Managing a Successful Business Project

This document provides insights on managing a successful business project, with a focus on equality and diversity. It includes a project management plan, timeframes and stages, research methodology, and recommendations. The subject is business management.

Managing a Successful
Business Project
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3
Topic: Equality and Diversity..........................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................4
Project Aims................................................................................................................................4
Project Management Plan............................................................................................................5
Timeframes and stages................................................................................................................7
Research Methodology................................................................................................................9
Data Analysis and Interpretation...............................................................................................13
Recommendations......................................................................................................................17
Reflection...................................................................................................................................18
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19
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Executive Summary
Equality and Diversity is essential component for all organisations that want to be
successful and stand out against competitors. The concept of equality is about ensuring that all
employee in an organisation have access to equal opportunities without any kind of
discrimination. On the other hand, diversity is about placing a positive value on the differences
of different employees that work within a company. Therefore, in order to build a diverse
culture, a company can adopt various strategies like hiring people from different cultural
backgrounds, providing training to new hires as well as the existing workforce to maximise their
productivity and encourage interaction among them etc.
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Topic: Equality and Diversity
INTRODUCTION
Equality and Diversity has become an important aspect for all organisations today and
can be defined as the promotion of equal opportunities for everyone by giving each person a
chance to work with his/her best potential (Artto, Ahola and Vartiainen, 2016). In order to be
successful, the concept of equality and diversity should be promoted in all workplaces. This can
be done by adopting various initiatives like respecting and promoting different cultural practices,
hiring qualified candidates from distinct backgrounds, encouraging healthy employer-employee
relationships etc. Organisation chosen for this research is CafePod, which is a small independent
coffee company based in South London. It was founded in the year 2011 by two friends, Bret
Hadfield and Peter Grainger. The mission of the company is to offer people high quality strong
coffee. Respective research evaluates the effectiveness of equality and diversity within a
workplace and also states its importance.
MAIN BODY
Project Aims
Overview of the company
CafePod is a small independent coffee company that came into existence in the year
2011. The company was founded by two South African friends, Brent Hadfield and Peter
Grainger with the main aim of providing high quality coffee products to customers. The
company’s vision is to become the number one coffee retailer of the UK by offering innovative
products to all coffee lovers. When the founders of CafePod felt that the excitement in the coffee
culture of UK was not reflected in its products, they came up with the idea of starting their own
coffee company (Chandrasekaran and et. al., 2016). For its coffee products, CafePod believes
that lower altitude growing regions produce coffee beans that are more robust and perfect for
dark coffee. The company differentiates its products by roasting coffee its coffee darker using
drum roasters for a smooth and even roast. CafePod also delivers its products all across the
United Kingdom.
Research Aim
“To analyse the impact of implementing equality and diversity at workplace in order to
enhance business performance. A study on CaféPod Coffee Co.”
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Research Objectives
 To analyse the concept of implementing equality and diversity at workplace.
 To identify benefits of implementing equality and diversity at workplace.
 To determine the impact of equality and diversity upon business performance.
Research Questions
 What is the concept of implementing equality and diversity at workplace?
 What are the benefits of implementing equality and diversity at workplace?
 How can the impact of equality and diversity be determined upon business performance?
Project Management Plan
A Project Management Plan can be defined as a formal document that describes the way
in which in a project is carried out, monitored and controlled (Englund and Graham, 2019). It
can be presented in a form of a summary or a detailed document. The Project Management Plan
can be used by everyone who is a part of the project. Having a Project Management Plan is
important as it makes sure that a plan is available for executing the goals and strategies
effectively. The plan ensures success of the project and must be created during the start of a
project. The different phases of a Project Management Plan are planning, executing, monitoring,
controlling as well as closing (Shaw, 2016). Project managers within a firm spend lot of time in
ensuring that all requirements of a project are met and that it is completed on time. Thus, this is
where a project management plan comes into picture and helps managers to complete the project
effectively. Lastly, A Project Management also helps in guiding an organisation as to how can
the goals and objectives be achieved.
Aim and Deliverables
An aim can be defined as a purpose or goal within an organisation and helps it attain
success. Whereas deliverables can be defined as goods and services that are either tangible or
intangible. They are produced as result of a project that is carried out with the aim of being
getting delivered to customers (Fernandez and Chiambaretto, 2016). A deliverable is the main
reason because of which a project manager and his team invest their time and time. The aim of
this research is to analyse the impact of implementing equality and diversity within a company to
enhance its overall performance. The aim of this research is “To analyse the impact of
implementing equality and diversity at workplace in order to enhance business performance. A
study on CaféPod Coffee Co.”
