Managing a Successful Business Project
Executive Summary
The particular project has been carried out to identify and analyse the globalised operations of Sainsbury Group Plc is influencing the business environments of the markets within the national premises of its host nation, the United Kingdom with the help of various research methods and activities planned within the estimated timeframe of the project. The use of primary sources of data and research methods has been adopted to fetch reasonable outcomes specified by the problem statement of the particular project.
Table of Contents
- Introduction 4
- LO1 5
- LO2 12
- LO3 15
- LO4 22
- References 23
Introduction
Mostly all the organisations out there with their respective business operations within the international markets have able to incur benefits in serving the needs and demands of the customers with the help of globalised perceptions and concepts. Globalisation has able to serve the requirements of the businesses operating globally through its penetration within the functional departments of the respective premises of the organisations all across the globe. The particular project shall conduct a research over the globalised operations of Sainsbury Group Plc is influencing the business environments of the markets within the national premises of its host nation, the United Kingdom.
LO1Produce and critically evaluate a comprehensive project management plan for your research project for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project, covering the following:
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario
Project Definition
With the course of time, globalisation and its corresponding principles have able to vitalise the global trade all across the globe and it is the reason why most of the organisations are able to expand effectively within the international markets. Globalisations have positively influenced the businesses of various organisations all across the globe in terms of culture, technology, economies of scales, and ethics. Competitions among the various organisations within different industries and sectors are becoming intense day by day due, so that the organisations are able to fulfil the needs and preferences of the customers, whose purchasing behaviours are subjected to continuous variations. The particular project is carried out to identify how various aspects of globalised operations of Sainsbury Group Plc is influencing the business environments of the markets within which it operates. The project shall carter the influences of business operations of the particular organisation within the national premises of its host nation, the United Kingdom.
Problem Statement
Various aspects of the project that are being carried out include a role to achieve the purpose to fetch answers to the problems for which the particular project is conducted. The particular project shall derive answers to a specific problem that is to identify how the globalised operations of Sainsbury Group Plc are influencing the environments of the international markets of the UK, which is said to be the host country of the particular organisation. The particular organisation executes its market and industrial operations within the retail sectors that exist within the national premises of the UK. Therefore, analysing the realms of the organisational operations shall aim to answer the particular problem statement of the project.
Project Strategy
The particular project is backed with certain strategies that shall be achieved in a systematic manner as defined below:
- The defined problem statement of the project can be solved with the help of primary as well as through secondary research methods (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017).
- In order to conduct effective results through primary research quantitative and qualitative research approaches shall be chosen.
- In order to clarify the scope of the quantitative and qualitative research approaches, surveys and interviews shall be conducted among the selected range of respondents allocated for the particular research project.
- After collecting generous insights from the selected sample for the project, the data shall be analysed in order to interpret the generalisations of the particular project.
- Generalisations shall support the project with appropriate conclusions and cumulative sets of recommendations.
Project Aim
The aim of the particular project is to identify the operations of the Sainsbury Group Plc that influencing the business environments of the international markets within the national premises of the United Kingdom.
Project Objective
In order provide a basis for achieving the aim of the particular project that is mentioned above, a set of distinctive objectives have been framed as follows:
- To identify the business operations of Sainsbury Group Plc that are taking its business to new heights of globalisation
- To analyse the productivity of the business operations of the particular organisations
- To identify the current needs and demands of the customers within the existing retail markets of the United Kingdom
- To analyse the extensiveness and productivity of the particular organisations in fulfilling the needs and preferences of the customers
P2 Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk and resources
Cost estimation for project activities
|
Activities
|
Time
|
Cost per hours (£)
|
Amounts (£)
|
|
Sampling audience for surveys and interviews
|
30 hours
|
30
|
900
|
|
Data collection through primary sources of data
|
35 hours
|
20
|
700
|
|
Critical analysis upon collected data
|
35 hours
|
30
|
1050
|
|
Recommending alternatives
|
15 hours
|
10
|
150
|
|
Final Documentation of the Project
|
5 hours
|
10
|
50
|
|
Total
|
120 hours
|
100
|
2850
|
Table 1: Project Cost estimation
(Source: Created by the learner)
Risk Assessment Plan
|
Set of weeks
|
Identified risks
|
Extent of risks
|
Impact of risks
|
Impact of risks on the project
|
Ways to determine solutions for the risks
|
|
1.
