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Your Name
Your Student Id
Your Trainer’s name
Assessment Due Date
Actual Submission Date
Please Note: Any changes in the assessment due date must be approved by your trainer.
2. This assessment must be in Microsoft word format. Following settings should be made for this assignment
to keep consistency among all the assessments:
3. Do not forget to attach the Cover Sheet at the front of the assessment.
4. Make sure you have signed the Cover sheet to declare this is your own work.
5. You can e-mail this assessment to your trainer’s e-mail address with following details:
In ‘subject’ mention your ‘student Id – Your name’.
Achieving Competence:
Assessment description:
Using the simulated business information provided in this task, and in response to a scenario, you will source,
gather and review data and information and utilise formal and informal networks to identify and analyse
business problems and issues.
Assessment Questions:
1. Read the scenario information provided under CoffeeVille – your brief in Appendix 1.
2. Review and familiarise yourself with Coffeeville’s general business information in Appendix 1.
3. Review and evaluate business performance data and information in Appendix 2.
4. Review and analyse customer and marketing information in Appendix 3.
5. Review and analyse management and staff meeting summaries in Appendix 4.
6. Gather, organise and evaluate the data and information provided in the appendices to identify and analyse
Coffeeville’s potential business problem/s or issue/s.
7. Test the validity and reliability of data and information you have used to identify and analyse the potential
business problem/s or issue/s in Step 6. Check sources of information provided and their credibility and
reliability. Determine if any are ambiguous or contradictory.
8. Choose one of the business problem/s or issue/s you discovered in Step 6. Identify types and sources of
information required to determine appropriate courses of action and support decision makers for your
selected issue or problem.
9. Access and review information available through formal and informal networks relevant to the business
problems or issue. Networks could include formal and informal industry networks, internal business
networks, and social media or internet communities of practice.
10. Prepare a short written report for Rufus and Emma. The report should include the following information.
a. A brief description of all the business problems or issues you have identified.
b. An explanation of how you reached this conclusion including a description of how the data and
information supports your conclusion?
c. A list of the types and sources of data and information required to determine potential causes of the
problem/s or issue/s and to support decision-making for one of the problems or issues you identified.
d. Gather information from at least two sources on your list and briefly describe how they support
decision-making. Attach copies of gathered information to your report.
I. What processes or techniques were used to test the validity and reliability of data and
information you have gathered?
II. What data or information was rejected as it was deemed contradictory or ambiguous?
Specifications
● develop and write complex texts using appropriate conventions and writing styles
● gather and analyse data and seek feedback to improve organisational plans and processes
● Use digital technologies effectively when sourcing, gathering and analysing information to assist in the
management of business operations.
Rufus and Emma Belcastran, CoffeeVille’s owners, have approached you for assistance. The business has been
profitable and steadily expanding for the last 4 years. However, recently expenses have started to climb and
sales are dropping. In the last 3 months they have started to address the issue of rising expenses by evaluating
and updating procedures and work practices in an effort to reduce costs. So far, their efforts have not had a
significant impact on expenditure and their sales revenue continues to be below budget forecasts.
It’s January 2016 and all four stores are closed for a summer break. Emma and Rufus are using the down time to
assess their business’s operational and financial status in preparation for the year ahead.
They have asked you to help them analyse their business and the external environment to identify potential
reasons for their declining sales. Initially, they want you to review and analyse their business data and
information to determine if there is a cause for their concern – what problem/s or issue/s there are and what
information is needed to conduct further analysis to enable decisions to be made.
2009–2011 Consolidated position and market share, sales and profits steadily grew
as reputation spread.
July 2012 Opened second store two blocks south of original store in CBD. This is
the smallest of the stores located in a busy retail and professional area
of town.
July 2013 Opened third store four blocks east of original store in CBD. Slightly
larger than the original CoffeeVille store, it is located in the heart of the
business and legal district of the CBD and in the path of foot traffic from
Southern Cross Station.
July 2014 Opened fourth store on the fringes of the CBD. This is their biggest store
with a larger sit-down area than the other stores.
Initially, partners Emma and Rufus Belcastran shared responsibilities for the management of all areas of their
business. With the organisation expanding, Rufus has taken on the role of Operations Manager across all four
stores while Emma is concentrating more on marketing the new and existing stores.
● 2full-time cooks.
Market analysis
The profile for a CoffeeVille customer consists of the following geographic, demographic, and behaviour factors:
○ Our immediate geographic target is the area of within 500 metres of the cafe.
○ The total area population is estimated at 45,000.
● Demographics
Internal environment
● Staff turnover has been relatively low in the last 18 months once the initial staff training period was
completed for the fourth store.
● Menus for all stores have been updated in the last 12 months, keeping old favourites and introducing new
dishes from around the world.
● Hot dish options in the external catering menu have been modified to reflect these changes while cold
options have remained essentially the same.
External environment
● Utility expenses have risen steadily over the last 18 months due to regular price rises.
● Wages have gone up 15% due to the need to pay higher wages for trained, experienced baristas due to
skills shortages.
● Rents for each of the properties has rise between 10 to 18% in the last 12 months and is expected to rise
again early in 2016.
● Coffee bean prices rose rapidly in early 2014 and stayed high until the end of the year.
● Prices eased slightly in early 2015 but are expected to rise again later in the year due to lower worldwide
production and increased demand. The retail price for all coffee menu items in all stores has been raised
twice in the last 12 months.
● Recently, red meat prices have started to rise with increases of up to 20% in the last six months. So far,
these price rises have been absorbed but Emma and Rufus plan to raise menu prices for meat-based hot
dishes in the cafe and catering menus soon.
Business performance
General trends
● Sales for first 6 months of 2015 are down across all sales categories and stores. Overall, food sales are
down 10%, beverages 12% and catering 17%. When combined with rising expenses, profits are down for
the first half of the financial year by 19%
● After opening a year ago, the fourth store is slowly building customers but is still not performing to
forecasted levels. Most of the marketing budget and Emma’s efforts have been focused on the fourth
store.
Store 1
● Foot traffic is down by 5%.
● Sales are generally steady but not growing as planned. Income is hovering just under budget while profits
are 10–15% below budget due to increased expenses. Emma and Rufus are not overly concerned yet as
the budget forecast figures were based on a 5% increase in sales.
Store 2
● Foot traffic down by 10%.
● Food and beverage sales have been consistently under budget for the July to December period with
budget variances steadily increasing.
● External catering sales are down significantly, especially for November (21%) and December (23%) which
are normally the business’s busiest periods. Catering have now been under budget for the last 18 months
at this store with the budget variance rate steadily increasing.
Store 3
● Foot traffic down 15%.
● Food and beverage sales have been under budget for the July to December period with the highest
budget variance figures for all stores.
● External catering sales have been consistently under budget for the July to December period with
December down 16%. Catering has now been under budget for the last 12 months at this store with the
budget variance rate hovering between 13% and 16%.
Store 4
● Foot traffic up marginally by 0.05%
● External catering is down 5% on average with December bucking the trend and meeting budget.
● Sales have been very flat and not grown as hoped for this store over the last 12 months despite several
promotions and advertising campaigns in the local area.
July–December 2014
Sales $ July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Jan–July 2015
Sales $ Jan Feb Mar April May June Year Total
July–December 2015
Sales $ July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
A positive variance indicates the percentage above budget, a negative figures indicates the percentage below budget.
● Do you deliver to Richmond? I’m going to miss your coffee and healthy salads!
● Expensive coffee
● Just wanted to say farewell. Thanks for excellent coffee every morning. I’ll miss your smiles.
Any café recommendations in Canterbury?
● Lunch with the crew at CoffeeVille. Something for everyone, even our veggie sisters.
Membership Total
Members Active
Inactive^ Cancelled members
2014 * members
2015 #
Store 1 48 43 5 0 48
Store 2 28 20 5 3 25
Store 3 32 21 6 5 27
Store 4 19 15 2 2 17
78% 14% 8%
● Customers are buying less food over summer as they are trying to be healthy and spend less
money in the lead up to Christmas.
● A number expressed concern about the possibility of losing their jobs due to ongoing poor
financial performance of their employer. Many were trying to save money in case this
occurred.
● 38% of customers said they had eaten at CoffeeVille but considered it a treat due to prices.
● Coffee was consistently rated as excellent; however, 58% of respondents who purchased
coffee from CoffeeVille said it wasn’t their primary source.
● Customers who regularly purchased food and/or beverages from CoffeeVille supported their
environmental and socially responsible position.
Survey results
Question Responses
Have you ever visited a Yes 67% No 33%
CoffeeVille store?
What is your purpose for For the coffee 69% To meet others 22%
visiting CoffeeVille? (Can
Get something to eat 46% To relax 15%
choose more than one
store) To read the papers 18%
Have you found your wait No, very fast 48% Waited ages 2%
in line to be too long for
No, pretty quick 32% Very slow 0%
your satisfaction?
A bit slow 18%
● Catering bookings for corporate Christmas parties down across all stores for Nov
and Dec.
● Stores 2 and 3 under sales budget forecasts by 20–30%.
Emma – Owner/Marketing
● Made phone calls and personal visits to all previous clients who have not rebooked
this year.
● Budget constraints common reason for not booking.
● Some using another, cheaper caterer, some are not having a catered Christmas
event.
● Staff from two businesses CoffeeVille catered for last year have mentioned
management are only holding self-catered morning/afternoon tea for staff, no
formal Christmas party. Both businesses employ 20–30 employees.
● All budgets for 2016 have been adjusted to reflect sales and expenses trends.
● Need a sales push to capture foot traffic in city for Christmas shopping.
● Early morning period slower, less coffee and breakfast sales from train station
traffic.
● Lunch time food trade from office staff down. Starting Christmas shopping during
lunch period?
Staff comments
● Several regulars from McKinnon’s say staff Christmas gathering being held off-site
this year, no external catering booked – we catered for them last year.
● Hot food sales down, higher wastage. Preference for salads and sandwich bar.
● Sales manager at XX department store said retail sales are sluggish compared to this
time last year. Lots of looking but not buying. Hoping it will pick up soon.
● Lots of general chatter about economic concerns, terrorism, home interest loan
rates possibly going up after Christmas. General feel of customers is negative.
● Staff expressed concern about job security due to lower revenue figures.
Emma – Owner/Marketing
● Shifting marketing focus from Store 4 back to CBD stores, focus on Stores 2 and 3.
● Customers not spending as much, average daily spend per customer down
compared to previous years.
● One 50+ employee business in building next door moving to new offices out of CBD.
● One 20+ employee financial advisor have moved to new office in suburbs as rent is
cheaper.
● Two For Lease signs for offices in buildings in same block as cafe.
● Lots of chatter from clients working for professional services companies about
business retraction, possible redundancies.