PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT LEVI’S

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT LEVI’S
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................2
2.1. Background Study...........................................................................................................2
2.2. IPECC Project Management...........................................................................................4
2.3. Factors for Critical Success (CSF)..................................................................................6
2.4. Implementation of the Success Factors...........................................................................7
3. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

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1. Introduction
Project management is a complete procedure that incorporates the overall aspects
regarding the management of a business process starting from its initiation phase to the
project closure. A good project management tool contributes in the scheduling of a project
such that effective production within time leads to the increase in the economy of the
organization (Rosero et al. 2018). The failures of a project should be critically analysed after
which the success factors should be implemented to make the organization emerge
triumphantly in the market amongst its competitors.
In this report, the critical success factors are discussed in details that will help the
organization of Levi’s to overcome its failure and regain back its position in the market. The
leading manufacturer of jeans was famous for its ubiquity as well as uniqueness in its
products. It also facilitated its customers with comfort ability factor and thus was successful
in building up their brand image amongst a worldwide range of customers. However, the
company failed in every aspect when it shifted its traditional business in ‘red label’ jeans and
tried to experiment with the new product of ‘Silvertab’ jeans (Brandfailures.blogspot.com,
2020). It also tried to produce a cheaper quality of jeans with orange tag that was a sheer
failure in the market. Hence, this report will highlight what went wrong with the company’s
objectives and suggest a project management methodology to bring success in the
organization.
2. Discussion
2.1. Background Study
The organization of Levi’s wanted to diversify its classic brand image by
experimenting with its manufacturing process to produce new products. The brand that was

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known for its universality and making unique products that never compromised with its
quality of raw materials. Although they incorporated a limited range of high profile
customers, they maintained their brand image as well as their position in the market.
However, the experimental approach of the manufacturing company was responsible for its
downfall in the recent times. Instead of concentrating on their traditional product of ‘red
label’ jeans, they started a new manufacturing process of ‘Silvertab’ jeans and low-cost jeans
with orange tags. These products were a result of their experimental process and did not meet
up the quality they generally provide to their clients (Brandfailures.blogspot.com, 2020).
Hence, they failed to satisfy their customers with the new range of products that led to the
decline of their goodwill in the market.
Furthermore, due to the unsuccessful experiment of their product line, they failed to
promote their products in the market. The marketing agency was a sheer failure because the
advertising campaign that was designed to sell the newly made products was one of the most
underrated campaigns of that time (Brandfailures.blogspot.com, 2020). It lacked the
prominent components of branding, could not attract the customers and thus received a strong
negative feedback from them. The renowned brand ran into more difficulty when the tough
competitors like Tommy Hilfiger, Diesel and Calvin Klein took the advantage of this
situation and promoted their brand with innovative strategies amongst the customer base of
the Levi’s.
Another major reason for failure was the battle with Tesco’s supermarket that led into
a legal battle and hampered the production of their business. In spite of preserving their
integrity in their brand and their traditional products, the company failed to convince their
customers about their price range. The customers felt that they were paying a reasonably
higher price than the quality they are provided with and was not satisfied with the price range
of the products. Hence, the supermarket of Tesco wanted to sell the Levi’s products at their

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own stores with a narrower profit margin. Levi’s denied this offer from Tesco and took legal
measures to stop all kinds of exports from Europe (Brandfailures.blogspot.com, 2020). They
were too much stubborn on maintaining their brand image and thus did not compromise with
their price rate on the products. All these reasons summed up to the failure of the
experimental project incorporated by Levi’s.
2.2. IPECC Project Management
The reason failure of the organization of Levi’s was the lack of project management
planning as well as implementation of the success factors. The clothing organization should
have adopted a robust project management methodology and a suitable project management
tool that will help the company to revive their position and stabilize their product line
amongst the customers (Tudor 2018). The suggested project management methodology is
IPECC that comprises of five steps- initiation of the process, scheduled planning, execution
of the processes, controlling the quality issues and finally closure of the project (Nowicki,
Saniuk and Waszkowski 2018, July). MS Project is the software tool aligned with this
methodology that will help the organization to achieve its success by proper scheduling and
delivery of the products with optimum quality.
Initiation of the Process- The clothing manufacturer should conduct a market survey to
understand the expectations of the customers from their brand. Unless they get to know the
requirement specified by the customers, they will not be able to gather the suitable quality of
raw materials for manufacturing the best quality product (Hossain 2019). They should also
look into the strategies of the marketing department and plan accordingly the ways to launch
the products in the market and promote their brand to make it successful. The feasibility
study of the product success should be conducted at this stage.

