Managing Successful Business Project

This research focuses on the strategies and benefits of creating a diverse and inclusive workforce in the business industry, with a case study on Vodafone. It explores qualitative and quantitative research methods, project management plan, work breakdown structure, and Gantt chart.

Unit 6 - Managing
Successful Business Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Aims and objective of the project...........................................................................................1
P2 Project Management Plan.......................................................................................................3
P3 Work Breakdown structure and Gantt chart..........................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Qualitative & Quantitative research methods.........................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5: Analyse your research and data using appropriate tools and techniques..............................9
P6 Recommendations................................................................................................................12
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
P7 Reflection.............................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
In modern business era, businesses emphasises on including diversified activities so that
they can easily execute their operational activities in lucrative form. It has also been seen that by
involving diverse and inclusive workforce its easier for businesses to develop better working
environment. It is essential for higher authorities to consider each and every staff member in a
positive manner so they can motivate their employees to perform their activities effectively.
Executing equality & diversity within the organization help in accomplishing all the goals as
well as objective of the organisation in an effective as well as appropriate manner. For the
present research, Vodafone is taken as a base business entity works within a telecommunication
industry. The company was founded in 1991 and is a public limited business company which is
based in London. Vodafone was established by Gerry Whent&Ernest Harrison. The company
have business in all over the world and develop ample number of policies and strategies in order
to develop diversified & inclusive workforce. The report consists of aim and objectives with the
help of which whole investigation is going to be implemented. Along with this, project
management plan, WBS & Gantt chart are also going to be discussed in this research so the
whole research will be concluded in a positive manner.
TASK 1
P1 Aims & objective of the project
Equality and diversified practices plays essential role in the growth of the company as it
ensures employees that they will get equivalent working opportunities at workplace. This report
is mainly conducted on Vodafone in order to determine range of strategies and ways that could
support them in effective incorporation of diverse & inclusive workforce. Project management
define as a written document or blue print of all the activities which is required to conduct by the
investigator for finishing the project effectively. In this, regard investigator has developed
suitable aim and objectives which are specified as below:
Research aim: To identify various strategies and its benefits gain by companies while
implementing it in order to create diverse & inclusive workforce. A case study on Vodafone.
Research objectives:
• To know the importance of diverse & inclusive workforce.
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• To identify different strategies implemented by organisations to develop a diverse
workforce.
• To examine the benefits of executing such strategies in organisation for creating
diverse & inclusive employees.
Research Questions
 What is the importance of diverse and inclusive workforce?
 What are the different strategies implemented by organisation to develop diverse
workforce?
 What are the benefits of implementing such strategies at workplace for creating diverse &
inclusive employees?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Importance of diverse & inclusive workforce
According to the point of view of Arubayi. and Tiemo, (2012)Equality is basically
termed as the state of providing equivalent opportunities to individuals. It plays essential role at
workplace as it motivates existing workforce and influences them to how their own efforts
towards organisational work. Diversity as well as inclusive workforce plays an important role for
achieving competitive advantage over rival firm. In addition to this, diversity brings innovation
and creativity within business organisation. It assists in taking effective decision which will be
beneficial for the firm. Beside from this, diversion and inclusion helps in reducing employee’s
turnover ratio. Apart from this, the significance of having a good culture that holds diversity and
inclusion boost the confidence level of company. In addition to this, it helps in accelerating
productivity & profitability level of the organisation. It also assist in raising brand image &
goodwill of company in the market.
Different strategies implemented by organisations to develop a diverse workforce.
According to the point of view ofFFine-Davs and Faas, (2014), there are different
strategies which are implemented by business organisation in order to maintain diverse
workforce which are as follows:
Make a plan: It is important to make a plan regarding diversity at all level of the
company for a longer time frame. Along with this, it is vital to establish long term plan as well as
stick to it.
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Invest in Diversity Strategies:There are different strategies which are used in diversity
such as talent development, performance management as well as sustain the competence and
talent of an individual person in future period of time.
Train your team:It is necessary to conduct an effective training in order to increase skill
and knowledge that helps in accelerating productivity level. In addition to this, it is also useful in
motivating employees to work in a team for achieving goal & objective of an organisation.
Build in inclusion:The diversity as well as inclusive workforce helps in attaining vision
and mission of organisation in stipulated period of time.
