Project Management and Research Methods

This assignment provides a detailed overview of project management and research methods, including industry best practices, managing project teams, and facilitating organizational ambidexterity. It also covers various topics such as business process management, agile methodology, and data science. The assignment includes a list of references from academic papers and online resources, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

MANAGING SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1. Aim and Objectives of the project....................................................................................1
P2. Producing a Project Management Plan............................................................................2
P3. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Gantt chart........................................................4
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P4. Qualitative and quantitative research methods for achieving project aims and objectives6
LO 3...............................................................................................................................................10
P5. Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques...............................10
P6. Appropriate recommendations on the basis of research and data analysis...................17
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................17
P7. Reflective on the value of undertaking this research.....................................................17
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
Digital Technology is used to describe the use of digital resources to effectively find,
analyse, create, communicate, and use information in a digital context. For any business, digital
technology has a huge impact as it can affect their overall performance. Managing business
project effectively can give a huge positive impact on their overall performance, as it will help
them in improving their work. This report will focus on topic- “To study the influence of Mobile
Technology on operational efficiency”. Research will be performed on the impact of mobile
technology on Continental Consulting Limited.
Present report will focus on determining the aim and objectives of this project and
developing a project management plan which will cover all its various elements, for example,
cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk, and resources that is required for the completion
of this project. It will also produce a Work breakdown structure (WBS) and Gantt chart on the
basis of this management plan. Apart from this qualitative and quantitative research methods and
communication for appropriate recommendations will be addressed as well.
LO 1
P1. Aim and Objectives of the project
Digital technology has a great important for any organization in order to improve their
services and performances. For any small business it is very crucial to employ all the latest
technology which is present in industry which can assist in improving their services and
performance as well. Business technology helps small enterprises to make improvement in their
communication processes. There are various technologies which has evolved with time, in which
one is mobile technology. It has been one of those trends that have taken the business world by
storm (The impact of mobile technology on business operations, 2015). This is basically that
field which is used in cellular communication and other related aspects. This helps in making a
strong connection and relationships with each other, which in return can give a positive impact
on their business.
In business context, this technology can assist in building connection and communication
with their customers, stakeholders, employees, etc. This can help in improving their working
performance as well. This technology is evolving very rapidly these days which makes
Continental Consulting Limited to enhance their services. It's uses are becoming diverse and is
gradually replacing some similar sources in the market that are also used for communication, for
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example, post office and land lines. Mobile technology, such as, tablet and portable computers
are becoming more and more popular among users. In today's world, many businesses are using
mobile technology to operate their activities which aid them in increasing their net income by
implementing various activities, such as, by providing their clients facilities to shop their
services or products through their personal websites and mobile application as well (The impact
of mobile technology on business operations, 2015). There are various options of operating
systems which is available in market that can be used by Continental Consulting Limited, for
example, the Android, blackberry, Webos, IOS, Symbian Windows, etc.
Aim: To study the influence of Mobile Technology on operational efficiency- A Case study on
“Continental Consulting Limited”
Objectives: These are described below:
 To develop an understanding about impact digital technological aspects, such as mobile
technology.
 To assess the significance of mobile technology to connect and communicate effectively.
 To measure the influence on their service development of Continental Consulting
Limited due to this digital mobile technology.
 To recommend new technologies to Continental Consulting Limited for improvement in
their connection and communication.
P2. Producing a Project Management Plan
It is essential for any organization to have an effective and proper project management
plan which can help them in managing their process. An effective plan includes three basic
elements in it, i.e., planning, scheduling and controlling. These are those plans which is required
