Successful Business Project Management Through Assignment Sample

Introduction: Managing a Successful Business Project

Get free samples written by our Top-Notch subject experts for taking assignment help services.

Any organization is set up to achieve some goals and objectives. The ultimate aim of achieving goals and objectives is to achieve success and to earn profits. The organization targets to achieve success in an efficient and effective way. For an organization to get successful, the management should be proper. There are various types of management in an organization. The managers lead the operations of the different departments at different levels. This assignment focuses upon the management of the organization named as Tesco which is a successful organization in the United Kingdom. Being a multinational organization, the organization operates in 11 countries including, Malaysia, Ireland, and Thailand and so on.Founded by Jack Cohen, it is considered as the world’s thirdlargest retailer and operates into four different formats such as hypermarket, convenience shop, supermarket and superstore. This assignment will focus on the social, environmental and economic impact and influence on United Kingdom. In today’s era, globalization is becoming a key component to achieve success. The assignment will also look into the different aims and objectives of the organization and will relate it to the management of the company. A project management plan will be made so as to work in a systematic way and guide the organization Tesco towards success.

• LO 1

Projects aims and objectives of Tesco organization

Tesco, a supermarket chain in the UK, consists of a number of aims and objectives which includes serving the customers the high and standard quality products and services. The priority goals and aims of this organization include: -

• To reduce the environmental impacts of products and services.
• To minimize the quantity of waste and reuse things as much as they can, and also encourage the customers also to recycle the waste (Turner, 2014).
• The development, implementation, and operation of designs required in relation to stores and distribution centres to enable the growth of business and achieving customers' satisfaction with reducing the environmental impacts.
• To identify and frame the cost-effective targets for solving out the environmental issues.

The vision of Tesco states to become the most highly valued business by the communities in which the company operates, the customers served by them, shareholders along with committed and loyal employees. Tesco’s main objective is to become the leading supermarket in retail sector by offering good quality products and services at a price lower than the competitors for winning the competition.It understands the ways to satisfy its customers and the ways to earn a higher amount of profits. Various choices are made available to a large number of customers with the great quality of products in order to increase sales revenue, this will not only grab the customers but also the shareholders will be satisfied as they will get the higher returns. Tesco must have to build up the strength and fastest delivery process to its consumers, which will enable the consistency in the working and growing of the organization (Turner, 2014).

Project management plan of Tesco Organization

A project manager develops the Project Management Plan which is a formal document which describes the project execution, controlling and monitoring. It includes the various management plans and policies which are necessary to be implemented in order to accomplish all the goals and objectives. This project plan must be controlled by the project manager in an efficient manner so as to check that whether the goals are achieving accordingly or not. This plan comprises the following components, namely: -

• Cost: - Tesco not only focuses on the efficiency of products but also focusing on the cost reduction measures which will help them to continue to develop and invest and also providing the shareholders with the return on their investment (Zwikael, 2016).
• Scope: -It should be specific, relevant, measurable, and must be achievable. Tesco owns more than 6800 shops across the world in which 440,000 colleagues are working. The company is trying to retain its position and status in the market of UK and also expanding its market share globally.
• Time: -The projects are temporary in nature; once they are completed, they are terminated. Every project has a time limit which is to be followed by the organization. Tesco also sets the time limit within which the particular project or plan must be completed or achieved.
• Quality: -Every project specifies the standard quality which is required to be maintained by the organization. Tesco emphasis more on the quality products, it develops the strategies to meet their standards and the quality control measures are also implemented in case of any deficiency.
• Communication: -The projects must include regular and proper communication not only to employees but also to the stakeholders of the company (Zwikael, 2016).
• Risks&resources: -Analysis of risks is very essential and complex which is needed to be identified and managed so that the resources can be effectively and efficiently utilized. Tesco knows how to manage human resources which is the reason that it is dealing with almost 440,000 colleagues and millions of customers every week(Zwikael, 2016).

