The purpose of an assignment is to ensure that the Learner is able to:

- Use methods of enquiry and research in a disciplined field.
- Interpret and evaluate text.
- Have a sound understanding of key principles and theories, rules and awareness.
- Solve unfamiliar problems using correct procedures as well as investigate and critically analyse information and report thereof.
- Present and communicate information reliably and coherently.
Instructions and guidelines for writing assignments

1. Use the correct cover page provided by the institution.
2. All essay type assignments must include the following:
Table of contents
Introduction
Main body with subheadings
Conclusions and recommendations
Bibliography
3. The length of the entire assignment must have minimum of 5 pages. Preferably typed with font size 12
4. The quality of work submitted is more important than the number of assigned pages.

5. Use the Harvard referencing method.

Read the following case study and answer the question/s that follows:

South Africa's Bill Lynchnamed Ernst& Young 2006 World Entrepreneurof The Year

Bill Lynch, CEO of South Africa's Imperial Holdings, was named the 2006 Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of The Year at a glittering awards ceremony held in Monte Carlo's Grimaldi Forum. The ceremony marked the culmination of the Entrepreneur of The Year World Summit, which brought together hundreds of the world's most respected entrepreneurs for three days of dialogue, learning and networking.

Lynch, who built Imperial into South Africa's largest transport and mobility conglomerate after arriving there in 1971 with just GBP 2,000 and no job, was picked from a strong field of 32 national winners in this, the sixth annual World Entrepreneur of The Year competition. Today Imperial Holdings has annual revenues of EUR 6.5 billion across seven synergistic divisions (integrated logistics solutions; fleet management; vehicle and forklift leasing; aviation operations, sales and leasing; car rental and tourism; motor vehicle importation, sales and after-sales services; and related financial services) and employs 36,000 people on three continents

Chairman of the nine-member independent judging panel, Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder of Bharti Enterprises and 2004 India Entrepreneur of The Year, said, "Bill is the epitome of an entrepreneur - he started with nothing, but he grew an amazing business over thirty years, and today makes a huge positive impact in South Africa. He does that not only through the jobs he creates but also through the training, education and other community support Imperial provides."

"Bill's story is a classic one: he started from humble origins and through hard work and smart diversification built a multi-billion dollar international business."

This kind of achievement would not have been possible had Lynch not integrated and synchronised the various key functional department from finance to human resources management.

"The year was a particularly strong field of country winners to choose from, so the judges had a very difficult decision to make," said Greg Ericksen, Ernst & Young's Global Vice-Chair for Strategic Growth Markets. "Bill has seen it all and done it all and is a great role model for entrepreneurs everywhere with his love of business and hard work," he continued.

"What has been the special feature of the 20 years of the Entrepreneur of The Year program has been the amazing story that each entrepreneur has to tell," said Ernst & Young Chairman and CEO James S. Turley. "Bill's story is a classic one: he started from humble origins and through hard work and smart diversification built a multi-billion dollar international business."

Question:

Based on the above a case study and your understanding of the synergies of integrating the different key organisational functions give an account of how different functional departments (finance & resource allocation, human resources, supply chain, production & operations, leadership etc.) can synchronize (coordinate) their operations in order to contribute to the competitiveness, sustainable customer satisfaction and optimize the profitability of the organisation as a whole.