Managing A Succeful Business Project

Write 3000 words

MANAGING A SUCCEFUL
BUSINESS PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Aim..............................................................................................................................................3
Objectives....................................................................................................................................3
Project Management Plan............................................................................................................3
Work Breakdown structure and Gantt Chart...............................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................6
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................7
RESULTS........................................................................................................................................9
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS.................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................15
REFLECTIVE SUMMARY .........................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................18
Logbook.....................................................................................................................................18
Performance review...................................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
Globalisation is a process of integrating and communicating with governments, people and
companies across the globe. Increasing participation of global people in society and economy has
led to boost and changes in trends of organisation and their activities (Effects of Globalisation on
the UK Economy, 2019). The present study is based on outlining positive impact of ethical,
economic and cultural of globalisation on marketing and HR function of Unilever. Unilever is a
British- Dutch transnational consumer good company offers wide range of product like food and
beverages, beauty, cleaning and personal care. The assessment will outline project management
plan which comprise, cost, time, quality, etc. of research. Further, the study will outline results
collected from sampled participants wit the helps of questionnaire. Last scholar will provide
recommendation to company of ways of manage impact of factors and will conclude with own
learning
Aim
“To assess positive ethical, economic and cultural impact of Globalisation on marketing
and Human resource function within organisation: A case study on Unilever”.
Objectives
 To understand positive impact of ethical, economic and cultural factor with increasing
Globalisation
 To examine ethical, economic and cultural consideration of Unilever on marketing and
Human resource function
 To outline ways to manage changes in marketing and Human resource function with
respect to ethical, economic and cultural factor.
 To recommend strategies which Unilever can implement to manage positive impact of
ethical, economic and cultural factor with increasing Globalisation
Project Management Plan
 Cost: Cost of research is about process of collecting and analysing information. In this
study cost is for researching over chosen topic which will comprise travelling expense,
stationery and technological equipment. The total cost of research will be approximately
£ 43.6
 Scope: Scope of research is wide as it is focused on outlining positive impact of three
different factors on two functions of organisation that is ethical, economic and cultural on
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HR and marketing. The key words of study will be impact, globalisation, culture,
economy, ethics, marketing, Human resource, responsibility, growth, etc.
 Time: Time is foremost aspect of research which derive project initiation and completion
with collection of appropriate facts. The present research will start from 02.08.2019 and
will complete by 16.10.2019. This is the aspect which need to assessed by scholar after
every step-in order to ensure timely completion and accomplishment of aim and
objectives.
 Quality: Assuring quality of research information is the main criteria which will eb
focused by scholar for which the individual will be seek for relevant secondary sources
and will also ensure appropriate referencing and citing. Further, or maintaining quality of
study scholar will seek feedback from supervisor after proof-reading collected and
analysed information.
 Communication: Interaction is a crucial part of research where aim of scholar is on
collecting viable information to draw outcomes of study. Communication in present study
will be via survey questionnaire with sampled participants.
 Risk: Risk of research is time constraints because it is important for the scholar to ensure
time completion of data collection and analysis in order to get the task checked by
supervisor before date o completion. Analysis of data cannot be biased therefore critical
comparison of collected information is risk step which will be processed in discussion
stage.
 Resources: Essential requirement of study which comprise technological tools,
stationery, print media, newspapers, magazines, journals and books, electronic sources
and internet.
