resources that are required include money and human resources. The team needs to purchase various items to be sold in order to raise the requisite funds. The team shall also require to acquire items which shall be used as prizes for the raffle meant to raise funds. Other resources required include donations in various forms which are required to ensure that the walk is successful. b. Responsibility: The team shall be divided into small groups with each group allocated a specific task so as to ensure that each activity is carried out to ensure that they succeed. All the sub teams shall be answerable to the team leader. The team leader shall be coordinated to ensure that each and every person shall carry out whatever they are required to within the given time. c. Deadline: The team shall ensure that all the tasks that are required are performed within the required time. The various teams shall be required to conclude the tasks within the allocated time. Some tasks such as purchasing and sale of the raffle tickets shall be required to be completed much sooner so as to enable the team to raise as much money as possible well before the day of the walk. d. Budget: The project shall cost quite some amount of money to complete since a number of items shall be purchased while there shall be amounts set aside for various administrative expenses. The items to be purchased include phones, cakes, laptops as well as other items. The team shall have to meet and strategize on the amounts that shall be expended on the whole project so as to ensure that cost cutting measures are put in place so as to ensure that as little amount as possible is expended on the requirements. The budgeting shall also ensure that the team is also able to make sales in a way that ensures that a lot remains as surplus. e. All the tasks involved in the planning as well as execution of the program of the plan of the team shall be allocated to specific individuals who shall be volunteers. Every task shall be within the required timeline and the team leader shall be responsible for the overall implementation of the plan. The team members shall be allocated tasks which are within their strengths and regular meetings shall be held to assess the progress and ensure that every member of the team does what they are required to do within the required timeline. Conclusion Kidney infections afflict very many people not only in Australia but also globally. It is evident that this results partly from ignorance on the part of the populace. It is therefore important to have organizations which can facilitate the transmission of knowledge to people and probably aid those who are already infected in leading normal lives. It is against this background that The Big Red Kidney Walk has been organized. The students from Adelaide Institute of Business and Technology have formed a fundraising team. This team seeks to draw from the youth and agility of the youth to raise funds for kidney health as well as raising awareness among the youth generally of the risk posed by kidney infections. The team draws its membership from the student body with diverse strengths to ensure the success of the fund raising efforts of the team and thus ensure the future survival of Kidney Health Australia. References Halevi, G & Halevi, G., 2013, Process and Operation Planning. Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Read More