Student Assessment – All Task

BSBSTR601 Manage Innovation And Continuous

Improvement
 Contents

Introduction 3
Assessment Task 1: Knowledge questions 4
Assessment Task 2: Project Portfolio 7
 Introduction

The assessment tasks for BSBSTR601 Manage innovation and continuous improvement are
outlined in the assessment plan below. These tasks have been designed to help you demonstrate
the skills and knowledge that you have learnt during your course.
Please ensure that you read the instructions provided with these tasks carefully. You should also
follow the advice provided in the BSBSTR601 Student Assessment User Guide. The Student User
Guide provides important information for you relating to completing assessment successfully.

Assessment for this unit

BSBSTR601 Manage innovation and continuous improvement describes the skills and knowledge
required to sustain and develop an environment in which continuous improvement, innovation and
learning are promoted and rewarded.
For you to be assessed as competent, you must successfully complete two assessment tasks:

 Assessment Task 1: Knowledge questions – You must answer all questions correctly.

 Assessment Task 2: Project – You must work through a range of activities and complete a
project portfolio.
 Assessment Task 1: Knowledge questions

Information for students

Knowledge questions are designed to help you demonstrate the knowledge which you have
acquired during the learning phase of this unit. Ensure that you:

 review the advice to students regarding answering knowledge questions in the BSBSTR601
Student Assessment User Guide

 comply with the due date for assessment which your assessor will provide

 adhere with ILI submission guidelines

 answer all questions completely and correctly

 submit work which is original and, where necessary, properly referenced

 submit a completed cover sheet with your work

a) avoid sharing your answers with other students.

Questions
Provide answers to all of the questions below:

1. Outline two methods for conducting cost-benefit analysis.

There are following two methods for conducting cost-benefit analysis

a) Net Present Value Model: Net Present Value (NPV), most commonly used to estimate
the profitability of a project, is calculated as the difference between the present value of
cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows over the project’s time period. If the
difference is positive, it’s a profitable project and if its negative, then it’s not worthy.

It is represented by the following equation:

NPV = ∑ Present Value of Total Future Benefits – ∑ Present Value of Total Future Costs

b) Benefit-Cost Ratio: Benefit-Cost provides value by calculating the ratio of the sum of the
present value of the benefits associated with a project against the sum of the present
value of the costs associated with a project.

It is represented by the following equation:

BCR = ∑ Present Value of Total Future Benefits / ∑ Present Value of Total Future Costs

Reference 1: Cost-Benefit Analysis - Definition, Steps, How to Do? (wallstreetmojo.com)

2. List three ways that knowledge management systems can be established in an

organisation.

1. Tutoring & training, communities of practice, and Q&A

These examples all involve transferring information directly from the knowledge holder to
other employees.

This could be through in-person tutoring, company-wide training sessions, online chats,
and group discussions – or a mix of these options and others.

2. Documentations, guides, guidelines, FAQ, and tutorials

 Written communications are great for storing and transferring knowledge.

With text-based knowledge management, a system to store, categorize and navigate

subjects is always available.

3. Forums, intranets, and collaboration environments

These online resources spark conversation and bring many knowledge holders into the
same place.

Threads, subforums, and groups can be divided by topic, level of expertise, or any number
of other classifications.
Reference: Knowledge Management: Importance, Benefits, Examples [2023] (valamis.com)

3. Complete the table to identify and explain three types of continuous improvement
systems/processes that can be used in an organisation. The first row has been
completed as an example for you to follow.

System or Process Explanation

Continuous improvement This sets out actions to be taken into the future.
plan

PCDA – The Deming This cycle consists of 4 stages (plan, do, check and act)
cycle mainly aims at improving the product/service by collecting
valuable knowledge and learnings.

Feedback form This form is used to collect feedback from the relevant
stakeholders. Then it is analysed in order to update the
existing strategies accordingly for continuous improvement.

Six sigma It is about improving business capabilities by elimination the

errors detected.

