Business Project Managing And Assignments Management Essay

Business Project Managing And Assignments Management Essay Introduction Before one can tackle the question at hand, i.e. the decisions that a project manager has to make in order to create a cohesive and productive environment for his project team, one must first be familiar with the basics of project management. Project management is a wide area which has gained relatively greater importance in the last three decades. Managers began to realize that project management techniques and abilities were central to the success or failure of projects and thus a great deal of research and literature was published on the factors that affect and influence project management techniques (Maylor, 2005). Needless to say, project management is an area of study that requires a great deal of study because of the number of variables associated with it. This paper will thus start off by giving a brief overview of project management in a bid to first establish that the environment in which the project team feels motivated can in fact determine the success or fa ilure of a project and then move on to critically analyze different ways in which a project manager can improve this environment per se. Business Project Management (1)Various texts have defined a project differently, one could informally see a project as a bid to accomplish a given objective through a set of interlinked tasks using a given amount of resources. It could be something as simple as planning a wedding or a more complex task like building a new house. More formally, a project can be defined as, â€Å"A complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resources, and performance specifications designed to meet customer needs (Allan 2004, p.12).† From this formal definition we can deduce some main attributes of projects such as the fact that a project has an established objective, a defined life span, has specific time, cost and performance requirements and requires across-the-organization participation. The main attributes of a project are not only ess ential for planning and implementing the project but ultimately, the success or failure of a project is judged on how well it has adhered to these essential attributes. Basically one has to see how well a project meets customer requirements and whether it has been able to do it within the time, cost and performance requirements that had been initially established. As mentioned earlier, projects can comprise large complex assignments or small tasks spanning only a few days. For practical purposes, one must also be familiar with the prevailing types of organizational structures in order to better understand the various ways in which impending projects are tackled by various organizations. The first kind can be labeled as the functional organizational structure. Different segments of the project are delegated to respective functional units of the organization and coordination is maintained through normal communication channels. Such a structure allows for flexibility, in-depth expertis e and easy post-project transition for team members. At the same time however, there is poor integration, a lack of focus and more importantly a lack of ownership for the success or failure of particular tasks. Then there is the dedicated project team structure. It is normally implemented by projectized organizations that are mainly dependent on one time projects to conduct the bulk of their business. In this system, each task or assignment is treated as a distinct project and a group of employees is put into a project team and handed the sole responsibility of completing that particular project (Burke 2003, p.89). The system is fast, simple, cohesive and allows for cross-functional integration from different departments. On the downside, it proves expensive, leads to internal strife between team members and there arises a problem of post-project transition for the employees. Thirdly, there is the matrix structure. It’s a hybrid organizational structure and seeks to combine t he best attributes of the two structures formerly discussed. Basically, there are two chains of command and project participants report simultaneously to both functional and project managers. The matrix structure achieves a greater integration of expertise and project requirements. There are three sub-types of the matrix organizational structure. In the weak-form matrix, the authority of the functional manager predominates and the project manager only has indirect authority. In the balanced form matrix, the project manager sets the overall plan and the functional manager determines how work is to be done.

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing - Assignment Example This would be followed by a few recommendations for the company, which would mark the end of the discussion Industry Environment Porter Five Forces Model presents a good framework to explore the environmental and industry forces, which are affecting the marketing of the company. First, the rivalry against the existing competitors within the industry is high (Armstrong, Harker, Kotler & Brennan, pp. 19-22, 2009). Despite the fact that more than 500 independent bookshops have closed as of 2009 due to their inability to compete with the big bookstores, the barriers of borders are coming down and thus exposing companies like Waterstones, with the help of internet and others, to competition on an international level. Furthermore, currently, there are three big players in the market namely Waterstone’s, Amazon, and WH Smith; however, the problem here is that none of them has a considerable lead and in the absence of huge differences in size, these competitors would fuel the rivalry to greatest limits. Rivalry decreases when competitors are aiming for different market segments or different niches in the industry; however, it appears that all of the major competitors are trying to appeal to all of digital and traditional segments of the market, thus, intensifying the rivalry (Armstrong, Harker, Kotler & Brennan, pp. 19-22, 2009). ... tailers here is that they cannot achieve a high degree of differentiation for the books they sell since the product remains the same (Kotler & Armstrong, pp. 41-48, 2008). Due to low degree of differentiation, the competition rests on the price alone thus forcing the customer to look for better bargains. As mentioned in the case that UK booksellers are having the lowest profit margins because of excessive discounting to appeal to the customer as compared to the book retailers in Ireland, USA, Finland, Holland, and Ireland. The supplier power in the industry remains moderate. Four major companies namely Hachette Livre, Bertelsmann, Pearson, and HarperCollins hold more than 50 percent of the market share in the publishing industry. Many authors cannot get their books published, sold, or promoted if they do not have any association with big publishers. Furthermore, they also pose a strong threat for forward integration in the market. However, there power is moderate because they depend highly on these high street retailers for promotions and shelf space for both new and old authors and books. Furthermore, with well-established players in the industry, they have lesser options to get good bargains (Peter & Donnelly, pp. 122-123, 2010). The threat of substitutes is high due to the illegal and pirated books that are easily accessible on the internet through various websites. Furthermore, these substitutes cost way less than the original books; in many cases, these are free, thus increasing their attractiveness to great limits. Lastly, the threat of new entrants also remains moderately high. This is true because not only setting up a bookshop is relatively easy but also because lately many supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury and others have jumped into the industry with

International Business Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International Business Finance - Essay Example Through competitor analysis, the company can differentiate the products supplied to these new regions, and effectively overcome the impeding competition from existing suppliers (Johnson 2012). Overcoming competition remains fundamental towards ensuring successful entry into international markets. Competitor analysis could assist the company in reaching competitive edge within the international business ventures. The production methods utilised by competitors can provide the company with possible production methods to use within these regions. This will also enable the company to analyse possible production technological advancements that could be introduced, and improve the production. Introduction of new production technology could enhance production and reduce production costs. Economic status The economic status shall include the analysis of the economic systems, within these regions, and institutions. This would provide the company with information regarding the availability of e ssential natural and human resources within the target regions. The available human resources could enable the company establish the best production methods, sustainable within these regions. The economic status shall enable the company to decide on strategic approaches to take when making market entries into these regions. In a libertarian economy, for example, market entry would be easier because of limited interference from governments (Glaeser, 2010). Most economies of Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia remain relatively static with considerable government regulation. Understanding of these factors would enable the company to strategise on effective methods of coping with the government influence (Jethani 2011). Government influence in these economies limits the freedom of conducting business and could frustrate investors when assumed. Political system The company should consider the political systems in existence within the target markets. The political system immensely affects th e policy formulation and economic stability of any country. The political systems within different countries determine the influences of government owned enterprises on private businesses. While the operation of government owned enterprises depends on political systems, their influence on private businesses could affect the operations of private enterprises (Hatch, et al. 2011). Political systems could therefore, affect private businesses through offering government enterprises better operating environments, hence instigating unfair competition. Bureaucratic political systems implement controls on private enterprises while letting government owned businesses to operate freely, giving government enterprises a competitive edge. International conflicts, influenced by political systems, could also have adverse effects on international businesses. Countries experiencing international conflict could have sanctions imposed on them, and participation in international activities, including b usiness, significantly affected. Legal factors The legal system within any country affects the capacity to effectively conduct business. An analysis of the legal systems remains essential in enabling the company to determine best operating methods, applicable within the legal systems. Existence of corruption within numerous African countries could become a hindrance towards stability of operations. Corruption could become deeply rooted vice in a country’s culture that it becomes inculcated into national values