Managing a Succesful Business Project

Managing a Succesful Business Project

Managing a successful
business project

Contents
Section 1- INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................3
Research aim..........................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................3
Research Question..................................................................................................................3
Section 2- Project Management plan...............................................................................................3
Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart.....................................................................................3
Section 3- Research methods...........................................................................................................3
Section 4- Findings..........................................................................................................................5
Recommendations............................................................................................................................8
Section 5-Reflection.........................................................................................................................8
Section 6- Conclusion......................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX I.................................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX II................................................................................................................................12

Section 1- INTRODUCTION
Talent management is defined as a process which is used by organization in order to attract
and retain competent as well as talented workforce within the organization. In addition to this, It
is important for an organization to understand the requirements of its staff members so that they
will retain for a longer time period (AlMannai, Arbab and Darwish, 2017). Talent management
allow business entity to develop, acquire, retain, enhance skills as well as attributes of staff
members due to which they are able to attain competitive advantage at marketplace. For the
present study, Marks and Spencer is taken into consideration. It is a UK based multinational
retailer that was established in year 1884. The report initially develop research aim and
objectives associated to talent management. In addition to this, it involve the methods and the
project management plan of present study. Furthermore, a detailed description will going to be
developed on recommendation for organization and reflection has made on the overall research
experience.
Research aim
“To analyse new initiatives and innovative ways of working that is used by organisation
to attain a strategic approach to talent management. A study on Marks and Spencer
Research Objectives
 To analyse the concept of talent management within an organisation.
 To determine new initiatives and innovative ways of talent management used by Marks
and Spencer to achieve a strategic approach.
 To examine the challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while implementing new
initiatives and innovative ways of talent management in an organisation.
Research Question
 What is the concept of talent management within an organisation?
 What are the new initiatives and innovative ways of talent management used by Marks
and Spencer to achieve a strategic approach?
 What are the challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while implementing new initiatives
and innovative ways of talent management in an organisation?

Literature Review
Concept of talent management within an organisation
As per the view point of Taha, (2018), Talent management refer as the procedure that is
used by companies for bringing appropriate talent onboard and retaining them in an effective and
significant manner. It is analyze that with the help of talent management the prominent
capabilities of staff members can be highlighted which leads to attainment of organizational
objectives (Bertrand and Hughes, 2017). The different dimensions of talent management are
career development, motivation, learning and many more. In the present time, talent management
is significant aspect as it is aligned with attaining competitive advantage.
New initiatives and innovative ways of talent management used by Marks and Spencer to
achieve a strategic approach.
According to Susane, (2020), There are various strategies and innovative ways used by
organization in order to attain strategic approach to talent management. One of the new way is
providing flexibility to staff members as it help them to maintain a work life balance in an
effective manner. In addition to this, allow participation in decision-making is also the new
strategy used by organization as it help company to make employees feel valued and important at
workplace which motivate them to remain for long run (Flick, 2018). Apart from this, there are
also other new innovative ways that is providing career opportunities, rewards and recognition,
appreciation, onboard training and many more.
Challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while implementing new initiatives and innovative ways
of talent management in an organisation
As per the view point of Meh and Tey, (2020), It is determined that there are various
challenges faced by respective organization at the time of implementing new and innovative
ways of talent management in an organazation. One of the issue is ineffective leadership that
impact on the overall functioning and activities of an organization. In addition to this, there is
increase in cost that impact negatively on the revenue of company (Greene, 2020). Apart from
this, there are also other challenges such as disagreements among employers and employee,
increase employee turnover ratio, ineffective communication and many more.

Section 2- Project Management plan
Project management plan is defined as an activity that is helpful in aligning effort towards
attaining research objectives. In addition to this, project management plan involve various
aspects such as time, cost, scope, risk and many more so that investigation is completed on time
period. The components are given below:
Time: It is an important aspect that is needed for accomplishing objectives within given time
frame. In context to present study, the given is 3 months so that all the task needed to be
completed within the gap of three months.
Cost: It is basically the sum of expenses that is going to be take place while conducting the
research in an effective manner (Holck and Stjerne, 2019). The budget for present investigation
is £800 and in this investigator is needed to conduct the whole research.
Scope: By undertaking goals as well as resources, the scope of the project can be decided
because of its all the activities with proposed objectives of present study.
Communication: It is one of the important aspect within study as it is vital for researcher to
communicate all the activities to associated parties so that the chance of failure is declined. For
communicating appropriately, all the inputs as well as outputs are simulated by researcher at one
place.
Risk: It is defined as the extent of negativity that can be introduced within a project and might
lead to failure. It is important for researcher to have a backup plan so that risk can be detected
effectively and properly.
Resources: A resource plan is needed to be prepared in a way that all the activities get
appropriate sources and reach out to finishing stage. The major resources required are machine,
manpower and so on (Ivanov and Dolgui, 2021). It is determined that when all this resources is
utilized optimally then it leads to attainment of research objectives timely and properly.
Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart
Work breakdown structure is defining as a method of categorizing the large project into
smaller components so that project is completed in a timely and effective manner. In addition to
this, it breakdowns the whole work into manageable and effective way which leads to attainment
of research objectives within a stipulated time period.

