A Model For Operationalizing ERM In Project

Current project team performance

Describe about A model for operationalizing ERM in project?

Tesco Plc. is a leading giant retailer constituting multiple channels to serve millions of customers worldwide. Tesco’s activity ranges from grocery to general merchandize sales, dispensing pharmacies, mobile telephone retailing, café and restaurants, opticians and a bank. This paper would highlight the continuous effort of the senior management to make five future developments over the next five years (Arena et al.2012).However, the paper also draws attention to the current performance of the project team based on which the future development is likely to be made. The five developments that is believed to improve the project team performance is either associated with organizational culture or society, technological aspects, knowledge and skills of their staff, sub-contracting and outsourcing, collaboration with other companies, etc.  In addition, this paper emphasize on effects of the developments on the project team performance backed with evidences (Bishop, 2013). Further recommendations have been made to accommodate these developments.

The core business of Tesco is concentrated in UK with more than 1000 stores employing 250,000 employees.  Needless to say, 80% of the Tesco sales and profits comes from the business of UK. The operations of project team at Tesco implement multi-format approach, new space or extension of the existing stores is the major determinant of the company’s growth. The long term strategy of the project management team based on three chief aspects: growth in core UK business, expansion outside the core food business, international expansion (Brannen et al.2013). The mighty Tesco seems to be successful and premium brand retailer; however, the project team must incorporate significant developments to combat the issues. Stock control in Tesco was highly manual and considered to be an inefficient process which in turn results into large proportion stock out and inferior buying regimes. Although several measures have been taken to improve the customer services, yet there are a lot complain from the customer end of Tesco (De Souza et al.2013).

In reference to the current scenario, Management structures in Tesco head office are disfigured and the central functions were inwardly facing. There were significant lack in communication that affected and detaches the management from the end users and the store. Tesco chosen to avoid extension of its domestic employee relations practices to workers outside of the UK. This has strong effect on the organizational culture of Tesco (Durugbo et al.2014). The checkouts of the shop are manual, and the price list too is manually updated. The customer product pricing was manual that was inherently time-consuming and inefficient approach. The supply chain of Tesco that relates supplier to the customer in store was far from integrated and highly expensive to maintain. Tesco has weak or no collaboration with other companies. Tesco instead of engaging positively with its community partners, it refuses to collaborate with them. Instead of offering partnership, Tesco accepts conflicts. In contrary to this, Tesco actively pursue a policy to keep out of trade unions, instead of being defensive to the association (Hogarth-Scott, 2015). The senior management of Tesco tends to be centralized (i.e. bargaining is central to decision-making), authoritarian, hierarchical, personalized firm with its own rules and procedures. With strict authoritarian culture within the organization left no space for employee flexibility and effective communication between the superior and subordinate in Tesco. Tesco workforce lack in significant technical and operational skills to work with efficiency; however no specialized training and education program has been developed to enhance skills and knowledge of the employees (James and Hopkinson, 2013).Tesco outsource its online-bookstore and online-banking with small budget companies which in turn negatively impact on losing confidentiality, easily replicated by its competitors, fragmentation and disintegration of supply chain.

Development

The project management team of Tesco has embarked upon a transformation of its entire organization that is likely to change the company’s future and performance for decades to come. The development programs and projects undertaken by the senior management team focuses mainly on the five development areas, that include environment (organizational culture, workplace, society), technology, knowledge and skill development of workforce or staff, collaboration with other companies, outsourcing and sub-contracting (Lam and Gale, 2014). The business development is expected to be wide ranging, with strong impact on every areas selected above.

Organizational culture

The development process include reviewing of the entire organizational structure of Tesco that starts from check out staff to store management also including its head office functioning. The development includes the following activities in three significant areas where the lack is encountered (Laosirihongthong et al.2013).

Head office functioning

The head office function was re-aligned with the operational requirement of Tesco retail store. In addition, a new retail department is planned to set up focused to control the impact and interface of the head office functions on the day to day operations of each Tesco store. Senior head office managers are asked to enter into collaboration with the retail stores, since retail store experience is made pre-requisite for each senior head office positions (Long and Young, 2015). This is an attempt to improve the authoritarian and personalized structure of the firm. This approach is likely to bring flexibility and encourage effective communication between superior and subordinate in Tesco thus resulting employee-engagement and better performance of project management team.

Supply chain management

The supply chain management is planned to re-align with the focus to closely match the wide-scale requirement of Tesco retail stores with the distribution centers around the country. An efficient supply system will improve the availability of stock with better inventory management thereby reducing the rate of waste generation (Melville and Whisnant, 2014).

Retail Store management

The Retail store management of Tesco is planned to undergo a major re-organization. This will include incorporation of middle-management tiers and staff empowerment to serve their customers efficiently. The development process emphasize on the depth of organizational transformation and to do so they, Tesco is planning to introduce personnel development managers to its stores at the level of regional management (Mullan, 2012). Such a development approach will ensure best people are placed in the right position of the giant retail organization.

Development through technological innovations is essential in order to provide technology solutions matching the needs of transforming business thus improving project team performance. Technological development is highly anticipated to fuel and drive the performance of business.

It is planned to introduce latest information system software in each of its retail store. In order to facilitate outstanding resource planning within its vastly spread Retail store, Tesco develop ERP (enterprise resource planning software) for better performance of the project management team (Ndekugri et al.2013).

