Managing Business Projects and Research Methodology

This document provides an overview of the essential techniques and tools required for effective project management. It includes a comprehensive bibliography of relevant books and journal articles that cover various aspects of project management, such as service innovation, corporate culture, and business performance. The summary highlights the importance of considering research methodology while conducting projects and emphasizes the need to assess and manage employees' readiness for change.

Managing a Successful
Business Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.....................................................1
P2 Produce a project management plan......................................................................................2
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart........................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods..6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques.......................................8
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions....................................................................................14
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................15
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives........................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Globalisation is the procedure which helps in interacting and integrating with various
people, organisation and government all the world. Globalisation has grown in advance for
transportation and communication technology in better manner. It is the process which can help
in selling goods and services all across the world (Ahmed,Jimenez-Jimenez and Martínez-
Costa, 2013). The report is based on large fashion company who design, manufacture and sell
their products to various leading fashion retailers in all over the world. John Lewis is the UK
based organisation which deals in variety of goods and services to their customers in large
market place. There are various products and facilities which offered to their buyers such as
clothing, watches, jewellery, furniture, beds and house wear. Recently, they have introduced
brand new summer shoe to compete with big name brands and sell these among desired
customers. The company launch product in the event which is conducted in London fashion
week. The main purpose of this report is to analyse the aim and objectives for case scenario of
John Lewis. It also determines the project management plan which includes cost, time, resources,
quality and scope while developing specific project.
TASK 1
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario
Globalisation is the procedure which assists in communicating and interacting with
various people, organisation government agencies in all over the world. It is great concept
which is studied for last few years because this is directly impact on business operations and
its functions at global level. There are different ways through which company describe the
business at international level and it will render specific benefits to them. John Lewis is
launching new summer shoes along with Achilles tendon protector which reduces stress on
the Achilles by locking the shoe around the heel for their customers (Den Hertog, Van der
Aa and De Jong, 2010). They present their product within London fashion week where large
number of people are coming for joining the event. Along with this, such new branded shoes
help company in making presence in the country by selling specific products and services
among their buyers. They are launching brand which is different and unique from their
competitors in design, shape and size so that they can attract more people. This will assist in
gaining higher income and profitability by selling such branded summer shoes in the global
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area. As per the case scenario, large fashion company design, manufacture and sell their
products to the desired customers in all over the world. There are various competitors who
compete with John Lewis firm for gaining attention of large number of customers in better
manner. With the help of globalisation, they can easily reach with desired customer who are
willing to purchase respective company goods and services.
Background of the company
John Lewis is the chain of high end department stores which operated in the London,
United Kingdom. There are around 51 shops in all over the England, Wales and Scotland
countries where they attract large number of buyers. The total number of employees in an
organisation are 38100 who are perform various business functions and operations for
smoothly run of activities.
Aim: “To launch and present new shoe in London fashion week to compete with other big
brands and maximise own profitability”. A case study on John Lewis.
Objectives:
 To launch a new product in global market within 5 months of time period to improve
profitability by 10%.
 To ascertain the impact of challenges within 2 months as to attain beneficial position in
market within 1 year of time period. To application of strategy within 5 months to maximise organisation's profitability by
10%.
Questions:
 What is the concept of launching new product in global market?
 How to analyse the effectiveness of introducing new services in front of target audience
and business competitors?
 What are the challenges of establishing new products in global market?
 How to analyse strategy of representing business services in new country that assist in
maximising organisation's profitability easily?
P2 Produce a project management plan
Project management plan is the formal, approved and specific evidence that can be
used for maintaining and managing the project in better manner. It is that document which is
required to describe, develop, combine and coordinate various planning functions and
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activities effectively (Cranea nd Matten, 2016). Along with this, it will render data and
information which are associated with cost, time, risk and so more within the project. In the
context of John Lewis, it will help in developing appropriate and take accurate decisions for
the welfare of firm. In addition to this, it will help organisation in order to recognise the
impact in the form of positive on ethical, culture, economic factors of globalisation for
operating business with the help of finance, human resource, operation, production and
marketing. There are different aspects of project management plan that are described as
under:
 Cost- It is very beneficial for the company to investigate and invest cost for
implementing the project in a proper manner. In context to John Lewis, it is essential
to identify the cost for different aspects on different functions which are related to
business. Prediction of the estimated cost in a correct manner will create a developed
business plan for the actual implementation of plan. The cost of project is around
5000 euro. With the help of globalisation, John Lewis help in expanding business
operations and functions in all over the world. It is useful in gaining high amount of
cost value for an organisation in completing the project.
 Scope- It is used to identify the opportunities which are associated with the project
concept in the future duration time period (Eckerson, 2010). It will assist John lewis
to increase their business operations by providing various types of products and
which allows them to take the advantage of required opportunities. In order to
increase their scope they need to analyse the impact of various factors related to
globalisation which enables the firm to offer better quality of products and services
to their customers. The main scope of project is to analyse various opportunities
which are helpful in developing project effectively. In the large market place,
respective company summer shoes gain attention of customers which assist in
reaching with desired goals and targets effectively. This is required for firm is to
analyse potential buyers who are willing to buy such goods and services.
 Time- This factor is very important in order to recognise the estimated time required
to perform each and every activity of the project effectively. In context to John lewis,
the project requires long time for completing all the tasks and will assist in
completing various functions and activities in given period of time. The estimated
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time period of this project is 46 days for completion in given time period. The time
which is required for launching new product which create issues for gaining attention
of large number of buyers. The impact of globalisation while compete with other big
brands on business operations that will create major issue for them. As per the case
scenario, company has target to reach with desired customers in given time period so
that they can easily achieve all target and goals in easy manner.
 Quality- The main purpose of developing the project is to provide best services and
products in order to cater the need of different customers and requirements and
maintains high standard of quality products. In context to John lewis, various aspects
of cultural, economic and ethical factors of globalisation will assist business in order
to improve the quality in the products as well as in functional procedures. The
effective quality of the respective company will also helps in competitive advantage
as well help in gaining higher income and profitability in better manner. It is required
for an organisation is to focus on quality of project before enter in new market place.
This will assist them in developing and formulating quality based projects for earning
huge income and revenue. Quality is related with raw materials that are necessary for
any company for their products manufacturing and operate business at international
level.
 Communication- It is one of the most important factor within the organisation
which develops and implements the projects in a better way (Gebauer, Edvardsson
and Bjurko, 2010). Effective communication of employees will provide great
advantage to the respective company which also helps in identifying loopholes which
effect the firm success. An effective communication and coordination can easily lead
towards completing the project in a good manner. With the help of globalisation,
John Lewis company can easily interact and communicate with their customers and
promote their desired goods and services among them.
 Risk- In the current business environment, every project includes some aspects of
risk which are associated with the outcomes of plan. At the time of developing the
project, manger of the company needs to analyse all the possible risks. In context to
John lewis, they should identify various types of risks such as economical. Ethical
and cultural which have a major effect on business functions and activities. There are
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various risk involve while developing this project such as cost, time, quality and so
more. There are some risk which are faced by John Lewis company while promoting
summer shoes product in the large market place is that change in demand and need,
communication channels, funds and so more.
 Resources- When the project is undertaken so it becomes the responsibility of the
investigator to organise and arrange important resources such as financial resources,
technology and techniques which are required to carry the business performance
effectively (Incelli, 2013). With the help of such resources company can easily gain
higher position and helps to earn profitability in a better manner. When company
expand their business operations so there are various resources which are required for
completing the project in better manner. Resources includes cost, time, quality,
budget and many more. In order to run business at international level, John Lewis
require different resources such as funds, employees, machinery, customers,
stakeholders to regulate the business operations effectively.
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart
Work breakdown structure – It is the framework or the structure in which overall
project is divided into small parts which could be easily managed. In general, work break down
structure breaks the project task in easy and manageable form when it comes to application. It is
the timeline which illustrates how long the project will run. In the diagram of WBS, structure and
scope of the project is graphically represented. With the help of graphic object or a box at the top
it determines the overall project (Jones and Lubinski, 2012). Along with this with each and
every sub elements are listed describing the work. They are framed on the basis of their
deliveries and some are created on the basis of their project phases. The elements of WBS are
data, services, products and combination. This will assist in providing required framework in
order to estimate cost and control along with instructions. It has ability and capability to assign
work to a person for carry out work and it define main relationship among cost, organisational
and work.
5