Work-break down the structure and a Gantt chart: -

The Work Break Down Structure refers to dividing the complex projects into order to makeit simple and manageable tasks. According to this, the project execution is simplified, and much larger tasks are being divided into smaller tasks which are very easy to supervise and achieve. The responsibilities are accurately assigned to the project team, it helps in the estimation of cost, evaluating the time and risks involved. Also, it enables the deep illustration of the scope of the project so that the stakeholders must have the adequate knowledge and proper understanding of it.

The research activity incurs £1500 with about 10 people. The activity of application execution requires 4 people along with the cost of £4000. In training of employees, cost of £12000 is required with 4 people as trainers. Functional analysis is a simple process that involves 3 people and cost of about £1500. In the last activity of testing and evaluation, cost of £800 and 3 people isneeded.

The comprehensive plan must include the sound strategies consisting of clear objectives and strategic decisions that directly link to the accomplishment of organizational goals. All those assumptions must be included under this plan which may influence the projects (Rivera and Kashiwagi, 2016). All the risks must be analysed related to the project and possible measures must be taken in order to eliminate those risks. The aim of the project management plan of Tesco is to maximize the number of customers, by providing them with the extreme quality of goods and services at reasonable prices.

The management department plans all the necessary projects which contribute in the accomplishment of Tesco’s goals and objectives. It formulates the various cost-effective policies because of which the customers are able to receive goods at reasonable prices and also the waste is eliminated with the proper cost-effective planning (Rivera and Kashiwagi, 2016). Every project must be accomplished within the standard time because the huge competition prevails in the growing market. Controlling is essential in order to detect the deficiencies during the project implementation and also coordination must be ensured between the various activities and operations in order to complete the tasks efficiently. All the necessary risk factors must be identified in order to earn higher profits, as it is said that "no risk, no gain'.

• LO2

Small-scale research with qualitative and quantitative methods

In the words of author, Young & Hren, (2017), qualitative research methods have the capability of generating comprehensive details of mechanisms or processes. He further added that being a broad approach, it passes through different research methods including systematic information gathering and its correct interpretation. According to the author, Mason, (2013), qualitative research has emerged out of numerous disciplinary and intellectual traditions and lacks the unity of set of techniques. As per the author, Yilmaz, (2013), quantitative research methodology defines as the process of determining phenomena based on numerical data which is further analysed by statistics or other mathematically based methods.

Tesco’s small-scale research includes both the qualitative and quantitative methods for the achievement of defined goals and objectives of the company. These both the methods are complementary which can be combined in the processes in order to get the better results.

Quantitative research is used when there are numbers or mathematical expressions. It is designed to collect cold facts and data (Mason, 2013). This research provides support when there is the need to draw up the general conclusions from the research. The quantitative information is structured and statistical. Data is collected may in the form of questionnaires and in numeric forms and then interpreted.

Qualitative research consists of describing the particular topics rather than measuring it. The qualitative survey includes the expressions, views, and opinions; it is less structured as compared to the quantitative research. It is done to motivate the people, their thinking, nature, and attitude and also to develop interests for the products of Tesco’s supermarkets. This research requires a deep understanding of conducting the survey.

Both the methods are equally needed to meet the customers' needs and demand and to fulfil them in an effective manner. The data must be gathered in numeric and in qualitative terms through which the number of demands can be meet and also the customers' nature and attitude can be identified, which will directly contribute to the achievement of goals and objectives (Young and Hren, 2017).

The various research methods which are applied in order to accomplish the various projects and plans are reliable to a great extent as the qualitative aspect helps in understanding the human behaviour, which adds up to satisfying the customers' demands and also influencing them to retain themselves with the organization and purchase more and more in numbers, which comes under the quantitative aspect. The quantitative aspect enables the organization to identify and measure the increasing demand and trends for customers (Walker, 2015). The data from quantitative research provides the important information for taking the business decisions like market size and preferences and demographics, whereas the qualitative data is utilized in designing the products consisting of various needs and business patterns. When the applications of both the research methods are understandable, then they can be used together as a tool to measure and evaluate the operations of the organization and in order to check the standard quality of the ongoing activities. This evaluation and measurement can help in the achievement of organizational objectives.

