Zara's Expansion into India: A Project Management Case Study

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Managing a Successful Business Project of Zara in India
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
An Introduction to the Assignment..............................................................................................4
A Background to the Chosen Company......................................................................................4
A Brief about the Selected Host Country....................................................................................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..............................................................................................5
Resources.................................................................................................................................6
Costs........................................................................................................................................6
Communication Matrix............................................................................................................7
Potential Risks and Control Techniques..................................................................................8
P3. Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages
for completion..............................................................................................................................9
Scope of the Project...................................................................................................................11
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
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LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on meaningful
conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/or analysis....................................................13
P5 Analyze research and data using appropriate tools and techniques.....................................13
Survey Questionnaire.............................................................................................................13
Interview................................................................................................................................20
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions....................................................................................22
LO4 Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support
sustainable organizational performance........................................................................................23
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance........................................................................................................................23
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................24
References......................................................................................................................................25
Appendices....................................................................................................................................26
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Introduction
An Introduction to the Assignment
The following assignment states about a business project, which is depended on the company,
Zara. The assignment considers some of the aims and objectives. Apart from this, it also
produces a project management plan. It creates a project breakdown structure and a Gantt chart.
It also considers some research methods, in addition to this, tools are also used and analysis is
also conducted. Recommendations are also stated for managing this business project.
A Background to the Chosen Company
Zara is a famous apparel company, which was first established in Spain. This company is said to
be the largest clothing retailer. Zara has its outlets in different regions such as China, South
Korea, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Morocco, Russia, Sweden and many other countries.
It produces clothes for both male and female. It also presents some of the accessory items for all
global customers (Ghemawat, Nueno and Dailey, 2003). The clothes that they sell are of good
quality and along with this, they sell products that are having attractive designs and which are
quite trending. This company is now thinking about establishing its outlet in the Indian market
for gaining better benefits and recognition.
A Brief about the Selected Host Country
The Indian clothing industry is one of the most flourishing markets in the global market.
Different types of clothes, accessories and other products are sold in this market. Companies
from varied countries come to India with the aim of expanding their production. On the other
hand, it has been observed that this country is able to deliver a sufficient amount of end products
to its desired customers. According to the market segment, Indian clothing companies are
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capable of producing innovative products that are used for attracting more customers. It has been
noticed that the demand for western products has been increased in the recent Indian market
(Verma, Kumar and Yadav, 2018). Due to this reason, many international retailing companies
are coming towards the Indian marketplace for achieving growth.
LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario
For establishing a better position in India, Zara needs to consider some objectives and aims.
Following such aspects, the company will be able to continue their trade in India. The aim of the
business project is “To acknowledge the impact of Zara on the business market of India”. Apart
from this, some of the objectives are also followed for the betterment of the organization.
The following objectives are as follows:
 To assess the social effects of Zara on the Indian business scenario
 To estimate the effect of economic factors on Zara in the Indian market
 To discover the influence of environmental factors on Zara
P2 Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources
The organizational structure of the project will be based on the functional structure. With the
help of this structure, the organization’s employees will be considered and they will be provided
with some of the tasks and roles. Among all the organizational structure, this can be stated as the
most beneficial one.
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Resources
For continuing with the research project, the scholar needs to identify some of the resources that
will be used in the overall process. Among all the different resources, human equipment,
information and materials are used. The information will be collected from inside as well as from
outside of the organization. From the internal environment of Zara, the research scholar will be
able to understand the issues regarding the employees, managers and the strategies that are used.
However, in the external environment of Zara, the scholar will be capable of gaining data from
the customers (Ceschi and et al., 2005). The influencing factors present in the external market
will also be recognized. The effect of economic factor, social and environmental factors can be
understood from the resources that will be gained from the Indian market. Thus, it can be stated
that valuable resources will be collected from the outside of the organization to gain some
knowledge about the Indian market demands.
Costs
Different cost control techniques can be considered for this research project. Budgeting is a
method by which, a plan is created. With the help of this, the cost of the project will be
estimated. Apart from this, the cash flow statement is also used for creating a balance sheet and
for understanding the effect of cash flow and the issues related to operations, investing and
financing. In this project, the operations will be focused on understanding the amount of flow of
cash. Cost breakdown structure is also used for assessing the breakdown of the costs in the
project (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). However, for this research project, budgeting will be
effectual. The resources that are used are human equipment, internal environment information,
external environment data and some other materials.
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Resources Costing
Human Equipment $20 M
Internal Environment Information $15 M
External Environment Data $30 M
Other Materials $10 M
Total $75 M
Communication Matrix
The communication matrix is done for the purpose of understanding the way of communicating
and it is also used for gaining information from different people.
