Managing a Successful Business Project: A Case Study of CSR Implementation in Barclays Bank

This report examines the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in Barclays Bank, UK. It outlines a comprehensive project management plan, including aims, objectives, cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk, and resources. The report also includes a work breakdown structure, Gantt chart, and a small-scale research study using qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the impact of CSR on the organization's sustainability and competitive advantage. The research findings and analysis provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of CSR initiatives and offer recommendations for improvement.

MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS PROJECT
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................6
P1 Device clear aims and objectives for your project.................................................................6
P2 Produce a project management plan incorporating the cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources..............................................................................................8
M1 Produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project
schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project......................11
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages
for completion............................................................................................................................12
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................15
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives.................................................................15
M2 Evaluate the accuracy and reliability of different research methods applied......................17
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................18
P5 Analyze research and data using appropriate tools and techniques for the chosen project..18
P6 Recommendations and conclusions (M3)............................................................................26
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance (M4)...............................................................................................................27
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................29
References......................................................................................................................................30
2

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Estimated cost for this project...........................................................................................9
Table 2: milestone schedule of this project plan...........................................................................11
Table 3: Gantt chart for this CSR project......................................................................................13
Table 4: Communication plan.......................................................................................................14
Table 5: CSR Project logbook.......................................................................................................16
Table 6: Performance review.........................................................................................................27
3

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Work breakdown structure.............................................................................................12
4

Introduction
Corporate social responsibility is the type of the international private business or self-regulation
which is related to the organizations. This will include the responsibilities of the private
organization regarding the society and the people living the society just for their welfare. There
are various types of benefits then will be achieved by the organization by implementing the CSR
activities in their business which will be cover in this report. This report will conduct the small
project of CSR implementation in the Barclays Bank which is based in the UK for their
sustainability in this competitive market. This report will include the well structured plan for the
project implementation by covering the aims and objectives. The research will also be conducted
by the researcher to get the suggestions and feedback of the society regarding CSR activities
conducted by the organization. In the end of this report, some of the recommendations will also
be provided to improve the plan and its implementation for more benefits.
5

Task 1
P1 Device clear aims and objectives for your project
Project definition
Project is the set of management which involves the planning, organizing, monitoring and
controlling activities to implement the project and achieve the aims and objectives of their
project.
Project title
The project is related to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its effectiveness for the
organization to sustain in this competitive market.
Project statement
The project statement defines the document which helps to describe the whole project scope and
the activities involved in the project including cost and timeframe. This project is related to the
CSR and issues related to its implementation faced by the organization and how the issues are
managed with the monitoring and controlling measures of the business.
Project strategy
The issues faced by the organization while conducting the CSR activity in the organization.
There are various types of strategies which are available for the project management (Grayson
and Hodges, 2017). CSR in the business can adopt the traditional approach that include the five
important stages such as- initiate, plan, design and controlling of the project system.
Project aim
The project aim is related to implement the corporate social responsibility and its activities in
Barclays Bank so that they can sustain in this competitive market.
Project objectives
 To implement the CSR activities in the Barclays Bank based in the UK. To identify the importance of CSR to sustain in the market and achieve competitive
benefits.
6

 To identify the issues faced by the organization while implementing the activities of CSR
in the organization (Michelson, et.al, 2016). The objective is related to measure the approaches and stages through which they reduce
the issues involved in its implementation.
7

