PPMP20009: Case Study Analysis of PEW Private Limited's Issues

This case study examines the continuous development process of PEW Private Limited, a long-standing equipment manufacturer facing declining profitability due to emerging competitors. The assignment analyzes the issues using various project management tools, including brainstorming, the 5 Whys technique, fishbone diagrams, Pareto diagrams, scatter graphs, and radar graphs to identify root causes. The study proposes a continuous improvement plan based on PMBOK and PRINCE2 methodologies, addressing problems such as lack of innovation, employee turnover, and customer dissatisfaction. It outlines required actions, resource needs, and follow-up steps, emphasizing the importance of business, technical, and leadership competencies for PEW's management and employees. The analysis includes assumptions about potential market share loss and employee turnover, offering strategic recommendations to improve the company's performance and competitiveness.

1
Running head: Case study-Continuous improvement
CASE STUDY-CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT

2
Case study-Continuous improvement
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion of the issues of PEW and development of a continuous development plan for PEW
Private Limited................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Reference List................................................................................................................................14
Appendices....................................................................................................................................16

3
Case study-Continuous improvement
Introduction
This entire assignment reflects on the continuous development process of PEW Private Limited,
a renowned equipment manufacturer that has been provided high-quality equipment to
telecommunication partners in the last three decades. From the case study scenario, it is
identified that PEW is facing trouble from emergent suppliers as the high earnings of this
organisation is getting decreased. To overcome this issue, a team of multiple professionals have
been developed, who will investigate the problem at a primary level. Following that, multiple
project management tools are applied in this assignment to turn around this situation critically.
Henceforth, the causes of this issues have been analysed by applying seven quality tools. After
that, a continuous improvement plan has been constructed by considering PMBOK and
PRINCE2 methodologies. Furthermore, required competencies from the management of PEW
and employees have been discussed analytically.
Discussion of the issues of PEW and development of a continuous
development plan for PEW Private Limited
In this segment multiple project management tools have been applied to find the major issues of
this taken organisation. Furthermore, a continuous development plan has been recommended that
PEW Private Limited might take into consideration. Application of these tools is essential for the
development of organisational performance (Mir & Pinnington, 2014).
Identification of causes of problems found in PEW
Brainstorming

4
Case study-Continuous improvement
Three individuals from the team are selected for this technique of root cause analysis. Therefore,
the ideas of three individuals are presented in the below table to identify the root causes behind
such problems of PEW Private Limited.
Member 1 Member 2 Member 3
 Lack of innovation in
the organisational
procedure
 The absence of future
growth in the
manufacturing
industry might have
created an issue for
this organisation
 Innovation in the
telecommunication
industry in Australia
 Manufacturing
industry of this
country has been
started to develop
effectively. From
recent news, it is
found that the
manufacturing
industry of Australia
is getting expanded
(Hutchens, 2017)
 High competition in
this market might
have created an issue
 The pricing strategy
for products of this
company is not
effective
 Customers’ are
getting dissatisfied
 No further
improvement in
service portfolio has
been identified
 Inability to implement
change management
process has created
issues for this
organisation
The 5 Whys technique

5
Case study-Continuous improvement
This is another important technique that can be identified as the root causes of the problems of
PEW Private Limited. According to Mir & Pinnigton (2014), root cause analysis tools play a
critical role in addressing the major reason behind every problem. Following method has been
applied to identify a cause of the difficulties aroused in PEW Private Limited:
Problem Statement: Profitability of PEW has been decreased by 45%
Why?
PEW is getting unable to win contracts from service providers
Why?
Multiple competitors have captured the massive market of PEW
Why?
Competitors are offering better pricing strategy to the consumers
Why?
Consumers are looking for new suppliers. From the case study, it is observed that the willingness
to work with other suppliers are getting preferred by the customers.
Why?
Lack of innovation and change management is the reason behind, the dissatisfaction of
consumers.
Furthermore, it is found that experienced employees of PEW are started to join emerging players
in the manufacturing market of Australia. This can be considered as a significant reason behind

6
Case study-Continuous improvement
the fall of the pricing strategy of PEW, as experienced employees of PEW are well known to the
pricing strategy of this organisation. Henceforth, it helps competitors to map their pricing
strategy to get a competitive edge. [Referred to Appendix 1]
3. Fishbone diagram
This is another significant tool that helps to identify the possible causes behind any effect of any
scenario. As commented by Magar & Shinde (2014), the 5whys technique plays a critical role in
generating a proper fishbone diagram of any situational crisis. In this assignment, the fishbone
diagram has been developed by focusing on previously applied methods (5whys and
brainstorming). Considering this application, numbers of cases have been found which might
have played significant roles in reducing the profitability of this organisation by 45%. Following
table reflects on the generated causes and their sub causes. [Referred to Appendix 2]
Effect: 45% decrease in profitability of PEW Private Limited
Maj
or
caus
es
and
Sub
caus
es
Captured market Employees’ are
joining new
companies
Consumer
dissatisfactio
n
Improper
pricing
strategy
Inability to win
contracts
 High
competiti
on
 Participa
tion of
new
players
 Strict
organisat
ional
policy
 Employe
e
dissatisfa
 Lack
of
innov
ation
 Suppl
y
chain
 PEW
is
unable
to
bench
mark
its
 Lack of
centralis
ation
 Tight
margins
of
producti

7
Case study-Continuous improvement
 Potential
growth
in the
manufact
uring
industry
ction and
demotiva
tion
 A high
turnover
rate of
employe
es
issues
 Brief
life
cycles
of
produ
cts
busine
ss
 The
compa
ny is
not
selling
value
 Too
high
price
as per
the
marke
t
standa
rds
on
 Unable
to
extract
key data
From the fishbone diagram, it can be said that the identified causes played a critical role in
decreasing the profitability rate of PEW Private Limited. In this context, the brainstorming
session with team members has played the crucial part. As commented by Chen & Chen (2015),
improper pricing strategy might impair the established reputation of any organisation. Multiple
reasons have been identified such are:

