explain the importance of the effective use of physical resources by providing • an evaluation of how the use of physical resources is monitored and managed • an evaluation of the impact of resource wastage • an assessment of the costs of high profile technological failures

are employed as a researcher for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK. Funding has been provided for a study of resource management in business. The aim is to compare the management of physical and human resources in different sectors.
Your role is to carry out research into profiled businesses representing different sectors. You will then choose a specific business to carry out further research.
Your research findings will be presented in a report.
You will find brief profiles of three businesses in Appendix 1. You need to carry out supplementary research into similar businesses to ensure detailed findings.

Task 1
The first part of your report consists of an analysis of the differing resource requirements of the three profiled businesses. This must be followed by an outline of the key requirements that businesses in different sectors must consider when managing resources.

Task 2
In this part of the report, you should explain the importance of the effective use of physical resources by providing
• an evaluation of how the use of physical resources is monitored and managed
• an evaluation of the impact of resource wastage
• an assessment of the costs of high profile technological failures
• an assessment of the business case for the use of ethical and sustainable resources

You should give examples from each sector that relate to the businesses profiled.

Task 3
Referring to the profiled businesses or similar organisations, provide a section in the report on how to maximise the effectiveness of human resources.
Include:
• an assessment of the need for human resource planning in the workplace
• analysis of how theories of motivation can be applied to motivating people at work
• an evaluation of the methods used to monitor and improve employee performance
• an assessment of the effectiveness of reward systems in different contexts

Task 4
For this section of your report, you will review the effective use of human and physical resources in a specific, live business of your choice.
You should consider the following sources of information and discuss these with your tutor before deciding how to proceed:
• use already documented case study material
• use a business in which you work/have worked
• arrange a visit to a business (individual or group)
• request a speaker from a business to talk to your group

In order to write this section of the report, you will:
• monitor the use of physical resources against performance measures and procedures
• analyse data on employee performance
• produce findings on the effective use of human and physical resources
• make recommendations to improve efficiency