Gantt chart - Gantt chart is a graphical presentation of schedule which helps in
planning, coordination as well as in tracking the particular task within the project. They are
useful for planning and scheduling projects and also assess how long a project should take
and determine the resources needed and plan the order to complete the tasks. It also helps in
managing the dependencies between the tasks.
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TASK 2
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
At the time of conducting project, it is necessary for investigator is to undertaken into
consideration of research methodology. It will help in arranging, organising and interpreting
the accurate data and information which are related to projects in effective manner. In
addition to this, there are two main concepts such as qualitative and quantitative method in
order to use by researchers at the time of conducting research (Kankaanranta and Planken,
2010). Apart from this, research methodology involves data analysis, investigating design
and many more. These are described as follows:
Qualitative research method – The qualitative method is used for collecting and
gathering accurate facts and figures for completing the project. It includes observation,
interview, focus group. It will help in analysing the point of view of various respondents
who give response to the company products and services. Qualitative research methods are
designed in such manner which can assist in revealing the perceptions and behaviour of
target customers with specific topic.
Quantitative research method – It is defined as a market research method which
mainly focus on obtaining data through open ended and conversational interaction. This type
of research method collect and gather important facts or figures that can be used in
numerical and mathematical formulas with the help of statistical approaches. Research can
be determined as approach that can lead towards acquiring relevant outcomes which are
based on data and information. Through execution of investigation, an organisation are able
to gather and collect huge information in better manner. In addition to this, research assist in
providing adequate response of each interrogation effectively. These type of methods and
techniques can be utilised by firm in the form of questionnaire, interview, observation and
records. This research is appropriate method and tools that can help in recognise best
possible solution to such issues and problems with the help of numerical data.
In this report, qualitative research method can be used for collecting and gathering
accurate data or information while completing the project.
Primary data collection method – This is one of the essential type of collection
method that can be used by researcher at the time of framing relevant outcomes and draw
valid conclusion. It is beneficial because investigation can be done by researcher for remain
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authentic in nature. With the help of research, they are supplying new content that can assist
in acquiring correct results or outcomes. In current research, an investigator have been used
these methods and techniques along with select questionnaire approach which can carry out
data from organisation stakeholders (Lai and Ong, 2010).
Secondary data collection method – It is that source which can be used for
gathering and collecting relevant facts and figures through books, journals, magazines and
other published methods. It can be done with the help of authors, writers and scholars.
Research can be conducted on the basis of past data and information and it can be beneficial
for an organisation because this is less costly and time saving.
Data collection – In this, researcher generally collect and gather information from
different respondent for adopting methods of collecting data that includes primary and
secondary method.
Questionnaire – This is the set of different types of questions that has been
formulate and develop by investigator in order to evaluate the perception of various
respondents to analyse the adequate response and result. The sample size of this project is
30 respondents.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name:
Age:
Address:
Gender:
Mail Id:
Q.1. Are you aware about globalisation?
 Yes
 No
Q.2. Does globalisation help in launching new products (summer shoe) of John Lewis
company?
 Agree
 Disagree
Q.3. What are the benefits of launching new products in the global market place?
 Acquiring huge income and revenue
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 Improvement in organisation reputation
Q.4. What are the challenges of establishing new products (summer shoe) in international
market area?
 Change in technology
 Gaining attention of customers
Q.5. Do you think adoption of new strategies assist in gaining market presence for an
organisation?
 Yes
 No
Q.6. What are the various ways through which John Lewis can easily launch their product in the
global area ?
 Develop strong strategies
 Focus on political laws
Q.7. Do you have any suggestion regarding launching and presenting new shoe in London
fashion week to compete with other big brands and maximise own profitability?
TASK 3
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques
Theme 1: Concept of globalisation
Q.1. Are you aware about concept of globalisation ? Frequency
 Yes 25
 No 5
10

