Managing a successful Business Project Assignment Solution

Managing a successful Business Project

Task 1: Introduction to the Project

Digital technology has transformed the conventional ways of operating businesses. In this report,the key challenges to operate business operations in an organisation where digital technology is not being used to its maximum potential. In this report, the aims and objectives of “Caffe Nero”- a coffee house brandhas been enlisted. In addition to this, a project management plan has been discussed. A work breakdown structure and Gantt chart are also produced.  

1.1 Choice of project

1.1.1 For your approved topic of research project, you would need to formulate and record an explanation and rationale for the choice of your project topic area with an explanation as to how you arrived at your choice and state/explain the problem you are investigating.

In the course of the research, the major challenges to business organisations that work in a climate where the digital technology is under-utilised will be studied. The theme and chosen project work within it, will help in exploring and examining a relevancy of business’s aspects in reference to the business environment. The research work demonstrates the capabilities required to implement and manage a project. In this report, an investigation will be carried out that focuses on executing a business project in order to meet business aims and objectives. This will talk about decision-making, research activities, and problem-solving methods using project management abilities.

1.2 Project Initiation and Planning

1.2.1 State the aims & objectives of your investigation together with a clear identification of project deliverables.

• Establishing project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme
• Conducting a small-scale research, gathering information and collecting in order to gain knowledge about the project.
• Presenting the project and communicating viable recommendations for the given problem founded on some meaningful conclusions drawn from the data analysis.
• Strengthening the critical thinking abilities.
• Become familiar with management of the available resources for operating the project.

1.2.2 Create a project plan which includes, identification of required resources, activity timescales, costs, scope of project, expected quality of work, communication with relevant stakeholders, and risks associated with/during project completion.

Project Management is the process of application of skills, knowledge, and experience in managing the different tasks of the project. From a very long time, the researchers are inventing numerous methods in order to systematically implement the project management process within the organisation. In the given scenario, Caffe Nero, is seeking the expansion of business but the major challenges in that growth is the underutilisation of the digital technology (Marshalland Rossman, 2014). The aim of the project management is to identify the objectives of the tasks so that they can be accomplished. There six essential elements that should be covered in every project management plan:-

• Scope of the project: Usually, a project scope is based on factors, namely time, quality, and cost. Scope is the most crucial element because the project outcomes depend on it.
• Cost:Once the organisation is over with defining the scope, it starts to set the budget of each operation involved in the production. The cost of digital media involved in the promotion is approved and the revenue earned is projected. Digital technology have made the allocation of funds an easy task.
• Timescales:Timescales is the allocated time for a task to be completed. Software like MSP can be brought into use in order to have proper control over the project management.
• Quality:The standards that are requiredfrom a particular operation is the quality. Customers put quality over every other feature of the service or products. The quality is the combination of standards and principles of benchmarking while completing a task (Kusters, J.F., 2016).
• Communication:To maintain the quality, the communication system has to be strong and good. Managing the coordination between the different departments of an organisation is essential and should be done properly.
• Risks:A business has to deal in both internal and external environment. For the growth of the organisation, risks are to be taken by the management. In the case of Caffe Nero, the underutilisation of the resources are the key challenges. These risks are required to be figured out and rectified before they create any further hindrance for the business.

1.2.3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages for completion

Work Breakdown Structure

Preparing a work breakdown structure is important for the businesses so as to implement different steps of management, such as planning, organising, executing, and implementing the strategies in a process. WBS helps in division of the work among the employees and getting the tasks accomplished effectively and efficiently.

Gantt chart

Gantt chart is helpful for the managers in tracking the operation’s task against the deadlines. It is planning tool that reflects the beginning and ending dates of a different operations through a horizontal bar graphs. Managers can easily notice the progress of a project and set priorities. Team members can also see which task is running delayed and the chart can be altered accordingly to balance it. In addition to this, using the chart, managers can compare the projected and the real progress.

M1 Produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project.

In the comprehensive project management plan produced by Caffe Nero, the emphasis has been given to planning, organising, monitoring, controlling, and implementing activities. The aim of the project management is to optimise the use of scarce resources in order to achieve the organisational goals.

Planning of Scope:The management ofCaffe Nerois planning each and every task as per the objectives of their business. It barely make use of project management tools in operating business.

Costing and Budgeting: Allocating funds to a particular aspect of business is the most crucial factor.This can be made easier by making use of different costing tools. Caffe Nero is not implementing any of such tools in costing. This increases the time consumption (Kerzner, 2013).  

