Unit 4 Managing Business Project Assignment

This Report will devise the aims and objectives, produce the project management plan and work breakdown structure & Gantt chart for the chosen project. It will also do research and analysis on the ways through which objectives and aims can be achieved by the company. It will also recommend and reflect some points according to the research.

The company is planning to operate its new business with a wide range of kids wear products in Italy where the market of company is strong and established.

TASK 1

P1 Devise clear Aims and Objectives

OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY

The chosen company is Marks and Spencer Group Plc (M&S). It is a multinational company working in the retail industry. Its headquarters is in London, United Kingdom (UK). It was founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in year 1884. It is serving its products and services at the worldwide level. It has various brands such as Per Una, Autograph and M&S Bank. It has around 1470 stores in the world. It has given 80,790 employees employment. It is selling clothing, food products and home products to its customers (Kerzner, 2019).

As of now, company is planning to launch its new business by selling kids wear products in Italy as in Italy, M&S company has good market and good brand image.

AIM

• To determine the impact of globalisation on international market of Italy : A study on Marks and Spencer Group Plc.

OBJECTIVES

• To identify the impact of globalisation on Kids Wear markets of Italy.
• To explain way in which globalisation is changing operation of business in market of Italy.
• To explore the challenges involved within the process of globalisation in market of Italy (Nohria, 2017).

P2 Develop the Project Management Plan

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN (PMP)

Project Management Plan is a formal document in which every details of the project are given. The details involve planning, executing, analysing, monitoring and controlling the project. It is prepared for the purpose of inform about the project to the stakeholders of the company and take approval from the high authorities (Bernon, 2018). 

DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN (PMP) OF M&S

Marks and Spencer Company's project management plan regarding opening of new business in Italy consists of following aspects which are as follows -

Costs

In this section, company will outline the activities which is carried by the company in order to make the project successfully. It includes the cost of inputs, cost of outputs and costs that is being spent by the company. For the launching of products and starting the project, Company's estimated costs will be around £12000.

Scope

This section of PMP defines the goals, deliverables, tasks and deadlines to ensure the completion of project including successfully launching of new products in Italy. The scope of this project is to see the impact of the globalisation on Italy. The scope of new products is to satisfy the needs and wants of the customers by providing quality clothes for their kids.

Time

It refers to the management of time spent and estimate time taken on the projects activities. For the project, the time period of about 28 weeks i.e. approximately 7 months has been taken (Cleden, 2017).

Quality

This section contains the standard quality which is defined and acceptable by the customers and government. It also describes the way in which company will maintain the quality of the product.

Communication

It means that how will company communicate about its products to the customers. This include the promotion activities and strategies. M&S plc will use advertising and e-marketing promotional strategies which will help company to gain customers in Italy.

Risk

A risk refers to the uncertainty which can be occur anytime and it is considered to be unexpected. Also, risk is always been a part of project. Thus, M&S plc will estimate the various risks which company can face. These risks are as follows – financial Risk, project failure risk, improper plan risk, competition risk, environmental risks etc. (Heldman, 2018).

Resources

It summarises the level of resources that requires by company in order to completion of project. M&S's PMP resources section will describe the quality, amount and quantity of the resources for the production of new products as well as making the project successfully.

P3 Work Breakdown structure and Gantt Chart

Gantt Chart 

Network Diagram

For present analysis market of Italy has been chosen as it is one of the emerging markets for the new product segment of M&S which will help the organisation in entering in the markets and gaining more and more profits for the organisation. For carrying out the research a suitable market research taken that will help in identifying the customer needs for the chosen market sector in order to increase the sale of M&S in Italy. The information is gathered from the interactions which are made with the local dealers and customers in order to identify the feasibility of the process of globalisation (Buttrick, 2018).

TASK 2

P4 Qualitative and quantitative research method

Research method is a process which is used to collect the information and data which will help the M&S in taking the decision of expansion of business in Italy. In this part scholar will analyse what will be the techniques and methods that will be used in order to conduct a research (Kumar, 2019). There are various methodologies which can be used by a researcher for analysing what will be the impact of globalisation on M&S in expanding their business in Italy  and the factors which  will effect the sales of the organisation.

