Articles of Association
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This is an association document among the parties involved in the project as described in the appendix.
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Commitment
a) Real world experience
Operator : The operator is committed to providing the consultant with real world experience. They are to work with structure; they should have deadlines by which certain requirements must be met and certain milestones to be completed. Operators should provide support to the consultant to shadow the business for the first 30 days in order to analyze the issue and its cause. Operators should take responsibility in supporting the consultant’s feedback and report with unbiased remarks and be flexible enough to give time to rework if the feedback is not executable .The operator is expected to give honest feedback and constructive criticism to the consultant to further their education.
Consultant : Consultant should be held accountable for their actions, they must complete the work they are contracted to finish. The consultants are expected to learn soft skills, like leadership, communication and creativity for better understanding of the project. The consultant is expected to abide by the timelines and milestones by sharing activity reports bimonthly ( or as mutually decided by both parties) in consonance with the assigned goals & milestones with mutual consensus .
b)Time and scope commitments
Both Operator and Consultant need to commit to at least one meeting per week, during the first 30 days of the project, and further bimonthly or as per the goals and milestones requirement . Analysis and feedback points are shared for the final monthly report to build an execution plan of the project .Execution plan is designed after 30 days and will continue till 3-4 months . The last month will be the implementation of the services by the service provider in consensus with Stevens.
c) Collaboration
Operators cannot ask consultants to help in the business as an employee, or in any other capacity in marketing or promotion that includes a field job too. .Operators cannot ask to switch out consultants or add consultants at any point in time. Operators cannot leave the consultant in the middle of the project; neither can change until they achieve the desired goal of the project. Operators and Consultants cannot leave an ongoing project under any circumstances but an exception will be made during emergencies by submitting necessary documentation.
2. Learning the current business environment
The operator needs to explain what sort of logistics and problem solving methods are already in place. The operator needs to be transparent, so that the consultant may provide them with the correct solution. Inventory management already in effect, Pricing strategies and budget allocated for each category annually and monthly, by collating the marketing strategies which are currently in effect and the past marketing strategies that worked the best. The consultant has to be transparent and their solutions must be well reasoned and have evidence. Consultants are to review substantial decisions with both operator and Stevens before presenting them.
3. Working together to strategize and set goals
Measurable metrics should be used to define problem issues when goal setting in order to assess the progress of the consultant. The progress can be evaluated by creating the schedule for next 4 weeks and biweekly further with milestones by assembling with the team. Each week should have at least one deliverable, they do not need to be substantial like a report every week; but they should reach certain milestones.
4. Troubleshooting the problem
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Consultants should analyze the problem and come up with an unbiased and independent solution in consultation with Stevens. The solution may be troubleshooting the problem by including a service provider in the project. The consultant is allowed to have discussion with HOHA and can schedule meetings with the service provider.
Service provider : The service provider should give all the information including tool / software functionality , technology and benefits to the consultant . The service provider should accompany the consultant to market their services to the operator and help in closing the project for implementation .
5. Track Progress and Key Performance Indicators
Both the operator and Consultant need to be in agreement over what is required to accomplish goals.
a)Key Performance Indicators
One of the key performance indicators that will be used is the bimonthly report. The bimonthly report will consist of the observations of both consultant and operator, any suggestions either may have and the goals for the next two weeks. That report will inform consultants, operators and Stevens on the performance of the project.
b)Track Progress
Keep a track of the goals each week. Record whether milestones were met in the bimonthly report or the meeting minutes. Adjust goals as necessary. Both the operator and consultant will provide feedback through a survey in order to track the progress. This survey will include feedback on soft skills. Meeting minutes should be prepared for every meeting the consultant and operator have. The decisions and discussions had by the operators and consultants must be documented strictly by both consultant and operator.
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Appendix
In this agreement the consensus points are defined in context of 4 functional parties
Party 1(Business Owner) - Consider as ‘Operator’ of the project who is responsible for the ownership and management of the business
Party 2 (Student) - Considered as ‘Consultant’ of the project and is selected by the operator(Party1 ) and the Stevens management for the project
The agreement includes other functional parties which help in implementation of the project
Party 3 - Stevens Institute of Technology - used as Stevens
Party 4 - Vendors - Considered as the ‘Service Provider’ for the project which will be assigned by the Consultant as a solution