Managing a Successful Business Project

This project examines the benefits of online customer engagement through social media, focusing on Sainsbury's. It analyzes the importance of website design, the benefits of customer engagement, and recommends effective strategies for increasing sales. The project includes primary and secondary research methods, a Gantt chart, and a detailed analysis of findings.

MANAGING A
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................................................................................1
Research Aim:........................................................................................................................1
Research Objectives:..............................................................................................................1
Appropriate Project Management Plan..................................................................................2
Primary/Secondary research Research Methods....................................................................3
Findings and drawings............................................................................................................5
Producing project in appropriate manner.............................................................................15
Recommendation..................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................20

TITLE
To explore the benefits of online engaging customers through social media- A study on
Sainsbury.
Introduction
With Globalisation organisations are facing big challenge in competition. Competitions
have increased as markets have enlarged. Every company is having its own website in order to
attract new customers and make strong competitive advantage. Therefore, companies provide
them platform to express their views and provide information so that they could understand their
needs in better form. In this research, there are impacts described of engaging customers through
social media on Sainsbury which is a retail industry (Herterich, Uebernickel and Brenner, 2015).
Nowadays, digital technology is widely spread all over the world in the form of social media like
Facebook, Twitter etc. Companies like Sainsbury get chance to promote their products at wide
range. Online purchasing, buying, payments are done through large scale. Companies create their
own pages in a bright manner and try to attract customers for increasing their sales. Thus,
customer engagement not just help in offering good products but also creates relationships with
them.
Research Aim:
To explore the benefits of online engaging customers through social media- A study on
Sainsbury.
Research Objectives:
1. To know the importance of designing the website for customers in retail industry.
2. To analyse the benefits associated with engagement of customers through interactive website.
3. To recognize the need base importance of adopting measures of social media and
technological advancement for customers.
4. To recommend effective ways in order to engage customers on social media to increase sales.
Background:
Customers proactively engaged in showing their presence on social media. They find a
wide range of products on social media. Concepts of customer engagement has many aspects like
loyalty, satisfaction and retention. Through social media sites Sainsbury tries to retain their
customers in order to increase their profits and sales (Kehoe and Mateer, 2015). It is a real
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challenge for all companies. There is importance, benefits and various measures of creating a
website so that company can show its presence in the market. Sainsbury uses various strategies
to engage customers online like launching new products, offering discount rates, designing
website in better way so that customers try to remain to purchase from same sites (Sanderson,
Snyder and Gramlich, 2015). Social media are considered as new marketing tool for promoting
brands and services. They have valuable insights with companies.
Appropriate Project Management Plan
Project management plan is important for managing a project. It includes cost, scope,
time, quality, resources and risk.
Cost: Cost is a type of constraint in research work. It is financial commitment which relies on
various variables. These are various resources like labour, cost, material and people. Some
external forces are also counted that should be considered in the cost of work. Various methods
are there like quality analysis, parametric, historic data, bottom up and reserve.
Scope: Project scope deals with particular requirements or activities that enables a plan and
assign resources effectively. Another factor is establishing and managing scope for stake holder's
expectations. Their demands can popup while doing project works (Anwar and runi
Kusumawarni, 2018). This can usually unfold demands of research work. Thus, their request has
to be managed that accommodates necessary project deliverables and goals. Scope management
is necessary because amount of task is critical to the quality of final product. This can influence
cost and schedule on large scale.
Time: Every project needs to be completed at a particular given time period. Proper scheduling
must be done in order to estimate amount of time allotted to complete the project or producing
the deliverables or materials. It can be managed in following ways:
 Plan schedule management: Documentation, policies and procedures should be created
for proper planning, execution and monitoring of project schedule.
 Defining activities: Identifying and documenting activities which should be done to
produce the project deliverables (Kim and et.al., 2018).
 Sequence activities: It is efficient to identify and documenting logical order of work.
 Estimating duration of activities: Estimation of each activity is done with the resources.
 Develop resources: Activities, duration, resources and timeline is developed in proper
schedule.
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 Controlling of schedule: Actual progress is compared to planned schedule in order to
determine if the work is on track or not.
Quality: Every research work has to be ensured that it is ethical, robust and methods used are
appropriate. There should be sufficient and large sampling in order to enable meaningful results.
Research should be adhering to its basic principles like audibility, accountability, transparency
and professionalism (Hammersley, 2017). Thus, quality of research is basic constraint while
Risk: Risk management has been considered as the main ingredient for a mature project
management framework. There are risks involved with the budget, expenses and most
importantly with success for the research work. It may be related to proposals, managing bids
and projects. Budget can fluctuate while conducting activities. Risks are related to uncertainty,
opportunities and goals. It depends on how tools and techniques are used, cost estimation is
done, planning of staff is made, scheduling of plan.
Resources: There should be availability of resources while conducting research work.
Insufficiency of resources increases budget thereby affecting quality of research work. In order
to maintain quality, it is necessary to that its budget should be in control (Khan, 2014). For
proper execution of budget, all resources which includes manpower and other intangible
resources should be available on time.