Time-framing:This is crucial as time is a scarce resource for every organisation. Performing all the functions timely is essential otherwise, company has to bear losses.

Controlling: In this, the organisation tries to control its each and every organisational tasks. The management tries to build coordination among different department for better efficiency.

Risk Analysis: This involves the study of all the factors that can affect the business adversely. It is a well-known fact that without taking risks, an organisation cannot succeed (Biber, et. al., 2017).

Task 2: - Literature Review & Research Methodology

2.1. Critical review of key existing literature around the project. Identify and discuss briefly any issues relevant to your project.

According to Piccinini, et. al., (2015). Transforming industrial business: the impact of digital transformation on automotive organizations. Three key themes are there affecting the business strategy in the current world:-have been discussed in this paper: - 1.) The radicalization of the IT-enabled businesses undergoing transformation, (2) The changing state of various industrial organisation through digital technological transformation, (3) the presence of physical–digital conflicting issues. In of the inferences of this paper, it is suggested that an organisation which want to thrive in the era of digitalization should develop the capabilities to see the large benefits of digital modernization.  

As per Bharadwaj, et.al, (2013). Digital business strategy: toward a next generation of insights.There arefour important factors that direct the modern digitalise organisational strategies, namely scope, scale, speed of digitalization, and business value sources.

According to Lindh, et.al, (2015). How Does Information Technology Impact on Business Relationships? The Need for Personal Meetings. The paper investigates how IT influences the social relationships. The study tries to figure out different alterations caused by making use of IT in the business relationships. The penetration of IT in business relationships is checked by the extent of its use and the level of influence over desires of personal meetings.

2.2 ; Methodology

2.2.1. Discuss the methods which you will be using for information gathering and data collection. Explain the use of qualitative and quantitative research and how these research methods apply to your research project.

For the small scale businesses likeCaffe Nero, both quantitative and qualitative research method can be brought into use in order to meet the objectives of the study. For gathering the data, questionnaire method will be used. In the mechanism of gathering the information, the questionnaire method serves many purposes. Even though it doesn’t provide the comprehensive evaluation of the scenario, it supports other data analysis procedures.

Quantitative Research Method: It talks about the quantity of the data and provides a wide range of choices that assist in getting the best quality of work. The data collected is usually in the numeric form or charts or tables. The data is analysed and based on that results are interpreted. Data is collected by making use of some well-structured instruments. Questionnaires are the most common way of collecting the numerical data.

Qualitative Research Method:   The data collected in this research reflects the quality of an aspect rather than the numeric values. This has a wider scope than the quantitative method. This method is faster than the previously discussed method. The mechanism is straightforward and is based on simple questions. It is useful in gaining the unified experience.  This method gives importance to the time and money resources of the organisation.

Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Since Caffe Nero is a smaller organisation and collecting data may be easier as the sample size is quite small.On one hand, the qualitative research provides freedom to the investigator to conduct research according to his needs, and on the other, it sometimes takes a large amount of time to complete the task. Talking about the quantitative research, the study needs a humongous amount of data in order to make inferences out of it and achieve a higher accuracy. A large amount of data are needed to be studied along with graphs and tables. This requires an data interpretation expert.

2.2.2 Justify your choice of literature and secondary resources on which your project is based and how will it contribute to an informed primary research

Caffe Nerois not making the best out of the available technological measures. It has been rated among the worst organisations of the UK.Employee satisfaction level and morale is low in there. For this case study, Bharadwaj, et.al, (2013). Digital business strategy: toward a next generation of insights, is the most apt literature available. The paper integrates the business infrastructure with products, services, and processes. It discusses how digitalisation is transforming the business strategies, processes, working abilities. It also summarises the role of IT in operating business operations. It can be helpful in the case of Caffe Nero, as it shed light on various digital strategies and discusses how the organisational structure can be reshaped using digital technology.

2.2.3 Discuss sampling approaches and techniques, including probability and nonprobability sampling and provide justification to the choice of sampling approach you will be using for your project.

Sampling is the process of selecting the smaller units out of population in order to understand and collect data about it. There are two types of sampling: a) Probability Sampling b) Non-probability sampling.

In probability sampling method the samples are chosen randomly. This avoid the any biasedness in the data. The types of probability sampling are mentioned below.

• Simple random sampling
• Stratified random sampling
• Systematic random sample
• Multistage sample
• Cluster sampling
• Multiphase sample

In non-probability sampling, the sampling of the data is not randomised but depends upon the choice of the researcher. The demerit of this process is that it may induce biasedness in the data. Types of non-probability sampling is given below.

