Business Project Management: Sainsbury’s Project Plan and Research

This project focuses on managing a successful business project within the context of Sainsbury's, a major UK supermarket chain. It begins by devising project aims and objectives, emphasizing the impact of digital technology and addressing challenges like digital disruption and transformation. The project includes a detailed management plan covering cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk, and resources. A work breakdown structure (WBS) and a Gantt chart are created to provide a clear timeline for project completion. Furthermore, the project incorporates small-scale research using both qualitative and quantitative research methods to meet the defined project aims and objectives, providing a comprehensive approach to business project management.

MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PROJECT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
TASK 1..............................................................................................................................................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...........................................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................10
P4- CARRY OUT SMALL-SCALE RESEARCH BY APPLYING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH METHODS APPROPRIATE FOR MEETING PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES............10
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Digital technology and the transformational changes now revolutionized the working criteria
and the way of operating the business in an effective manner. It totally changes the scenario
and business activities with the technology and innovative ideas that can enhance the
effectiveness as well as the efficiency of the business criteria. In this research project, the
management planning with the timeline structure will describe that covers the scope, cost,
quality, time, communication, risk and resources of the research. Further qualitative and
quantitative research methodologies will describe that is used for gathering the data and
relevant information regarding research subjects (Piccinini, et al. 2015). The topic includes
impacts of digital technology and the major challenges of digital disruption and transformation,
which will analyze by the several methods and findings in order to identify the factors as well as
making the organization more profitable accordingly.
The chosen organization for this research project is Sainsbury’s, which is the largest
supermarket chain of UK that provides several services and goods to the people. They have
been used various types of approaches and methodologies towards the attainment of goals and
making the organization proficient.
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TASK 1
P1- DEVISE PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES FOR A CHOSEN SCENARIO
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
The major aim of the research project is to analyze the factors that impacted the business
strategies and their environment either positively or negatively in both ways. The company
provides best services and goods to the customers as per their needs in order to gain
competitive advantages as well as enhancing the effectiveness. They used many tactics and
approaches by which they can make effective decisions regarding the improvement of quality
of services. The aim is to find the influencing factors and analyze the impacts of digital
disruption and transformation on the current business activities (Kane, et al. 2015). The
objectives of the research project must be SMART, which might be helpful for defining the
strategies and making the decision towards the accomplishment of the goals and objectives.
The digital transformation revolutionized the overall business criteria and impacted the
business activities positively that is viable for the organization in order to make the strategic
decision that can enhance the profitability rate and gives satisfactory outcome as well.
Following objectives are described below-
 To make the strategic decision with the support of entire staff members in order to
change the policies and use new techniques for improving the level of effectiveness.
 To Make proper use of available resources and also ensure the availability of it, by which
it is easier to improve the quality standards.
 Proper monitoring and controlling of the services.
 To conduct training programs for the employees, so that they can develop their abilities
and do their work effectively.
 To make use of cloud computing, communicational strategies, artificial intelligence and
the big data analytics in order to make changes and the growth or development of the
organization (Goyal, 2017).
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 Allocate the roles and responsibilities of the staff members and employees in a proper
manner according to their experiences.
P2- PRODUCE A PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN THAT COVERS ASPECTS OF
COST, SCOPE, TIME, QUALITY, COMMUNICATION, RISK AND RESOURCES
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS:
The project management process can be defined as the administrative procedure that helps in
planning and controlling of the services with the proper implementation of the strategies. It is
totally based on the contracts given by the customers that targeted initial values of the process.
It comprises of various tools and approaches that are helpful for the identification of different
needs and demands of the people in order to provide them with such required things. For the
development and successive operations of the business, this process is beneficial that helps in
the accomplishment of goals and objectives (Chaffey, 2015). as it is well known that there are
various functional groups and departments within the organization that works towards gaining
competitive advantages, so these approaches help the management to meet the requirements
regarding the satisfactory outcome. Proper optimization of these technical terms or approaches
will enhance the effectiveness of an organization and improves the quality standards as well.
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Figure: Project Management Process
[Source: https://onlinedigitaltechnology.com/the-5-phases-of-project-management-process/]
There are basically five stages in the project management process such as-
 Initiation- it is the initial stage in which objectives and aims are formulated with the
strategic decisions towards the enhancement of the effectiveness. The analysis of needs
and demands takes place in this step so that the management can easily make effective
decisions regarding it.
 Planning- after analyzing the needs and demands of the people, the planning of the
business needs to be executed with the specific guidelines within the set time frame. It
might be also helpful for the effective optimization of resources, communication, quality
and the set time duration accordingly (Loebbecke and Picot, 2015).
 Execution- predetermined policies and the planning are executed towards development
and growth of the organization that must be ensuring the feasibility of planning and
decisions.
 Monitoring and controlling- after execution of the planning and policies, the
management department is responsible to monitor the performance in order to reduce
risks factors as well as improving quality standards accordingly.
 Project handover- it is the last stage in which the management can evaluate the
performance and easily measures the effectiveness of working criteria.