Research Approach:

Research approach can be defined as a procedure or a plan that consists of various steps of assumptions of detailed methods of data collection, its analysis and the interpretation. Research approach is of three different types which can be used by a researcher such as deductive, inductive and abductive research approach. Deductive research approach is related with the development of hypotheses that are based on existing theories, inductive research starts with observation and theories which are proposed at the end of the research. Abductive research approach is set address the weakness which are associated with both inductive and deductive research approaches. In this research inductive research approach will be used as it will help in collection of valid data that will provide the correct results about the topic.

Researcher philosophy:

It is the way in which a data that is related to any phenomenon is gathered, analysed and used. It is the most important part of the research as it provides the knowledge of some sort (Fletcher, 2017). It can be divided in two major categories viz positivism ad interpretivisim. In this research interpretivism will be used as this research philosophy will give a researcher access to the realistic situation in Italy through social constructions such as consciousness, shared meanings as well the instruments and will define the involvement of humans main factors in analysing the impact of globalisation on  M&S (Bass and Haxby, 2019).

Data Collection:

This is the one of most important part of a research as it involves the collection or gathering of data from the different sources by using different methods of data collection. It is the process of collection of information from the relevant sources in order to pursue the answers of the research problem and to evaluate the outcome (Silverman, 2016). It can be divided in two different type one is primary data collection method and second is secondary data collection method. Primary data collection method is collection of data from the original sources i.e. which is collected by a research itself at the first-hand, it can be collected in number of ways and provide more reliable and authentic information but is time consuming and expensive. Secondary data collection method is collection of data that are readily available form the other sources, such data are easily available and less expensive.

In this research, researcher will use primary data collection methods which will provide a researcher with a detailed information in order to achieve the aims and objectives of a research.

Sampling:

Sampling may be defined as a statistical procedure which is concerned with the selection of the individual observation, it is the process of selecting a sample size from the population in order to obtain a specific data from the selected participants. In this research a random sampling technique is used and a sample size of 10 respondents which are the employees of M&S is chosen which will provide the accurate information related to the impact of globalisation on expansion strategy of M&S in Italy (Young, 2016).

Data analysis:

This is the most significant part of research as it helps in interpreting the information to get desired outcomes. In this research interpretation of data will done on the qualitative terms that will include thematic analysis method which will provide in-depth information for the data collected.

TASK 3

P5 Analysing Data

Data Assessment

Theme 1: Awareness about globalization

Interpretation:  A researcher conducted a research on the impact of globalisation on the markets of Italy and for this purpose 10 employees from M&S were chosen as respondent and were asked  to fill the questionnaire. From the above table it can be interpreted that out of 10 respondents, 6 respondents replied with answer Yes, that M&S operates at the global level. Out of 10 respondents 3 replied that M&S does not operate at the global level they believe that M&S does not operate in all countries of world and only one respondent is not sure about the fact.

Theme 2: Effect of globalisation on marketing practice

Interpretation: A researcher conducted a research and chose 10 respondents form M&S and asked them to fill the questionnaire in order to achieve the aim and objectives of a project. From the above table it can be interpreted that from the 10 chosen respondents 7 respondents agreed the fact that globalisation have an impact on the marketing practices of M&S as they believed that company has to follow different marketing practice in different countries in order to attract potential customers. Out of 10 respondents 2 respondents does not agree with the fact and only respondent is not sure of the fact. 

Theme 3: Effect of globalisation on operational practice

Interpretation: It can be interpreted from the above table that 6 respondents out of 10 believe that globalisation have an effect on the operational practices of the organisation and 2 respondent disagreed the fact and 2 respondents are not sure. On the basis of interpretation it can be said that  globalisation effects company's operational practices.

Theme 4: Strategies followed by M&S

Interpretation: From the above table it can be interpreted that out of 10 chosen respondents 5 respondents believe that M&S  should merge with other Italian company in order to enter in the markets of Italy. But 2 respondents believe that it depends on the FDI of country and one respondent believe that it should go for acquisition and other 2 respondents believed that it should establish a franchisee in Italy. Based up on the majority which have replied that M&S should merge with another company in order to enter in the new market.

Theme 5: Facing risk of failure 

Interpretation: It can be interpreted form the above table that out of 10 chosen respondents 2 respondents believe that M&S can face risk of failure in Italy and 2 respondents are not sure of the fact. But majority of respondents have replied that M&S will not face any risk of failure in expanding their new product segment in Italy, so this strategy is in the favour of M&S.

