Project Management and Social Responsibility in Online Tutoring

This report outlines a comprehensive plan for launching a socially responsible online tutoring company targeting middle-grade students in Indian schools. The assignment details the aims and objectives of the venture, emphasizing quality internet-based tutoring to address gaps in student understanding. It includes a project management plan covering cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk, and resource management. A work breakdown structure and Gantt chart are provided to illustrate the project's timeframe and stages. The report also incorporates small-scale research, data analysis using appropriate tools, and recommendations to draw valid conclusions. Finally, the author reflects on the value of the research and its contribution to meeting the stated objectives and personal learning.

MANAGING
SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS

Table of Contents
P1...........................................................................................................................................................3
How to start up a socially responsible company, (aims and objectives)...........................................3
P2...........................................................................................................................................................4
Project management plan (cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk, resource)...................4
P3...........................................................................................................................................................6
Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart for timeframe and stages of completion....................6
P4...........................................................................................................................................................9
Small scale research for online tutoring...........................................................................................9
P5.........................................................................................................................................................11
Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques..............................................11
P6 ........................................................................................................................................................12
Appropriate recommendation and data analysis to draw valid and meaningful conclusions.........12
P7.........................................................................................................................................................13
Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objective and own learning and
performance...................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................15

LO1
P1
How to start up a socially responsible company, (aims and objectives).
The corporate power legitimacy depends a lot about in the legitimacy demands and functions
of company. A company needs to perform only legitimate functions and these in turn
determine the role of company.
AIM :- To start up a socially responsible company.
Objectives :-
 To start Online tutoring for middle grade students, Indian schools.
 To impart quality internet based, tutoring for students who lack in fundamental and
basics of subjects they miss out in schools.
 To make action plan for implementing the required objectives of the project.
 To develop The project management plan to gives an idea of how the team will
execute, monitor, control and close the project. These will have the subsidiary
management plans and baselines which are combined together cohesively and
integrated to manage the project.
Company uses societal resources like manpower and raw materials and these have to balance
the needs of company and society as well.
The role include starting a company in rural area, employing many of the handicapped and
socially weaker section of the company, taking care of the welfare and interest of employees
and their family along with spreading the idea of adult literacy (Smith, 2015). The company
needs to take great care in protecting the environment they set up their units. Along with
these, the company has to look after the consumer health issues and their safety.
These functions are qualified because the society creates company and hence, company can
be for only social welfare and economic betterment of society (Galliers and Leidner, 2014).
The law of the land permits and encourages company to do business and this encourages and
permits to serve society at large and is not solely for profit making. The company must be
patriotic and the endeavour must result to its contribution to general social welfare. In other

words, company should make profit only to survive and its role is for social welfare and
economic betterment of society (Viswanathan, 2014).
Its role has to be service motivated and society oriented. In order to determine the soul of a
company, a constant evaluation is needed to look beyond ever changing political issues.
Corporate social responsibility is needed to promote narrow and contradictory social agendas
as opposed universal measures of integrity. Looking beyond these facile symbolism opens up
an examination of ethics (Agarwal, 2014).
P2
Project management plan (cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk, resource)
Project: Online tutoring, India operation (initiation, planning, execution and closure)
Project initiation:
Online tutoring for middle grade students, Indian schools. Plan is to impart quality internet
based, tutoring for students who lack in fundamental and basics of subjects they miss out in
schools. The online tutoring will help in getting quality help at a affordable price and within
the safety of their home environment (Thorpe, 2015).
Project planning:
The pilot for subject Mathematics, curriculum creation for grade VIth, VIIth and VIIIth. The
curriculum creation begins with segregation of topics to be covered in each semester and
further into lesson planning. Selection of tutors followed by training and helping each of
them to guide students through interactive whiteboard following perfect pedagogy
(Robertson, 2016).
Project execution:
Email and social media campaign using database and Facebook to spread the news and
offers. Motto of anytime and anywhere along with playback for review of individual sessions.
Suitable live sessions and unlimited review from recorded sessions (Agarwal, 2014).
Project closure:
Conduction of sessions for short period to help overcome specific topics and sections where
students need more personal approach. These are conducted for brief period in batches and
new sessions repeated for newer topics.
Cost variance of project:

