Programme - Pearson BTEC HND in Business

Unit Level 6 - Managing a Successful Business Project

ASSIGNMENT

Assignment Context and Business Scenario

You work in a multinational organisation. Your organisation has a presence in a number of countries. In some countries the organisation operates in different regions and cities. This means that the organisation has significant social, economic and environmental influence and impact on the host countries.

You have been selected as the leader of a project team charged to carry out a research work for senior management. The research must assess impact of your organisation on the business environment on your host destination. Your research may consider the impact on the whole country, a region or a city. Your project must incorporate project objectives, structure, size and scope, and your organisation's impact on the business environment (including the economic, social and financial).

Key Question

How do multinational companies impact the business environment of the host destination e.g. a country, region, city?

Globalisation can be considered as the convergence of economic activities on a worldwide basis in the areas of markets (buyer choice of markets around the world) and production (cross-boarder location of production activities to achieve cost-minimisation and/or quality- maximisation) resulting in denationalisation and internationalisation.

Market globalisation reduces marketing costs, creates new market opportunities, smooths volatile income streams, meets local buyers' needs and enhances global sustainability.
Production globalisation gives access to lower-cost workers, technical expertise and production inputs.

The driving forces towards globalisation include falling barriers to trade and investment facilitated by WTO, GATT, IMF, the World Bank and regional trade blocks (such as the EU). Another driving force is technological innovation such as e-business (e-commerce), e-mail, videoconferencing, internet, company intranets and extranets, and advancements in transportation technologies.

The benefits outlined above notwithstanding globalisation has created some challenges:

1. Jobs and wages - exploitation of workers in developing countries, elimination of jobs and lower wages in developed countries

2. Income inequality - widening income disparity between white-collar and blue-collar jobs in advanced nations, wide average incomes disparity between rich and poor nations.

3. Culture, sovereignty and environment - destroys rich diversity by homogenising consumer patterns, values, customs, beliefs, etc; and empowers supranational organisations (be wit Brexit); local environmental regulations may be ignored

This project will provide the student with the opportunity to contribute to the debate of how globalisation has impacted on the business environment, both positively and negatively.

Milestones and interim feedback

The purposes of milestones are to monitor the progress of the project and to maintain momentum, making it more likely that the project will succeed. Each milestone should be a clear, achievable activity that the student aims to achieve by a particular time. Students should agree at least two milestones with their tutor. Examples of milestones include:
• Producing a first draft of findings
• completing all primary research

At each milestone, the tutor will liaise with the student to check whether it has been achieved and advise as necessary

What you must do

The following issues are required to be carried out:

LO1: Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme.

Before commencing your project, you are required to devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.

As part of planning the project, produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk and resources.

As part of organising the project into manageable sections, you are required to produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to provide timeframes and stages for completion.

To convince the management team, you are required to produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project.

LO2: Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection to generate knowledge to support the project.

Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods appropriate for meeting project aims and objectives. You should evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the different research methods applied.

To demonstrate your ability to carry a small-scale research, you critically evaluate the project management process and appropriate research methodologies applied.

LO3: Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on meaningful conclusions drawn from evidence findings and /or analysis.

Having demonstrated your ability to collect data, analyse the data using appropriate tools and techniques. You should then communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to draw valid and meaningful conclusions.

Your senior management would benefit from recommendations, so you should evaluate the selection of appropriate tools and techniques for accuracy and authenticity to support and justify recommendations to the organisation.

LO4: Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support sustainable organisational performance.

Now that you have completed the project, you should reflect on the value of undertaking the research to meet your organisation's objectives and to meet your own learning and performance. You should also evaluate the value of the project management process to meet your organisation's stated objectives and to support your own learning and performance.

If you were to undertake a similar project in future, your senior management would like you to 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 your learning during the project.