A & D Management Consultants is a management consulting agency operating in Auckland, New Zealand. It is jointly owned by good friends and siblings Alexis and David Rose. Alexis brings to the business her many years of experience as a communication specialist, publicist and freelance brand invigorator, as well as her recent Bachelor of Businesses in Management from AUT. She has enjoyed putting this knowledge into practice, especially through his extensive experience in performance evaluation and management. David brings a wealth of experience in other service organisations, particularly many years as the co-owner of Rose Apothecary, a boutique retail business, with his partner Patrick Brewer.

A & D Management Consultants operates from a character office building in Kitchener Street in the Auckland CBD. A & D Management Consultants employees 18 consultants responsible for researching management trends and consulting with businesses on leadership, business operations, staffing, change management and other management issues.

Your role is Director of Special Projects, which means you take on projects to help the business both directly and via influencing clients.

Contemporary Issue to Research:

In 2020, the New Zealand Government imposed the Covid-19 Level 4 lock-down. A & D Management Consultants was able to pivot, equipping employees with the necessary resources to work from home. In 2021, when the Covid-19 response was wound down, David and Alexis expected their employees to return to the office. However, a number of employees resisted this return to the office, having enjoyed working from home.

Alexis has been following news stories on hybrid working, from both the perspectives of management and employee. There are plenty of international news articles outlining both sides of the hybrid debate, for example, the New Zealand Herald ran an extensive story in April 2022: "Back to the office: The Great Hybrid Return to WorkLinks to an external site.."

Alexis and David would like more information about hybrid working and have asked you to research this issue, in the academic literature as well as contemporary, trustworthy, online sources. They have asked for a report outlining the key findings of your research, as well as the creation of two infographics: one for manager and one for employees, that summarise the research. As this is a substantive task, and the expectations for a high quality report and infographics that could be distributed outside of A & D Management Consultants, Alexis has suggested that you could work in groups of up to three people, that you can select yourself.

In this report, consider the following:

• Define and Describe the issues/topic in detail with evidence of your research.
• Evaluate and Analyze what is written about the topic and Consider the possible different perspectives (alternative views/perspectives of the topic, pros and cons, etc.).
• Outline Implications on the future of work or for managers/organizations/employees.