Managing a Successful Business Project

This report covers aim and objectives, project management plan along with work breakdown structure and gantt chart. Apart from this, it includes primary and secondary research on the topic. A questionnaire is prepared and data analysis is conducted in for drawing valid conclusion of project. At last, recommendations are provided and reflection is included on own learning in this report.

Managing a Successful
Business Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1: Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario...............................................3
P2: Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources........................................................................................4
P3: Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide time frames and stages
for completion........................................................................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P4: Carry out small-scale research applying primary and secondary methods appropriate for
meeting project aims and objectives.......................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5: Present findings and data using appropriate tools and techniques...................................9
P6: Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of findings and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions...............................................................................14
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
P7: Reflect on the value of undertaking the project to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance...................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................16
APPENDIX I................................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Managing a business project is one of the critical task that is performed by owner in
order to attain aims and objectives of company. Equality and diversity is a wider aspect on
which productivity and performance of an organisation depends (Armstrong, Landers and
Collmus, 2016). This project is based on Apple Inc. which is a multinational technology
company of America that design, develop and sell computer software, online services and
consumer electronics. This report covers aim and objectives, project management plan along
with work breakdown structure and gantt chart. Apart from this, it includes primary and
secondary research on the topic. A questionnaire is prepared and data analysis is conducted in for
drawing valid conclusion of project. At last, recommendations are provided and reflection is
included on own learning in this report.
TASK 1
P1: Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario
Equality and diversity are the crucial aspects of an organisation which are related to
treating each individual equally and maintaining diverse workforce within organisation.
Managing equality and diversity in workplace is a big challenge for companies in today's
competitive market (Basak and Khanna, 2017). As the values and beliefs of each individual are
different, firms face difficulties in maintaining workplace equality. This topic on which this
report is based is “Issues of Equality and Diversity in Workplace”. For this project, the aim and
objectives are as follows:
Aim of project:
“To analyse the impact of Gender Pay Gap on performance and productivity of
employees and organisation. A case study on Apple Inc.”
Objectives of project:
 To understand the concept of Gender Pay Gap.
 To determine the negative impact that gender pay gap have upon performance and
productivity of firm and its employees.
 To ascertain different strategies that Apple can use to close gender pay gap.
Research Questions:
 What is the concept of Gender Pay Gap?

 What are the negative impacts that gender pay gap have upon performance and
productivity of firm and its employees?
 What are the different strategies that Apple could use to close gender pay gap?
Literature Review:
Concept of Gender pay gap:
Gender pay gap is one of the complex issue in current business environment. It refers to
the average difference between earnings or remuneration for women and man who are working.
Generally women are paid less in comparison to man. The difference in pay reduces the lifetime
earnings of women and also impacts their pension. As per the view point of Charlotte
Gascoigne, 2019, the main causes of wage gap includes more senior role for man than women,
unequally shared part time roles and caring responsibilities, discrimination and bias, motherhood,
industry sector etc. (The real reasons behind the gender pay gap, 2019).
Negative impacts that gender pay gap:
As per the view of Tamara Phillips, 2019, gender pay gap influence the performance,
culture of workplace and bottom line of organisation (The Real-World Impact of Gender Pay
Gaps,2019). Female workers are likely to feel undervalued and underappreciated as compare to
men in the same organisation. This reduces the motivation level of female employees which in
turn impacts their productivity and leads to decline in the performance of organisation.
Strategies that Apple can use to close gender pay gap:
In order to close the wage gap and improve pay equity, apple can use various strategies
such as increasing ratio of female employees within firm, providing equal opportunities to all
people working in the organisation and bringing transparency in wage policy etc. All these will
help company in reducing the gender wage gap within firm and improving its productivity and
performance.
P2: Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources
Project management plan can be defined as the document that organisation use to
describe each stage of project (Durlak, 2015). This plan includes various aspects of project such
as time, quality, cost, scope, resources, risk and communication. In context of this particular
project, project management plan is mentioned below:
Cost This aspect is associated with cost that is incurred by researcher in

conducting the research. Various costs are associated with this project such
as research & development, training, cost of resources etc. In context of this
specific project, researcher incur around 5000 pounds for its successful
completion.
Scope This aspect depicts the future value of project. The scope of this research is
wide as it assist in improving knowledge of researcher regarding gender pay
gap, its negative impacts and strategies to resolve the issues. This project also
helps the scholars in conducting further investigation on topic (Crane and
Matten, 2016).
Time It is related to the time period which is required to complete this particular
project successfully. It depicts the starting and ending time of project. For
completing this project successfully, around 4 months are required by
researcher.
Quality This aspect is related to quality of research project so that better outcomes
can be gain. For ensuring quality of research, appropriate methods of data
collection are use by researcher.
Communication This aspect includes the way in which information is communicated
regarding research. In context of this project, researcher use emails and
messages for conveying information regarding research.
Risk It is the uncertainty that might be the cause of deviation in project. In context
of this specific project, the main risks are related to time and cost. Lack of
time and cost may delay the completion of project (Harland, 2014).
Resources Resources are necessary for completing the tasks and activities of project in
effective way. For this project, researcher requires technological tools,
human and financial resources etc. to ensure successful completion of project
on time.

