5.2 Management and business administration 5.2.1 Management Team In order to turn ideas into a feasible business plan, five founding members have taken on distinct roles based on their expertise and skills. These include the roles of Technical Director, Marketing Director, Managing Director, Corporate Social Responsibility Director and Finance Director. Managing Director Mahoney Andrew is our Managing Director. As an engineer in the construction industry he gained a vast amount of experience in project management. The followings are his responsibilities in the management team: Responsibilities: Developing and executing the company’s business strategies Building and maintaining an effective management teamOverseeing the company’s financial performance and investmentsPlanning office and plant operations and market promotion activitiesMaking sure company policies and legal guidelines are communicated and followed at all timesActing as the public speaker on behalf of the company Technical Director (NPD and Production) Lai Ting Chi is our Technical Director. He has always interested in high-tech industry. The followings are his responsibilities in the management team: Responsibilities: Offering technical support in the prototype development and ensuring timely deliveryWorking collaboratively with all directors throughout developmentMonitoring & managing production issues accordinglyDeveloping a budget of R&D and trail productionActing as a mentor for key staffEnforcing standard policies and procedures in production process Marketing Director Sedghi Ramtin is the Marketing Director. He has a good understanding about how market operates. The followings are his responsibilities in the management team: Responsibilities Setting marketing strategy in accordance with company’s overall objectivesProviding short- and long-term market forecasts by collecting, analyzing and interpreting market dataSetting prices and preparing plans to launch products and implement promotional campaignDeveloping marketing staff through organizing training sessions and offering educational opportunities Finance Director Ye Sijun is our Finance Director. He accumulated lots of financial knowledge from his postgraduate programme. The followings are his responsibilities in the management team: Taking control of the company’s accounting system to ensure a robust financial systemWorking closely with other directors to plan the growth of the company Taking ultimate responsibility for the company cash management policies Ensuring that the company meet all regulatory requirements in business practice Corporate Social Responsibility Director Fu Yeyang is the Corporate Social Reprehensibility Director. He is a postgraduate student studying advanced mechanical engineering. Having completing a selective course named Business Study during the second year of undergraduate study in Jilin University, he has accumulated some basic knowledge on how a business develops. The followings are his responsibilities in the management team: Identifying social and environmental risks or opportunities which are relevant in business development Developing an effective CSR programme encompassing workplace safety, employment and product issues Establishing a mechanism and strategy to engage employeesCommunicating Corporate and Social Responsibility trends and best practices among all departments Writing CSR report on an annual basis that informs relevant parties of the company’s strategy and performance Future additions to the management team Despite a core group of management leaders at the early stage, we need a comprehensive and strong team as well as employees with diverse skill sets to successfully develop out business. We will recruit a company secretary and establish three crucial departments in the future: Company Secretary In the future we will need a company secretary to provide an important link and timely communication between the board and our management team. Ideally we hope to recruit someone with a solid education background in law and finance. We have three major responsibilities for a Company Secretary and they are listed as followings: Organizing and preparing for board meetings & following up on actions from meetingsMaking sure policies are kept up to dateAdvising on legal, management, accounting and tax implications of policies Administration Department: HR, Legal Consultant With the growth of a business, DataFit Ltd will need an administration department consisting of a HR Director, HR staff and a legal consultant. We hope to recruit a HR Director who has the expertise and general business and management skills. We expect the HR Director to assist the company in staff recruitment, training and development. We also need a legal consultant who have in depth knowledge of the local legal environment and is able to give reliable suggestions on legal documentation, negotiations and contracts. Manufacturing Department：Software Engineers，Quality Control Engineers，Operation Staff When we set up plants for batch production, we will need a manufacturing department in our organization. The major duty of this department is to produce finished DataFitPT by assembly parts. Software engineers are essential staff in this department. With expertise in software technology, they are expected to Research, design, develop, and test operating software. Their typical work in our company involves investigating current applications, designing specifications for our product and writing operating manuals. Softwares are important components in our service and they will need constant updates. Given the situation, it is imperative to bring in software specialists to complete our team, as currently none of us is capable of doing this job. Quality control engineers are expected to work with procurement engineers to establish a quality standard. Meanwhile they are responsible for designing our company’s quality procedures, standards and specifications as well as supervising production process. Given the central position of the manufacturing department in our company, we will need operation staff, whose major responsibilities are planning production activities, controlling resources and communicating with procurement engineers and quality control engineers to keep production running smoothly. Marketing Department: Sales Representative, Advertisement Specialist, Market Analyst, Public Relation Practitioner Apart from our current marketing director, we need a stronger marketing team to ensure the company’s growth. Three positions are currently needed: sales representative, advertisement specialist and market analyst. The core responsibilities