P2 Produce a project management plan incorporating the cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources
Project scope
The scope of the project shows its importance and success point in the organization. This will
describe the activities and work which are required for delivering the products and services as
per the appropriate functions and features which are related to the project. The scope of this
project is related to the importance of CSR activities for the organization through which they can
sustain in the market and achieve the competitive benefits. This step of the organization shows
the importance of society and people in the mind of the organization and they can create their
goodwill and reputation in the market between the people.
Success criteria
This will show the success criteria of project which describe the identified project output which
help to reach at the aims and objectives of the project (Zheng, et.al, 2015). This will describe
about the project and how this will help the organization to meet the needs and expectations of
the stakeholders. This project help the organization to identify and fulfil the requirements of the
external stakeholders and achieve the high profit as compare to earlier.
Project assumption
The project assumptions are related to the implementation of CSR in the Barclays Bank which
increase their goodwill in the market and improve reputation in the competitive brands. The
assumption is made by the team of the organization which is relates to the competitive
achievements achieved by the organization by conducting activities of CSR.
Performance, time and cost objectives
The project performance present the estimated success of the project related to the CSR
implementation in the Barclays Bank (Chuang and Huang, 2016). Time show the total duration
required to complete this project and it is estimate that CSR implementation project require 2
months. Following is the estimated cost which is evaluated for this project:
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Table 1: Estimated cost for this project
Activities involved Cost in ($)
Planning step $2600
Designing step $1100
Collection of the resources $1200
Resources proper allocation $900
Identify the changes and then implement $1800
Complete the entire project $2000
Total 9600
Deliverables of this project
The project deliverables show the purpose of the project in the intangible and tangible form. In
the current project it is stated that the study provide the more deep details about the CSR
activities and its importance in the enhancement of the organization in this competitive market.
This will provide positive impact on the organization as customers and society will get to know
about the brand.
Quality management
Quality management covers the area of the project management which includes the actions and
process for satisfying the standards of the project (Den Hond, et.al, 2016). This project and its
research are small so sometimes delegation of the roles and responsibilities cannot be done as per
the requirements which reduce the quality of the project. To overcome the quality management
issues it is important for the organization to create the work breakdown structure and Gantt chart.
Involved risk in the project
This risk in this project is related to the budget control and management of the time which can be
controlled by using appropriate strategies by the organization and its team. This risk can be
managed by using risk assessment, risk ranking, risk control and risk mitigation method.
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Resources
Resources in this project are related to the documents and materials required. The resources are
used to implement the project in the organization and achieve the positive response from the
society. Software, hardware, computer systems, employees, finance, internet etc are some of the
resources required in this project.
Implementation plan
The above whole plan is required to be implementing in a strategic way so that positive and
proper result can be achieved by the organization (Cramer, 2017). The implementation of the
project helps the organization to achieve their set project aims and objectives.
10

M1 Produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project schedule
for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project
Table 2: milestone schedule of this project plan
Procedure activities/
weeks
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
Collect the required
project information
Communicate the plan
with the stakeholders
Identify the risk
involved
Create proposal plan
Create project elements
plan
Create budget for the
project
Create plan for
communicating the
project details
Make the proper team
Implement the entire
project plan
Finish and complete
project
11

P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages for
completion
Figure 1: Work breakdown structure
12
Reserch on the
importance of CSR
for Barclays Bank
in this competitive
market
Initiate the
plan
Hire the manager for this
project
Create the whole plan
Meet with the investors
Conduct
whole
planning
Create
WBS Gantt chart Create budget
Identify risk and them
risk management
Plan strategies for
research
Implement
the plan and
monitor
Communicate the plan
Implement all the project task
Hire the team who will conduct reserach and
take interview from the customers about CSR
improtance
Apply the identified
survey on Barclays
employees
Apply the
identified survey on
customers
Centralise entire outcome of
the questionare survey
Analyze the identified
data Final conclusion
Complete
the project
and close
it
Close the project and
documents

