AstraZeneca plc: Project Management Analysis and Strategy Development

This project management assignment analyzes the challenges faced by AstraZeneca plc. during its business expansion, focusing on project initiation, customer relationship management, and the development of efficient business processes. The project identifies success and failure factors, managerial challenges, and applications of project, operations, and information systems management. It includes a work breakdown structure, Gantt chart, critical path analysis, and a budget schedule. The analysis emphasizes the importance of project member involvement, executive management support, proper planning, and the use of information systems to manage ethical considerations and customer data. The project also covers quality measurement post-project, training requirements, and the assignment of project sponsors and team members. The project concludes by emphasizing the importance of cost, time, and quality in ensuring project success.

Running Head: Project Management
Project Management
AstraZeneca plc.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Project Description.......................................................................................................................1
Project Objective..........................................................................................................................2
Project Success and Failure Factors.............................................................................................2
Managerial Challenge......................................................................................................................3
Application of Project Management to the Challenge.....................................................................4
Application of Operations Management to the Challenge..............................................................4
Application of Information Systems Management to the Challenge...............................................5
Approach to Measurement of Quality post-project.........................................................................6
Assignment of the Project Sponsor and project Team.....................................................................6
Requirements of Training................................................................................................................7
Work Breakdown Structure.............................................................................................................7
Gantt chart.......................................................................................................................................8
Critical Path.....................................................................................................................................9
Budget Schedule............................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Executive Summary
The project management team of the AstraZeneca plc. explain a wide scope for the expansion of
its business. The formulation of project initiation team along with maintaining the existing
relationship with its customers and well formulation of the different business processes is
difficult. Consideration of different strategies which are mentioned in the work breakdown
structure enables the organization in considering its apt situation with the required implantation.
Introduction
AstraZeneca plc. is considered as a famous multinational pharmaceutical organization. During
2013, it moved its headquarter to Cambridge, England. It is dealing with a wide range of
products. It mainly produces products for major diseases such as gastrointestinal, cancer
infection, respiratory, neuroscience, and inflammation. The organization came to existence
during 1999, due to the merger of the Swedish Astra AB and the English Zeneca Group. Its wide
range of products and its quality makes it popular among the people of different countries.
Project Description
In this project, we will study the problem which faced by AstraZeneca during its lifetime. It finds
that there is huge scope for it to expand its own business. During its expansion, the main problem
which faced by the organization is that it finds difficulty in establishment of initiation team of the
project and also in maintaining the existing relationship with its potential customers. In addition,
it also faced a great challenge in the development of different business procedures (Khanna,
2012). All these problems reduce the profitability of the organization and work as hurdles in the
accomplishment of the expansion program.

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Project Objective
The objective of the project is to consider the strategies with the improved processes which
would improve the organization in considering the apt situation with the needed implementation.
It is necessary for the organization to develop different strategies which prove helpful for the
organization in making relationship with its existing clients as well as customers.
Project Success and Failure Factors
Project Success factor
Improved process strategies with considering the apt situation can efficiently develop by
focusing on following factors:
 Project Members Involvement: The absence of project member involvement influences
the success of the project in high context. The project may fail if project members in
developing the improved strategies are not involved in an efficient manner. Even when
delivered on predetermined budget, and time. If lack involvement of project members is
there, the whole project can become a failure (Kerzner, 2013). So, project members
should include during the development of strategies for resolving the problem.
 Support of Executive Management: This affects the progress and process of project and
absence of input from executive can put a project at a serious disadvantage.
 Clear Statement of requirements: This refers to the required and base level requirements.
The project manager is able to reduce the effect of change by creating an obtainable and
base level of requirements (Davenport, 2013). The high benefit of this factor is that
project manager can better prepare towards priorities of the next phase of a project.

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 Proper Planning: It is the key factor which influences overall success of the project.
Creating a project plan should be the priority of project manager. In the absence of it,
project objective cannot achieve in an efficient manner.
Apart from all this success of resort project is highly depends on competent staff, realistic
expectations, hard-working and focused staff, ownership and smaller project milestone. If all
these things are focused by the project manager in an efficient manner, he will be able to gain his
predetermined project objectives in the required manner.
Project Failure factor
A project of improved process strategy development may fail due to the following factor:
 Estimation and Planning Factor: If schedule and the initial cost of the project are not
estimated in right manner than the overall project can fail (Khanna, 2012). The estimation
may be wrong if the project manager finds more information available for the project. In
the same manner, if plans are not utilized in right direction to guide the project onward,
thus causing the overall project to fail.
 Implementation Factor: This is caused by wrong use of project methodology, changes in
project scope, changes in testing and requirements, and poor inspection.
Managerial Challenge
The managerial challenge for AstraZeneca is the implementation of an improved strategy
developed for the organization. Most of the customers along with the investors and the
distributors offer the relevant and current suggestion that is previous and beneficial for the
management, and the strategies fail to be implemented as per predetermined time period. The top

