Managing a Successful Business Project

Managing a Successful
Business Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
P1 Aim and objectives................................................................................................................1
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................2
P2 Develop a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, quality,
communication, risk and resources.............................................................................................3
P3 WBS and Gantt chart ...........................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Quantitative and qualitative...................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Data Interpretation.................................................................................................................8
P6 Recommendations................................................................................................................14
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................15
P7 Reflection.............................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Equality ensure equal opportunities and right of every individual, without discriminating
them on any basis or characteristics. While diversity is related to operating business operations
with individuals those who are having differences in terms of values, race, culture and more. By
promoting equality and diversity organisation can effectively ensure that every individual is
having access of equal opportunities and have fair or same treatment. This will allow business to
thrive for long period of time in aggressive competition (Pramanik, Mondal and Haldar, 2020).
Present report has been conducted on Volkswagen, which is operating its business at
worldwide level and founded in the year 1937. Report involves discussions upon project aims
and objectives, literature review based upon laid down objectives and project management plan.
In addition to this report also include Gantt chart and work break down concepts along with
qualitative and quantitative data collection approach. Further respective project includes self-
questionnaire as primary data collection method and reflection on project experience. Lastly,
recommendations has been given to company through which they can embrace equality and
diversity in their workplace premises.
TASK 1
P1 Aim and objectives
This project has been conducted on equality and diversity issue which is gender pay gap. This
issue affects business operations of Volkswagen in number of ways. In this project there are
some measures through which company can overcome this issue in effective way.
Research Aim: “ To determine the impact of Gender pay upon performance of employees in an
organisation workplace structure”. A case study on Volkswagen.
Research Objectives:
 To develop proper understanding of equality and diversity concept in company
workplace structure.
 To identify the impact of gender pay gap concept on employee performance in
Volkswagen To determine various strategies that Volkswagen need to be adopted in order to overcome
gender pay gap issue.
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Research Questions:
 How to develop proper understanding of equality and diversity concept in company
workplace structure?
 What is the gender pay gap concept impact of gender pay gap concept on employee
performance in Volkswagen
 What are the various strategies that Volkswagen need to be adopted in order to overcome
gender pay gap issue
Literature Review
Proper understanding of equality and diversity concept in company workplace structure
As per the view point of Issa, 2020, equality and diversity play key essential role within
workplaces that significantly aid organisation to offer equal opportunities to each and every
employee within workplace structure. In this entity ensure that there is no discrimination within
workplace as it significantly affect morale, motivation and performance of employees in number
of ways. For this purpose, it becomes essential for all organisations to ensure that they have
equality and diversity within their organisational structure as it significantly allows them to
increase performance level of their employees by ensuring their human rights as well as
opportunities.
Gender pay gap issue within Volkswagen
According to the perceptions of Abd Majid, 2020, gender pay gap is defined in one of the
major issues that occurred when remuneration and salary is being offered to employees by
differentiating them on the basis of male or female staff. It there is any gap in salary and
remuneration amount between men and women workers at same position then it is considered as
gender pay gap. This gap significantly has adverse impact upon performance and productivity of
employees. It has been evaluated that employees within workplace structure get affected with
various forms of issues that are having direct impact on their performance and productivity. this,
gender pay gap acts as major issue which is creating number of obstacles and restricts employees
to fulfil their goals with great efficiency. This makes organisation to undertake effective steps
and measures to overcome this issue and provide equal and diversified workplace structure to
employees. Further, it has been evaluated that employees can face gender gay gap in terms of
weekly earnings, hourly earnings, annual income and week pay off also, that highly impact on
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morale of them. It is essential for an organisation to effectively overcome these issues as to make
high profitability as well as productivity in a well define and effective manner.
Strategies to overcome gender pay gap issue within company workplace
As per the view point Fernandes, Araújo and Machado, 2020, this is important for an
organisation to undertake advantage of effective strategies in order to overcome this issue of
gender pay gap. In order to increase organisational profitability as well as productivity. Further
this has been underlined that company is required to implement practices as well as procedures
in order to ensure that there is effective transparency within organisational workplace structure.
In addition to this, entity is also required to make sure that to have equal remuneration process,
standardise pay, equal training to each and every individual irrespective of their gender. With the
assistance of these strategies as well as measures, a company can effectively allow themselves to
gain more competitive advantages. Further it has been determined that, these strategies will assist
entity to ensure more growth as well as development in a well defines and effective manner.
Along with this, by practising these strategies in to workplace structure company cannot only
manage their performance of employees but can also maximise their productivity at great extent.