to achieve their aims and objectives in proper manner and on time as well. Continental
Consulting Limited can implement various plans and strategies which can help them in
improving their performance (Harrison and Lock, 2017). There are various factors which is
included in this plan, such as, cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk, and human
resources, which needs to be considered while planning a management plan. All these elements
has to be managed very carefully by the organization while planning a project.
Various elements that is included in this project management plan is described below:
 Cost: This is the most essential aspect in project management plan as it can affect them to
a large context. To minimize this effect, they have to consider all the factors which is
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included in the plan that requires financial spending. These factors can include, labour
cost, resources that is needed to complete the task, purchasing materials for the project,
etc. All these has to be managed very carefully by them in order to maintain a financial
stability in organization.
 Scope: Technology plays a crucial role in the upliftment of any business. This helps in
enhancing their performance in the industry by increasing the rate of their production and
sales as well. Employing mobile technology in their operational management can have a
huge impact (Swiatek, Chung and Mahmoudi, 2016). Implementing mobile technology in
their system will help them in improving their communication skills and also assist them
in interacting with their customers as well.
 Time: Completing any task on give time period has a huge positive impact on any
project. It is very essential to set a time frame every task so that it will help in achieving
the target and objectives on time and with efficiency as well. For this they can plan a time
table on the basis of which their work is divided. This ensures that every task is going
smooth in the organization.
 Quality: Products or services which has a good quality helps the organization to increase
their sales and their overall performance as well. To check the quality of their products
and services, proper monitoring of all the task in Continental Consulting Limited has to
be done by them (Pellegrinelli, Murray-Webster and Turner, 2015). This will make sure
that, they are delivering the best quality of service to their customers.
 Communication: To have effective working environment in an organization,
communication plays an essential role. This helps in sharing ideas and thoughts which
can be used in the current research in order to enhance it effectively. Interactions also
helps in making good relationship with their employees and understand them better
(Baumann and et.al., 2015).
 Risk Management: To start any new project in the organization, there are chances of
risk. To minimize this effect, they have to very careful while implementing this mobile
technology in their system. They have to analyse all the key factors which can create a
risk in their work, such as, technical issues can arise while implementing. To reduce this,
they have to plan strategies which can assist them in minimizing it (Crane and Matten,
2016).
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 Resource: These are considered very important for an organization in order to perform
their activities or work effectively and correctly. Resources helps in completing the task
in proper manner. One of the most important resource for an organization is the human
resource (HR). These can help them in recruiting trained and skilled employees which
can assist in enhancing their work performance (Jeston, 2014). Some other resources
which also has a huge contribution can include, human skills, production resources, or
information technology (IT), etc.
P3. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Gantt chart
This process helps in identifying all the various activities which has been conducted in
the completion of this research project. For Continental Consulting Limited, it will be beneficial
for them in analysing all the business operational requirements and management of tasks that
will lead them in executing each task in this current research. It is estimated that it will require
approximately 22 days to complete the research.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
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Task Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Auto
Scheduled
Identification of Research
Topic 1 day Mon 10/8/18 Mon 10/8/18
Auto
Scheduled
Preparing aim and
objectives 2 days Tue 10/9/18 Wed
10/10/18 1
Auto
Scheduled
Performing research on
selected topic 3 days Thu
10/11/18
Mon
10/15/18 2
Auto
Scheduled
Applying appropriate
research methodology 5 days Tue
10/16/18
Mon
10/22/18 3,2,1
Auto
Scheduled
Collecting data from
various resources 3 days Tue
10/23/18
Thu
10/25/18 3,4
Auto
Scheduled Studying gathered data 3 days Fri 10/26/18 Tue
10/30/18 5
Auto
Scheduled
Interpreting and analyzing
data 2 days Wed
10/31/18 Thu 11/1/18 6,5
Auto
Scheduled
Conclusion and
recommendations 2 days Fri 11/2/18 Mon 11/5/18 7,5
Auto
Scheduled Final Submission of report 1 day Tue 11/6/18 Tue 11/6/18 8
Gantt Chart
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Critical Path
Interpretation: In consideration with analyzing the operational time required in this
project, there will be need of 22 days as estimated by professionals of Continental Consulting
Limited. Thus, each activity has to be completed in the required period as well as appropriate use
of resources must be promoted.
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LO 2
P4. Qualitative and quantitative research methods for achieving project aims and objectives
