Tesco's Expansion into India: A Project Management Plan

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Managing a Successful Business Project
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme......................5
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.....................................................5
P2 Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources..............................................................................................6
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages
for completion..............................................................................................................................7
M1 Produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project
schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project......................10
D1 Critically evaluate the project management process and appropriate research
methodologies applied...............................................................................................................10
LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection, generating
knowledge to support the project...................................................................................................11
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives.................................................................11
M2 Evaluate the accuracy and reliability of different research methods applied......................12
LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on meaningful
conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/or analysis....................................................12
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques......................................12
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions....................................................................................20
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M3 Evaluate the selection of appropriate tools and techniques for accuracy and authenticity to
support and justify recommendations........................................................................................21
D2 Critically evaluate and reflect on the project outcomes, the decision making process and
changes or developments of the initial project management plan to support justification of
recommendations and learning during the project.....................................................................21
LO4 Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support
sustainable organizational performance........................................................................................22
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance........................................................................................................................22
M4 Evaluate the value of the project management process and use of quality research to meet
stated objectives and support own learning and performance...................................................23
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................24
References......................................................................................................................................25
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How do multinational companies impact the business environment of the host destination
e.g. a country, region, city? (340 each)
Introduction
For this project, the multinational company, which is chosen, is Tesco, and the country in which
it is going to start its business in India. The project manager has the responsibility to carry on the
whole research, for which it needs to find out the aims and objectives of the project, and plan
according to the host country it is going to operate in. Tesco had expanded its business in many
countries, and ever country possesses some opportunities and threats for the companies opening
their business there. The main threat is from the local companies, which are operating there for
many years and have a large share of the market. Some of the factors, which Tesco must include
in its project management plan, is the cost estimation, resources, scope of work; time to complete
the project, the risk the country may offers, the communication between every level of workers,
and the quality of work (Wood, Coe, and Wrigley, 2016).
To get a clear idea about the time-frame and the budget, a budget estimation is done, and the
Gantt chart is produced. The research methodologies include both quantitative and qualitative
approaches, though both are done on a small scale. Tesco is a company, which offers fresh
produces and groceries at wholesale price. However, it had expanded its business in other sectors
and it offers books, electronics, and clothes too. The other sectors include finance, telecom
services, internet, and software. India is a developing country, and is more inclined towards retail
stores than wholesale ones, though the taste of the citizens is changing with time.
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LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.
The main aim of the projects is to find out, “How multinational companies, in this case, Tesco
impacts the environment of the business in the countries they are operating”. It can affect the
region, the city in which it is operating and the overall nation as well in many cases. The term
multinational comes when a business is done between countries, around the globe (Malaurent,
and Avison, 2016). In other words, it is called the globalization of trades. Companies, which
were made to operate locally had gained power and increased in size and are spreading the
business in other countries too. By spreading the base of making products in each of the
countries it operates in, it is able to reduce the cost of production, including labor cost and
importing cost.
As the leader of the project team, I have to carry research to find out different factors of the host
nations on which the company is going to work. The objective of the study are as follows:
 To find out the marketing opportunities, which Tesco might get while operating in the
new host country.
 To find out what opportunities Tesco may bring to the market of the country.
 To meet the local buyers and find out their needs and buying the pattern so that Tesco can
strategize accordingly.
 To smooth out the income stream of the company, which are volatile in the present.
 To find out the way the host nation is going to be impacted by the operations of Tesco in
the country. It includes the job Tesco will offer, the monetary profit it offers to the nation,
the infrastructure it is going to change.
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P2 Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources.
In order to start the project in the host country, Tesco has to make a project management plan,
which includes several aspects. By taking care of all the aspects, Tesco is able to carry on its
operations successfully in the new country. At first, Tesco needs to plan the budget, which they
will need to open its stores in the country (Kerzner, and Kerzner, 2017). The budget they will
make should include sections like, amount to be spent to build the physical store, amount to fill
up the store with its products initially, amount to build storehouse to store its products, amount
spent to find out local suppliers of raw material and amount spent on workers working in all
these places. The scope of the project is to expand its business in countries other than its native
country and make its business completely global.
Another important aspect of the project management plan is to find the time required to start the
business. To start a business, at first, it needs to find a place to open its outlet and start its
construction. After that, it needs to work on the interior and exterior to make it the store of
Tesco. Finally, some more time is needed to fill the store with the products that it offers (Hyväri,
2016). Some time is also spent on finding the suppliers and advertising so that customers come
to buy products from the store. The abovementioned three are the most important aspects, though
some more aspects are there which should be taken into consideration to carry on the project
successfully. The quality of the products needs to be of top class, which will bring back the
customers again, and make the old customers spread the name of Tesco by word of mouth.
The communication of the employees with the higher management must be open so that any
problem occurring in the store is conveyed instantly and the problem is sorted too. Along with
that, the managers of the store of the host country must keep direct contact with the higher
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authorities in its headquarters. Finally, the relationship and the communication between the
customers and the store employees must be friendly. Like any other business, before and while
operating in the host country Tesco might be at risk of facing loses or losing its suppliers, which
is why they must always be ready to face challenges and have more than one plan to carry on
their business (Smith, and Dodds, 2017). The resources, which are needed by Tesco, must be
local, which is the USP of the company, and so the suppliers must be local which supply fresh
produce to the stores and the customers. Apart from that, the workers working in the stores are
human resources, which will save both time and money if those workers are local. That is
because local workers will be able to interact well with the customers and take care of their
needs.
