The Queensland Government has ordered a review of Queensland’s child nutrition program. This
review will report to the relevant minister – and this report will then form the basis for operational
and (possibly) legislative reform. The review is underway and is currently overseen by the
Parliament’s Childrens’ Health Committee. Following the conclusion of public hearings, all public
submissions and transcripts of hearings will be made available to the Committee members for
deliberation. The Committee is expected to take 3 months (13 weeks) to make recommendations
based on their expertise and their consideration of the public submissions and hearings. To make
sure that the Committee is well supported and able to meet several times a week, the Queensland
Government plans to provide the Committee with a dedicated office in Brisbane CBD, with sufficient
desk space and IT infrastructure for the seven members of the committee.
Having seen last week a documentary on virtual teams, the Health Minister is now considering
whether using a virtual team of experts to consider the public submissions and hearings may be a
better alternative than using a team of local Members of Parliament collaborating in a face-to-face
setting.
Your group represents the management of an international consulting firm, Virtual Solutions (VS). VS
specialises in projects that involve the development and management of solutions that utilise the
skills and expertise of organisations and individuals across the globe to provide information and
consulting services to clients. On previous occasions VS has coordinated the development of
transnational manufacturing, infrastructure and logistics support solutions for clients.
Yesterday, VS was approached by the Queensland Government to explore the potential of using a
virtual team to advise the Government on updating childrens’ health policy and (possible) legislation.
More specifically, because the Government does not have expertise with virtual teams, it has
engaged VS to advise on the benefits, costs, risks, and approaches for management of such an
advisory virtual team. The deliverable of this engagement is a report that outlines these related
discussions and determines which approach (current plan vs virtual team) is suitable in this case.
The Government has also requested that the report contain details of a “ready-to-go” virtual team in
case the Government chooses to go ahead with the virtual team approach. Accordingly, VS is tasked
with developing the report and also selecting the geographically diverse team that can satisfy the
advisory requirements of the Government and the problem scope.
Assumptions and Limitations
Members of the Children’s Health Committee are involved as part of their job requirements. No
additional payment is made for their involvement in the inquiry, however the workload required for
the deliberations (post public hearings stage) is estimated to be 5% of the MP’s annual workload,
thus $11,000 per MP cost to the taxpayer.
The members of the virtual team agree to be on the advisory team primarily due to prestige of
being an advisor to Government, however each is also rewarded with an Au$5,000 lump sum at the
successful conclusion of their 3 month role, which requires a comprehensive recommendations
report to be submitted to the Government.
The virtual team must consist of individuals dispersed between at least 3 continents.
Part A (individual student completion – 20% – to include the following:
A comprehensive discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the selected virtual
team over the current plan of using the Parliament’s Childrens’ Health Committee. This
discussion should also include cost estimates (ROI calculations are not required). (20 marks)
A discussion of the skills and personal characteristics that VS used as criteria for selecting the
team members. This discussion should outline why certain skills and characteristics were
considered to be advantageous. (15 marks)
References. (5 marks)