For a researcher, there are various methods which can opted to collect relevant data for
this current research, such as, qualitative and quantitative research methods. These processes can
be very useful for the researcher in achieving their objectives. It will also help in ensuring them
that all the collected data is valid and reliable (What’s the difference between qualitative and
quantitative research, 2014). These two methods helps in providing the most appropriate data for
this research of analyzing the influence of mobile technology.
Research Approaches
This process includes all the plans and procedure which will take place while collecting
the data for the current research. There are various approaches, such as, inductive and deductive
approach. These will help the researcher in analysing the primary as well as secondary resources
to complete the research effectively (Heagney, 2016).
Research Philosophy
This method will be helpful in analysing information which will be gathered and tested to
have effective outcomes. Thus, such operational activities will be beneficial in analysing
adequacy of philosophies to be used in various activities (Siemens, 2016). It includes two
techniques such as positivism and interpretivism. However, with reference to this qualitative
research, there will be use of interpretivism philosophy. In this method, researcher will analyse
set data gathered on the impact of mobile technology as well as on their brand value.
Research Methodologies
In the context of present research, mixture of both methodologies, qualitative and
quantitative are being used by the researcher in order to gather relevant data. Qualitative methods
will help in collecting information on the basis of questionnaire and survey on which thematic
analysis has been performed by the researcher (Dansoh, Frimpong and Oteng, 2017). Further, in
quantitative research method helps in analyzing the data with the help of graphs and tabular
presentation.
Data Collection Methods
Data should be collected very carefully by the researcher in order to achieve their
objective and targets. This process helps in collecting all the relevant data which is required by
the researcher in order to complete the research. Researcher has used two methods to complete
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its research, such as, primary and secondary method of data collection. In the context of current
research, in primary method researcher has conducted a survey and on the basis of which a
questionnaire has been made (Data Collection Methods, 2017). Several questions has been asked
to the managers of Continental Consulting Limited to gather data. And in secondary research
method, sources, such as books and journals, articles, news, online, etc. have been considered
which helped in bringing observatory analysis on this issue.
Sampling
Purposive sampling has been used by the researcher for completing this research. In this,
some questions have been asked to 10 managers of Continental Consulting Limited to estimate
the influence of mobile technology on their operational efficiencies. Researcher has also used
probabilistic approach in gathering data for the current research (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017).
Analysis of Data
Collected data has been analyzed by the researcher to estimate the final result from the
survey that has been conducted. This helped in providing appropriate suggestions to Continental
Consulting Limited in relation with implementation of technologies, like, mobile technology
which can help them in improving their communication (Larson and Chang, 2016). Proper
analysis has to be done by them in achieving their targets and objectives effectively.
From the mini research that has been performed by the researcher, for example, on the
basis of questionnaire, a thematic analysis has been conducted in qualitative method, further, in
quantitative research, graphs has been used to interpret the data, respectively.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Question 1: Does this mobile technology have impacted your working pattern?
(A) To satisfactory level
(B) To dis satisfactory level
(C) Somehow
Question 2: It is easy for your company to implement this technology in your management
system?
(A) Yes
(B) No
Question 3: Do you feel by implementing mobile technology in your organization will
enhance your performance?
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(A) Yes
(B) No
(C) Neutral
Question 4: Does implementing mobile technology helped in making communication strong
with your customers?
(A) To satisfactory level
(B) To dis satisfactory level
(C) Somehow
Question 5: Do you feel this will help in increasing their growth in industry?
(A) Yes
(B) No
(C) Neutral
Question 6: Is it easy for your employees to learn and understand these technologies?
(A)Yes
(B) No
Question 7: By creating your own mobile application and website, does it helped in
increasing your customer or sales?
(A) To satisfactory level
(B) To dis satisfactory level
(C) Somehow
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LO 3
P5. Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques
Question 1: Does this mobile technology have impacted your working pattern?
Answers Respondents Percentage
(A) To satisfactory level 6 60.00%
(B) To dis satisfactory level 3 30.00%
(C) Somehow 1 10.00%
Total 10 100.00%
Interpretation: From the above graph, it is shown here that 60% respondents agrees on the fact
mobile technology have impacted their working pattern in the organization. This shows that
implementing mobile technology is an appropriate method for them. This can be concluded that
it will help them in increasing their performance.
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Illustration 1: Graph 1