PROJECT PLAN:
Executive summary: in order to make strategic plan and decision, various methodologies have
been used, by which it is easier to gain success. For the development and growth of the
organization, it is viable to make adequate decisions regarding accomplishment of the goals and
objectives (Luck, 2017).
Strategic alliance: it includes various services and approaches for the improvement of
organizational processes in order to gain competitive advantages as well as enhancing the
effectiveness accordingly.
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Quality checking: it is the most important factor in order to evaluate performances and quality
of the services and goods. The management department of the company is responsible to
check the quality before delivering it to the customers so that they get best services and helps
in making the organization profitable accordingly. It is evaluated for ensuring the area of
improvement and the standards of services and goods.
Resource management: in order to provide services and goods to the people as per their
needs, production department makes various strategies and with the help of available
resources, it can be acquired (Lyytinen, et al. 2016). The HR department of the company is
responsible to manage the plans and make the resources available for the people so that they
can easily do their work in an effective manner towards the accomplishment of the goals and
objectives.
Cost management: finance department of the company is responsible to make budget plans
and manage the costing for the operational services such as labour costing, expenditure,
investments, and many other business activities.
Risk management: while executing the plans, there is the huge chance of some of the risk
factors that can influence the operational services, so it must be analyzed and reduced
properly. Effective planning and strategies can reduce the risk factors and helps in mitigating
the negative consequences within the organization (Matt, et al. 2015).
Communication management: communication strategy plays an imperative role in conveying
the messages to each other effectively. When new plans and the policies take place then
effective communication works as the medium to convey the strategies to entire staff
members. It helps to make their plans according to the working criteria and works according to
it towards the accomplishment of the goals and objectives.
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P3- PRODUCE A WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE AND A GANTT CHART TO
PROVIDE TIMEFRAMES AND STAGES FOR COMPLETION
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE:
A work breakdown structure is the key deliverable project element that can organize the team
working criteria properly. It can also be defined as the hierarchical decomposed structure of the
teamwork that is used for the attainment of project objectives as well as creates the required
deliverables. The major purpose of this work breakdown structure is to reduce the
organizational problems and issues and also manages the business activities. It also helps in
gathering the relevant information that can also define the proper limit of the working
structures (Morakanyane, et al. 2017). It also reduces the complicated task activities within the
organization. The task should be measurable by the management team and there must be
clearly defined objectives or limits, which manages the working criteria and helps in mitigating
the risk factors accordingly.
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Figure: Work Breakdown Structure
[Source: http://templatelab.com/wbs/]
RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES:
There are majorly two types of research methodologies have been used in order to gather the
data and relevant information regarding the research topic. With the help of these
methodologies, it is easier to collect the information by which the decision can be made. It also
helps in analyzing the relevant factors as well as directs the way to further improvement and
growth. Primary research data can be collected through the survey, interviews, questionnaire
etc. while books, journals, articles and research papers are used in the secondary research
methodology for gathering the data (Peppard and Ward, 2016). With the help of these
methods, it is easier to identify the key findings of the digital transformation and disruption in
the business activities accordingly.
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GANTT CHART:
It is the tool that is used for setting the time frame and evaluating the performances of certain
projects. It scheduled the task and analyzes the proper timing regarding completion of the
projects. This chart is also being helpful for getting information that can also estimate the time
frame as well as manages the organizational things properly. Proper management and
controlling of the operations are also included in this.
The estimated time frame for completing the project is about to 10 months
ACTIVITIES 1-2 MONTHS 3-4 MONTHS 5-6 MONTHS 7-8 MONTHS 9-10 MONTHS
Planning initiation
Resource and
quality planning
Gathering of
business
requirements
Documenting the
existing system
Designing of
system
System
construction
Installation of the
new system
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maintenance of
system
Evaluation and
analysis
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TASK 2
P4- CARRY OUT SMALL-SCALE RESEARCH BY APPLYING QUALITATIVE AND
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS APPROPRIATE FOR MEETING PROJECT
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH-
Qualitative research can be defined as the primary research that is used for gaining the
understanding of reasons, motivations and the opinions that also provide insight into the
problems as well as develops ideology or hypotheses for the research methodology. It is used
for uncovering the trends that also includes group discussion, interviews, participation,
observation and another method, by which it is easier to collect the data and identify the
perceptions of people regarding it (Rossini, et al. 2015). The sample size is relatively small and
with the proper analysis, key findings will be acquired accordingly.
Quantitative research is majorly used to quantify the problems and issues by the means of
generating numerical data and figuring out the actual phenomenon into statistical value. The
proper identification of behaviour, attitude, perception, opinions and the other variables of
people will be acquired by this research methodology. It is used measurable data in order to
formulate uncover patterns in the entire research project (Sharon and Dori, 2015). The
collection of data can be done through the different methods of the survey such as online
survey, mobile survey, kiosk survey, paper survey, longitudinal studies, website interceptors
and many other systematic observational records.
Apart from that, the other method is literature review that will be done by the articles, journals,
papers and books, which gives insight views and understanding of the regarding the topic. It is
the most comprehensive method for collecting the data and relevant information (Schwalbe,
2015). In order to collect the information, various research papers and journals will observed or
analyzed then concluded in the form of identifying the perceptions and insight views
accordingly.
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