Assignment name: Managing A Successful Business Project
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Module number and title: D/508/0491
Unit 6 Managing a successful business project.
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Assessment Criteria
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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.
P2 Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk and resources.
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages for completion.
M1 Produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project.
LO1 " 2
D1 Critically evaluate the project management process and appropriate research methodologies applied.
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.
M2 Evaluate the accuracy and reliability of different research methods applied.
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.
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to draw valid and meaningful conclusions.
M3 Evaluate the selection of appropriate tools and techniques for accuracy and authenticity
to support and justify recommendations.
LO3 " 4
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.
LO4 Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support sustainable organisational performance.
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives and own learning and performance.
M4 Evaluate the value of the project management process and use of quality research to meet stated objectives and support own learning and performance.
Assignment Brief and Guidance
Level 4 Unit 6: Managing a Successful Business Project
British organisations chosen by the tutor for this unit are: John Lewis, Jaguar, BBC, Barclays Bank and British Telecoms.
You work for a consulting firm who has recently been hired by one of the above organisations to conduct a research on globalisation, using the theme: “What are the positive economic, cultural, and ethical impacts of globalisation on different business functions within an organisation”.
Your manager has assigned this project to you, and you have been asked to conduct research on the above theme on different business functions, e.g. operations, marketing, HR and accounting, and present a formal report. Your report should reflect positive economic growth, cultural influences and ethical impacts of globalisation on your selected organisation in Activity 2 and Activity 3.
You are required to provide background information on your selected company and collect data from the stakeholders, which can be in a form of interview, survey, focus group, observations etc.
This report will be presented by the Chairman at the Global Business conference in 2019 (http://gbf.freshfields.com/), where the organisers aim to consolidate these impacts for publication in a Business journal article.
You will need to provide a bibliography showing all references used for this assignment.
Activity 1
For the initial part of the project, your manager has instructed that you start with a project management plan which includes the following:
Establish the aim of the project and outline its objectives (P1), include all aspects of cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk and resources (P2) and timeframes using work plans and Gantt charts (P3). You should aim to show all milestones for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project. (M1)
Activity 2
The Chairman has agreed with your project management plan. The Chairman would like you to conduct a small-scale research by gathering information and data to support the project. You will also need to analyse the collected data to reach meaningful conclusions, and your evidence should be produced in a report format with appendices that show all collected research and data.
You are therefore required to:
Conduct the research using different research methods (P4) and evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the different research methods used by identifying what worked and what did not (M2).
Furthermore, you should:
Critically evaluate the project management process and the appropriate research methodologies applied (D1) and analyse the findings (P5) by making evidenced based recommendations through evaluation of the appropriateness of the tools and techniques used, for accuracy and authenticity (P6, M3).
Activity 1 and Activity 2 MUST
be accompanied by a completed project logbook (a chronological record of ideas, changes, and developments as you progress and complete the project) [Page 7]. You should save this template in Word so that you can add to it while completing the project.
The logbook should include:
a) A record of what you did, when and what you were thinking.
b) A record of where things went wrong and what you did to overcome any unexpected results.
Your Submission will be INCOMPLETE,
and you will NOT PASS this unit if you do not submit your project logbook. [Page 7].
Activity 3
The Chairman was extremely pleased with your research work and he is now considering taking you with him to the global conference, and has requested that you complete a performance review that addresses the following:
A reflection and evaluation of the value of undertaking the research (P7), the value of the project management process and the use of quality research to meet stated objectives and support self-development (M4) and a critical evaluation and reflection 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 (D2).
You will need to copy the template on page 9 into Word and complete this; the expectation is that this is only a guideline and there may be other things you wish to add the template only provides prompts.
Your Submission will be INCOMPLETE,
and you will NOT PASS this unit if you do not complete and submit your performance review template [provided in Page 9].
Resources and useful links:
Type of Resource Resource Titles Links
Useful published resources on the impact of globalisation on business
Published Report
The economic benefits of globalisation for business and consumers.
European Centre for International political economy
http://ecipe.org/publications/the-economic-benefits-of-globalization-for-business-and-consumers/?chapter=all
Published Report
Cost and benefits of globalisation
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/81/trade/costs-and-benefits-of-globalisation/
Published Report
Effects of globalization on the UK economy
https://www.economicshelp.org/trade2/globalisation_uk_economy/
Published Report
The impact of Globalisation to business and the world economy.