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level management of the organization is not so smart in exhibiting their argumentative nature
along with nature and behaviors that result in high negativity for AstraZeneca plc (Kerzner,
2013). True colors of the organization are identified in the form of an actual life condition at
work, and this is not replicated with the condition that is faced with the position of a senior
management of the organization.
Application of Project Management to the Challenge
The application of different techniques and tools forming an important part of the organization
life cycle developed an interlinked cycle for the working of the organization. All customers have
different knowledge regarding a particular concept. The project management works as an aid in
the achievement of project success. The wider analysis of the thoughts of investors and
distributors is highly related to the project of AstraZeneca plc. The cost of conducting the survey
is high for the organization (Reed, 2013). It is because of the resources such as time, space, and
manpower work as a constraint in the success of the organization project. All the required
information and sources are collected through conducting library research and reading different
types of journals, literature, case studies, online websites, journals, annual reports, public reports
corporate reports, magazines, and different type of theories. The feasibility of the organization
project is highly related to the linked benefits and the opportunities along with the measure of
success.
Application of Operations Management to the Challenge
It is considered that operation management arena provides a higher level play arena for the
organization and its different applications. All these applications are considered from the
operational viewpoint to contain the provisioning of the different solutions which offer a ray of
hope (Niknam, 2012). All day to day procedures of the organization will contain the improved

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criteria involved in the implementation of different business strategies, and any such decision can
adopt by the top management of the organization. Little is known about the pharmaceutical
culture of the different organization in a wide range of countries with different cultural and
socioeconomic environment also poses a challenge (Heizer, 2013).
Application of Information Systems Management to the Challenge
As per the given project situation, it is the responsibilities of the different computer security
professionals to deal with different types of ethical issues while working. It is because they are
considered the trained and expert persons in managing the different types of security issues in
computers (Marchewka, 2014). The management of the organization should link itself with the
social media which brings different types of alternatives procedures and plans as part of their
own policy in maintaining the predetermined ethical standards for its existing users of the
service. It is the responsibility of the management to clearly state its ethical standards related to
the information technology such as privacy settlement twitter policy said that the sharing of
information that is personal to a particular user can be collected from the service and can utilized
by the organization for its own use or the use of third parties connected to it (Tran, 2013). All
these things are considered immaterial for the organization because there is a provision that
anyone can utilize it worldwide from any part of the country and usage for the services provided
online on the social media platform of AstraZeneca plc. All type of information that is shared by
the user through using online media is considered as sole discretion and the others information
with the liability that the organization with respect to its presences can share it with its different
partners (Sears, 2015). All the terms and conditions that bind the user is mentioned by the
organization at its website form. These mentioned terminologies bind the organization and the
potential users in agreement. The privacy policy related to any profile of the social media

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websites having the online presence that can have with the organization. It states all terms and
conditions of high clarity along with the language that is comprehended with the user's benefits
and provisioning of the services.
Approach to Measurement of Quality post-project
This stage of the project is considered as an important process improvement activity for future
projects. The following stages should consider which measurement of quality post-project:
 Customers Acceptance: Project is not completed till customers of the organization give
their acceptance. At this stage, the project manager conducted meeting with the sponsor
of a project to discuss quality post project around the acceptance criteria for the project.
 Conduct Project Assessment: It is necessary to take feedback from the staff members and
customers of the organization as well as the team of the project also. This is done to
enhance opportunities for improvement in future products (Gido, 2014).
 Complete Archive of Project: It is the big part of the whole project. It is necessary for the
project management team of the organization to manage their project documents in an
efficient manner.
After following all these stages, the team of the project can successfully announce quality of the
project. A post-project quality appraisal can do with the help of a questionnaire. After
completing the project successfully, the project manager can distribute a questionnaire to tourists
and resort members. This enables the project manager to know the view of the members towards
change so that further changes can be performed as per requirement.

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Assignment of the Project Sponsor and project Team
The team to carry out the whole project assigned at AstraZeneca plc. The employees of the
organization performing work in different types of the department to give their contributions in
support of the project. Due to the delay in the project, the relationship of organization with its
retailers is affected in large extent. The second phase launch of the organization is very slow
which may incur extra cost of the organization. The existing bond level within the different team
members was vanishing continuously and cooperation may expect from them.
Requirements of Training
Training of employees is considered the responsibility of the organization management.
Employee development is necessary to perform all tasks in the desired manner. It is a shared
obligation of the employee and the employer to gain the particular objective (Aykin, 2016). The
role of management is to provide an appropriate learning environment and resources that aids in
the advancement of growth requirement of every employee.

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Work Breakdown Structure

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Gantt chart
Critical Path
Critical path of the project is shown below in red

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Budget Schedule
The budget of the project is the combination of different types of cost involved in the accounting
of the whole project with the variable resources and fixed resources, and the variable resources
are highly linked to the production of different pharmacy products and the labour cost. The
below mentioned are the budget schedule of the organization: