Managing Successful Business Projects: A Case Study of Sainsbury's Digital Transformation

This project explores the implementation of digital technologies within Sainsbury's, the second largest supermarket chain in the UK. It examines the challenges and opportunities presented by digital transformation, focusing on data storage, communication, and customer engagement. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the project analyzes the impact of digital technologies on Sainsbury's operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The findings provide valuable insights into the strategic considerations and best practices for managing successful business projects in a digital age.

Managing Successful Business Project
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Table of Contents
LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme......................3
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.....................................................3
P2 Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources..............................................................................................4
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages
for completion..............................................................................................................................8
LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection, generating
knowledge to support the project...................................................................................................10
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives.................................................................10
LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on meaningful
conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/or analysis....................................................14
P5 Analyze research and data using appropriate tools and techniques.....................................14
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions....................................................................................20
LO4 Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support
sustainable organizational performance........................................................................................21
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance........................................................................................................................21
Reference List................................................................................................................................24
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................25
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LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.
Project Definition and project aim
At this juncture, digital technology has made the operational process of the organisation agile as
it bestows the enterprises with several opportunities of growth (Fitzgerald, et al., 2014). In this
context, the case of Sainsbury has been considered for comprehending on the functionality of
digital technology. Sainsbury is the second largest supermarket chain in UK (Sainsbury, 2018).
The purpose of the paper is to comprehend the utility of digital technological innovation in
different functional areas of business. In addition to this, the paper aims at learning and
underpinning the issues the organisation is confronting regarding storing of information at
administrative levels.
Problem Statement
It has been observed that Sainsbury is encountering with the challenge of increasing its customer
base and attaining the number of targeted customers. In addition to this, the company is also
confronting with the issue of establishing a proper communication channel with the customers
and employees. The purpose of this project is to comprehend and analyse the prospects and
consequence of incorporating digital technologies within the operation process.
Project Strategy
The present corporate landscape entails that more organisations are getting their operational
process and business process nimble with the help of digital technology (Kane, et al., 2015). At
present, Sainsbury is encountering with the issue of data storage and communication process.
Therefore, the project has shed light on the on the role of digital technologies, cloud storage and
social media platforms in improving data storage and communication procedure of Sainsbury
respectively. In order to comprehend this, a survey work is executed among 100 employees and
2 managers have been interviewed. Based on the data gathered from this primary source, the
project has evaluated the enhancement Sainsbury had made after implementing digital
technologies. Analysing the operational process of Sainsbury has also provided a detailed insight
on the key development areas of the company that it need to focus.
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Project Objectives
Specific  To gain a detailed insight on the business operation of Sainsbury
 To comprehend the need of digital technologies in confronting the issues
of data storage and communication process.
 To analyze the role of social media platform in enhancing the
communication process of the organization
 To evaluate the benefit of using cloud storage in improving data
storage
Measurable  To augment the customer base of the company by 10% by improving
communication process
 To increase the productivity level of the employees
 To reduce the issue of data storage by 10%
 To increase the use of digital technologies by 15% within 3 months
Achievable  To evaluate the desired performance delivered by the project manager,
administrative manager and HR manager for achieving the desired
objectives
 To achieve at least attain 50% of the project’s objectives
Realistic  To make both internal and external communication process more agile by
30% by the end of the project
 To reduce the data storage issue by 10%
Time frame  The time taken for the completion of the project is 11 weeks.
P2 Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources
Performance and time objectives
The project work is an intricate and elaborate process thus it has to be executed in a structured
and synchronized manner. The project has to be executed and accomplished with help of team
work thus an efficient team with technological expertise will be appointed by the management.
Before the project is initiated the opinions of senior manager and IT experts will be considered.
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In order to keep a check of the progress of the project, the congregated data will be monitored
periodically. The duration of the project is 11 weeks.