Table 3: Gantt chart for this CSR project
Activities involved/ Weeks 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
Identify project aims and objectives
Identify the effective strategies and
stages for project plan
Organize official meeting with
stakeholders and investors and
communicate the whole project plan
Create whole project budget and set
duration to complete it
Create questionnaire survey and
conduct interview
Organize official meeting with
Barclays managers and get the e-
mail address of the selected
respondents
Hire the project researcher who can
conduct small scale research and
analyze the survey
Gather the required resources
Send the conducted questionnaire
survey on the mails of the managers
and respondents
Take the interview of the society
about their understand in the
activities of CSR
Gather the data in the system
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Analyze and interpret the result
Analyze final conclusion from the
research
Create document of the results
Finally prepare the final research
report
Table 4: Communication plan
What action required Target person Purpose of plan Duration Medium of communication
Start the conference Involve all
stakeholders
Discuss all the
information and the
plan of the project at
the starting stage
10 January 2018
before starting
the project
Conduct official meeting
Start the project Involve all
stakeholders
Share the whole
project plan and its
scope
15 January 2018, Conduct official meeting
Identify project status Involve all
stakeholders
Review the progress
of the project
In a month and
conduct
additional
meeting
Conduct official meeting
Start team conference Whole project
team
Assign the task of the
project
In every two
weeks
Conduct official meeting
Conduct meeting
with investors
Project
manager and
investors
Discuss about budget
and expenses
Project 1st week Conduct official meeting
Project audit Involve all
stakeholders
Risk, report, budget,
issues etc
In every two
weeks
With the e-mail
Document the
meeting
Entire project
team
Share the outcomes
generated by team
In a month With the e-mail
Final report Project team Share final results In a last week Conduct official meeting
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Task 2
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives
Research methodology provides the plan to conduct the detailed study on the selected topic. This
small scale research is conducted by using quantitative and qualitative research methods. This
research has includes the design, data collection, data analysis and final report. There are two
marketing research methods that are used by the researcher to conduct this research such as:
Secondary method of data collection
This will represents the collected data from the external as well as internal sources like-
information sources, government data, magazines, private collected data, internet reports, online
data or past records on the same topic (Dumay and Cai, 2015).
Primary method of data collection
This method is used when researcher obtain the information directly by the selected sample size.
The purpose of this method is to focus on- groups, individual or panels. In this interview,
questionnaire etc surveys are included and taken from the customers. This information is related
to the persons, personal knowledge, opinion, preferences or behaviour.
Quantitative research method
In this research, the researcher conduct questionnaire survey in which some of the questions
related to the importance of CSR for the organizational competitive benefits are asked.
Questionnaire is the instrument which is used as quantitative research method. The questionnaire
is prepared by the researcher and for this survey 50 respondents are selected as the sample size
by the researcher only (Alvarado-Herrera, et.al. 2017). For this survey, employees, managers and
internal stakeholders of the Barclays Bank are selected randomly as they can provide accurate
and effective information about the importance of CSR activities for their sustainability in this
competitive market. The researcher used the mixed research method of quantitative and
qualitative to get the better and reliable results from the survey.
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Table 5: CSR Project logbook
Project weeks Date of conducting
task
What actions are taken on each week
1st 1 Jan-8 Jan 2018  Draw plan for project management according to
Barclays Bank of the UK
 Analyze the project scope in the market
 Start the project planning
2nd 9 Jan-16 Jan 2018  Start the workshop and draw proposal
 Then conduct the designed workshop
3rd 17 Jan-24 Jan 2018  Identify the skills distribute the roles among the
project team
 Create work breakdown structure and Gantt chart
 Draw logbook for the project
4th 25 Jan-1 Feb 2018  Conduct the small research with primary method
 Analyze the right project technique and conduct
research methodology
5th 2 Feb-9 Feb 2018  Conduct the research and analysis
 Project success and employee performance
6th 10 Feb-17 Feb 2018  Create the plan for communication
 Design the whole project plan
7th 18 Feb-25 Feb 2018  Execute the designed and planned plan and identify
the final findings
 Take the review of the executed
8th 26 Feb-5 March 2018  Take the feedbacks from the stakeholders
 Analyze the final conclusion from the research and
analysis
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M2 Evaluate the accuracy and reliability of different research methods applied
The conducted research by the researcher shows the accurate and reliable data because the
researcher uses questionnaire method to collect the data from the selected 50 respondents. In this
select the analytical methodology for examine the collected data with the interview and
questionnaire survey. All the collected data from the respondents are stocked in computer
systems of the organization such as- Microsoft Excel, SPSS system and other programs. These
tools are used to get the final conclusion of the research and in these tools formulas are used to
interpret the data.
The data collected is presented in the numerical, statistical format and graphs format which
provide the accurate and reliable data and interpretation from the collected data from the
respondents (Sorensen, et.al, 2017). The data is collected by the researcher directly from the
respondents which reduce the chances of biasness and cheating while providing their views. This
is the most effective and positive way to get the information and data from the respondents in
accurate form and format. All the methods that are applied in this research are appropriate and
provide the quality of research.
17

