Alignment Of Business Strategy And Project Management

Following the project plan as per the strategy and planning the activities as per the

Projects management is an important management tool to implement strategy and achieve an organization’s strategic goals. Organizations are using projects to adapt to changes in the competitive environment including increasing cost pressures, scarce available resources, global competition, new technologies and a race to get products to customers first (Hyvari, 2006). Projects deliver the most benefit when they are directly linked to corporate strategy (Crawford, 2006; Srivannaboon, 2006). (Brad McManus and Ron Cacioppe “Feature Article: An Integral Approach to Project Management.”)

An old adage-plan the work and work the plan, in essence this is the key to successful project management. Project Managers (PM) must first plan out the project and then monitor and control the execution of the program work. There is a tendency for projects to short change the planning process. This is a common mistake. The time spent properly planning will result in reduced cost and duration, and increased quality over the life of the project. Using tried and true best practices for a PM will provide assurance that the program /project will be beneficial and successful.

The paper is divided into three sections, the first of which will establish a timeline of events. This project background will serve as a case study for the analysis in the following section that will be structured such that each of the previously mentioned facets will be independently analyzed and contrasted with project management principles. Finally the paper will conclude with a summary of the analysis and recommendations based on

The key to a successful project is in the planning. Creating a project plan is the first thing we should do when undertaking any kind of project. A project plan can allow a Project Manager to complete a project within a specified timeline and a specified budget.Reaching these important goals, will make the project customer happy and help the organization to build a good relationship with the customer for future projects. Project planning is fundamental in order to avoid failure and disappointment. In project management, effective planning is absolutely required if the individual or group wishes to deliver a finished project on time and on budget. From a Project Management article (http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/40904.aspx) I read that during the project planning phase, plans are developed in the form of project baselines for schedule, cost, scope, quality and risks, all of which are components of the overall project plan. This gives the Project Manager basis for monitoring project progress and upon which to base decisions necessary for managing changes needed to help get the project back on track.

The purpose of this report is to examine the role of projects in the implementation of business strategy. To understand the role of projects in the implementation of business strategy the report will look at Tesco Plc. Tesco is UK-based multinational grocery retailer and general merchandising retail chain, with a presence in 14 countries including South Korea, China, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Ireland. The company was established in 1919 and it has grown significantly in less than hundred years to reach the level of among the largest retailer in global level. It is the largest retailer in the UK, operating hypermarkets and superstores, and its growing its share of smaller stores and online sales. The company has different ways to reach the

Projects failure can often be brought about through their initial concept and planning stage. The creation of the projects goals and aims are outlined during the concept stage of the project. Here a failure to understand what the project is trying to achieve can result causes failure due to potential for unplanned growth and scope which further exacerbates the budget eventually pushing it over limit due to increased costs. An example applicable to this Target, with its attempting to pierce the Canadian retail market. Target’s entry level strategy entailed purchasing 189 leases from Canadian retailer Zellers(2) which operated in a similar market to Target, this allowed them to an access point to major retail outlet sites across Canada however

Throughout my career history I have managed several business critical projects; these projects have given me a wealth of knowledge, industry experience and the confidence to take on more advanced projects that are asked of me. Every project that I have ever been responsible for, I have always ensured that there was a comprehensive project plan written up. This included well defined requirements, realistic schedules, clearly identified resources, risk assessment, and budgetary due diligence.

From the outside looking in, it would appear that the biggest contributing factor to the failure of the project was poor planning. It would be my recommendation to these two that the next time they implement a functional strategy. These strategies, “are narrower in scope than business strategies and deal with the activities of the different functional areas of the business production, finance, marketing, human resources and the like” (Rue, Byars, Ibrahim 2013).

In this paper the word ‘project” is defined, discussed and elaborated on. The phases of a project lifecycle and its purpose are to be discussed, and how it is important for organizations to use project management to accomplish tasks will in conclusion be discussed thoroughly. The indisputable word ‘Project” may be defined in numerous unusual ways, some can all have the same meaning and others can mislead a reader. The definition that accurately explains what a project is, comes from the Houghton Mifflin Company (2009) website stating; “something that is contemplated, devised, or planned; plan; scheme.” A definition that can mislead a reader is this definition from the same website just two paragraphs

According to the simulation, “All projects that an organization undertakes are linked to the organization’s strategic plan. This entails the development of a process by which projects are selected based on their relevance to the strategic plan” (Wideman, 1999). This of course is much easier said then done. However after completing the first step of the project by insuring that the project is necessary and pertains to the organizational mission

I believe that strategic planning gives success to any organization, the project manager should be responsible for all the project and he designed to make a progress towards strategic planning & objectives. For any organization planning and implementation are the two key points, if any company success on these two points definitely the organization will be succeed.

The analysis that follows suggests improvements that should be implemented in subsequent business cases in order to avoid issues encountered during this project. The purpose of the analysis is to show that a good business case is imperative to pave the way for good project management. As this essay will show, the importance of a well-considered business case and thorough shareholder engagement in the development stage of the business case is commonly overlooked and leads to project budget blow outs, time over runs and shareholder disengagements, which damages the productivity and efficiency of the organisation in achieving outcomes and there-by the organisations profitability. The benefit of hindsight has led to the discovery of a range of inadequacies in this business case with the biggest issue affecting the overall success of the project being the lack of proper consultation with the project shareholders at the business case development stage.

Since customers are the lifeline of any market, it is befitting that firms attain the loyalty of their customers or clients by satisfying their needs and wants. To this end, project managers (PMs) must be proficient at creating excellent business strategies for meeting their consumers’ wants and needs. Certainly, the task of satisfying customers, as would be expected can be challenging for a project manager, but it is a task that must be perfectly and strategically executed through greater collaboration between team members under the strong leadership of an effective project manager. This paper will focus on the role of satisfying customers’ wants and need; asking for customers’ feedback; adequate and consistent communication of pertinent information with customers’; building good business relationship with clients; proficient project managers‘; meeting set deadlines and team collaboration plays in managing customers’ expectations ( Larson & Gray, 2014)

The primary objective of the project management team is to make sure that the project is implemented properly. Good implementers will retain more value at every stage of implementation. McKinsey’s Implementation Capability Assessment proved this theory by surveying project executives. They had found that Good implementers were 4.7 times more likely to say they ran successful change efforts over the past five years. Also the good implementer respondents stated that their