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Time
Time is a crucial element for a research and effective time management allows a
researcher to carry out his research effectively (Fink, 2016). This helps in generating productive
and valuable results. This research is carried out in a time duration of 30 days, i.e., a month so as
to collect accurate and reliable data. Organisations should carry out researches within a particular
timeframe so that the data as well as results are relevant. Effective time management allows
researchers to stay focussed to their research and also improve their overall time management
skills that will be beneficial in the future. If a researcher does not follow time management, he
will not be able to complete his research on time and thus will generate less productive output.
Quality
A research should always be of high quality so that the knowledge produced is applicable
as well as valuable for other people also (Smith, 2018). Good quality research provides result
that is ethical and adheres to different principles of professionalism, accountability as well as
professionalism. The quality of this research is maintained thoroughly so that the findings are
consistent. A good quality research is based on a logical reason whose finding are applicable to
the real world. It also addresses the problem or issue directly without creating any confusion for
other people. Thus, quality of a research attracts new customers and retains the existing ones by
satisfying their needs. It also contributes in generating revenues and increasing the overall
profitability of the company.
Communication
Effective communication is an essential component to produce a quality research. When
the researcher collects information from respondents, he/she should communicate with them
efficiently by making use of different channels. These channels can either be online or offline.
Good communication can help in building positive and healthy relationship between the
researcher as well as the respondents (Focacci, 2017). This can lead to a reliable and more
accurate data being collected, which can produce reliable results when analysed. The researcher
must explain about his research to the respondents clearly without creating any confusion.
Effective communication skills are useful for both the researcher as well as the public as by
communicating about the research clearly to them, they can avoid misinformation and confusion
from arising in the future. Therefore, for a research to be effective and valid, the researcher
should try focussing on ways in which he can communicate his/her message to the audience.
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Risk
Risk can be defined as uncertainty and a research can be exposed to various risks like
social, economic, psychological etc. Psychological risks can include anxiety, loss of self esteem
etc. Whereas social and economic risks include relationship of the researcher with others,
payments etc. Thus, a researcher should stay aware of all such risks and have a good
understanding of how can they be avoided. Also, when a researcher is aware of the risks and the
impact they can have on the overall research, he seeks different ways in which they can be
avoided (Halibozek and Kovacich, 2017). This research is carried out while keeping potential
risks and their impact in mind.
Resources
There are various resources that can be used by the researcher to collect data for the
research. They can either be primary or secondary. Primary resources include newspaper articles,
questionnaires, interviews, surveys, observation etc. whereas secondary resources include
journals, diaries, books etc. A researcher can make use of different resources to collect data,
analyse the same and present results. In order to carry out this research, primary resources have
been used. Therefore, all risks associated with the research should be identified beforehand to
avoid certain challenges that may otherwise arise during its course.
Timeframes and stages
Work Breakdown Structure
A Work Breakdown Structure or WBS can be defined as a method that breaks down a
complex and multi-step project of a team into manageable and easy to understand sections. A
project team can create a WBS by identifying major deliverables, dividing them into small tasks
and assigning the same among themselves (Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), 2020). A Work
Breakdown Structure has numerous benefits besides organising the work of a project. By
allocating estimates of time and cost, the budget as well as structure of project can be developed
easily (Kris Bailey MLT, 2016). Performance of the project can also be tracked with the help of
a Work Breakdown Structure to identify areas of problem and other issues. It can also be used to
identify various risks associated with the project. When the project faces any problem, the WBS
can be immediately referred to in order to identify the deliverables that have been impacted by
the same. A well-planned Work Breakdown structure makes it easier for the Project Manager of
a particular project to easily assign the various tasks among different members of the team. Once
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a WBS has been developed, it must be checked thoroughly to ensure that all deliverables of the
project have been covered.
Gantt Chart
It is a type of horizontal chart that explains the schedule of a project. The chart was
developed by Henry Gantt between the years 1910-1915. Today, Gantt charts are commonly
used by companies to track schedules of different projects. This is useful as it helps in
identifying how different tasks in the project relate to each other (Laine, Korhonen and
Martinsuo, 2016). A Gantt chart is the most frequently used charts in project management and
assists in detecting potential risks that may have been missed during the course of project. These
types of charts are usually helpful during planning as well as scheduling projects and also assist
in identifying its time duration, resources needed to complete the same and thus planning the
order in which all tasks will be completed accordingly. A Gantt chart can be made using various
soft wares online instead of traditional methods that were used earlier.