Interpretation: It can be analysed that globalisation is the process of communicating and
interacting with global business environment. It is the procedure which help in
intensifications of economic, social, political and making cultural relations in all across the
boundaries. Globalisation has grown in advance for transportation and communication
technology in better manner. There are around 25 respondents who are agree on this
statement where they are said that globalisation is best method which can be used for
increasing company profitability in better manner. This will help company in easily
expansion from one place to another in order to gain profitability and income. On the other
hand, there are around 5 respondents who are disagree on that consideration where they said
that it is not useful for maintaining and managing all business operations and functions in
proper manner.
Theme 2: Globalisation help in launching new products (summer shoe) of John Lewis
company
Q.2. Does globalisation help in launching new
products (summer shoe) of John Lewis company ?
Frequency
 Agree 20
11
Yes No
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
5
Column B

 Disagree 10
Interpretation: It can be stated that globalisation assist in launching new goods and services
of John Lewis company in better manner. This will help them in attending large number of
customers so that they gain high income and revenue. There are around 20 respondents who
are agree on that statement globalisation assist in launching and introducing new products
and services (summer shoe) of John Lewis organisation. With the help of globalisation,
organisation can introduce new products and service in the specific country for gaining
attention of large number of customers. Apart from this, there are approximately 10
respondents who are disagree on that consideration where they does not think that it is
beneficial for launching new commodities in better manner.
Theme 3: Acquiring huge income and revenue is the benefits of launching new products
in the global market place
Q.3. What are the benefits of launching new
products in the global market place ?
Frequency
 Acquiring huge income and revenue 21
 Improvement in organisation reputation 9
12
20
10
Agree
Disagree

Interpretation: From the above described table, it can be analysed that it is required for
business is to launch and introduce company in the international level. For promote their
new brand, it is required to firm is to launch this at famous location where large number of
customers are attracted. Along with this, they are gain various benefits for launching product
in emerging country. There are around 21 respondents who are said that acquiring of huge
income and revenue can gain with the help of launching and establishing new product which
is summer shoe. Apart from this, there are around 9 respondents who are think that it will
help in making improvement in organisation reputation and goodwill in the large market
place. They are gaining attention of large number of customers with the help of introducing
new goods in the country.
Theme 4: Change in technology is the challenges of establishing new products (summer
shoe) in international market area
Q.4. What are the challenges of establishing new
products (summer shoe) in international market area
?
Frequency
 Change in technology 22
13
Acquiring huge income and revenue
Improvement in organisation reputation
0
5
10
15
20
25 21
9 Column B