Gantt chart:
Gantt chat is basically a graphic representation of activities which can be performed
within the investigation against time. In addition to this, it involves the activities which are
shown on vertical axis and the time spent on that particular task is shown on horizontal axis
(Jafari and Ranaei Kordshouli, 2019). With the help of this, researcher is able to know about the
starting and the ending time of each research activity which leads to completion of project on set
timeline.

Section 3- Research methods
While conducting research, investigator make use of several methods in order to make
work effective and relevant. This help researcher to gather and analyze information in a manner
which is helpful in developing valid results. The main methods used by researcher in present
study is given below:
Primary research: Herein, researcher collect first hand and original information with an
objective to gain in-depth knowledge about topic. There are various ways of conducting primary
research such as interview, observation, questionnaire and many more. It is analyzed that there is
high authentication and relevancy within the primary research data collected by investigator.
Secondary data: It is defined as a method of collecting data through the past information
or already existing data. The different methods of collecting secondary data are public libraries,

magazines, Internet and many more (Onwuegbuzie, Gerber and Schamroth Abrams, 2017). It
help researcher to gather appropriate information within less time frame and develop meaningful
conclusion.
For the present study, both the methods will be used by researcher. For primary data
collection, researcher give major preference to questionnaire in which data will be collected from
40 participants. On the other side, secondary information is gathered by online polls, journals,
articles and so on. One of the main reason to select both the methods is it helping gaining in-
depth knowledge about research topic and also assist in developing valid as well as reliable
conclusion in an effective manner.
Qualitative: It is defined as a method of gathering non-numeric information which is
used to increase an understanding of opinions and reasons. In addition to this, information
collected through qualitative method includes human behavior and is based on specific situation.
The methods involve observation, group discussion and so on.
Quantitative: It is defined as a systematic way of gathering numerical information as
well as statistical data. It is analyzed that quantitative information is used when population is
large and include methods such as cross sectional survey, sampling method, correlation research
and many more. It mainly involve close and read question and is highly structured manner of
gathering information.
For the present study, researcher used quantitative method as it help in gaining
information based on facts and figures due to which valid conclusion can be drawn (Tafakorian,
2018). In addition to this, it allow investigator in performing in-depth analysis of data so that
proper findings can be presented effectively.
Questionnaire: It is basically a set of question which is develop by researcher for
collecting data about research topic. For the present study, 40 respondents who are the
employees of Marks and Spencer is considered as participants. The questionnaire of present
study is given below:
Questionnaire
Q1. Are you aware with the concept of talent management? Frequency
a) Yes 34
b) No 6
Q2. What are the new initiatives and innovative ways of talent Frequency

management used by Marks and Spencer to achieve a strategic
approach?
a) Training and development 10
b) Offering impressive salaries 10
c) Providing career and development opportunities 10
d) Allow participation of employees in decision making 10
Q3. What are the benefits gained by Marks and Spencer new initiatives
and innovative ways of talent management within an organisation?
Frequency
a) Increase in productivity 12
b) Employee retention 13
c) Development of brand image 8
d) Acquisition of talented and competent workforce 7
Q4. According to you, is above mentioned ways assist Marks and
Spencer to achieve strategic approach to talent management?
Frequency
a) Yes 32
b) No 8
Q5. What are the challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while
implementing new initiatives and innovative ways of talent
management in an organisation?
Frequency
a) Ineffective leadership 10
b) Increase in cost 8
c) Disagreements among employee and employers 13
d) High employee turnover ratio 7
Section 4- Findings
Q1. Are you aware with the concept of talent management? Frequency
a) Yes 34
b) No 6

a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
34
6
Interpretation: From the above graph, it is interpreted that 34 participants have
knowledge about talent management whereas 6 participants did not have knowledge about such
concept. It is important for an organization to aware its staff members about talent management
effectively.
Q2. What are the new initiatives and innovative ways of talent
management used by Marks and Spencer to achieve a strategic
approach?
Frequency
a) Training and development 10
b) Offering impressive salaries 10
c) Providing career and development opportunities 10
d) Allow participation of employees in decision making 10