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Work Breakdown structure and Gantt Chart
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Task Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Auto
Schedule
d
Topic selection 5 days Mon 8/5/19 Fri 8/9/19
Auto
Schedule
d
Setting aims and
objectives 2 days Mon 8/12/19 Tue 8/13/19 1
Auto
Schedule
d
Writing literature review 7 days Wed 8/14/19 Thu 8/22/19 1,2
Auto
Schedule
d
Selection and writing
research methodology 4 days Wed 8/14/19 Mon 8/19/19 2
Auto
Schedule
d
Preparation of
Questionnaire 5 days Fri 8/23/19 Thu 8/29/19 3,4
Auto
Schedule
d
Data collection 7 days Fri 8/30/19 Mon 9/9/19 5
Auto
Schedule
d
Data analysis 5 days Tue 9/10/19 Mon 9/16/19 6
Auto
Schedule
d
Presentation of findings 4 days Tue 9/17/19 Fri 9/20/19 7
Auto
Schedule
d
Conclusion and
recommendation 4 days Mon 9/23/19 Thu 9/26/19 7,8
Auto
Schedule
d
Reflecting learning 1 day Mon 9/23/19 Mon 9/23/19 3,7,8
Auto
Schedule
d
arranging file in a
structured format 3 days Tue 9/24/19 Thu 9/26/19 10
Auto
Schedule
d
Taking feedback and
doing modifications 7 days Fri 9/27/19 Mon 10/7/19 11
Auto
Schedule
d
Final submission 6 days Tue 10/8/19 Tue 10/15/19 12

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LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Hanson and et.al., 2016, globalisation has revolutionised the business world as
it came up with diverse range of people, different economies and resources. As per the views of
Johnston 2015, most influencing factor by globalisation are ethical, economic and cultural.
Culture creates positive impact on business operation with respect to management of staffing
practices of organisation. For example, it assists in selecting people from different cultural
backgrounds which supports diversity at workplace. As per the views of Wakabi, 2016, positive
impact of ethics is seen when compliance with international legal polices and procedure. This
helps the firm in ethical management of business operations across international boundaries.
On the other hand, Cramer, 2017, outline about economic impact which is seen in
contribution of business to economic of host countries. This supports overall development and
boost morale of companies and people to trade across international boundaries. According to
Monshipouri, Welch and Kennedy, 2017, positive cultural impact is seen in HR activity of
organisation as it assists the firm in diverse workforce management which supports innovation in
products and services. In contrast Zürn and De Wilde, 2016, stated about ethical impact on
marketing where company are able to strategies marketing initiative in innovative way to regard
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to ethical concern of society. Adhering to beliefs of diverse people when marketing assists the
organisation in encouraging responsible marketing which aid in gaining attention of diverse
buyers.
Collings, Wood and Szamosi, 2018, articulated about employment policies of HR which are
altered according to legislative requirement of international market. In accordance with this it is
important for the business to market research and comply with legislation of region before
expanding to manage stability in operations. However, Shenkar, Luo and Chi, 2014, stated about
dramatic effect of globalisation on HRM, as it creates intense competitive environment.
Economy comprise labour market trends ad it is important for the HR professionals of
organisation to manage staffing and training practices according to economic condition for
particular region to maximize productivity. As per the view of Parsons, Maclaran and
Chatzidakis, 2017, it can be said that ethical and culture are the major factors influencing HR and
marketing activities of organisation as the influence is directly related with people of particular
region. Adhering to culture and ethics of society aid in stable establishment and management of
organisation operations. Al Ariss and Sidani, 2016, recommended market research as the best
priorities of organisation to focus on with increasing globalisation. It helps the management in
accumulating valid information to deal with changing economic and customer preferences.
METHODOLOGY
The research methodology under a research project can be defined as that an approach
that is undertaken to define the flow of the research and plan. This define the direction as how
the project is directed and by taking which steps it will be completed. For the present research
over assessing the ethical, economic and cultural impact of globalisation on marketing and
Human resource function on Unilever the following methodology have been adopted:
Research type:
The type of the research can be stated as the method of the conducting the research
project which is basically of two types qualitative and quantitative. For the present research plan
qualitative research have been selected for directing the research project on qualitative
investigation through use of thoughts and opinion and diving deeper into the problem raised in
the research topic.
