The Project Management System in an Organization - Essay Example

? THE NIKE CORPORATION AND A STUDY ON ITS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BUSINESS RELATED FACTORS INCLUDING PROJECT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES OF THE COMPANY ABSTRACT: The importance of a project management system in an organization is greatly recognized in the handling of different projects from one time to another thus involving timelines, management, tools and requirements for the company to enhance the system of project management. Various internal and external factors of an organization may be responsible in determining such activities of the firm. This research report intends to make a detailed analysis on the legal, social and economic environments of the Nike Corporation that the study has considered as its subject for the study. The internal processes of operations, finances and management issues have also been focused, including the project management policies of the company. This reflects the purpose of the study on the learning of the project timelines, critical paths and contingency planning, and the company’s needs for staff and tools. To this, examples of the company’s usage of PERT chart and Gantt chart have also been considered. Introduction: Nike Organization has been chosen as the subject of learning for this study. Headquartered Oregan in Portland, the company focuses its operations in delivering its customers with products of athletics. The company intends to have a competitive advantage over its competitors providing value to its shareholders. It has employed around one million people across different countries in the world (Company Overview, 2011). The company operates through its affiliate businesses that include Cole Haan, Converse Inc, LLC, NIKE Golf and others (NIKE, Inc.’s Brand Portolio, 2011). The organization is thus chosen to unlearn and understand their organizational environmental factors, their management and operational issues as well the impact of changes on the functions of its management. Organizational Environment: Nike Company being one of the largest companies in the world has tremendous focus on its corporate and social responsibility. On the accountability part of the company and as far as legal reporting of the company is concerned, NIKE makes all its information publicly available. The organization believes in social gatherings to collect views and opinions for the improvement of the company (Reporting Recognition, 2011). Even in the economic condition that reflected decline in the business results across the world, the Nike Company kept its focus on determining opportunities for their growth. The revenues of the company present high profitability margins since it focused on the organizational strengths of the company. The culture and organizational environment of the company is to a large extent responsible in connecting to their consumers across the world. The leadership and management in the organization is dedicated towards making use of every opportunity that comes in the way of the company’s operations (To Our Shareholders, 2010, pp.1-3). In the process, the company’s legal, social and economic environments take a major role in the organizational performance. NIKE’s Management, Operations and Finances: The company’s management, operations and the utilization of finances all focuses towards successful implementations of operational expertise in achievement of their organizational goals. The management of projects and operations is implemented by the company through management of costs as well as time to effectively meet the demands of their customers on time. Sustainability and conformity are considered as significant by the company in the management of the company’s projects and operations (Youssefi,n.d., p.1). Nike is an athletics products manufacturing company. Thus the company would require focusing on its project management to ensure that products are ready on time to be delivered to their customers. For this proper management of projects is highly necessary for such companies. Forecasting of sales is an important technique that enables a company like the NIKE to determine their management policies and set timelines accordingly to complete their manufacturing processes on time. The best management practice includes producing products incurring lesser holding and other costs and thus scheduling activities are properly maintained to plan the important activities in a sequential manner with accurate time required for their completion (Lussier & Kimball, 2009, pp.424-428). When plans for project implementation are carried out, the management of the company also deals with the analysis of any unpredictable occurrence of incidents. Such situations are prepared to be handled through contingency planning. Thus back up plans are made ready to encounter unexpected circumstances. Computers and computer related software are effectively used in the purpose of project management enabling the scheduling of different available resources. All these measures are effectively achieved by the staff and members f the organization. PERT or Gantt charts are also utilized as planning sheets that form major parts of the project management process. Such sheets are primarily used because they reflect clearly state the objectives of the project planning and mention the details of the activities along with the time requirements for each step (Lussier & Kimball, 2009, pp.424-428). Thus, the company in its planning and implementation of its different projects reflects the strategic and structured use of project management techniques focusing on lowering the costs and increasing revenues. To this, proper time schedules are planned and maintained intending to deliver products to the customers on time. An example of a Gantt chart can be represented through the following diagram: Figure 1. Multiple project Gantt Chart (Lussier & Kimball, 2009, p.430). The above figure represents a Gantt chart showing multiple projects where it can be realized that And1 is moving ahead in regard to its scheduling than the other companies. The starting and the ending time of each project are reflected in the chart and the dark portions indicate the completion of orders till the current date. Thus the progress of the orders can be analyzed through this chart and accordingly further measures may be taken. To provide with an example, A PERT or Performance Evaluation and Review Technique diagram can be represented as follows: Figure 2. A PERT diagram (Lussier & Kimball, 2009, p.430). A PERT diagram reflects the activities, events occurring, the requirement of time, the critical path of the project as well as the cost. The critical path represents the path of the project taking the highest time among all the other paths. With the help of this, the company can thus analyze which path or process followed would benefit the company in the context of both time and costs. Changes Impacting the Functions of the Management: The NIKE Company being diverse in its business practices and spreading across the world, changes in factors like the social, political, economic and technological factors may have severe effects on the business results of the company. Regulations in the government of a country have a huge control over the business practices of a company in general. Changes in economic factors can affect the pricing and other related policies of the company. Similarly, technological and social factors also have a great influence on the performances of the company. Changes in any of these factors might have significant effects on the business as a whole as the functions of the management of the company is structured after studying such factors. It would be suggestive for the company to try to remain prepared for any unpredictable circumstances and hence plan measures accordingly. Conclusion: To conclude the study, it can be said that NIKE, the company taken into consideration for the study, has its operations prevalent across the world and the company is doing well in its performances. The project management as well as other functions of the company is targeted towards meeting the needs and expectations of their customers. The management techniques of the different projects thus reflect the effort of the company in successfully accomplishing its organizational goals and objectives. References 1) Company Overview (2011), Nikebiz, Retrieved on September 24, 2011 from: http://www.nikebiz.com/company_overview/ 2) Lussier, R.N. & D.C. Kimball (2009). Applied sport management skills. Illinois: Human Kinetics 3) NIKE, Inc.’s Brand Portfolio (2011), Nikebiz, Retrieved on September 24, 2011 from: http://www.nikebiz.com/company_overview/subsidiaries/index.html 4) Reporting Recognition (2011), Nikebiz, Retrieved on September 24, 2011 from: http://www.nikebiz.com/crreport/content/about/1-4-6-reporting-recognition.php?cat=governance-accountability 5) To Our Customers (2010), Proxyvote, Retrieved on September 24, 2011 from: https://materials.proxyvote.com/Approved/654106/20100726/SHLTR_64165/images/Nike-Shareholder_Letter_2010.pdf 6) Youseffi, P. (n.d.), NIKE|Generation III, UN Global Compact, Retrieved on September 24, 2011 from: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/human_rights/Business_Practices/Nike%20complete_EHRBP%20II.pdf Read More