Assignment Brief:
In January 2018, AMAZON.COM Inc. (Amazon) opened its first self-service Amazon
Go convenience store in Seattle, Washington, USA. Armed only with a smartphone
app tied to a credit card, a customer could enter the store, select merchandise from
the aisles and refrigeration cases, and just walk out—no lines, no waiting, no cashier.
A can of coke, chocolate bar, or chicken sandwich placed in a shopper’s bag, is
identified, accounted for, and charged to a payment card, all facilitated by computer
vision, deep learning, and sensor-based information technologies (IT). Based on
extensive public sources, the Amazon Go case provides a rich opportunity to explore
an IT-enabled start-up that potentially threatens three industries: convenience stores,
grocery stores, and fast-food outlets. In the future, the technology, either by licensing
or expansion by Amazon, arguably could disrupt the broader retail industry and its
millions of employees. You have an opportunity to explore the business automation
technology and the associated range of digital skills required to demonstrate
professional competency within an organisation.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Explain the advancement of business automation technology and the associated
range of digital skills required to demonstrate professional competency within an
organisation.
2. Identify a range of ‘soft’ skills that are key requirements in demonstrating a
progression in terms of personal and professional development.
3. Reflect upon your own current levels of digital and soft skills applicable to the
workplace.
4. Graduate Attribute: Develop and justify a Professional Development Plan that will
facilitate an increased level of digital skill attainment suitable for effective management
and leadership in the contemporary workplace.
Assignment TASK 1) A short report investigating business automation technology and the digital
skills required for competency within the workplace.
(1,200 words)
(Learning Outcomes 1 & 4)
2) Portfolio identifying generic ‘soft’ skills required within a management and
leadership context, followed by reflection upon own digital and soft skills,
concluding with a PDP to show development of necessary digital workplace
skills.
(1,500 words)
(Learning Outcomes 2 & 3)