Task 3
P5 Analyze research and data using appropriate tools and techniques for the chosen project
Following is the questionnaire prepared by the researcher which is distributed among 50
respondents and questions are related to the implementation and importance of CSR in the
Barclays Bank of the UK:
1. Choose your sex category
o Male
o Female
Male 40
Female 10
Total 50
Male
80%
Female
20%
Analysis: The above graph analyzed that there are 80% male 20% are female among the 50
respondents
2. Please choose your age group
o Less than 18
o 18 to 25
18

o 25 to 35
o 35 to 40
o 40 above
Less than 18 5
18 to 25 9
25 to 35 10
35 to 40 20
40 above 6
Total 50
Less than 18
10%
18 to 25
18%
25 to 35
20%
35 to 40
40%
40 above
12%
Analysis: This graph is related to the selection of the age group. It is identified that majority of
the respondents are from the 35 to 40 age group and only 10% are from less than 18.
3. Do you think CSR activities will improve the condition of the society and their living
standards?
o Yes
o No
o Some areas
19

Yes 25
No 10
Some areas 15
Total 50
Yes
50%
No
20%
Some areas
30%
Analysis: The graph analyzed that 50% of the people think that CSR contribute by the private
organizations will improve the condition of the society and the living standard of the people. But
still 20% of the people do not get agree with this statement and 30% think this will help only in
few areas.
4. Do you get agree on the point that CSR activities help Barclays Bank to enhance
their market reputation and cover large market?
o Agree
o Disagree
Agree 40
Disagree 10
Total 50
20

Agree
80%
Disagree
20%
Analysis: The above analysis shows that 80% of the employees working in the organization
believe that CSR implementation help their organization to enhance brand image in the market
but 20% are not agree with this statement.
5. Is the CSR is important to sustain in the market and achieve competitive benefits?
o Yes
o No
Yes 45
No 5
Total 50
21

Yes
90%
No
10%
Analysis: 90% of the respondents are in the CSR favour as they believe that this will help
organization to sustain in this competitive market and achieve competitive benefits.
6. Do you think corporate social responsibilities help the organization to attract the
customers and people of the society by providing services for their welfare?
o Yes
o No
Yes 35
No 15
Total 50
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Yes
70%
No
30%
Analysis: Yes 70% people think that with the CSR implementation they can attract the
customers and improve their living styles with their little bit contribution. But 30% people are
not in the favour of the given statement.
7. Is the CSR activities play role to improve the economic and other conditions of the
society through which organizations can connect with the customers?
o Yes
o No
Yes 30
No 20
Total 50
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Yes
60%
No
40%
Analysis: With the above graph it has analyzed that 60% of the people think that CSR enhance
the economic condition of the society and connects the customers with the organization more.
8. Do you think implementation of the CSR and its activities in your organization will
improve the brand image and reputation in the competitive market?
o Yes
o No
Yes 45
No 5
Total 50
24

Yes
90%
No
10%
Analysis: 90% of the people think that CSR improve the brand image and goodwill of Barclays
Bank in the UK and other markets which enhance their reputation in the competitive world but
10% are not in the favour.
25

