University Project: Merging Two Coffee Shops in Manchester City Centre

This project management assignment focuses on the merger of two coffee shops, North Tea Power and Fig + Sparrow, in Manchester City Centre. The report outlines the project mission, aims, and objectives, emphasizing the creation of a new company with equal ownership. It details stakeholder expectations and engagement management using a RACI matrix, highlighting roles and responsibilities. Performance measurement and quality management are addressed, including the use of tools like ROI and schedule control. The project plan, scheduling, and resource utilization are presented with a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). An MS Project Gantt chart with milestones visually represents the project timeline. Constraints and risk management, including customer concerns and budget limitations, are discussed. Costing and economic evaluation are considered, along with the project's impact and value generation. Finally, the project handover and future considerations, along with the conclusion, are provided, offering a comprehensive overview of the merger project.

Running Head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Merging Two Coffee Shop Businesses in Manchester City Centre
Name of the Student
Name of the University

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Project Mission......................................................................................................................2
1.2 Project Aims and Objectives.................................................................................................2
2. Stakeholder Expectations and Engagement Management...........................................................3
3. Performance Measurement and Management of Quality............................................................5
4. Project Planning, Scheduling and Resource Utilisation..............................................................6
5. MS Project Gantt with Milestones...............................................................................................9
6. Constraints and Risk Management............................................................................................11
7. Costing and Economic Evaluation.............................................................................................12
8. Consideration of the Project Impact and Value Generation......................................................15
9. Project Handover and Future Considerations............................................................................15
10. Conclusion...............................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................17

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1. Introduction
1.1 Project Mission
North Tea Power and Fig + Sparrow are two coffee shops operating in Manchester City
Centre. Both of the shops are quite popular in the city and there have been a lot of positive
reviews from the regular customers as well as the tourists. Considering the success of the two
stores and the possible opportunity for further growth, the owners of the two coffee shops have
decided to merge the two companies together to form a new company with equal share between
the owners.
This report specially focusses on the merger of the two companies and development of an
appropriate project plan for facilitating the proposed merger.
1.2 Project Aims and Objectives
The main aim of the project is to merge the two coffee shops to create a new company
with equal shares for the two owners. Accordingly, the objectives for the merger are set as
discussed below.
 To create a new merged company with equal shares for the current owners
 To exploit the growing market with better opportunities for growth
 To grow beyond the limits of the city to national level
The project objectives can also be expressed in SMART form as follows.
Attribute Objective
Specific To merge the two companies to create a new

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company
Measurable To achieve 30% growth in market in 1 year period
once merger is completed
Achievable To grow beyond the limits of the city and open
branches in other parts of the country
Realistic To create a brand so that the brand value can be
built
Time Based To complete the merger process within 12 months
2. Stakeholder Expectations and Engagement Management
Since this project involves stakeholders from both the companies, it is expected that these
stakeholders will collaborate with each other for ensuring the success of the project (Meredith,
Mantel Jr & Shafer, 2017). During the planning of the project, the stakeholder roles and
responsibilities will be assigned and they will have to complete those duties in time and within
the scope of the project.
The main stakeholders in the project are specified below along specific duties and power
and influences in the project.
Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities Power Influence
Company Owners Presiding over the project, providing necessary
approvals and suggesting requirements for the merger
H H
Project Manager Managing the merger process including monitoring,
controlling and support
M H
Finance Manager Managing the finance aspects during the entire merger M L

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process
Lawyer Handling the legal aspects of the merger process H M
Merger Supervisor Managing the entire merger process including
integration of the employees from the two companies
L L
In addition to the discussion of the roles and responsibilities, the engagement of the
stakeholders in the project in its various phases can be expressed in the form of RACI matrix as
follows.
Company
Owners
Project
Manager
Finance
Manager
Lawyer Merger
Supervisor
Discussion and
Proposal
R C A C I
Project
Initiation
C R A I I
Project
Planning
C R R C I
Legal
Formalities
Handling
C I I R I
Employee
Integration
C I I R
Project
Closing
R A I I I
In the above matrix,
R = Responsible for