Reference link: Continuous Improvement Processes - Choosing the right one for your
business (viima.com)

4. Complete the following table regarding creativity and innovation theories and concepts.

List one creativity and Summarise the theory, including key concepts
one innovation theory

Disruptive innovation Disruptive innovation is the process in which a smaller

company, usually with fewer resources, can challenge an
established business (often called an “incumbent”) by
entering at the bottom of the market and continuing to move
 up-market. This process usually happens over several steps:

 Incumbent businesses innovate and develop their

products or services to appeal to their most
demanding and/or profitable customers, ignoring the
needs of those downmarket.

 Entrants target this ignored market segment and gain

traction by meeting their needs at a reduced cost
compared to what is offered by the incumbent.

 Incumbents don’t respond to the new entrant,

continuing to focus on their more profitable
segments.

 Entrants eventually move upmarket by offering

solutions that appeal to the incumbent’s
“mainstream” customers.

The basic premise behind the Six Thinking Hats is that most people
Six thinking hats
think and reason in a specific way based on their personality type.
This means that a more emotional person may generate ideas
differently than a more analytical person, and vice-versa. Similarly,
a pessimist will approach a situation very differently than an
optimist.

An example of the benefit of running the thinking hats techniques is

therefore to encourage different perspectives to be shared, seen and
discussed as part of the decision making process.

The six types of “Thinking Hats” are:

 White Hat: Similar to the calm and pure emotions

associated with the colour white, this type of thinking
focuses on analytical, objective thinking, with an emphasis
on facts and feasibility.
 Red Hat: We often associate the colour red with anger
and heat and hence this represents emotional thinking,
subjective feelings, perception, and opinion.
 Black Hat: The colour black has been stereotypically
linked with doom and gloom and so this forms a type of
thinking that is critical, sceptical, focused on risks, and
identifying problems.
 Yellow Hat: Often symbolising sunshine and happiness,
the yellow hat is about thinking optimistic, speculative,
best-case scenarios.
 Blue Hat: Blue being the colour of the sky and high above
creates a sense of structured thinking, high-level overview
of the situation, the big picture.
 Green Hat: Associated with the colour of trees and
nature, the green hat is about creative, associative
thinking, new ideas, brainstorming, out-of-the-box.
 Reference link: Six Thinking Hats - Problem Solving & Brainstorming Techniques
(groupmap.com)

5. Discuss (in one or two paragraphs) three principles that are relevant to organisation
learning. In your answer, identify the principles and explain what each one means as an
organisational learning principle.

Team Learning: it is a process in which individuals working together engage in joint sense-
making and discover and share knowledge to achieve desired results or assigned outcomes.
However, many teams today work virtually due to various constraints or due to their
international affiliations.

System thinking: it is a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system's
constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger
systems

Shared vision: it refers to a clear and common picture of a desired future state that members
of an organization identify with themselves – essentially a vision that has been internalized by
members of the organization. It is also a universally agreed and expected position that the
organization will take.

6. Complete the following table regarding quality management and continuous

improvement theories.

List one quality Summarise the theory, including key concepts

management and one
continuous improvement
theory

Total quality management (TQM) is the continual process of

Total quality Management
detecting and reducing or eliminating errors in manufacturing,
streamlining supply chain management, improving the
customer experience, and ensuring that employees are up to
speed with training. Total quality management aims to hold
all parties involved in the production process accountable for
the overall quality of the final product or service.

Following are the key principle of TQM:

 customer focus,
 employee involvement,
 integrated system,
 process-centric approach,
 systematic flow,
 continual efforts,
 fact-based decision-making,
 and relationship management
 The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle is a four-step problem-
The PDCA cycle
solving iterative technique used to improve business processes.

Plan - A well-defined project plan provides a framework for

operations. Importantly, it should reflect the organization’s mission
and values. It should also map the project's goals and clearly
indicate the best way to attain them.

Do - This is the step where the plan is set in motion. The plan was
made for a reason, so it is important for players to execute it as
outlined. This stage can be broken down into three sub-segments,
including training of all personnel involved in the project, the actual
process of doing the work, and recording insights, or data, for
future evaluation.

Check - Typically, there should be two checks throughout the

project. First, checks alongside implementation ensure the
project's objectives are being met. Second, a more
comprehensive review of the project carried out upon
completion addresses the successes and failures so that
future adjustments can be made.
Act - The final step is to take corrective action once past
mistakes have been identified and resolved. The PDCA
Cycle is repeated and can be redefined perhaps to better
results under new guidelines.

