Project Management

Management of Complex Projects: The Seikan Tunnel in Japan

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Management of Complex Projects: The Seikan Tunnel in Japan

Introduction

Project management is one of the aspects that cannot be ignored whenever there is need to have a project. This may be for simple as well as complex projects. Management of complex projects is demanding. This is because the complexity of the projects involves many requirements. This calls for dedication from those tasked with seeing a complex project to completion.

The completion should be within the expected standards. This essay is focusing on various aspects of mega projects. This is done through analyzing one of the complex projects that have been carried out across the globe. This essay will focus on the Seikan Tunnel in Japan.

The project

The Seikan Tunnel in Japan is a project that brought to birth a dual gauge railway line. This tunnel is 53.85 kilometers long. It is worth noting that part of this length is under water. The length of portion of this tunnel that is under water is 23 kilometers. It is interesting to learn that the portion that is immersed under water is found 302 feet below the sea level. It is worth noting that the Seikan Tunnel comes second in terms of tunnel lengths in the world. This means that it is beaten in length by the Channel Tunnel.

The project goal

Each project set for implementation should always have a goal (Huang 2010, p.28). The purpose of implementing this project was to offer transports solution to users in the location of this project. The Seikan Tunnel connects Honshi and Hokkaido Islands in Japan. The fact that it is dual carriage gives users an opportunity to maximize on efficiency. It is interesting to learn that the need to give people returning home after World War II contributed immensely in calling for a project like the Seikan Tunnel.

Additionally, the increased traffic witnessed in the route that eventually accommodates this tunnel pushed for implementation of this project to ease it. This project was meant to reduce the transport challenges facing users in this area such as ferry accidents. For example, sinking of 5 ferries ferrying about 1430 passengers increased the need for this project.

Type of project approach

The Seikan Tunnel project was implemented through the use of traditional project framework. This was through planning around the general processes of a project. The traditional approach concentrated on commencement, proper planning and design, construction, contrl and finishing of the project. This framework created ease in handling each task.

The project success measures

For a project to be successful, there are certain measures that have to be put in place (Weissenberger & Kotch 2007, p. 24). For that matter, this project had its success measures too. One of the success measures for this project was completion within the set time. This project had time set for all stages. Completion within the stipulated time would deem this project successful. As a matter of fact, it was completed within the expected time.

The other success measure for this project was continuous progress. The project was to be declared successful if all phases continued without stalling. The continuity was necessary since it means that the project would be completed within the set duration. Thirdly, acceptance of this project was the other success measure. In project management, acceptance from stakeholders is very crucial (Windapo & Goulding 2013, p.431).

This is because implementing a project that none of the targeted persons would not want to be associated with is useless. Luckily, this project received wide acceptance from stakeholders thus being declared successful.

The other vital success measure for this project was based on budgeting. This measure guided that the project’s completion within the set budget would deem it successful. The Seikan Tunnel was planned to operate with a budget of about $4.0 billion. Fortunately, it was completed with US $3.6 billion. This means that the budget was adhered to thus the project becoming successful as per this measure.

The project web

The implementation of this project saw the presence of a wide project web. This touched on the contractors, government, media, observers and multinationals among others. The Japan Railway Construction public was created to handle this project. Several suppliers were given tenders to supply the required materials. Most of these suppliers were multinational companies.

The media and observers ensured that information about the project trickled to the stakeholders. Zeng et al. (2009, p.19) say that the media is an important partner in project management. On the other hand, the government ensured that the project was properly secured and funded.

The Seikan Tunnel project organization

This project had project-based organization. This was evident from the fact that various functional sections were created during the project implementation. These departments had individuals assigned to them for the long periods of the implementation. This led to the project having defined authority from the project managers. Additionally, each and every individual in the project implementation group had tasks to handle thus need for upholding high levels of responsibility.

The Project life cycle of Seikan Tunnel

This project took a total of 43 years to be completed. Over the 43 years, the project went through several stages. Below is a matrix showing the stages and events over the 43 years of the project.

Date	Main event
April 1946	Surveying for the project commenced
March 1954	The Japan Railway Construction public was established to oversee implementation of the Seikan Tunnel
September 1971	The main tunnel construction kicked off
January 1983	The Seikan Tunnel piloting was done
March 1985	The Seikan main tunnel was confirmed
March 1988	The Seikan Tunnel was opened

Problem areas that had to be overcome during the project life cycle

Mega projects are known to have problems that have to be overcome for a project to be completed (Zolkos 2012, p. 21). For the Seikan Tunnel, the problem areas were found in;

Inadequate expertise

Expertise is one thing that each project should have (Sullivan 2001, p. 78). This means lack of adequate expertise becomes a problem that should be dealt with so that it does not disrupt a project. At some point during the implementation of this project, certain expertise became inadequate. This threatened the success of this project. In a bid to save the project from failure, the project managers moved with speed and acquired individuals who had the required expertise to drive this project to completion.

For example, the use of tunnel boring machines had to be stopped for sourcing of blasting expertise. This was brought about by discovery of hard rock that could not be bored successfully.

Design

The design of a project is very important in implementation. The design for this project had to be altered to make it more suitable for the project. It is worth noting that only small alterations were done.

Unforeseen Disruptions

The implementation of this project saw some minor disruptions. The weather and surroundings would get turbulent sometimes. The weather sometimes disrupts continuity of projects (Sharma 2009, p. 45). This would affect continuity of operations for this project. This was a major threat to the time that was set for completion of this project.

Areas of good practice in the Seikan Tunnel project implementation

In the implementation of this project, several areas witnessed good practices. These good practices led to successful completion of the Seikan Tunnel. These good practices include;

Environmental practices

The environment is one thing that many implementers of mega projects fail to respect (Ali et al. 2008, p.670). It is worth noting that taking care of the environment should be concern for everyone involved in implementation of complex projects (Loo 2009, p. 30). With this in mind, this project saw the environment taken care of. This was through the use of environment friendly technology. This project was implemented in a way that had efforts to see carbon emissions reduced. Additionally, the other habitats of the environment were not affected.

During the implementation of this project, eco-friendly materials were used. The project managers ensured that material selection was proper to avoid those unfriendly to environment. The suppliers were informed that they should adhere strictly to the specifications forwarded to them.

For example, water was not contaminated in any way. The soil was also prevented from effects of corrosive processes.

Human resource

Human capital is usually the backbone of a project (Pardo et al. 2009, p. 31). Human resource management during the implementation of The Seikan Tunnel project was excellent. It is worth noting that the best practices in the management of human capital were put into use. This made the project managers have the best of their time when implementing this project.

The working conditions for the employees for this project were made good. Each one of the employees was made to work under conditions that respect human dignity. Additionally, matters of employee safety were handled properly. This was through ensuring that standards related to safety of employees were adhered to. The procedures regarding the use of tools and machinery were put in a way that protected the employees better.

To make it better, the human resource function ensured that the employees felt appreciated. This was through recognizing exceptional performance during the implementation of this project. The employees were given attractive incentives. This boosted their morale thus increasing the level of output.

Accountability

This project was able to be declared full of accountability. The project managers were found to have taken care of the allocated resources. This means that after taking stock of what was allocated to them; auditors were satisfied with the use of all resources that were offered for use during implementation of this project. There were no cases of mass corruption reported as is the case when other major projects are being implemented. Proper records were available for any interested party to go through.

Innovation

The Seikan project was one of the projects where innovation is known to have played a major role. This project saw the project managers coming up with new ways of doing things. The processes and equipments used had creative aspects that led to increased efficiency.

User participation in the project

Users of a project are the stakeholders. These are the people who are beneficiaries of a project that is being implemented (Ling et al. 2015, p .45). During the execution of this project, the users had full participation. The project managers ensured that there was freedom for the users to interact with all stages of the project. This was arrived at for the purpose of reducing the negative impacts of criticism as a risk in project implementation. The users had full access to all information regarding the designs and progress of this project.

This brought about wide acceptance. The project managers would listen to the perspectives of the users. This was necessary for the purpose of building on the plan that the project was based on. From the fact that users participated well, the project management became more geared towards completing it. This is because the users became source of assurance that the project was necessary for them.