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and
stages for completion.
The project, which Tesco is going to start in India, needs proper planning. To do so, the whole
project should be divided into small manageable parts and plan according to each of the parts. It
is known as the work breakdown structure (Roberts, 2018). The main work is to get a better
understanding of the market of India. It includes the choices and preferences of the customers,
the products they choose and the reason behind doing so. Being a more retail-centric country,
how will it accept the concept of wholesale marketing, is also a matter which needs to be found
out. To find out these factors, some teams will be recruited, each of which will have a specific
task to complete. A team will be selected which will be in charge of finding the proper place
where they can start building the infrastructure. After selection, the step of the agreement will
come, where the teams of Tesco will sign an agreement with the private owner or the
government, whoever be the owner of the place. Finally, the most important part is building the
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Impact of Tesco on the business environment of India ($100 M)
Project planner ($ 25 M)
Project Manager ($ 20 M)
Data Collection Equipment ($ 10 M)
Data Collector ($ 15 M)
Data Analyst ($ 30 M)
Recruiting team ($ 45 M) Gathering Information ($ 25 M) Data Analysis ($ 30 M)
infrastructure which needs a huge investment of time and money, and on which the whole project
depends.
Work breakdown structure of Tesco in India
Fig 1: Work breakdown structure of Tesco in India
(Roberts, 2018)
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Gantt Chart
Works Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
Aim and
Objectives
Setting
Project
Management
Plan
Collecting
Data
Analyzing
Data
Evaluation
of Collected
Data
Completing
Assignment
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M1 Produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project
schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project.
The complete project management plan will be broken down into some sections, and the
schedule which will be produced will be a milestone schedule. It means completing each work
will be reaching a milestone of the project, and each of them is important. The planning and
scheduling of the project are not enough, as it will need complete monitoring of the tasks being
carrying on by the workers of the organization. Regular monitoring of the tasks being done will
help Tesco to complete each of the big tasks on time and reach the milestones necessary for the
company. The company will keep on reaching each of the milestones and cross it to reach the
next one, and this way it will be able to fulfill the aim of the project and meet the objectives set
for the project.
D1 Critically evaluate the project management process and appropriate research
methodologies applied.
To manage a project, the project manager needs to do some research before entering a new
country. In order to do so, a methodology must be selected by the project manager, which will
help in conducting the research fruitfully. The methodology of a project includes some rules
which must be followed with discipline, and which a have a specific set of rules. Different
techniques are needed to do the research and research the objectives of the research work. In
each type of methodology, there are a series of steps, and in each step, there is an activity
(Halcomb, and Hickman, 2015). All these steps are together considered as the phases of the life
cycle of the project. During the phase of research in the project management, the methodologies
thus selected is a qualitative approach as well as the quantitative approach. Data will be collected
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from the previous research work, along with field work done by the project manager. The
combination of both these processes will take the researcher towards the aim of the research and
the objective will be fulfilled.
LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection, generating
knowledge to support the project.
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research
methods appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives.
The aim and objectives of this research project are needed to be fulfilled, and this kind of
research work requires both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The qualitative
research will help in collecting data from previous works done by other researches. Along with
that, an interview session will be conducted, with some higher authorities of Tesco and other
companies which are already operating in the country (Brannen, 2017). At the same time, the
quantitative survey will be done on customers of India, to find out their choice, and what factors
they consider before making purchasing decisions. How accepting the citizens will be towards
the wholesale store, is also something which needs to be researched. All these quantitative data
will be projected through graphical representation, which includes graphs, pie charts, bar graphs,
etc.
The survey will mainly focus on young adults to middle-aged people, as they are the people who
spend more on the items by Tesco. The questions, which will be asked, will give a clear
perception about what they think about Tesco. Based on this perception, the management of the
Tesco outlets in India will be adjusted, which can bring success for the company in the near
future. The needs of the customers can be identified by the survey, and Tesco can apply it in its
marketing strategy (Bryman, 2017). This primary data collection will also help in identifying
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issues related to the environment of business in the country. On the other hand, the Secondary
approach will give information about the ways the managers conduct their business in India, and
what strategy they follow to attract them and make them loyal to the company. Tesco will be
able to learn from this interview session. The journal, articles available on the internet will also
be helpful in collecting secondary information about Tesco and its marketing strategy.
M2 Evaluate the accuracy and reliability of different research methods applied.
To make sure the data collected is authentic and no one is giving answers which are biased, some
precautions will be taken before the survey and interview session. This will include an invitation
form for each of the participants of the survey and interview. These form will include rules and
regulations of the survey, which the participants have to follow strictly. What issues can occur
during the survey will also be mentioned there, and the way to avoid it (McCusker, and
Gunaydin, 2015). The data collected from online sources, are recent and not more than five years
older. The writers of these journals, books, and articles are real too, and no information is untrue
which are available there. To remove bias in the survey, both males and females are taken as
participants. To maintain accuracy and reliability, the data will be destroyed after the research is
completed.
LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on
meaningful conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/or analysis.
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques.
To collect data and carry on the research, the research scholar had taken both a quantitative and
qualitative approach. That is why the scholar had conducted a survey and did an interview
session with the managers of two other similar companies, which are operating in India. These
questionnaires will help the scholar to understand the perspective of the customers in a better
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