P6 Recommendations and conclusions (M3)
Recommendations
The research is conducted by the researcher for implementing the CSR activities in the Barclays
Bank of the UK. In the research the researcher has analyzed that conducting the CSR activities
help the organization to enhance the performance of their brand in the market and help them to
sustain in the market. The questionnaire survey taken from the 50 respondents are also positive
as most of the people are in the favour of the CSR implementation. On the other side, there are
various types of areas on which they need to work so that more positive result can be achieved. It
is recommended to the organization that should formalise the environmental and social justice
which helps them to connect with the people and improve their society standards. It is also
important to provide the effective training sessions to the existing employees in which
importance of CSR activities for banking sector should be provided (Ekmekçi, et.al, 2014). With
the help the employee efforts they can easily implement the CSR activities and increase their
goodwill in the market.
Conclusion
With the help of the above analysis and discussion it has been concluded that CSR
implementation in the Barclays Bank help them to improve their brand image in the market. It
has been concluded that most of the respondents are in the favour of the CSR implementation but
some of the effective recommendations are also provided which help to sustain in the market in
better condition. This is concluded from the analysis that Barclays Bank should use the CSR
activities for achieving the competitive benefits and brand image in the market.
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P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance (M4)
This study is all about the corporate social responsibilities and its activities importance in the
organization so that they can sustain in the market and achieve the competitive benefits. The
research has provides the project management plan which help the organization to implement the
CSR project in the organization and achieve the benefits. This project helps me a lot to enhance
my learning about CSR activities and performance in the organization as a project manager.
While talking about own reflection, I have gained much knowledge and understand about the
role of CSR for organization and for society because this will help the people living in the
society to improve their standards with the help of little bit contribution of the private
organizations (Grayson and Hodges, 2017). I have also gained the knowledge about the entire
project plan in which I performed planning and implementation activities in effective manner. I
have also used my skills to communicate with fellow members and take effective decisions for
my project. Leadership skills importance is also undertaken by me in this project through which I
enhance my leadership learning and performance quality.
Table 6: Performance review
Competencies How I developed in the particular areas Future actions required to be
done by me
Communication
skills
Have conduct communication with the
stakeholders and discuss whole project
with them
Improve the communication
with the employees and other
managers of the organization
Analytical skills I Have improve my data analysis skills
with the help of interview and
questionnaires
More learn about the methods
and procedure of analytical
Strategic planning In have improve my specific setting of
the strategic skills with the help of set
objectives
Improve the skills by handling
the large and huge projects
Team building This is quite my weaknesses as I am
weak to develop the effective team work
spirit.
It is important in future to
organize the events so that
between understanding between
team members can be
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developed.
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Conclusion
The above report is all about the implementation of corporate social responsibilities in Barclays
Bank of the UK. This report provides the well structured project plan for the organization so that
they can implement the plan and achieve the competitive benefits to sustain in the market. The
project includes the aims and objectives of the project which are related to the implementation of
CSR because this activity conducted by the organization has connect the brand with the outer
world and with the society and this has cover their welfare activities. The report has conducted
the small research by the researcher which has concluded that with the help of this project,
society and the people get to know about the brand and their social activities for the society. The
report has discussed about the impact of CSR on organization and their society with the help of
questionnaire survey. In the end, some of the effective recommendations are also provided so
that better use of CSR activities can be done by the organization and achieve more competitive
benefits.
29

References
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responsibility on environmental performance and business competitiveness: The
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 Cramer, J., 2017. Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalisation: an action plan for
business. Routledge.
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corporate social responsibility in action: Talking, doing and measuring. In Managing
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 Dumay, J. and Cai, L., 2015. Using content analysis as a research methodology for
investigating intellectual capital disclosure: a critique. Journal of Intellectual
Capital, 16(1), pp.121-155.
 Ekmekçi, A.K., 2014. An Examination of the Relationship Between Companies’
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activities and Consumers’ Purchase Behavior.
In Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Business World (pp. 49-73). Springer,
Berlin, Heidelberg.
 Grayson, D. and Hodges, A., 2017. Corporate social opportunity!: Seven steps to make
corporate social responsibility work for your business. Routledge.
 Grayson, D. and Hodges, A., 2017. Corporate social opportunity!: Seven steps to make
corporate social responsibility work for your business. Routledge.
 Michelson, G., Waring, P. and Naudé, P., 2016. Special Issue: International Perspectives
on Corporate Social Responsibility: Editorial: Dilemmas and challenges in corporate
social responsibility.
 Sorensen, D.P., Miller, S.E., Cabe, K.L., Janney, J.J. and Gove, S., 2017. The main aim
of the present study was to examine whether an ethical organizational culture is
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associated with sickness absence in a Finnish public sector organization at both the
individual (within-level) and work unit (between-level) levels. The underlying
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 Zheng, Q., Luo, Y. and Maksimov, V., 2015. Achieving legitimacy through corporate
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