http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Impact-of-Globalization-to-Business-and-the-World-Economy.pdf
Published Report
Some effects of globalisation on business
http://www.iqualifyuk.com/library/business-management-section/some-effects-of-globalisation-on-business/
Published Report
Globalisation and its economic social political and Cultural impact
https://www.academia.edu/4668865/GLOBALIZATION_AND_ITS_SOCIAL-CULTURAL-POLITICAL_AND_ECONOMIC_IMPACTS
Published Report
The impact of globalisation on business
http://hub.n2growth.com/the-impact-of-globalization-on-business/
Name
Instructor’s Name
Course Title
Date
The positive economic, cultural, and ethical impacts of globalization on different business functions within Barclays Bank
Executive Summary
In the wake of massive advancement in technology, globalization has become one of the significant discussion in business realms. With several scholars critically looking at both positive and negative impacts globalization has had on the businesses. This particular report premises on the positive effects that globalization has had on the economic, cultural and ethical marketing operation of the Barclay bank. To understand illustrate the extent to which globalization has influenced the marketing strategies and practices used by the Barclays to its advantage
Introduction
Globalization is a concept that refers to all the processes via which businesses and organizations grow and develop international operations surpassing the international trade boundaries. Additionally, the idea refers to the all the growing interdependence of economies of the world, cultures, and general population brought about by the increase in cross-border trade constituting of goods, services, flows of investment, and information. (Guttal,2007).Over the recent years, globalization has had a significant impact on several business organization that has made impact a massive paradigm shift into the business is conducted. Consequently, it has prompted several types of research to fathom to what extent the globalization has been able to influence the firms that have their operation across the globe. Whereas some of the studies have delved in finding out the negative impact of globalization on firms, it is imperative to note that globalization has massively and positively helped businesses to expand their operation and improve their business operations. Thus, in light of the concept of globalization, this report premises on a case study research on the positive economic, cultural, and ethical impacts of globalization on marketing functions within Barclays Bank. The main objectives of the research are to critically analyse how globalization has positively influenced marketing strategy Barclays bank and its internal operations in the wake of transformations to meet the demands of the global market for its services.
Background information on Barclays Bank
Barclays bank is one of the British banks and financial services firm that has its headquarters in London. The bank is a multinational investment bank that has been able to expand its operation across so many nations across the world. The history of Barclays bank can be traced back in the 1690s. The company started in the epoch of goldsmith banking later on the James Barclay become one of the major partners of the bank in 1736 ( Acrill,2001 pg57). The major two founders of the bank were Thomas Gould and John frame who were renowned goldsmith bankers in London during 1690. After a few years of operating their business was able to flourish making them expand operations to another part of the country and in new colonies. In 1896 there was the joint merger of several banks that included Gurney’s bank, backhouse’s bank, all united for a joint stock bank still under the name Barclays Bank. After the formation, the operations of the bank expanded to nationwide.
Literature review
Different researchers have carried out research projects in the past to look at the contribution of globalization towards marketing in the business world. Most of them came up with findings on how globalization has positively impacted the manner in which marketing is done in the banking sector.
A research done by William Gibbon and presented during the European HR Directors Summit pointed out some of the positive aspects of globalization. The fact that this was a summit for all the European HR directors made it look at marketing from a global perspective. Barclays bank had the intention of venturing into Africa as one of their major markets. The managers knew very well that this would be hectic since Africa is made up of developing countries that would not provide the type of clients they need. The research found out that globalization had opened up more opportunities in the developing countries. This research is directly related to this one and will provide information on how globalization has positively impacted the marketing in the banking industry. This research will address the limitations of the study carried out by William Gibbon. He did not discuss the possible future implications of globalization on the industry.
M Rhodes conducted research to look at the future of corporate business. Globalization has played a significant part in ensuring that companies can get more market for their goods and services. Rhodes found out that many companies found it easy to expand their operations to other regions as a result of globalization. The businesses found similar rules and regulations making it easy for them to conduct business. Concerning marketing, Rhodes found out that through globalization, companies were able to exchange positive values that could enable them to perform better. Businesses also came up with ethical standards that have to be followed by all other companies. Rhodes terms this as an advantage for the clients because they get the same quality of services across the world. Banks from other parts of the world have also adopted marketing strategies used in the United States of America and European countries. The research directly relates to the research we are carrying out and will provide a lot of useful information that can help us to understand the future of marketing in the banking industry.
In his journal of Economic Perspectives, JG Williamson( 1998) looks at the banking industry and the things that have contributed to marketing in the sector. He found out that globalization has contributed to the development of the banking industry. The manner in which banks market themselves has improved the way in which they sell themselves to other regions. Globalization has also made it quite easy for companies to learn the code of conduct they are expected to follow in the countries they decide to venture in. The findings of the research are significant in this research since they provide a basis for the outcomes in this research. This research will look at the future of marketing in the banking industry, which is a topic that was not well tackled by JG Williamson.