The users had a huge influence of standards set for the project. It is worth noting that many mega projects end up not fulfilling the expectations of users due to project managers who disregard the standards agreed for the project. This did not happen during execution of this project. The users were keen when looking at the design and other documented standards. This close monitoring put pressure on the project managers to a point of making the implementation of this project follow rules to the letter.

The users were able to succeed in getting the expected standards through arranging meetings. They would discuss deeply about the progress of this project. Each one of the users would give contributions for the benefit of the meeting. The fact that the meetings were consistent made the user participation strong.

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Core capabilities or competencies involved in implementation of the Seikan Tunnel

During the implementation of this project, there were evident core competencies. These competencies are always credited for the success of this project. One of the core competencies is the integration of technology into the project implementation process. Technology is known to increase efficiency in projects (Meyers 2013, p.65). Technology was widely used to drive most of the processes for the project.

Information was managed through the use of the best information handling technological platforms. This made it easy to use and execute the project from an informed perspective. Additionally, technology was integrated into the communication bit during the project. Technological involvement in the communication channels for the project was a major plus for the project.

The second core competence during the implementation of this project was proper project management. It is worth noting that the project managers were quite skillful. This led to proper execution of all aspects of the project.

Another core competence for this project was proper risk management. Risk management is a very important aspect to consider while handling projects (Sridhar 2011, p.63). During the execution of this project, risk management was done efficiently. This led to reduction of negative effects of risks that were identified. Qiao (2007, p. 14) says that proper risk management reduces project hardships.

Another key competence factor during the execution of this project was proper management of human capital. The human resource management function for the project is credited for having done its job properly. All the time that the project was continuing, all matters related to the affairs of the workforce were handled as expected. This reduced unrests and disruptions from the workers for the project. Strazewski (2009, p. 34) says that mitigation of employee related risks is very important since it makes project implementation successful.

Broader issues affecting megaprojects; The Seikan Tunnel in focus

Mega projects are usually faced by several broad issues. Theodore (2014, p. 88) says that broad issues affect projects are usually caused by the fact that numerous processes and operations take place. Generally, the complexity of mega projects brings rise to issues that have to be managed. These broad issues include;

Risks

Risk is always present in all projects, whether minor or complex. However, the risk level in major projects is much higher. This calls for a very solid risk management function for complex projects. During the execution of this project, several risks were identified. One of the identified risks was about the project design. There was fear that the design would show some weaknesses towards the end of the project life cycle.

This made the project managers become apprehensive throughout the project. To mitigate this risk, the project handlers ensured that the designers of the project kept confirming the reliability of the project design. Additionally, the project managers made several consultations with experts in design to try and get assurance. At the end of the project, only immaterial alterations were made to make the project design a success.

The other risk that was identified by the risk function for this project was high labor turnover. Generally, complex projects are known to be full of work. Many a times workers tend to burn out or opt out due to poor conditions at work (Suriyamathi et al. 2013, p. 54). This identified risk did not affect the project since proper human resource management was done during the project.

To do away with this risk, all project employees for the project were treated as per the international labor standards. This was through ensuring that remuneration to the employees was as per the expected standards. Additionally, payments to the employees were disbursed on time to avoid workforce unrest. To ensure that the risk does not disrupt the project continuity, the project managers ensured that the conditions at work were up to the expected standards. This made employees work properly thus avoiding negative effects of high employee turnover risk.

Decision making

For projects to be completed successfully, decision making should be done in an efficient way. This is because decisions that are made determine the level of achievement to be expected. Proper decision making in projects leads to continuity of projects in proper ways. On the other hand, if decision making for a project is poor, negative occurrences will affect the plan towards successful completion. For complex projects, decision making is usually very difficult.

During execution of this project, several challenges occurred during decision making. It is worth noting that complex projects call for many decision makers. Therefore, the process of decision making becomes very complicated and slow. The decision making process for this project was very hard since managers were many. The many decision makers took long time for decision making. This is because they had to consult each other. Opposed suggestions by some of the decision makers took more time for the purpose of discussions and explanations as to why certain opinions could not be upheld.

Cultural

Cultural differences usually affect mega projects. This is because the many employees are required for complex projects are drawn from diverse cultures. This brings about cultural diversity within the workforce in a project. This was the case during the lifecycle of this project. The project managers brought in individuals from various cultures. This was caused by many reasons, need for expertise being one. With cultural differences, attitudes towards tasks approaches were different. This created some sort of sluggish participation from laborers. As a result, the project time was consumed in the process of harmonizing the cultures.

Labor

Labor management is the other broad issue that affects mega projects. This happens to be a very sensitive issue since complex projects are usually labor intensive. Therefore, the project handlers should always ensure that labor matters are managed in a way that does create stability of the workforce. During the life cycle of this project, the workforce was well handled. This means that project was able to continue without alarming cases of workforce dissatisfaction. The minor cases of complains that were forwarded were amicably settled.

Political

The politics prevailing in areas where complex projects are being held affects the continuity. It happens that in areas where there is political instability projects tend to stall or become abandoned completely. During the lifecycle of this project, the political waters were cool. This gave this project an opportunity to continue without disruptions. It is worth noting that the political leaders within the geographical location of the project did not want to interfere with the project. The instances that saw the political leaders enquire about the project were all friendly. This gave motivation to the managers of the project thus pushing for completion.

Criticism

It is common practice for people to criticize projects. It is a global thing for people to spoil the image of mega projects (Riley 2013, p. 91). This is always through trashing those projects on basis of prioritization. During the execution of this project, criticism was identified as one of the risks.

The criticism directed towards this mega project was based on the fact that the amount of money used could be used for other projects that are better in terms of meeting the needs of the common citizens. To ensure that this did not affect this mega project, the project managers ensured that proper public participation was done. The project managers created a system that made all stakeholders aware of what the project was all about.

Conclusion

Management of complex projects is known to be quite demanding. Therefore, the people in charge of such kind of projects should ensure that proper planning is done. The goal of the project should be the guiding tool for all processes. To make it better, the life cycle of mega projects should be monitored to ensure that it does not get disrupted. The stakeholders should be managed well to ensure that the project continues with understanding. All challenges should be handled with sobriety and efficiency. It is worth noting that good practices should be priority when drawing the strategic plan for complex projects.

Risk management during project implementation should be done in a good way. This calls for the need to have a reliable risk function during the life cycle of a mega project. All risks should be identified and mitigated properly to ensure that the project does not become disrupted.

References

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Strategic Planning and Strategic Performance

IMPLICATIONS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ON STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE AT FAMILY BANK (KENYA)

Abstract

Financial institutions presently implement strategic planning with the aim that this will lead to better performance. Previous research focused on the strategic planning and performance direct relationship and not the guidelines followed that make up the process of strategic planning. The manner and extent to which each of the steps is practised could have implications on the expected strategic planning results. The study’s purpose is to establish the effects of strategic implementation on a bank’s financial performance.

The effectiveness of strategic planning is measured by the extent to which it affects organisational performance and its survival rate. The study has a primary aim of looking into the relationship between planning and fulfilment in a financial organisation and determines the extent to which strategic planning affects performance in an enterprise, of which the Family Bank of Kenya, will be used as case study. Based on the above objective, relevant kinds of literature were thoroughly reviewed, and three research questions were formulated for this study.

The study is aimed at proving that Strategic planning enhances better financial institution performance, which at the end last has an effect on its survival and that strategic planning intensity is determined by managerial, environmental and organisational factors. This research is to help the management and administration of the Family Bank of Kenya as a guide to implementing an effective strategic planning for improved corporate performance.

The findings of this research work will also help the public who would want to know about some advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning and its effect on organisational performance. The research tools included; interview, reading the corporation’s journals, reading research books and e-books and also use of questionnaires.

CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Introduction

Although strategic planning began with military war decades ago, it has become a central element to many organisations today (Efendioglu and Karabulut, 2010). Strategic planning is the organisational process of defining its strategy and taking up decisions on the allocation of resources to implement policies (Thompson and Strickland, 2004). Robert and Duncan (2007) asserted that strategic planning offers directions to organization’s departments according to their identified strategies to achieve success.

There has been a rise in scholars’ opinions in the past concerning strategic planning and how it is effective in competition and firm performance. (Schmenner, 1995) asserted that financial institutions which are in the service industry are susceptible to the threat of entrants to the market and therefore need strategic thinking for designing and implementing projects that will make the firms stand out in the market.