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Research Methodology
Primary Methods
Primary methods of research include surveys, questionnaires, observation, field tests etc.
and are used while conducting a primary research. These methods help in collecting first hand
data which is accurate and reliable (Laursen and Svejvig, 2016). Data which is collected through
such methods answer questions that are specific to a particular research. The collection of data
trough primary methods consumes a lot of time as well as money. One of the best advantages of
primary methods of research are that they can be customise according to the need of researcher
as well as organisation. Besides being accurate and reliable, there is no dilution of the data that is
collected through primary methods.
Secondary Methods
Reports, books, journals, diaries, research publications, information available on the
internet etc. are some examples of secondary methods. Secondary methods of a research are
more cost effective as compared to primary methods which involve a lot time as well as money.
There are many organisations that use secondary methods to collect information and data. One of
the best secondary methods to collect data is the information available on the websites of
government agencies as the information is accurate and can be relied upon (Types of Research:
Primary vs Secondary, 2020).
Quantitative Research
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Quantitative research is used by researchers to quantify a problem by generating
numerical data. This kind of research particularly deals with data that can be presented in the
form of statistics or numbers. The methods of collecting data for a quantitative research are more
structured as compared to those of a qualitative research (What’s the difference between
qualitative and quantitative research?, 2020). Data collection methods of a quantitative research
include face to face interviews, surveys, online polls, telephone interviews, systematic
observations etc. Respective research sis quantitative and primary methods like questionnaire has
been used to collect data for the same. This research can be used to identify the number of
respondents who are in favour of a response and the ones who are not.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is a research that is used to understand underlying reasons, thoughts,
trends etc. Methods used for collecting data in this type of research are either semi-structured or
unstructured. Some methods include observations, interviews, focus groups etc. The sample size
within a qualitative research is small as compared to quantitative research (Marnewick, 2016).
The nature of a qualitative research is holistic whereas the approach is subjective. Thus, such a
research helps the researcher or the organisation that is carrying out a research in getting an
understanding about the perception as well as behaviour of the target audience about a particular
topic.
Sampling
It can be defined as the process of taking out a pre-determined number of observations
are selected from a large population and is usually used in statistical analysis. There are two
types of sampling methods, probabilistic and non-probabilistic (Matinheikki and et. al., 2016).
For this research, probabilistic sampling has been taken into account in which every individual
has an equal probability of getting selected in a sample. Sampling is an important component of
a research as it is nearly impossible for an organisation as well as a researcher to survey or
interview the entire population.The sample size for this research is 30 people.
Questionnaire
A questionnaire is an instrument that is used in a research and consists of a series of
questions relating to the topic of research. It is used for gathering information from respondents
and is an efficient as well as cost effective way of collecting information. Data that is collected
from a questionnaire is reliable and accurate (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017). But there can be cases
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where respondents do not answer correctly and might lie. A questionnaire comprises of close
ended as well as open ended questions and therefore is an effective way to measure attitudes,
behaviours, opinions etc. A questionnaire helps the researcher in collecting data from a large and
diverse audience.
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Questionnaire
Q1 Do you have any knowledge about the effectiveness of equality and diversity at a
workplace?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2 What are the advantages of having a diverse workforce?
a) Increased profits
b) Improved creativity
c) Reduction in employee turnover
Q3 What are some of the major problems that can be faced by CaféPod because of not having
equality and diversity?
a) Decline in the overall market share
b) Less productive employees
c) Conflict among members of teams
d) All of the above
Q4 What is the law for having equality and diversity in an organisation?
a) Equal Pay Act, 1970
b) Mental Health Act, 1983
c) Human Rights Act, 1998
Q5 What are the initiatives that can be taken by CaféPod to implement the concept of
equality and diversity in its workplace?
a) Providing new opportunities
b) Healthy relations among employees
c) Structured interviewing process
Q6 What strategies can be adopted by CaféPod in order to build a diverse work
environment?
a) Provide frequent training
b) Acknowledge different cultural practices
c) Promote diverse thinking
Q7 How does having equality and diversity at a workplace help in overcoming different
challenges that may arise because of its absence?
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Q8 Any suggestions or recommendations?
There are many organisations today that practice Equality and Diversity in their
respective workplaces. For example- Being an International company, Marks and Spencer has
implemented the concept of Equality and Diversity in its system wherein it hires people from
across the globe and respects all kinds of cultural backgrounds of its employees (Nwangwu,
2018).The company also has an external scorecard that helps team leaders as well as managers in
tracking the progress of their team members. Similarly, Tesco, which a leading British groceries
retailer, offers all the people working for it equal opportunities without any discrimination. The
company is committed towards building a diverse culture within its workplace. The company
also carries out annual performance reviews of its employees and provides them feedback in
order to help them identify their strengths and weaknesses as well as encourage them to perform
more efficiently.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Q1 Do you have any knowledge about the effectiveness of equality and diversity at a workplace?
