Managing a Successful Business Project: Digital Shadows

MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS PROJECT – Digital
Shadows

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
P1 PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.....................................................................................6
P2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN..........................................................................................7
P3 PRODUCING WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE AND GANTT CHART.....................9
P4 SMALL SCALE RESEARCH BY QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
METHODS.....................................................................................................................................13
P5 ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH DATA......................................................................................15
P6 RECOMMENDATIONS..........................................................................................................16
P7 REFLECTION..........................................................................................................................17
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
The Digital Technology has revolutionized the way the businesses operating in the
real world. Over the past few years, digital technology has drastically changed the
business activities and models to a greater extent than ever before. In this
assignment, the advantages and disadvantages of digital technologies in the
business environment are briefly analysed and explained. Digital technology
disruption is a major concern for businesses when older technology fails with the
advent of newer technologies.
In this report with the help of an organizational example Digital Shadows, the readers
will be able to understand how businesses have coped with major challenges of the
Digital Technology and transformation in the business. Digital Shadows is a start-up
company based in the UK which was founded in the year 2011 by Alastair Paterson
and James Chappell. In this assignment, a project management plan is created in
order to analyse the influence of Digital Technology on Digital Shadows.
It is followed by conceptualizing the aims and objectives, Work breakdown structure
and making a Gantt chart for the timeline of research activities in project
management. In the later sections of the assignment, small scale research is
conducted based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of the research methods for
achieving the objectives of the project plan. Then reflection of own learning will be
conducted based on experience while doing project planning. At last a conclusion will
be derived based on the effectiveness of various digital technologies for the
organizations along with some recommendations.

DIGITAL DISRUPTION AND ITS IMPACT ON BUSINESSES
Figure 1: Digital Disruption
Source:[https://venturebeat.com/2014/05/15/digital-disruption-is-forcing-
businesses-to-change-how-business-is-done/]
Digital Disruption actually refers to a transformation caused due to emerging
technologies in the business models. An example of Digital Disruption is how Kodak
cameras failed to capture the future market with the advent of digital cameras. Digital
cameras have made a move in the photographic industry as it is much more friendly
and reliable as a gadget that Kodak cameras being used earlier. Digital Disruption is
an unstoppable force that cannot be neglected and fighting this force is futile (Weill
and Woerner, 2015). The only way to fight against digital disruption is to have a plan
for it; the businesses can embrace digital disruption by keeping an eye on the risks
associated with the digital technologies and its possible impact in the future.
Digital Disruption helps businesses to make changes as per the changing customer
needs and demands which help businesses in keeping their customers happy and
opening up new opportunities for the customers in finding what they want from the
company. Many people are fooled by the term disruption and often misinterpret it as

being a negative force for the business. But the reality is it can only be a negative
force for those companies who fight against it or ignore this force. Companies like
digital shadows have embraced the force of digital disruption and have benefited its
business in various ways which contribute to its overall success.
Figure 2: Digital Disruption Survey Analysis
Source:[https://chiefmartec.com/2016/09/everybody-plan-get-hit-digital-
disruption/]

TASK 1
Project management basically refers to the process of planning and implementation
of the planned activities for meeting the aims and objectives of the business project
(Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). It aims to meet the requirements of the clients and
stakeholders in the business. In project management, there are several stages
involved which needs to be successfully executed such as project planning, task
scheduling, task controlling and then achieving the find results and deriving the
conclusions. Project management is used by Digital Shadows in order make effective
coordination among team members while eliminating and minimising the risks
caused due to mismanagement.
P1 PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Aim
The aim of the project is to analyse the impact of Digital technology on Digital
Shadows in transforming its business operations.
Objectives
 To analyse how businesses have coped with Digital Technologies while
considering various challenges of Digital Disruption and Transformation.
 To analyse the influence of Digital Technologies on Digital Shadows while
considering the advantages and disadvantages of digital technologies.
 To investigate how digital transformation brought changes in individuals and
groups in Digital Shadows.
 To analyse how digital technologies is influencing the perception of
employees, leaders and managers for Digital Shadows (Meredith and Mantel,
2011).
 To analyse the challenges posed by Digital Technologies or Digital
Revolutions in the businesses.