Communication Procedure Purpose Behind the
Communication
Medium
Employees of the Other
Clothing Industry
To know about the affecting
factors that are prevailing in the
Indian market and that are
affecting the organization
Face to Face conversation
Customers in the Indian
Market
To identify the customers’
viewpoint and their demands
In person
Project Meetings with the
Managers of Other Similar
Organization
To acknowledge the affecting
organizational issues they have
faced while working in the
Indian market
Conference call
From the above table, it can be understood that the communication will be continued. The
research scholar will try to communicate with the employees through face to face conversation to
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know about the factors that have affected them or are affecting them in the Indian market. On the
other hand, the customers are also asked questions regarding their perception (Meredith and
Mantel Jr, 2011). Apart from this, the project meetings are also continued by communicating
with the managerial heads of the organization similar to Zara. In this way, the communication
will be effective enough for the scholar to gain better data.
Potential Risks and Control Techniques
Some of the technical risks, as well as external risks, can be observed in the project. It has been
observed that the scholar had to face difficult situations because of the defaults that were caused
because of the technical problems in the human equipment. On the other hand, it can be stated
that some of the control techniques can be used in the project such as control chart, quality
control chart and flow chart (Kerzner, 2002). For this research project, a quality control chart can
be used to maintain the quality of the project. In this way, the scholar will also be able to identify
the solutions by which, the problems or risks will be diminished.
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Project Management Plan
Collecting Resources CommunicationCosts Risks and
Control
Success of the Project
P3. Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and
stages for completion
Work Breakdown Structure
Figure 1: Work Breakdown Structure
From this work breakdown structure, it can be understood that in the process of gaining success
in the project, the research scholar has collected the resources; focus on the costing factors, along
with this, communication will also be maintained. Afterwards, the risks are identified and control
techniques are used.
Gantt Chart
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Activities Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8
Selecting the
research topic
Deciding the
aims and
objectives
Collecting
valuable
resources
Estimating
Costs for
conducting the
research
Communicatin
g with the other
organizations
Identifying the
risks
Using the
control
techniques
Finalizing the
research project
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From the Gantt chart, it can be known that it takes 8 weeks for completing the research project.
Apart from this, it can also be understood that it takes 1 week for selecting the topic. On the
other hand, it takes the first two weeks for deciding the aims and objectives. The second and
third week is used for collecting resources. In this manner, the overall process is continued
followed by costs, communicating, identifying the risks, using the control techniques and lastly,
finalizing the project.
Scope of the Project
The scope of this research project is to understand the Indian scenario and its effect on the
company. The research scholar has taken an initiative to conduct research on this topic as from
this, the effect of globalization on the company, Zara can be understood. Along with this, the
research scholar aims to continue this research for gaining a productive result through which, the
different influencing factors can be recognized. However, some of the boundaries were also
observed in the project. It can be stated that the budgeting issue and shortage of time can be
observed while conducting the project. With the help of this research project, the impact of Zara
on the Indian business surrounding can be seen. The intended time to conduct the research is 5
weeks. Costing issues and the quality of the project is also addressed.
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
For conducting the research project, the research scholar has taken an initiative to select some of
the research methods through which, the research will be carried on. The research scholar shall
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choose a research philosophy method for gaining a fruitful result. Research philosophy is of
different types such as Interpretivism, realism, positivism and pragmatism (Flick, 2015).
Amongst these, the scholar would use the pragmatism research philosophy method. With the
help of this, the scholar will be able to conduct the survey as well as interview session. Apart
from this, the research approach is also taken into consideration. Researchers use different
approaches such as deductive, inductive and abductive approach. The scholar of this research
project has used the abductive research approach. It has been observed that the abductive
approach is used for gaining a better result by following the objectives.
The research strategy is also focused upon while continuing with the research project. It has been
identified that every research project needs to focus on some strategies for gaining valuable
outcomes. Two types of research strategies are prevailing in the research methodology. One of
them is the quantitative research method and the other one is the qualitative research method.
The quantitative research method is used for gaining information by conducting experiments,
structure observation or questionnaire survey (Ledford and Gast, 2018). The research scholar has
taken an initiative to use the questionnaire survey method. The survey will be conducted among
the citizens of India. The research scholar would conduct a survey on those people who are fond
of clothes and accessories. The scholar would ask them for their email address for contacting
them to conduct the research survey.
The survey will be done within 30 participants and they will be asked about their opinion
regarding their fashion demands. The survey results will be used by the analyst for further
researching on a particular topic. From this, the research analyst will be able to understand the
impact of the fashion industry on the people of India. The differences in the choices of the
participants will also be acknowledged and understood. Apart from this, the qualitative research
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