Research approach:
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The research approach under RM for a project can be defined as procedure and plan
which comprise of different stages of broad assumption to detailed method of data collection,
interpretation and analysis (Research Approach, 2019.). The selecting criteria of a research
approach depends on the type of research, data collection. This is broadly divided into two
including inductive and deductive. For the present research inductive approach have been
selected because for qualitative research type inductive approach is use for operating within
known premises to generate untested conclusions.
Research philosophy:
The research philosophy under RM for a project is identified as a belief regarding a way
for collection of data over a given phenomenon must be done and how it shall be analysed and
used effectively in the research (Research Philosophy, 2019). It basically deals with sources,
nature and development of knowledge. There are generally two philosophy used under RM,
intererpretivism and positivism. In the present project interpretivism research philosophy have
been used in order to conduct qualitative investigation of the data collected over the topic of
research.
Data collection and sampling:
Data collection is that step of RM were facts, information related with research topic is
gathered. It can be done through primary and secondary method. In the primary method data is
collected from books, journals and article written by author and writers related with the topic
under research. Primary data is gathered form survey, questionnaire, interviews and observation.
For present research plan both methods have been adopted. Primary data have been collected
from questionnaire method where responses of 30 HR and marketing managers of Unilever have
been recorded in order to analyse the positive effects o globalization of over HR and marketing
operation of the organization.
Random sampling method have be used to select the participant for which population
was the managers of Unilever. Under random sampling non probabilistic approach have been
applied in order to ensure equal opportunity to all HR and marketing mangers of being selected
as a respondent for research.
Data Analysis:
Data analysis is done through use of statistical tools and techniques and also through
creation of theme over data collection. In the present research plan thematic manner of data
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analysis have been used in with presenting the data in tabular, graphic and chart formate for
interpreting the information gathered over research topic.
RESULTS
QUESTIONNAIRE
Question 1: Do you think with globalisation, competition have increased for Unilever
regarding promotion of its products?
A. Agree
B. Strongly Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree
Question 2: According to you with going global cultural aspects and abidance in Unilever
have increased while recruiting personnels form different countries?
A. Agree
B. Strongly Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree
Question 3: Do you think ethical consideration while operating in global market is an
important factor for ensuring success of the business?
A. Agree
B. Strongly Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree
Question 4: have you ever faced any cultural issue while appointing a Foreign national
within Unilever?
A. Yes
B. May be
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C. No
Question 5: Do you think that globalisation have assisted Unilever in exploring
marketing opportunities with going global?
A. Agree
B. Strongly Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree
Question 6: Do you think that with globalisation have increased opportunities for
Unilever for recruiting more skilled people from around the world?
A. Agree
B. Strongly Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree
Question 7: Is there a reduction in the cost of production due to adoption of global
technologies by Unilever?
A. Yes, to high extent
B. Yes, to moderate level
C. Yes to lower level
D Not at all
Question 8: According to you, is cultural factors brings a diversity within organisation
and its functions, and how?
Question 9: As per your view do international agreements taxation reduces cost
increment of Unilever over marketing and promotion?
Theme 1: Increase in competition for Unilever regarding promotion of its products due to
globalisation.
Response Number of Respondents
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Agree 10
Strongly Agree 13
Neutral 2
Disagree 3
Strongly disagree 2
Total 30
Interpretation: Majority (23 out of 30) of the mangers have given a response that with
globalization competition have increased for Unilever in international market. This have a
positive impact organisational with more competition it is provide with bigger opportunist of
gaining advantages over its competitors through accepting challenges and facing them
effectively.
Theme 2: Abidance of cultural aspect by Unilever while recruiting personnels form
different countries.
Response Number of Respondents
Agree 9
Strongly Agree 15
Neutral 2
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Disagree 3
Strongly disagree 1
Total 30
Interpretation: 24 from 30 manager gave a response that globalisation the require of
Unilever have increased over considering culture aspects of different nation in this organisational
practices. This is positive over Unilever as with such abidance employees have a sense of
belonging to company and this directly increases employee locality having positive impact of
organisational operations and performances.
