Unit 6: Managing a Successful Business Project

Assignment Brief 1

Student Name/ ID Number

Unit 6: Managing a Successful Business
Unit Number and Title
Project
Academic Year 2022-2023
Unit Tutor
Assignment Title Project Management Plan
Issue Date
Submission Date 15/07/2022
Submission format
The submission is in the form of an individual written report. This should be written in a
course, formal business style using 1.5 lines spacing and font size 12. You are required
to make use of headings, paragraphs, and subsections as appropriate, and all work
must be supported with research and referenced using the Harvard referencing
system. Please also provide a bibliography using the Harvard referencing system. Any
suspicions regarding plagiarism will lead to failure in results of the assignment. The
recommended word limit is 3,000 words, although you will not be penalized for
exceeding the total word limit.
Unit Learning Outcomes
 LO1 Explain the key stages of the project lifecycle that should be considered when
project managing
 LO2 Produce a Project Management Plan (PMP) for a business project using primary and
secondary research methods

Transferable skills and competencies developed

 Project Management skill
 Research skill

 Conceptual and critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation .

Vocational scenario
* This assignment guidance can be customized by the tutor to meet specific needs

Theme: Business recovery.

In the long term, businesses need to be prepared to face the unexpected, many fail
because they are unable to recover from unexpected events such as political
disruption, natural disasters, and pandemics. Business continuity planning allows
businesses to maintain or quickly resume functions in the event of a major disruption.
Essentially, business continuity is like having a back-up plan that outlines procedures
and instructions for staff members in the event of a disaster.

The recent COVID-19 global pandemic dramatically impacted industry across all sectors,
inevitably affecting disproportionately those businesses that exist to support social
interactions and placing strains on both supply and demand. As the pandemic
continues to affect industry: lock-down periods, and international and local restrictions
on movement have led to a huge drop in revenues and a situation of emergency due to
financial difficulties:

 Dramatically lower revenues.

 Operational and financial challenges, including issues with liquidity, debt
repayments or how to develop “smart capex” on assets to maintain tariffs
and/or competitive advantage.
 Uncertainty about the timing and speed of the recovery depending on the arrival
of treatments for the virus in order to return to “normal”

To meet the challenges posed by unexpected events and disasters, businesses around
the world need to react in agile and decisive ways. This involves businesses identifying
capabilities and needs to strengthen, refactor, reopen, rehire, re-budget, resupply, by
creating long term plans that allow for scaling up. An “after-action review” to collect
data and insights on lessons learned, and then using these to prioritise actions to
enhance business value today, businesses will build strategic resilience for tomorrow.
Businesses that take these steps now will be well-placed to capitalise more effectively
on the opportunities during business recovery, and to continue winning in their
marketplaces as greater certainty and stability return.

Role

You are working as an assistant for the Board of Directors (BoD) in your organization.
Currently, the COVID19 Outbreak has affected your organization in the areas of
customer, cashflow, supply chain, workforce and digital enablement (Based on
the latest Deloitte road map to Business Recovery.) COVID19 is unlikely to end
suddenly given the evolving nature of the virus and uncertain prospects and timing of a
vaccine. Therefore, business must plan for multiple scenarios as they shift from crisis
response to recovery. You are responsible for coming up with a project that create a
post pandemic framework for business planning in at least one of the areas
mentioned above.
Assignment activity and guidance
This is your task: you must produce a comprehensive management plan for your
project; it should cover the followings:
1. Explain and evaluate the stages of the Project Life Cycle (PLC) and their
importance to the success of a project.
2. Examine the factors to be considered when compiling a project management
plan (PMP) such as: project aims, objectives, deliverables, milestones, work
breakdown structure, schedules, cost estimations, quality management, risk
management and stakeholder communication.
3. Explain and evaluate a range of research methods and strategies and their
importance to project management.
4. Produce a detailed PMP that covers project scope, milestones, schedule, quality,
risk, communication, resources, and research method which includes
primary or secondary data collection plan.
5. Justify the choice of research method and strategies in your PMP.
6. Keep weekly logbooks and attach them to the management plan. The weekly
logbook template can be found in the FLM website.
Recommended Resources

Please note that the resources listed are examples for you to use as a starting point in
your research – the list is not definitive.
Online articles and insights for Business Recovery Theme

1. Learning from the impacts of COVID-19 and leading the recovery. Available at:
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/crisis-solutions/covid-19.html
2. Create a resilient business model in the face of covid-19. Available at:
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/create-a-resilient-business-model-
in-the-face-of-covid-19
3. Small Business Roadmap for recovery and beyond. Available at:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/covid-19/au-
deloitte-small-business-roadmap-for-recovery-and-beyond-workbook.pdf
4. Business Continuity and Recovery Planning. Available at:
https://www.undrr.org/publication/covid-19-small-business-continuity-and-
recovery-planning-toolkit
5. Economic Development Collaborative. Available at:
https://edcollaborative.com/blog/how-to-prepare-for-business-recovery-post-
covid-19/
6. Business continuity in the COVID-19 emergency: A framework of actions
undertaken by world-leading companies. Available at:
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681321000227

Useful resources for Project Management:

1. What is Project Management? Available at: What is project management? | APM

2. Project Management links. Available at: Project Management Skills from
MindTools.com
3. Demystifying the 5 phases of project management. Available at: Demystifying
the 5 Phases of Project Management | Smartsheet
4. A range of project management resources available in the resource library on
HN Global. Available at:
https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/subjects/business/resource-library

Textbooks

SAUNDERS, M., LEWIS, P. and THORNHILL, A. (2019) Research Methods for Business
Students. 8th Ed. Harlow: Pearson.

Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the Project Management Body of

Knowledge (PMBOK guide) 7th Ed. Project Management Institute.

Reference text

MAYLOR, H. (2021) Project Management. 5th Ed. Harlow: Pearson.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Pass Merit Distinction

LO1 Explain the key stages of the project lifecycle D1 Critically evaluate
that
should be considered when project managing

P1 Explain the stages of

the project lifecycle (PLC) M1 Evaluate the stages of
and their importance to the PLC and the factors,
the success of a project. (deliverables, quality, risk, the
P2 Examine the factors communication and project-management
to be considered when resources) to be process, PMP and
compiling a project considered in a PMP. research methods for
management plan (PMP). gathering information
P3 Examine a range of M2 Evaluate a range of
and data collection
research methods and research methods and
strategies and their strategies for gathering
importance to project information and data
management. collection.

LO2 Produce a Project Management Plan (PMP) for a

business project using primary and secondary
research methods.

P4 Produce a PMP that D2 Justify the choices

covers, aim, objectives, made in the design of
deliverables, quality, risk, the
communication M3 Produce a detailed PMP for completing the
resources and research PMP, and schedule for aims and objectives of
methods. monitoring and the
P5 Produce a work completing the aims and project.
breakdown structure and objectives of the project
a schedule to provide
timeframes and stages
for completion.