Reference link: Total Quality Management Principles and Continual Improvement

(greycampus.com)

7. Discuss three concepts associated with risk management. As part of your answer,
provide an example of how each concept may relate to organisational learning.

A risk comprises a threat and a vulnerability of an asset, defined as follows:

 Threat: Any natural or man-made circumstance that could harm an organizational

asset

 Vulnerability: The absence or weakness of a safeguard in an asset that makes a threat

potentially more likely to occur, or likely to occur more frequently

 Asset: An asset is a resource, process, product or system that has some value to an
organization and must be protected

The threat, vulnerability and assets are known as the risk management triples. It is the main
concept that is covered in risk management from the CISSP exam perspective. Risk can never
be completely eliminated. Any system or environment, no matter how secure, can eventually
be compromised.
 Threat x vulnerability = risk

Some threats or events, such as natural disasters, are largely unpredictable. Therefore, the
main goal of risk management is risk mitigation that involves reducing risk to a level that’s
acceptable to an organization. There are three main elements of which risk management is
comprised of:

 Identification

 Analysis

 Control

Reference link: Risk management concepts and the CISSP (part 1) [updated 2021] | Infosec
Resources (infosecinstitute.com)

8. Explain how to conduct a gap analysis of an organisational system.

The GAP analysis is a process of comparing the current state with the desired state for an
organization and creating solutions to meet their goal.

When gap refers to how far you are behind your target point; GAP analysis takes you to that point.

It is a method that examines all strategies and possible opportunities to provide optimization. Plus,
you can use it for a single process or the entire business; and apply in various areas such as sales,
financial performance, employee satisfaction or productivity.

Moreover, it could also be considered as strategic or operational approaches which are both
concrete. Thus, operational approach focuses on daily work, while strategic one focuses on
planning and future strategies.

How to conduct GAP analysis:

1) Identify your current state

Before heading towards the goal, first, you need to be aware of your existing situation and your
main focus. You should direct your focus on whichever processes or features you want to improve

2) Identify your desired state

With a conscious of what your organization is doing, you can set your target point.

Having goals and pursuing them make you idealistic, yet knowing your strengths and weaknesses
help you to be realistic at the same time. To determine reasonable goals, you must know what your
organization is and isn’t capable of doing.

3) Go back to the current state and define the gap

Now you know where you stand as an organization and where you want to be. After determining
the gap, you need to examine the reasons behind it.

You should find what caused this gap; how it came out and which factors or deficiencies played a
role. It’s time to handle the gap in between.

4) Create solutions
If you discovered why the gap occurs, you can take action to fix it. Start with evaluating possible
solutions and deciding which ones are applicable to the problem.

5) List the possible solutions

Which way is the best to close the gap? Consider all the suitable options and how you can benefit
from them.

6) Compare with pro’s and con’s

You might need to reconsider your options with their pros and cons. Bringing a new solution for an
existing issue may cause a potential problem or it may cost too much and cause loss.

Therefore, approaching problems from different angles helps you to eliminate unprofitable opinions.

7) Overview of the solutions

After comparing them, choose the most suitable solutions. Review them and make a plan about
how you will implement it. Therefore, the solutions are maybe the most important steps of how to
conduct gap analysis.

8) Bridge the gap

In this stage, you need to share your plan with your organization and present it to others. In order
to implement the changes you plan to make, approval of these people may be necessary. So you
should be prepared to convince them. You can have your action plan that leads you.

Reference link: How to Conduct a GAP Analysis: Tips, Tools, and Examples! (someka.net)
 Contents

Section 1: Continuous improvement and innovation review

Section 2: Plan and implement continuous improvement and innovation
Section 3: Continuous improvement and innovation monitoring and evaluation

STUDENT VERSION

MANAGE CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT AND
INNOVATION
BSBSTR601
Student name:
Assessor:
Date:
Business (and work area if
relevant) this assessment is
based on:
Role:
What role will you assume?
How does this role contribute
to the broader work goals?
SUSHMA SHRESTHA
19/03/2023
Worlducation Pty Ltd
General Manager
My my responsibility is to manage the team and plan for changes,
opportunities, and implementing new ideas.
The CEO has given me the freedom to select a team of 3 to 5 people
from any of the staff members. He would like the team to meet at least
once a month and contribute towards a Continuous Improvement
Plan. This role overseas all other employees and reports to the CEO.
BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 13
 Section 1: Continuous improvement and innovation
review

Summarise the business or work area.

