Get Original Solution – Task 1: Understanding Management Consultancy Phases and Core Skills Situation Analysis (Consultancy Report): • Scenario: You work as a Security Consultant Team Leader for a UK-based NGO that operates globally, often in challenging environments - EssayQuest

STUDENT ASSESSMENT BRIEF: DISTANCE LEARNING

Unit 2: Security Consultancy Process

Unit Number and Title:	Unit 2: Security Consultancy Process
Assessment	A security consultancy paper and a project team briefing

Assessment tasks

Background information before you start

Further details, a description of the organisation, its activities and its current Security Risk Management framework can be seen at Annex A and B. Please also see Annex D for Task 2. Read these first in line with this assignment as they add contextual background and important information relevant for these two tasks.

Identify situations when the organisation (Annex A & B) may find it helpful to use the services of a consultant, explaining the benefits this approach offers to the organisation, and how a consultant can add value. Consider the importance of using a consultant to help support the client’s needs and overcoming potential barriers when initiating change.

Task 1: Understanding Management Consultancy Phases and Core Skills

Situation Analysis (Consultancy Report):

Scenario: You work as a Security Consultant Team Leader for a UK-based NGO that operates globally, often in challenging environments.
Objective: Identify when the organisation might benefit from hiring a consultant and explain how consultants add value.

Elements to Consider

Explain the phases of Management Consultancy.

Describe the skills needed for successful Management Consultancy.

Discuss strategies to overcome risks and challenges during a consultancy intervention.

Explain how security consultants enhance an organisation.

Learning outcomes and assessment criteria LO1 AC 1.1, 1.2, 1.3,1.4.

Task 2: Understanding the Consultancy Life Cycle in a Security Context

Project Briefing:

Context: You lead a team in a Security Consultancy Project Intervention.

Client Request: The client wants a change management program to establish a security- conscious culture across the organisation.
Your Task: Create a brief analysing the consultancy life cycle that best suits the project outlined in Annex D. Show the expected deliverables at each stage.

Elements to Consider:

Analyse the consultancy life cycle and its stages.

Discuss how the consultancy cycle applies in a security context.

Explain how consultancy projects are planned, controlled, and delivered.

Evaluate data sources for security consultancy projects.

Discuss effective ways to present consultancy findings and conclusions to the client.

Learning outcomes and assessment criteria

LO2 AC 2.1, 2.2

LO3 AC 3.1, 3.2, 3.3

Delivery Format

Deliver the brief to your team using one of the following methods:

Written document

Presentation e.g. PowerPoint (with supplementary notes)

Recorded presentation (with accompanying handout)

Remember, the key is to meet the specified requirements while ensuring clarity and relevance.

Structure and Guidance

The brief should have:

An introduction – explaining what you will cover and why
A main body covering the task contents
A summary and conclusion with recommendations for the client

The brief is to be written and delivered in a format suitable for reading by organizational management.

Information and Guidance

Template – A template has been provided to assist with the structure of your written assignments. This can be found alongside this brief and should be used when completing your work.

References – All diagrams, quotations and sources of information and content are to be fully and correctly Harvard referenced.

General – The word count for task 1 should be between 1500 – 2500 words, not including your reference list, tables or figures included. Your introduction and conclusion should take approx. 10% of your word count and the rest should be balanced between the other learning outcomes. If you choose to use a written document for task 2, the above word count and guidance applies.

This is a formal piece of work that could be used by an organisation and therefore, it should be written in a way that the reader understands. No jargon or acronyms please without explaining them in full the first time you use them.

Proofread and spell-check your work. It can be helpful to ask someone else to read and check for errors before you submit.