8
Case study-Continuous improvement
1. Inability to benchmark the business by PEW Private Limited
2. It can be said that the organisation is not selling value as their aggressive strategy has
created a significant impact on the business profitability of this organisation
From this fishbone diagram, a flowchart has been developed that might allow management of
PEW Private Limited to nullify the available issue.
Flowchart
Focusing on the drawn diagram, it can be stated that the organisation should select a better
option that might help the PEW to overcome the current issues of profitability decrease,
employee turnover and consumer dissatisfaction.
Pareto Diagram
Pareto Diagram arranges items to identify the contribution of different things that exhibit
influence on any organisation. It is found that a Pareto Diagram can be used to prioritise the
issues and to tally corrective actions for measurement. The team members of this project have
surveyed to generate information on the impact of developed causes. 53 individuals of this
company have been taken as the participants for this study. Based on the responses, this Pareto
Diagram has been developed. [Referred to Appendix 3]
Scatter Graph
This scatter graph has helped to identify significant aspects of the project. This graph reflects on
the importance of respondents on their stated responses. This has helped to develop a better idea
about the root problems of this indicated scenario. It is found that scatter graph can be interpreted
as a useful tool for planning, monitoring and controlling of different issues that can be found in

9
Case study-Continuous improvement
an organisational setting (Petro & Gardiner. 2015). It is also observed that scatter graphs
generally developed by considering dependent and independent variables. In this study, the same
has been designed for root cause analysis. [Referred to Appendix 4]
Radar Graph
Like Radar Graph, this root cause analysis tool has played a significant instrument in identifying
the root cause behind such problems in this company. From the interpretation, it can be said that
most of the respondents have identified lack of innovation as the primary reason behind such
declination of this organisation. Therefore, this radar graph is found essential to construct a
continuous development plan (Yuan & Yang, 2017). [Referred to Appendix 5]
Assumptions from the root cause analysis of this case study
Assumption 1: PEW Private Limited might lose the market share within two years from till date
Assumption 2: Employee turnover rate might be increased. This will lead to high amount of
dissatisfaction amongst more senior management of this organisation
Assumption 3: Decentralisation in the work procedure of this company might have been found
Assumption 4: PEW might lose its consumer base if the life cycle of the products do not get
increased
Continuous Improvement Plan for PEW Private Limited
Problems identified
Considering the guidelines of PMBOK, this constant development plan has been developed in
this assignment. From the given case study, it is observed that PEW Private Limited is facing

10
Case study-Continuous improvement
multiple issues that have reduced the productivity of this organisation. From the root cause
analysis, the problem of innovation is identified. As commented by Carnall (2018), change is
highly required to expand the business operations of any organisation. Besides this, employee
issues, supply chain management issues and much more have identified in this project.
Actions are taken
 More investment is needed in the Research and Development wing of this organisation
 PEW Private Limited should limit its pricing strategy as the highly aggressive strategy
will not improve the situation
 In order to invest more in the R&D department of this organisation, an appeal to the
board of directors has been made
 In a request to reconsider the pricing strategy in-depth market research has been
conducted in this project
Resources Required
 100 market surveyors are needed to extract primary information regarding the
alternatives that can be deployed by the organisation
 Five subject matter experts are required to conduct secondary research for generating
information
 Two business analysts are required
 Ten significant consumers of this company are needed for a semi-structured interview to
gain additional information
 Two policy specialists are needed in order to reconstruct the policy of this organisation

11
Case study-Continuous improvement
 1 The project manager is required in order to develop a project plan to maintain possible
areas
Follow up actions and status
 Currently, the organisation has renovated the service portfolio that might play a critical
role in proposing an effective strategy
 State of the portfolio development is 50%
 Microenvironment analysis of the organisation has been completed
Competencies
Business and Strategic Management
It is observed that effective strategic and business management allows enterprises to secure a
specific goal. Besides that, development of policies and plans are essential in achieving business
goals significantly. In the context of PEW Private Limited, it can be said that demonstrating
active business and strategic management might help this organisation to ensure value.
Technical Management
Technical management, like business management, is equally important for any organisation to
ensure safe practice. In order to complete the required actions in a significant way, following
critical skills are needed:
Big data analytics skills: As commented by Sivarajah et al. (2017), business organisations of
modern days are getting data-driven. Therefore, it is essential for PEW Private Limited to

12
Case study-Continuous improvement
prioritise this skill to keep track of inventory and other stocks. Thus, the following abilities is
that required to be excelled by this organisation:
 Algorithms
 Calculating
 Data Mining
 Database design
Leadership
Existing literature has identified the significance of organisational leadership in generating
excellent performance and business values. According to Rae (2017), the command can be
interpreted as an art of process that influences employees to complete any task significantly.
Therefore, the importance of leadership skills cannot be neglected. It is identified that absence of
leadership skills might hinder the quality management process of any organisation. Therefore,
focusing on the required skills of this organisation, the following skills are needed to
demonstrate organisational excellence successfully:
Communication: Communication between employees and other stakeholders allows leaders to
create a successful business (Nicholas & Steyn, 2017). Henceforth, being a clear communicator,
leader of this organisation will be able to explain plans significantly.
Motivation: Leaders of business enterprises need to be motivated and clear minded. It is found
that positivity in the workplace allows leaders to demonstrate positive environment across the
workplace. Despite recent losses, business leaders of PEW Private Limited need to implement a
better motivation that might allow this organisation to create an effective strategy.