Interpretation
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Response Frequency
Yes 18
No 12

On the basis of above graph, it can be stated that 18 respondents think they have
knowledge about the effectiveness of equality and diversity at a workplce while 12 respondents
think otherwise.
Q2 What are the advantages of having a diverse workforce?
Response Frequency
Increased profits 10
Improved creativity 8
Reduction in employee turnover 12
Interpretation
From the above graph, it can be stated that 10 respondents think that increased profits, 8
respondents think improved creativity while 12 respondents think that reduction in employee
turnover is one of the advantages of having a diverse workforce.
Q3 What are some of the major problems that can be faced by CaféPod because of not having
equality and diversity?
Response Frequency
Decline in the overall market share 6
Less productive employees 7
Conflict among members of teams 9
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All of the above 8
Interpretation
On the basis of the above chart, it can be stated that 6 respondents think decline in the
overall market share is one of the problems that can be faced by CafePod because of absence of
equality and diversity in its workplace. 7 respondents think less productive employees, 9 of them
think conflict among members of teams, while 8 respondents think that all of the above stated
problems can be faced by CafePod due to lack of equality and diversity.
Q4 What is the law for having equality and diversity in an organisation?
Response Frequency
Equal Pay Act, 1970 18
Mental Health Act, 1983 7
Human Rights Act, 1998 5
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Interpretation
The above graph states that, according to 18 respondents Equal Pay Act, 1970 is the law
that supports equality and diversity in an organisation, 7 respondents think Mental Health Act,
1983 while 5 respondents think Human Rights Act, 1998 is the law that supports the concept.
Q5 What are the initiatives that can be taken by CaféPod to implement the concept of
equality and diversity in its workplace?
Response Frequency
Providing new opportunities 10
Healthy relations among employees 9
Structured interviewing process 11
Interpretation
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From the above chart, it can be said that 10 respondents think that one of the initiatives to
implement the concept of equality and diverity can be providing new opportunities to the
employees. While 9 respondents think that healthy relations among employees and 11
respondents think that having a structured interviewing process can be some initiatives to
implement the same.
Q6 What strategies can be adopted by CaféPod in order to build a diverse work
environment?
Response Frequency
Provide frequent training 8
Acknowledge different cultural practices 12
Promote diverse thinking 10
Interpretation
On the basis of above graph, it can be inferred that 8 respondents think that providing
frequent training can one of the strategies that can be adopted by CafePod to build a diverse
workforce. On the other hand, 12 respondents out of 30 think that acknowledging different
cultural practices can act as a strategy while 10 respondents think vice versa.
Recommendations
After conducting the research, CafePod is recommended to build a diverse culture by
adopting and implementing the concept of equality and diversity in its workplace. This will help
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it grow and expand int various untapped markets worldwide. In order to do so, it can adopt
various strategies like providing effective training to the workforce frequently in order to
enhance their skills as well as foster healthy relations among employers as well as the
employees, acknowledging different cultural practices as well as promoting diverse thinking
across the organisation (Polonsky and Waller, 2018). This will help it in being successful and
gain a competitive advantage against competitors in the coffee industry. The company should
also value the different cultural backgrounds of its employees, their knowledge, skills,
experiences and use them effectively to create a healthy as well as productive environment. Also,
one of the advantages of having a diverse workforce is that there will be a reduction in the
overall staff turnover.
Reflection
While undertaking this research, I got a chance to enhance my knowledge about the
concept of equality and diversity. Also, I got to identify areas that are my strengths as well as the
areas of my weakness. By conducting this research, I learned time management skills which
helped in completing all my tasks well in time. I also learned that I need to improve my
communication skills so that I can effectively communicate with respondents and gather reliable
and appropriate data. This will help in generating efficient output that can be referred to and used
in the future by others as well.
CONCLUSION
From the above research, it can be concluded that equality and diversity is a concept that
is increasingly gaining importance among organisations across different industries. Having
equality and diversity helps in a workplace helps an organisation to grow and develop. Also, a
diverse culture attracts potential candidate from different parts of the world to work for a
company. A diverse culture can include offering a variety of equal opportunities to the workers,
providing extensive training frequently etc. Equality as well as Diversity also increases the level
of creativity among workers as they seek out different ways of approaching a problem and
overcoming it. Therefore, managing both equality as well as diversity is important as it can
impact the overall performance as well as productivity of a company in the market.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Artto, K., Ahola, T. and Vartiainen, V., 2016. From the front end of projects to the back end of
operations: Managing projects for value creation throughout the system lifecycle.