Review organisational The documents I have read is the simulation pack.

documentation
The policies and procedure which will guide my approach to
Which documents did you approvals, project management and change management are as
read? follows:
Which policies and  The internal communication policy and procedures
procedures will guide your
 The external communication policy and procedures
approach to approvals,
project management and  WHS policies and procedures
change management?
 Code of conduct
Attach the documents
 Diversity and inclusion policies and procedures
(including the notes you made
as you read them) to this Documents to review are as follows:
section of the portfolio.
 Strategic Plan (2021-2023)
Attach the policy and
 Operational Plan 2022
procedures (including the
notes you made as you read  Organisational structure
them) to this section of the
 Performance overview
portfolio.
 Staff survey

Products and services Worlducation is a social start-up which produces the followings:
What are the products and  Tablet computers for primary school students
services?
 Creates software.

 Content and activities to better engage and educate the

students
Worlducation provides services to businesses by selling tablet
computers however, the long-term plan is also to tackle a business to
consumer strategy.
The organisation main aim is to change the way students are learning
at school by implementing artificial intelligence to technology. This
will actually follow up on every child’s progress and adjust to their
needs as they learn, creating the optimal learning experience.

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 14

Objectives
List the key business
objectives.

Key decision makers

Who are the key decision
makers (stakeholders to
whom you will report or seek
advice from)?

Operational processes
Describe key operational
processes.

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 15

Supply chain
Summarise the supply chain
associated with the work area
or organisation.

Performance Improvement
Which strategies are currently
used to monitor and evaluate
the performance and
sustainability of key systems
and processes?
Discuss the current
continuous improvement
systems, processes, and
innovations being used.

Policies and procedures

What are the organisational
requirements for approvals,
change management, project
management and knowledge
management?

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 16

Summarise and analyse current performance to identify changes and improvement opportunities.

Analyse performance to
identify performance
variances from existing plans.
Summarise the performance
outcomes of your business.
Include mathematical
information in your summary
How has the current business
performance varied from what
was planned?
Attach documents showing
performance information as
evidence that you’ve collected
the information.

Identify and analyse trends

and opportunities
Describe current trends and
opportunities associated with
industry in which the business
operates.
Analyse how these trends
and opportunities impact the
business.

Analyse supply chains and operational and service systems to identify changes, improvements, and
new ideas
Perform Gap Analysis using the table provided to describe the current state of the supply chain and
operational and service systems and the desired state of the supply chain and operational and service
systems. Also identify solutions to bridge any gaps and the cost-benefit calculations of the solutions.
You may identify more than one solution per issue

Current state Future state Gap solutions Cost; -benefit

(at least four issues) (these may be changes,
improvement opportunities
and new ideas)

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 17

 Set objectives
What are the objectives for
improving how things work?
What are the continuous
improvement objectives and
desired outcomes?

Identify team members and seek their input.

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 18

Identify at least two team 
members
Who in the team do you
believe is instrumental to
ensuring continuous
improvement and innovation?
Give your rationale for this.

Best practices 
Describe best practice ways
of working that teams can use
to achieve continuous
improvement and to be
innovative. Give at least four
examples.

Learning opportunities 
What learning opportunities
exist for the team to improve
their skills and knowledge in
relation to continuous
improvement and innovation?
Describe at least two.

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 19

Seek input
Insert a screen shot of your
email to the team members or
attach it as evidence to this
section of your portfolio.

Attach: Documents and policies and procedures ☒

Performance information ☒

Email to team members ☒

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 20

 Section 2: Plan and implement continuous
improvement and innovation

Select most appropriate changes/opportunities/new ideas.

Select most appropriate

changes, opportunities, and
new ideas.
Choose three solutions (from
your Gap analysis) to focus
on as part of your continuous
improvement efforts.
These should be the best
solutions based on your Gap
analysis and cost-benefit
calculations.
Say why you chose these
three issues (consider
resources, needs and
constraints)

Plan for continuous improvement.