Communication: It is necessary to have effective communication among participants else it
would lead to failure of research project. Communication should be clear and transparent.
Thus, these are some constraints which should be managed for conducting a successful
research work.
Primary/Secondary research Methods
Research Methodology
There two methods of conducting research i.e. Qualitative and quantitative methods.
Qualitative methods are used to obtain and understand motivations, opinions and reasons. It
helps in providing an insight and deep knowledge of problems that develops ideas and views for
potential qualitative research (Sutton and Austin, 2015). On the other hand, quantitative research
is used to generate numerical data and quantify behaviours and attitudes. In this research
qualitative method is used because it helps to uncover different thoughts and opinions.
Research Approach:
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Research approach can be explained as a procedure or plan that consists of data
collection, analysis and interpretation. It can be divided into two categories i.e. inductive and
deductive approach. In this research inductive approach is used because data collected is used for
identifying themes and patterns in order to form a conceptual framework. Deductive method is
not used because there is no evaluation or hypothesis related to existing theory.
Research Design:
Research design is used to set methods and processes to gather and collect measures for
specified research problems. It can be regarded as choice taken by researchers between
quantitative and qualitative methods (O’Gorman, Lochrie and Watson, 2014). These can be
categorised into three types i.e. descriptive, exploratory and explanatory. In this method
Descriptive method is used because it describes benefits, measures and importance of the
research work. It helps to understand the research findings. Exploratory method is not used
because it not any kind of unique topic. It is a general discussion. A naturalistic observation is
required for the project to continue.
Research philosophy:
Research philosophy beliefs in source, nature and development of knowledge.
Information is collected, examined and used systematically. It is used to derive various views
regarding the main aim of research. This can be classified into positivism and interpretivisim. In
this research interpretivisim is used because it accesses to reality through social constructions
like shared meanings, consciousness, instruments and language (Bianchi and Andrews, 2015). It
is naturalistic approach based on observations and interviews. On the other hand, Positivism is
objective in nature. It has strong predictions and specific problem is identified.
Data collection:
Data collection is a method of gathering information from relevant sources in order to
find answers and evaluate answers. This can be divided into two methods i.e. primary and
secondary. Here primary method is used because which includes quantitative and qualitative
methods (Hair Jr, Celsi and Page, 2015). Further qualitative method is used which includes focus
groups, interviews while quantitative includes collecting information through surveys,
experiments, magazines. It is statistical in nature.
Sampling:
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Sampling is a process in which predetermined number of observations are taken from a
large amount of population. Due to large gathering of population statistical sampling is taken in
every research work. Thus, it is selection of subset of segment of population. A sample of 20
people has been taken.
Ethical consideration:
Various ethical considerations are taken into account like research participants should not
be harmed in any manner. Their dignity should be prioritised and privacy must be ensured.
Sufficient level of confidentiality should be taken into consideration. While conducting research,
aims and objectives should never be avoided. Communication among participants must done
with full transparency and honesty.
Reliability & Validity:
Reliability is concerned with all tools and techniques used in the research work. It is
mainly connected with the subjectivity of the work. It helps in finding out how efficient are the
techniques used to obtain the result. It is focussed on the credibility and believability of the
research. It ensures scale, time and methodology needed for the research work. Therefore, for
reliability and validity most suitable method has to be selected so that outcomes can be easily
achieved. For valid data, reliability has to be there.
Work breakdown structure & Gantt chart
This Gantt chart shows the implementation of activities which are properly scheduled by
the participants on weekly basis. These activities include findings, allocation of resources,
selection of research methodologies and many more.
Producing project in appropriate manner.
This Gantt chart shows the implementation of activities which are properly scheduled by
the participants on weekly basis. These activities include findings, allocation of resources,
selection of research methodologies and many more.
Task Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Auto
Schedule
d
Research Project 1 day Tue 8/14/18 Tue 8/14/18
Auto
Schedule
d
Planning 1 day Tue 8/14/18 Tue 8/14/18
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Auto
Schedule
d
Finding of the topic 1 day Tue 8/14/18 Tue 8/14/18
Auto
Schedule
d
Statements of problems 1 day Wed 8/15/18 Wed 8/15/18 1,2
Auto
Schedule
d
Time frame and
allocation of resources 2 days Wed 8/15/18 Thu 8/16/18 2,3
Auto
Schedule
d
Implementation 4 days Thu 8/16/18 Tue 8/21/18 3,4
Auto
Schedule
d
Literature review 5 days Fri 8/17/18 Thu 8/23/18 4,5
Auto
Schedule
d
Selection of correct
research methodologies 1 day Wed 8/22/18 Wed 8/22/18 5,6
Auto
Schedule
d
Data analysis and
interpretation 2 days Fri 8/24/18 Mon 8/27/18 6,7
Auto
Schedule
d
Evaluation of results and
outcomes 2 days Fri 8/24/18 Mon 8/27/18 7,8
Auto
Schedule
d
Project closer 3 days Tue 8/28/18 Thu 8/30/18 8,9
Auto
Schedule
d
Giving conclusion and
recommendation 1 day Tue 8/28/18 Tue 8/28/18 9,10
Auto
Schedule
d
Results of documentation 1 day Fri 8/31/18 Fri 8/31/18 10,11
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Findings and drawings
Questionnaire
Name:
Age:
Gender:
1. Since when are you using Social website?
 5 months
 1 year
 More than 1 year
2. According to you what benefits Sainsbury have experienced after online customer service?
 Increased sales
 Good customer relationship
 Effective payment system
3. Which social media website is mostly preferred by customers?
 Facebook
 Instagram
 Twitter
4. Customer engagement is extremely helpful in increasing sales of Sainsbury.
 Strongly Agreed
 Agreed
 Neutral
 Disagreed
 Strongly Disagreed
5. Is social media cost-effective for the company?
 Yes
 No
6. For what purpose you have designed your own website?
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 Customer attraction
 Market positioning
 Strategic marketing
7. Are you customers satisfied with online communication?
 Highly Satisfied
 Satisfied
 Neutral
 Dissatisfied
 Highly dissatisfied
8. Do you think social media is safe tool for customer engagement?
 Yes
 No
Theme 1: Sainsbury have recently started using social media website
1. Since when are you using Social website? Frequency %
5 months 8 80.00%
1 year 1 10.00%
More than 1 year 1 10.00%
9

