CUMBERLAND CITY COUNCIL BENCHMARKING REPORT (Essay Sample)

Instructions:

Aim of the Assessment The aim of this assessment task is to enable students to develop an appreciation of the client organisation, their business environment, strategic objectives; to develop an understanding of the client’s activities; and to explore some of the complexities of business management practice. Benchmark organisation is Cumberland City Council The requirement of this assessment is a benchmark of Local Council targets, initiatives and goals for sustainable business development. Details The real-world purpose of the benchmarking report is to enable the client organisation to better achieve its strategic objectives to develop a sustainable business environment. The report should compare the client organisation strategies, initiatives, goals and targets (or some specified components of these) for the sustainable development of business, with the strategies, initiatives, goals and targets of other organisations which are considered appropriate and suitable for benchmarking. The report will draw on your research of the client organisation, or their business environment, as well as comparable organisations which you consider suitable for benchmarking and include a justification of your selection of comparable organisations. The research data will be sourced from web sources including (but not limited to) the client organisation’s website, client business environment, statistical repositories, websites of similar or comparable organisations, as well as, appropriate academic literature. In compiling the report, students will be required to undertake the following: 1. Develop two matrices to use as research tools to assist in the comparative processes - both matrices should be attached as appendices to the report but are not included in the word count.  Matrix 1 should be used to scope out a range of possible organisations to assist in your choice of the organisations that you will ultimately use to benchmark your client organisation or client business environment against. The matrix is to include 10 – 14 measurements you are using as your benchmark base (see Figure 1 as the sample). The collation of this information should lead to your report substantiating your choice of the organisations considered appropriate for benchmarking against the client organisation.  Matrix 2 should be used to further investigate and compare your client organisation’s strategies, initiatives, goals and targets for the development of sustainable business, against those of the organisations selected for benchmarking. This matrix contains the Client organisation and 2 organisations selected from Matrix 1 (Figure 2). An analysis of these Matrices should form the basis for your recommendations to your client organisation. 2. Identify and analyse, in the context of sustainable business development, the client organisation’s strategies, initiatives, goals and targets, as well as any relevant gaps when these are compared with the benchmark organisations. 3. With reference to the identified strategies, initiatives, goals and targets of the organisations investigated, develop two (2) recommendations (and justify) appropriate actions and processes to improve their performance. NOTE: The report should demonstrate that you have collected appropriate data and that there is a clear link between the data in the matrices and the discussion in your report. Submission Format The Report is to be submitted as a soft copy to Turnitin by the due date and time in a format suitable for submission to the client. The report should be 2,200 words +/- 10% in length. The Report must include: 1. Title Page 2. Table of Contents 3. Introduction 4. Methodology 5. Discussion 6. Recommendations 7. Conclusion 8. Appendix 1 - Matrix 1 9. Appendix 2 – Matrix 2 source..

Content:

CUMBERLAND CITY COUNCIL BENCHMARKING REPORT Student Name Course Professor Name University Date Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc119277856 \h 3Methodology PAGEREF _Toc119277857 \h 3Discussion PAGEREF _Toc119277858 \h 4Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc119277859 \h 5Conclusion7Reference List8Appendix 111Appendix 2 PAGEREF _Toc119277863 \h 16 Cumberland City Council Benchmarking Report Introduction This report aims to provide a comparative analysis of Cumberland Council and the various other councils located within the Sidney region. The report examines various facts and figures about the council, including geographical and demographic information about Cumberland Council. Upon gathering the information and data, it is compared to what the Cumberland Council already has to highlight the areas where they have room for improvement. The primary objective of the Cumberland City Council benchmarking report is to assist the council in improving its targets, initiatives, and goals to attain sustainable business development within the Cumberland city council. All the information obtained about each council has been reviewed and compiled from credible sources, and it is uniform across the board. Methodology It was necessary to conduct extensive research to find this information and locate the most accurate data. The most recent data came from individual councils’ websites, highlighting all statistics and information beginning in 2021. The websites contained a substantial amount of information its users discovered. The websites provided simple, concise, and accurate information for each council. They gave the matrix insight since they covered various topics to deliver educational reports on specific aspects of council life. Some of the information available on the websites, for example, includes the population, density, total number of employed residents, number of local businesses, and more. As previously demonstrated, the subtitles chosen allow us to view the events in each Council area from various perspectives. The various benchmark alternatives presented in the matrices were chosen to provide a more accurate comparison of Cumberland to the other Sydney councils considered during the selection process. Each benchmark was chosen from Sydney to provide a more accurate and reliable result. For comparison of the appropriate councils during the research process, quantitative data were used to compare each of the councils. Furthermore, categorical data was required because it was critical to demonstrate how statistics developed during this period. Discussion Based on the findings of the research done on each matrix, it was clear that each council has its standards since they are all different. Cumberland has a much more reasonable standard than other councils in the area, like Liverpool and Parramatta. Although the employment rate in Cumberland is 36.3% based on the population size of 236,996, the council target and initiative should be increasing the number of local jobs, which are currently at 25,566. (Health of Nation, 2022d: Cumberland City Council, no date). It will allow the council to improve the employment rate better while at the same time ensuring sustainable business development. Investors are hesitant to invest in the area due to the high crime risk caused by the low employment rate, which indicates that the majority of the people there do not have jobs. Cumberland will achieve economic development and sustainability by encouraging the creation of new jobs, as increased productivity among the working population lowers crime rates in any community. The economy in Parramatta city council is flourishing, particularly when compared to Cumberland. Despite having a population of 257,197 people, Parramatta has an employment rate of 53.7% (City of Parramatta, no date). Even though the difference in population between the two councils is slight, less than 20,000 people. (Health of Nation, 2022c: Health of Nation, 2022d). Cumberland should model itself after Parramatta to ensure that its employment rate goes up significantly to improve its economic status while achieving its goal of ensuring a more sustainable economy, given business development. The compiled data reveals that most councils' Gross Regional Product (GRP) is lower except for Parramatta and Blacktown. Cumberland City Council has a GRP of $13.16 billion, unlike Parramatta, whose GRP is $31.36 (Cumberland City Council, no date: City of Parramatta, no date). Cumberland needs to put more effort into establishing new businesses that significantly contribute to the revenue collection of the city council if it wants to raise its GRP to the level of the Parramatta council. By doing so, the council's resources can be better used, and more people can find gainful employment. It implies that the council should put more effort into planning business events to inspire entrepreneurs to launch new ventures. The council should prioritize creating a more favorable business climate by enacting policies like providing businesses grants and lowering startups' taxes. Recommendations Participation from the community is necessary if Cumberland is to establish a lead over the city's other councils and remain a viable option for investors to establish businesses in the city. The Cumberland Council holds regular meetings and maintains an online forum where public members can ask questions, raise relevant debate topics, and make suggestions. The meetings and forum contribute to the council's goal of creating a more stable and encouraging business climate. To effectively promote its ideas and programs to the public, the council should design a marketing strategy to increase the number of people aware of the websites and other venues where they can contribute input. Only then will it be able to do so efficiently. As a result, the council will be able to communicate more efficiently. Consequently, the council will inform the community by posting up-to-date information on new initiatives on its website. At the same time, it provides the public with a forum to express their views. The first step in executing this plan is to disseminate posters and booklets in prominent public places, such as bus stops and other community gathering spots, to keep the community aware of the goal. These posters should identify all of the new and upcoming projects in the community. Then they should highlight where investors voice their opinions on new projects that will be developed within the community. As a result, entrepreneurs and residents keep track of upcoming events in their community. The business community of Cumberland will have its say after collecting all the comments and suggestions. Another idea is for the council to hold a festival during which council members and volunteers circulate the grounds to disseminate information and collect feedback and ideas from the business community. The goal would be to give the Cumberland community a direct and hands-on role in developing these potential future ideas. These strategies may take several months to produce results from which the city can benefit. When looking at Cumberland's goals of increasing the number of new jobs and its GRP, it is evident that the two goals are complementary and should be approached similarly. Success is possible if the municipality's leaders agree with these plans and goals. In order to design new jobs and business opportunities and help GRP get better compared to the current GRP. The council needs to put together a team that focuses on the commercial sector and ignores other parts of the problem. One way to handle this could be to focus on small businesses and shield them from stiff competition to enable their growth and contribution to better GRP for the city council. Conclusion In conclusion, it is unmistakable that the Cumberland Council has implemented plans to enhance a sustainable business environment. The council still has a few areas to improve, such as motivating entrepreneurs to start businesses by giving incentives and working on policies that favor new businesses and startups. If the council knows where it needs to improve, it will become one of Sydney's most prosperous city councils. Some areas still have room for growth, but if they stick to their strategic plan, they will reach their long-term and short-term goals and keep the business community thriving. Reference List Blacktown City Council (no date) economy.id. Available at: https://economy.id.com.au/blacktown (Accessed: November 18, 2022). Camden Council (no date) economy.id. Available at: https://economy.id.com.au/camden (Accessed: November 18, 2022). City strategy (no date) City of Parramatta. Available at: https://www.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/vision/city-strategy (Accessed: November 23, 2022). City of Parramatta (no date) economy.id. Available at: https://economy.id.com.au/parramatta (Accessed: November 18, 2022). Community Strategic Plan (CSP) (no date) Cumberland City Council. Available at: https://www.cumberland.nsw.gov.au/community-strategic-plan-csp (Accessed: November 23, 2022). Cumberland City at the heart of Sydney’s growth (no date). Available at: https://www.cumberland.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/cumberland-city-investment-prospectus.pdf (Accessed: November 23, 2022). Cumberland City Council (no date) economy.id. Available at: https://economy.id.com.au/cumberland (Accessed: November 18, 2022). Fairfield City (no date) economy.id. Available at: https://economy.id.com.au/fairfield (Accessed: November 18, 2022). Health of a Nation (2022a) Home | Blacktown City Council | Community profile. Available at: https://profile.id.com.au/Blacktown (Accessed: November 18, 2022). Health of a Nation (2022b) Home | Camden Council | Community profile. Available at: https://profile.id.com.au/Camden (Accessed: November 18, 2022). Health of a Nation (2022c) Home | City of Parram...

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CUMBERLAND CITY COUNCIL BENCHMARKING REPORT (Essay Sample)

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