Theme 6: Market condition will effect the new product specification

Interpretation: On the basis of data assessment of the organisation, it can be interpreted that out of 10 respondents 6 respondents agreed with the fact that Italian market conditions will have an effect on the new product specifications. Out of 10 respondents 2 disagreed with the fact and 2 are not sure. But majority of respondents have replied that Italian market condition will effect the new product specification of M&S.

Theme 7: Changes in global environment effects the profitability

Interpretation: From the above table it can be interpreted that 5 respondents out of 5 have replied Yes, as they believe that changes in the global environment can effect the overall profitability of the organisation and 3 respondents believed that global environment will not effect the the profitability of M&S and out of 10 respondents only two respondents are not sure with the fact. So, it can be analysed that global environment can effect the profitability of the M&S. 

Theme 8: Specific financial strategy for expansion

Interpretation: It can be interpreted from the above table that out of chosen 10 respondents 7 respondents have replied with the answer that M&S  has a specific financial strategy for expansion or enter in the markets of Italy. Out of 10 respondents 2 respondents are not sure and only 1 respondent disagrees that M&S does not have a specific financial strategy for expansion in Italy.

Theme 9: Awareness of management

Interpretation:  It can be interpreted from the above table that 8 out of 10 respondents have replied that the management of M&S is aware about the measure to be taken for their expansion strategy. Out of 10 respondents only 1 respondent have disagreed the awareness of management and 1 respondent is not sure about it. But it can be analysed that majority of respondents have replied that management is aware about the measure to be taken in order to expand their business in Italy.

Theme 10: Challenges of globalisation

Interpretation:  Above table interprets that out of 10 respondents 6 respondents have replied the  globalisation will bring challenges for the M&S in entering in the Italian markets and 2 respondent believe that globalisation will have not bring any challenges for M&S in entering in the markets of Italy and other two respondents are not sure whether globalisation will bring challenges or not. But it can be analysed that globalisation will bring challenges for M&S in entering in Italian markets.

P6 Conclusion and recommendation

 It can be concluded from the above report that globalisation have a major impact on the performance of the organisation and it is important for the organisation to formulate the strategies for entering in the global markets. Present report also  concludes that there less changes for a organisation to face a risk of failure in other country due to globalisation.  It can also be concluded that market conditions of a country can effect the new product specification of an organisation and there are some challenges which to be faced by the organisation due to globalisation.

Recommendations:

• M&S should analyse the markets of Italy properly and choose the suitable target market which will increase the probability of the organisation in Italy.
• It should formulate a proper marketing plan to attract the potential customers.
• It should be able to understand the culture and marketing trends of Italy which will help in entering the Italian markets.

P7 Reflection

This research has been very important for me as this journey helped me to come trough various opportunities and challenges with the number  of tasks to be performed. There were many task which were performed by like I had to formulate the aims and objectives of this project which guided me in entire project. After this I carried out various other task like prject management plan, WBS, research methodology, data analysis and analysing the data I could frame a conclusion of project. I also provided some of the recommendations to project which could help in meeting the challenges of globalisation.

This project has also helped me in increasing my skills and knowledge about the topic but also I also have to improve my skills like communication skills but there are some skills which is need to be improved by me like time management skills. In order to improve my time management skill I will develop a performance development plan in the future.

REFERENCES

• Bass, J.M. and Haxby, A., 2019. Tailoring Product Ownership in Large-Scale Agile Projects: Managing Scale, Distance, and Governance. IEEE Software. 36(2). pp.58-63.
• Bernon, M., 2018. Sustainable supply chains: Marks & Spencer’s Plan A. The Business & Management Collection.
• Buttrick, R., 2018. The project workout: The ultimate guide to directing and managing business-led projects. Routledge.
• Cleden, D., 2017. Managing project uncertainty. Routledge.
• Fletcher, A. J., 2017. Applying critical realism in qualitative research: methodology meets method. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 20(2). pp.181-194.
• Heldman, K., 2018. Project management jumpstart. John Wiley & Sons.
• Kerzner, H., 2019. Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project management. Wiley.
• Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications Limited.
• Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and technology. Routledge.
• Nohria, N., 2017. Fast forward: The best ideas on managing business change. Business Review. 9. p.10.
• Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
• Young, T.L., 2016. Successful project management. Kogan Page Publishers.

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