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Scheduled Planning- Once the process is proved feasible enough to make the sale
successful, the company should make a plan of the new project. Manufacturing of new
products does not mean that the old products could not be produced. The traditional ‘red
label’ jeans were quite popular amongst the customers. Hence, the company should balance
on the production of both the old and the new products. The project management tool of MS
Project will help the organization to schedule their planning procedure until the project
closure, determine their data incorporated during the operational process that will prove
helpful to generate production and quality control reports (Jan et al. 2018). Thus, a successful
planning on the materials and the budgets will help the organization to execute the further
processes smoothly.
Execution of the Processes- This is the stage when the clothing company should actually
focus on the manufacturing process using the raw materials. Levi’s should set a target per day
of how much production they will achieve and maintain their production on a daily basis
(Broega, Jordão and Martins 2017, October). The managerial body should appoint influential
team leaders that will help to enhance the productivity of the labourers. They should
automate some processes like sending mails such that the work force can concentrate more on
their productivity (Choudhary and Islam 2017). The marketing department should majorly
focus on selling their stories of revival rather than convince their customers to buy their
products. This will help the organization to attain the loyalty of the customers.
Controlling the Quality Issues- The focus of Levi’s should not only be the production of the
jeans product, but also maintain their quality. Quality was a major issue in the new products
of ‘Silvertab’ and the products with orange tags. The company although gave major
importance to their brand, failed to maintain it and compromised with their quality of raw
materials in experimenting with new products (Pavlov 2016). Hence, this time they should
give prime importance in maintaining their quality and eliminate the defective products from

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their production line such that they are not launched in the market. The company should also
maintain their quality in building the brand image and in addition, attend the quality issues
according to the customer feedback.
Closure of the Project-The Levi’s company should ensure success in their newly
manufactured product line by post-launch activities like taking customer feedbacks and
improving the quality to their best (Franco 2017). Once, the project is successful, the
company should close down the project and declare success by attaining profitable revenue
from this venture.
2.3. Factors for Critical Success (CSF)
Although the ‘Silvertab’ and product with orange tags were a failure, the company of
Levi’s can turn around and make them successful in the market by considering the success
touch points and re-evaluate their strategies to achieve their benchmark position. The first
success factor is the communication with the stakeholders (Kosgei and Musau 2019). If the
stakeholders are not made aware of the product line and the costs incorporated with it, they
will fail to understand the product objective and not invest their time and money wisely.
Secondly, the deadline and budget are two crucial factors that the company should
make consider while manufacturing the new products. They should have considered the
financial stress that the organization will experience if the product turns out to be a failure.
Hence, they should have conducted a cost-benefit analysis in advance. Along with that, the
project deadline should have been met such that the launching of the products are made at a
proper time to the customers (Fischer and Pascucci 2017). The company suffered this failure
mainly due to the quality issues. Hence, they should have set the standards in advance and
considered further progress in their project.

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In addition, the Levi’s known for its branding in the market, should have maintained
quality in their work atmosphere too. The management of the organization should have been
motivated to bond with the Tesco supermarket and sold their products with a narrow profit
margin to regain back their customer base (Khude 2017). They should have taken a slow
process in improving their standards by satisfying their customers with their traditional
product of ‘red label’ jeans by making it available at a lower price range. In addition, they
should have implemented project management methods and tools to improve their new
product lines.
2.4. Implementation of the Success Factors
The clothing organization of Levi’s is a highly reputed brand in the market of jeans.
They definitely incorporated failure and experienced a decline in the revenue by introducing
cheaper quality products in the market. However, they can overcome this crisis by
incorporating a project management methodology and a software tool to track their processes
and keep a check on the quality of their materials (Tsai 2018). Moreover, they can implement
the critical factors of success in their organization and gain back their reputation as well as
loyalty from their customer base.
The organization should make their stakeholders aware about the objectives they want
to achieve to restart their manufacturing process regarding the ‘Silvertab’ and jeans with
orange tag products. The employees should be instructed not to compromise with their
quality of jeans and customer satisfaction should be their ultimate focus. The investors should
also invest money according such that no quality issues occur (Blaga et al. 2019, August).
The managers should motivate their team to perform effectively and produce to meet their
daily target. Levi’s should also implement the project management tool of MS Project to
track down the progress of the project and make sure that they are generating sufficient

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production for their success. The products should undergo a quality checking procedure to
verify whether they have met the standards of the organization.
Finally, the company should also generate effective communication to bring in
innovative ideas in order to promote their products in the market. The marketing department
will be responsible in the successful launching of the products (Islam 2017). If the company
does not compromise with their costs and complete the project within deadline in their
restricting process, they will surely be successful in the reopening the business venture and
gain back their position in competition with Tommy Hilfiger and its likes.
3. Conclusion
Successful project management is possible only with the proper selection of the
methodology and the suitable tool to plan and track the project processes. This report
emphasizes on the reasons of failure in the new product line of Levi’s and suggests way outs
by which the company can emerge out successfully amongst its competitors and improve
their business processes to achieve success in their revenue margin. The critical success
factors are the touch points that the company should focus on and implement them
accordingly in their project such that it becomes successful in their second time. In
conclusion, it can be said that, the IPECC project management methodology and the MS
Project tool will help the leading clothing manufacturer to improve their business operations
and make the company equally successful in their ‘Silvertab’ project as in their ‘red label’
jeans.

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References
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2019, August. 5A1_0712_ SMART EDUCATION FOR SMART TEXTILES.
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