MGT1003 ENTREPRENEURSHIP: NEW VENTURE CREATION

Group Report Topic

Your group has been hired as a team of consultants to provide some theoretically sound and practical advice to the Chief Executive Officer of Fine Smallgoods. Founded in 1920, the Fine family of farmers and butchers had a dream to provide the Australian public with the finest quality meat, cured using traditional Italian recipes. In 2021, the Fines are a major supplier of smallgoods to the Australian market. The product range spans across traditional Italian salami, ham, bacon and smallgoods. The family-owned company has state-of-the-art facilities located in Bundoora, Victoria and employs over 250 workers. The company has a very flat organisational structure – the CEO reports to a Board of Directors (made up of members of the Fine family). Each department has a manager, with the production department having supervisors who directly manage the production line workers.

In a recent independent health and safety investigation, the auditor found ‘multiple instances of lax safety practices by front line workers’ and ‘a poor attitude towards safety amongst front line staff, supervisors and middle management’. However, the auditor commended senior management on their general commitment to the safety of workers, but found ‘this has not translated into safe working practices on the factory floor’. The auditor cited several examples of dangerous practices he witnessed on the production line, including workers reaching into meat mincers to remove blockages whilst the mincer was operating; poor manual handling practices; workers not wearing their personal protective equipment; dangerous use of forklifts; equipment such as knives not being put away properly; and safety barriers on machines being removed to speed up the production process.

In his recommendations, the auditor suggested that Fine Smallgoods ‘work towards developing a culture of safety within the organisation’.

Ben Fine, the CEO, is concerned about his workers’ safety. In a private meeting, he commented “It’s just a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or dies on the factory floor. What can I do? We have good procedures. We have spent a lot of money on making sure the factory is safe. But, I can’t make the supervisors and employees follow our safety procedures…..I can’t watch them all the time”.

Ben has hired your group to come up with five recommendations as to how he can create a ‘safety culture’ within Fine Smallgoods. He has asked for a comprehensive Report that he can give to the Board of Directors. The Report should:

1. Briefly outline the legal responsibilities that employers have to ensure a safe workplace
2. Define the term ‘safety culture’ (drawing on appropriate academic literature)
3. Explain how a safety culture can improve safety behaviours of employees (drawing on appropriate academic literature)
4. Identify five recommendations that Fine Smallgoods should implement to improve the safety culture within the organisation. These recommendations may incorporate multiple HRM functions, including performance management, rewards, training and development, recruitment and job

design. For each recommendation, a clear explanation about how this will lead to improved safety behaviours should be provided.

Group Report Submission Requirements

All reference material must be appropriately cited in the text of your Report. Include a separate reference section that includes the full citation information. Follow the style guidelines for the Academy of Management Journal. Note that Wikipedia and similar websites are NOT acceptable sources for this assignment.

Your Report must be typed and have standard margins on all sides. Double-spacing is preferred.

It is essential that your Report be written in a neat, professional, and engaging manner. Check your writing for accuracy in spelling, grammar and punctuation. Convey your ideas in a clear, concise manner, and use appropriate transitions between ideas and sections. La Trobe University has many resources to help you develop your writing skills. Please see your Tutor if you need help.

Please remember that the University takes a very serious view with regard to plagiarism, and you are strongly advised to read the University’s policies on academic integrity at the following website: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/academic-integrity. Please be aware that plagiarism is a form of serious academic misconduct and will be penalised accordingly. Plagiarism detection and prevention software (i.e., Turnitin) is used to aid in identifying possible incidences of plagiarism in written assignments (see http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/it/teaching/turnitin).

Reports are due by 5pm on the due date. Extensions will only be given in documented cases of severe illness or emergency, and will be managed through the University Special Consideration process. Such applications must be accompanied by documentation (i.e., doctor’s certificate). Special Considerations should be submitted no more than three days before and no more than three days after the due date. Please refer to the Subject Learning Guide, your Tutor or the Subject Coordinator if you require further information.

The assignment is to be submitted by one group member via the Assignment submission link in the LMS. To ensure that all group members receive a mark for the assignment, you must include the names and student codes of each group member on the cover page of your assignment. The assignment will be entered into Turnitin automatically when submitted. You can submit the assignment as many times as you like prior to the submission date/time. However, please note that the second and subsequent times you submit the assignment, the originality report from Turnitin will take up to 24 hours to be released.