Globalisation Impact on Thomas Cook: A Project Management Report

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes the impact of globalization on Thomas Cook's business.

Managing a Successful Business
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Activity 1.........................................................................................................................................4
LO1). Establish project aims, objectives, and timeframes based on the chosen theme...................4
P1). Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario...................................................4
P2). Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk, and resources.............................................................................................5
P3). Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages
for completion..............................................................................................................................8
M1). Produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project
schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project.......................10
Reference.......................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
In the past few decades, Globalisation is considered as one of the popular concepts. Due to
globalisation, various organisations are establishing their business and are able to reach out to
different parts of the world. This is beneficial for the organisation to expand beyond the domestic
boundaries and provides its services in other nations. This report is based on globalisation in the
travel and tourism sector. There are various organisations which operate in the travel and tourism
sector and one of such organisation is Thomas Cook Group Plc. It is an organisation which was
established in the year of 2007 which was formed which the merger of Thomas Cook AG and
MyTravel Group. As there are various factors involved in the globalisation which affects the
business of the organisations, this assignment makes a discussion on positive economic, cultural
and ethical impacts of the globalisation in different business functions. This assignment includes
the project’s aims, objectives, WBS (Work Break Structure), Gantt chart and so on. Conduction
of small scale research will be made with the view of being consistent with the aims and
objectives of the project. Analysis of gathered data will also be made in this assignment which
will be useful for making recommendations. In the last part of the assignment, reflection on
achieving the objectives and learning of the project will be presented.
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Activity 1
LO1). Establish project aims, objectives, and timeframes based on the chosen theme.
P1). Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario
Before the commencement of the project, it is essential that the aims and objectives of the project
must be established. The establishment of the aims and objectives of the project provides
assistance in the formulation of plans and strategies for making a performance of the project.
This project is developed on an international organisation, Thomas Cook Group Plc operating
in the global market. As the organisation is operating in such a market, it is necessary to
determine the impact of such market on the business of the organisation. Given below are the
aims and objectives of the project:
Aims
The project aims at determining different impacts (political, ethical, economic impact) on the
business of the organisation, Thomas Cook Group Plc.
Objectives
 To explore the importance of the business environment in the global market.
 To make a determination of benefits of the business environment of the global market for
Thomas Cook Group Plc.
 To determine the drawbacks of the business environment of the global market for
Thomas Cook Group Plc.
 To make an evaluation of the business environment of the global market and its impact
on the organisation.
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P2). Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk, and resources.
A project management plan is considered as an essential part of the project which is formulated
for taking the reviews of the team and stakeholders involved in the project. The project manager
is responsible for the formulation of the management plan of the project. This plan is formulated
as an approved and formal document that provides an explanation of the project execution,
implementation of the plans and monitoring the project. The project management plan for this
project is as follows:
Quality: This aspect is considered as an essential part of the project. It is essential that the
performance of the project must be in accordance with the established standards of quality. It is
necessary that plans or strategies of the project are implemented properly and in a fair manner so
that the quality of the project can be maintained (Kerzner, 2013). Quality is also essential for
gathering data and information and it is made sure that authentic and reliable sources are
considered while gathering the data and information.
Communication: Communication is considered as the key to success within the project and in
order to maintain the operational and functional activities. It is essential that the proper
communication channels are established amongst the personnel involved in the project and the
project manager (Horwath, 2012). It is considered as a responsibility of the project manager to
make sure that the project aims, objectives and plans are communicated properly. This also
includes making communication with the stakeholders of the project. Communication makes
sure that transparency within the project is maintained.
Risk- It is an effective factor which influences the performance of the project and has an impact
on the business of the organisation as well. While making a performance of the project, various
risks are faced by the project manager. It is essential that proper and adequate plans are
developed by the project manager so that uncertainty or risk in the project can be minimised or
eliminated. If such plans are not developed, it may result in non-completion of the project on
time, increased expenses, and so on. With the help of time management and cost control, the
risks involved in the project can be managed or mitigated.
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Resources: It plays an essential role in the commencement of the project and for making the
performance of the project. It is necessary that the resources are defined and allocated at the
initial stages of the project. It is also necessary that resources are properly utilised so that the
project can be completed as per time schedule and the budget of the project. There are various
resources which are required to be managed properly which includes human resources, financial
resources and so on.
Time: This factor is considered as one of the most important factors of the project. All the
operations and functions involved in the projects are time-based which makes it is necessary to
complete such activities timely. In order to complete the project effectively and efficiently, it is
necessary to make sure that completion of the project must be made on time. The time period for
completion of this project must be made within a period of 30 days.
Activity Duration
Initiation of the Project 7 days
Planning of the Project 8 days
Execution of the plans 9 days
Controlling the Project 4 days
Closure of the Project 2 days
Scope: The scope of this project can be termed as wide as the organisation is operating in the
global business environment which provides various opportunities for the organisations
(Chaffey, 2015). In regards to data and information gathering, there is a wide range of sources
which can be considered for gathering data and information.
Cost: It is well known that cost is a significant aspect involved in the project. It is the project
manager who makes a decision in regards to establishing the budget of the project. It is necessary
that the budget of the project must be established at the time of making plans (Hair, et. al, 2015).
It must be made sure the completion of the project must be made in accordance with the set
budget.
S. Particulars Amount (£)
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no.
Budget 250
1 Gantt chart and WBS 50
2 Data Gathering 75
3 Analysis of Data 80
4 Recommendation 45
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P3). Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to
provide timeframes and stages for completion.
There is various technique adopted by the manager of the project and one of such technique is
Work Breakdown Structure. It is a structure which developed to make the establishment of the
common understanding of the scope of the project. It can also be defined as a hierarchical
explanation of the activities involved in the project that is required to be performed for
accomplishing the project’s aims and objectives (Siami-Irdemoosa, et. al. 2015). It is essential
that works involved in the project must be divided into small works or tasks so that the project
can be completed effectively and aims must be accomplished properly. Breaking down the works
makes the performance of the project and its tasks effective which leads to accomplishments of
the aims as per plans and strategies i.e. within the specified period of time and set budget.
Figure 1: Work break down structure
Source: Author
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WBSInitiationIdentiyingissuesResearchQuestionsPlanningResearchObjectivesResearchPlanBudgetingSchedulingExecutionConductingResearchSurveyFocusGroupsOnlineSourcesDataCollectionRegulationTestingReportPreparationCorrectiveMeasuresClosure