It is essential for organisation to make sure that man and women staff get equal treatment and
does not get discriminated on any basis. All these strategies will facilitate company to maximise
their overall profitability as well as long term sustainability in effective manner.
P2 Develop a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, quality,
communication, risk and resources.
A project management plan is the formal document that guides how to implement and
supervise a project. All the required things for execution of project are considered in project
management plan. For example cost of the project, risk involved, resources required for
execution of plan etc. following are the aspects of project management plan in respect to
Volkswagen :
Cost :- Cost is the value of money used by organisations to produce something. In terms
of business cost is described as the amount of money spent on production and manufacturing of
goods and products. Cost management is an essential part of project management plan which
helps in controlling the specific cost of the product. It is an important aspect of project
management plan. In terms of Volkswagen the total cost of the project is estimated as £60,000.
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scope :- Scope is described as the combination of requirements and objectives that are
essential for the accomplishment of a project. In project management plan scope allows
managers to analyse the time and cost neededfor completion of a project. with respect to
Volkswagen developing and implementing of plan will directly affect the performance of
employees. As the provision of equal pay system established through implementing of the plan
removes the inequality and builds confidence among employees..
Quality :- managing quality is an important part of overall process of project
management plan. Quality management is defined as the process of ensuring that all the
activities related to the project are designed and implemented in effective and efficient manner
with respect to its objectives and performance. Quality can be controlled and managed by getting
feedback from employees. Volkswagen should monitor the plan and implement the required
changes. This will leads the successful operation of the project. .
Communication :- In project management plan communication considered as the
medium through which company can share message and information to its customers. Right
choice of communication mode helps in maintaining effectiveness in the process. The managers
of Volkswagen can use several effective techniques such as- communicating the vision of the
company, setting clear priorities of business and building better relation and understanding
between employees. This helps in purposeful implementation of management plan.
P3 WBS and Gantt chart
Work Break down structure:
Work break down is systematic measure through which an individual can segregate wide
range of complex activities into small or manageable parts (Gozali and et. al., 2020). With the
help of this method research can effectively allow themselves to fulfil research objectives with
great effectiveness. In addition to this, it has been determined that WBS provide an aid to
researcher through which they can fulfil research aim and objectives in given period of time
(Yıldırım and Korkmaz, 2020).
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Gantt chart:
It is defined as a graphical representation of diverse range of task as well as activities. In
addition to this it is also terms as visual representation of overall project that facilitate researcher
to fulfil research goals in given framework of time (Gurca, Markovic and Koporcic, 2020). With
the help of this method accomplishment of research goals can be assure in effective period of
time.
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TASK 2
P : Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives.
Primary and secondary both types of research method are used in this report. Primary
data helps in getting first hand information which provides more accurate and authentic solutions
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of a problem. At the same time secondary data is used in the report to get information easily
available in books, journals, publications. This saves the time and money.
Primary research: The research which is created for the first time that gives the first
hand information to the researcher is called primary research. The purpose of this is to get
information that has been not given before. It is the expensive and time consuming method that
gives more authentic data and it is done to meet specific needs of a problem. Interview, surveys,
observation and focus groups are the important method of primary research.
Secondary research: The research which provides already gathered information and
designed by some one else. It gives the data and information from the reports of others. It is time
savvy and less expensive approach but doesn't provide more authentic informations. Methods of
secondary research includes reports submitted by research scholars and educational institutes,
publications of central and local government, balance sheet of business entities, trade journals,
magazines etc.
Both the types of research are used as per the requirement of the situation. Here, the
researcher of Volkswagen using surveys, interviews, mails techniques of primary data and
observation, case studies, journals tools of secondary information and data to solve the problem
of the business.
Quantitative research It is organised to get numeric data such as- facts and numbers.
This type of research is done for testing and conforming the assumption and theories that
expressed in graphs and numbers. It is structured through statistical analysis. This type of
research is used to quantify the opinions, attitudes, behaviours and other variables. It allows the
researcher to use large sample size, helps in collect informations quickly, focuses on series and
facts. Quantitative research sometimes generate unnatural environment, more money consuming
method. Survey, observation, experiment are the method of quantitative data collection.
Qualitative research : This is designed to get deep into the topic. Numbers and figures
are not required for this type of research. It is used to recognize the thoughts, concept and
experiences. Information is defined in words in this type of research. Interviews, case studies,
focus groups, expert's opinions, one-ended survey questions all are the method of qualitative
research. It helps in capturing the changing attitude of target groups. Qualitative research is more
flexible approach as compared to qualitative research.
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Here the researcher of the Volkswagen selecting qualitative research to gather
information for capturing the attitudes and preferences of customers with respect to
accomplishment of objectives of the company.
