Impact Of Enterprise Environmental Factors On Quasar Communications Inc

Categories of Projects Dealt by QCI

Quasar Communications Inc. (QCI) is an organization that was incepted 30 years back and it is the world’s largest communication firm. It is a division of Communication Systems International and there are 340 resources that are currently engaged with the company. Out of the entire workforce, more than 60% are the engineers.  

There are primarily four major categories of projects that the company deals with. These include small projects, large projects, research & development projects, and capital equipment projects. The changes are a part of every project and it becomes essential to manage these changes. Also, there may be certain issues and risks that may appear. The analysis of the Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs) for QCI is done in the report.   

EEF is a term that stands for Enterprise Environmental Factors and these are the factors that may have a positive or negative implication on the business functions and performance of a specific organization along with the success/failure of the same.  

The case study being referred to identify the EEFs for the organization is for Quasar Communications Inc. The internal EEFs associated with the organization are described below.

• Organization Culture: There are currently 340 resources engaged with the organization and the professional experience, skill sets, and the cultural background of these resources vary from one another. The cultural difference among the diverse workforce impacts the business functions, decision-making processes, and the management approach that is implemented. The productivity levels of the employees and performance of the organization may also get affected as a result.
• Geographic Distribution of the Resources: The resource groups and management units of the organization are dispersed in several geographical locations.
• Management Decisions & Policies: The methodology that is primarily used by the management in the organization is Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK).
• Organizational Structure: The organization structure that is currently implemented in QCI is matrix structure that comes with certain advantages and complexities of its own (Ibrahim & Primiana, 2015).

There are also numerous external EEFs that are also associated with the

• Government/Industry Standards: QCI is an organization that is required to adhere to the Government and the industry standards. The changes in these standards and associated policies will have an impact on the business functions of the organization as well (Ratnasabapathy, 2018).
• Marketplace conditions: The demands and expectations of the customers in the market may keep on changing which may have an impact on the market strategy, plans, and business functions.
• Legal Restrictions: The Company needs to abide by the local legal policies and laws. .

• Expert Judgement: In this technique, there is a panel of experts that is involved and the analysis is made by the expert(s). The choice of the experts may be the senior management of the organization, internal/external stakeholder, or any of the third-parties (Mach, Mastrandrea, Freeman & Field, 2017).
• PESTLE Analysis: It is the technique in which the analysis will be made from six different aspects as Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental. The internal and external factors may have varied implications on the organization. Some may have negligible or low impact while the impact of certain factors may be extremely high. The technique will ensure that a detailed analysis of the impacts is made (Sridhar et al., 2016).
• SWOT Analysis: The impact of the EEFs can be identified by analysing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the organization with the aid of this technique. The strengths and opportunities that will be identified as a part of this technique will allow the organization to use them in a better manner. Similarly, the weaknesses and threats will be the areas that will be paid attention to. The overall organizational strategy will improve with the aid of this technique (Helms & Nixon, 2010).

It is essential that all of the three techniques that have been listed and described above are conducted in a step by step basis. The use of Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) technique shall be done so that the conduction of the processes is done in phases. There are five process groups that are defined under the technique as initiation phase, planning, execution phase, control phase, and closure phase.

The impact analysis of the EEFs needs to be made on the basis of the qualitative along with the quantitative methods. The two techniques that have been listed above will succeed in accomplishing the same.  

There are over 340 employees engaged with the organization and there are several stakeholders that are also involved. The employees of the organization have varying degree of professional experience and skills. The experts may be identified from the internal workforce as there are senior resources that have in-depth knowledge of the organization and the industry as a whole. These experts will be able to contribute in the process of analysing the impact. SWOT analysis will also assist in the identification of the external and internal factors and their implications. PESTLE analysis will also make sure that the identification of the impact from different perspectives is done.

Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs)

There are diverse stakeholders that are associated with the organization. The purpose of the plan is to make sure that the stakeholders are brought on a common platform and are provided with the updates in a secure and timely manner.

The communication guidelines shall be set up for the internal as well as the external stakeholders.

There shall be an internal mail server that shall be set up and the resources and stakeholders shall be able to exchange the messages, files, and information using the internal communicator. There shall also be a daily meeting of half an hour that shall be conducted among the internal members and stakeholders to discuss the organization and project details. The planning of the activities ahead shall be done in the meeting. There shall be minutes of meeting that must be recorded and stored for every meeting that is conducted. A SharePoint access shall be reserved for the purpose. The meeting rooms set up in QCI shall be used for the purpose (Yildirim, 2014).

The external stakeholders shall be provided with the updates on the projects and the organization performance in the weekly meetings. These shall be scheduled by the respective Project Managers and a circular regarding the same shall be sent in advance. The use of SharePoint location shall be done to upload the reports and documents to maintain the information security and privacy (Lawrence, 2015).