This defines the acceptable cost variance, which indicates warning and unacceptable limits.
These also defines trigger preventive or corrective action whenever there is a change in
control process.
Scope variance of project:
This defines acceptable scope variance which indicates a warning or anything which is
unacceptable. These are indicated by features and functions of the end product or even by end
product performance metrics. The major deliverables of the project is imparting quality
knowledge (fundamentals and concepts) assuming that the chosen time and conduction
period is suitable for students to acknowledge and engage in perfect pedagogy followed live
sessions. The scope also gives the entire team to perform the detailing of every lesson plans
to be covered and guide the trained tutors to execute the final model without deviation
(except in specific cases where a parent / student request for extra duration / study materials)
and are contained within the project boundaries. The scope also helps in documenting the
initial assumptions and elaborated further only in specific cases in assumption log.
Time variance of project:
This covers the entire schedule of project and indicates the percent of variance from baseline
or circumstances which will trigger preventive action when the change control process is
enacted. The timeline of the project is stipulated and not rescheduled unless there is a need of
it, due to change in process output and are considered under the contingency plan.
Product Quality:
Entire project is reviewed by knowledge team to cross check the curriculum and lesson
planning, hints of changes if any is corrected and reviewed before allowed for final pilot
sessions and finally allowed for live sessions with valued customers.
Communication:
The stakeholders and team members are communicated continuously for various inputs and
progress along with the mode of campaign and kept abreast of the overall executive team
including trained tutors or subject matter experts. The entire system is kept transparent for
positive inputs and changes if required for the final product to be launched and contingency
plan ready for any last minute changes in the execution. The benefit of the service has to be
explained to the customers which instil confidence and also the better grades, higher
performance and better understanding of the subject (Agarwal, 2014). The display of what
the customers can gain by taking the product or service at an affordable price is essential to

help mitigate the limits of risk factors. Customers’ needs to be assured that the product comes
with a unique refund policy in case the overall conduction is not matching their expectations.
Customers can be encouraged to take a 1 – 2 trial sessions with tutors to decide before
signing up. Other ways of allaying fears is by providing testimonials from other parents and
students who have taken up sessions with the trained tutors.
Risk factor:
In any project, a risk can be almost any uncertain event associated with work. Not all the
forms of risk are important and the project manager has to identify the uncertainty that
matters and work out accordingly. The pricing of product and providing too much of
discounts can be counterproductive and hence, the product cannot be sold below the baseline
price and operational costs. The availability of manpower or resource at a given period of
time needs to be looked into hence a backlog team of tutors are kept ready to take up live
sessions or extend beyond scheduled time frame with benefits. Interactive whiteboard to
conduct sessions has to be cross checked for bug and glitches before the final go is given for
product launch. The need of training materials has to be sent to all the trained tutors on time
so that they are well equipped before they begin the sessions (Smith, 2015).
Resource:
The availability of subject matter experts and technical team along with curriculum designers
and trainers are big issues. These are taken into account at the project planning stage where
each of these aspects are looked into, benefits well described and manpower for both
technical backup team and managing team to execute the program are placed in appropriate
task team. The communication is kept open for any changes that are obvious in terms of
management and execution teams. In-house subject leads can help in identifying the topics
and lesson planning’s for better implementation as depending upon external sources can be
both cumbersome as well as risky in terms of product design and changes if required
(Galliers and Leidner, 2014).
P3
Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart for timeframe and stages of completion.
Work breakdown for online tutoring
Generic work breakdown structure for online tutoring are done in two levels. Level 1 will
comprise the entire project and followed by level 2, where product breakdown elements,