Cost:
Fundamentals Cost ($)
Human Capital 700
Physical Materials 1000
Cost made on research 200
Surveillance Cost 500
Data documentation cost 400
Total 2800
Deliverables
The deliverables of the project is to identify the issues present in the operational process of
Sainsbury. Based on the problem identification, proper mitigation plan will be provided. The
project analyses the improvements Sainsbury experiences after the incorporation of digital
technologies. The project further assesses the improvement in the performance level of the
company post digital technology implementation.
Project Scope Statement
Included Scope
The scope of the project is to comprehend the need of different digital technological tools at
different functional areas of Sainsbury. In addition to this, the project will further analysing the
performance of the individual after the implementation of the technologies. The project will also
observe the overall organisational growth with the help of digital technologies.
Excluded Scope
The project is not considering recognising the governing factors that prompt organisations to be
disruptive digitally. Examining the effect of digital disruption on the economic growth of the
supermarket industry is also not included in the scope of study.
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Success Criteria
The focus of the project is to at least attain 50% of success on project completion. The success of
the project will be measured from the performance level of employees. The most important
parameter of measurement will be the feedback of the customers in terms of improved
communication process provided to them. Moreover, the return on investment (ROI) of
Sainsbury will also be analysed so that the fruitfulness of implementing digital technologies
within the organisational structure can be understood.
Project Assumptions
During the project execution, certain assumptions have been made that are enlisted below:
 The point of view of employees and managers regarding the implementation of digital
technologies can be comprehended
 The utility and prospect of applying digital technologies can be analysed
 An attractive return on investment (ROI) can be expected post implementation
 The project is expected to be accomplished within specified deadline
Quality management
The entire process of the project will be managed by the means of Total Quality Management
(TQM). This management is carried out three stages. First stage includes analysing the quality of
the work before applying the TQM. In the second stage, the quality of the project is evaluated
while applying TQM. The last stage checks the quality of the project post TQM implementation.
The aspects of leadership, communication, integrity, teamwork and work recognition forms the
quality management that should be monitored. In order to ensure efficient quality management,
the tasks have to be allocated properly to the right person. Therefore, all the tasks involved in the
project have to be supervised based on a periodical schedule.
Risks
Week
No.
Date Risks Intensity
of
Impact
Consequence On
project
Mitigation Plan
1 14.05.1
8
Restriction in
accessing
Moderate Limited access to
information will
Employees and the
managers should be
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important
Information
restrict the scope of
the project
provided with proper
credentials so that
they can fetch the
required data.
5 24.05.1
8
Loss of data due
to outdated
technology
High The data that will be
congregated from
different sources
might get lost paving
the way for
unnecessary delay.
Use of proper
technology can help
in storing the
accumulated
information.
10 10.08.1
8
Lack of proper
communication
within the
organisation.
Low Communication gap
can affect the quality
of the project.
An effective
communication
channel has to be
facilitated so that the
gap can be fulfilled.
Resources
 Human Resource: The human capital that is required in order to complete the projects
are employees and managers. The employees will be able to provide details on the
operational process of the ground level operations. On the other hand, the managers will
be able to provide information regarding the functionalities of the administrative level.
 Tangible Resources: Certain physical materials are required to execute the project. The
materials that are required for the project are computer and cloud storage for storing and
retrieving important information. In addition to this, both the hard and soft copies of the
project have to be maintained.
 Financial Resource: The main source of finance would be the company’s funds.
However, if the fund does not suffice the needs of the project, the organisation have to
consider taking loans from financial institutions.
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P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and
stages for completion.
Implementation Plan
The implementation plan of the project is made based on the steps involved in the project.
