Managing A Successful Business Project: Report

Managing A
Successful
Business Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
(A) Aims and objectives of the project...................................................................................1
(B) Project management plan that covers various aspects including cost, scope, time, quality,
communication and resources................................................................................................2
(C) Work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide time frame and stages.............4
(D) Carrying out small scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research
methods...................................................................................................................................5
(E) Research and data using an appropriate tools and techniques..........................................9
(F) Appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis.......................18
(G) Performance review.......................................................................................................19
a. The success of the project and its usefulness in supporting organisational performance.19
b. Your own performance.....................................................................................................19
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................22

INTRODUCTION
Globalisation is the process of expanding the business operations of a firm at
international or global level. There are various factors like economical, political, technological,
social etc. which can negatively impact the business operations while globalising the business.
Organisations needs to analyse the trends and changes of market using proper research before
entering in a new market (Lock, 2017). In this report, the taken firm is Arcadia which is a retail
organisation having headquarter in London, UK. Arcadia group decided to create and market
their brand-new summer shoe at the London fashion week which is taking place between the
16th – 20th February, 2019. This report will discuss the aims, time-frames and objectives for
introducing their shoes along with a project management plan to meet the objectives and time
frames. This report will further cover the research, findings, recommendation and performance
review which will address the success of project. Also Gantt chart, work break down structure
will be done for the given time frames.
(A) Aims and objectives of the project
Background of firm:
Arcadia group is a British retail based business having headquarter in London, United
Kingdom. The company has more than 2500 stores in UK as well as 1170 stores in 36 countries
outside the UK and also the company is shipping to 107 countries through online website. The
firm is employing more than 22,000 employees through out their stores (Binder, 2016). The
company owns clothing retailers such as Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge,
Topman, Topshop, Wallis etc. The company is expanding their business so they decided to
introduce their new shoes in the London fashion week which is going to be held between 16th to
20th February 2019. The company is introducing these shoes for selling them to the leading
fashion retailers around the world. For this expansion, they needs to develop and implement new
strategies for attracting new customers towards this new product. The firm needs to evaluate
their product in terms of quality, features etc. before introducing them to London fashion week.
The Product Design Manager has developed some aims and objectives which are discussed
below.
Aim: “To identify the impact of New product development on the business performance
for successfully competing with global brands.” A case study on Arcadia group.
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Objectives:
 To understand the concept of new product development.
 To understand the effect of new product development on business performance during the
globalisation process.
 To understand the relationship among the new product development and business
performance in globalisation.
(B) Project management plan that covers various aspects including cost, scope, time, quality,
communication and resources
Project management planning is the planned structure or process of executing the
assigned project in the pre-specified time by managing it in an effective manner (Peppers and
Rogers, 2016). This plan includes the course of action which can be taken by the researcher to in
order to draw a valid and reliable result. There are various factors which must be considered by
the researcher for conducting a proper research to execute the project on time.
Cost: It is very important for executing the project in determined time. Sufficient amount
of funds is very essential for the researcher and Arcadia group to carry out the research properly.
Arcadia group is introducing their new product in the London fashion week for which the firm
needs to analyse the market situation and trends for this product. For this expansion, company
has estimated a amount of 2,00,000 pound for purchasing the machinery and equipments.
Whereas the researcher has estimated 10000 pound for doing the research which will be used in
gathering the data.
Scope: The term scope is related with the possibilities of gaining huge sustainability of
new product launched by an organisation. The Arcadia group is introducing their new product
i.e. summer shoe in order to compete with established brands. Launching a new product grabs an
attention of large number of people which will increase the market image and existing customer
base of company in different areas due to which their profitability and sustainability among their
rivals in the competitive market will maximised. Thus, the scope of the project is much wider.
For this expansion, firm needs to gather the information and trends of London market for taking
important judgements to launch this new product (Brady and Davies, 2014). For gathering this
knowledge, firm needs to conduct s market research. So the scope for the researcher is also very
broad.
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Time: Arcadia group is introducing their new shoe in the London fashion week, where
several other brand will also introduce their own products. The firm has estimated a time period
of 6-8 month for the success of these newly introduced shoes in the new market. Whereas the
researcher has estimated a time period of 3 months for conducting the research. Researcher has
the sufficient time period for conducting the research properly in an efficient manner.
Quality: Nowadays the people are more willing to take quality as main priority instead of
price of products and services as it maximises their standard of living and satisfaction level.
Thus, Arcadia group need to focus on quality of its new product i.e. summer shoe which can be
possible through enhancing quality of work performed by its employees. Along with this, the
company also required to oversee the products already existed in the market by their rivals which
provides them an opportunity to enhance the quality of their new products. Also the researcher
needs to carry out the research by using qualitative method of collecting the suitable and proper
data for bringing effective outcomes in the end. Through the qualitative data collection method,
quality of the research can be controlled and maintained.
Communication: Arcadia group needs to communicate with their customers regarding
their new product so as to grab their attention and influence their buying behaviour towards their
new product. It can be done through using various ways such as social media, company's official
website etc. Also the researcher needs to communicate with various people of different culture
and nature. Through this communication, researcher can gather the reliable data and information
required for the research using the emails, fax and telephone (Brown, 2013).
Risk: It is necessary for the management of Arcadia group to determine the risks
associated with the introduction of new product. The included risks are dynamic nature of
customers, poor communication skills in staff etc. Researcher also needs to face several risks
while doing the research such as insufficient funds, lack of time etc. These associated risks must
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be eliminated by the both researcher and Arcadia group to get the desirable meaningful output in
the end. These risks can be eliminated by properly utilising the employees and by determining
the ongoing trends in the consumers mindset.
Resources: Several types of resources are required by the Arcadia group as well as
researcher for carrying out the research regarding the introducing of new shoes in London. These
resources are time, money, employees etc. Firm needs these resources for launching their new
product in the market whereas the researcher needs resources such as money and time for
collecting the data from primary sources for drawing a meaningful conclusion in the ending of
research (Cusworth and Franks, 2013).
Different types of information is needed for introducing and marketing the summer shoe
in the London Event. This information include trends and preferences of consumers and market,
marketing strategies, durability and comfort of shoes, etc. Through this information, Arcadia
group can develop the summer shoes according to the demand and preferences of the consumers
as well as of market. The required information for designing and marketing the shoe can be
gathered from the public to whom the shoe will be provided. Also this data can be gathered from
the professionals who has the experience and knowledge for carrying out such works and
projects. Also questionnaire is helpful for determining the views of various stakeholders of the
firm.
(C) Work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide time frame and stages
Work breakdown structure: It is the process of segmenting big work in smaller parts for
easily executing the project within the determined time frame. It is helpful for the management in
executing the assigned project in a timely manner. The smaller parts are provided to the team
members for finishing them easily and efficiently (Rosenau and Githens, 2011). It also provide
the proper structure for estimating the cost of project to execute it according to the goals and
objectives.
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