• Convenience sampling
• Quota sampling
• Purposive sample

In the case of Caffe Nero, one can make use of probability sampling as it is more reliable and does not provide biased data or misleading data.

2.2.4 You will need to conduct primary research and decide whether this will be questionnaires (qualitative/quantitative) /focus groups/in-depth interview/observation, etc.

Since there are various methods available for conducting a research, such as questionnaire, focus groups, in-depth interview, observation, and many more. The selection of a method is based on the type of a research and its objective. Questionnaire method is apt in the case of Caffe Neroas it is a quantitative methods and once the data is collected, it is easy to analyse after converting it into some graphs or pie charts. Once the graphs are prepared, the researcher can easily take out inferences from that. Questionnaire method provides a comprehensive evaluation and test the effectiveness of the organisational strategies.

2.2.5 Explain your choice of research tools (advantages/disadvantages of interview/ questionnaires etc.) with referencing

First point to note in this research is that surveys and questionnaires are not identical. Questionnaire is a tool for data collection and always consists of set of questions that are asked to the respondent. Questionnaire is the one of the many methods of survey i.e., it is the part of the survey. The advantages and disadvantages of questionnaire are discussed below:-

Advantages:-

• They are cost-efficient methods
• They provide the most practical data
• They can be analysed quickly and they provide speedy results.
• The data can be studied and analysed by anyone

Disadvantages:-

• People can be dishonest while answering the questions
• People show lack of presence of mind
• Data usually show differences in real situation and interpreted inference
• Some questions are tough to analyse.
• Lack of personalisation.

2.2.6 Also in this section you will need to set out your questionnaire and justify the questions asked

2.2.7. Discuss the concept of Ethics, reliability and validity in research and how have you applied these concepts in your work. Provide examples where applicable.

The relationship between the validity and reliability is complex. The stronger the base of the reliability, the weaker is the validity and vice versa. Reliability is termed as the consistency of the measurement. It could be based upon three types of consistency: overtime, across items, and across different researcher. On the other hand, validity is the accuracy in the measure of a test. In non-statistical research, reliability and validity are synonymous but in actual world, they are different. Test which is valid can be called reliable, but the opposite is not the same. The validity and reliability of a test cannot be declared by only a single study, but they are defined after numerous studies.

M2- Carry out an evaluation of the accuracy and reliability of different research methods applied in your work. Provide clear justification to your choice of research methodology used.

The accuracy and reliability of the two category of research methods assist in determining the validity of the research method. The two approaches are unique in themselves and are crucial from the point of data collection and analysing the quality of the data.

The qualitative method is dependent on the accuracy of the instrument or tools used in interpreting the data. It relies heavily on logical data. Those questions are only taken into account whose answers are satisfactory and relevant.

Quantitative method provide the graphs and pie charts. Making inferences out of those figures is quite easy and understandable. The only challenge in this method is that the validity and reliability depends on the accuracy of the data gathered. If the data is incorrect, then the results may be misleading.

D1- Provide a critical evaluation of the project management process and appropriate research methodologies applied.

Project management is the comprehensive process responsible for planning, organising, staffing, controlling, decision-making, and other functional activities. Caffe Nerois the coffee house brand and is not utilising the digital platform up to its potential. The with the correct project management plan that focuses on just using the mobile app, organised way of planning along with the sound decision-making. Monitoring and controlling the tasks of the organisation by project management can help in resource management and efficient execution. Using online booking sites and mobile app can help in increasing the success of the organisation. It also leads to customer satisfaction and loyalty. For the study purposes, the quantitative method (questionnaire method)has been adopted for data collectionthat will help making the final decisions (Burke, 2013).

Task 3: Data collection & Analysis

3.1 Analyse your research and data using appropriate tools and techniques in line with the suggested project aims

In order to analyse the data of the research work, the MS Excel has been taken into use. The questionnaire comprises five set of questions which were asked from a sample size of 100 people (randomly chosen).

1. ShouldCaffe Nero operate business by using any online website or mobile app for booking?

From the aforementioned diagram, it can be figured out that 70% of the respondents are in favour of using digital technology while 30% are not supporting it.

2. What are the challenges stopping Caffe Nero to use the digital platforms?

• Adoption issues
• High cost

The above pie chart indicates that 67% respondents believe that adoption issues are the key challenges in using the digital platforms. 33% thinks it is the high cost that is a   major challenge.  