Theme 3: Importance of ethical consideration while operating in global market for
ensuring success of the business.
Response Number of Respondents
Agree 8
Strongly Agree 16
Neutral 4
Disagree 1
Strongly disagree 1
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Total 30
Interpretation: with cultural abidance ethical consideration is also important for HR
managers of Unilever. This is agreed by 24 mangers of company as unethical behaviours is not
accepted in international markets and ethical practises are must to ensure smooth running of
business.
Theme 4: Cultural issues faced while appointing a Foreign national within Unilever.
Response Number of Respondents
Yes 25
May be 3
Not 2
Total 30
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Interpretation: With integrating Cultural difference within organization the HR and
Marketing angers faces cultural challenges while appoint a person form different nation as stated
by 25 managers of Unilever. This is positive for company as it mitigate the problem with taking
effective measure and activities and welcomes cultural diversity within organization practices.
Theme 5: Assistance provided by globalization for exploring marketing opportunities
Response Number of Respondents
Agree 5
Strongly Agree 20
Neutral 2
Disagree 2
Strongly disagree 1
Total 30
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Interpretation: As agreed by 25 mangers of Unilever operating under global markets
have opens new door of opportunities regarding marketing, recruiting and growth of the business
with operating beyond national boundaries.
Theme 6: Increased opportunities for Unilever for recruiting more skilled people for
around the world
Response Number of Respondents
Agree 8
Strongly Agree 17
Neutral 1
Disagree 3
Strongly disagree 1
Total 30
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Interpretation: As stated by 25 mangers of Unilever, at international market place every
type of employee is available and this company an opportunity to hire highly skilled people in
this organisation by providing it vast area to explore for recruiting a suitable person for a specific
job within Unilever.
Theme 7: Cost reduction related with production due to adoption of global technologies by
Unilever.
Response Number of Respondents
Agree 7
Strongly Agree 20
Neutral 1
Disagree 1
Strongly disagree 1
Total 30
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Interpretation: 27 out of 30 mangers agreed to the fact tat with adoption of the
technologies at internation market place Unilever have successfully reduced its cost of
production. This have a positive effect as technological advancement have been made sure due
to globalisation for cost control and profit maximization.
Theme 8: Cultural diversity brought within organization and its functions by globalization.
Majority of the managers of Unilever have given a reply that globalization have brought a
positive change in company as bringing in cultural integration of different culture form around
the world making organization a unity in diversity.
Theme 9: International agreements taxation and reduction in marketing and promotion
cost.
Almost all managers agreed that with taxation agreement with other nations for
operating in internal markets have reduced the costing of marketing and promotion due to
reduced taxes on these activities.
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
The above table and graphs depicts the responses given by 30 HR and marketing mangers
of Unilever who have been asked different questions over impact of globalization on HR and
marketing functions of organization in context of ethical, cultural and economical factors of
globalization. Various responses recorded from mangers gives a clear understanding that
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economic, ethical and cultural factors of globalization have positive impact on the organizational
functioning of Unilever. This have been determined that with going global one of the positive
effect faced by organisation is related with taxation positive with other countries which directly
reduces the taxes and this in turn reflect a decrease in over all costing and expenses leading the
organisation to enhance its profitability. Also, another factor which have been seen as ethical
implication of the globalisation on marketing and HR function of company. This is identifies
that ethical behaviour not only enhance work cultural but reputation of the organisation at world
level, which increases employee as well as consumer loyalty towards organisation. It have been
analysed form the above evaluation that with cultural diversity more integration with in
organisation have been brought in and this have affected company operations in effective manner
by motivating the employees belonging from different nations. Globalisation have made it easy
for the HR managers to recruit skilled workers form different nations of world as per the
requirement of specific job with giving them more options and choices to select from. All the
marketing mangers have been assisted in from of exploring more opportunities of marketing and
promotions in different parts of the world with use of different techniques as well as with
incurring lesser cost. With this it can be stated that globalisation factors of ethics economy and
have direct and positive impact on the marketing and human resource functioning of Unilever in
form of performance enhancement and cost controlling.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the research project that globalisation make positive ethical, political
impact on the functioning of the human resources and marketing department. The cost, scope,
communication, quality, risk, time and resources are the essential part of research project to
conduct the research properly and get efficient and effective result. The qualitative research help
to understand the different views of respondents. It can also be concluded from the research
project that globalisation brigs the cultural diversity in organisation and improve the HR and
marketing department functioning by analysing the different views of employees. The
interoperation section of the research helped me in concluding that the incorporation of equality
in the recruitment process and modifying the current recruitment process can assists a
multinational company in meeting the standards that are set on an international level.
