Foundation of Business Management: A Practical Report

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FOUNDATION OF BUSINESS
MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: Demonstrate understanding of business management functions relevant
tools/models and their uses in the practice week activity...........................................................4
Task 2-Reflective report........................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................12
References.............................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
This report highlights the importance of leadership and project management in the success of
the business. Leadership possesses an imperative role in achieving the goals and objectives of
the company. A good leader not only enhances the performance of the organization but also
encourage their employees with the help of effective communication to solve their issues and to
enhance their performance in the business. Every company has its structure in which the
company has many functions. The main function of the company is operations management
which plays an important role in the growth of the business. There is various transformation
model which is discussed in this report. The other important function in the business is project
management. There are various tools and techniques of project management which is
discussed in this report.
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Task 1: Demonstrate understanding of business management functions relevant
tools/models and their uses in the practice week activity
Behind the success of every business, there is a huge role of their leaders, project managers,
and their operations management. These are the important function which enhances the growth
of the business and with the help of these functions, the company will be able to accomplish its
goals and objectives.
Leadership
A good leader plays a significant role in enhancing the performance of the business. A good
leader not only supports his team but also encourage them to put more extra efforts which
enhance their performance. A good leader can possess various leadership skills to motivate the
employees more and to take effective decision in the organization for the betterment of the
company. There are various qualities which a good leader possess and these qualities can be
innovative thinker, having good communication skills, self-confident and have the willingness to
take challenges (Strom, et. al., 2014).
A good leader will always ready to take new challenges because new challenges bring more
opportunities in the company which is essential for the growth of the business. There is various
leadership skill which can be possessed by the effective leader and these skills are as follows:
 Autocratic leadership- This is a type of leadership style in which the leader takes all the
decision on their own without discussing it with their employees or other team members.
The leader will be the one who takes appropriate decision for the betterment of the
business.
 Democratic leadership- In this leadership style, the leader will discuss the problem with
their team members or another employee before taking any decision. The leader will
listen to all the suggestions coming from their employees and team member and after
that only will take any decision.
 Transformational Leadership- It is a leadership style in which a leader will motivate his
employees to put more efforts into their work. The leader will bring more challenges to
the organization to enhance the performance of their team members.
The other important function in the business is organizational structure. Organizational structure
is the procedure which directed the company how the tasks of the company will take place to
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accomplish the goals and objectives of the association. Organizational structure not only
provides efficiency in the work but assess the organization to remain focus towards their
objectives. There are two types of organization structure which are centralized structure and
decentralized structure. In Centralized structure, there is a flow of decisions from top to down
approach while in the decentralized structure, the process of decision making takes place on
several levels of the company.
Operation management is an important aspect of the business in the organization. For the
procedure of handling the developing the goods and services in the organization, operation
management can be used. This management consist of various strategies, managing the
resources and coordinating. Operation management is the most key function of any business
which can be implemented in the company in order to manage the employees of the company,
adopting new technology, new features, and managing equipment are in order to produce
goods and services in the organization. There are different types of operation management
which possess different functions in the organization. There is a various role of operation
management in the company. Operation management is responsible for developing new plans,
strategies, and designs in order to enhance the sales of the company which will assess the
organization in generating more profits.
Operation management also possesses transformation role in the organization. Operation
management converts the inputs in the outputs like the role of operation management is to
convert raw materials into a finished product which can launch in the market (Dumas, et. al.,
2013). These inputs can be HR like employees, managers, pioneers, and various processes.
Operation management can convert these inputs in the outputs which are beneficial for the
growth of the company.
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[Figure: Transformational role of operations management]
This role of Operation management can enhance the growth of the business and also it is
responsible for the success of the company. Taking the wrong decision not only affects the
growth of the business but also affect the profits of the business (Heizer, et. al., 2017).
Therefore, it is essential for the company to take effective decisions which can be done with the
help of operation management. The operation management examines the market condition and
also determine the requirements of the customers carefully before taking any decision. This will
assess the operational management of the company in taking effective decisions which
supports the company in the expansion of their business at the international level and also the
organization able to attract more customers.
The other important function of the business is project management. Project management plays
a huge role in the success of any business. Without effective project management, it is
impossible for organizations to survive in the market (Too and Weaver, 2014). Project
management is a procedure of implementing various activities in the organization with the help
of various tools, techniques, knowledge's and planning in order to fulfill the requirements of a
particular project.
A project can be a procedure which can be implemented in order to accomplish the goals of the
organization. A project can get successful, with the help of proper planning, execution, proper
knowledge of technology and efforts. A successful project will always deliver various benefits for
the organization and it will assess the organization in enhancing their productivity and growth.
There are various important components of successful project management. These components
are as follows:
 Explanation of various reason why a project is essential in the organization.
 Creating and implementing an appropriate plan for the success of the project.
 Encouraging the team of the project so that the team will be able to put more efforts.