|
Improper communications during surveys and interviews with the staffs of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
|
LOW
|
LOW
|
May increase the time that is allocated to conduct surveys and interviews
|
Proper training provide to the respondents participating for surveys and interviews
|
|
2.
|
Absenteeism during the event of survey and interviews
|
MEDIUM
|
HIGH
|
Have to conduct the sampling for the survey and interviews thus, wastage of time and resources
|
Recording the extent of absenteeism and allocating alternative solutions for the same
|
|
3.
|
Excessive collection of vague and insignificant data
|
HIGH
|
HIGH
|
Inefficiencies with the achievement of project aim and objectives
|
Evaluati8ng the ethnicity of the results and then depicting the outcomes of the project
|
Table 2: Risk Assessment Plan
(Source: Created by the learner)
Plan for communication within the project
|
What
|
Who
|
Why
|
When
|
How
|
|
Gathering the information from the premises of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
|
CEO of the organisation
|
To integrate critical and experienced insights upon the theme of the project
|
During the first documentation of the project
|
Interviewing the CEO directly
|
|
Associating with the higher officials of the particular organisation
|
CEO and the departmental managers of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
|
Announcement of the project activities and gathering resources from the internal structure of the organisation
|
At the very beginning of the project
|
Face-to-face interviews
|
|
Conducting the data collection procedure for survey and interviews
|
Employees and managers at different level of the particular organisation
|
To meet with the aim, objective and specification of the particular project
|
Continuous procedure during the research activities
|
With the help of survey and interview questionnaires supplied through emails
|
|
Analysing and evaluating the collected information
|
Supervisor of the project
|
To evaluate the extensiveness of the collected data
|
After the data collection procedures
|
Referring to online books, journals and articles
|
|
Final submission of the project
|
Supervisor of the project
|
Submission of the project
|
At the end of completion of the project
|
Directly consulting with the project supervisor
|
Table 3: Communication Plan
(Source: Created by the learner)
Monitoring Plan
|
Activities of project
|
Monitoring methods
|
|
Choosing the topic
|
Monitored under CEO of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
|
|
Framing project aim and objectives
|
Monitored under the CEO and departmental managers of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
|
|
Critical review of the literature from online books, journals and articles
|
Monitored under project supervisor
|
|
Research methodology
|
Monitored under project supervisor
|
|
Data collection and analysis
|
Monitored under departmental managers of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
|
|
Proposing conclusions and recommendations of the project
|
Monitored under project supervisor
|
Table 4: Action plan for monitoring
(Source: Created by the learner)
Quality management
The quality of the overall project is dependent upon the extent with which authentic and appropriate amounts of data and insights are recorded from the selected samples of the project (Sharp et al., 2017). Moreover, the support and guidance from the higher officials of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK shall provide the opportunity to integrate experience related to project and quality management plan for the particular research project.
Scope
Included Scope
The particular project aims to identify and analyse the positive as well as the negative influences of the globalised business operations of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK upon the market environments within the national premises of the UK (O'Leary, 2017). The project shall cover all the aspects related to how the particular organisation trades within the global premises and the resulting consequences served to the demographics of the particular nation.
Excluded Scope
The overall project shall be carried out with the help of surveys and interviews among the selected sample for the particular research through primary research method (Harrison and Lock, 2017). The use of secondary sources of data from online books, journals and articles and excluded from the research scope.
Deliverables
At the end of the project, the particular research shall convey how the business operations of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK' in influencing the business environments of its host nation, UK covering both positive as well as negative attributes of the same.
Success Criteria
The productivity and effectiveness of the research methods, contributions from the selected samples of the project, and the data collected from the same shall be able to demonstrate the key success factors aligned with the project specifications (Joslin and Müller, 2015).
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages for completion
Work Breakdown Structure
|
Sl. No.
