Managing Projects for Competitive Success: A Case Study on Launching Organic Products in the Cosmetic Industry

This report discusses the use of work breakdown structure and Gantt chart in managing a project on launching organic products in the cosmetic industry. It also evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of these tools and outlines a risk management process. The research aim is to identify the impact of launching organic products by cosmetic industry for gaining distinct competitive edge.

Managing Projects for
Competitive Success
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Table of Contents
OVERVIEW OF CHOSEN REAL LIFE PROJECT PROPOSAL TOPIC....................................3
RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVE............................................................................................3
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN, WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE AND GANTT
CHART............................................................................................................................................4
STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE AND GANT
CHART............................................................................................................................................7
Strength of Work breakdown.......................................................................................................7
Weakness of Work breakdown....................................................................................................7
Strength of Gant Chart.................................................................................................................7
Weakness of Gantt chart..............................................................................................................8
RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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OVERVIEW OF CHOSEN REAL LIFE PROJECT PROPOSAL TOPIC
Topic: To launching the product in cosmetic market through gaining competitive edge of using
organic material
The competition in the cosmetic industry is at peak and to fight in this industry is very
difficult for the company. To gain competitive advantage companies need to be more innovative
and creativity in their business operation. Cosmetic industry is one of that sector which keeps on
growing and to gain success various innovation need to be done. UK best cosmetic companies
like L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, Bobbi brown are planning to diversify their portfolio by offering
organic product to the customer. They are thinking of making their product related to face, hair,
body etc., in more environmental friendly to gain competitive edge in recent time (Brandão,
Gonçalves and Santos, 2021). They are developing those strategies were companies are offering
shampoo, soaps, creams etc. to those target audiences who prefer natural ingredient. Organic
material are those products which is based largely on carbo compounds that are found in nature.
People are getting more aware of the product they are using. For them quality, ingredient matters
a lot for using cosmetic in their body. Most of the cosmetic firm see a drastic change in the taste
and preference of the customer that to expand their business and gain competitive advantage
developing organic product become necessary (Filiciotto and Rothenberg, 2021).
RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVE
Research aim: To identify the impact of launching organic products by cosmetic industry for
gaining distinct competitive edge.
Research objective:
 To incorporate and test the effect of formulated product with utilization of organic
product to achieve profitability of 10%
 To ensure optimum utilization of resources by having ability to recycle the waste by 25%
in order to decline cost.
 To make sure the compliance with regulation of health & safety and access to material by
reducing complexity by 10%.
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN, WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
AND GANTT CHART
A project management plan is a formal document which tells about how project or task need
to be carried out for the specific study. It outlines various task like scope, goals, budget, timeline
on order to keep project on track. There are two tools of project management plan which are
work breakdown structure and Gantt chart.
Work breakdown structure (WBS): A WBS outline various task that is conducted to
complete the project on time. It is used in the current project to break the structure so that task
can be managed and delivered on time (Fathoni, Latief and Machfudiyanto, 2020). The main
purpose to use work break down structure is to schedule project according to the plan. there are
various components of WBS which are as follow:
 Tasks: In this various things are being includes which are Number, Id, title and
description related to task.
 Task owner: In this the name of the task representative is written. It is used show
that person responsible for the completion of particular task ca be known.
 Task predecessors: This is the third components which helps in linking two task in
order to show the dependency of one with the other.
 Start and finish date: In this element date and the time is mentioned from the time
it starts to the time it takes to complete (Sato, Tanimoto and Kanai, 2020).
In the current project it is important tool as it helps the manager to break down their project and
visualise each and every activity in effective and efficient manner. The task is being showed
using graphs and charts.
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Gant chart: It is one of the most common project management tool and is very useful as
it shows activities as well as also display time against each activity. It is represented in the form
of charts where on left side activity is noted down and in top time taken will be written (Brčić
and Mlinarić, 2018). In shorts it includes two section where left side indicates task and the rights
side show time. In the recent project proposal time chart is used for three main reason which are:
 Build and manage comprehensive project: It divides the task on smaller parts
and then organise it using block which helps in manage task in proper manner.
 Determine logistics and task dependences: Gantt chart is used in the current
research because it keep eye on the logistics used in a project and also show
dependences. dependences help in ensuring which activity need to be done and
what will be the start data.