of a sales representative are selling DataFitPT to existing and prospective customers. They will be assigned on business trips to gyms all over the country to demonstrate our products. An advertisement specialist is responsible for planning online and off-line advertisement campaigns to promote the product and planning company events. A market analyst is needed to study latest information and data and ultimately to assist marketing director to make informed decisions in terms of where and how to launch our products and when and how to make a price change. A PR practitioner is someone who creates, manages and maintains relationships with the public that a business serves. Our PR practitioner works in the field of public relations and does everything for a company that will keep them in a good light with the public and with private entities that could be beneficial to the company. Employment & Labor Law Policy The product will be manufactured by Foxconn, which is located in Shenzheng City, Guangdong Province, south of China, while the management office is here at Liverpool. Given the complexity of setting up factory outside the UK, we’ve carefully considered employment laws in two countries to design a policy which enables us to meet both Britain’s and China’s legal requirements and the main points are listed as followings: Working hours and time off Employees at DataFit Ltd observe a five-day work schedule, Monday to Friday, 9:00 in the morning to 16:00 in the afternoon, 7 hours a day, including a paid one-hour lunch break from 12:00 am to 13:00 . The full contracted working hours per week is 35 hours. DataFit Ltd reserves the right to vary working hours , following consultation and agreement with employees. Overtime Overtime is defined as all hours worked in excess of 35 hours per week, which is payable with consent from employees’ supervisors. Employees who work overtime between Monday and Friday will be paid 1.5 times of their regular hours. Overtime payment during national holidays will be doubled. Salary Payment Salary is paid monthly and the payday is on the 10th of each month. Employee will receive direct transfer to their bank accounts. Attendance at work If an employee can not keep time for a long period, we assume that he/she is putting pressure on other colleagues, which is unacceptable at our company. If an employee needs to be absent or leave early due to urgency or sickness, he/she should notify a supervisor. An employee’s each case of being late at work and early leave from work will be subject to a supervisor review possibly leading to verbal warnings and written warnings before formal disciplinary procedures. Statutory Maternity Leave and Statutory Maternity Pay A female employee can take a-52-week Statutory Maternity Leave and enjoy a Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) up to 39 weeks. The employee gets 90% of her average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks and 90% of her average weekly earnings for the next 33 weeks. SMP is paid in the same way as monthly salary. SMP usually starts when an employee takes the maternity leave or it starts automatically if the employee is off work for a pregnancy-related illness in the 4 weeks before the week (Sunday to Saturday) that the baby is due. The employee must give supervisor at least 8 weeks’ notice if she wants to change her return to work date. Holidays Based on Bank Holidays Act of 1871, there are currently six bank holidays in our city. __company name ____ observes these holidays, plus Christmas Day and Good Friday. Altogether 8 holidays are observed on a paid basis for all employees. Training and Development DataFit Ltd provides training opportunities to employees, which include an orientation program aiming to assist new employees setting into their new roles in the company and other monthly programs to improve working skills and inform employees of the latest information in the industry, which ultimately helps employees’ to build their career. Data Security Policy DataFit Ltd will protect employees’ and customers’ personal data in accordance with The Data Protection Act 1998. We will take every means to ensure the security and confidentiality of such information. Apart from strictly following the state’s law, __company name___ has made its own stringent customer-oriented data security policy, because as a wearable device company, we’re at greater risk of being attacked by hackers. To protect company’s data and customers’ personal information we developed three principles: Safe storage principle At the early stage, we design an automatic system to conduct regular data back-ups, which runs on physical drives to store data. In the future, we will purchase trusted cloud services and other off-site servers, or hire an IT team to ensure data security. Safe access principle Build a data access structure, which allows five founding members the access to critical business data. The structure is able to trace who has accessed what kind of data and when. Safe operation principle Employees will be trained and educated about data security and data breach. Anyone who works with a computer liking to the internet is required to patch the system, secure browsers, use an email encryption solution and limit social network websites visits. Workplace Safety and Health Policy DataFit Ltd is firmly committed to a workplace safety and health policy, which enables all work-related activities to be carried out with safety. We consider all possible means to remove and reduce risks to health, safety and welfare of employees. Workplace safety and health policy consists of two parts, one is factory safety and health policy, which will be carried out in China, the other is office safety and health policy for Liverpool office. The product will be manufactured by Foxconn, which is located in Shenzheng City, Guangdong Province, south of China. Our plant safety policy is in accordance with local laws and regulations, which are listed as followings: Smoking, drinking liquid and eating are strictly prohibited in factory area. Designated areas will be assigned for workers to smoke and eat outside the factory area. Mobile phones are not allowed into the plant and must be left in the control room. Work procedure must be strictly followed. The supervisor has the responsibility to monitor and manage all work to be done in the factory. Workers should put on production uniforms before entering the factory area. All work must stop when the emergency alarm is heard and workers should follow emergency route to evacuate immediately. Waste containers must be emptied at the end of each shift. Workers