Questionnaire : A questionnaire is a document including a series of questions to gather
the information about respondents. It is an expensive and practical method of data collection.
Questionnaire is an effective method of understanding the behaviour and opinions of customers.
Here 30 respondents are considered by the researcher for answering the questionnaire.
Questionnaire
Q1) Are you aware with equality & diversity concept in company
workplace structure?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
Q2) Do you think that by practising equality & diversity Volaswagen can
fulfil its organisational objectives in effective manner?
Frequency
a) Agree 25
b) Disagree 5
Q3) Do you think that gender pay gap arise discrimination among
employees?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 15
Q4) What according to you proves to be significant measure through
which Volkswagen can overcome the issue of gender pay gap at
workplaces?
Frequency
a) Equal job and Equal pay 10
b) Enforcement of equality policies 10
c) Render support women into more senior roles 10
Q5) Do you think, with the elimination of gender pay gap Volkswagen can Frequency
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maximise productivity of workers?
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
Q6)According to you, how gender pay gap impact on workers of
Volkswagen?
Frequency
a) Anxiousness mental state at work 18
b) Demoralisation 6
c) Improper guidance by higher authorities 6
TASK 3
P5 Data Interpretation
Theme 1: Equality & diversity concept
Q1) Are you aware with equality & diversity concept in company
workplace structure?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
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Interpretation:
Equality and diversity is playing essential role within an organisation, as it allows entity
to provide positive workplace to their employees and enhance their overall performance at great
extent. In addition to this, it has been evaluated that with the help of this concept entity can not
only increase performance of their employees but can also maximise profitability of company at
great extent. According to the above mentioned graph, it has been evaluated that from 30
respondents, 20 are well aware with the concept of quality and diversity within organisational
workplace structure. While on the other hand, remaining 10 respondents did not have any
knowledge of the given concept.
Theme 2: Practising equality & diversity allow organisation to fulfil their
organisational objectives in effective manner
Q2) Do you think that by practising equality & diversity organisation can
fulfil organisational objectives in effective manner?
Frequency
a) Agree 25
b) Disagree 5
10
20
10
a) Yes
b) No

Interpretation:
Equality and diversity is one of the most essential practice through which company can
provide positive as well as equal workplace environment to their workers. It will also allow
entity to increase performance as well as productivity of employees in a well define and effective
manner. Further this has been underlined that, by implementing equality and diversity company
can gain number of benefits in terms of loyalty from their workforce towards company.
According to the above mentioned analysis it has been stated that 25 out of 30 respondents
agrees that by enforcing equality and diversity practices organisation can effectively able to
accomplish their goals and objectives. While remaining 5 did not agree with this fact as they did
not have knowledge about this concept.
Theme 3: Knowledge of gender pay gap within company workplaces
Q3) Do you have knowledge of gender pay gap within company
workplaces?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 15
11
25
5
a) Agree
b) Disagree

Interpretation:
Equality and diversity have huge importance in organisational workplace structure as
these provide wide range of benefits to company in terms of higher profitability as well as
productivity. It is essential for an entity to embrace this practice as to ensure long term
sustainable advantages. However it has been determined that, there are different types of issues
that can be arise due to negligence of equality in company. According to the above mentioned
graph, it has been evaluated that, 15 out of 30 respondents are having proper knowledge related
to the fact of gender pay gap in workplaces of entity. They think that it is one of the major issue
which is affecting overall objective of organisation. While on the other hand remaining 15 did
not have any understanding of this fact.
Theme 4: Significant measure through which company can overcome the issue of
gender pay gap at workplaces
Q4) What according to you proves to be significant measure through
which company can overcome the issue of gender pay gap at workplaces?
Frequency
12
15 15 a) Yes
b) No

a) Equal job and Equal pay 10
b) Enforcement of equality policies 10
c) Render support women into more senior roles 10
Interpretation:
Equality and diversity can be effectively practised with the help of different types of
practices as well as measures. This is an essential aspect that not only allows organisation to
assure high growth and development but also facilitate them towards assuring long term
sustainability in respected sector. According to the above mentioned graph, it has been evaluated
that 10 out of 30 respondents said that with the help of equal job and equal pay each and every
employee irrespective of gender get same pay for the same job. It will aid entity of enhance
loyalty and satisfaction among employee. Further this has been underlined that, remaining 10 out
of 30 respondents said that by enforcing equal policies, all the employees of different age, race,
religion, caste etc. can have access to equal form of treatment. It will enhance overall
productivity of company. Lastly, 10 out of 30 co defendant by provide effective support to
women by placing them in senior role will effectively increase efficiency of company. These
practices also lead entity to overcome the issue of gender pay gap from workplace premises
through which company can assure higher profitability and productivity.