service breakdown elements, results breakdown elements, cross cutting elements and finally
project management elements.
The total project takes into account the inception to final execution of the plan and it initiates,
plans, executes and closes the project. These are correlated with the level 2 breakdowns
where each of the components are taken into account and planned accordingly.
Product breakdown:
This sub-division of level 2 is basically the physical structure and product design which are
delivered to the consumers. This is considered as the common basis for a work breakdown
structure and is one of the easiest method of work breakdown structure to develop. These
have tangible output products like the software that will be used for integrating the interactive
whiteboard with voice and digital pen to be used during live session. The live streaming of
sessions, recording of sessions to be used later by students, file transfer by tutors and students
and also integrating the flash drive / html for better presentation. The place to conduct live
sessions using interactive whiteboard, the internet speed and other basic requirements are all
integrated into manual and sent to individual members and trainers and executed as one
product in this breakdown structure.
Service breakdown:
The service projects do not have a tangible structure deliverables and is always depending
upon the others for final outcome. This output is defined as body of work done for others and
is considered as logical collection of related work areas. The training of subject matter expert,
curriculum mapping and lesson planning, pedagogy management, campaign through various
channels like social media and email as well as outgoing calls etc. along with product design
approval are all considered under service part of the breakdown.
Results breakdown:
These again do not have tangible structured deliverable and the output is the consequence of
a process which results into a final product or conclusion. These are a series of accepted steps
and include the acceptable norms laid out by top management to build and approve and go
onto the next level of creation.
Cross cutting elements:
This level of work breakdown structure is intertwined into various sub groups of the project.
This is basically the assembling each segments of system into one or generally speaking the
integration of all sub products into one final product. Bringing all parameters of training

modules under one platform, integrating whiteboard with study materials, integrating digital
access for each participants and voice over for the live sessions are carried out in this
breakdown. There may be more than one element of this characteristic at level 2 and while
there is no restriction, these type of cross cutting elements are usually not found in every
projects.
Project management:
The work breakdown in this category of level 2 is mainly meant for managerial
responsibilities and managerial activities of the project. This includes the report creation,
project reviews, and usually considered as project overheads. This is one of its kind in work
breakdown system and exists in types of projects in level 2.
Gantt chart for timeframe and stages of completion
The Gantt chart is considered as the visual progress report which helps in identifying each
work stages and is represented in vertical axis and horizontal line. The work stages are
mentioned in vertical axis while the schedule completion dates on horizontal line. Gantt chart
includes the movable bars with various colours which indicates scheduled and actual
progress. A manager can observe immediately whether a particular project is on schedule or
behind the due date. Gantt chart is helpful planning tool but does not show the interlinked
jobs or the inter relation of the various jobs under the project.

LO2
P4
Small scale research for online tutoring
Quantitative and qualitative research:
The data which are collected through these two methods of qualitative or quantitative options
gives an opportunity to know how and whys of a particular project. The qualitative approach
deals with the how and why of the project and gathers mostly unstructured methodology for
data collection and then continue to collate to get the big picture. So the how part tries to find

how this project will help and why do the customers would benefit from online tutoring. This
qualitative part explores the market by interacting with actual people and bring about a
workable conclusion. The quantitative method is considered to be cheap and easy to
implement. But the approach is limited in capacity for the kind of investigation followed by
explanation essential for getting into some kind of research outcome.
1. How many schools are in India?
There are total of 853602 schools provioding education to kids in India.
2. How many teachers available f or each school?
There is avilability of 1 teacher over 1784 students.
3. How many on line teaching centres in India?
There are 20253 teaching schools in India.
4. What are the regulations governing the on line teaching?
Policies and rules have been made by Natioanl Council for Teacher Education in India.
AICTE is regulatory body which frames rules for online teaching courses that are run by the
educatioanl institutes.
Primary reasearch :- The pioneer in Indian context is Mr K Ganesh, a serial entrepreneur has
shown the world what online tutoring is all about and to what extent the scaling up possible.
According to data available, India alone has 100 million students in private schools where we
get to see about 02 million shortage in qualified teachers. The need of the hour is to address
the current generation requirement and has a potential of huge business opportunity. The
online section in Indian context is still at its nascent level as internet driven work culture is
still a marginal of the huge potential. But the limits of such barriers are getting breached
every quarter and it’s growing with the Government initiative of digital India. Online tutoring
companies need to get into the integration of technology and talent available to teach on a
scalable model.
According to David Kapuler, who himself is an educational consultant with more than 10
years of experience in K12 pattern of educational system, online tutoring over the years have
become very popular amongst students who look for immediate instant help and try avoid the
traveling to tutoring centers and also spend huge amount of money for such classes. The ideal