P3: Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide time frames and stages for
completion
Work Break-down Structure: It is characterised as a deliverable oriented division of
work to be implemented for achieving objectives of project and developing required
deliverables (Glukhov, Ilin and Levina, 2015). WBS of this project is mentioned below:
Gantt Chart: It is the chart that describes schedules of project. It includes horizontal axis
on which time intervals are depicted and vertical axis on which tasks to be performed are listed
(Polonsky and Waller, 2018). Gantt chart for this project is mentioned below:

TASK 2
P4: Carry out small-scale research applying primary and secondary methods appropriate for
meeting project aims and objectives
Primary data collection is the method which is used by investigators to collect fresh data
and the secondary method is utilized to collect second hand data (Russell and Brannan, 2016). In
this project, both primary and secondary methods are used in which primary data is collected
through questionnaire and secondary through journals and articles.
Quantitative research method is utilize to collect numerical data and Qualitative is used
to gather non numerical data on topic. With the help of this, researcher will be able to produce
positive outcome in an effective manner which assist in completing the whole research.
Sampling is the method which is used to select small sample from the large population.
In this, Simple Random sampling method is used and 30 respondents are selected who are the
employees of company.
Questionnaire is prepared to gain responses of respondents on the topic which is
mentioned below:

QUESTIONNAIRE
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Add:
Mail ID:
Q1) Do you have any knowledge about concept of Gender Pay Gap within organisations?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) As per your opinion, which is the main cause of gender pay gap within Apple?
a) Discrimination and Bias
b) Motherhood
c) Unequally shared roles
d) Undervaluation of women’s work
Q3) According to you, what can be the negative impact that gender pay gap have upon
Apple and its employees?
a) Reducing productivity
b) Declining performance
c) Unhealthy workplace culture
d) Lack of skilled employees
Q4) What can be the benefit for Apple of having equality and closed gender pay gap
within organisation?
a) Strong workplace culture
b) Motivated staff
c) Skilled workforce
d) Competitive edge in market
Q5) According to you, which strategy is the most befitting for Apple in closing gender pay
gap within firm?
a) Bringing transparency in salary

b) Provide equal opportunities
c) Increase female employee ratio
d) Implement pay equality law
Q6) Suggest suitable strategy that helps Apple in maintaining equality at workplace and
closing gender pay gap.
TASK 3
P5: Present findings and data using appropriate tools and techniques
Theme 1: Knowledge about concept of Gender Pay Gap within organisations
Q1) Do you have any knowledge about concept of Gender Pay Gap
within organisations?
Frequency
a) Yes 17
b) No 13
Total 30

a) Yes b) No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18 17
13
Frequency
Interpretation: As per the above graph, it is interpreted that 17 out of 30 people are
aware of the concept of gender pay gap and the remaining 13 respondents have no knowledge
about this concept.
Theme 2: Main cause of gender pay gap within Apple
Q2) As per your opinion, which is the main cause of gender pay gap
within Apple?
Frequency
a) Discrimination and Bias 10
b) Motherhood 5
c) Unequally shared roles 7
d) Undervaluation of women’s work 8
Total 30

a) Discrimination and Bias
b) Motherhood
c) Unequally shared roles
d) Undervaluation of women’s work
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10
5
7
8
Frequency
Interpretation: According to above graph, it can be said that as per 10 people among 30,
discrimination and bias is the main cause of gender pay gap. 8 respondents said that
undervaluation of women work is the reason, 7 agreed with unequally shared roles and the
remaining 5 said that motherhood is the cause of gender pay gap.
Theme: 3 Negative impact that gender pay gap have upon Apple and its employees
Q3) According to you, what can be the negative impact that gender
pay gap have upon Apple and its employees?
Frequency
a) Reducing productivity 10
b) Declining performance 7
c) Unhealthy workplace culture 7
d) Lack of skilled employees 6
Total 30