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10
10
10
a) Same job and
same pay
b) Implementation of
equality policies
c) Provide support
women into more
senior roles

Theme 5: Elimination of gender pay gap allows company to maximise productivity of
workers
Q5) Do you think, with the elimination of gender pay gap company can
maximise productivity of workers?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
Interpretation:
It is essential for an entity to eliminate all the hurdles that are restricting them to
implement equality and diversity within workplace. In this, gender pay is a major issue which is
affecting organisation in number of ways and lead towards reducing overall profitability and
productivity of company. For this, entity must assure that they eliminate the issue of gender pay
gap as to maximise overall organisational productivity. According to the above mentioned graph
it has been evaluated that 20 out of 30 respondents agrees with the fact that by eliminating
gender pay gap organisation can effectively maximise employee productivity which in turn lead
towards higher growth of organisation. This will also facilitate entity to increase market image
effectively. Further this has been identified that remaining 10 out of 30 respondents did not think
that elimination of gender pay gap will allow company to increase employees productivity as
entity also need to focus upon other factors.
14
20
10
a) Yes
b) No

Theme 6: Important issues arise due to gender pay gap among employees and are
affecting overall performance in workplace of organisation?
Q6)Define important issues arise due to gender pay gap among employees
and are affecting overall performance in workplace of Volkswagen?
Frequency
a) Anxiousness mental state at work 18
b) Demoralisation 6
c) Improper guidance by higher authorities 6
Interpretation:
This is being identified that there are various number of issues which is a result of gender
gap within workers and further lead towards having adverse impact upon their performance
within workplace structure of organisation. This makes Volkswagen management to implement
effective practices as well as measures in order to ensure that company effectively abide all the
necessary practices to promote equality and diversity. As per the above mentioned graph, this has
been evaluated that, 18 out of 30 respondents believes that gender pay gap lead towards
Anxiousness mental state at work among employees which result in their lower level of
performance. While on the other hand, 6 out of 30 respondents said that demoralisation is other
issue of gender pay gap that can have negative impact upon performance of Volkswagen
employees. Lastly, this has been underlined that remaining 6 out of 30 respondents said that
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a) Anxiety at work
b)Low level of
motivation
c) Decrease in
performance

improper guidance by higher authorities is the most affecting issue of gender pay gap through
which decrease in performance of employees can be seen.
P6 Recommendations
Enforcement of proper rules and regulations is essential for an organisation, in order to
effectively practice equality and diversity in company workplace structure. In context with
Volkswagen, this has been identified that it is essential for entity management team to conduct
efficient research in order to identify requirements to embrace equality and diversity within
company (Butler, Vijayasarathy and Roberts, 2020). With the help of this entity can effectively
allow themselves to overcome the issue of gender pay gap. For this there are some certain
strategies and measures being recommended to respective company by considering which
company can formulate effective plan to implement equality and diversity practices:
It has been recommendation to Volkswagen management and HR department to makes sure that
company is abiding every essential and required rules and regulations being framed by
government authorities to make sure that employees are not facing any form of discrimination in
workplace (Hartley, 2020). With the help of this respective organisation can provide positive
working environment to employees with equal opportunities.
Volkswagen management is recommended to eliminate any form of discriminatory policies from
organisational workplace structure and get effective advices from Legal & Compliance
departments while undertaking the process of decision making (Dansoh and et. al., 2020).
Thus, by practising all the above mentioned recommendations Volkswagen can assure
that workforce is performing roles and responsibilities in a positive workplace environment in
which they are facing discrimination of any basis (Heath, 2020). It will allow entity to gain more
productivity as well as long term sustainability in market.
TASK 4
P7 Reflection
This research has been conducted with an aim to enhance knowledge of equality and
diversity, including issues that may arise due to gender pay gap in a firm. With the help of
gaining proper understanding of this topic, objectives of research can be attained in effective
manner. It has been determined that during starting stage of research, appropriate aim and
objectives of research has been devised by me that further allows in conducting literature review
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in effective manner. Further, all the essential and necessary information has been allocated by me
from different authorised sources. In addition to this different types of methodologies are being
duly used in order to execute research in effective manner. However, I have analysed that, due to
me ineffectiveness in communication skills sometimes I find difficult to gather or acquire
necessary data from respondents with high confidence.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report it has been concluded that, equality and diversity is an
essential practice through which organisation can effectively ensure that each and every
individual in workplace structure is having equal rights and opportunities. It also aids entity to
make sure that individuals do not get discriminated on many manner such as culture, race, age,
colour and more. It is essential to manage project while considering important aspects like cost,
time, resources etc. in order to successfully accomplish project objectives. This can be
effectively done with the assistance of Gantt chart and WBS. It will significantly allow company
to fulfil goals and pre-determined objectives with great effectiveness.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Pramanik, D., Mondal, S.C. and Haldar, A., 2020. A framework for managing uncertainty in
information system project selection: an intelligent fuzzy approach. International Journal
of Management Science and Engineering Management, 15(1), pp.70-78.