 Handling the various risks associated with the project and also managing the various
issues and challenges which can be faced by the organization
 Maintaining the budget of the project (Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015).
To complete a successful project in the business, it is essential for the managers of the
project to implement project management triangle. This model can be used by the
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organization in order to examine the result of the projects. This model states that the scope
of a project mainly depends on three things which are time taken in completing the project,
quality of the result and the cost which is spent in executing the project.
[Figure 2: project objectives]
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Task 2-Reflective report
Reflection can be the best way to have information about the inner self and to have a good self-
assessment. It is very important for a person to have a self-assessment so that the strong and
weak points can be known. This is also a reflective report that will focus on my learnings during
the studies of the units of the foundation of business management. This report will lay emphasis
on the weekly learnings and my experience of working in a team to complete the assignment of
the unit. The report will also present the evidences of my learnings during the assignment.
I want to share my experience and my learnings during the assignment. Our tutor gave us a
group assignment, and we all worked very hard to accomplish the assignment. There were
various difficulties during the completion of the project, but by putting efforts and hard work, we
all successfully completed the assignment successfully. There were various things that I learned
while doing the assignment, and that made me learn about various new concepts of business
management in practice. I am sure that the learnings of this unit will help me in my future.
The first thing that I learnt about is the importance of communication. Communication is very
important in any business or at any place. Effect rive communication is the essence of effective
management of the business. I came to know that effective communication is significant for the
management of all the people in the business or any project. I learnt that a leader must have the
quality of effective communication so that he is able to communicate about the plans and
objectives of the business to his subordinates. I want to present the importance of effective
communication with the help of an example. During our assignment, we all discussed to
complete our parts and assemble them in the end. When we started combining all the tasks, we
came to know that each group member has done the work in a different manner, and there is no
link between the tasks. All this mess happened because of a lack of effective communication
between all of us. Then our team leader told us to have regular communication and hold regular
meetings so that each one can have information about all the other activities and tasks done by
other team members. When we all started discussing the information about each other’s works,
we succeeded to complete the assignment in a successful manner.
The next important thing that I want to share is the significance of budgetary controls in
completing any assignment or project. As we also learnt about the effective project
management and the roles of project managers in the successful accomplishment of the project,
it is important to learn about the importance of budgetary controls (Fleming and Koppelman,
2016). I gained information about the importance of the budgetary constraints during my project
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only. I and my team members decided to complete the assignment under the budgetary
constraint of 50$, but as we divided out tasks, we all spent more money in the completion of the
project. When the project was done, and it was over budget then we all realized that we did not
take care of the budgets which is one of the main tasks of a project manager and if we all are
studying about the roles of a project manager, we all must have information about this (Marioara
And Lucica, 2019).
One more important thing that I gained insights about during the project is the making of a work
break down structure and a Gantt chart using the Microsoft office programs. As my team
members and I divided the tasks, we all also framed some time frame for each of the tasks. To
have a clear picture of the division of work and the time frame, our team leader suggested
preparing a work break down structure and a Gantt chart. By this, I came to know about the
significance of information and communication technology in the completion of the assignment
or any project. I gained information about the usage and application of computer applications in
the completion of the projects. I am very happy that I contributed to this assignment as I learnt a
lot of new things that I did not know before getting engaged in this assignment.
In completing any assignment, it is important that the person completing the work has good
problem-solving skills. Problem-solving skills are very important at every step of a person’s life.
In business too, the business manager must have effective problem-solving skills. There are
various business risks and issues that the manager has to face while managing the business in
an effective manner (Funke and Frensch, 2017). While taking a business decision effectively, it
is significant for a business manager to evaluate all the situations of the business and then try to
resolve all the issues that come in the way of the business. In project management also, there
are various problems that a project manager might encounter, by the effective problem-solving
skills, a project manager can solve all, the problems and complete the project successfully.
At last, I want to share my experience of working in a team. I had very fewer chances of
working in a team, but I must say that this assignment was the best teamwork for me so far.
This is because I gained information about various new concepts and things by my group
members also. I learnt that it is important for a person to be collaborative and cooperative while
working in a team (Horrocks, et. al., 2018). I realized that when the assignments are done by a
group, the quality of the assignment improves as all the group members have different ideas
and methods of completing the project. The ideas of all the team members make the
assignment successful (Costa, et. al., 2015). I also learnt about the relevance of teamwork as all
of my team members helped me in a lot in the areas where I lagged. All then team members
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supported me a lot in my work. I am very happy that I was involved in this group assignment as
this was very helpful for me to have useful information and knowledge about important aspects
of business management.
In conclusion, I want to say that working in a group was a great experience for me as this was
truly a learning experience for me. I gained information about various aspects of business
management that will help me in my future and will also provide me with assistance in the
upcoming assignments in the unit. Working in the group helped me to know about the
importance of teamwork and team spirit in completing any assignment.
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