a) Reducing productivity
b) Declining performance
c) Unhealthy workplace culture
d) Lack of skilled employees
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10
7
7
6
Frequency
Interpretation: As per the above graph, 10 out of 30 respondents said that reducing
productivity of employees and firm is the negative impact of gender pay gap and 7 people said
that declining performance is the influence. According to 7 respondents, unhealthy work culture
and 6 people said that lack of skilled employees is the adverse impact of gender pay gap.
Theme 4: Benefit for Apple of having equality and closed gender pay gap
Q4) What can be the benefit for Apple of having equality and closed
gender pay gap within organisation?
Frequency
a) Strong workplace culture 9
b) Motivated staff 7
c) Skilled workforce 6

d) Competitive edge in market 8
Total 30
a) Strong workplace culture
b) Motivated staff
c) Skilled workforce
d) Competitive edge in market
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9
7
6
8
Frequency
Interpretation: According to above graph, 9 of 30 people said that strong workplace
culture is the benefit of having equality and closed wage gap within firm. Another 7 go with
motivated staff, 6 with skilled workforce and the remaining said that competitive edge in market
is the benefit for company.
Theme 5: Befitting strategy for Apple in closing gender pay gap within firm
Q5) According to you, which strategy is the most befitting for Apple
in closing gender pay gap within firm?
Frequency
a) Bringing transparency in salary 8

b) Provide equal opportunities 8
c) Increase female employee ratio 7
d) Implement pay equality law 7
Total 30
a) Bringing transparency in salary
b) Provide equal opportunities
c) Increase female employee ratio
d) Implement pay equality law
6.4 6.6 6.8 7 7.2 7.4 7.6 7.8 8
8
8
7
7
Frequency
Interpretation: Above chart shows that according to 8 of 30 respondents, bringing
transparency in salary is the appropriate strategy for company to close gender pay gap. Another 8
respondents said that providing equal opportunities is the suitable one. As per the opinion of 7
people, increasing female ratio within firm and remaining said that implementing pay equality
law is the suitable strategy for company to close gender pay gap.
P6: Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of findings and data analysis to draw
valid and meaningful conclusions
According to the above analysis of data, it is recommend to company that it should bring
transparency in its salary structure and provide equal salaries to all who are working at same
level whether male or female employee. This can help in improving motivation and performance
of employees. Moreover, company should provide equal opportunities of growth to all as growth

of employees will help in overall growth of organisation. It has also been recommended to the
management team that they must follow each and every code of conduct so that they can
maintain positive working environment in order to enhance the performance of staff members.
Along with this, it has also been said that managers need to develop strategies according to the
working condition so that they can develop high quality products and services.
TASK 4
P7: Reflect on the value of undertaking the project to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance
After conducting this research, I have learnt many things which assists in improving my
knowledge and competencies. My knowledge regarding the particular topic and other areas of
research is also improved. This research aids in enhancing my communication and research skills
that supports in my future career growth. However, lack of time is one of the difficulty that I
faced while doing research, but with the efforts of team work, I was able to finish my project on
time. I have observed that there are various issues which might affect the whole performance as
these issues are related with internal and external environment. It has also been identified that my
overall skills related to communication, time management and research skill is not effective
which might affect the whole research outcome.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that gender pay gap is a
complex issue in current business environment that requires to be consider by company so that
adequate actions can be taken to remove it. For closing gender pay gap, various strategies
requires to be implement by company such as providing equal opportunities to all, bringing
transparency in salary etc. In this research, both primary and secondary sources of data collection
are use so that valid conclusion of research can be drawn. Conduction of research helps in
improving knowledge and skills in particular area.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Armstrong, M. B., Landers, R. N. and Collmus, A. B., 2016. Gamifying recruitment, selection,
training, and performance management: Game-thinking in human resource
management. In Emerging research and trends in gamification(pp. 140-165). IGI
Global.
Basak, A. and Khanna, K., 2017. A Study on the Selection Criteria of Different Hotels of Delhi
NCR in Accordance to the HR Policies and Market Trends. International journal of
social sciences and humanities. 1(1). pp.27-38.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Durlak, J. A. ed., 2015. Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice.
Guilford Publications.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Glukhov, V. V., Ilin, I. V. and Levina, A. I., 2015, August. Project management team structure
for internet providing companies. In Conference on Smart Spaces .(pp. 543-553).
Springer, Cham.
Harland, T., 2014. Learning about case study methodology to research higher education. Higher
Education Research & Development.33(6). pp.1113-1122.
Huntington, J., 2018. Managing the Practice: Whose Business?. CRC Press.
Jeske, D. and Shultz, K. S., 2016. Using social media content for screening in recruitment and
selection: pros and cons. Work, employment and society. 30(3). pp.535-546.
Polonsky, M. J. and Waller, D. S., 2018. Designing and managing a research project: A
business student's guide. Sage publications.
Russell, S. and Brannan, M. J., 2016. “Getting the Right People on the Bus”: Recruitment,
selection and integration for the branded organization. European Management Journal.
34(2). pp.114-124.
Online
The real reasons behind the gender pay gap, 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://timewise.co.uk/article/article-real-reasons-behind-gender-pay-gap/>
The Real-World Impact of Gender Pay Gaps, 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.worldatwork.org/workspan/articles/the-real-world-impact-of-gender-pay-
gaps>

