Unit 16 MCKI Assignment-Btechnd Programme BTEC Higher National Diploma in Business Unit Number and Title Unit 16 Managing Communication, Knowledge and Information (MCKI) QFC Level Level 4 & 5
Introduction The report has been prepared for London’s Heathrow airport for the decision making for increasing the capacity of the airport. Various aspects related to communication knowledge and information have been covered in the report. Based on the study conducted for the London’s Heathrow and other aspects the following aspects have been covered in the report
Assess information and knowledge needs
Create strategies to increase personal networking to widen involvement in the decisionmaking process
Develop communication processes
Improve systems relating to information and knowledge
All these aspects have been discussed in the report. The conclusion provides a summary of all the aspects mentioned above.
Task 1: Assessing knowledge needs
information
and
Discuss the range of decisions to be taken by the Heathrow Authorities and Management Based on the information that has been provided, the decision that has to be taken is whether to build a new airport or increase the capacity of the existing airport by building the 3rd runway and a sixth terminal. Both the options will have to be analysed based on the feasibility. However there might be other options that the airport might consider. This may be associated with the operations management. In other words, looking at the strategic location Heathrow its connectivity with domestic airports may be planned wherein more number of passengers can be handled within the same infrastructure. For the decision taken based on the various options that are available, various other decisions may have to be taken by the authorities and the management. These decisions will have an
impact on the option that is selected from the given options. With respect to the development of the new airport, the cost associated with land, infrastructure and regulatory compliance will have to be considered. On the other hand increasing the capacity will require the decisions to be taken with respect to the capacity of the expansion and the customer satisfaction or the impact on the operations. The key issues with respect to both the decisions will be different. Further the impact of the two decisions will have to be accessed. This is to say that the development of new airport will take a longer time period but will cater the needs in the long run while the expansion plans will need to be assessed and will not have much long term preview but will have lower cost. The decisions will have to be taken not only with respect to the two options but also the impact and implementation of the two options. Examine the information and knowledge needed to ensure effective decision taking based on the scenario The Heathrow airport authorities may require different types of information and knowledge in order to ensure effective decision making in this case. These information may range from qualitative (descriptive information), quantitative (statistical data), official and unofficial information, policy and opinion, tacit and explicit knowledge. These have been discussed below
The forecast of the number of passengers from different regions that have to be handled
The impact of decision on environment and other safety factors of local public
The expected cost of development for both the options
The cost benefit analysis of both the decisions
The role of government in the development that will take place
The impact of the decision from the long term perspective
The regulatory aspects associated with the development and expansion of the airports
Certain information that is required will be available from the specific government offices and bodies. For example the tourism department can certainly assist in forecasting the number of visitors that may visit London and use the airport. Further the regulatory aspects and the compliance information will also be available in the form of legal documents in the associated government bodies (Thorton & McGlashan, 2011). For the cost benefit analysis, the complete research will have to be conducted. The airport can employ a different organization to conduct such research and provide information that is required. Thus the information that will be required has to be collected from different department, bodies and sources. Assess internal and external sources of information and understanding based on the scenario
The Heathrow airport authorities will have to consider various sources of information for assessment of the two options that are available. However the information that will be available will be in the two forms, i.e. information available readily from other sources and the information that need to be developed based on the analysis and certain assumptions & expectations (forecasting) With respect to the information on the regulatory aspects, environmental impact and security of the public the norms set by the government will have to be considered and ensured that the compliance of these norms is there. For development of New Airport the information with respect to cost of land, cost of development of infrastructure, the profitability and operations will require feasibility study analysis (Thorton & McGlashan, 2011). This report will require information from both internal and external sources. The internal sources will provide information on the trend in the increase number of visitors, the current capacity, the expected capacity and the operational aspects. On the other hand the external sources will provide information on macro level. The feasibility study will be conducted which will be important from the perspective that the information that will gathered will have to be processed effectively for making decisions.
Task 2: Stakeholders, Personal networking and Decision-making process Identify both internal and external key stakeholders of Heathrow airport who should be involved in the decision-making process in the issue highlighted in the scenario. There are various stakeholders, both internal and external, that will have huge influence on the decision making for increasing the capacity of the airport in handling the increase in number of passengers. The key internal stakeholders are the shareholders and the employees of the company (Cooper, 2004). The department head will serve as the representative of the employee and will certainly provide additional information that will be helpful in developing the strategy based on the factors that impact the operations, financing and the customer satisfaction. The key external stakeholder that need to be included in the decision making process is the government. The representatives of the key government bodies, both local level as well as at national level, will form part of the team representing the external stakeholder. The government will play a key role in the decision making process as the various aspects will have to be considered such as
Support in having access to additional land for increasing the capacity or development of new airport.
Ensuring the development of safety measures for the local public
Support for developing facilities that will reduce the environmental impact and discontent of the people, particularly those living on the area close to the airport.
Assisting in the funding as airport infrastructure requires huge investment
The above points with respect to the role of the government show that the government has a huge role to play in the business sustainability. So it is important that the government or the
authoritative Order Now
body
is
involved
in
the
decision
making
process.