should take training sessions concerning safe production and potential work injuries. Workers are entitled to annual health check-ups to ensure healthy physical and mental conditions at work. We are committed to ensuring we comply with the UK Health and Safety at Work as far as possible. The Managing Director has overall and final responsibility for health and safety： Prevent accidents and case of work-related ill health, especially work stress and back pain. Provide annual health check-ups. Review risk assessments when working habits or conditions change. Make sure employees report all known or observed health hazards to the managing director. Provide necessary instructions, information, training and supervision to ensure that each worker is safe from injury and risks to health. Give appropriate training to employees (including electrical safety, good postures at worktable, advice on giving up smoking and alcohol or drugs counseling) No smoking, drugs and alcohol is allowed during office hours. Mark escape routes with clear signs and keep clear at all times in case of fire or natural disasters. Organize evacuation drills every 3 months. Apart from providing toilets, washing facilities and drinking water, we set up a gym room to promote good health. Employees need to report equipment malfunction, no matter how trivial. Problems are expected to solve within 24 hours of reporting Each employee is also responsible for preventing possible accidents. Co-operation among all employees is expected in order to promote overall health and well being. Each employee should review and understand rules and regulations involved in the workplace safety policy. We hope to create a safe and healthy working environment with zero accident rate. Suggestions for improving safety and health at workplace are encouraged. Intellectual protection strategy It is crucial for a technological start-up business project to protect its technology. To ensure further development and competitiveness in the market, we need to make a comprehensive intellectual property protection plan. The key technology, a database platform, is developed by a team composed of five students at University of Liverpool, which is an important aspect for the development of this product, and could serve as a basic technology for future product lines. The database operates in an unique way to record, process and manage customers’ data regarding their physical conditions and training performance. It works in an efficient way to support the smooth operation and accurate calculation of our device. As a core technology to build on our products, we do need a legal protection from competitors. We believe the protection allows us to legally develop, nurture and commercialize our technology. Since it is novel and non-obvious, we decide to file a patent for it. The patent shall be held by five students who developed the technology. In addition, we believe it is desirable to get professional help from a patent attorney. Along with filing a patent, we will apply for the protection of our trademarks, which include the name and logo of our product. Consumer protection and product liability DataFitPT enables users to record everyday fitness training data to encourage them to live healthy and active lives. We also take every means to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the device. Use of DataFitPT Do remember to follow the instructions and bear the followings in mind: If wearing the device for a longer time than suggested, it’s possible that skin irritation or allergies may occur to some users. To reduce the symptom, follow two steps: 1 Keep it clean and dry, 2 don’t wear it too tight Your own risk We hold no responsibility for the information accuracy in terms of directions, current locations. Information may be inaccurate or unavailable. If you rely on DataFitPT you do so solely at your own risk. It is not advisable to replace good judgment and common sense with the use of the device. We can not guarantee the device will operate on an error-free basis. We can not guarantee the device will meet your demands anytime anywhere. There is no warranty on the quality, accuracy or reliability of our device. If you rely on DataFitPT you acknowledge that and you do so solely at your own risk. Consult a doctor for medical purpose DataFitPT is not a piece of medical equipment and it is not capable of performing any medical treatment task. It cannot be used to diagnose or treat any disease. The data from our device is not suitable for any medical purpose. If your physical condition does not allow you to engage in active workout, or you have any heart disease, you need to consult a doctor before opting for our device. Liability Neither DataFit Ltd, its supplier or licensors, nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the DataFit Ltd service will be liable for any incidental, special, exemplary or consequential damages, including lost profits, loss of data or goodwill, computer damage or system failure or the cost of substitute services arising out or in connection with these terms, whether based on warranty or contract. Enterprise responsibility DataFit Ltd is a profit-purpose company, but at the same time it also takes responsibility for the contribution to the society. Making profits is not the sole purpose. Teenagers are afraid of sports injuries which is one of the main reasons that prevent adolescents from actively participating in sports. And many PE teachers at school have limited knowledge in have body structure and exercise physiology knowledge. Considering such a situation, we hope to provide free products to some schools to help children develop a good habit of exercise, Even if they have much professional guidance. They are able to correct their mistakes in the exercise by using our products. We aim to promote adolescent physical development, and support young so that they can avoid sport injuries. Our product, designed with the knowledge of human biomechanics, is capable of improving young people’s performance. Thereby enhancing their interest in sports and promote the development of young people’s physical and mental abilities. We will choose ten schools and provide children free products and free service every year. A Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) will be completed for all suppliers. In particular for outsourced components we will pay attention to workers rights. We will not do business with companies who cannot demonstrate written, binding and effective environmental policies, Health & Safety policies, and Employee Rights Policy.
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