Thompson and Strickland (2003), regard strategic management as a critical process that leads to formulated strategies being implemented to ensure the achievement of organisational objectives. Efendioglu and Karabulut (2010) said that suggestions were made concerning the use of formal plans to control market forces and competition for a firm’s effectiveness and performance. Educational institutions, business administrators and researchers have paid attention to strategic planning due to its effect on competition and organisations performance (Efendioglu and Karabulut, 2010).

Strategic planning has granted opportunities to the Family Bank of Kenya in the creation of projects that are aligned with plans and in the daily activities of the firm. The strategies therefore used by the Family Bank of Kenya acts as a guide in this study as the researcher aims to identify whether strategic planning has implications on the strategic performance of firms.

General objective: The researcher intends to find out the implications of strategic planning of financial institutions on strategic performance.

1.1 Background of the organization

The family Bank is also known as the family bank limited and is a financial institution started in 1984 by the name Family Finance Building Society Limited. Later in the year 2007, its name changed to Family Bank Limited. The bank has its headquarters in Nairobi and a total of 93 branches. The key leaders in the Family Bank are the Chairman of the BOD, the managing director and the chief executive officer. The Bank states its aim as meeting the needs of people ignored by other banks. The financial institution has concentrated on small income earners such as fishermen, farmers and the Jua kali sector.

The mission of the bank is to liberate people from poverty and financial bondage. Family Bank offers loans, savings, checking, and investment and debit cards as its products to its consumers. The bank also has a purpose to helping people obtain and sustain wealth through the financial services it offers.

Strategic importance is a necessary tool for the Family Bank of Kenya as it has a strategic thrust of becoming a premier lender. The key areas of strategic planning by the bank include infrastructure, the organisational structure, offering innovative products and services and quality customer service.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Though the importance of strategic planning on the performance of the Family Bank of Kenya is to satisfy the needs of its customers, nevertheless several obstacles are militating against the effective execution of such strategic planning. These issues include competition from other financial institution operators. There also is inadequate and ineffective information systems and overemphasis on short-term results to the neglect of long-term goals.

These problems mostly associated with the Family Bank of Kenya and therefore required solutions as revealed from the study done so as to encourage the performances of the Bank economically through the development and implementation of strategic planning.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

• To establish the extent to which leadership with strategic implementation has influenced organisational performance.

• To determine the degree to which corporate structures on strategic implementation has affected organisational performance.

• To establish the extent to which resource on strategic implementation has influenced organisational performance

1.4 Research Questions

1. How does leadership on strategic implementation influence organisational performance in Family Bank?

2. What is the extent to which corporate structures on strategic implementation has an impact on the organisational performance of Family Bank?

3. What is the extent to which resource on strategic implementation impact corporate performance?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The Family Bank of Kenya has maintained a first rating with the capacity to meet obligations as and when they fall due since 1984. The expectation is that the study will yield information that may be useful for future proper planning and decision making in the Family Bank of Kenya to improve competence and customer satisfaction. The findings and recommendations of the study may also be useful to the management and directors of other financial institutions.

This study will assist them not to rely on haphazard personal experience or subjective expert judgment or tradition or fashion in their management tasks but base their methods, decision and actions on concrete knowledge of issues of their strategy implementation supported by the findings. It is my hope that the study will form a basis for further research on how to enhance the competence of not only the Family Bank of Kenya but other organisations. Further research may lead to the generation of new ideas for better and more efficient management of banks and other organisations in Kenya and globally.

1.6 Scope of the Study

As an enterprise with a new status, the Family Bank of Kenya presents a tremendous responsibility to provide leadership in innovation, the products and services offered, creative thinking, value production and the implementation of globally accepted best practices through the adoption of strategic plans.

Hence, this study will focus on strategic plan employed by the Family Bank of Kenya and the criteria tools used in evaluating the performance of the Bank with particular reference to other organisations involved in the competition.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW.

2.1 The Concept of Strategy

Scholars have put forth different explanations of how they define strategy. The strategy is a crucial aspect of an organisation as it used as a tool to offer directions in the firm. Aremu (2010) defined strategy as a formula for organisational competition and a guide to what policies are to use for success. Mintzberg (1994) referred to strategic planning as a systematic criterion of implementation, formulation and control of strategies to meet organisations objectives.

Arasa and Obonyo (2012) states that most corporations are taking strategic planning as a tool used to show the level of a firm’s performance. Studies on strategic planning have been done in the past, but they did not consider steps in the strategic planning procedure. Ansoff (1970) explains strategic planning as a process of searching the relationship between making plans and performance in a firm.

Drucker (1954) implied that strategic planning involved managing programs in a process that is meant to make best strategic decisions. Strategic planning is an environment affected by consumers, changes in technology, competitor and social-political factors (Drucker 1954). Steiner (1979) refers to strategic planning as a formal systematic effort used in establishing enterprise policies, objectives and purposes.

Planning entails the creation of a detailed course of actions to enable implementation of strategies to achieve a firm’s goals and objectives. Wendy (1997) breaks strategic planning into three components that lead to achievements of the mission and visions of an organisation. The three elements are setting of the enterprise directions on its goals, defining the company’s strategic intentions and putting efforts in understanding the business environment.

2.2 Strategic planning and performance

Ansoff (1971) proved that strategic planning could result in excellent financial performance which is measured by various accounting measures such as the net income and internal rate of return. Porter (1987) outline cost strategies, differentiation strategies, focus and generic strategies that would enhance performance in businesses. Mintzberg 1994 argues that good outcomes do not originate only from planning but the effort put by the commitment from people.

Hopkins (1997) also claim that high performance can be discovered through planning but only with managers input or participation. Miller and Cardinal (1994) are said to put strategic planning to test and approved that it leads to positive performance. The strategic planning process is defined by many as entailing three major steps. (Armstrong 1982) Policy planning involves formulation, implementation and control.

Dimma (1985) claimed that performance is greater when managers place more emphasis to the stages of strategic planning. Hopkins (1997) stated that the financial performance of a firm cannot be directly linked to strategic planning. However, it arises from the different manager skills contained in the enterprise. The skills by managers show the kind of experience and expertise that they have in policy planning.

Managers are not so much into the process of strategic planning as they do not understand the significant impact it has on output. (Steiner 1979). Bird (1991) stated that the environmental change and intensity has led to the need for strategic planning in banks.

2.3 Theoretical framework

2.3.1 Thompson and Strickland Model

According to Thompson and Strickland Model (2003) implementation processes and activities or consumption sets up processes that can be used to gear an organization towards a set objective.

Table 2.1: Steps for implementing strategies

Step	Special tasks
Creating an organization which can implement the strategies.	Creating a structure which supports implementation of strategies. Reinforcing skills and capabilities on which strategies are planned. Positioning most appropriate people for occupations in organizations.
Providing financial resources (budgeting) which can support strategies.	Being sure that financial resources are allocating to units in appropriate to their contribution of strategic role. Being sure that consuming resources (inputs) will cause desired outputs.
Establishing inter support units.	Developing and managing policies and procedures that facilitate implementation of strategies. Creating operational and administrational systems which can empower strategies.
Innovating motivation and remunerations in close relationship with objectives and strategies.	Motivating people and units for implementation of strategies. Designing remunerations can cause optimal level of performance. Encouraging tendencies for achievement of aims.
Forming organization’s culture to adjust strategies.	Creating common values. Defining ethical criteria Creating a workplace which supports strategies. Creating highly achievement motives in culture of organization.
Establishing inter support units.	Developing and managing policies and procedures that facilitate implementation of strategies. Creating operational and administrational systems which can empower strategies.
Performing leadership strategies.	Leading process of value formation, culture development and empowering implementation. Developing and saving innovations, responsibility to environment and using opportunities. Considering political aspects of strategies, confronting to power conflicts, and creating consensus. Posing ethical criteria and behaviour. Innovating modifications for improving implementation of strategies.

Source: Thompson and Strickland (2003)

According to this model, there are several steps that an organisation should undertake to have a successful strategic plan implementation. Each step has a unique task taken. The factors in this model are relevant to this study because they show what an organisation should undertake to have successful implementation towards business performance. It has step by step plans with a particular task that companies can follow to influence their capabilities.