Interpretation:
From above chart it can be interpreted that Sainsbury have recently started using social
media website. Employees of Sainsbury have shown interest from last 5 months. 8 employees are
using it from last 5 months while 1 is using it from last 1 year. Single person is using its website
from more than one year. So recently, it has realised the significance of digital technology.
Therefore, it from last few months many employees are taking interest in its use.
Theme 2: Sainsbury have experienced good sales.
10
8
1
1
5 months
1 year
More than 1 year

2. According to you what benefits Sainsbury
have experienced after online customer
service? Frequency %
Increased sales 9 45.00%
Good customer relationship 6 30.00%
Effective payment system 5 25.00%
Interpretation:
From the above chart it can be interpreted that most of the employees of Sainsbury
believe in operating social media websites because it generates good sales thereby helps in
11
9
6
5
Increased sales
Good customer relationship
Effective payment system

profitability. Out of 20, 9 states that it helps in increasing sales while 6 believes social media in
maintaining customer relationship. They say that it helps social media helps in knowing views
and opinions of customers more effectively. While, 5 employees believe that it helps in effective
online payment system. Customers can buy online with their own choice and safely do payment.
They can have look on variety of choices related to products and services.
Theme 3: Customers mainly prefer Facebook as social media website
3. Which social media website is mostly
preferred by customers? Frequency %
Facebook 10 50.00%
Instagram 7 35.00%
Twitter 3 15.00%
Interpretation:
12
10
7
3
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