International Journal of Project Management. 34(2). pp.258-270.
Chandrasekaran, A. and et. al., 2016. Managing R&D project shifts in high‐tech organizations: A
multi‐method study. Production and Operations Management. 25(3). pp.390-416.
Englund, R. and Graham, R. J., 2019. Creating an environment for successful projects. Berrett-
Koehler Publishers.
Fernandez, A. S. and Chiambaretto, P., 2016. Managing tensions related to information in
coopetition. Industrial Marketing Management. 53. pp.66-76.
Fink, D., 2016. Project risk governance: Managing uncertainty and creating organisational
value. Routledge.
Focacci, A., 2017. Managing project investments irreversibility by accounting relations.
International Journal of Project Management. 35(6). pp.955-963.
Halibozek, E. and Kovacich, G. L., 2017. The manager's handbook for corporate security:
establishing and managing a successful assets protection program. Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Kris Bailey MLT, B. A., 2016. Managing Pathology Projects For Success. Canadian Journal of
Medical Laboratory Science. 78(3). p.14.
Laine, T., Korhonen, T. and Martinsuo, M., 2016. Managing program impacts in new product
development: An exploratory case study on overcoming uncertainties. International
Journal of Project Management. 34(4). pp.717-733.
Laursen, M. and Svejvig, P., 2016. Taking stock of project value creation: A structured literature
review with future directions for research and practice. International Journal of Project
Management. 34(4). pp.736-747.
Marnewick, C., 2016. Benefits of information system projects: The tale of two countries.
International Journal of Project Management. 34(4). pp.748-760.
Matinheikki, J. and et. al., 2016. Managing inter-organizational networks for value creation in
the front-end of projects. International Journal of Project Management. 34(7). pp.1226-
1241.
Nicholas, J. M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and
technology. Taylor & Francis.
Nwangwu, G., 2018. Managing contingent liabilities arising from public private partnership
projects. Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy (The). 9(2). pp.66-83.
Polonsky, M. J. and Waller, D. S., 2018. Designing and managing a research project: A business
student's guide. Sage publications.
Shaw, D., 2016. Managing dualities in organizational change projects. Journal of Change
Management. 16(3). pp.201-222.
Smith, A. R., 2018. Managing the Team Project Process: Helpful Hints and Tools to Ease the
Workload without Sacrificing Learning Objectives. e-Journal of Business Education and
Scholarship of Teaching. 12(1). pp.73-87.
Online
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Types of Research: Primary vs Secondary. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<
https://www.thehartford.com/business-insurance/strategy/market-research/primary-
second-research>.
What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:< https://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/qualitative-vs-quantitative-research/>.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). 2020. [Online]. Available through.
<https://www.workbreakdownstructure.com/>.
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Appendix A - Project Logbook
Name:
Project title: Equality and Diversity
Date:
Update on weekly research/tasks achieved
Points to consider:
What have you completed?
I have successfully completed a research on “Equality and Diversity”.
Did you fulfil task requirements?
Yes, I fulfilled all the requirements of the task.
Are you on track and within deadlines set?
Yes
Did you need to make any changes to your project management plan?
No, no changes were made to the project management plan.
Any risks and/or issues identified?
Issues relating with the time and cost were identified while undertaking the research.
Points to consider:
Did you identify risks/issues with a lack of skills required for undertaking research/tasks?
I encountered a lack of communicating properly while undertaking the research.
Did you identify any additional risks/issues that have an impact on the project management plan?
No
Problems encountered
Points to consider:
What barriers did you face?
While undertaking the research, I faced time and cost barriers.
How did you overcome them?
I overcame them by carefully planning all my tasks and setting a deadline for each activity.
New ideas and change of project direction
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No
What have I learnt about myself this week?
I learnt how can tasks be completed effectively by setting deadlines.
Points to consider:
How did I feel when I had to deal with tasks/problems?
At first, I got confused but then overcame the problems.
Did I find it useful to complete the tasks?
Yes, completing tasks helped me in building effective time management skills.
How well have I performed?
According to me, I have performed fairly well.
What did I contribute?
I contributed my time and efforts in getting the research complete.
What can I improve on next week?
I can work upon and improve my communication skills.
How might this learning apply in the future?
This learning can help me in during my future researches.
Tasks planned for next week
Points to consider:
Which tasks are priority?
Collection of data by next week in my top priority.
Have you set aside sufficient time for completion?
Yes
Project plan status to date (on, ahead, behind):
Supervisor comments to address:
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