The project management process uses systematic analysis to gather the data and influencing the effectiveness and efficiency in the operations of the organization. Tesco’s objective is to gain a maximum number of customers and providing them with good quality products at reasonable prices (Hussein, 2015). As the management process includes the phases of planning, implementing, completing of projects, and delivering the reports, so the Tesco need to follow up all these steps so that the smooth running may be possible in the management. The tasks and the resources must be properly monitored and controlled by the departments so as to increase the efficiency. The qualitative and quantitative methods help in increasing the customers' satisfaction and also good relations must be made with them which will directly move in the way of increasing profits. There are some advantages and drawbacks of both the methodologies.

The advantages of the qualitative method are-

• A greater evaluation is done of the subject matter
• The nature of the research framework is more flexible
• This data is based on human observations and experiences
• There is a predictive quality to the gathered data (Marchewka, 2014)
• Attitude explanations become possible

The disadvantages of the qualitative method are-

• The quality of data is highly subjective
• The accessibility of data rigidity becomes more difficult
• This method is more time consuming
• Data are difficult to present

The advantages of the quantitative method are-

• Formulation of sound data with no emotional design
• Rigorous evaluation of data as prediction is permitted
• Multiple data can be evaluated (Larson and Gray, 2015)
• Faster automation of the time-consuming manual

The disadvantages of the quantitative method are-

• Needs continuous monitoring of the model performance
• Multiple complex data requires a deep background
• Survey instruments are helpless to errors (Marchewka, 2014)
• Measuring phenomena in some cases like human behaviour is a bit tricky

LO3

Research and data using appropriate tools and techniques

Data analysis is a process of transforming, checking and modifying data with the goal of developing useful information, conclusions and decision making. It plays an important role in decision making and helping the business to achieve the objectives. There are various tools and techniques used for data analysis (Brannen, 2017). Following questionnaire was utilized for conducting survey in order to collect data.

There would be very efficient use of the random sampling method in the processing of the research work in the business. Though, the study would be much interesting by having the presentation of the graphs, charts and the varied tabular data.

The conduct of the questionnaire would be done having the inclusion of the major questions would be accessed in the better manner by the respondents. Though, it would help in the better decision making.

Questionnaire:

1. How satisfied you are with Tesco?

• Completely satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied
• Dissatisfied
• Completely Dissatisfied

1. How often do you utilize products and services of Tesco?

• Everyday
• Weekly
• Monthly
• Once in a Quarter
• Do not use

1. How old are you?

1. Which is the best product and service range of Tesco?

• Grocery
• Tesco Club card
• Clothing
• Tesco Bank

1. Please rate the purchase experience with Tesco.

1. What is the worst performing product or service of Tesco?

1. How well do products or services of Tesco meet your needs?

• Badly
• Satisfactory
• Very Well

1. Should Tesco introduce new products or services?

• Yes
• No

1. Which product range of Tesco should be expanded?

• Electronics
• Clothing
• Food Products
• Health and Beauty
• Data Interpretation:

The above represented graph had shown the extent or the level to which the products and the services of the Tesco meet out the needs of the customers in the competitive market conditions.

• Data Interpretation:

In this graph, it determined the level or the aspects whether the company would be having the introduction of the new products in the market. Most of the people are expecting that there would be introduction of the new product at the very recent phase.

• Data Interpretation:

The above represented graph had shown the aspect of having the expansion of the products of the organization. It had clearly represented that the people are expecting that there would be more of the expansion on the aspects of the clothing industry.

• Analysis of Questionnaire:

This questionnaire was conducted for the customers about their views regarding existing and new products along with their satisfaction with company and products.As per the results, 80% people are satisfied with the organization and more than 65% people utilize its products and services on daily basis. 55% people find grocery as the best product range while 86% people wants product expansion in food.

Analysing Quantitative Data

• Data Preparation: - The first step of analysing data is data preparation. It is used to convert the complex data into meaningful, readable and easy to understand.
• Data Validation: - The purpose of data validation is to find out whether data is correct or not. It has four steps: -
• Fraud: - To check whether the information is actually correct.
• Screening: - To ensure that responses were selected according to the searching criteria.
• Procedure: - To check whether data collection is according to the systematic process or not.
• Completeness: - To ensure that the data is completed or not.
• Data Editing: - The large data set includes errors. While editing the data, it is important to remove or fill the empty fields. To ensure that there are no such errors one should check the data.
• Data Coding: - It is one of the important steps in preparing the data. It refers to the grouping of data so that the researcher can easily deal with the data rather than doing one by one. It provides coding to the data (Brannen, 2017).