M Warner also researched the globalization of the labor market. Warner (2002) came up with findings that are very important for this research. He looked at the manner in which globalization has affected the labor markets. Banks can now source their employees from the local market which makes the recruitment process cheaper and more comfortable. This is a research project that tackled a more significant part of the research we are going to carry out. It is, therefore, research that provides a reasonable basis that we can use to come up with our findings. The study can also help us to predict the future of marketing in the banking industry.
Methodology
In this study, quantitative research method was used. Different journals that tackle the same topic were reviewed to look at the past practices that define marketing. It is through this research that the research was able to come up with findings on how marketing has evolved over the years and why globalization has played an important role. The advantage of this method of sourcing data is that it is not time-consuming (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). It is also not expensive and is best appropriate when one does not have enough money to go for the first-hand information. It is also easy to get such books either from the internet or the libraries that have past research papers carried out by different authors on the same topic.
Findings
Globalization of ethics used in marketing has impacted positively on the industry. There is a set standard that should be followed by all the firms all over the world. These rules are compulsory in all the regions which make clients to get access to the same quality of services. The fact that there is a universal code of conduct for all international companies makes it easier for competition to base on service delivery (Weirdigier,2007). Companies have to improve the quality of services they offer to their clients, and in turn, it is the clients who enjoy the outcome. They have access to the best quality services from the industry. Different regions have also adopted ethical codes that have helped the local banking industries to grow (Costello,2008). It is through globalization that companies have also improved their marketing strategies so that they get more clients.
The globalization of business culture has also contributed a lot to the development of the marketing industry. Companies now adopt values that can enable them to carry out marketing in the best way. Banks can market themselves by just spelling out the type of benefits they want their employees to have. A business structure can as well be used as a tool for marketing. Through globalization, different companies have also learned the strategies used by Barclays bank to get more clients from different parts of the world (Hanna,2010). For the local banks to compete with international banks like Barclays Bank, they have to come up with strategies that can effectively compete with what Barclays has. It is a fact that has increased the level of competition and has, in turn, increased the rate of growth in the industry.
Globalization of economy has positively impacted the marketing strategy used by Barclays bank by giving it a level playfield for marketing its services without having to incur excessive taxes in the different location overseas where it has its operations. Additionally, globalization of the economy has enabled the company to use fewer resources in establishing its service in other parts of the world. Consequently, this has allowed the firm to have more resources hence creating a room for future expansion.
Recommendations
There is need to capitalize on the advantages brought about by globalization for instance concerning the ethical implications, Barclays should adopt those beneficial ethics that to enable it to have more friendly environment while conducting business in foreign countries. Similarly, the company’s organizational culture is essential its success. Thus Barclay ought to consider adopting a marketing structure that is client-centered. With a client-focused company culture, it will affect to deliver services that are geared towards satisfying all the client’s needs.
Conclusion
Globalization has had a substantial positive impact in the way that businesses internationally operate. One of such companies that have benefited from globalization is the Barclay Bank. Consequently, as herein discussed in the finding, Barclay bank has been capitalized on the economic environment that has been facilitated by globalization to expand its operations in other parts of the world. Additionally, the company has also benefited from the reduced cost of expansion and maintenance as a result of the marketing its services. Thus, globalization has been a preeminent source of success for the Barclay Bank.
Works Cited
Ackrill, Margaret; Hannah, Leslie (2001). Barclays: The Business of Banking, 1690-1996. Cambridge University Press. p. 57
"Barclays". Investors chronicle and stock exchange gazette. 10. 5 December 1969. p. 922. Accessed 26 December 2018
Werdigier, Julia (19 March 2007). "Barclays Bank Makes Inquiry on Takeover of ABN Amro". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 December 2018
Costello, Miles (3 March 2008). "Barclays seals Expobank deal in Russia". The Times. Archived from the original on 26th December 2018
Easterby-Smith, M., Jackson, P. R., " Thorpe, R. (2015). Management and business research. Los Angeles, Calif.: Sage.
Guttal, S. (2007). Globalisation. Development in Practice, 17(4/5), 523- 531/www.jstor.org/stable/25548249
Hanna, N. (2010). E-transformation: enabling new development strategies. New York: Springer.
Ng, W., " Coakes, E. (2014). Business research: enjoy creating, developing, and writing your business project. London: Kogan Page.
Punch, K. F. (2003). Introduction to social research: quantitative and qualitative approaches. London: Sage.
Reid, G. C. (2007). The foundations of small business enterprise: an entrepreneurial analysis of small firm inception and growth. London: Routledge, Taylor " Francis Group.
Saunders, M. N. K., Lewis, P., " Thornhill, A. (2016). Research methods for business students. Harlow, Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.