Gozali, L and et. al., 2020. Performance factors for successful business incubators in Indonesian
public universities.
Gurca, A., Bagherzadeh, M., Markovic, S. and Koporcic, N., 2020. Managing the challenges of
business-to-business open innovation in complex projects: A multi-stage process
model. Industrial Marketing Management.
Heath, F., 2020. Managing Software Requirements the Agile Way: Bridge the gap between
software requirements and executable specifications to deliver successful projects. Packt
Publishing Ltd.
Butler, C.W., Vijayasarathy, L.R. and Roberts, N., 2020. Managing software development
projects for success: Aligning plan-and agility-based approaches to project complexity
and project dynamism. Project Management Journal, 51(3), pp.262-277.
Fahri, J., Arilaha, M.A. and Pratama, R., 2020. Program Management Approach for
Concurrently Managing Projects–A study from Khairun University. Asia Pacific Journal
of Management and Education, 3(1), pp.35-46.
Sospeter, N.G., Rwelamila, P.D. and Gimbi, J.G., 2020. Critical success factors for managing
post-disaster reconstruction projects: the case of Angola. Construction Economics and
Building, 20(3).
Fiergbor, D.D., 2020. Managing Projects Using Forensic Accounting in Detection and
Prevention of Fraud in Ghana. Global Economics Science, pp.44-49.
Issa, I.M.H., 2020. Strategies for Managing Offshore Outsourcing for Business
Sustainability (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
Abd Majid, M.Z., 2020, May. The competency component needed by the Project Manager in
managing the Road Project in West Sumatera, Indonesia. In IOP Conference Series:
Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 498, No. 1, p. 012014). IOP Publishing.
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Fernandes, G., Pinto, E.B., Araújo, M. and Machado, R.J., 2020. The roles of a Programme and
Project Management Office to support collaborative university–industry R&D. Total
Quality Management & Business Excellence, 31(5-6), pp.583-608.
Levitskaia, A. and Chaikovska, M., 2020. Modern Approaches to Managing Mobile Marketing
IT projects. МАРКЕТИНГ І ЦИФРОВІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ, 4(1), pp.88-97.
Yıldırım, N. and Korkmaz, Y., 2020. Challenge of millennials in project management: insights
on attitudes and perceptions of generation Y in software development projects. In Five
Generations and Only One Workforce: How Successful Businesses Are Managing a
Multigenerational Workforce (pp. 255-282). IGI Global.
Grube, M. and Wynn, M.G., 2020. Managing Process Change and Standardisation in ERP
Projects: An Assessment of the SAP Template Approach. International Journal on
Advances in Intelligent Systems, 13(1&2), pp.48-58.
Dansoh, A. and et. al., 2020. Exploring the role of traditional authorities in managing the public
as stakeholders on PPP projects: a case study. International Journal of Construction
Management, pp.1-14.
Fernandes, G., O'Sullivan, D., Pinto, E.B., Araújo, M. and Machado, R.J., 2020. Value of project
management in university–industry R&D collaborations. International Journal of
Managing Projects in Business.
Hartley, S., 2020. Project Management: A practical guide to planning and managing projects.
Routledge.
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Project Logbook For MSBP
No. Planned Activities Action Plan
1 Update your last week’s work Preparation of aims and objectives.
2 Problem encountered and how did you
handle the problem?
There were many issues that has been faced by
me to accomplish research requirements, in
terms with this it as been identified that major
issues was related to allocation of data and
information from authenticated sources.
However, in order to overcome this issue I
started making regular interaction with my team
members along with other individuals who are
somehow associated with research. With the
help of help of regular communication handling
of problem undertaken.
3 Task for this week Allocation of effective information and data.
4 Risk issues identified. Team management and allocation was the risk
identified.
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5 Plan your tasks for next week
6 Project plan status till date (on/ahead /
behind)
If behind, why?
Project is going as per according to per-
determined time schedule.
7 Remarks by the lecturer if any
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