Analysing Qualitative Data

• Data preparation and analysis: - It consists of the following steps:
• Getting familiar with the data: - In this, the researcher should start by reading the data several times to understand very easily and start looking for basic patterns.
• Revisiting research objectives: - In this, the researcher rechecks the objectives and identifies the questions that can be answered through the collected data.
• Developing a framework: - It means coding the information. The researcher identifies broad ideas, concepts, phrases or codes assigned to him.
• Identifying patterns and connections: - Once the data is coded, the researcher can start identifying themes, data or patterns that can help in researching the questions and finding the data (Nardi, 2018).

For data collection through surveys regarding research for Tesco, 320 responses have been recorded in total. Since the working hours are limited, 64 responses were recorded per week. Every week 5 days were dedicated to the data collection and everyday 4 hours were dedicated to the data collection. Talking about the data analysis, once the data collection ended, the responses were feed into MS Excel. It was a time-consuming process as it took 2 days to feed the data in the Excel (working 4 hours a day). Once this was sorted, the data analysis took the next 3 days. The next week was dedicated to make the inferences out of the data analysis. In total, the data analysis took 2 weeks.

Appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to draw valid and meaningful conclusions

The study of quantitative and qualitative methods is the theoretical approach. In real life situations, complete information is required. It has been seen that there are variations in the data which is collected by qualitative methods because of the semi-structured or unstructured techniques. Lack of information can be one of the drawbacks that has been realized in this project research. Questionnaire has been adopted in the research for data collection purpose. However, questionnaire has not provided complete and honest information as it is not necessary that participants are absolutely truthful. It was also realized that not all the targeted customers responded actively to the questionnaire. This shows that the data collected from questionnaire is incomplete and lacks accuracy.

 Therefore, in real life practical situations, Tesco is recommended to utilize both the methods so that there is an availability of complete information. Tesco should also utilize quantitative method for eliminating the variations obtained in the data collected by qualitative method. It is because structured data can be collected using quantitative method only. Apart from this, Tesco should utilize other research methods as well such as utilization of secondary data including company accounts; organizing focus group discussions, interviews and observations for collecting genuine information. Tesco should also understand that use of both the methodologies gives a comprehensive and clear picture of the occurrence (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017).

There are some appropriate tools and techniques as secondary data which will justify the recommendations:

• Newspapers: - It is an important tool which can be used to check whether our information is genuine or not. There are various articles which are helpful to find whether the data is relevant or not (Nardi, 2018).
• Magazines & Journals: -They also play an important role in checking the authenticity of the data. As there are various blogs which are mentioned in the magazines.
• Questionnaires and Surveys: - These are also the important ways for checking the data. In this, the results are generally easier to analyse. Through the numerical values, it will be easier to read.
• Observations: - It is a good source for providing additional information about a particular group. It produces narrative data (Nardi, 2018).
• Documents and records: - It consists of checking the data in the form of reports, financial records, newsletters, etc.
• Focus groups: - It includes the combined opinions and perspectives. Responses are coded into categories and analysed systematically.

LO4

The value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning and performance

I conducted the research using both the methods that are qualitative and quantitative. This mixed research methodology provides some benefits and values of research to meet the objectives and aims. The main aim to undertake a research is gaining knowledge about a particular subject. It is basically a tool that builds knowledge and facilitates learning. When I made a research, I got to know about the various experiences from the different type of people. Everyone has a different perspective regarding a particular thing (Litosseliti, 2018). When the knowledge is upgraded, it helps in achieving the objectives. When I conducted the research, I myself practically came across the different issues which come as a hindrance while achieving the success in the business. The research proves to be an aid to business success as it helps in removing the issues which arise in between the performance.