Take Responsibility:Diversity as well as inclusion may generate distress. Thus, it is not
only the duty of Human resource to develop an inclusive workforce and culture. It is necessary
for every person to generate a culture of belonging.
Benefits of executing such strategies in organisation for developing diverse & inclusive
workforce
As per opinion of Janssens and Zanoni, 2014 there are various advantages of implementing
such strategies in organisation in order to generate diverse as well as inclusive workforce such as
boosting revenue of the business firm. In addition to this, it assist in bring innovation and
creativity. And also, it helps in taking effective decision which will be advantageous for the firm
in future period of time. As per authorAshe and Nazroo,(2017) the HR manager offer
opportunities to applicant with an aim to gain competitive advantage from competitors. Diversity
and exclusive workforce increases the productivity& profitability level in organisation. And also
it reduces the employee’s turnover ratio within business firm. It assist in boosting brand image &
reputation of the company at marketplace.
P2 Project Management Plan
Project management referred to as the document that consists of all the essential actions
which is necessary for researcher for executing the project in an effective way. In this context,
various elements are mentioned below in a proper manner. Some of these factors include cost,
size, time, scope & many more.
Cost: It refers to the value of wholeresearch in context of money which is required to
start it in a proper manner. Thus, itis required by the researcher to prepare an effective budget
plan so that they can examine the overall cost required to complete the whole research. In the
present context, researcher wants to identify different strategies and its influence related to
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diversified workforce. For this, effective research is required to conduct by them which need100
pounds to create positive outcome. This would be monitored by project manager by
communicating to their research team and taking follow up from them regarding the same.
Task to perform Expenditure (Pound)
Library Cost 10
Equipment cost 15
Stationary 10
Transportation 15
Miscellaneous expenses 20
Resources 30
Total 100
Scope: The present research has wide scope at the marketplace as it assist in executing
such strategies at workplace which is related with equality and diversity. In addition to this, it is
determine that it help in grabbing various opportunities, which is prevailing at marketplace that
leads towards the enhancement of revenue and sales of the company. From the point of view of
research, this investigation consist wide scope and will assist in other researcher who will
conduct the same investigation in near future.
Time: For every researcher, it is very essential to decide the time duration required by
them in order to complete the whole project in a proper manner. In order to complete the present
investaigation almost 8-10 months is required by the researcher for developing a positive
outcome.
Quality: It is required by the researcher to maintain the quality of data collected by them
in order to develop positive result. For every researcher, it is essential to identify all the
environmental situation, gather required information and develop the quality of all the collected
information. This as a result will assist them in gaining positive response from customers and
have been recognized in a good way .In reference to the present investigation, researcher
maintain the quality of gathered information which maintains the trust and faith of investigator
towards them.
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Communication: Communication is an essential key as researchers need to
communicate all the information with their team members in an effective manner. By the
assistance of effective communication, investigator can instruct their staff members to perform
their entire task effectively & attain the objectives effectively. Investigators adopt different
sources for communication which includes face-to-face, phone calls, emails and many more.
Risk: Every business functions consist of some sort of risk that needs to analyse by the
higher authorities in a proper manner. In reference to the present research, it is determine that
risk involved in this research is related to the information of respondents. There must be
confidentiality so that participants feel positive and give their contribution towards the success of
research topic.
Resources: For completing the overall research in a proper manner it is required to have
sufficient resources. The major essential resources required by the investigator for completing
the overall research in a positive manner includes sufficient amount of funds, land, human
resource and so on. Researcher requires different sources for conducting the whole investigation
in an ethical and systematic manner.
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P3 Work Breakdown structure & Gantt chart
Gantt chart: It is define as a chart that is adopt by the investigator in order to develop
activities associated with the time in an effective manner. This model was proposed by Henry
Gantt that help researcher to completed the project within given time frame. It include time,
initial date, end date that is associated with activities of research.
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Work Breakdown structure:It refers to a technique used by researcher inorder to divide
the complexand difficult activities into small task so that they can perform all the work in a
proper manner. In this technique, researcher basically divides the whole task in small activities
so that they can complete it within given time frame. By the assistance of this, the overall
research will be completed in an appropriate manner.
