Business report

MSM7039 Business Challenge 2021/22 NRW

MSM7039 Business Solutions and Transformation

Business Challenge

Business: Natural Resources Wales (NRW)

Scenario: The North Cardiff Woodland Project

2021/22

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Background

The Business Solutions and Transformation module aims to provide an authentic and holistic overview of business and management. Work based issues are seldom solely focused on a single discipline or function within an organisation and require leaders and managers to integrate their knowledge and understanding of wider organisational needs and consequences when solving problems and/or making decisions.

Students will be organised into project teams comprising four or five members. Each individual project team will select a leader. Teams will be responsible for the management of themselves and associated tasks and assessments, including individual and collective contributions.

Project teams will need to consider the business challenge, understand the organisational context, analyse the issues and use appropriate problem-solving techniques, academic/industry literature and theory to develop a viable and practicable solution. Project teams will be provided with an opportunity to ask follow-up questions of the business organisation before finalising their findings and solution as part of the formal interview for the PRES1 assessment. NB: Teams will also need to produce signed terms of reference and a code of conduct to guide their work for this assignment.

The Business Solutions and Transformation module is a project-based module in which the teaching content and assessment is based around the business challenge. There are a number of assessments to be completed relating directly to the business challenge and these are outlined in the module handbook. Please read this handbook and assessment briefs very carefully and make sure that you fully understand what is required of you.

Teamwork

You are expected to work as a member of a team to complete this assessment. On employment, you may find yourself working as a member of a team tasked with specific objectives. As with the workplace, you will have to exhibit professionalism to ensure the task is completed successfully. Each team member therefore is expected to contribute equally to the completion of this assessment. It is unacceptable for an individual to succumb to social loafing, not contribute equally, but benefit from the work of others. Individual marks will be adjusted to reflect this should it occur.

The Business Challenge

Introduction

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is the largest Welsh Government Sponsored Body - employing 1,900 staff across Wales with a budget of £180 million. It was formed in April 2013, largely taking over the functions of the Countryside Council for Wales, Forestry Commission Wales and the Environment Agency in Wales, as well as certain Welsh Government functions. It receives a Remit Letter at the start of each financial year setting out what the Welsh Government wants it to achieve during that year.

Its roles and responsibilities include:

· Adviser: principal adviser to Welsh Government, and adviser to industry and the wider public and voluntary sector, and communicator about issues relating to the environment and its natural resources

· Regulator: protecting people and the environment including marine, forest and waste industries, and prosecuting those who breach the regulations that we are responsible for

· Designator: for Sites of Special Scientific Interest – areas of particular value for their wildlife or geology, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), and National Parks, as well as declaring National Nature Reserves

· Responder: to some 9,000 reported environmental incidents a year as a Category 1 emergency responder

· Statutory consultee: to some 9,000 planning applications a year

· Manager/Operator: managing seven per cent of Wales’ land area including woodlands, National Nature Reserves, water and flood defences, and operating our visitor centres, recreation facilities, hatcheries and a laboratory

· Partner, Educator and Enabler: key collaborator with the public, private and voluntary sectors, providing grant aid, and helping a wide range of people use the environment as a learning resource; acting as a catalyst for others’ work

· Evidence gatherer: monitoring our environment, commissioning and undertaking research, developing our knowledge, and being a public records body

· Employer: of almost 1,900 staff, as well as supporting other employment through contract work

Structure

Natural Resources Wales provides eight services operating across seven places:

Services:

· Natural Resources Management

· Regulation

· Flood Risk Management

· Incident Management

· Land Stewardship

Plus, three services which support the external services we provide above:

· Evidence

· Commercial

· Corporate Services

Places:

· North East Wales

· North West Wales

· Mid Wales

· South West Wales

· South Central Wales

· South East Wales

· Marine and Development Planning

Natural Resources Wales is governed by a Board whose purpose and scope is outlined below.

Purpose:

The role of the Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Board is to:

· establish the vision and strategic direction and maintain oversight of NRW

· provide effective strategic leadership; defining and approving strategic direction and setting challenging objectives

· promote high standards of public finance, upholding the principles of regularity, propriety and value for money

· ensure that NRW’s activities are conducted efficiently and effectively

· oversee and monitor top-level performance to ensure that NRW fully meets its aims, objectives and performance targets

The Board must ensure that effective arrangements are in place to provide assurance on risk management, governance and internal control. It must establish an Audit and Risk Assurance Committee chaired by a non-executive member (but not the Chair) to provide it with independent advice. The Board is also expected to assure itself of the effectiveness of internal control and risk management systems.

Scope:

The Board is responsible for defining and approving the long-term vision and strategy for NRW to meet its responsibilities and duties under the Natural Resources Body for Wales (functions) Order 2013, Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, Environment (Wales) Act 2016 and all other relevant legislation.  

Members of the Board are collectively responsible to the Welsh Government for ensuring that NRW embeds the principles of sustainable management of natural resources throughout the way we work, and that the environment and natural resources of Wales are:

· sustainably maintained

· sustainably enhanced

· sustainably used

More information can be found at https://naturalresources.wales/about-us?lang=en

Business Challenge Statement

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have undertaken an extensive survey  investigating the use of woodland in North Cardiff, which links into Cardiff Council’s Coed Caerdydd project, and a potential to link to Welsh Government’s (WG) National Forest. The aim of the survey was to identify and understand the various stakeholders, and help generate a co-produced management approach where multiple land owners (public, private), competing land uses (biodiversity, recreation), and site visitors (local and further afield) can be co-ordinated and developed.

The Coed Caerdydd project identifies a number of benefits including ‘enhanced and extended partnership working… [and the] development of offshoot business activities’ (Coed Caerdydd, 2020, p.10). Within the North Cardiff Wood Project NRW will need to consider how it can reconcile the needs of all stakeholders, within an appropriate co-production framework, including supporting Coed Caerdydd in oder to achieve its objectives and realize its benefits.

How can NRW take into account the balancing of these trade-offs, which will inevitably require some consideration of both short term and long term outputs and needs? How might you assist NRW in developing a co-production management framework in its North Cardiff Woodland initiative?

Task

Students, working in teams, are required to study and investigate the business challenge and develop an appropriate viable and practicable solution by applying learning and theory from this module, independent study and wider relevant academic and industry studies & literature. The solution must be informed by literature, theory and current thinking and research in this field.

Objective

Develop a solution that is realistic, practicable and acceptable to the business, and one which is underpinned by contemporary management practice and academic theory and literature. Present this as a proposal that also considers the implementation of the solution.

MSM7039 2020/21 4