Globalisation increases the opportunity for the company to bring advanced skilled and
knowledgeable employee. The regular update in technological use in the recruitment and
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selection process is a key tools in developing a skill force that is competent to work for a
company that is operating on a global level.
RECOMMENDATION
To maintain the positive ethical, political and cultural impact of globalisation, Unilever can use
different strategies like:
 Market analysis of the country in which Unilever wants to operate its business help them
to understand the accurate position or state. They can analysis and monitor the political
environment, rules and regulation etc. which help them to prepare the strategies
according to the environment.
 It can be recommand that Unilever has to develop ethical awareness among the
employees to maintain the cultural and ethical environment and resolve the ethical issues
across the world.
REFLECTIVE SUMMARY
The above research project help me to understand the purpose of research and impact of
globalisation on the functioning of company. Globalisation improves the quality and
performance of the organisation and brings different changes. It helps me to gather the data of
respondents and understand their views to prepare a conclusion on the study. Ethical
consideration is important to operate business in global market. It helps me to understand the
impact of taxation on the business and political & ethical policies of different country. It helps
me to understand that how a company utilize globalization opportunity to improve organisation
performance. Additionally, the use of pie charts in the interpretation of the result section helped
me in understanding that how thematic analysis can be used to conduct the qualitative research in
an effective manner. There was a bit of difficulty in managing the time within which the research
had to be completed as I took a longer time in formulating the aims and objectives of the
research than I should have taken and then the survey and interpretation that I did was also time
consuming thus delaying my overall process.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al Ariss, A. and Sidani, Y., 2016. Comparative international human resource management:
Future research directions. Human Resource Management Review. 26(4). pp.352-358.
Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical
approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Cramer, J., 2017. Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalisation: an action plan for
business. Routledge.
Hanson, D. and et.al., 2016. Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalisation. Cengage
AU.
Johnston, E.R., 2015. South African clinical psychology’s response to cultural diversity,
globalisation and multiculturalism: a review. South African Journal of Psychology. 45(3).
pp.374-385.
Monshipouri, M., Welch, C.E. and Kennedy, E.T., 2017. Multinational corporations and the
ethics of global responsibility: Problems and possibilities. In Human Rights and
Corporations (pp. 123-147). Routledge.
Parsons, E., Maclaran, P. and Chatzidakis, A., 2017. Contemporary issues in marketing and
consumer behaviour. Routledge.
Shenkar, O., Luo, Y. and Chi, T., 2014. International business. Routledge.
Wakabi, B.M., 2016. Leadership style and staff retention in organisations. International Journal
of Science and Research. 5(1). pp.412-416.
Zürn, M. and De Wilde, P., 2016. Debating globalization: cosmopolitanism and
communitarianism as political ideologies. Journal of Political Ideologies. 21(3). pp.280-
301.
Online
Effects of Globalisation on the UK Economy. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.economicshelp.org/trade2/globalisation_uk_economy/>.
Research Philosophy. 2019. [Online]. Available
through:<https://research-methodology.net/research-philosophy/>.