Name of the Report	Shared With	Frequency	Shared By	Mode of Communication
Status Reports	Members of the project team, internal stakeholders, and senior management of QCI	Circulation on a daily basis	Head of the departments with assistance from the Project Managers	SharePoint access reserved for the project
Status Reports	External stakeholders and project sponsors	Circulation on a weekly basis	Respective Project Managers	SharePoint access reserved for the project
Compliance Report	Regulatory Bodies, External stakeholders and project sponsors	Circulation on a weekly basis	Respective Project Managers	SharePoint access reserved for the project
Risk Report	External stakeholders and project sponsors	Circulation on a weekly basis	Respective Project Managers	SharePoint access reserved for the project
Disputes & Conflicts Report	External stakeholders and project sponsors	Circulation on a weekly basis	Respective Project Managers	SharePoint access reserved for the project
Closure Report	External stakeholders and project sponsors	At the end of the project	Respective Project Managers	SharePoint access reserved for the project

The communication processes that are conducted in the organization will be required to make sure that they comply with the ethical and professional codes of conduct that are defined by the organization.

The members involved in any form of the communication process will be required to make sure that they include and reflect the principles of professionalism, professional development, honesty, and competency in all of the discussions. It will also be required to ensure that the primacy to the public interest is given in the communication activities and the aim shall be to enhance the quality of life.

The internal and external meetings that are conducted shall be undertaken with the following points as essential requirements.

• The invitees shall respond to the facilitator with an acceptance or rejection of the meeting by acknowledging the invitation.
• The ethical and professional codes of conduct shall be followed during the meeting.
• The tone used for discussions shall always be polite.
• The conflict and dispute resolution shall be done by respective Project Manager or the senior management.

Conclusion

An organization may be impacted by numerous factors and it is essential that the analysis of these factors is done correctly. The EEFs that have been identified for QCI shall be analysed in terms of impact using the strategies as SWOT, PESTLE, and Expert Judgement. The communication plan shall also be set up in the organizations so that the internal and external stakeholders are provided with the updates on the progress and issues.

Internal Enterprise Environmental Factors for QCI

The subject provided an insight in the different aspects of the projects, project execution, and the overall project management. Also, it provided an overview of the several factors that an organization shall consider to make sure that it performs ahead of its competitors. Enterprise Environmental Factors and their impact on the organization could be acquired from the subject. The different techniques that may be used to analyse the impact of these factors and other organizational parameters could also be learned in the course. Some of the techniques, such as SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, and Expert Judgement were conducted and the pros and cons of each of these techniques could be learnt. The use of Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) technique was done so that the conduction of the processes was done in phases. There are five process groups that are defined under the technique as initiation phase, planning, execution phase, control phase, and closure phase. These phases were applied in the project and provided a chance to acquire the guidelines defined under the methodology. The analysis of any of the processes shall be done from the qualitative as well as from the quantitative aspect to understand the wholesome view of the situation. The subject also provided the opportunity to enhance the communication skills and knowledge as a communication plan was required to be developed for the organization. The ethical and professional codes of conduct were also explored in the process to determine the impact of these codes on the resource behaviour and productivity levels.

The knowledge and skills that were acquired from the subject will assist in the further studies and career as well. It is because communication is one of the key aspects for any of the projects and activities. The communication skills obtained in the subject will be applied in the future to make sure that the effectiveness of the process is maintained. The ethical compliance will also be achieved which will lead to the enhancement of goodwill among the resources in the team and the organization as a whole. The management skills could also be enhanced by obtaining the knowledge on the guidelines defined under the PMBoK methodology. These skills can be applied in the further projects that are taken at the academic and professional levels. The knowledge and skills will allow better handling and management of the issues, risks, resources, and project activities. The decision-making and problem-solving activities will also improve.

The overall knowledge and skills that were acquired during the subject are practically applicable and will provide the benefits in the academic as well as professional growth. There are certain areas that could have been handled in a better way. For instance, the requirements collection and analysis procedures could be improved upon. The use of qualitative and quantitative methods was done in the project. However, there are several other analysis techniques and methodologies that could have been explored. It is one area that has scope of improvements and the changes shall be done if provided the opportunity to do so.

References 

Helms, M., & Nixon, J. (2010). Exploring SWOT analysis – where are we now?. Journal Of Strategy And Management, 3(3), 215-251. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17554251011064837

Ibrahim, R., & Primiana, I. (2015). Influence Business Environment On The Organization Performance. Pdfs.semanticscholar.org. Retrieved 03 November 2018, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1778/0e977bd6b13efe90e61bedbea0afda6b3224.pdf

Lawrence, T. (2015). Global Leadership Communication: A Strategic Proposal. Creighton Journal Of Interdisciplinary Leadership, 1(1), 51. https://dx.doi.org/10.17062/cjil.v1i1.8

Mach, K., Mastrandrea, M., Freeman, P., & Field, C. (2017). Unleashing expert judgment in assessment. Global Environmental Change, 44, 1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.02.005

Ratnasabapathy, S. (2018). Exploratory Study of External Environmental Factors Influencing the Procurement Selection in Construction. Irbnet.de. Retrieved 03 November 2018, from https://www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB11351.pdf

Sridhar, R., Sachithanandam, V., Mageswaran, T., Purvaja, R., Ramesh, R., Senthil Vel, A., & Thirunavukkarasu, E. (2016). A Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental (PESTLE) approach for assessment of coastal zone management practice in India. International Review Of Public Administration, 21(3), 216-232. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/12294659.2016.1237091

Yildirim, O. (2014). The Impact of Organizational Communication on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Research Findings. Procedia – Social And Behavioral Sciences, 150, 1095-1100. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.124