The following dimension of this model was selected and considered relevant to this study: Creating an organisation which can implement strategies. This dimension is appropriate this study while looking at organisation structures. It has particular tasks that should be undertaken to influence a company’s performance.

Providing inter-support unit is considered relevant to the study because it shows us that an enterprise can go about setting the appropriate policies, procedures and rules that can influence proper administration and operation functioning that can lead to good organisation performance. Performing leadership dimension is considered because it shows group leadership should go about in its endeavours to influence performance in a firm.

It shows how leadership leads to values formation, culture development, conflict resolution, and motivation in an organisation providing financial resources (budgeting). This dimension is considered because it shows financial allocation and budgeting is relevant to the contribution of strategic goals in the business.

2.4 Empirical review

Strategic planning researchers and academicians have contributed to the literature by examining the conditions under which specific practices, resources or structural arrangements contribute to sustainable competitive advantage. However, strategic management or strategy is a relatively young field facing all the problems and difficulties associated with a growing academic discipline.

Historically, the field of policy was viewed as ‘integrative’. Most scholars actively involved in the study of strategy hail from a host of disciplines – anthropology, sociology, population ecology, finance, marketing, political science, and theology to name only a limited number.

A study by Kaplan and Norton (2008), suggests that the management of operations and strategies involves five steps. The first phase is forming of the strategy with alignment to the company’s policies. The second step is translating the set strategies to objectives.

Thirdly, an operational process is created to facilitate the achievement of initiatives. The fourth step entails the implementation of the plans as well as monitoring performance. The last step is putting the strategy to the test by an analysis of profitability and cost in comparison to the outcome or performance.

A lot of scholars are now researching on the central role of firm processes in the improvement of financial performance. According to Spanyi (2004), the book by Kaplan and Norton on “Strategy Maps” puts business processes at the centre of their approach of measuring a firm’s progress in implementing the plan (Spanyi, 2004). They wanted to put emphasis on that in a procedure of changing to a processing company, and they thus kept a focus on thorough analysis in the implementation of processes which would, in turn, affect the organisational success.

2.5 Conceptual Framework

Strategic management practices are useful only when they make a positive difference in output from the traditional management practices. In this study performance is the dependent variable and independent variable include leadership, policies and procedures, structures and resource allocation

Figure 2.1: Conceptual Framework Showing Relationship between Strategic plan Implementation and Performance Source.

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This section gives a detailed procedure of the methods to use in this study. It focused on a clear and concise description of the methods and manner through which this research work is to be conducted. Data has to be gathered for proper analysis of the effect of strategic planning on organisational performance using the Family Bank of Kenya as my case study. Therefore, an attempt is made in this chapter to show the results of this study by considering areas such as the design of the survey, research instruments, the population of the study, sample and sampling techniques, the method of data analysis and reliability of the instrument.

3.2 Research Design

According to Heron (1998), a research design refers to a method for managing and utilising information to get the desired precision. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey research approach. A cross-sectional approach is an approach where information on a population is gathered at a single point in time which is the case for this study. The study design uses the family bank of Kenya as the case study. The method chosen for the study is appropriate for obtaining in-depth knowledge of the policies utilised by the Family Bank for competitive advantage. Kothari (1990) agrees to the fact that a case study gives insight into issues that may be less known or not known by many.

3.3 Target Population

The target population for the study will be all departments within the headquarters of the Family Bank situated in Nairobi. The departments included in the survey will consist of the Operations/ Customer Service, Treasury, Risk Management, Inspection, Information Technology and the Human resource Department. Most importantly, financial managers and accountants who are involved in financial planning functions of the bank will be interviewed.

Five managers from the departments and 20 employees from the various departments that get affected by the financial planning of the bank will be interviewed. Before the interview, the researcher will seek permission from the respondents by explaining the nature and reason for undertaking the research so that none of the interviewers will be undue pressure to participate.

3.4 Sampling procedure

The sampling method used is stratified random sampling to select the respondents. This design allows the population to have an equal chance of being selected in the different strata. The strata, in this case, are the various categories within the company. The sample was chosen to ensure that the sampling size had a symbolic representation of the population.

The formula to find the sample size is:

n = N /1 + (N * e2)

Where;

N= population size

e= Tolerance, take 0.05 at 95% confidence level

n= sample size.

The distribution of the sample across the categories will be done using the formula:-

Number of individuals in the category x the sample size

The researcher intends to interview 5 managers from the company’s departments and 20 employees distributed across the departments.

3.5 Data Collection

The study uses both secondary and primary data. Secondary data is obtained from existing literature such the financial statements and records found at the Family Bank of Kenya. Primary data is gathered by the use of interviews. The study will however rely mainly on primary data collected using a questionnaire. The respondent consists of senior management, middle management and operational staff of Family Bank.

Structured questionnaires, where the study participants are asked to respond to same questions, will be used to aid the study (Mugenda and Mugenda, 2003). Five concept questionnaires will be used with multiple variables under each concept. The concepts will consist of Strategic Leadership, Organisation Structure, Resource Allocation and Performance. Books and journals from Family Bank will act as reference in this study.

The questionnaires will be semi-structured to allow attainment of diverse opinions and views regarding the research question. Interviewees will be given the ability to demonstrate their understanding of the topic by explaining their opinions such that questions may lead to other questions or dimensions for answering them. By getting diverse opinions, it’s possible to critically evaluate the research question and provide a detailed and conclusive analysis.

3.6 Validity of the Research Instrument

According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2003), reliability refers to the degree to which the research instrument can yield consistent results and data from repeated trials. Validity, on the other hand, is the extent to which results from the analysis of the data represent the phenomenon under study. To maximise the reliability of the instrument the researcher with the help of experts in measurements and evaluation will ensure that the questions in the questionnaire are not ambiguously presented to the respondents. In other words, to ascertain the reliability of the instrument, questionnaires have been used by several researchers who have come out with reliable solution to the problems

3.7 Data Analysis and Presentation of Findings

The study will apply descriptive statistics which describes and summarises data so that patterns are made visible. Inferential statistics are used to analyse the relationship between the factor and the service quality and multiple regressions to evaluate the contribution of all the factors to the dependent variable. Multiple regression methods use the correlations between a dependent variable and independent variables as a criterion to determine which variables would be included in the regression model.

3.8 Ethical issues

The researcher will upfront inform the respondents that taking part in the survey is voluntary and that they are also not forced to disclose information that they are unwilling to. The researcher expects to get resistance or difficulty with some of the respondents. Trust will be obtained from respondents by explaining to them the purpose of the research and the benefits it has on the firm. The interviewees will be given an opportunity to ask questions which will be answered by the interviewer.

3.9 Chapter summary

This section explores the research design and methods to be used by the researcher in the study. The researcher will use company records as secondary data together with semi-structured interviews and questionnaires, which of form part of the primary data, to collect data. The respondents will consist of the managers and employees distributed within the different departments of the bank.

For ethical purposes, the respondents will be asked to sign non-disclosure forms to ascertain that researcher will ensure confidentiality. Moreover, the researcher will follow the required guidelines as stipulated in the company’s policy to select respondents, like through the gatekeepers including the management, so that the research will be openly conducted. Respondents will deliberately decide to participate in the research.

References

Ansoff, H. I. (1970). Does Planning pay? Long Range Planning, 3(2), 2-7.

Ansoff, I and McDonnell, E. (1990). Implanting strategic management. 2^nd Edition London; Prentice Hall.

Applying Strategic Planning. (n.d.). Strategic Planning for Public Relations. doi:10.3726/978-1-4539-1264-5/20

Heron, C. (1998). Introduction. The Workers’ Revolt in Canada, 1917-1925, 1-10. doi:10.3138/9781442682566-002

Efendioglu, A. M., & Karabulut, T. (2010). Impact of Strategic Planning on Financial Performance

Mason, S. (1975). Strategic planning for financial institutions. Long Range Planning, 8(5), 93. doi:10.1016/0024-6301(75)90106-5

Mugenda.A.G.and Mugenda.O.M. (2003). Research methods; Qualitative and quantitative Approaches. Nairobi: Kenya Acts Press.