Symon, G., " Cassell, C. (2012). Qualitative organizational research: core methods and current challenges. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
M Rhodes (1998).The future of European welfare, – Springer
JG Williamson (1998).Journal of Economic Perspectives, - aeaweb.org
M Warner (2002). International Journal of Human Resource Management, - Taylor " Francis
Project Logbook
Name:
Project title: Managing A Successful Business Project
Date:
Update on weekly research/tasks achieved
Points to consider:
What have you completed?
Did you fulfil task requirements?
Are you on track and within deadlines set?
Yes, for the better part of the project I was able to finish my tasks within the set deadlines.
Did you need to make any changes to your project management plan?
Yes, I had to change plans for the for the time set to collect information on literature review and later changed plans to discuss the findings of research in writing the report.
Any risks and/or issues identified?
Points to consider:
Did you identify risks/issues with a lack of skills required for undertaking research/tasks?
Though I was aware of the research methodology and data collection skills, there at time it become quite a challenge to have all information collected to be comprehensively part of the report.
Did you identify any additional risks/issues that have an impact on the project management plan?
Collecting some information from the site with the prior permission from the website was a risky thing some of the website were not easily accessible.
Problems encountered
Points to consider:
What barriers did you face?
Since I used quantitative methodology to conduct the study, some of sources of information were not easily accessible
How did you overcome them?
In retrieving the information from some of the websites, I had to ask for permission and accept cookies from the different sites. Additionally, I had to register as a member to the different site in order to get information that I required for the study.
New ideas and change of project direction
Looking at the future projections of the Barclay bank was not part of the initial project plan, however, in order to have a clear understanding of the future impacts that globalization has on the on the operations of Barclays Bank I had to search for more statistics on the financial reports and annuals reports by Barclay to determine if the marketing plan would still be relevant in the in the wake of increased globalisation.
What have I learnt about myself this week?
Points to consider:
How did I feel when I had to deal with tasks/problems? Did I find it useful to complete the tasks?
How well have I performed? What did I contribute? What can I improve on next week?
How might this learning apply in the future?
Tasks planned for next week
Points to consider:
Which tasks are priority?
Deciding the source of data to be used is the first priority
Second, task is to settle for the suitable research methodology.
Have you set aside sufficient time for completion?
yes
Project plan status to date (on, ahead, behind)
On
Supervisor comments to address
Performance Review Template
Performance Review
• What was the project supposed to accomplish?
The project was to look into the positive impact that globalization has on the cultural, economic, and ethical marketing strategies of the Barclay company.
• Did the project succeed in its aims? How do you know? Specifically, please outline any evaluation and assessment undertaken. The project succeeded in answering the research question on to what extent the globalization has impacted the marketing strategy that is used by the Barclays Bank. Additionally, from the findings herein indicated in the report shows that there were increase in the profit margin of Barclays and the financial reports also indicated that there have been increase in the client base of the company. Additionally, the company has benefited in expanding its market overseas with relatively fair rate of taxes the company pays for taxes.
• What things do you think worked well and why? Evaluate all aspects of the project (e.g. initial inception, project activities and project outcomes) from a range of perspectives.
The project worked well in terms of the sources of data used in the project coming from valid international journals that offer credible
• What problems emerged during the project and how were they tackled? Was there timely identification of issues and resolution during the project process?
Issues of observing deadlines was one of the major challenges that arose in the process of study. Consequently, the problem was tackled by making adjustments on the schedule of the time allocate for each task.
• What did you learn from undertaking the project? One of the most important lesson I learnt in managing the project is that one ought to have a very clear understanding of the objectives of the project and works with a focus of achieving those objectives.
• How would you rate your performance as project manager?
As a project manager, I would rate myself as good performer since my study research objecives were all met in the findings.
• What strengths and weaknesses of your performance did you identify?
The strength my performance is in observing timelines
Weakness found on the inability to look for sources of data that requires prior authorization for accessing the information.
• How will this inform and support your continuous professional development?
This information will help in future project management that is part of the dealling with research based tasks.
Recommended Resources
Bradley, C. (2000). A manual: writing project proposals. Port Vila: Vanuatu National Council of Women.
Easterby-Smith, M., Jackson, P. R., " Thorpe, R. (2015). Management and business research. Los Angeles, Calif.: Sage.
Hanna, N. (2010). E-transformation: enabling new development strategies. New York: Springer.
Ng, W., " Coakes, E. (2014). Business research: enjoy creating, developing, and writing your business project. London: Kogan Page.
Punch, K. F. (2003). Introduction to social research: quantitative and qualitative approaches. London: Sage.
Reid, G. C. (2007). The foundations of small business enterprise: an entrepreneurial analysis of small firm inception and growth. London: Routledge, Taylor "