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TASK 2
P4 Qualitative & Quantitative research methods
For conducting the research in an appropriate manner, investigators adopt different tools
and techniques so that they can collect information & data for completing the whole research in a
proper manner. Qualitative & quantitative methods are used by researcher along with primary &
secondary methods of collection of data. These tools and techniques is given below:
Qualitative Method: It refers to a method with the help of which all the non-numerical
data will be gathered to complete the investigation in a proper manner. All the data &
information which is gathered with the assistance of this tool are in good quality and researcher
can easily relay on such kind of data. It has also been identified that all the information which are
collected with qualitative research method are in the form of descriptive and can easily be
interpret by the researcher.
Quantitative: It is a method used by researcher for gathering statistical, numerical and
mathematical information for completing the overall research in a proper manner. For this,
investigators adopt survey, questionnaires, polls and many other methods so they can effectively
gathered data in the form a numerical.
With the help of above discussion, it can be concluded that researchers adopt quantitative
research method as it assist in gathering numerical data that can be authentic and accurate.
Methods of data collection: In order to gathered information there are two main methods
which includes primary & secondary method for collecting data and information. Both these
method is described below in detail manner as follows which will help in completing the whole
research in an effective manner.
Primary: It is a type of data collection method where information which is being
gathered by the researcher is raw & fresh and is specially gathered for a particular purpose. For
this, different types of sources are there which is used by researcher for gathering primary
information. Questionnaire, observation, survey are the methods used by investigator so that they
can collect the information from individuals in order to develop a positive outcome.
Secondary: In this data collection method, researcher gathers all the information from
different sources as they are available on various websites, newspaper, internet, magazines and
so on. It is a method which is cost as well as time effective and assist researcher in order to
complete the whole research in an effective manner.
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In relation to the present investigation, researcher adopts both primary and secondary
method of data collection so that they can complete the whole investigation in a proper manner.
Along with this, by using both the methods, researcher can collect sufficient amount of
information which will assist them in concluding the overall research in a positive manner.
Literature Review: In order to conduct the whole research, literature review is going to
be conducted by the investigator. This is the secondary sources of data collection methods which
include online journals, sources, books and journals. This is a method which is cost effective and
consumes less time. In this research, secondary method includes literature review is where view
points of different authors are going to be discussed. As per the opinion of van den Brink, 2020,
it has been identified diversity brings creativity as well as innovation within business
organisation. It has also been identified that it helps in taking effective decision which is quite
beneficial for the organization.
Apart from this Alemu, 2019, it is also examined that there are various strategies which
assist in creating equal and diversified workforce within the organization. It has been said that by
implementing effective strategies company can retain their staff members in an effective manner.
On the basis of view point of Keisu and Ahlström., 2020 it is said that there are different
benefits gain by companies by executing equality and diversity practices such as it helps in
increases the productivity and profitability level at the workplace.
Sampling: It has been analysed that there are mainly two main types of sampling which
consist of probability as well as non-probability sampling method. For analysing the influence of
diversity & equality at workplace, researcher adopts random sampling where they chose 40
respondents. With the help of this, positive outcome will be produced by the researcher in an
effective and appropriate manner.
Questionnaire
Q1) Do you have the knowledge about concept equality & diversity at workplace?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) Do you have any sort of knowledge regarding the significance of diverse and inclusive
workforce in the company?
a) Yes
b) No
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Q3) What are the major advantages gain by organisations by the assistance of executing
equality & diversity at workplace?
a) Minimizing employees turnover
b) Hiring of qualified employees
c) Creating innovative and positive workplace
d) Capturing huge consumer market
Q4) What is the impact of implementing strategies for developing diversified & inclusive
workforce in the company?
a) Positive Impact
b) Negative Impact
c) Neutral Impact
Q5) According to discussion which strategy need to use by the management team of Vodafone
in order to develop diverse and inclusive workforce?
a) Developmentof cultural Events
b) Gather inclusion feedback on a regular basis
Q6) Provide recommendations to the higher authorities of Vodafone in order to overcome from
the negative influence of diverse & inclusive workforce.
TASK 3
P5: Analyse your research & data by using appropriate tools as well as techniques
Theme 1: Idea regarding the equality & diversity in the workplace
Q1) Do you have the knowledge about concept equality & diversity at
workplace?
Frequency
a) Yes 30
b) No 10
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30
10
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: By analysing the above graph, it is determine that out of total 40
respondents, 30 have the knowledge about equality and diversity concept. Whereas, the
remaining 10 have no idea about this concept.