From above chart, it can be interpreted that customers are using social websites on large
scale. Major social websites are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Through these online sites
they can easily show interest related to different types of products, foods items, places, pictures.
They are independent to post on their own. Thus, out of 20, 10 employees believe that customers
mainly prefer Facebook to comment on any picture or product. While, 7 believe that customers
also use Instagram and Twitter for their interest. But Facebook is highly used by them. So
Sainsbury should use it as marketing tool for its products.
Theme 4: Sainsbury find social media helpful in generating customers.
4. Customer engagement is extremely
helpful in increasing sales of Sainsbury. Frequency %
Strongly Agreed 13 65.00%
Agreed 3 15.00%
Neutral 1 5.00%
Disagreed 2 10.00%
Strongly Disagreed 1 5.00%
13
13
3
1
2
1
Strongly Agreed
Agreed
Neutral
Disagreed
Strongly Disagreed

Interpretation:
From the above chart it can be interpreted that majority of people are in favour of social
media for increasing sales through customer engagement. 13 people strongly agree with the
statement while 3 just agree that it generates sales but not to satisfactory level. On the other
hand, 2 persons strongly deny with the statement and follow face-face communication style.
They think that social media is not so effective and noteworthy. One person is neutral in his
views and has nothing to say related to increment of sales. Thus, there are different views for
social media related to generation of sales of Sainsbury.
Theme 5: Social media is cost-effective
5. Is social media cost-effective for the
company? Frequency %
Yes 13
No 7
14
13
7
Yes
No

Interpretation:
It can be interpreted that social-media is cost-effective to Sainsbury. It doesn’t need any
kind of investment because it is the cheapest marketing tool for the promotion and advertisement
of its products and services. Out 20 employees, 13 are in favour of its cost-effectiveness. They
manage e-marketing of the company and apply various strategies online to attract customers.
According to them, social media has become part of routine life so it is important to update
website on daily basis and create pages on social media. This create presence of Sainsbury in
competitive market. But 7 are old aged employees. According to them, social media is just a
wastage of time and physical presence of customers increase their curiosity in products.
Theme 6: Websites are mainly designed for customer attraction
6. For what purpose Sainsbury could design
an interactive website? Frequency %
Customer attraction 11 55.00%
Market positioning 3 15.00%
Strategic marketing 6 30.00%
15
11
3
6
Customer attraction
Market positioning
Strategic marketing

Interpretation:
It can be interpreted from the above graph that Sainsbury could design website for
various goals. One of the major purpose of designing is customer attraction which could increase
its sales and profitability. According to 11 employee’s website building is very important
because it gathers customer attraction and thus helps in its profitability. While, only 3 believes
that it would help in market positioning among various competitors. On the other hand, 6
employees state that through interactive website marketing department can apply various
marketing strategies in order to grab their focus.
Theme 7: Customers are satisfied with online engagement.
7. Are your customers satisfied with
online communication? Frequency %
Highly Satisfied 9 45.00%
Satisfied 5 25.00%
Neutral 3 15.00%
Dissatisfied 2 10.00%
Highly dissatisfied 1 5.00%
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Interpretation
It can be interpreted that out of 20 employees 9 are in continuous contact with customers
online and so they think that customers are highly satisfied. They take care of their views and
choices and update pages accordingly on social websites. While, 2 persons are having are
negative opinions. Single person is highly dissatisfied and is of traditional mentality.
Theme 8: Social media is not safe tool for customer engagement
8. Do you think social media is safe
tool for customer engagement ? Frequency %
Yes 8 40.00%
No 12 60.00%
17
9
5
3
2
1
Highly Satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Highly dissatisfied

Interpretation:
From the above graph it can be interpreted that most of the employees think that social
media is not safe for customer attraction. Nowadays, there is tracking on the data of customers
because they have to share their private information while login on the personal websites of
Sainsbury. Thus, many their information can be easily stolen by the hackers. While, 8 believes
that there is problem in going through any of the websites.
Recommendation
Research conducted by me was very effective and I received positive outcomes. Tools
and techniques used by me was consistently helpful and gave in-depth meaning of each and
every aspect related to benefits of social media in customer engagement. But some gave negative
opinions regarding the research. Qualitative approach used by me was very useful and I took all
types of ethical considerations which is very essential in every research work. I think research
could have improved in better way by implementing different techniques. Participants strongly
communicated with each and questionnaire was done in a very systematic manner. Thus, I have
learnt many innovative things from this research and the outcome can be stated that social media
is helping a lot in customer engagement for companies like Sainsbury.
18
8
12
Yes
No