APPENDIX I
Name of the learner: Name of the Supervisor:
Project Title: Date:
Update of weekly research/ tasks achieved
(Account for a minimum of six weeks with
dates)
 What have you completed?
 Did you fulfil Task requirements?

 Are you on track and within deadlines
set?
 Did you need to make any changes to
your project management plan?
Comments
I have conducted a project on “To analyse
the impact of Gender Pay Gap on
performance and productivity of
employees and organisation. A case
study on Apple Inc.”
Yes
Yes
02.09.19 I am on track
09.09.19 I am on track
16.09.19 I am on track
23.09.19 I am on track
07.10.19 I am on track
14.10.19 I am on track
21.10.19 I am on track
No
Any risks and / or issues identified?
 Did you identify risks/issues with a
lack of skills required for undertaking
research tasks?
 Did you identify any additional
While conducting the whole research, it
has been analysed that I have observed
many issues which are associated with the
cost, resources, time and many more which
as a result enhance my overall skills and
capabilities.

risks/issues that have an impact on the
project management plan?
No
Problems encountered
 What barriers did you face?
 How did you overcome them?
Barriers which is faced by me while
conducting the research is my ineffective
management, time and communication
skills.
For overcoming from such situation, I have
participated in different seminars,
activities which enhance my overall skills.
New Ideas and change of project direction For conducting the whole research in an
appropriate manner I need 3 more weeks.
What Have I learnt about myself this week?
 How did I feel when I had to deal with
tasks/problems?

 Did I find it useful to complete the
tasks?

 How well have I performed? What did I
contribute?
 What can I improve on next week?
 How might this learning apply in the
future?
According to me it is very useful as well as
effective in my near future.
Yes
In this research I have given my full efforts
which assist me in enhancing my
communication and analytical skills.
I can enhance my team management as
well as time management skills.
All these ability and learning assist me in
further growth.
Tasks planned for next week
 Which tasks are priority? Data collection & interpretation

 Have you set aside sufficient time for
completion?
Yes
Project plan status to date (on, ahead,
behind)
Supervisor comments to address
Signature of the Supervisor and date:
Template for Performance Review to be attached with the report by the learner:
1. What was the Project supposed to accomplish?
The major aim of the project is “To analyse the impact of Gender Pay Gap on performance
and productivity of employees and organisation. A case study on Apple Inc.”
2. Did the project succeed in its aims/ how do you know? Specifically, please outline
any evaluation and assessment undertaken.
According to my opinion I have achieved success in executing the aim as it happened
because the management team which was leading Apple have result in achieving effective
results for the research. Along with this feature the research is helpful in execution of the
plans and the strategies in an effective and planned manner. This is valuable in order to
expanding business activities in an effective and planned manner
3. What things do you think worked well and why? Evaluate all aspects of the project
(e.g initial inception, project activities and project outcomes) from a range of
perspectives.
Along with this factor the effective skills of communication are effectively executed in the
research. The main reason is the various views of authors who have shared them in order
to achieve effectual results.
4. What problems emerged during the project and how were they tackled? Was there
timely identification of issues and resolution during the project process?

While the activities of research are carried out in an appropriate manner the research
person had to face different problems which are related with the behaviour of the
individuals and these are negative and very time consuming process.
5. What did you learn from undertaking the project?
I have executed time management and team building as this will result in caring out the
research activities in most effectual ways.
6. How would you rate your performance as a management consultant leading the
project?
After doing this project I will rate myself 7 out of 10. I think I could have done in more
better manner.
7. What strengths and weakness of your performance did you identify?
The best skill that I had within myself was analytical skills. I am able to manage and control project
activities effectively by using the analytical skills.
8. How will this inform and support your continuous professional development?
A good and strong team will help me in achieving the goals and objectives of the project in
specified time frame. With the help of this research, I have developed effective
communication skills, analytical skills and problem solving skill which assist in grabbing
opportunities in near future.