|
List of Activity
|
Start Date
|
Duration
|
End Date
|
|
1
|
Topic Selection
|
11/18/2018
|
15
|
12/3/2018
|
|
1.1
|
Planning of research aim and objectives
|
11/18/2018
|
5
|
11/23/2018
|
|
1.2
|
Topic research
|
11/23/2018
|
4
|
11/27/2018
|
|
1.3
|
Project Scope
|
11/27/2018
|
1
|
11/28/2018
|
|
1.4
|
Allocating Budget
|
11/28/2018
|
5
|
12/3/2018
|
|
2
|
Finalisation of research aim and objective
|
12/3/2018
|
10
|
12/13/2018
|
|
2.1
|
Identifying various operations of departments of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
|
12/3/2018
|
2
|
12/5/2018
|
|
2.2
|
Identifying influences of the particular organisation on business environments of the UK
|
12/5/2018
|
2
|
12/7/2018
|
|
2.3
|
Risk assessment
|
12/7/2018
|
6
|
12/13/2018
|
|
3
|
Defining Research Methodology
|
12/13/2018
|
35
|
1/17/2019
|
|
3.1
|
Research methods selection
|
12/13/2018
|
2
|
12/15/2018
|
|
3.2
|
Sampling for survey
|
12/15/2018
|
18
|
1/2/2019
|
|
3.3
|
Sampling for interview
|
1/2/2019
|
15
|
1/17/2019
|
|
4
|
Data analysis
|
1/17/2019
|
25
|
2/11/2019
|
|
4.1
|
Analysis through survey
|
1/17/2019
|
13
|
1/30/2019
|
|
4.2
|
Analysis through interview
|
1/30/2019
|
12
|
2/11/2019
|
|
5
|
Concluding and recommending the project
|
2/11/2019
|
4
|
2/15/2019
|
|
6
|
Final Documentation and Submission of project
|
2/15/2019
|
1
|
2/16/2019
|
Table 5: Work Break down Structure (WBS)
(Source: Created by the learner)
Gantt chart
Figure 1: Gantt chart
(Source: Created by the learner)
LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection, generating knowledge to support the project.
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives.
Introduction
The particular section shall enumerate the primary research methods based on the definitions of the research methodologies that shall allow solving the problem in achieving the project aim and objectives. With the help of the primary research methods, the project shall be able to identify the factors of the business operations of Sainsbury Group Plc, UK that influences the business environments of the UK, which is its host nation.
The primary data collection shall be backed with quantitative and qualitative research methods (Shekhar et al., 2018). The quantitative data collection methods shall be conducted with the help of the Survey through questionnaires supplied to the 100 random customers within the national premises of the UK (Nardi, 2018). This shall allow the project to collect insights associated with their respective extents of customer satisfactions towards the services and operations of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK, so that it is able to determine the influences of the particular organisation upon the international markets of the UK. The qualitative data collection shall be conducted within the project through Interviews among the sample size of two managers of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK, for the same purposes alike the survey (Quinlan et al., 2018). The sampling for both the data collection methods shall be proposed through Probability sampling method, as it allows generalising primary sources of data (Palinkas et al., 2015).
Quantitative Data collection
Q1. What is your age?
|
Options
|
Frequency of respondents
|
Number of respondents
|
Total number of respondents
|
|
18-23 years
|
30
|
30
|
100
|
|
24-35 years
|
47
|
47
|
100
|
|
36-50 years
|
13
|
13
|
100
|
|
51 years and above
|
10
|
10
|
100
|
Table 6: Age specification
Q2. What is your gender?
|
Options
|
Frequency of respondents
|
Number of respondents
|
Total number of respondents
|
|
Male
|
48
|
48
|
100
|
|
Female
|
47
|
47
|
100
|
|
Others
|
5
|
5
|
100
|
Table 7: Gender specification
Q3. How far do you have knowledge about globalisations and its principles?
|
Options
|
Frequency of respondents
|
Number of respondents
|
Total number of respondents
|
|
Highly extensive
|
23
|
23
|
100
|
|
Extensive
|
47
|
47
|
100
|
|
Neutral
|
5
|
5
|
100
|
|
Adequate
|
15
|
15
|
100
|
|
Not at all
|
10
|
10
|
|
Table 8: Knowledge about globalisation
Q4. According to you, what are the significant value propositions integrated by the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK within its product and service offerings?
|
Options
|
Frequency of respondents
|
Number of respondents
|
Total number of respondents
|
|
No hidden costs
|
43
|
43
|
100
|
|
Extended durability
|
7
|
7
|
100
|
|
30 days return policy
|
30
|
30
|
100
|
|
Gift cards and vouchers
|
20
|
20
|
100
|
Table 9: Value propositions product and service offerings of Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
Q5. How far are you satisfied with the value propositions of the products and services offered by the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK?
|
Options
|
Frequency of respondents
|
Number of respondents
|
Total number of respondents
|
|
Highly satisfied
|
20
|
20
|
100
|
|
Satisfied
|
33
|
33
|
100
|
|
Neutral
|
2
|
2
|
100
|
|
Unsatisfied
|
30
|
30
|
100
|
|
Highly unsatisfied
|
15
|
15
|
100
|
Table 10: Satisfactory level towards offered value propositions
Q6. What are your alternative choices of retail brands within the national premises of the UK?