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Herterich, M.M., Uebernickel, F. and Brenner, W., 2015. The impact of cyber-physical systems
on industrial services in manufacturing. Procedia CIRP, 30, pp.323-328.
Kehoe, K. and Mateer, J., 2015. The impact of digital technology on the distribution value chain
model of independent feature films in the UK. International Journal on Media
Management, 17(2), pp.93-108.
Sanderson, J., Snyder, E. and Gramlich, K., 2015. Social media policies within NCAA member
institutions: Evolving technology and its impact on policy. Journal of Issues in
Intercollegiate Athletics, 8, pp.50-73.
Anwar, C. and runi Kusumawarni, W.O., 2018. A Descriptive Analysis of Young Learners’
Behaviours toward TEFL. Register Journal. 11(1). pp.79-100.
Kim, E. and et.al., 2018. A Comparison of Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Glaucoma
Progression Using Optical Coherence Tomography. Investigative Ophthalmology &
Visual Science. 59(9). pp.2089-2089.
Hammersley, M., 2017. Deconstructing the qualitative-quantitative divide 1. In Mixing methods:
Qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 39-55). Routledge.
Khan, S.N., 2014. Qualitative research method-phenomenology. Asian Social Science. 10(21).
p.298.
Sutton, J. and Austin, Z., 2015. Qualitative research: data collection, analysis, and management.
The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy. 68(3). p.226.
O’Gorman, K., Lochrie, S. and Watson, A., 2014. Research philosophy and case studies.
Research Methods for Business & Management. pp.152-172.
Bianchi, C. and Andrews, L., 2015. Investigating marketing managers' perspectives on social
media in Chile. Journal of Business Research. 68(12). pp.2552-2559
Hair Jr, J.F., Celsi, M. and Page, M.J., 2015. The essentials of business research methods.
Routledge.
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APPENDIX
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Template for evidence collection to be attached with the report by learner:
Project Logbook for the chosen organisation:
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 the requirements of tasks?
➢ Are you on track and within deadlines set?
➢ Did you need to make any changes in your
project management plan?
I had completed my aims and objectives
Around 3 weeks undertaken to complete
aims and objectives
 At the 5rd week for collecting the
primary information questionnaire was
constructed.
 In the fifth week all the information
which is collected was analysed with
the use of qualitative techniques.
 Preapring questionnaire was not easy
task but I did it without leaving any
loophole.
Any risks and / or issues identified?
➢ Did you identify risks/issues with lack of
skills required for undertaking research tasks?
➢ Did you identify any additional risks/issues
that have an impact on the project management
plan?
 Lack of resources and time were some
constraints for me.
No
Problems encountered Lack of time was major problem.
20

➢ What barriers did you face?
➢ How did you overcome them?
Better use of time with participants could
overcome this problem.
New ideas and change of project direction New ideas I get at the time of research and
preparing questionnaire.
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?
I lettered that now I will bring my all work on
time and will coordinate well.
It is helpful in completing the task.
I performed well and give my full efforts in
execute the project.
I worked hard and was passionate for my
work.
I can improve my problem solving skill and
finding new ways of research work.
This learning can be applied in future if any
difficulty I face in solving problem.
Tasks planned for next week
➢ Which tasks are the priority?
Have you set aside sufficient time for➢
completion?
Priority task is collection, administration
survey and investigation each and every aspect
of information.
There is adequate time for completing of task.
Project plan status to date (on, ahead, behind)
Supervisor comments to address
Signature of the supervisor and date:
Performance review
Name:
Project Title:
Date:
Weekly research or tasks attained
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1. What types of activities completed? Are the activities completed on set deadline?
Fulfilment of activities?
Each and every activity was completed. Positive aspect was that; no extra time was spent on
work.
2. Any additional risks were identified and what are their impacts on project management
planning?
Activities launched by small-scale business should be follow proper guidelines else it would
cause failure on website.
Current problems
Miscommunications and unhealthy relations among participants were some problems.
3. How did you overcome challenges faced during tasks performed?
Innovative ideas and proper communication could be improved
4. What all important things I have discovered about myself?
This research meant a lot to me. I discovered many innovative things through this research
work.
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