Chris and Clive are both former music and music technology teachers who have recently taken early retirement. However, they have a long history of playing in bands and being session musicians, therefore they intend to remain busy.  A Northern Soul band that they have worked with for many years, touring around the North West of England, will now become their focus. Chris and Clive have always managed all aspects of the band (studio work, playing at events, parties, TV and radio programmes). They publicise the band via a website, deal with all booking arrangements over the phone, and receive contracts and cheque payments through the post. The other six band members simply turn up and play. The band has always played at least twelve gigs a year, but this is likely to increase substantially now that they can commit more time to networking and promotions. As such, they will be required to take a much more professional approach. In addition, several other bands have asked if they will represent them for an agreed fee. As a professional route, this would mean considerable time working as music agents to promote other artists.

Chris and Clive are aware that starting the agency would require a business approach. They would be responsible for; social media marketing, keeping business accounts, providing an updated calendar of events, and keeping track of the communications between themselves, the clients who want to book bands, and the bands who are signed to CC Music.

They realise that technology will play an important part in the business. They have read about Customer Relationship Management software and Enterprise Resource Management software, but just don’t know what kind of information technology support they really need as a small to medium enterprise (SME). They require professional business information technology advice before they can make any final decisions about investing funds in business software. Also, they are very keen on the potential of Open Source Software to keep the cost to a minimum.

Growing CC Music into a full-time small business is also of interest to younger family members who want to be involved. Chris has a daughter and Clive has a niece, both of whom are keen to support the business and potentially manage the business in the future. They have all agreed to run the business in a democratic style and, as such, everyone will have an equal vote on any business decisions. Therefore, CC Music requires a report that can be read and understood by all of them. You are the OIM consultant who is responsible for researching this business and providing a consultancy report.

Your Task

You are a consultant who has been employed to advise CC Music on the effective implementation of strategic changes. You are required to produce the following:

Part A:Analysis – Business Process Models and strategy analysis

In this section you should develop

1.    A series of at least two Business Process Models to capture the existing and your proposed business processes for CC Music. The models should follow the BPMN notation (see for example, http://www.omg.org/bpmn/Documents/Introduction_to_BPMN.pdf). It is recommended that you use Microsoft Visio or similar software to create the models, although you may if you prefer use Word, PowerPoint or appropriate alternatives.

2.    Strategic analysis for CC Music. You should use at least one recognised analysis technique such as SWOT, PESTLE etc

Part B: Open Source Software Comparison Table

In this section, you should conduct research into a suitable software solution for CC Music. You should decide on the set of characteristics which you will use to evaluate the software, and your research should consider 4-5 alternatives in detail. This section should be presented as a table.

Part C: Report

In this section, you should write a report which provides an overview of the current situation for CC Music together with a roadmap outlining how the proposed changes to the business can be achieved to the benefit of the business. This should draw on your analysis in Part A, include your recommendation for software in Part B, and provide recommendations for ensuring that the strategy is effectively implemented, including consideration of the challenges ahead.

This section, should follow a standard report structure:

Title Page – Contents – Introduction – Main Section – Conclusions and Recommendations – References.

Part D:            Reflection on your contribution to the online discussion

In this section you should submit a 250 word reflective summary, accompanied by your own self-assessment of your contribution to the online elements throughout the module, using the table labelled Reflection Self-Assessment Pro forma in Appendix A (copy and paste it into your assignment document) to show your performance. The reflective report should include your detailed reflection, supported with evidence (pasted URLs) from the online discussion, detailed below:

You should use appropriate theories, frameworks, models, that we have covered in the module, to inform and justify your recommendations.

Make full use of the RKC Class Forum Threads to Help With Your Assignment

The unit’s discussion threads should be used by you to explore the assignment further.  It is recommended that you use these to:

§  Share papers and articles that you have found on relevant topics (remember to include links / reference / pdfs if you do this!)

§  Discuss the changes to the ways of working for CC Music – i.e. discuss what processes will change, and explore how these might work in practice. You might also consider the changing information needs of the business

§  Discuss and share examples of Open Source software that could be of use for CC Music.

Please don’t be shy in using these discussion threads – the purpose is to give you experience of using collaborative technologies.  Do not, however, discuss your intended approach to writing your submission or parts of that submission.