ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
1
ISYS90045 Professional Skills IS Consulting
Guidelines for Assignment 2
Semester 1, 2023
Assignment Brief
Planning a consulting assignment is worth 40% of the subject marks. It comprises of 10% for
a presentation to be delivered via video recording and 30% for a written proposal document.
Due Dates:
Part 1) Presentation
Week 12 Video Presentation due Monday 22 May 2023 5pm Canvas
Week 12 Class Presentation due Monday 22 May 2023 6pm in class
Part 2) Written report due
End of Semester 1(night before SWOTVAC) Sunday 28th May 2023 at 11:59pm
Instructions:
As consultants, a key skill is to be able to prepare and deliver a proposal to win consulting
work. This is where the consulting engagement lifecycle starts – how we “win” the work –
and this is what we want you to experience! How do we prepare proposals for consulting
work?
There are 3 case studies available for assignment 2, please choose 1 of the cases to use as the
potential client and as the basis for your proposal.
We would like you to respond to the client’s request set out in the case study. Each case study
and client have varied requirements which require your attention. We would like you to
prepare both a presentation and a proposal for the client in response to the issues that they
express in the case study your group has selected.
At the end, your response will be presented to the client (stakeholder) in 2 parts – Part 1 a
video presentation or on campus presentation from the team and a written document due the
Sunday following the presentation. Dates for the submissions are set out above in this
document.
As representative of your consultancy and associated team, your aim is to “win” a consulting
job. You are in charge of the bid to win this work. So, your first step is to set out how to
prepare both the presentation and the proposal.
We have covered the key skills of delivering complex presentations and how to prepare a
proposal in our lectures. Please refer to the notes on presentations and proposals as a starting
point.
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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For example, if the client has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for a consultancy (your
group) to perform a feasibility study, you will need to explain to the client how you would
break down this activity and perform the work to provide that feasibility study (e.g. what
steps you will follow, what resources you will need, what the end deliverable will be and so
on). You are NOT being asked to actually perform the feasibility study itself for this
assignment.
Who are the clients?
There are three documented case studies on the LMS which are available for you to use to
develop a presentation and written proposal (depending what is stated in the case study)
for undertaking a consulting assignment and managing the client’s expectations.
If you wish, you may use a case study of your own choosing but you must seek the lecturer’s
approval for the case you wish to use. Don’t “make it up” otherwise you’ll end up spending a
lot of time trying to create the situation instead of responding to it.
Presentations
Option 1) Video presentation - all group members
The clients have requested that a 10 -15 minute video presentation is submitted so they can
get an indication of the team that will be delivering the work. Be prepared to present a 10-15
minute outline of the problem and your approach via video presentation to the client
stakeholders (i.e. the presentation of the proposal to the client). Each team member will need
to present in the video as the client wants to meet everyone in the team.
Option 2) Class presentation- all group members
The Client’s have requested a 10 – 15 minute presentation in person so they can get an
indication of the team that will be delivering the work. Be prepared to present a 10-15 minute
outline of the problem and your approach to the client stakeholders (i.e. the presentation of
the proposal or feasibility study to the client). Each team member will need to present as the
client wants to meet everyone in the team.
The presentation will be worth 10% of the overall mark for the assignment.
Please note for Option 1) The video will be uploaded to LMS and it is only necessary for 1
student in the group to upload the video.
Proposal
The proposal should be around 2500 – 3000 words, words including the Executive Summary
(excluding Table of Contents, Appendices and References).
The proposal should include all the key components of a proposal (as presented in the
Proposals lecture).
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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Range of issues the client will be considering in order to hire your consultancy
In order to address all the issues that your client may be considering when they are deciding
if they hire you they will primarily be interested to see if you can understand the problem
from the client’s point of view, there is a large proportion of marks allocated to test whether
you have a good “understanding of our (the clients) needs”.
The client will be interested in how long it will take you complete the engagement so will
want to see timelines (Gantt Charts and work breakdown structures) and an overall
completion date. Clients will be interested if some tasks can commence concurrently or does
each task need to be completed prior to the next task commencing?