Norton, D. P., & Kaplan, R. S. (2008). Balanced scorecard. The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. doi:10.1057/9781137294678.0037

Olujide, J., & Aremu, M. (2010). A comparative analysis of strategic marketing planning adoption in Nigerian banking and insurance industry. African Research Review, 3(5). doi:10.4314/afrrev.v3i5.51151

Performance of Companies in Turkey. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(4). doi:10.5539/ijbm.v5n4p3

Process of strategic planning. (n.d.). Process-based Strategic Planning, 45-64. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-68583-8_5

Strategic Planning and Performance Management. (2015). Value and Capital Management: A Handbook for the Finance and Risk Functions of Financial Institutions, 285-310. doi:10.1002/9781118774359.ch14

Ulin, R. P. (1954). The Practice of Management by Peter F. Drucker. Challenge, 3(3), 61-64. doi:10.1080/05775132.1954.11468040

Zakaria, N. (2014). Human Resource Strategic Planning Process: A Qualitative Study of Financial Institutions. doi: 10.4135/978144627305013519225

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Performance Management Process

It is sometimes crucial to figure out how to tackle performance management successfully. As such it is very important to strategic planning. This implies that strategic planning and performance management are key for any successful business organization all over the globe. The management performance is normally defined in the light of human resources. However, the definition can be broadened to encompass a number of outcomes of the whole business enterprise (Müller, & Friedli, 2015).

The individual performance of each and every employee in any business organization counts to a larger extent to the performance of that business organization. It is also important to consider the fact that the performance of that business organization also counts to the performance of the workforce of the organization. The incorporation of the two perspectives within the strategic management planning framework gives the most important opportunity for the prosperity of the company.

One’s planning process and strategic plan is crucial tools needed to deliver the required performance management. As such the two define the required changes that would impact positively to the key indicators. They also positively affect the key answers as to why changes are critical.

When, there, is no clarity as far as strategy is concerned, the organizational units will essentially develop their agenda alone, there will, therefore, be unconfused, uncoordinated efforts to make things better and the effect as far as the performance is concerned will be diluted dramatically (Müller, & Friedli, 2015). In a nutshell, one’s strategic plan defines why as well as how one would attain one’s goals of performance management.

This paper illustrates how performance management plan, process as well as steps involved are crucial in the performance of a company. It encompasses the analysis of a company’s performance management and now this impacts the success of the company. It is indeed the manifestation of how performance management, plan, and process are crucial, in the business organization.

How Strategic Performance Management Processes Are Affected by Learning and Management Strategies.

Strategic management affects the processes of strategic performance management in many ways. It is, therefore, imperative to know that the system performance, aligning the objectives as well as managing the employees of a given company to propel delivery of such company greatly. They facilitate operational goals as well as the strategic goals as stipulated by the company.

As such, studies show that there is intermediate and clear correlation between applying management of performance programs or software as well as business that is improved and the results of the business organization. The impact of the system of performance management in the public sectors differs from positive to negative (De, 2013).

As a result, this recommends that differences in the performance management system features and the settings in which they get executed to play a role that is very important in the prosperity as well as to the success of or downfall of the performance management.

An employee in a particular business organization will significantly deliver and be productive with the application of performance management. This may be an important outcome if there is a proper application of the integrated software contrary to the outcome that could be evident when the performance management uses a spreadsheet for a system of recording. The return on investment can be realized via a range of indirect as well as direct benefits of sales, benefits of operational efficiency and through making open of the latent capacity of every worker work day.

This implies the time spent by the employees not doing the jobs they are required to perform. Learning and management strategies are therefore crucial in performance management strategies since they encourage performance delivery as well as productivity of the business organization. As such, there would growth in sales, reduction of costs, decrease time as well as align the organization, motivation of the employees as well as improve the management control (De, 2013).

My Company and Employees

My company is king’s General Motors. The company deals with the automobiles, ranging from the motorcycles to huge tracks and buses. I have three hundred workers who very hardworking and competent in the jobs. My employees are engaged in the jobs such as management, the general assembly of the vehicles as well as sales and marketing of the company products.

Each and every department of the organization does a tremendous job in ensuring that the business succeeds in its endeavors. Such hard work performed by these departments has enabled the company to overcome the various challenges witnessed in the automobile industry all, over the globe.

Assessment of the Employees

To enhance the performance of each and every employee of the organization, I appoint a management team from each and every department of the organization to conduct the assessment of the employees in their departments. Various departments in the King’s General Motors employ different methods in assessing the workforce of the company.

In the department that deals with an assembly of the vehicles, applies the ranking system to enable it to gauge how much its employees perform in their respective fields of specialization. However, the remaining departments use appraisals to do the workers’’ assessment. The appraisals in the departments ensure that the workers are able to perform efficiently, competently and within the time stipulated by the departments to ensure quality work.

How I Provide Feedback

The assessment of my employees is usually conducted within a span of three months after each and every financial year. This serves the assessment right especially after the financial year when the company is able to ascertain its profits for a particular year. After the assessment, I usually provide the feedback for the same in an annual general meeting that is usually held at the company hall.

During the meeting the success and failures of the company are analyzed and criticized where need be, just to ensure that it is in, the right train as far as the progress of the company is concerned. The type of feedback provided is usually summative and is based on productivity that is related to what a particular worker or groups of workers do.

How I will Reward the Top Workers and the Low Performers

After the assessment of the performances of the employees, very many ways are used to reward workers who perform well as well as those who never do well in their duties. For the top workers, I usually reward them by promotion, increased remuneration as well as through recognition as either the worker of the year or the most proficient worker of the decade.

There is also Various presents and gifts given to such workers. My company is also concerned with the employees who are not doing well as far as their performances are concerned. Such workers are encouraged not to give up, but work harder. After this, the low performing workers are taken for in-services to enhance their performance.

References

De, W. A. (2013). Strategic Performance Management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Müller, F., & Friedli, T. (2015). Integration of a Strategic Performance Measurement and Management Process into the Management Landscape of a Manufacturing Network.

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Project failure in the business world is a result of lack of proper implementation of the project management principles. Most businesses focus on the partial implementation of the concepts, or they are in a rush to complete the project an aspect that results in poor project performance. The paper will evaluate the failure of Target Corporation expansion plan concerning penetrating the Canadian retail industry.

Project management refers to the application of knowledge, skills, methods, and concepts to ensure the requirements of a project are fulfilled. White elephant projects often arise more common in social projects than in business one due to the high amount of investment that is channeled in the achievement of the project (Larson & Gray, 2013, p. 11).

Target Company launched an impressive expansion project to Canada that ended up in complete failure. The company has a successful track record in the USA retail industry. The company building on this successful track record decided to venture into the Canadian market. In Project management, the time frame is set before the initiation of the project in this case the retail store had set a time frame of 10 months for the project to be completed (Megitis & Schuster, 2015, p.13).

Target bought 220 leases of the Zeller stores in Canada in January 2013, that was a declining Canadian discount chain store located in Hudson Bay. The retail store required extensive remodeling to improve its outlook as most of the stores had been neglected by Zeller store.

The immense desire to open the stores within the hyped time frame made the American retail store to ignore most of the project management steps that had been stepped up. The time frame set up was unreasonable for them to be able to open over 120 stores in Canada and stock them entirely (Megitis & Schuster, 2015, p.13).

In project management, comprehending the scope of the project does increase the success as the project team members can comprehend the magnitude of their operation. The magnitude and scope of the Target project were under estimated which resulted in poor coordination of the entire project. Target Company has a renowned design in their stores that sets it apart from other stores in the USA.

The retails store was focussing on bringing this concept to the Canadian market, but the poor state and design of the retail stores increased the magnitude of work that had to be done (Austen, 2014).

In project management, the managers and their teams work hard to control the level of uncertainties. In the case of the Target launch into Canada, it seems the complete evaluation of the project was not conducted to pinpoint all the hurdles that they were likely to face. The paper will delve incorporate the project management techniques and concepts in the evaluation of the reasons why the project failed immensely. Forcing the company to count their losses and close all the retail stores in the Canada and move back to the USA to regroup.

Project management: Project Life Cycle

All projects fall into five groups, which are an initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and finally closing. The initiation refers to the commencement of the project where the idea generated is evaluated to determine if it is viable and will benefit the goals and objectives of the organization. In this phase the decision-making team which in most cases is the top level management evaluate the feasibility of the project and the resources required to ensure the success of the project against the benefits (Kerzner, 2013, p. 15).