Formatting – Your work should be 1.5 spaced and font should be in Calibri, Ariel or Times Roman, font size 12



This assessment uses the following Unit learning outcomes:
LO 1	Understand management consultancy phases and core skills
LO 2	Understand the consultancy life cycle in a security context
LO 3	Understand the management of a consultancy project

Submission details
Assessment drafts should be sent to your designated tutor via email before the final version is submitted. Once the final version is ready, the assessment should be submitted electronically. Please use the relevant submission point in the Unit area named SRMC Level 6 – Unit 2 Assignment. Submit using the link that looks like this: Please upload your Unit 2 assignment below for marking. Please do NOT date your assignments as your work will only be submitted for marking once all tasks are complete. Submit your Unit 2 assignment here Please save your Unit 2 assignment as a single word document not PDF using the naming convention:

Surname_Unit 2_SRMC 6

Y/N	POINTS TO CHECK – HAVE YOU?
	Read and understood all of the Assignment Brief?
	Read and understood the assessment criteria?
	Met the learning outcomes and used the titles and annotations?
	Used an academic tone throughout your work? Is your work formal, focused, and clear without slang or jargon?
	Checked that the referencing in your work is correct?
	Proof-read and checked your spelling and grammar?
	Confirmed that the work submitted is your own and not plagiarised?

LO1 – Understand management consultancy phases and core skills

The learner must discuss and explain situations when the organisation may require the use of a consultant. The benefits of the chosen approach must be discussed and evidenced. Reasons for the use of a consultant must include the following:

Unique solutions that reflect the circumstances and aspirations of the client.

Speed, because the consultancy team (unlike the in-house management) isn’t distracted by other tasks.

Knowledge of ‘best practice’ and effective solutions from within the client’s industrial/commercial sector. SME experience.

Exposure to expertise derived from other industries and sectors.

Provision of specific technical skills that are non-existent or in short supply in-house, and often the transfer of such skills to in-house staff.

Change management skills enhanced by the consultant’s position as independent and objective.

There are many frameworks for management consultancy. Here we are asking the learners to explain and evidence the use of the ‘phases of Management Consultancy’. It must reference the following phases and provide examples of the information the consultant would expect to gain at each stage:

Audit and scoping phase

Detailed analysis and evaluation

Implementation phase

Follow up and feedback phase

Assessment Criteria

Pass

Fail

1.1 Explain the phases of Management Consultancy

This topic is discussed clearly within the task with an appropriate degree of depth of research. The distinct phases/stages of management consultancy have been well summarised and evaluated. Each phase is broken down in detail with an appropriate amount of research to support findings which is fully referenced from reliable and current sources, with use of resources from beyond those provided in the

Unit being important. Effective use of diagrams, tables and matrices effectively explained and relevant to the task.

The topic discussed is poorly expressed with insufficient depth of referenced research and using only limited sources from the Unit pages. There is little or no clarity in evaluation.

Overused and irrelevant/poorly referenced diagrams, tables and matrices.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

1.2 Describe the skills required to successfully engage in Management Consultancy

A good range of evaluation and identification of skills used to support the analysis with a focus on those required to succeed as a consultant, particularly in line with the organisation’s context (Annex A & B).

An appropriate amount of research to support findings which is fully referenced from reliable and current sources, with use of resources from beyond those provided in the Unit being important. Effective use of diagrams, tables and matrices effectively explained and relevant to the task.

Ineffective and weak evaluation of skills requirements requiring further depth of research to meet the assessment criteria.

Overused and irrelevant/poorly referenced diagrams, tables and matrices.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet

1.3 Discuss the strategies used to overcome risks and challenges which may occur during a consultancy intervention

Thorough and effective analysis and evaluation of key consultancy intervention risks, with the potential challenges that are likely to be faced identified. An appropriate amount of research to support findings which is fully referenced from reliable and current sources, with use of resources from beyond those provided in the Unit being important. A well thought out strategy for managing risks has also been well crafted with reference to the organisation (Annex A & B)

Ineffective and weak evaluation of strategy for the management of risk that will require further expansion and further depth of research to meet the assessment criteria.

Overused and irrelevant/poorly referenced diagrams, tables and matrices.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet.

1.4 Explain how a security consultant can add value to an organisation

A well-crafted review of the benefits and value a consultant can add to an organisation with clear and relevant examples and linkages to the NGO. An appropriate amount of research to support findings which is fully referenced from reliable and current sources, with use of resources from beyond those provided in the Unit being important.

Little or no effective, referenced evaluation of the value that a consultant can bring to the NGO. Misidentification of relevant attributes.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet

LO2 – Understand the consultancy life cycle in a security context

The learner must produce a detailed brief to present to their team. The brief must include an analysis of a selection of consultancy cycle methods available and a descriptive explanation for the method chosen for this security consultancy intervention.