Question 2: It is easy for your company to implement this technology in your management
system?
Answers Respondents Percentage
(A) Yes 7 70.00%
(B) No 3 30.00%
Total 10 100.00%
Interpretation: By considering the above listed pictorial presentation of the data set which
determines that 70% of majority is on the favour of implementing this strategy for improving
their communication strategy. Only 30% respondents are not in the favour of this statement.
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Illustration 2: Graph 2

Question 3: Do you feel by implementing mobile technology in your organization will
enhance your performance?
Answers Respondents Percentage
(A) Yes 6 60.00%
(B) No 2 20.00%
(C) Neutral 2 20.00%
Total 10 100.00%
Interpretation: From the above data, it has been asked to the manager about how they feel by
implementing mobile technology in the organization will enhance their performance and 60%
respondents agrees on this statement, whereas, 20% disagrees and have neutral reaction.
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Illustration 3: Graph 3

Question 4: Does implementing mobile technology helped in making communication strong
with your customers?
Answers Respondents Percentage
(A) To satisfactory level 8 80.00%
(B) To dis satisfactory level 2 20.00%
(C) Somehow 0 0.00%
Total 10 100.00%
Interpretation: It has been asked to the professionals that, implication of these techniques will
be easy for their employees to perform. On the basis of above graph, it is clear that 80% of
respondents agrees on this statement that this will help them in making communication strong
with their customers. While only 20% disagrees with this statement.
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Illustration 4: Graph 4

Question 5: Do you feel this will help in increasing their growth in industry?
Answers Respondents Percentage
(A) Yes 6 60.00%
(B) No 1 10.00%
(C) Neutral 3 30.00%
Total 10 100.00%
Interpretation: By considering the above listed presentation of the data set which determines
that 60% respondents finds it appropriate and feels that it will help in increasing their growth in
industry. Whereas, 30% response is neutral which has no proper justification regarding this
statement.
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Illustration 5: Graph 5

Question 6: Is it easy for your employees to learn and understand these technologies?
Answers Respondents Percentage
(A) Yes 6 60.00%
(B) No 4 40.00%
Total 10 100.00%
Interpretation: From the above graph of data set, it is shown that maximum majority is
convinced on the fact that this mobile technology is easy for their employees to understand. 60%
are on the favour of this statement whereas, 40% disagrees on this.
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Illustration 6: Graph 6

Question 7: By creating your own mobile application and website, does it helped in
increasing your customer or sales?
Answers Respondents Percentage
(A) To satisfactory level 7 70.00%
(B) To dis satisfactory level 2 20.00%
(C) Somehow 1 10.00%
Total 10 100.00%
Interpretation: From the above graph, 70% of respondents are in the favour that by creating
your own mobile application and website, it helped in increasing your customer or sales. Only
20% respondents disagrees on this statement while 10% has mixed reaction.
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Illustration 7: Graph 7