In the case of Target Company was successful in the USA market and they were looking for new opportunities concerning global expansion. The company preferred the expansion in the form of physical brick and mortar retail store to e-commerce. The selection of Canada as the suitable area to launch their expansion plan was based on the fact that the country is geographically close and the Target market was popular among most Canadians who had visited the USA (Dahlhoff, 2015).

This reduced the marketing and advertising cost that would be required to create customer awareness about the retail store. Another factor that was taken into account in the selection of the country was that they were facing minimal levels of recession when compared to the USA. This meant that the consumer had more disposable income compared to the USA consumers, hence increasing the chances of the retail store to make high levels of profits (Dahlhoff, 2015).

The second phase of project management is planning. The planning phase refers to creating a detailed outline that transforms the feasible idea into a plan. The plan does guide the execution of the project as it details the series of steps to be followed in the utilization of the resources. It does ensure that the project team members can manage cost, time, quality, change, and risk among other issues (Serrador, 2012, p.5).

In the case of Target Company, the retail store failed to come up with a comprehensive plan that would have increased the success of the company in their launch of the retail store. The first dent in their plan is that they bought Zellers stores that were widely known. It seemed like a good idea in the initiation phase as the retail store was built on a present store and they, therefore, did not need to start from scratch (Banjos & Trichur, 2014).

The defect in this plan was that the Zeller location was located in areas that were difficult to access and had limited storage spaces. The Canadian customers were expecting the launch of large retail stores in the country that were similar to those in the USA. The downpour on their expectations resulted in negative reviews from the customers an aspect that decreased their sales (Banjos & Trichur, 2014).

The third phase of project management is execution phase, which is the longest one in the project management lifecycle. The execution phase is when deliverables are created and completed. During this phase, the members involved in the project are informed of their roles. The project manager does monitor and controls the utilization of resources and expenditure as during this phase a lot of them are expanded (Burke, 2013, p. 23).

In building the deliverable, the activities are undertaken often vary with the type and scope of the project. The activities are often executed in either a waterfall or an iterative manner. In a waterfall, the sequencing aspect is introduced where the projects are run one of another until they are completed while iteratively the deliverables are made until the needs of the customers are met (Burke, 2013, p.23).

In Target Company the project was executed iteratively. The retail store had purchased 220 stores from Zeller, but due to the short time frame of 10 months when they were expected to open their stores they had to rush the remodelling and design. The project managers were forced to alter their waterfall sequence and bow down to the pressure to open the stores on time.

The number of stores to open was reduced to 122 to meet the organizations tight opening time. The aspect was the genesis of their downfall as the project managers were unable to recreate the stores to resemble the ones present in USA (Wahba, 2015).

According to Leach, (2014) the fourth phase of the project life cycle is focussed on monitor and control which focuses on ensuring that all the resources are utilized to achieve the goals of the organization. The resources that are monitored are time, cost, procurement, change among others (p.27). The Canada expansion project was poorly monitored hence the high losses that the company incurred.

The purchase of the Zeller store was a poor strategy. The company could have benefitted more from renting their stores that would have been easy to simulate to the retail stores that they have in the USA. Additionally, there were a lot of subprojects that were started within the main project that ended up overshadowing the main project.

The company’s marketing team had created a huge hype for the opening of the retail stores in the country. The hype placed a lot of pressure on the management and project team which resulted in them racing various components of the project to beat the unrealistic opening team set up by the management team (Wahba, 2015).

Time and cost management come into play within this phase. Time management is the process of managing the time spent in the completion of a project. The time sheet form or the Gantt chart is used to create a projective time scale that the project will run and provides guidance on ways to execute the project (Lewis, 2010).

As discussed in the paper the concept of time management contributed immensely to the failure of Target Company to launch their stores in Canada. On the cost management aspect, the company had underestimated some finances required to launch the project in totality (Sorensen, 2015).

Target market did not carry out an extensive study of the retail industry in Canada. There are many other retail stores in Canada that posed a huge challenge to the company like Wal-Mart. In most cases when a business enters a new market, they either have to start small and build their brand or merge with another corporation (Sorensen, 2015).

Change management refers to the process whereby alterations to the project scope are evaluated and approved for them to be implemented. The project encountered some changes when it stepped into the Canadian market, which they had not anticipated. In the case of Target Company, they were new to the Canadian retail industry and. They purchased Zeller who was one of the big discount stores in the company. The company was thrown into a big feat to not only set up their operations to meet the size of Zeller but to also meet the customer expectations of the Target retail store (Sorensen, 2015).

Procurement and Logistics management focuses on the consolidation of all the suppliers and distributors under one umbrella. It ensures a seamless flow of supplies from the distributor to the requester. This aspect is enshrouded in building supplier/distributor relationship that enforces the spirit of confidence among them (Chen, 2015, p.1398). The confidence makes the suppliers and distributors go out of their way to deliver the supplies where they are needed.

Moreover, in the retail industry, the inventory notion cannot be ignored it is pertinent to the success of the stores. The managers of the retail store need to ensure that their warehouse is located at the central point that will enable them to access their requests on time (Leach, 2014, p. 27).

In the case of Target Company when they opened their retail store the happy bubble quickly busted when their customers encountered empty shelves in their different stores. Additionally, they had limited product offerings in their retail stores especially the products that were mostly stocked by their retail stores in the USA like Cherry Coke soft drink. The store does operate on the principle that they are a one stop shop, but in the scenario of Canada this was not the case. It increased negative reviews from their customers resulting in a sharp declining in sales and a damaged reputation in the country (St. Louis, 2015).

The problem is attributed to the fact that their warehouse was located at a far point from the retail stores. The poor positioning of the warehouse delayed the arrival of the orders to their 122 retail stores in different parts of the country. Moreover, the company had not established any relationship with the suppliers in the nation. The lack of supplier relationship affected the speedy delivery of products into the stores; most of the suppliers operated on a cash basis as the retail store was new and had no credit track record in the nation. The aspect resulted in them being unable to stock their stores with the products needed within the predetermined time frame to satisfy their customers’ needs (St. Louis, 2015).

The last phase of the project cycle is closing. In the closing, the entire life cycle is evaluated to determine if the objectives that initiated the project have been met. In the case they have been fulfilled, we then conclude that the project is successful in the case they have not been met the project is termed as a failure (Kerzner, 2013, p. 17). In the case of Target Company as discussed in the paper the expansion project was a total failure and resulted in not only immense losses that amounted $ 7 billion but also damaged the reputation of the retail store (St. Louis, 2015).

According to Johnson, Scholes & Whittington (2008), stakeholders are the individuals that have an interest in the operations of the organization. The stakeholders might be actively engaged in the project concerning its completion. Additionally, the stakeholders have the power to influence the project either positively or negatively. In other words, they are the main drivers of projects as they ensure that the resources are required to carry out the project are readily available.

In the modern project management, stakeholder engagement has taken the central role. They are more actively involved in the running of the projects in different areas. The involvement of stakeholders in the organizations is a show of corporate responsibility. The stakeholders include investors, employees, customers, suppliers, distributors among others. All of them benefit directly or indirectly from the successful completion of a project (Tammer, 2009, p.4).

Based on the stakeholder discussion, when they are ignored in the implementation of a project the chance of failure is higher. This was the case in the Target Company global expansion project in Canada; the stakeholders were not actively involved, hence the huge amount of losses. The customers’ needs were not taken into consideration to determine the type of retail stores that they wanted (The Globe and Mall, 2017).

The company worked on the assumption that the name Target will be enough to sell their product and services to the new market. Additionally, the customers have different purchasing behaviors to that of their customers in Canada. Moreover, they failed to include the suppliers and the distributors in their Canadian expansion plan (Penny, 2015).

Communication

In project communication management the focus is often concentrated on a seamless information flow between all the parties involved in running the project. The first process starts with them establishing the channels of communication to ensure that all the members involved in the project can relay their concerns. The response structure involved in the communication process should be decentralized to enable faster decision making (Heagney, 2016, p. 36).

Communication plays a role in integrating all the aspects of the project and ensures that in the case a problem is detected in one sector of the project, there is a prompt response. The medium of communications and response to situations is identified. A streamlined communication in all instances leads to the success of the project as all the members involved are reading from the same script (Heagney, 2016, p. 36).