a) Training and
development b) Offering
impressive salaries c) Providing career
and development
opportunities
d) Allow
participation of
employees in
decision making
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
10 10 10 10
Interpretation: By analyzing the above graph, it is analyzed that training and
development is one of the innovative and new ways of talent management, which is perceived by
10 participants. Offering impressive salaries and allow participation of employees in decision
making is also the new and innovative ways of talent management used by respective
organization to attain strategic approach and is perceived by 10 respondents respectively. The
remaining 10 respondent said that providing career and development opportunities help
organisation to attain strategic approach to talent management.
Q3. What are the benefits gained by Marks and Spencer new initiatives
and innovative ways of talent management within an organisation?
Frequency
a) Increase in productivity 12
b) Employee retention 13
c) Development of brand image 8
d) Acquisition of talented and competent workforce 7

a) Increase in
productivity b) Employee
retention c) Development of
brand image d) Acquisition of
talented and
competent workforce
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
12
13
8
7
Interpretation: It is interpreted from the above graph that employed retention and
increase in productivity is the benefit gained by respective organization due to talent
management, which is said by 13 and 12 respondents respectively. In addition to this, the 8
respondents said that there is development of brand image whereas the remaining 8 perceive that
acquisition of talented and competent workforce is the benefit attained by company due to
innovative and new ways of talent management.
Q4. According to you, is above mentioned ways assist Marks and
Spencer to achieve strategic approach to talent management?
Frequency
a) Yes 32
b) No 8

a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35 32
8
Interpretation: It is interpreted from the above graph that talent management strategy
help in attaining strategic approach which is said by 32 respondents out of total 40 participants.
Along with this, the 8 participants is not agree with the point.
Q5. What are the challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while
implementing new initiatives and innovative ways of talent
management in an organisation?
Frequency
a) Ineffective leadership 10
b) Increase in cost 8
c) Disagreements among employee and employers 13
d) High employee turnover ratio 7

a) Ineffective
leadership b) Increase in cost c) Disagreements
among employee
and employers
d) High employee
turnover ratio
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
10
8
13
7
Interpretation: By analyzing the above graph, it is said that there are various challenges
faced by Marks and Spencer at the time of executing innovative and new ways of talent
management. One of the challenges disagreements among employ and employers, which is
perceived by 13 participants. In addition to this, ineffective leadership and high employee
turnover ratio is also the challenge which is said by 10 and 7 participants. The remaining 8
participants said that there is increase in cost which impact negatively on the revenue of
organization and is the challenge faced by respective company due to implementing new ways of
talent management at workplace.
Recommendations
By analyzing the above study, some of the documentations is given below to the higher
authorities of Marks and Spencer:
 It is recommended for company to provide learning and career opportunities to its
employees as in the present time staff members look to gain both personal and
professional growth (Tamunomiebi and Worgu, 2020). This help organization to develop
positive mindset of staff members towards working and retain them for longer time
period.
 it is suggested to Marks and Spencer to ensure that the requirements of its employees is
fulfilled and their issues is resolved rapidly at workplace as it help in motivating and
retaining staff members for long run which leads to increase in productivity, profitability,
brand image of respective organization.

Section 5-Reflection
I am highly glad that I got this chance of conducting research and complete on the topic of
talent management. By the assistance of this, I gain knowledge about new and innovative ways
of talent management along with the challenges faced by organization while implementing them.
In addition to this, it helped me to improve skills such as communication, time management and
many more. Find conducting the research, there are various issues faced by me such as collecting
data through questionnaire as people are not easily give their time and opinions and fill the
questionnaire. But with the help of my effective conveyance an interaction skills I am able to
collect data that help in developing valid conclusion. The overall study help me to gain insight
about skills such as data analysis, data interpretation, problem solving, conflict management and
so on. All this will help me in future to grab opportunities in an effective and significant manner.
Section 6- Conclusion
From the above study, it has been concluded that talent management is one of the
important aspect as it help in retaining competent workforce for longer time period. In addition
to this, there are various strategies used by organization for managing talent and attain strategic
approach as well. These are providing training and development session, high competition,
providing impressive salaries and so on. It is determined that there are various challenges faced
while executing innovative ways of talent management such as ineffective leadership, increase in
cost and so on.

REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Albert, E.T., 2019. AI in talent acquisition: a review of AI-applications used in recruitment and
selection. Strategic HR Review.
Alves, D., Dieguez, T. and Conceição, O., 2019, November. Retaining Talents: Impact on
Innovation. In ECMLG 2019 15th European Conference on Management, Leadership
and Governance (p. 36). Academic Conferences and publishing limited.
Becker, K. and Bish, A., 2021. A framework for understanding the role of unlearning in
onboarding. Human Resource Management Review, 31(1), p.100730.
Bhasin, J., Mushtaq, S. and Gupta, S., 2019. Engaging employees through employer brand: an
empirical evidence. Management and Labour Studies, 44(4), pp.417-432.
Bhende and et. al., 2020. Quality of work life and work–life balance. Journal of Human
Values, 26(3), pp.256-265.
Cardenas-Navia, I. and Fitzgerald, B.K., 2019. The digital dilemma: Winning and losing
strategies in the digital talent race. Industry and Higher Education, 33(3), pp.214-217.
de Medeiros, M.M., Hoppen, N. and Maçada, A.C.G., 2020. Data science for business: Benefits,
challenges and opportunities. The Bottom Line.
Do, T.T. and Mai, N.K., 2020. High-performance organization: a literature review. Journal of
Strategy and Management.
Fleming, K. and Millar, C., 2019. Leadership capacity in an era of change: the new-normal
leader. Journal of organizational change management.
Galagan, P., Hirt, M. and Vital, C., 2019. Capabilities for talent development: Shaping the future
of the profession. American Society for Training and Development.
Madan, A.O. and Madan, S., 2019, April. Attracting millennial talent: a signal theory
perspective. In Evidence-based hrm: A global forum for empirical scholarship. Emerald
Publishing Limited.

Moşteanu, N.R., Faccia, A. and Cavaliere, L.P.L., 2020, August. Digitalization and green
economy-changes of business perspectives. In Proceedings of the 2020 4th International
Conference on Cloud and Big Data Computing (pp. 108-112).
Pulakos, E.D., Kantrowitz, T. and Schneider, B., 2019. What leads to organizational agility: It’s
not what you think. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 71(4), p.305.
APPENDIX I
Template for evidence collection to be attached with the report by the learner:
Project Logbook for the chosen organisation:
Name of the learner: Name of the Supervisor:
Project Title: Date:
Update of weekly research/ tasks achieved (Account
for a minimum of six weeks with dates) What have you completed?
 Did you fulfil Task requirements?
 Are you on track and within deadlines set?
 Did you need to make any changes to your
project management plan?
Comments
Aim: “To analyse new initiatives and innovative
ways of working that is used by organisation to
attain a strategic approach to talent
management. A study on Marks and Spencer .
Yes
Yes, I completed the project within the given time
period.
No
Any risks and / or issues identified? Did you identify risks/issues with a lack of
skills required for undertaking research
tasks?
There are various problems which arise during the
course of investigation that is collecting of data as
some of participants were reluctant to share their
ideas and opinions

 Did you identify any additional risks/issues
that have an impact on the project
management plan?
No
Problems encountered What barriers did you face?
 How did you overcome them?
There are various problems which may occur
within the course of having effective
communication skill that is significant for
collecting data and viewpoint of respondents.
For dealing with the issue, I emphasised on
making use of written and verbal communication
skills as it help me to convince all the participants
about privacy and security of data which will be
provided.
New Ideas and change of project direction After the evaluation of overall performance, I felt
that this investigation needs time around one week
which could assist in attaining outcome in an
effective manner.
What Have I learnt about myself this week?
1) How did I feel when I had to deal with
tasks/problems?
2) Did I find it useful to complete the tasks?
3) How well have I performed? What did I
contribute?
4) What can I improve on next week?
I felt discontented from my performance level &
also there was dissatisfaction from some of non-
cooperative behaviour through team members.
Yes
I performed according to the requirements through
allocating resources & completion of activities as
per standards.
I participated within team development activities
which assist me in dealing with communication

5) How might this learning apply in the future?
issue which take place between the course of
investigation.
In the procedure of project administration &
develop some interpersonal as well as logical
thinking abilities to assist me in future studies.
Tasks planned for next week
2) Which tasks is priority?
3) Have you set aside sufficient time for
completion?
I was capable to gather data for better attribution
of research work within the course of present
investigation report.
Yes
Project plan status to date (on, ahead, behind)
Supervisor comments to address
Signature of the Supervisor and date:
APPENDIX II
Template for Performance Review to be attached with the report by the
learner:
1. What was the Project supposed to accomplish?
Aim: “To analyse new initiatives and innovative ways of working that is used by organisation
to attain a strategic approach to talent management. A study on Marks and Spencer .
2. Did the project succeed in its aims/ how do you know? Specifically, please outline
any evaluation and assessment undertaken.
The research work was successful in attaining aims as well as objectives by use of primary &

secondary data sources.
3. 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.
I was able to gather data directly from staff members that works in respective organisation as
it assist me to collect relevant data and draw valid conclusion.
4. What problems emerged during the project and how were they tackled? Was there
timely identification of issues and resolution during the project process?
The major problem was associated in team management and it is resolved with the help
of conflict management skills.
5. What did you learn from undertaking the project?
I learnt and developed communication as well as interpersonal skills that will hhelp me in
future to grab opportunities.
6. How would you rate your performance as a management consultant leading the
project?
I rate in my opinion is 9/10
7. What strengths and weakness of your performance did you identify?
My strength is effective research skills and weakness is ineffective verbal communication.
8. How will this inform and support your continuous professional development?
My collaborative working practices and conflict resolution skills assist me in dealing with
the issue that take place during the research.