Project process
Task Start
date
Duratio
n
End
date
Task 1: Focus
on the area
that requires
development
14.05.1
8
15 29.05.1
8
Analysis of the
problem that the
company is
facing
14.5.18 5 18.5.18
Analysis of the
performance
that is
performed by
every
functioning
department
18.5.18 5 22.5.18
Analysis of the
feedbacks
received from
every
stockholders
22.5.18 3 25.5.18
Selection of the
concerned areas
25.5.18 1 26.5.18
Initiation of the
project
26.5.18 1 27.5.18
Development of
project aims and
objectives
27.5.18 10 5.6.18
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Analysis of the
scope of the
project
5.6.18 3 7.6.18
Analysis of
performance,
cost and other
important
factors
7.6.18 2 9.6.18
Task 2: 10.6.18 15 25.6.18
Selection of
Required
Resources
Human
resources
10.6.18 3 13.6.18
Material
resource
13.6.18 5 18.6.18
Financial
resource
18.6.18 10 28.6.18
Task 3:
Conducting
Primary
Research
29.6.18 10 9.7.18
Preparation of
questionnaire
29-06-
2018
5 03-07-
2018
Conduction of
quantitative
analysis
03-07-
2018
2 05-07-
2018
Conduction
qualitative
analysis
05-07-
2018
1 06-07-
2018
Task 4:
Implementatio
n and
evaluation
06-07-
2018
5 11-07-
2018
Analysis of the
feedbacks from
stakeholders
11-07-
2018
2 13-07-
2018
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Analysis of
return on
investment
13-07-
2018
5 18-07-
2018
Time Schedule and Communication Plan
What When How (Communication
Channel)
Audience Person
Responsible
The
implementation
of digital
technology in
Sainsbury
Initial stage Face to Face
confrontation or
Telephonic
conversation
The Senior
manager
Project Manger
To communicate
with the
employees
regarding survey
work
1st week Meeting with
employees
Employees
involved in
the project
Project
Manager
LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection, generating
knowledge to support the project.
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research
methods appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives.
Quantitative analysis
Q1. Please specify your age
Table 1: Respondent’s Gender
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
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Male 40 40 100
Female 60 60 100
Others 0 0 100
Q2. Please specify your age
Table 2: Respondent’s Age
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
From 20 to 25 30 30 100
26 to 35 30 30 100
35 and above 40 40 100
Q3. Do you have an idea about the digital technologies employed in your enterprise?
Table 3: Level of Knowledge of Respondents
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Yes 65 65 100
Partially 25 25 100
No 10 10 100
Q4. Which area of the business needs the support of digital technology the most?
Table 4: The Need of Digital Technology
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Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Administration 30 30 100
Communication 35 35 100
Storage and
distribution
35 35 100
Production 0 0 100
Q5. How far do you agree that cloud storage augments the data storage of your
organization?
Table 5: Benefits of Cloud Storage
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Strongly Agree 35 30 100
Agree 40 40 100
Neutral 10 10 100
Disagree 10 10 100
Strongly disagree 5 5 100
Q6. How far do you agree that digital technology have contributed in improving the
communication procedure with customers, such as social media platforms?
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Table 6: Role of Digital Technology in Communication Process
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Strongly Agree 50 45 100
Agree 25 25 100
Neutral 10 10 100
Disagree 5 5 100
Strongly disagree 10 10 100
Q7. What challenges is your organization confronting due to the absence of digital
technology?
Table 7: Challenges Confronted by Enterprise
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Employee knowledge 30 30 100
High cost 20 20 100
Resistant attitude
towards change
management
30 30 100
Complexity 20 20 100
Q8. How far do you agree that the company need to incorporate change management for
addressing the issues caused by technology?
Table 8: Incorporation of Change Management
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Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Strongly Agree 60 60 100
Agree 20 20 100
Neutral 5 5 100
Disagree 10 10 100
Strongly disagree 5 5 100
Qualitative research methods
In order to gather qualitative data, two managers of Sainsbury will be interviewed. The point of
view on the following question will be gathered.
Q1. According to you what is the most influential challenge that your company needs to
deal with, while incorporating innovations in your organisation?
LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on
meaningful conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/or analysis.
