Needs Analysis for a Corporate Logistics Contract
Nadia is Director of Studies at a language centre. A logistics company asks for a 12-week English course for 60 employees, 40 hours in total, starting in four weeks. HR says the goal is ‘B1 certification for all staff’. The learners say they need English for video meetings with drivers and for writing incident reports. Line managers say email is the priority. Nadia has two weeks to complete a needs analysis and propose a syllabus. She can use a 30-item online questionnaire, up to 10 interviews, a placement test, and one observation of a meeting. The centre has no existing ESP materials for logistics. The budget allows 40 teaching hours and 10 hours of preparation. The contract is worth a lot to the centre, and the client has hinted that a competitor is cheaper.
1. Design the needs analysis: what methods, what sample, and what sequence?
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Methods. Triangulate, and do not rely on the HR questionnaire alone. Sequence: (1) desk review of the company’s incident reports and meeting agendas; (2) 30-item online questionnaire to all 60, but with a paper version for shift workers, because an online-only survey will over-sample office staff; (3) placement test to all 60 for grouping and baseline; (4) 10 semi-structured interviews, stratified by role and shift, not volunteers only; (5) one meeting observation, with consent, to see actual interaction.
Sample and timing. All 60 for the questionnaire and placement; 10 for interviews; one meeting for observation. Two weeks is tight, so run the questionnaire and placement in week 1, interviews and observation in week 2.
Analysis. Analyse by task, not by grammar item: what do they have to do in meetings, emails and incident reports? That gives the syllabus. The 10 preparation hours mean materials must be reusable across groups. The desk review is essential because the centre has no logistics materials; authentic company texts will do more work than a generic coursebook.
2. How would you handle conflicting stakeholder goals?
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Diagnosis of the conflict. HR wants B1 certification; learners want meeting speaking; line managers want email. These are not necessarily incompatible, but they are not the same objective. The first task is to find out what the certificate is for: external audit, promotion, or a training-budget requirement? If it is symbolic, a centre certificate with can-do descriptors may work. If it is regulatory, the syllabus must align to the test.
Negotiation. I would propose a can-do framework that covers all three but does not promise the impossible. Forty hours is not enough to guarantee B1 for all 60, especially from a low baseline; saying so early protects the contract. I would propose a core syllabus of meeting and email tasks, a separate optional certification strand, and differentiated exit criteria - for example, all learners can give a short update and write an incident report; certification candidates take a mock B1.
Commercial judgement. The competitor hint is a pressure, but agreeing to an unrealistic B1 target would create a bigger risk later. Get the agreed outcomes in writing, with assumptions about attendance and starting level.
3. What would you include in the syllabus proposal, and what would you leave out?
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Include. Task-based modules for meetings, email and incident reports; placement-based grouping of 60 into four groups of 15; a 12-week timetable with 40 hours; formative speaking and writing tasks; a mock certification test for those who need it; a materials bank built from authentic company texts, anonymised.
Leave out. A general grammar syllabus, exam-only practice for everyone, and any promise of B1 for all. Also leave out a dedicated pronunciation course unless the observation shows it is a barrier. The proposal should state assumptions and risks: shift patterns, attendance, and the 10 preparation hours.
Reasoning. The syllabus has to be deliverable within the budget. Four groups of 15 is a compromise between interaction and cost; larger groups would undermine the meeting practice. Reusable materials are essential because 10 preparation hours will not produce 40 hours of bespoke content. If the client insists on B1 for all, I would propose a longer course or a smaller certification cohort. That is a commercial judgement as well as a pedagogical one, and it should be presented as an option, not a refusal.