3. How can the organisation improve its current business position?

• Using project management tools
• Using mobile app
• Optimal use of organisation’s resources

From the above diagram, it can be comprehended that 30% of the respondents thinks that by using project management principles, Caffe Nero can improve its position in   the market. 40 % believes that using mobile app can serve the purpose, whereas the other 30% think that by optimising use of the resources, organisation can reap the benefits

4. Will the use of digital platforms mobile app helps the customers?

• Yes
• No

58% thinks that the mobile app is very beneficial for the organisation and for the customers as well. Remaining 42% do not agree on it.

5. Will this technical approach reduce the burden of the management of Caffe Nero?

• Yes
• No

It is impressive that more than 60% of the respondent agree on the point that digital technology reduces the burden.

M3- Carry out an evaluation of the selection of appropriate tools and techniques you have used for data collection in terms of their accuracy and authenticity.

After attempting the whole project report, it can be concluded that digital technology has a huge positive impact on the functioning of the project. From the questionnaire analysis, one can clearly see that the customers and the workers of Caffe Nero are in the favour of implementing the digital technology in project management and other managerial functions.   Both qualitative and quantitative methods are viable in the following scenario, but for the time purpose, the latter method is brought into use. Based on the inferences of the research, the whole decision-making process can be altered. After the completion of the research evaluation, the management of Caffe Nero may adopt the recommendations as provided in the later section of this project report.  

<Task 4: Conclusions & Recommendations

In the following section, the use of digital technology in the business operations have been highlighted. To know people’s and workers’ opinion about the use of digital technology in business, a survey has been conducted. The recommendations based on the results of survey have been given in the report.

Caffe Nero is the UK based small coffee house company with 1500+ employee in total. With the rising competition, the company is losing its market value. The organisation is reluctant towards using the modern platforms. The study is based on the benefits of using the digital technology in the business operations.

The use of digital platform like mobile app for online orders can help the company to improve their market position. Digital technology helps the organisation in accomplishing the goals in the shortest possible time and with maximum efficiency.  

Knowing the reason behind reluctance towards implementing the technology is the first step to be taken by the researcher. Taking workshops on regular basis can help in making the team familiar with the new changes in the technology.

Providing training to every employee of the company so that could be made familiar with the use of a particular technology. The financial and other resources have to be optimized in order to reduce the wastages (Bernard, 2017).

In this course of the presentation, it was shown that how the technological advancement can be made in an organisation. It was also shown that people’s feedback also matters in the research. The recommendations for implementing the digital technology in an organisation was also enlisted.

Task 5 – Reflection

P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning and performan

The main objective of research is to determine the strength and weakness of digital technology that helps to increase the development of Caffe Nero, UK. It can be recognized that Caffe Nero is the private company and that provides the flexibility to develop the business. With the advanced use of digital technology, there are certain drawbacks that create the negative impact on the management for buying the coffee directly from traders.The benefit of technology is that the organization can maintain the proper record of data through the internet. The main objective of the business to adapt the practices is such manner through which company can get competitive edge in the market place.

Apart from this, the researcher can gathered the data through the quantitative and qualitative data and also interpret s the data in forms of graphs and charts. Quantitative data depicts the data in values and numbers and that helps to interpret the data easily. Qualitative data depicts the information in relation to quality and that can’t be measured. The project also identified the competitive advantage that can be undertaken by the Caffe Nero. It develops the supply chain of coffee products that help to increase the popularity of product(Bernard, 2017).

Approach and learning process:

The researcher has the approach of hybrid methodology to complete the project. Hybrid approach is the mixture of two sources that area quantitative and qualitative approach to collect the data from various sources. The researcher gained the process of learning to compete with environment and work according to the trends of Caffe Nero. It is essential for the researcher to use the reliable and valid sources to collect the data. It can also ensure that the sources which are selected that help to interpret the information and that can be done by the researcher on the basis of their past experiences.

M4 Evaluate the value of the project management process and use of quality research to meet stated objectives and support own learning and performance.

It can be evaluated that the process of project management is a complex and difficult process that requires the knowledge, understanding and skills in the field. It can be identified that the process of management can be evaluated on the basis of their positive and negative aspects of digital technology. It can be observed that the research provides the reliable and clear information in relation to the digital technology for the organization. The researcher also determines the issues that are occurring in the environment for the impact of digital technology. To meet the aims and objectives, the manager evaluates the data properly and also assesses the resources in an effective manner. The research provides the insights into the problems and also develops the hypothesis and ideas for the quantitative research. It also uncovers the trends in opinions and thought and dive into the problem (Geisler and Allwood, 2018).

3References

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