P5 Analyze research and data using appropriate tools and techniques
Quantitative analysis:
Q1. Please specify your age
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From 20 to 25 26 to 35 35 and above
30 30
40
Graphical representation 1: Respondent’s Age
This provides the age specification of the respondents. It is observed that most of the respondents
are of more than 35 years age. From this scenario, it can be anticipated that most of the
respondents have long work experience and would have proper understanding of the changes that
have taken in business activities due to technical changes, over past years.
Q2. Please specify your gender
40%
60%
Male Female Others
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Graphical representation 2: Respondent’s Gender
This along with the first data provides basic information regarding the respondents. This is done
to let the respondents be acquainted with the project.
Q3. Do you have an idea about the digital technologies employed in your enterprise?
Yes Partially No
65
25
10
Graphical representation 3: Level of Knowledge of Respondents
Most of the respondents are aware of the technologies being used in the organizational activities.
However, 25 percent of them have partial idea while 10 percent of them have no idea. This
indicates that the awareness of use of technologies are limited to certain level of management
and workers in the company. This may also indicate that not all of the functions and in each level
of activities, innovative technologies are used.
Q4. Which area of the business needs the support of digital technology the most?
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Administration Communication Storage and
distribution Production
30
35 35
0
Graphical representation 4: The Need of Digital Technology
It is observed that majority of the respondents that is 35 percent of them thinks that storage and
distribution requires more innovation and use of technologies. As the employees are directly
involved in the core functions, this suggestion should be acknowledged by the organisation.
Q5. How far do you agree that cloud storage augments the data storage of your
organization?
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
disagree
35
40
10 10
5
Graphical representation 5: Benefits of Cloud Storage
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Most of the respondents, 40 percent of them believes that cloud storage is definitely a major
beneficial tool for data store and manage. 35 percent of them strongly believe that the cloud
storage are beneficial for storing data. However, 10 percent has remained neutral, 10 percent has
disagreed and 10 percent has strongly disagreed with the perception. This also shows that not all
of the departments are aware of the use of cloud platforms.
Q6. How far do you agree that digital technology have contributed in improving the
communication procedure with customers, such as social media platforms?
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
disagree
50
25
10 5 10
Graphical representation 6: Role of Digital Technology in Communication Process
Most of the employees, mealy 60 percents of them have strongly agreed that using technologies
for communication can prove to be beneficial for significantly boosting up communication
among external as well as internal stakeholders. As the employees have agreed with the
perception, the organisation should necessarily improve using such technologies. Along with
that, the data also indicates the fact that employees have definitely benefited by using
communication technologies and this is why they have supported the use of technologies.
Q7. What challenges is your organization confronting due to the absence of digital
technology?
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Employee
knowledge High cost Resistant attitude
towards change
management
Complexity
30
20
30
20
Graphical representation 7: Challenges Confronted by Enterprise
The organisations may face some challenges regarding the use of technologies. The major types
of challenges that are encountered are the lack of employee knowledge, investment, resistant
attitude for adapting change and complexity. The most impactful challenge that is agreed by the
employees is both resistant attitude and employee knowledge.
Q8. How far do you agree that the company need to incorporate change management for
addressing the issues caused by technology?
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
disagree
60
20
5 10 5
19

Graphical representation 8: Incorporation of Change Management
Sixty percent of the respondents have highly agreed that the organisation should use change
management strategies and models for improving the use of new technologies and integrate
innovation in each functions of the company. However, 10 percent of disagreed, while 5 percent
remained neutral. This shows that initiating change management is not necessary in every type of
changes.
Qualitative research
Q1. According to you what is the most influential challenge that your company needs to
deal with, while incorporating innovations in your organisation?
Manager 1: This manager has stated that managing the workforce is one of most difficult task.
They have to be acquainted with the new changes. For this training are initiated. Some of the
employees are highly resilient to change and this creates dilemma.
Manager 2: The main two problems are managing resources, specifically financial resources
and managing risks. Security issues can lead to lose of potential data. This can have affect in
company privacy.
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions.