alternative to such option are online tutoring where you get a tutor right within the comfort of
home and take live sessions over computer and now over mobile platform.
These are considered to be cheaper than actual classes in centers where one has to
shell out large amount of money as well as spend time for travel. Several online sites have
come up where students spend little or no money and get the all kinds of help. The most
popular according to Kapuler is WizIQ and there are others like Buddy school, Tutor Hub,
Sophia, Happy tutors and from Indian context the site launched by Mr Ganesh Tutor Vista
which pioneered the way these sessions are scaled to unimaginable levels. The basic
advantage of such online sessions are the conduction from one on one pattern and the manner
in which these are conducted. Students get an expert tutor with just a click of a button.
Sessions are conducted on an hourly basis and tutors are paid according to the number of
hours they clock by taking sessions. The entire K 12 is segregated into middle grade, higher
grade I and Higher grade II and finally the college grade. Similar patterns are applied to
segregate the tutors as well. The pay scale depends upon the grade and number of sessions
these tutors take during their login period.
LO3
P5
Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques
The data collected has supported for understanding and gaining deep understanding
about the project aims and objectives. From the analysis of data and information it has been
found that there exist requirement for online tutoring for middle grade students. Findings
from the primary and secondary literature revels that It has also found from data analysis that
teacher to student ratio in the schools is vary poor due to which trends have increased among
students for gaining education from internet.
According to registered online tutors worldwide, a survey suggested how many of
them are actually taking online sessions, how many are planning to begin online and how
many of these have no plans in near future. Two third of the respondent surveyed conducted
online by withcoach.com have come out with following results. 30% of those who haven’t
responded are planning to begin in 2017.
There are main two types of data and they are quantitative and qualitative. These are
used to enable and apply in most appropriate type to test their hypothesis. The combined use
of these data types facilities triangulation of data sources which enables researchers to
substantiate individual findings by correlation. Quantitative methods of data collection

include the collection of numerical data and participants responses in close ended questions.
Qualitative methods enable researchers to gather personal human experience relevant to
hypothesis. These questions are unbiased in order to get the right response for research
questions.
Tutors those who are tutoring for more than 3 years.
Tutoring is secondary part but the primary aspect of these online tutoring portals is their
marketing strategy. The marketing campaign has gone to next level due to the advent of
digital marketing. Advantage of digital marketing is its cheap, far reaching and is unbiased.
These strategies are unique and since the whole idea of marketing is its reach and impact or
outcome. The digital marketing has both and the advent of social media impact it creates for
such product is unbiased which makes it more interesting. Apart from online marketing the
use of referral program is also taken into consideration as well. With each referrals the
referred person and sponsor get discount and hence is beneficial all across.
Along with the data shared above the strategy of tutoring is another big challenge for
individual as well as big players in online tutoring. The need for communication with
students either directly over skype, other media based calling, online or offline marketing
strategy and shared calendar is necessary. The finished work or live streaming is the basic
need as students need to interact for clearing their individual doubts on specific topics and
concepts.
Coming to subjects which are preferred by students throughout year depend upon a lot on
geographical zones and country of origin. Students prefer subjects according to the
requirements and difficulty level they face in their respective schools and college.
Mathematics is all time favourite as the subject students prefer to go for clearing their doubts
in. Closely followed by chemistry and physics. In language French is the most preferred
subject closely followed by English.
P6
Appropriate recommendation and data analysis to draw valid and meaningful conclusions
Recommendation for online tutoring is based on the subject preference and need of specific
topic handling by existing tutors.
It is recommended that proper reaserch should be conducted for identifying needs and
requirement of students so that study courses should be designed on the basis of that.