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A = Accountable for
C = Consulted with
I = Informed
3. Performance Measurement and Management of Quality
Performance or project performance refers to the performance of the project in terms of
scope, schedule, budget and others. In any project, during its execution phase, the performance
can be measured by a wide range of tools each of which focus on a specific aspect like scope,
budget, time and others (Kerzner, 2017). For this merger project, these tools need to be utilised
for the measurement of performance of the project. In this regard, question may arise regarding
why performance need to be measured for the project. The performance needs to be measured to
ensure the project is right on track and is within schedule and budget or otherwise, changes will
have to be introduced to control any overshoot occurring within the project. The recommended
tools to be used in this project for performance measurement includes ROI (Return on
Investment) calculation, Cost Control, Schedule Control and others. The process of performance
measurement will involve collection of data from the project and use various tools on the
collected data to determine the performance aspects of the project.
In addition to performance, quality is another aspect on which emphasis must be given
during the execution of the project. Any project must have a suitable quality standard that needs
to be followed and delivered at the end of the project. During the merger of the two companies in
this project, specific quality standards need to be set while planning of the project (Harrison &
Lock, 2017). The quality standards will include integration of all the existing employees within

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the new company, setting up a brand for the newly merged company, various technical and non-
technical developments in the branches and others. The project team, while working on the
project, must take care of the quality obligations and fulfil them successfully before delivering
the order to the project owners.
4. Project Planning, Scheduling and Resource Utilisation
As per the initial proposal, a total of 12 months have been provided for the merger
process. Hence, within this time period, the entire project needs to be completed. Accordingly, a
timeline has been developed that includes all the activities that need to be conducted in the
project (Heagney, 2016). In addition to the timeline, resources are also assigned in the same in
order to clarify the roles and utilisations of the resources in this project.
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish Resource Names
0 Merger of Two Coffee Shops in
Manchester City Centre
263 days Tue 04-02-
20
Thu 04-02-
21
1 Preliminary Discussions between
Two Parties and Requirement
Analysis
21 days Tue 04-02-
20
Tue 03-03-
20
1.1 Call Meeting between the two Parties 2 days Tue 04-02-
20
Wed 05-02-
20
Project Manager
1.2 Discuss the Possible Merger of the
Companies
2 days Thu 06-02-
20
Fri 07-02-20 Project Manager
1.3 Discuss Various Aspects of the Two
Companies
2 days Mon 10-
02-20
Tue 11-02-20 Project Manager
1.4 Discuss the Existing Market
Situation and Competition
2 days Wed 12-
02-20
Thu 13-02-20 Project Manager
1.5 Discuss the Benefits of the Merger
for Both Companies
2 days Fri 14-02-
20
Mon 17-02-
20
Project Manager
1.6 Discuss Regarding Opportunity in
the Market
2 days Tue 18-02-
20
Wed 19-02-
20
Project Manager
1.7 Propose the Clauses Regarding the
Merger
2 days Thu 20-02-
20
Fri 21-02-20 Project Manager
1.8 Develop Merger Proposal 2 days Mon 24- Tue 25-02-20 Project Manager

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Considering All the Factors 02-20
1.9 Conduct Feasibilty Tests Regarding
the Merger
2 days Wed 26-
02-20
Thu 27-02-20 Project Manager
1.10 Finalise the Merger Proposal 2 days Fri 28-02-
20
Mon 02-03-
20
Project Manager
1.11 Approval from Both Owners to
Proceed
1 day Tue 03-03-
20
Tue 03-03-20 Project Manager
2 Project Initiation 21 days Wed 04-
03-20
Wed 01-04-
20
2.1 Develop a Team with Employees
from Both Companies
4 days Wed 04-
03-20
Mon 09-03-
20
Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
2.2 Assign Stakeholder Roles to the
Team Members
3 days Tue 10-03-
20
Thu 12-03-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
2.3 Provide Requirements of the Project
including the Merger Process
2 days Fri 13-03-
20
Mon 16-03-
20
Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
2.4 Provide Instructions Regarding the
Roles and Duties in the Project
3 days Tue 17-03-
20
Thu 19-03-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
2.5 Propose an Overall Timeline and
Budget for the Project
4 days Fri 20-03-
20
Wed 25-03-
20
Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
2.6 Provide Green Light to Proceed to
Project Planning
5 days Thu 26-03-
20
Wed 01-04-
20
Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3 Project Planning 48 days Thu 02-
04-20
Mon 08-06-
20
3.1 Receive Requirenments of the
Project
2 days Thu 02-04-
20
Fri 03-04-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.2 Identify the Scope of the Project 3 days Mon 06-
04-20
Wed 08-04-
20
Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.3 Utilise the Project Scope to develop
the Project Objectives
3 days Thu 09-04-
20
Mon 13-04-
20
Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.4 Determine the Project Timeline 4 days Tue 14-04-
20
Fri 17-04-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.5 Set the Total Time for the Project to
12 Months
4 days Mon 20-
04-20
Thu 23-04-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.6 Estimate the Budget Necessary for
the Project
5 days Fri 24-04-
20
Thu 30-04-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.7 Adjust the Budget in order to Suit the
Allocated Funds
5 days Fri 01-05-
20
Thu 07-05-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.8 Develop Quality Management Plan 5 days Fri 08-05-
20
Thu 14-05-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.9 Assess Risks in the Project 5 days Fri 15-05-
20
Thu 21-05-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor

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3.10 Develop Risk Management Plan 5 days Fri 22-05-
20
Thu 28-05-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.11 Develop Project Performance
Measurement Plan
5 days Fri 29-05-
20
Thu 04-06-20 Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
3.12 Get the Project Plan Verified 2 days Fri 05-06-
20
Mon 08-06-
20
Project Manager,
Project Supervisor
4 Legal Aspects Management 46 days Tue 09-06-
20
Tue 11-08-
20
4.1 Hire Lawyer for Managing the Legal
Aspects of the Project
4 days Tue 09-06-
20
Fri 12-06-20 Lawyer
4.2 Discuss Project Requirements with
the Lawyer
5 days Mon 15-
06-20
Fri 19-06-20 Lawyer
4.3 Develop Legal Plan for the Project 10 days Mon 22-
06-20
Fri 03-07-20 Lawyer
4.4 Conduct Legal Formalities Regarding
the Merger
15 days Mon 06-
07-20
Fri 24-07-20 Lawyer
4.5 Sign Merger Documents for
Legalising the Merger of the Two
Companies
10 days Mon 27-
07-20
Fri 07-08-20 Lawyer
4.6 Complete Legal Formalities 2 days Mon 10-
08-20
Tue 11-08-20 Lawyer
5 Integration Management 80 days Wed 12-
08-20
Tue 01-12-
20
5.1 Conduct Sessions with Employees of
the Two Companies
15 days Wed 12-
08-20
Tue 01-09-20 Integration Manager
5.2 Discuss the Benefits of the Merger
with the Employees
15 days Wed 02-
09-20
Tue 22-09-20 Integration Manager
5.3 Discuss New Wage Structure and
Other Benefits with the Employees
15 days Wed 23-
09-20
Tue 13-10-20 Integration Manager
5.4 Introduction Meeting between
Employees of the Two Companies
15 days Wed 14-
10-20
Tue 03-11-20 Integration Manager
5.5 Finalise the Integration of the
Employees in the Company
20 days Wed 04-
11-20
Tue 01-12-20 Integration Manager
6 Project Closing 47 days Wed 02-
12-20
Thu 04-02-
21
6.1 Rebrand the Company with New
Name and Details
15 days Wed 02-
12-20
Tue 22-12-20 Project Manager
6.2 Propose Project for New IT
Implementation for the Merged
Company
5 days Wed 23-
12-20
Tue 29-12-20 Project Manager
6.3 Prepare Project Report Detailing the
Merger Process
15 days Wed 30-
12-20
Tue 19-01-21 Project Manager

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6.4 Complete All Formalities in the
Project
10 days Wed 20-
01-21
Tue 02-02-21 Project Manager,
Fixed Costs[1]
6.5 Sign Off from All Stakeholders 2 days Wed 03-
02-21
Thu 04-02-21 Project Manager
6.6 Official Closing of the Project 0 days Thu 04-02-
21
Thu 04-02-21
5. MS Project Gantt with Milestones
The Gantt chart for the project with milestones in shown in the following diagram.

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Figure 1: Gantt Chart of the Project
(Source: Created by Author)

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6. Constraints and Risk Management
While this project does not have major constraints, there are some minor constraints that
need to be taken care of before completing the merger. The first constraint is related to the
customers – this happens as both the coffee shops are separately popular among the customers
and they may not like the idea of the two coffee shops getting merged (Fleming & Koppelman,
2016). Another constraint of the project is the budget as neither of the companies are large in
nature but the constraint can be solved by funding from both the companies rather than one.
There are also some risks associated with the project that are listed along with the
proposed management plan.
Risks Probability Impact Management Plan
Budget Overshoot High High Funding from both
parties and possible
bank loan
Legal Issues Regarding
Lack of Transparency in
the Merger Process
High High Hire lawyer and fulfil
all legal obligations
before completing
merger
Poor reception among
customers
Medium Medium Conduct extensive
marketing and
promotions, raise
quality and balance
costs of services and
products
High competition in Medium Medium Provide cost effective