The client may be interested to know how much the engagement will cost and how the final
figure has been reached so please be prepared to display all the cost components of your
engagements, especially a return on investment of the outlay of the project (it may also be
achieved in process efficiencies). Please Note: as it is a group assignment we know you won’t
have full costings so a good estimate is fine and ROI can include non financial benefits
including process efficiencies and team morale with new technology.
The clients will be interested to know how your consultancy undertakes the implementation
of the system so you will need to demonstrate any methodologies that you will adopt to
perform the engagement – they can be “in house” proprietary methodologies or industry
accepted methodologies to support your activities.
The clients will be interested in your governance structures and who you nominate to be on
your governance team.
They will be interested in how you manage risk and the process or methodology that you use
to identify and assess risk and what strategies you have to mitigate or avoid the risk.
The client will be very interested to know who will be undertaking the work in their company
and will want to understand the skills and experience of each member that will be doing the
work, they would like to see a profile of each team member complete with photos,
qualification, experience of similar clients and that they are available for this engagement.
Please Note: We understand that this is a group assignment so it is fine to make up
credentials for the assignment including names and previous work experience as long as it
remains relevant to your case.
Executive
summary Introduction
Our
understanding
of your needs
Engagement
methodology
and timelines
Pricing and
assumptions Team CVs
Similar work
we have
performed
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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The client will also be interested to know where you may have solved this problem before on
another engagement with another client so they know you have experience and what you and
the team may have learnt from that experience.
The Proposal (a document of a professional standard)
When the clients receive your proposal, they will be looking for a proposal that covers all the
issues they may be considering, in a clearly written, clearly formatted, professional style
document which contains a front cover (usually with a company logo or emblem), table of
contents/figures/tables/diagrams, executive summary, main body of the proposal, conclusion,
appendix and references and page numbers.
Consider the professionalism of your report. The document may contain tables, diagrams and
graphics that support the information presented which should be numbered and labelled in the
order they appear in the document in an easy to read font style and size. The spacing and
format of the document will be taken into consideration for the ease of locating information
and the overall appeal of the document. The document needs to be checked for spelling and
grammar and that the sections are in a logical order that flows when the client will read the
document.
This document is to be uploaded to LMS, it is only necessary for 1 member of the group to
upload the assignment document.
There is not a formal proposal template provided to complete the proposal as part of the
challenge for your group is to decide how to present the information and in what order. It is
up to the group to decide on company logo, the style and the format of the proposal.
Read the clients requirement’s request carefully. Your Consultancy will not be in the running
to win the job if you present something they not asked for.
Part of the challenge of preparing this consulting presentation and proposal is that the case
studies may not include all the information that would make responding to this case as
straightforward as you like, so your group can make assumptions about various sections of
the assignment and as long as they are clearly labelled in your assignment that will not be a
problem.
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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The Presentation
The client will be interested to hear about all the issues you’re addressing in your proposal
that you are preparing so they have given you have the opportunity to present your
information to the client first.
You will submit a 10 – 15 minute pre-recoded video presentation to the client.
You will need to rehearse, so the overall presentation has a logical flow, make sure the slides
and AV materials flow and your message is clear and concise. All team members will need to
speak in the video as the clients are interested in meeting all the team members so each team
member will need to show their faces in the video. In this video you will cover all the issues
that you will be including in the formal written proposal which will be submitted after the
presentations.
This video will be uploaded to LMS and only 1 team member needs to upload the video file
to LMS.