P6. Appropriate recommendations on the basis of research and data analysis
Recommendations
From the above research it can be recommended that use of mobile technology have a
great impact on business efficiency of the organization. With implementation of this technique
time taken to communicate with its clients. Better connectivity will be established within the
organization and among the consumers as well. Use of mobile will enhance operational
efficiency of the business as with use of mobiles fast conversation among employees will be
ensured and times will be saved which was earlier wasted in communication,
The organization is also recommended to use social media as a promotion platform for
advertisement and to maximize its reach much public. As social media is one of the most popular
platform used for communication and sharing personal and professional things (Pinto and
Patanakul, 2017).
For implementation of use of mobile phones and social media there are certain activities
recommend performing different activities such as:
 Provision proper training about how to use mobiles to save times and for faster
communication.
 To make them aware and vigilant about use and benefits of social media platform and its
advantages to the business.
 For improvement of operational efficiency upliftment of the firm assists employees by
formation of team structure, ensuring employees engagement etc.
 For all this a team must be developed which are given a single target to train the
employees and aid them in understanding and acquaint to the mobile phones and social
media platform.
LO 4
P7. Reflective on the value of undertaking this research
From this research I have gained a lot of knowledge about the positive impact mobile
technology can have on business operations. I came to know that with a proper planning and
relevant use most of the business operations can be conducted through this device and this will
reduce the communication time between employees and with clients as well. In have developed
an understating about how effective social media can be, if used in an efficient and proper
manner. With this I also found out that excessive access to both this technology and social media
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can lead to sharing/leakage of confidential and valuable information. So I my view, to protect
such activities proper monitoring in used and access is essential for avoiding risk of misuse of
mobile phones.
During the research my skill regarding use and providing training to employees about use
of phone and social media have also improved. As I have done research about the queries which
can arise in minds of employees and to sort out them I have enhanced my skills to use both. This
my belief that by using the mobile phone technology performance efficiency of both employees
and organisation will get enhanced. Moreover, use of social media as advertisement tool will
result in higher revenue generation due to increase in efficiency of internal governance and
administration of all activities (Sharon and Dori, 2017). I have understood that mobile
technology have a huge effect on operational activities of the organisation if used, in proper
manner but at the same time effective monitoring is also recommended in avoiding the over use
of both.
In this research method I have used significant research tools and methods which have
contributed a lot in this research project. With collection of data in from questioner method the
information collected is precise and assisted me in representation of the conclusion and data
analyses. With using giant chart the project was completed in stipulates time frame no wastage
of time was experienced. Selection of respondent was a time taking task as precise information
needed to be collected from them.
With given more times the report mights have been prepared in more presentable and
significant manner and through primary data collection only. In the future, for preparation of
any research project I will deicide my times frame more accurately and emphasis will be given
selection of data collection methods. Overall the experience of preparation of this research
project was good and will certain improvements can e prepared with improvements.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that digital technology has a huge impact on
the business activities of any organization. It is essential to have all the latest and new
technologies in the organization in order to improve their services and overall performance as
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well in their respective industry. Present study has focused on estimating the influence of mobile
technology on the operational efficiency of Continental Consulting Limited in order to increase
their sales as well as to enhance their performance. With the implementation of this technology it
will help them in interacting with their customers more frequently and more easily.
This assessment has concluded that creating their own mobile application and personal
website will give them a huge positive response which will enhance their productivity and brand
value as well. Report has also discussed about research methods, such as, qualitative and
quantitative research methods which has been in gathering data for the research. These methods
have helped in achieving their targets and objectives effectively and on time as well. Other than
this, primary and secondary methods are also examined on the basis of which data has been
analysed. In the end, it has discussed about delivering recommendation on the research for
implicating this mobile technology in the firm.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Baumann, T. and et.al., 2015. Managing successful project teams in a diverse stakeholder
environment: Merging industry best practices with an education system to address critical
human factors. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 194. pp.20-32.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Dansoh, A., Frimpong, S. and Oteng, D., 2017. Challenges associated with project teams in
managing variations on construction projects.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Jeston, J., 2014. Business process management. Routledge.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H. R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Larson, D. and Chang, V., 2016. A review and future direction of agile, business intelligence,
analytics and data science. International Journal of Information Management. 36(5).
pp.700-710.
Pellegrinelli, S., Murray-Webster, R. and Turner, N., 2015. Facilitating organizational
ambidexterity through the complementary use of projects and programs. International
Journal of Project Management. 33(1). pp.153-164.
Pinto, J. K. and Patanakul, P., 2017. Managing Projects. The Oxford Handbook of Management.
p.219.
Sharon, A. and Dori, D., 2017. Model‐Based Project‐Product Lifecycle Management and Gantt
Chart Models: A Comparative Study. Systems Engineering. 20(5). pp.447-466.
Siemens, L., 2016. Project management and the digital humanist. Doing digital humanities:
Practice, training, research. pp.343-57.
Swiatek, P. R., Chung, K. C. and Mahmoudi, E., 2016. Surgery and Research: A Practical
Approach to Managing the Research Process. Plastic and reconstructive surgery. 137(1).
p.361.
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Online
Data Collection Methods. 2017. [Online]. Available through: <https://research-
methodology.net/research-methods/data-collection/>
The impact of mobile technology on business operations. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://searchcio.techtarget.com/video/The-impact-of-mobile-technology-on-business-
operations>
What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?. 2014. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/qualitative-vs-quantitative-research/>
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