INF80001 Advanced Business Analysis Assignment 01 2025 | SUT

Business Analysis at Udderly Good Dairy

This is an individual assignment. Please do NOT plagiarise. (Advice available through the Swinburne library website)

Learning Objectives for Assignment 1 involve Unit Learning Outcomes 1 and 2:

• Develop and apply an advanced and integrated knowledge of the principles, analytical methods and approaches of business analysis to resolve business problems in a contemporary organisational context.
• Critically evaluate proposed solutions to business problems to determine the best fit with business requirements using decision-making tools to meet the original stakeholder needs. 

INF80001 Assignment Details 

The assignment is made up of a number of sequential parts, detailed below.

Please ensure you number each part of the final report. 

INF80001 Case Details 

Udderly Good Dairy was formed from the merger of a number of dairy cooperatives and is based largely in and around Bairnsdale, Victoria. It has a Head Office (administrative) in Melbourne, and small presences in New Zealand, China, Singapore and London. One business unit (Animal Husbandry and Production) is involved in the production of milk (oversight of all the dairy farms they own, and transportation of fresh milk to processing plants), while another business unit (Dairy Processing) has been formed to manage all dairy processing (including cheese and yogurts, ice creams, dried milk products, and baby formula). Another part of its business, Udderly Good Dairy Services, looks after the marketing, export and distribution of all its dairy products across Australia, New Zealand, and has already established a small office in the UK, hoping to capitalise on BREXIT. Udderly Good Dairy Services also liaises very closely with the Victorian Dairy Marketing Board (VDMB), and frequently seeks the latest research and marketing information from VDMB, and works closely with them whenever reviewing its marketing initiatives and whether or not it should enter into new export markets. Over the years, Udderly Good Dairy Services has established a strong relationship with VDMB, and to a large extent, Udderly Good Dairy's decision to enter into collaborative business arrangements with local agents in Singapore and China to manage the distribution of goods in those markets was based on sound advice from VDMB.

Udderly Good Dairy has, for many years now, been a significant employer in the Gippsland region in particular, and hence has been well-regarded by local communities. However, with government initiatives to increase housing affordability by encouraging the growth of regional centres supported by fast rail links to Melbourne, there is increasing pressure to develop land for new housing. New residents do not hold any great affection for Udderly Good Dairy, do not appreciate Udderly Good Dairy' history and contribution to the local economy, and instead, Udderly Good Dairy is starting to receive increasing complaints about milk tankers near new housing estates, smells, polluted waters close to dairy farms, and so on. 

It is fair to say that while all the affected dairy cooperatives were supportive of the decision to merge and form Udderly Good Dairy, life seems much more complex and uncertain now. There is no deep management experience in Udderly Good Dairy, with many Board members previously owning and managing their farms, but finding it difficult to think more strategically, and at times are seen as representing the interests of their previous cooperatives, rather than acting in Udderly Good Dairy's best interests. The Board did however agree that they needed to put in place a strong management team to take the company forward, and appointed a new CEO, Janet Kingdom, to take over the management of Udderly Good Dairy, and move the organisation forward as it faces numerous challenges to its current sound position in the market. It is facing increasing competition from organisations in New Zealand and Canada, who produce and export very similar products to Udderly Good Dairy. 

Amongst Janet's first tasks was to try to understand the challenges facing Udderly Good Dairy, and from this to create a strategic plan for the organisation that has the support of the Board and other key stakeholders. There is no strong strategic plan in place, and Janet is concerned that a plan is now needed to ensure that coherent decisions are made across the organisation and that all actions and initiatives serve to promote the interests of customers and of Udderly Good Dairy itself. She is worried about the growing complaints from new residents moving into the Gippsland region, as she believes that having the strong support from local communities is very important to the success of the business. In looking at some of the data presented to her from the business units, she notes with concern that spoilage of dairy products being shipped to the northern areas of Western Australia, Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory has been increasing, especially during the summer months, and learns that a poor relationship has developed between Udderly Good Dairy Services and Long Haulage, the company they rely on to deliver products by truck all around Australia. 

Janet also learns that Udderly Good Dairy is regarded as having reasonable, reliable IT, but has not invested in what might be described as recent leading-edge technologies. Coming from the Banking sector, where ICT is regarded as critical to long-term strategy and success, Janet is surprised by this and makes a mental note that this needs to be examined in a lot more detail. She briefs the Board on her concerns and seeks their support for an organisation-wide analysis of current ICT capabilities and business opportunities.

In response to Janet's voiced concerns about increasing competition and challenges in their business environment, Udderly Good Dairy Board agree to support a business analysis initiative, performed by external consultants, to analyse their current situation and offer advice as to possible strategies and technology solutions that might help them achieve improved business outcomes, such as reduced operating costs, increases in revenues, help 'green' their operations, and/or position them to better respond to the initiatives of their competitors. 

You work for an external consultant, Marron Strategic Services, and have been asked to undertake several initiatives to contribute to the overall business analysis.

Submission and Due Date 

Please submit via Canvas not later than AEST 11.59 pm 30Mar 2025. 

In addition, please retain a soft copy for your records, in case of any difficulties in uploading to Canvas. If your assessment goes astray, whether your fault or ours, you will be required to reproduce it. 

Extensions and Late Submission

 Please reread the section on Extensions and Late Submission that can be found in the Unit Outline. Extension requests must be directed to the unit convenor. Late submission of an assessment will result in a late penalty being applied as required by Swinburne University assessment guidelines. 

Note that extensions are not usually granted unless applied for well in advance of the due date. If extensions are applied for, you may be asked to supply all working documents (drafts of the assignment, research notes, etc) so that I can assess whether you have put in a reasonable amount of work in advance of the submission date.

Assessment Help 

If you have any queries or concerns, you may discuss them with the convener in the Canvas discussion board in the appropriate discussion forum or by email. 

IT Technical Help 

Technical assistance on any IT-related issues can be obtained from the Swinburne Service Desk (03) 9214 5000.