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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Marking Guide
ISYS90045Assessment Marking Guide for Proposal document Marks
WRITTEN PROPOSAL STUDY MAIN TOPICS Max 30
Quality Max
Overall presentation and organisation of the document-essentially, does it appear to be of a professional
standard? Includes attention to detail in:
1. Formatting – layout, spacing, graphics and labels, logos, appendices headers, footers, alignment
2. Relevant headings/sub headings, table of contents, list of figures and tables
3. Spelling and grammar
4. Conciseness of Executive Summary
3
Clarity
Understanding and insight of client’s problem or need–
1. Is your document buyer or seller focussed i.e. do you know who will be reading your proposal?
2. Is there a clear understanding of the client’s need?
3. Is it a promotional exercise for your consultancy?
4. Demonstration of client and industry insights supported by qualitative and quantitative data i.e. what is
the story behind the numbers?
5
Clear deliverables / outcomes
1. What are you actually delivering for the client? And will this resolve the client problem?
2. How can the effective delivery of these objectives or outcomes be measured or quantified?
3. How or when do you know when your job is done?
6
Planning – Scheduling
1. Have you identified or adopted a Project Management Methodology?
2. Gantt Charts – are the milestones clearly indicated? Use of all the symbols and Work Breakdown
Structures (WBS)
3. Are you demonstrating understanding of relevant and reasonable timeframes for your client? Are there
contingencies developed and is the client comfortable with these?
4. Can the client “buy” phases of work? i.e. can the client do part of the project first, then complete the
rest at later points in time?
3
Planning – Resources
1. People or human resources demonstrating relevant experience
2. Are these resources available within the client’s organisation or do they need to be recruited
externally? How is process to be undertaken?
3. Technology – infrastructure or equipment, does the proposal demonstrate the understanding of whether
technology is compatible with existing technology and legacy systems or does it require a complete
overhaul?
3
Governance
1. What sort of Governance framework have you adopted and it is relevant for the client? What does the
Governance structure look like?
2. Are the client’s involved in the Governance structure and what process are available to source these
resources?
3
Pricing
1. What is the total price of your proposal, have you created pricing options for the client? Have you
considered your client’s budget carefully? Is your pricing structure competitive? Can you demonstrate
a Return on Investment (ROI) for the project?
2. Have you itemised the human and technological resource components accurately?
3. Can you apply some form of industry discounting for your client?
3
Risk assessment / management
1. What type of risk management methodology have you adopted?
2. Can it be applied to a risk matrix and can a risk ratio be applied?
3. Are the high risk items clearly identifiable?
4. What steps can you identify to mitigate these risks identified?
3
Coverage
Other issues including credentials, deep industry insights, long term value propositions, confidentiality
agreements, referencing, appendices
1
Subtract points for negatives such as criticising client or competitors, extraneous material which does not
relate directly to client issues, spelling and grammatical errors
-
Total marks available includes 30 marks for Report and 10 marks for Presentation /30 + /10
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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Standard
Grade
Standard
Mark
Report
Max 30
Comments
H1
80-100 24+ Clear, unambiguous statements supported with quantitative and qualitative data, clear deliverables with competitive
pricing and work schedules and could form that basis of an engagement contract.
It is cohesive and thoroughly reviewed for spelling and grammatical errors, effective use of tables and graphics, well
spaced and informative headings with supporting information in the appendices. It concisely encompasses the Client’s
problems and understands the issues from the client’s point of view with highly original ideas and insights. The budget
and the timeframes are reasonable for the constraints. The team resources are relevant and the team structure is clear.
The governance framework is clear and relevant stakeholders have been appointed to oversee the project.
H2A
75-79 22.5 -23.9 Clear statements, supported with qualitative data, clear deliverables with competitive pricing and work schedules. It is
cohesive and thoroughly reviewed for spelling and grammatical errors, effective use of tables and graphics, well
spaced and informative headings with supporting information in the appendices. Demonstrates originality in the ideas
and the concepts.
H2B
70-74 21-22.4 Clear statements of understanding the client’s needs and problems, a few ambiguities or details missing.
Understanding of problem but not entirely from the Client’s point of view. It is clear to see individual contributions as
it has not been edited effectively
H3
65-69 19.5-20.9 Broad general statement, but ambiguity / omissions of pertinent information.