Theme 2: Knowledge about the significance of diverse & inclusive manpower within an
organisation
Q2) Do you have any sort of knowledge regarding the significance of diverse
and inclusive workforce in the company?
Frequency
a) Yes 35
b) No 5
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35
5
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: Above mentioned information help in identifying that out of 40
respondents, 35 individuals’ saysthat the concept of inclusive & diverse workforce has every
important role in the growth and development of an organization. On the other hand, remaining 5
individuals says that according to them diverse as well as inclusive workforces are not essential
for the growth of an organization as it creates confusions among the workplace.
Theme 3: Benefits for an organisation while implementation of equality in the business
Q3) What are the major advantages gain by organisations by the assistance of
executing equality & diversity at workplace?
Frequency
a) Minimizing employees turnover 10
b) Hiring of qualified employees 10
c) Creating innovative and positive workplace 10
d) Capturing Huge consumer market 10
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10
1010
10
a) Minimizing employees
turnover
b) Hiring of qualified
workforce
c) Creating positive and
innovative workplace
d) Capturing Huge
consumer market
Interpretation: With the assistance of above table, it is said that there are various benefits
which is gained by the management team of Vodafone by implementing equality and diversity at
the workplace. In this case every individual or respondents have equal opinion towards the
benefits of equality and diversity. Effective implementation of such strategy assists in reducing
employee turnover, help in hiring qualified and skilled staff members. Apart from this, It will
assist in developing positive and innovative working environment which help in reducing the
turnover of employees. At last it will assist in capturing huge consumer base at the competitive
marketplace.
Theme 4: Effectiveness of equality and diversity
Q4) What is the impact of implementing strategies for developing diversified
and inclusive workforce within the organization?
Frequency
a) Positive Impact 30
b) Negative Impact 6
c) Neutral Impact 4
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30
6
4
a) Positive Impact
b) Negative Impact
c) Neutral Impact
Interpretation: It is identified that importance of diversity & equality help managers of
the company in creating positive impact. Out of 40 respondents, 30 say that company have
positive influence on the staff members and on the business organisation. In addition to this, 6
respondents says that it will create negative impact on the functioning of business operations
whereas remaining 4 respondents says that neutral impact is created by implementing equality
and diversity within the workplace.
Theme 5: Types of strategies adopt by Vodafone to develop a diverse &inclusive workforce
Q5) According to discussion which strategy need to use by the management
team of Vodafone in order to develop diverse and inclusive workforce?
Frequency
a) Developmentof cultural Events 25
b) Gather inclusion feedback on a regular basis 15
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25
15
a) Development of cultural
Events
b) Gather inclusion
feedback on a regular basis
Interpretation: By analysing the above graph, it is clear that out of total 40 participants,
25 respondents think that development of cultural events is one the effective strategy to
implement equality and diversity at workplace. On the other side, the remaining 15 respondents
said that taking feedback on continuous basis is assist in implementing inclusive & diverse
workforce.
P6 Recommendations
Investigators give some recommendations to the management team of Vodafone so that they
can adopt all the strategies and policies in an effective manner and produce positive and
favourable outcomes. Some of the most essential recommendations are going to be discussed as
follows:-
 Higher authorities of Vodafone require enhance their understanding about the
significance of the equality &diversity of staff members within the organization so that
they can engage employees for longer time period.
 Along with this, it is also suggested to higher authorities that before implementing such
strategies within the organization managers need to identify the current market situation.
This will assist them in maintaining sustainability and stability at the marketplace. Also
managers require to provide equal opportunity to their male & female so they can
develop positive working environment.
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 Apart from this, proper organisational strategy helps management team of the company
to examine their requirements and conduct smooth running of business entity at the
competitive marketplace.
TASK 4
P7 Reflection
While doing the investigation, it is observed by me that it is important for investigator to
have some effective qualities in order to implement activities in a proper manner. Most difficult
task for me is to interact with participants’ as I have very low confidence level which impact on
the overall research negatively. At the end of this research, my communication, team working
skills has been increased. There are some limitations which affect the research conclusion which
includes limited resources, lack of funds, time and many other required things. All these
elements affect overall research in a negative manner
Template for Performance Review to be attached with the report by the learner:
1. What is the current Project supposed to attain?
Major aim of the current investigation is “To identify various strategies and its benefits gain by
companies while implementing it in order to create diverse & inclusive workforce. A case
study on Vodafone.” The primary reason behind doing this investigation is to identify different
sort of benefits attain with the help of diversified workforce. .