Continuous Improvement Plan for Worlducation

Continuous improvement systems and processes

Key actions, resources, constraints and timeframes

Describe key actions, resources, constraints, and timeframes to achieve continuous improvement and
innovation as you implement your chosen changes/opportunities/new ideas. List at least six key
actions.

Change/Opportunity/ Key actions related to Resources Constraints Time

new idea continuous frames
improvement and
innovation (e.g.,
brainstorming,
implementing

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 21

 improvement registers,
updating policies etc.)

Impact
Describe the impact the changes/opportunities/new ideas and associated actions will have on the
organisation or work area as well as the consequences for people.
Describe actions or transition plans (following the policies and procedures that address approvals,
project management and change management) that to will be taken to manage this.

Change/Opportunity/new Impact of change and Transition Plan

idea and associated actions consequences for people

Risk management
Plan to manage the risks associated with your Continuous Improvement plan. One risk should be

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 22

Non-performance of staff members.

Risk Potential outcomes Risk response Contingency plan

What are the risks List potential outcomes Will you avoid, How will you manage
associated with your for each risk. retain, share, the risk (e.g., progress
plan? List at least transfer or reduce reports, training,
three. the risk? insurance etc.)?

Non-performance of
staff

Communication
Describe how the continuous improvement and innovation plan will be communicated.

What must be Who will you How will you When must the Further
communicated? communicate communicate? communication comments
to? take place?

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 23

 Knowledge management

Knowledge management item Have learnings

been captured
and managed?

Mentor and coach team members.

Plan for team meeting

Who will you meet with?
How will you facilitate
effective group interaction?
How will you build rapport
with the team members to
ensure positive working
relationships?
What questions will you ask
about team member’s vision
for continuous improvement
and innovation to guide you
mentoring?
How will you coach the team
in innovation?

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 24

 Attach your questionnaire to
this section of the portfolio.

Team meeting
What feedback did you
receive about how you ran
the meeting?
How can you improve your
performance in future?

Implement innovative processes.

Implement continuous
improvement
Which
change/opportunity/new idea
did you implement?
Attach proof to this section of
your portfolio.

Address impact of
change/opportunity/new idea
How did you address the
impact?
Attach proof to this section of
your portfolio.

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 25

Attach: Performance questionnaire ☒

Proof of implemented change ☒

Proof of how you addressed the impact of change ☒

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 26

 Section 3: Continuous improvement and innovation
monitoring and evaluation

Monitor and evaluate performance.

Continuous improvement 
systems, processes and
innovation evaluation
How well you are the
continuous improvement
systems, innovations and
processes are working?

Recognise successes
What continuous
improvement successes can
be celebrated?
Insert a screen shot of your
email to team members or
attach proof of the draft email
to this section of the portfolio.

Continuous improvement or
innovation failure (non-
performance)
Describe the failure and
analyse the causes.
Attach proof of implemented
contingency measures.

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 27

 New challenges and 
opportunities
What are new challenges and
opportunities?

Manage new challenges and opportunities.

Update Continuous Improvement plan to show new challenges or opportunities. Also confirm that
knowledge management systems have been used as planned.

Continuous improvement systems and processes

Key actions, resources, constraints and timeframes

Change/Opportunity/ Key actions related to Resources Constraints Time

new idea continuous frames
improvement and
innovation (e.g.,
brainstorming,
implementing
improvement registers,
updating policies etc.)

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 28

Impact

Change/Opportunity/new Impact of change and Transition Plan

idea and associated actions consequences for people

Risk management

Risk Potential outcomes Risk response Contingency plan

What are the risks List potential outcomes Will you avoid, How will you manage
associated with your for each risk. retain, share, the risk (e.g., progress
plan? List at least transfer or reduce reports, training,
three. the risk? insurance etc.)?

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 29

Non-performance of
staff

Communication

What must be Who will you How will you When must the Further
communicated? communicate communicate? communication comments
to? take place?

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 30

Rewards

Knowledge management

Knowledge management item Have learnings

been captured
and managed?

Attach: Email to celebrate successes ☒

Implemented contingency measures ☒

BSBSTR601 Manage continuous improvement and innovation | 31