Gantt chart
Another tool for project management of the project is adopted for allocation of the resources and
time in making the performance of the project activities (Sharp, et. al. 2012). It is considered as
an effective manner to make sure that the performance of the activities is being made in
accordance with the set aims and objectives.
Duration (In days)
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1
0
1
1
1
2
1
3
1
4
1
5
1
6
1
7
1
8
1
9
2
0
2
1
2
2
2
3
2
4
2
5
2
6
2
7
2
8
2
9
3
0
Aim and
objectives
Manage
ment plan
Conside
ration of
Research
methodolo
gies
Small
scale
research
Analysi
s of Data
Researc
h findings
Recom
mendation
s and
conclusion
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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.
For the execution and performance of the activities involved in the project and for accomplishing
the goals and aims of the project, it is necessary that the management plan of the project must be
formulated (Kendrick, 2015). Formulation of the management plan is made for scheduling the
project’s milestone. Milestones of the project are as follows:
Milestone Time
Milestone 1 6 days
Milestone 2 14 days
Milestone 3 25 days
Milestone 4 29 days
Attainment of the milestone will be beneficial for the project and for project manager as it will
provide information to the project manager that the projects being completed in accordance with
time schedule and budget. It is necessary that such milestones are accomplished on or before the
deadlines.
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Reference
 Chaffey, D., 2015. Digital business and E-commerce management. Pearson Education
Limited.
 Crawford, J.K., 2014. Project management maturity model. Auerbach Publications.
 Hair Jr, J.F., Celsi, M., Money, A., Samouel, P. and Page, M.J., 2015. The essentials of
business research methods. Routledge.
 Horwath, J. A., 2012. How Do We Manage? Project Management in Libraries: An
Investigation. The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research,
vol 7(1).
 Kerzner, H.R., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling,
and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
 Sharp, N., Enzi, J., Fountoulakis, E., Lam, B. and Rabbior, M.C., International Business
Machines Corp, 2012. System and method for displaying gantt charts with other project
management tools. U.S. Patent 8,245,153.
 Siami-Irdemoosa, E., Dindarloo, S.R. and Sharifzadeh, M., 2015. Work breakdown
structure (WBS) development for underground construction. Automation in
Construction, 58, pp.85-94.
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