Taking this into consideration, the Target Company expansion project plan in Canada there was a limited communication that hampered its success. There was a communication breakdown between the suppliers, distributors and the retail store operates. This caused most of the store shelves to lack most of the commodities (Sorensen, 2015).

Additionally, the communication between the management in the USA and the people set up to handle the operations in Canada was clouded with a lot of lies. The reports that the USA Target team received showed that the stores were performing at a slow pace and everything was going according to plan. The time when the management came to investigate they found a deplorable situation in most of their stores. The aspect forced them to close their stores a clear sign that the project was a big failure for the retail store (Sorensen, 2015).

Risk Management

Project risk management refers to all the processes that are involved in the identification, analysis, and control of risk. It involves concentration on increasing the positive results of the project while reducing the negative effects. The process involved in risk management entails risk identification, risk quantification, risk response development and risk response control (Pritchard & PMP 2014).

The process of risk identification focuses on the determination of the risks that have a higher chance of affecting the project (Pritchard & PMP, 2014). Target Company focussed on the superficial risk aspects that were going to affect the launch of their retail store in Canada. They analyzed the competition in Canada and to outwit Wal-Mart retail store they believed purchasing a known company will give them some head start, but this was not the case as the project failed (Span, 2015).

A risk development plan refers to the steps that have been created to manage threats when they occur. It does focus on the avoidance, acceptance, and mitigation (Moran, 2015, p. 18). There is a high possibility that the company lacked a risk response development plan. The reason for stating this arises from the fact that when they started incurring difficulties in; filling their stores, expanding the spaces, and offering the products at affordable prices like their retail stores in the USA they decided to throw the towel (Shaw, 2015).

The last step in the risk management plan is the risk response control. The risk response entails the execution of ways to manage the risk process. When it comes to controlling risk the first step that the company should have taken is to reduce the number of stores (Schwalbe, 2015, p.23). The 122 stores were unmanageable and did play a major role in the failure of the project.

Conclusion

In conclusion, for a project to be successful all the concepts of project management have to be taken into consideration. As discussed in the essay the failure of the project was due to lack of a risk management plan, communication process, and non-involvement of the stakeholders. Target Company failed to carry out a detailed project control when they launched their operations in Canada.

REFERENCE LIST

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Johnson, G., Scholes, K., and Whittington, R. (2008). Exploring corporate strategy: text and cases. Pearson Education.

Kerzner, H., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Larson, E.W., and Gray, C., 2013. Project Management: The Managerial Process with MS Project. McGraw-Hill.

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Megits, N. and Schuster, J., 2015. Target Canada: Lesson from Failure of International Entry. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research (JEECAR), 2(2), p.13.

Moran, A., 2014. Project Risk Management. In Agile Risk Management (pp. 17-32). Springer International Publishing.

Penny, J. (2015). Target Canada – Why Do Projects Fail?. [online] Calleam.com. Available at: http://calleam.com/WTPF/?p=7467 [Accessed 12 Aug. 2017].

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Technical evaluation of a project

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Technical evaluation of a project

Managing the design and construction of an electrical power station for a community of 20,000 resident

Abstract

In any project, it is imperative that proper planning is done before designing and construction of an electrical power station. The stakeholders in this project are diverse and all of them should participate in the whole project in order to ensure that it is given support. This project is based on three fundamental factors that need to be considered in evaluating the authenticity and appropriateness of a project.

These include technical, economic and environment. It is imperative that evaluations on these is conducted and even put into consideration in the designing and construction of this project to ensure that it is successful. The literature review covered demonstrated the importance of ensuring that these three issues are well investigated in designing and construction of the power station. The research design used to solicit views included use of questionnaires and interviews that enabled success of the project.

Outline

Introduction
Problem identification
Objectives and aims
Literature Review
Economic evaluation
Technical evaluation
Environmental evaluation
Research Methodology
Assumptions and limitations
Results
Findings
Potential for future direction
Conclusion
Reference list

Managing the design and construction of an electrical power station for a community of 20,000 resident

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Introduction

Before designing and carrying out any construction work, it is imperative that proper planning is done to ensure that the project meets the objective set. Designing and construction of an electrical power station for a community of 20,000 residents should be carried out with precision and proper planning. In such project, the three major factors that need to be considered include technical, economic and environmental factors. These three are crucial in determining whether the project will be set up and be able to provide or meet the intended goals and objectives. This project report is analyzed in four major areas, introduction, literature review, research methodology, and the results of the study.

Technical evaluation of a project

Problem identification

Designing and construction of an electrical power station not only requires enough skills, and expertise of the constructors but it requires consideration of various factors. For the project to be viable there is need to ensure that factors such as economic, technical and environmental are factored in the whole process of designing to ensure that the project is able to meet the set standards.

Many projects may be viable in one area but not in another area. For instance, setting up of an electrical power station in one location may improve the economic status of the people in the area but due to environmental factors such as poor weather conditions the project may not be viable. It is therefore important that all three factors, which interrelate, are considered to ensure viability of a project. Many projects fail to achieve their objectives and goals because of the lack of proper management in term of design and construction hence the need for more research to find out the best ways to alleviate such problems.

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Objectives and aims

The objectives and the aims that the project seeks to achieve include:

To investigate on the need for considering economic factors in designing and actual construction of a an electrical power station that supports 20,000 residents
To establish the significance of considering technical capabilities in the construction of electrical power station
To investigate why environmental factors are important factor in designing and constructing of an electric power station
To find out appropriate ways to ensure that an electrical power station is designed and constructed to meet the objectives and goals of the residents

Literature review

Under this review, various, issues will be discussed relating to the management and construction of the electrical power station that is able to serve a population of 20,000 residents. The variables to guide the literature review include; technical, economic, and environmental factors when designing and constructing an electrical power station. Evaluation of a project on these three attributes makes the designers to incorporate all of them to ensure that the project upon its completion satisfies all the stakeholders concerned.

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Economic evaluation

In these modern days, availability of electricity is one of the preconditions of ensuring that society functions and thrives forward. Electricity is used in various areas, including, household use, running of information and communication technologies, and even in industries.

According to Wagner & Antonio (2012),availability of electricity is important in facilitating industrialization, which provides employment to many people (p. 20). Electricity also stirs development in a given area because it contributes to the sprouting up of informal sectors such as blacksmiths that plays a pivotal role in the general economy of the country.

Various forms of energy provide electricity to the locals and industries. These electricity may be generated from, water, wave and tidal, wind, solar, geothermal, and nuclear power energy just to name but a few. These different forms of energy are then converted to electricity at a central location from where distribution is done. The cost of every kind of designing and constructing the station varies due to the logistics involved.

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According to El-Kordy et al. (2002), it is important to evaluate the economics of energy systems basing on the four forms of cost; maintenance costs, capital costs, fuel costs and external cost (p. 319). In deigning the electricity power station, the cost of maintenance should be considered to ensure that the project is sustained over a considerable duration of time. This cost includes repair, human capital to ensure that the station is well manned to protect it from external distractions and costs that are related to proper functioning of the station.

Capital cost is the initial costs that require the station to be set up in a given area. The company or the contractors should put in priority or budget sufficiently for the start up costs to ensure that the project is initiated and completed within the required period. External costs involve any other costs incurred during the process of setting up and operating the electricity power station.

Electrical power station

It is also important that economic parameters such as inflation and escalation of rates, discounts and taxes be considered when designing and constructing power station for the 20,000 residents. Inflation may affect the progressive of a project causing a stall due to lose of value of the funds that reserved for the project. It is therefore important that such considerations are put in the mind of the designers especially if the project is going to take long time before its completion. Therefore, future sums of money should be discounted based on the inherent risks of future events not turning out to be as planned (Zati & Toosi, 2011, p. 22)

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. It is also important that electrical energy generation costs are calculated, plus all other installments of the power plant to be known during the designing of a power station to serve a certain population. The cash flow of such project includes expenditures in relation to acquisition of land, fuel and maintenance costs and the construction costs.

This costs should be broken into units to enable the constructors know the estimated amount of money required. Some of the cost analysis tools that can be used include cost benefit ratio, total-life cycle cost, levelized electricity generation cost, net present cost and unitary present average cost among many others (Gokcek & Genc, 2009, p. 2732)

When it comes to economic evaluation, it is also important to consider the economic impacts that project will have on the residents or the consumers of the electricity. Economic benefits should surpass the negative aspects that the project brings to the users or the clients (Wagner & Antonio, 2012, p. 22). When the project is designed, it should be able to improve the living standards of the people by enabling them to develop and grow in terms of their level of developments.