 Gaining attention of customers 8
Interpretation: It can be stated that there are various issues and challenges are occurs in the
international market place. This is already know b by company is that there are various
issues and challenges faced while promoting new brand in the another country. It is
necessary for John Lewis is to face different problems and barriers which arise within an
organisation. There are around 22 respondents who are said that change in technology is
major issue that can be faced by company while expanding and introducing business in
another nation. Rest of the 8 respondents are think that sometime they does not gain
attention of large number of customers towards their goods and services.
Theme 5: Adoption of new strategies assist in gaining market presence for an
organisation
Q.5. Do you think adoption of new strategies assist
in gaining market presence for an organisation ?
Frequency
 Yes 27
 No 3
14
Change in technology Gaining attention of customers
0
5
10
15
20
25 22
8
Column B

Interpretation: From the above described table, it can be analysed that company are
developing and making various strategies and policies which can be used for gaining higher
income and revenue. For promoting effective products, it is required for firm is to make
effective strategy and good image in the large market place where they can easily gain
attention of large number of customers towards new products. There are around 27
respondents who are think that adoption of new strategies help them in acquiring presence
for an organisation in the international market area. Apart from this, there are approximately
3 respondents who are said that strategies does not assist in developing effective existence in
the global market area.
Theme 6: Develop strong strategies is the various ways through which John Lewis can
easily launch their product in the global area
Q.6. What are the various ways through which John
Lewis can easily launch their product in the global
area ?
Frequency
 Develop strong strategies 20
 Focus on political laws 10
15
27
3
Yes
No

Interpretation: As per the above described table, it can be analysed that there are various
ways through John Lewis can easily launch their product (summer shoes) at the international
level. It is necessary for firm is to launch their goods and services in another country where
they are easily attract large number of customers. There are around 20 respondents who are
agree on that statement where they are develop strong strategies and policies for introducing
new product in the global market area. Rest of the 10 respondents are said that they are
mainly focus on political laws while launching new product in the global market area.
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions
On the basis of analysis, it can be recommended that globalisation play an essential
role in increasing business performance in order to expand business in all over the world. In
addition to this, company can gain success and high growth while launching new product in
the international market area for acquiring attention of large number of customers. However,
John Lewis is most reputed organisation which is introducing new summer shoes product in
the London fashion week event. The John Lewis can focus on their current strategies and
policies which are develop for managing and maintaining all business operations and its
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Develop strong strategies Focus on political laws
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
20
10
Column B

functions in effective manner. They are required to analyse external and internal
components for developing appropriate decisions such as method of collecting relevant data
and information, reason for selecting particular region for global business and so more.
Researcher used advanced technology and methods for maintaining positive relation with
their customers that are help in maximising profitability and income. It can be recommended
that globalisation assist in expanding business operations and functions in another country.
In addition to this, it can be helpful in gaining higher profitability and income by smoothly
run of business operations and its functions. Before enter in the global market place, it is
required for firm is to analyse whole area where they are gain attention of large number of
customers towards their goods and services. John Lewis can develop effective strategies and
policies which help them in easily expand their business in emerging market place.
TASK 4
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives
As per the above mentioned report, I have encountered various numbers of issues and
problems at the time of promoting effective products and services in the global area. I need
to analyse whole market place before launching new products (summer shoes) for their
customers. It is required for firm is to launch new product in the London Fashion Week for
attracting large number of people. For this, I need to examine whole market place for
identify various needs and demand of customers. I analysed that every person belong to
different culture who have different terms. Thus, at the time of completing my report of
launching new product in the global market place I need to know that it is required to deal
with various issues and problems. But still, it can be analysed that exchange of goods and
services across different country assist an organisation in gaining desired goals. While
conducting this project, I have been face various issues and problems related to cost, funds,
resources and time. Along with this, there are various issues which occurs due to lack of
communication among different parties while expanding business in another location. In this
report, I have been develop questionnaire which assist in getting respondents views and
reviews regarding company products or services.
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CONCLUSION
From the above described report, it can be analysed that administration of successful
project is not very easy or simple task due to involvement of different complex functions
and activities. Globalisation has grown in advance for transportation and communication
technology in better manner. It is the process which can help in selling their goods and
services in all across the world. It is that document which are required for describe, develop,
combine and coordinate various planning functions and activities effectively. At the time of
conducting project, it is necessary for investigator is to undertaken into consideration of
research methodology.
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REFERENCES
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