Before planning to implement current digital technologies and Cloud computing in retail
organizations, a data collector customer should be effectively recognize the data, the
processing functions or the selected services that may be hosted in the technology. For each
kind of processing, the consumer must establish which kinds of information may be
concerned between “personal data, sensitive data1, strategic data for the company, and data
used in business applications”. In the process of developing, designing and implementing
new digital technologies in Sainsbury, there are several important steps that this company
needs to follow up efficiently. These steps are learning about the tools selected by the
organizational management in order to develop their current technological capabilities. On
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the other hand, teaching of staff for new operations and how they are going to work needs to
be processed by effective. Strategic leadership management policies by the Information
Technology department of the company should be initiated.
In the assessment process, the management needs to formulate a validate an incorporated
system for designing as well as implementing legal, reliable and non-expensive evaluations
of critical aspects of twenty first expertise and capabilities across intellectual disciplines.
Additionally, development and research must be commenced, which explore the way
embedded evaluation digital technologies like “simulations, collaboration environments,
virtual worlds” could be applied in order to engage as well as motivate employees during
evaluation of complex skills.
At last, it can be said that before implementation and development of the digital
technologies, a proper infrastructure needs to be developed by the organizational
management to provide future support to the operations. Creating a comprehensive
information base and map of connectivity, apply of openly licensed technological resources,
device access and their applications across the departments could be considered as the key to
development of digital capabilities.
LO4 Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support
sustainable organizational performance.
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own
learning and performance
The project has enabled me to gather new knowledge and skills and to have a better
understanding of how a project can be managed and initiated. My project experience regarding
the skill development and won performance are documented in the following table.
Competency How I have developed in this
area
What I need to do to develop
further in this area
Analytical skills This project has significantly
helped me to boost up my
I would develop this skill by
initiating some other new
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analytical skills. Before the
starting of the project I have
analyzed several tools that can
be used for the project and
select the most suiGraphical
representation one for the
project. This helped me
improve analytical skills
types of projects where I
would have to use and analyze
newer tools
Research skills In order to complete, the
project I had to conduct
research regarding influence
of technological innovations
in business. This, along with
primary data analysis has
helped me develop research
skills
I would further improve this
area by taking advice from my
lecturer
Strategic thinking For gaining effective
information regarding
influence of technological
innovation, I have to use some
project strategy. This has
helped me improve strategic
thinking
Further task division and
strategically framing out
everyday plan would help
improve this skill
Project planning An entire new project is
planned to gain knowledge
regarding influence of digital
technologies and technological
innovation and this helped me
gain knowledge regarding
project planning.
I need to initiate more projects
for the purpose of improving
the ability of project planning
Communication skills I have worked in a group of 7 By developing the ability of
22

members. Our activities were
interconnected and therefore
effective communication was
needed for timely completion.
This improved communication
skills
interpersonal communication
Report writing The project documentation in
report from helped me
understand how to properly
document research report
Would document outcomes of
other projects in the same
format
Team building Working with 7 members
collaboratively, helped in
improving this skill
Work with new members
Budget planning The cost management
planning included in the
project helped me improve
and gain knowledge regarding
budget planning
Taking expert’s advice
Risk assessment The Risk assessment planning
included in the project helped
me improve Risk assessment
skills
Would take help of experts for
detecting risk hazardous and
framing out solution for them
Progress monitoring I have monitored the
effectiveness of my
performance in this project
busing some assortment tools
By instating PDP plan
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Reference List
Sainsbury, 2018. About us. [online] Available at: < https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/> [Accessed 14
May 2018]
Fitzgerald, M., Kruschwitz, N., Bonnet, D. and Welch, M., 2014. Embracing digital technology:
A new strategic imperative. MIT sloan management review, 55(2), p.1.
Kane, G.C., Palmer, D., Phillips, A.N., Kiron, D. and Buckley, N., 2015. Strategy, not
technology, drives digital transformation. MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte
University Press, 14(1), p. 12
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