The objective of this report is to evaluate the impact of digital technology on business practices and operational activities. In this regard, it is required to appropriate research over the analysis practices as:
- Determine project aims and objective as well as timeframe based on overall research activities.
- Evaluate small scale research based on data gathering and collection practices.
- Provide a recommendation based on the findings of this research.
- Discuss reflection based on sustainable organizational performance.
Evaluation of Research Aims and Objectives
The aim of the project is to acknowledge the impact of digital technology on various business activities of Marks and Spencer. Digital technology is a vast field which is adopted by various organisations for increasing the efficiency of their activities. Nowadays technology has been digitalised; every process which is included in business can be accomplished with the medium of various electronic devices that can lead to make it more proficient and useful for achieving their goals and objectives. It has been observed that the social media has an influential effect on several commercial processes.
It led to increase the possibilities of getting success by providing access to huge audience instantly which is a major benefit of using this technology Social media is considered as an increasing trend which provides opportunities for expanding their business in the market and providing them an option for making effective strategies which can be useful for future purposes. Various social media techniques leads to an option for effective promotion of their products among customers situated in nation or across boundaries. Therefore with respect to time every business should be made more profitable by adopting digital technology for performing related activities
OBJECTIVES
- To identify the effect of digital technology on business activities of Marks and Spencer
- To acknowledge the benefits of digital technology
- To increase the base of customers
- To expand the business in local as well as global markets
- To create awareness regarding the use of Social Media Techniques
- To improve promotional strategies of Marks and Spencer
- To provide competitive advantage over competitors
P2. Project Management Plan for Marks and Spencer's
Project Management Plan is a process which helps the management team of an organization to produce an effective and innovative plan which can be beneficial to increase the customer rate and growth. It helps to identify how the project is executed, monitored and controlled, and closed within the company. It is very important to make a project plan before implementing any step. There are various factors which help to constitute or build an impressive plan for Marks and Spencer's, for example, cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk and resources which are explained below as follows:
- Cost: To implement digital technologies in Marks and Spencer's store, it requires a certain amount of cost to complete the task. For this, they need products like software system in which they will operate, computers, etc. All these factors are important as it is the basic requirement for a project plan (Heagney, J. 2016). Estimated cost which can be required to implement these digital technologies is explained below :
Name |
Estimated Cost |
Market research Expenses |
£150.00 |
Utility Bills |
£100.00 |
Software Installation |
£500.00 |
Salaries |
£2,000.00 |
Administration Expenses |
£150.00 |
Other |
£200.00 |
Total |
£3,100.00 |
- Scope: The scope of the project is needed to meet the stated objectives for a company. What are the requirements of the company from the project should be clear. There is a huge scope for digital technologies in terms of operations, marketing, accounting, HR, etc. Marks and Spencer's will have a great opportunity as this will increase their sales production. They can improve their marketing strategies using social media platforms like Facebook and twitter. They can even promote their brand by making their own website on the internet which will give all required information to their customers related to their products. They can make an application which will be user friendly (Heldman, K. 2018). It will make their customer to buy clothes easily. It will save a lot of their time.
- Time: Time is the most important aspect in a management system to work in proper order. To implement all digital technologies into a company, system specific time period should be allotted to all staff members working there. This will ensure that every task is completed in time and with quality work.
- Quality: Assuring project quality is a function which must be accomplished by a company involved in projects. Planning Quality and Cost Effectiveness in a project must take place at the concept stage. Checking whether the work is according to assured standard has to be done the company only (Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R. 2017).
- Communication: Communicating will all the required companies and members which are linked with the project management plan should be done very accurately. Any communication gap between can affect the whole plan of the company. Proper meeting should be organized by the company to make members understand their work.
- Resources: To implement all digital technologies in company, it requires resources which can help them in this process. For this, the most important resource is Human Resource or HR. It will help Marks and Spencer's to recruit skilled and qualified candidates who have a good knowledge of internet and digital technology. This will help them to understand the entire process much better.
- Risk: There are so many risks which can arise during the implementation of digital technologies in company. For example, company does not have enough resource to complete the task, or they don't have skilled employee to work on these new technologies. These can be a difficult task for the company to cope up with (Newton, R. 2016).
P3. Gantt chart and work break down structure
Project Plan
Task Name |
Duration |
Predecessors |
Resource Names |
Cost |
Planning Phase |
10 Days |
Project Manager |
$700.00 |
|
Set Objective |
2 Days |
Finance, HR |
$200.00 |
|
Identify Obstacles |
3 Days |
2 |
Hr |
$300.00 |
Identify Key Companies |
2 Days |
3 |
HR |
$100.00 |
Implementation Phase |
17 Days |
Project Manager |
$950.00 |
|
Strategy Determination |
4 Days |
5 |
HR |
$200.00 |
Drawing Financial Road Map |
4 Days |
7 |
Finance |
$250.00 |
Selection Of Appropriate Technique |
3 Days |
7,5 |
Physical, HR, Finance |
$300.00 |
Allocation Of Resources |
5 Days |
8,9 |
HR |
$100.00 |
Review |
4 Days |
10 |
HR |
$100.00 |
Testing Phase |
11 Days |
Project Manager |
$475.00 |
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