 Monitoring progress of project: In current research it is used to critically
evaluate the project so that actual status can be made. If any deviation is found
out, then necessary adjustment need to make at that time only so that a health
project can be get (Mourtzis, Siatras and Zogopoulos, 2020).
Activities/
months
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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Idea generation
Team formulation
Recognizing roles
and responsibility
Allocating roles
to team member
Project need
estimation
Budget forming
Charter plan
making
Critical factor
understanding
Staff attribute
development
Assigning of
resources
Performance
management
Performance
management
Quality
Test conduction
Bug identification
risk management
Monitoring &
controlling
resources
identification of
compatibility
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Evaluation of
project
Thus in present project on use of organic product in cosmetic industry these two project
management tool will be used to effectively monitored and mange various task in efficient
manner.
STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
AND GANT CHART
Strength of Work breakdown
There are various strengths of using work breakdown structure in the current project some of the
are:
 The foremost benefit of WBS is that it defines and organised work appropriately. With
the help of this each task can easily be defined and also activity is divided into sub parts
so that work can be organised efficiently (Feng and et. al., 2021).
 Work break down structure also helps in identifying the risk associated with the activity
so that immediate measure can be taken to minimised the risk.
 Another major strength of Work breakdown structure is it provide visual representation
of the entire scope which helps in understanding the project in greater sense (Wang and
et.al., 2020).
Weakness of Work breakdown
Different weakness of using Work break down structure is as follow:
 The first disadvantage of WBS is it increase the workload among the management and
mangers because they need to spent a lot of time in planning, organising and monitoring
the task so that project can be done in sound manner (Lawler and et. al., 2018).
 The other weakness of this it requires expertise to divide the project in sub parts which
are interrelated with each other. Active managers need to be there because without any
active participant’s task cannot be done effectively (Lee, Lerche and Weigand, 2019).
Strength of Gant Chart
Some of the strength of using Gantt chart are as follow:
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 A Gantt chart provides a high level overview of the project as it includes both activity
and time to be taken. In-fact less participants are involved in developing Gantt chart
which helps in maintaining accuracy (Glidden, 2018).
 The other advantages of Gantt chart are that it improves the overall efficiency of the
project and also helps in managing resources effectively. As realistic schedule is being
set by the project managers which assist in reducing the wastage of resources and
utilising it in best way.
 One of the best benefit of Gantt chart is that project can be tracked in better manner
which aids in seeing the risk associate with it in timely manner. it also helps in boosting
the productivity of overall project (Street, 2019).
Weakness of Gantt chart
There are various different types of weakness of Gantt chart some are:
 Managing the Gantt chart is difficult because it is tedious process because if any updating
occurs whole project need to be analysed and then a new chart need to be prepared.
Mangers need more time and efforts or prespring Gantt chart according to the project
(Sheffield, 2019).
 Time consuming activity is the other problem of Gantt Chart because a proper planning
need to be made. Making calculation of time is not easy because mangers need to
calculate aggregates.
 Another disadvantage of Gantt chart is aligning task with one another is not easy because
an expertise is needed who can accumulate various task together (Svinth, 2021).
RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Risk management process helps in deciding the risk which is related to the activities carried
out in a project. The level of risk is being decided by the way project is carried out so that
resources can be allocate effectively. In the above project the major risk that will be evaluated
are as follow (Barafort, Mesquida and Mas, 2018).
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Risk Likelihood Risk Rating Treatment/control methods
Lack of
resources
Low 5 It can be avoided by utilizing and allocating
resources in effective manner and also give priority
to those resources which are important.
Lack of
knowledge
Medium 7 By enhancing the knowledge of expertise in proper
dividing the parts
Time High 8 Effective time management technique need to be
learned so that time to the activities can be allocated
easily.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that there are two important project management tool
for the current research topic. Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart is very useful because
it outlines the project by dividing the task and allocation time so that project can be completed in
timely and accurate manner. Dividing activities help in executing the project in appropriate
manner and also assist in analysing the risk related to it. This will help in taking necessary
measure prior to the uncertainty.
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REFERENCES
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scientific research to commercially viable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 295.
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