The learner may detail several different models but fundamentally it will come down to the type of intervention the learners decide on: problem solving, process or systemic consulting this may also be defined as expert, doctor-patient or process consulting. Well known models include Schein, Lippitt & Lippitt, Königswieser & Hillebrand, Cope.

Assessment Criteria

Pass

Fail

2.1 Understand the consultancy life cycle and the stages within it

A clear, logical and relevant description of the consultancy life cycle that is well structured and referenced in line with the organisational context (Annex A, B and D). Good use of sources to evaluate the optimal lifecycle applicability to the NGO.

Inadequate explanation and understanding of the consultancy life cycle, poorly structured and not linked to the NGO effectively.

Repetition of Task 1 content.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet

2.2 Discuss how the consultancy cycle may be applied in a security context

A comprehensive description of the application of a consultancy intervention in a security context, particularly with a security culture change management program. This has been demonstrated with examples throughout the consultancy cycle and links to the NGO need as stated in Annexes A, B and D.

The stages have not been described and demonstrated in relation to the organisation (Annexes A, B and D) or in enough depth to demonstrate security culture change in practice.

No explicit link to the CPNI 5Es from Annex D. Repetition of Task 1 content.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet

LO3 – Understand the management of a consultancy project

The learner must then detail how the likely project plan (Annex A) will be controlled, monitored and delivered. This section must detail what inputs and deliverables should be planned for and at what stage of the chosen consultancy intervention cycle. Learners should look towards models such as Kotter’s 8 Stage Process for Managing Change (or similar) as well as McKinsey and Porras and Robertson to assist in this stage.

The learners must evaluate a range of methods of gathering and sourcing key information and knowledge for use in consultancy interventions, explaining how to validate and filter the knowledge and data gathered. A range of problem-solving and decision-making tools and techniques may be used in this intervention but reasons for the selected method must be explained with the benefits and limitations of each tool evaluated.

There are many techniques and methods for assessing and managing risks for a consultancy project. The learner’s brief must demonstrate the requirement and reasoning for both qualitive and quantitative risk analysis and provide examples of each.

Assessment Criteria

Pass

Fail

3.1 Discuss how consultancy projects are planned, controlled and delivered

A well-crafted assessment of the importance of a structured and controlled project management process that follows the logical consultancy cycle process. Good use of sources to evaluate the optimal project management approach for the NGO with demonstration of research into wider sources of knowledge and information related to project management.

Weak or no evaluation or recommendations for effective project planning and implementation.

Repetition of Task 1 content.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet

3.2 Evaluate the sources of data and information that can be used in a security consultancy project

A well-presented assessment supported with industry best practice with a good range of material to support the use of both qualitative and quantitative data to inform decisions and strategy in a security consultancy project. Clear, relevant, and well referenced, based on sound, reviewed and reliable sources.

No demonstration of understanding or effective evaluation of effective data and information research, collection and use to inform the project.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet

3.3 Discuss how to deliver consultancy project findings and conclusions to the client

A detailed evaluation that focuses on the importance of providing a solution, a clear strategy for successful implementation and a process to successfully disengage from the consultancy process. The client organisation (Annex A, B and D) information has been utilised to demonstrate this in practice along with well researched information and recommendations for implementation and communication with the client.

Little or insufficient detail on the consultancy findings, solutions, implementation, and delivery plan for the client.

Referencing has not been conducted to standard and work has not been constructed in accordance with the Assignment Brief/Unit Guidance.

Use of weak references from consultancy pages on the internet

Presentation and Referencing

Assessment Criteria

Pass

Fail

N/A

Style and format are to a professional standard. Effective use of spelling and grammar.

Research material is current and from reputable sources. Good use of referencing as per the assignment brief and guidance. Some creativity in the presentation of work within the publication.

Structure is generally in the Assessment Brief.

Style and format are not to a professional standard. Poor use of spelling and grammar.

Some of the research material is significantly outdated and/or not from reputable sources. Significant incorrect use of referencing. No creativity in the presentation of work within the publication.

Structure is significantly different than specified in the Assessment Brief.