The team of senior management emphasize on developing computerized stock control systems to efficiently utilize the data collected by checkout systems. This is an effective development approach to efficiently predict customer buying behavior and order product according matching the shopping pattern across the country (O’Connor, 2014).

Five areas of Development

The company opted to equip its UK based managers and supervisors with SymbolMC50 mobile computers across its biggest stores. This was done to replace the paper-based and time-consuming processes and also unchain store managers from their desktop-email. The company aims to develop MC50 in order withstand the demand of high-usage environment (Pinker et al.2012).This is a software, rather a reliable computerized device that delivers enterprise class functionality.

Tesco is planning to provide real-time data solution to its store managers so that they are connected to the business related critical IT applications to ensure continued office based work while they are on shop floor, giving them the right business processes, information and technology(Pinker et al.2013). An increased presence of managers on shop floor would enhance motivation and monitoring of staff, augment the investigation to operational performance and effective interaction with the customers.

Tesco is focused to incorporate flexible yet structured approach to training and development of staff with significant adaptation respective to individual needs of employees.

Training

Tesco is planning to facilitate its employees with both on-job and off-job training programs that would inherently result into better enhancement of skills and knowledge within the workforce. On-job training of employees will be introduced with direct relevance to their work resulting into better coordination with people in same department and encourage team spirit (Silvestri et al. 2011).Intense training of employees is likely to incorporate with the focus to educate the trainees to work through problems and inspire them to find solutions of their own.

Developmental programs

It is a fast-track twelve months program specially developed for A-level entrants.

Options program

This development program is expected to develop operating and leadership skills among the existing employees of Tesco (Van Zoonen and Turner, 2014).

Specialized programs

This indeed a specialized training program intended for graduate and A-level workforce with firm focus on Tesco stores, offices and distribution system

E-learning

In order to educate staff across, the senior project management team entered into collaboration with Skillset team in order produce elearning materials. This development program is incorporated with a focus to make the learning process interactive, comprehensive and easy to use (Woolliscroft et al.2013). This development procedure is likely to incorporate skills and knowledge among the employees to adopt with the various demands made by consumers.

The training and education programs enhance the technical skills and competencies of in-store and non-store based posts in Tesco. Moreover, workforce with exclusive skills range is expected to work flexibly, being more productive in business thus improving the overall performance of the project team (Wright and Brown, 2013).

As discussed in the previous context, Tesco is highly rigid to associate with other companies or enter partnership. However, the project management team is likely to take certain development steps that would improve the project team performance explicitly (Xie and Allen, 2013).

Strategic alliance- Tesco chose to involve two partner firms in its strategic alliance. This attempt will benefit the organization in the following ways.

Tesco can remain legally independent after the alliance is formed.

Share benefits, facilities and managerial control over the performance of assigned operations to the project team (Arena et al.2014).

Tesco will enjoy continuous contributions in one or more strategic areas, such as Tesco food or grocery items, Technology implementation, etc.

Strategic alliance of Tesco with other companies will create interdependence between the autonomous economic units, expected to bring about new benefits to Tesco and its partners in terms of intangible assets (Bishop, 2013).Such an attempt obligate the company to make continuous contributions within the partnership, share risk with partners and leverage capabilities thus improving the performance as a whole.

Collaboration with Cisco IBSG

Tesco is planning to enter into collaboration with Cisco IBSG to get benefitted in the four core business areas with web 2.0 capabilities. The core functioning areas include, 1) Trade planning, innovation, decision-making, operational excellence, sharing of knowledge (Brannen et al.2013). In addition, collaboration with CISCO team would encourage series of workshop involving Tesco employees from each of these business domains to look for opportunities, offer technology leadership and generates business value.

Outsourcing and sub-contracting

Xansa outsourcing

Where outsourcing refers to the procurement of a commodity asset or resource at the cheapest rate, the giant supermarket Tesco is likely to extend the £18 million contract with Xansa for software development, application management and consultation.

This outsourcing deal is intended to reduce the cost of core IT operations in order to focus more on investment on its retail offering (De Souza et al.2014).

Xansa is likely to support critical operational system of Tesco that include production, distribution, stock refill, pricing and payroll system across its business spread worldwide.

Tesco expects that will provide potential expertise in applications management, insight comprehension of the business, and enhance commitment among the workforce to deliver key outcomes (Durugbo et al.2014).

Outsourcing of online banking

Online shopping is considered to be the core competency of Tesco. Tesco is likely to outsource its online shopping format to shield its core competencies when an economic downturn will hit the business world (Hogarth-Scott, 2015). However, such an attempt will be made not only to reduce cost but also reach out global talent.

Tesco decided to outsource their data submission to Valpak. The company will use Valpak’s data management services in order to reduce its administrative burden of packaging data submission and ensure compliance with UK packaging waste regulations (Lam and Gale, 2014). This is likely to benefit Tesco in the following areas:

Identification of raw data and produce data submission

Carry out of weighing exercises (James and Hopkinson, 2013).

Extensive data collection, analysis and evaluation

Develop worthwhile sustainability projects

Conclusion

The development process in Tesco is likely to take around five years for its complete incorporation; however it is intended to be driven by determination and compelling vision. Development is being made in the five significant areas discussed above with the expectation to improve the project team performance.

Reference List

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