|
Options
|
Frequency of respondents
|
Number of respondents
|
Total number of respondents
|
|
Mark and Spencer
|
27
|
27
|
100
|
|
Tesco
|
30
|
30
|
100
|
|
Aldi
|
12
|
12
|
100
|
|
Lidl
|
10
|
10
|
100
|
|
Arcadia Group
|
11
|
11
|
100
|
|
Waitrose
|
10
|
10
|
100
|
Table 11: Alternative choices of Retail brands
Q7. How far are you satisfied with the quality of the retail products and services of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK?
|
Options
|
Frequency of respondents
|
Number of respondents
|
Total number of respondents
|
|
Highly satisfied
|
15
|
15
|
100
|
|
Satisfied
|
15
|
15
|
100
|
|
Neutral
|
5
|
5
|
100
|
|
Unsatisfied
|
45
|
45
|
100
|
|
Highly unsatisfied
|
20
|
20
|
100
|
Table 11: Satisfactory level towards product and service quality of Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
Q8. How far are you satisfied with the customer service offered by the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK?
|
Options
|
Frequency of respondents
|
Number of respondents
|
Total number of respondents
|
|
Highly satisfied
|
12
|
12
|
100
|
|
Satisfied
|
28
|
28
|
100
|
|
Neutral
|
2
|
2
|
100
|
|
Unsatisfied
|
48
|
48
|
100
|
|
Highly unsatisfied
|
10
|
10
|
100
|
Table 12: Satisfactory level towards Customer service offered by the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
Qualitative Data collection
Q1. What are the contributions of departments of the Sainsbury group Plc towards globalisation within the national premises of the UK?
Q2. How far the business operations of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK influence the market environment of its host nation, UK?
LO3
Introduction
The particular section of the study shall analyse the implications upon the results that have been collected from surveying and interviewing the local inhabitants of the nation and the managers of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK. The analysis shall be interpreted with the help of linguistic knowledge about data interpretation within the particular project. The results collected through survey shall be analysed through quantitative method of data analysis and for the interviews results, qualitative method of data analysis shall be adopted.
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques.
Quantitative Data analysis
Q1. What is your age?
Figure 2: Age specification
Analysis
From the above figure, it can be said that the most of the respondents that participated within the survey within the national premises of the UK belongs to the age groups of adolescents and adults. This depicts that the selected respondents were concerned with the business operations of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK and can be said they were frequent buyers of retail products and services from retail and supermarkets chains of the particular organisation within its host nation.
Q2. What is your gender?
Figure 3: Gender specification
Analysis
The particular figure depicts that the majorities of gender participated within the particular survey composed similar proportions of male and female respondents within the national premises of the UK. This states that men and women of the particular nation frequently visit the retail stores and supermarket units of the particular organisation for buying retail goods and commodities.
Q3. How far do you have knowledge about globalisations and its principles?
Figure 4: Knowledge about globalisation
Analysis
From the above, it can be said that the majority of the respondents participated within the particular survey had extensive amounts of knowledge about the globalisations concepts and perceptions that are being carried out by various organisations within the national premises of the UK. They have either directly or indirectly perceived the knowledge of the business operations of the organisations all across the nation through purchasing retail goods and commodities and experienced the same within the organisational premises of the respective organisations.
Q4. According to you, what are the significant value propositions integrated by the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK within its product and service offerings?
Figure 5: Value propositions product and service offerings of Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
Analysis
Sainsbury Group Plc, UK, operates within the market environments of the UK and offers retail products and services to the national populations of the same that majorly comprises of groceries goods and commodities. This can be depicted through the buying behaviours of the customers within the national premises of the UK that prefers to shop groceries from the stores of the particular organisation, as the same do not pose any additional or rather hidden costs upon their products and services during the selling of the same. The other value propositions that were mentioned during the survey have also fascinated the concerns of the local inhabitants of the UK to some extent.
Q5. How far are you satisfied with the value propositions of the products and services offered by the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK?
Figure 6: Satisfactory level towards offered value propositions
Analysis
Within the national premises of the UK, the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK is said to offer the retail goods and services aligned with some unique value propositions. The results from the particular figure depicts that the most of the people have experienced positive situations through the offered value propositions of the products and services sold by the particular organisation. Majority of the respondents are satisfied with the value propositions that are inclined along with the sales of retail goods and commodities by the particular organisation.