The benefits associated with setting up an electricity station in a given locality or a community should be to benefit the locals economically. Electricity is a cheap source of energy compared to other sources of energy at home and even in industries. Furthermore, the station should be able to serve all the residents with adequate supply of energy to enable them carry out their duties well.

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Technical evaluation of a project

Therefore, in designing the project, all these issues need to be factored to ensure that the residents as well as the company benefits from the station. The company will accrue some benefits from the charges they levy on the consumption of power, but they should also provide enough power to serve the entire target population.

Technical evaluation of a project

Electrical power station

Technical evaluation of a project ensures that all the necessary details that can ensure successful completion of the project are put into consideration. In technical evaluation, it is important for the designers and the constructing company to take note of all the issues that surrounds the project (Zati & Toosi, 2011, p. 23)

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Technical evaluation encompasses many areas of considerations in the designing and construction of an electricity power station. The team should evaluate its capability and expertise to know if they have the required skills and competence to finish the project successful. This is a very important factor in the project. The availability of work force to carry out the project is vital.

Technical evaluation should also be carried out to determine the durability of the equipments and the long life of the assets, their performance and price stability to find out whether the project is sustainable or no (Zati & Toosi, 2011, p. 22). Other technical evaluation include, finding out whether the area has enough rivers or dams to be exploited for power production during emergencies.

Technical evaluation is therefore important in ensuring the success of a project of this nature. The costs and logistics of setting up and constructing an electricity power station must be well defined and known to enable the construction team to finish the project successful. For the project to be sustainable, maintenance costs should be provided to ensure that in case of any problem immediate action is taken to remedy the solution. For instance, vandalism of electric equipments should be controlled through installation of CCTV to ensure that those involved are pursued and persecuted (Gokcek & Genc, 2009, p 2732).

Technical evaluation of a project

Environmental evaluation

According to Zati & Toosi (2011) environmental evaluation or assessment, if paramount before any project is undertaken (p. 24). This is not exclusion to the electricity power station. The station, even though, is important to the survival of the people in the area, it is necessary for the effects it has to the environment be accessed. The location of the station will have to be assessed before construction work begins to ensure that there are no future environmental effects to the resident (El-Kordy et al. 2002, p. 318)

Some of the environmental concerns associated with projects of setting up and constructing an electricity power station includes, effects of the exposed cable to the people in the area, power shocks and outages, rugged landscape that poses threats to the stability of the electricity lines and re-channeling or overuse of water depriving the local residents water to carryout their farming activities. These are environmental concerns that should be investigated and assessed to determine the magnitude or impact that they have on the residents before constructing the power station.

Summary of the Literature Review

Various stakeholders need to be consulted in the designing and construction of an electricity power station. These stakeholders include the government, the construction company, the residents and any other important party. This ensures that consensus is reached as well as it ensures that all the logistics concerning project are put into consideration. The three factors; technical, economic and environmental are important and should be scrutinized to allow the successful completion of any project.

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Research Methodology

Research methodology is the procedure and processes that the researcher uses to gather information, analyze and present data. The nature of the project required use of survey descriptive method. This method allowed the study to gather information through questionnaires, interviews and observations from the relevant stakeholders that the project affected.

The residents or the population where the project was to be set up were sampled through simple random sampling method to give a sample size that was representational of the entire population. 100 respondents responded to the questionnaires and interview questions.

The research design was descriptive survey method, which allowed questionnaires and interviews that sort to know how the residents viewed the project in terms of economic, technical and environment implications. This method was used because it can be repeated for verification. The information gathered was then analyzed and presented in the pie charts, graphs and table for ease of interpretations.

Assumptions and limitations

During the study, it was assumed that the respondents came for the areas where the project was to be set. The information that was collected was taken with a lot of confidentially and was assumed to be true and to the best knowledge of the respondents

During the study, there were a number of limitations that the researcher faced. One of the limitations was inadequate time to carryout an extensive research on how the residents felt about the setting up of the power station in the area. Furthermore, the fact that, the population was very large, the sample size was not enough to elicit the views of the larger population hence a limitation to the study.

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Technical evaluation of a project

Results

The study findings helped the researcher to make decisive decision on the appropriate ways to design and constructing the electricity power station in the area. Results of the study were presented in the form of tables, and graphs.

Findings

From the study, it was revealed that, economic factors were important in designing and construction of the electricity power station in the area. Most respondents said that, the establishment of the station was welcome because it could spur economic growth in the area. It was also going to improve their living standards since they were going to use the power to do their domestic chores and other works at a low rate.

	Yes	No	Percentage
Important of evaluating economic factors	80	20	100
Percentage	80	20	100

Table 1.1: Economic evaluation

Figure 1.1: Economic Evaluation

The table illustrates the importance of evaluating the economic factors before designing and constructing an electrical power station. Form the table, 80 percentage agreed that evaluation was important while 20 percent were of the contrary opinion.

Furthermore, the findings showed that, those projects that were designed and constructed after enough economic evaluation were carried out were sustainable and provided economies of scale to both the resident and the company. Most of the respondents supported the notion that, economic evaluation was essential because it was through such information that sufficient data on the viability of the project was to be determined.

When it comes to technical evaluation, the study finding showed that indeed it was paramount for an assessment to be carried out during designing and construction of the power station to know the logistic and the issues that pertained to the projects.

Technical evaluation ensured that the project was completed at the time set because it allowed the project designers and constructors to understand the issues they needed to handle first before embarking on others.

On environmental evaluation, many of the respondents said that, this was a very important area to consider because, their health and environment was important than anything that could put it at stake. However, they were in support of the project because, it had minimal effect on the environment.

Therefore, by gathering this information, and getting the views of the residents, the designers and constructors were at liberty to begin their project. This is because they got support from the stakeholders and from their visibility and surveys, the area was suitable since it could impact on economic, and had less implications on the environment.

A table showing the total cost of setting up an electrical power station

Item/Material	Quantity	Price per unity	Total Price in US dollars
Survey			2000
Land	2 acres	20000	40000
Equipments			100000
Human capital	100	500	50000
Maintenance costs			100000

Table 1.2: Cost of setting up a power station

Instruments that is required to support the residents and the costs

Instruments	Number	Total cost in US dollars
Transformers	3	600000
Lightning protectors	50	100000
Vehicles	4	400000
Cables	100metre	500000
Reading Metres	1000	200000

Table 1.3: Instruments required

Figure 1.3: Instruments required

Cost of setting up the power station

Section of the station	Cost in US Dollars
Walls	200000
Signs	15000
Foundation	200000
Fences	50000
Alarm system	10000
Total	475000

Table 1.4: Cost of setting up the power station

Figure 1.4: Cost of setting up the power station

The total amount of power that will be consumed

The station expects to produce 40kWhz of electricity in the year that will be enough for every homestead and the local industries in the area.

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Potential for future direction

From the study, it is important for any individual or organization to carryout a survey on their project before designing and carrying out the project. Not all projects are suitable in certain areas and therefore, these factors should be put into consideration. Therefore, further investigation need to be carried out on how communities influence the design and construction of a project.

Conclusion

It is imperative for any company or individual to carryout a survey before designing any carrying out a project. Planning is vital as it allows an individual to assess the benefits and the costs of the project. This allows for proper planning and implementation of the project.

References

El-Kordy, M. N., Badr, M. A., Abed, K. A., & Ibrahim, S, 2002, “Economical evaluation of Electricity generation considering externalities.” Renewable Energy, 25(2), 317-328.

Gokçek, M., & Genç, M. S, 2009, “Evaluation of electricity generation and energy cost of wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) in Central Turkey.” Applied Energy, 86(12), 2731-2739.

Wagner, S. & Antonio, J. 2012. “Optimization model for economic evaluation of wind farms- How to optimize a wind energy project economically and technically.”International Journal of energy economics and policy, 2(1):10-20.

Zati, A, & Toosi, E, 2011, “Technical evaluation-economic execution of hydroelectric project at micro scale.”America journal of scientific research, Issue. 16, pp. 20-25.

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