CSM80001 Final Assignment : Report on Business Opportunities
Briefing to the Company Board on Bidding for work in a new area of Business
Frequently Asked Questions about the Final Assignment
1. What form should the executive summary take?
As with all executive summaries it should have:
• an introduction showing who the report is addressed to, the context (describing how &
why it was prepared) and what the report is about.
• A body summarising the results
• A conclusion stating the main issues & decisions required
2. How do I decide what risks to put in the contingency sheet?
The start of a risk assessment is a brainstorm to decide all the reasonably foreseeable risks.
For each risk you then determine an order of magnitude $ estimate of the consequences and
multiply this by an estimated probability such as 1/10,000. The result is a probable value
which can be used to sort the list from largest (most significant) to smallest (least
significant). Put the top 10 in your risk management plan. Then work out a strategy to
manage and minimise the risks for the top 6 and put these results in the allowances (for
costs to mitigate the risk, with a greater than 50% probability) and contingencies with a
reassessed probable cost due to the risk treatment advised and included in Allowances.
3. How do I decide what costs to put in the estimate of the cost to prepare a bid for a contract
in the chosen area of business?
You must make you own estimate of the time and work hours required for each of the
activities listed in 2.1. You will not be marked on the accuracy of any estimate but will be
assessed on the reasonableness and logic of how you put it together.
4. What are the site visits referred to in the activities list?
These are listed in the activity list.