Conducting research brings out several facts and which helps in knowing the truthfulness and the lies hidden related to a particular topic. Research helps in finding new opportunities related to the business.Tesco has its branches located in different parts of the world. People have different tastes and preferences according to their region and culture. Conducting the research helps in understanding different needs and preferences. When the demands of the customers are satisfied, the ultimate objective and goals of the organization are fulfilled. Conducting a research provides a lot of data. After analysing the data, various alternatives are derived amongst whom the best solution is chosen. The research has some social benefits also. As a project manager, it's my duty to ensure that whenever we start with a new organization or do the expansion of the business, it should be highly ethical. We are socially responsible towards the business and society as a whole (Litosseliti, 2018).

Whenever a business is started, it has some aims and objectives. A project management plan is made. The Project Management Plan is a formal document which describes the project execution, controlling and monitoring. It includes the various management plans and policies which are necessary to be implemented in order to accomplish all the goals and objectives. Therefore, first of all, the objectives and aims are chosen first in a project management plan (Hussein, 2015). Quality research is done by using both the method that is quantitative and qualitative. Using both the methodologies produce valuable outcomes as there is no lack of information. Here, the project manager has to identify the objectives of the management plan before conducting any business process plan.

 The aim of this assignment is to recognize the social, environmental and economic impact and influence on the countries which are hosting the branches of Tesco. To make the work easier of the project manager, a breakdown is made which will assist the managers and leaders in taking the decisions accordingly. The project management process involves a project management plan which briefs about the steps to be followed while choosing the best alternative in the business. Good research work helps in achieving the milestone of the process of development and growth (Hussein, 2015). Hence, the mixed methodology is used to provide better and comprehensive results and then ultimately meet the objectives of the firm effectively and efficiently.

After conducting the research and later analysing the data, the researcher has come to a point, that if the company is highly ethical then the relation amongst employees and the relationship between employers and employees get improved. As a result, harmony is maintained in the organization. Working in harmony will ultimately improve the productive level of the workers and will improve the production process of the organization (Litosseliti, 2018). The research also suggested that if the organization works in a legal and ethical way, it will help the organization to grow and expand more rapidly. It will help the organization to fight and survive in the market for a longer period of time. When the organization becomes socially responsible, it helps the organization to sustain longer in the market and achieve success and growth in the long run.

Conclusion

This assignment was all about the organization Tesco. It is a multinational supermarket and this assignment projected about the economic, social and environmental impact and influence on the host countries where the organization has its branches. This assignment discussed the project management plan and the breakdown structure. The quality research was also conducted which involved both the methods of research that are quantitative and qualitative research. Some advantages and disadvantages of both the methods were discussed while critically evaluating the project management process and methodologies. The mixed research methodologies were used so as to achieve the aims and objectives of the business. The personal gains and knowledge while conducting quality research were also discussed. The outcomes of the project management plan and the research were analysed and evaluated so as to reach to the best possible alternative out of the various solutions derived.

References

• Brannen, J., 2017. Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research. Routledge.
• Hussein, A., 2015. The use of triangulation in social sciences research: Can qualitative and quantitative methods be combined?. Journal of comparative social work, 4(1).
• Kerzner, H. And Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
• Larson, E.W. and Gray, C.F., 2015. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK (®) Guide. Project Management Institute.
• Litosseliti, L. Ed., 2018. Research methods in linguistics. Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Lloyd, G., 2016. Business Leadership for IT projects. Routledge.
• Marchewka, J.T., 2014. Information technology project management. John Wiley & Sons.
• Mason, J., 2013. Qualitative Researching. SAGE Publications.
• Nardi, P.M., 2018. Doing survey research: A guide to quantitative methods. Routledge.
• Rivera, A. and Kashiwagi, J., 2016. Identifying the State of the Project Management Profession. Elsevier, 145, pp. 1386-1393.
• Turner, J.R., 2014. Handbook of project-based management(Vol. 92). New York, NY: mcgraw-hill.
• Walker, A., 2015. Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons.
• Yilmaz, K., 2013. Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Traditions: epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of Education, 48(2).
• Young, B. and Hren, D., 2017. INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS.
• Zwikael, O., 2016. International journal of project management special issue on “project benefit management”.