2. Do you think the project get success in their aims/ how you know that? Specifically,
please define any evaluation as well as assessment undertaken.
Yes, on the basis of my own point of view, the aim of the research is successfully attained by
me with the assistance of my team mates along with the management team. Apart from this, I
got sufficient amount of knowledge & understanding about the specific topic and can easily
and effectively conduct the investigation in an appropriate and ethical manner in near future.
3. What elements according to you worked well & why? Examine all the aspects of
project (e.g initial inception, project activities and project outcomes) from a range of
perspectives.
With the assistance of my communication skill it has been observed by me that I was
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performing the current investigation in an effective manner. Main purpose behind this is that I
have that quality to convince participants so that they can effectively take part in the
investigation. Result of this research help in creating unique and new strategies according to
the requirements.
4. What issues arise at the time of the project and how they were tackled? Was the issues
are timely identified and resolve at the time of project process.
Main problems and issue faced while performing this research is linked with the process of
data collection. Reason behind this is my communication skill due to which the whole outcome
of the research get affected in a negative manner. In order to reduce the negative influence I
have started taking sessions with my team members and interacting with them on a regular
basis which assist me in improving my ability. .
5. What did you learn from the project?
While doing the research project, I have learned ample number of things which increases my
overall skills which help me in attaining opportunities in my both professional as well as
personal life. In addition to this, my skills related to research and analytical get improved in
effective manner with the help of this investigation.
6. How will you rate your whole performance as a management consultant leading this
project?
8 out of 10 will rate my overall performance as I gave my 100 percent in completing the whole
research in an authentic and accurate manner and within given time period. This will help me
in near future as I have enough knowledge to conduct the whole investigation in an appropriate
manner..
7. What are the strengths as well as weakness of your performance you identify?
Communication skill is one of my strength whereas team management skills is my weakness
which has been observed by me when I was conducting this whole research project.
8. How this inform as well as support your continuous professional development?
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At the end, it is observed by me that the investigation help me in near future and the reason
behind this is my improved skills and knowledge. This will help me in order to grab
opportunities available at the competitive marketplace as my personal as well as personal
improvement has been done by conducting the investigation.
CONCLUSION
From the above research, it is analysed that success of an organization depends on the
strategies as well as policies adopted by the higher authorities of an association. Effectively
implementation of strategies helps in performing all the business functions in a proper manner at
the competitive marketplace. It has also been identified that for every researcher to communicate
all the information and data with their team members that leads to implementation of activities in
proper manner. Along with this, project management plan is going to be developed with the help
of which goals & objectives of the organisation will be accomplished in a proper manner. Apart
from this, recommendation will be given to the higher authorities of organization that help to
formulate their strategies & policies in an appropriate manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Andersson, E., Johansson, M., Lidestav, G. and Lindberg, M., 2018. Constituting gender and
gender equality through policy. Equality, diversity and inclusion: An international
journal.
Booysen, L.A., Bendl, R. and Pringle, J.K. eds., 2018. Handbook of Research Methods in
Diversity Management, Equality and Inclusion at Work. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Bowl, M., 2018. Differentiation, distinction and equality–or diversity? The language of the
marketised university: an England, New Zealand comparison. Studies in Higher
Education, 43(4), pp.671-688.
Ng, E.S. and Stamper, C.L., 2018. A Trump presidency and the prospect for equality and
diversity. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal.
Radcliffe, S.A., 2018. Tackling Complex Inequalities and Ecuador's Buen Vivir: Leaving No‐
one Behind and Equality in Diversity. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 37(4),
pp.417-433.
Schwarzenthal, M., Schachner, M.K., van de Vijver, F.J. and Juang, L.P., 2018. Equal but
different: Effects of equality/inclusion and cultural pluralism on intergroup outcomes
in multiethnic classrooms. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(2),
p.260.
Syed, J. and Ozbilgin, M., 2019. Managing diversity and inclusion: An international perspective.
SAGE Publications Limited.
Willey, R., 2018. Race, equality and schools. Routledge.
Online
Benefits And Risk Of Product Development Strategy. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-risks-product-development-strategy-
73728.html
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APPENDIX I
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