Understanding of problem but not entirely from the Client’s point of view. It is clear to see individual contributions as
it has not been edited effectively. Pricing options are not clear, the team structure cannot be easily identified, dates and
timelines are not realistic and too ambition given the time constraints.
P
50-64 15-19.4 Broad general information about client, ambiguous statements, general platitudes, lack of industry knowledge or
experience. Can easily attribute contributions from individuals as lack of cohesion or revision and refinement of
document. Pricing and timeframes are unrealistic. The team resources assigned to the project are not relevant. Poorly
formatted with missing heading and labels and table of contents. Information presented in a confusing order and some
information is put in the appendices when it needs to be in the main body of the proposal. Poorly referenced proposal
and generally lacking in originality.
N
0-49 0-14.9 Lacks focus on clients and may even be heavily critical of clients. Poorly organised document with spelling and
grammatical errors throughout. Lacks insights, plans, relevant or realistic pricing, little governance and very cites few
references.
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Marking Guidelines
Video or On Campus Presentation 10%
Area of Assessment Max Mark
Presentation and organisation of your video presentation
Is the use of A/V and presentation materials appropriate and does it add to the presentation?
Timing and coverage of important information
Is your message clear
Is the presentation of your message appropriate for the audience
1.5
Understanding of problem
Is there a clear statement that the problem is understood from the Client’s perspective?
Is there a clear explanation of the nature of the problem?
1
Clear deliverables / outcomes
Is it clear what will be delivered for the client to solve their problem?
Are the outcomes reasonable given the constraints of the time and budget?
Does the Client understand the nature of the outcomes?
(Without serious negatives – not just omissions)
(Without criticism of current, existing or potential clients or competitors)
1.5
Plan – schedule
Are the timeframes reasonable and relevant to the Client?
Is there a methodology applied to deliver the project?
1
Plan – resources
People or human resources demonstrating relevant experience for the project.
Have the technological resources been identified? And managed?
1
Governance
What Governance structure has been selected for this project?
How have the key stakeholders been identified and recruited for the project?
1
Pricing
What pricing structure has been adopted?
Are there pricing options?
1
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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Has a Return on Investment (ROI) been calculated?
Risk assessment / management
Has a risk assessment framework been selected?
Have the high-risk issues been identified and have mitigation factors been identified?
1
Professionalism and depth of industry insights
Other issues covered (e.g. capability or credentials)
Deep industry insights
Professional standard and approach
1
Total Mark
The marks for the Presentation are added from the above rows to be out of 10.
Total
Maximum 10
Marks
ISYS90045 Assignment 2 Instructions and Marking Guidelines
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Grade Standard Mark
Presentation
Max 10
Comments
H1 80-100 8+
A clear understanding of the Client’s problem from the Clients perspective. It focussed on the important issues and
utilised the time to cover all the key aspects of the requirements. It was of a professional standard that could be
confidently presented to real clients for decision making. It covered all major points about deliverables, pricing,
planning, and governance and included additional information which instilled a sense of confidence in you as
representative of your consultancy team to be able to undertake the project.
H2A 75-79 7.5-7.9
You presented the information to the Client. It focussed on important issues and covered the material in the time
allocated. It covered all major points about deliverables, pricing, planning, and governance and included additional
information which instilled a sense of confidence in you as representative of your consultancy team to be able to
undertake the project.
H2B 70-74 7-7.4
You presented the information to the Client. It focussed on important issues and covered the material in the time
allocated however there was a sales aspect to it and it did not seem that the information was entirely client focussed.
There were some generalities.
H3 65-69 6.5-6.9
The main information was presented however, not necessarily from the Client’s perspective. There were many
generalities made about the information. The presentation time was not utilised effectively and the material was not
presented confidently.
P 50-64 5-6.4
There was main information presented however, it felt like a sales pitch which was not entirely focussed on the client
issues and was not entirely clear about the client’s problems. There was general information presented about planning
and pricing. The presentation time was not used effectively.
N 0-49 0-4.9 Not all information was presented which coursed confusion and uncertainty from the Client’s perspective.