Research Approach. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://research-methodology.net/research-methodology/research-approach/>.
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APPENDIX
Logbook
Name:
Project Title: To assess positive ethical, economic and cultural impact of Globalisation on
marketing and Human resource function within organisation: A case study on Unilever
Date:
Update on weekly research/tasks achieved
Points to consider:
What have you completed?
I have made a project plan by conducting a research over determining ethical, cultural and
ethical impact of HR and marketing function of Unilever.
Did you fulfil the task requirements?
YES
Are you on track and within deadlines set?
YES
Did you need to make any changes to your project management plan?
NO
Any risks and/or other issues identified?
I have faced a issue in collecting data and getting informed consent from most of the
managers of Unilever.
Points to consider:
Did you identify risks/issues with a lack of skills required for undertaking research/tasks?
Yes, I lacks data collection skills form other people.
Did you identify any additional risks/issues that have an impact on the project management
plan?
NO
Problems encountered
I have encounters a problem in keeping over the track of deadline of project but I have
managed to complete the project on time with meeting each deadline on time.
Points to consider:
What barrier did you faced
I faced barriers in meeting deadline and at last time all the work for each deadline was
done.
How did you overcome them?
For each of task I worked deliberately in last few days instead of working form the
starting da , in this way i managed meet all deadlines.
New ideas and change of project direction
For changing the direction of project it is suggested to start working on each activity form
day first and finish it before time in order to get a time for analysis and development
before submitting final work.
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What have I learnt about myself this week?
I have learned that I have good in making plans and weak in time management.
Points to consider:
How did I feel when I had to deal with tasks/problems?
I faced challenge in data collection but with effective communication I managed to get all
information form participant. This makes me feel good about myself and boost up my
confidence.
Did I find it useful to complete the tasks?
YEs
How well have I performed? What did I contribute?
I have performed very well with contributing to over all protect completion on time.
What can I improve on next week?
By starting the task from first date it self to ensure timely completion without rushing it.
How might this learning apply in the future?
This will be applied in future at a pert of time management technique for completing the
future tasks.
Tasks planned for next week
The project is already completed.
Points to consider:
Which tasks are priority?
Have you set aside sufficient time for completion
YES
Project plan status to date
(on, ahead, behind)
On time
Supervisor comments to address
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Performance review
Performance Review
• What was the project supposed to accomplish?
Aim of study was to “To assess positive ethical, economic and cultural impact of
Globalisation on marketing and Human resource function within organisation: A case study on
Unilever”.
• Did the project succeed in its aims? How do you know? Specifically, please outline any
evaluation and assessment undertaken.
Yes, because from discussion and analysis I was able to outline particular impact of three chosen
factors on HR and marketing activities of Unilever. Like learned about diversity in workforce
planning because of changes in culture, innovation in marketing because of different ethical
beliefs of people.
• What things do you think worked well and why? Evaluate all aspects of the project (e.g.
initial inception, project activities and project outcomes) from a range of perspectives.
In project inception I feel drafting of aim and objective was the basis of entire study. During
project activity drafting of chosen methodological tools went well which helped in making
research systematic. Further, in project outcome, analysis and recommendation went well as it
helped me in gaining narrow understating over the positive impact of positive ethical, economic
and cultural factors.
• What problems emerged during the project and how were they tackled? Was there timely
identification of issues and resolution during the project process?
Maintenance of quality as per continuous feedback from tutor was the major problem because I
was unable to complete activities on tie. Yes, issues were resolved quickly only with the helps of
feedback from tutor.
• What did you learn from undertaking the project?
Use of different research methods
• How would you rate your performance as project manager?
8 on 10
• What strengths and weaknesses of your performance did you identify?
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Strength: Critical thinking
Weakness: Time management
• How will this inform and support your continuous professional development?
The research enhanced by logical reasoning which will assist me in future researches and in
preparation of thesis.
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