Well that$$s the bad news!$$ said Tao, the Managing Director of Kloud BV$,$ a consulting and executive development firm headquartered in Amsterdam specialising in operations and supply chain improvement. $$The good news is that Chao should be out of hospital in a couple of weeks. It may take a few months before he$$s fully fit, but it all looks very promising$.$ Maria was pleased to hear that things were looking more positive for Chao after his accident. She had only been at the company for six weeks, having taken up a role as a junior project manager, but had already grown to respect and like Chao.

$$But$,$ continued Tao, $$that does leave us in a tricky situation. As you know, Chao was in charge of the big project with Sakura Bank in Tokyo, which I$$m going to look after until he$$s back at work. He was also just setting up a smaller project for them, training senior managers, which will run out of their facilities in Osaka. I appreciate you$$re pretty new here, but I$$d like you to take on the project management for this one. Chao recommended you, so it seems you$$ve made a very good impression!$.$ Maria was pleased to hear that Chao, her immediate boss, had a good impression of her. $$Well$,$ I$$m very happy to take this on Tao$$ she said as she quickly looked through the draft proposal for the project that Chao had been developing for Sakura Bank just before his accident.$$Exhibit $1$: Extract from draft proposal for Sakura Bank K$.$K operations improvement executive development

Introduction

Kloud BV is delighted to submit a proposal for the design, development and delivery of a three$-$ week executive training programme to equip your managers with the latest operations improvement insights from around the world. The initial programme will form the basis for future cohorts over the next three years.

Overall approach

The programme is to be delivered to a cohort of $12$ managers selected by Sakura Bank K$.$K from their global talent pool. Our approach is to combine online pre$-$programme activities to help participants prepare for the face$-$to$-$face component of the programme, which will be delivered by

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our experienced and dedicated team of operations improvement experts, using up to date and creative teaching strategies focused on practical application. Throughout the project, the training team will be supported by Kloud$$s own programme management team who will also be responsible for evaluating and reporting on programme outcomes to Sakura$$s senior management team.

Programme structure

Once participants have been selected for the programme, they will be asked to undertake a structured series of online activities to ensure that they all have a sound level of knowledge of basic operations improvement concepts. This will enable participants to get the best value out of the residential programme by avoiding loss of time on teaching topics that are known to most of the group. The three$-$week residential training programme will combine plenary knowledge$-$transfer sessions with individual and group discussions. The final programme is subject to agreement with Sakura Bank K$.$K$,$ but will take place in three blocks, each lasting five days $($as requested by the client in initial conversations$).$ Evaluation is a core component of the programme in order to assess its impact for participants and Sakura Bank K$.$K$.$ Post$-$programme evaluation will be undertaken to measure participant satisfaction and their knowledge of programme topics. Full reporting of findings will be provided to you.

Programme design

The programme design will leverage Kloud$$s expertise in operations improvement consulting and executive development delivered to our global client base. Nevertheless, we believe strongly in the need to tailor design and delivery to specific client needs. We therefore propose to work collaboratively with Sakura Bank K$.$K$.,$ including on$-$site training needs analysis, as part of the final programme design. Following delivery of this first programme, the design and materials will then be used for subsequent follow$-$on cohorts in other regions, as required by Sakura Bank K$.$K$.$

Kloud$$s delivery team

Kloud$$s delivery team will be led by Chao Xining as programme manager and Kavita as training lead. Both will be supported throughout by our specialists in web design and programme evaluation. We will be drawing on our highly experienced team of training professionals for online support and

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programme delivery. The final training team will be confirmed on finalisation of the programme agenda with Sakura Bank K$.$K

Pricing

The pricing in the table below covers the delivery of all programme components described above. As discussed, these costs are based on using your training facilities in Osaka, Japan. The pricing excludes flights, accommodation, and expenses for the Kloud$$s delivery team during residential training but includes all other programme component expenses. Subsequent programme iterations would not incur programme design costs. Payment is in two parts: $16,500$