Q6. What are your alternative choices of retail brands within the national premises of the UK?
Figure 7: Alternative choices of Retail brands
Analysis
Sainsbury Group Plc, UK is subjected to intense competitions served by the other retail organisations that are said to operate within the same industry of the particular organisation within the national premises of the UK. This depicts the negative influence of globalisation that is posed upon the particular organisation due to its business operations that exist within the national premises of the UK. Most of the customers that purchases groceries and other retail products and services are said to purchase the same from the retail units of Tesco and M&S however, the rest of the alternative retail brands do not pose threats to the business operations of the particular organisation in UK.
Q7. How far are you satisfied with the quality of the retail products and services of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK?
Figure 8: Satisfactory level towards product and service quality of Sainsbury Group Plc, UK
Analysis
The above analysis can be further more explained within this section of why the people within the national premises prefers buying the retail goods and services mostly from Tesco and M&S and not from the retail units of Sainsbury Group Plc, UK. The reason for people's dedicated preferences is because Tesco and M&S may have influenced more the customers than compared to that of the particular organisation in satisfying their needs and preferences of retail products and services. This depicts that the business environment within the national premises of the UK is subjected to the negative influencing business characteristics of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK.
Q8. How far are you satisfied with the customer service offered by the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK?............
Analysis
From the above figure, it can be said that the customer satisfaction services through positively dealing with the queries and feedbacks over the retail products and services sold by the particular organisation is not as efficient as compared to the same served by its competitors within the national premises of the UK. This depicts that the particular organisation is not able to use the principles of globalisation effectively to satisfy its customers through its business operations limited to the business environments of the UK.
Qualitative Data analysis
Q1. What are the contributions of departments of the Sainsbury group Plc towards globalisation within the national premises of the UK?
Manager 1
According to marketing manager of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK, the sales and promotional operations of the particular organisation focuses upon distinctive sales of retail products and services. However, the current productivity of the marketing operations is not as effective as that of the competitors within the international markets of the UK. Due to this, the particular organisation is said to be lagging behind with the adoption of advanced technologies and strategies with which the extent of maximum sales volumes could have widen.
Manager 2
According to production manager of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK, the implications of the market within the national premises of the UK researched by the marketing teams are not being incorporated properly within the departmental premises of the production unit. This is the reason why the particular manufacturing department is not able cater the needs and preferences of the national populations of the UK.
Q2. How far the business operations of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK influence the market environment of its host nation, UK?
Manager 1
According to marketing manager of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK, the level of productivity of the particular department is not more effective than compared to that of organisational competitors. As the particular business operation is not able to serve the needs of its customers, Sainsbury Group Plc, lags in having wide opportunities that exist within the retail market environment of the UK.
Manager 2
According to production manager of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK, the needs and preferences of the customers towards retail goods and commodities are said to be changing continuously. Due to which, the particular organisation is not able to carter the same properly in order to positively serve within the business environments of the UK.
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations because of research and data analysis to draw valid and meaningful conclusions.
Conclusion
From the entire discussions, it can be said the project as well as the research extensiveness has able to solve the particular problem statement of the project that was subjected along with the prerequisites of project completion. The business performances of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK pose both positive and negative influences within the national premises of the UK, which is its host nation. However, the extent of negative influence is more than compared to that of the positive one, as they are inefficient in serving the market requirements that is aligned with the customer purchasing behaviours.
Recommendations
The research quality of the particular project could have been more diversified if the data from the secondary sources such as books, journals, and articles could have incorporated within the same. The sources could have provided with deep visualisation to the topic of the particular project and the cohesiveness within the project could have been achieved. Choosing random customers from the national premises of the UK was a good option however; the interpretation could have been if the survey was also projected to the employees of the particular organisation.
Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning and performance.
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning and performance.
I have witnessed that I have excellent verbal and written communication skills, as I have able to inform and interpret the project activities with great proficiency with the project supervisor, CEO, managers, employees of the Sainsbury Group Plc, UK. Handling a wide range of respondents depicts my strength for problem solving abilities. However, I lack confidence and motivation. With the help of the strengths and improving weaknesses, I shall be able to conduct projects and researches more effectively that before. These skills are definably important for the project managers carrying out distinctive project activities. All the questions and problems statement have answered and the extensiveness of the same has been monitored by my supervisor who was mentoring with the guidelines of the project management plans.