Introduction
The world is increasingly getting competitive. Firms are faced with a difficult situation of having to deal with the dynamics in the corporate world. The emerging technologies and environmental concerns are some of the factors that corporate bodies have to deal with in order to ensure smooth operations. According to Kousholt (2007, p.56), management units in the current society must be able to handle the two most important factors in the current dynamic world. The first factor is the emerging technologies. Emerging technologies have the capacity to make or break a firm. Not all emerging technologies are important to an organization. Some are very important, while others are completely irrelevant.
Understanding emerging technologies would help a firm gain a competitive edge over other firms. This has seen most firms come with various projects that are geared towards achieving specific goals in this field. The second factor is environmental conservation. As technology continues to improve the way of life of humankind, our environment is increasingly under threat of total destruction from various factors in society. Emerging technologies continue to pose more threat to the environment. Various agencies have come out strongly to oppose the emerging technologies. Some of them have openly attacked a number of leading firms in the world. Attack from such agencies can be very dangerous because it would generate negative publicity for the firm. For this reason, firms have tried to be at peace with these agencies in order to be seen champions of a clean world. This project concept note is based on environmental conservation.
Project Rationale
This project is focused on environmental conservation. The choice of environmental conservation, at the expense of emerging technologies, was arrived at when the project management team realized that there was a need to ensure that the firm retains its reputation. In the current market, a good name is one of the factors that a firm must protect closely. A firm must consider developing a good relationship with the market in order to ensure that it is successful in the market. One of the leading concerns in the current market is environmental pollution from plastic materials. The invention of plastics made the process of wrapping very easy. It was thought that it would be a lasting solution to the problem of packaging. However, it has turned out to be a nightmare for the environment. Plastics are non-biodegradable. Plastic wastes in the environment are one of the leading courses of concern in the current society.
This firm is one of the leading companies that use plastic wrappers. It was, therefore, concerned about the fact that the environmental watchdogs would attack it from polluting the environment. The firm was interested in becoming an environmental champion. Through this project, the firm would win the trust of the public. It would convince the consumers that it cares about their social welfare. This project would, therefore, be a concerted effort for this firm to conform to the society that it is determined to bring a positive change to the environment. Although this project would involve costs to the firm, the long-term effect of the project would boost the market share of the firm.
One of the main shortcomings that may bar the organization from achieving the above objectives is the wrong prioritization of its projects. The management has given a lot of emphasis on projects that have direct financial benefits to the firm. The management of the firm can correct this concern by giving emphasis to both short-term and long-term benefits. Through this, it would come to appreciate the importance of conducting the above process.
It is also important to understand the mission and vision strategy of this project so as to make the rationale clear. The vision of this strategy is to have a community that is free from pollution, especially plastic wastes. The mission will be to engage the society positively, participating in maintaining the cleanliness of their immediate environment.
Analysis of the Context
This concept is important in maintaining the profitability of a firm for longer periods. The project should be analyzed based on the existing internal and external factors. SWOT analysis would be very valuable.
SWOT Analysis
In order to bring more understanding of the feasibility analysis of this project, a SWOT analysis would be appropriate. It would also help in understanding the strengths and weaknesses that come with the project.
The strength of this project that would be transferred to the organization is a positive image in the market. The world is increasingly becoming sensitive to the impact of various business units on the environment. The concern is emanating from the fact that it has been confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt that various multinational companies are polluting the environment at a very dangerous rate (Lewis 2006, p. 19). This project is expected to give this company a different image in the market.
This company will be seen as a firm that is smarter in its environmental strategy. The market will be convinced that this company is not just interested in making profits, but also turning the society into a better place. The firm will easily attract additional customers who are determined to make a positive difference in their society. This is because they will view this firm as one that helps in conserving the environment. They will consider the purchase of the firm’s product as part of environmental conservation. As a result of this, the firm will develop a strong base of loyal customers. This firm may also take this advantage to reach out to the international markets. The project would give this company a moral right to claim that it is a champion of a clean environment in the entire world. The project has a team of dedicated and qualified staff who will be able to front all the interest of the firm in the duration within which the activity will take place. This team will also manage all the material resources that will be allocated to it in order to achieve best results for the firm.
Despite the above strength, this project would come with some weakness. The first weakness that this project has is the financial challenge. The initiative of managing the environment is very challenging financially. It would cost this firm, large sum of money if it would sustain this project over the years it expects to operate in this market (Murch 2004, p. 75). The members of this team expect to work in collaboration with other firms in order to clean the environment. The team may not have the capacity to rid the environment of all the electronic wastes, unless it is supported by other agencies within the local society. The local government must be convinced to participate in this project actively. Other environmental agencies would also be invited to take part in the elimination of such wastes as plastic materials. The fact that the project would involve partnership with other firms, success of the entire process may be jeopardized. Success would be pegged on how determined the other partners are in fulfilling their duties.
The project comes with a number of opportunities to the firm. The strategy of allowing customers who come with old wrappers of this company products some discount when they buy new products is an opportunity of this firm to introduce a new competitive advantage in the market without provoking price wars. The competitors would consider this move as part of the project for this firm. This will make this firm increase its market share. Many individuals who may need new products would go for old this company’s products in order to get discount. Those without this company’s products would buy the product in order to get the discount in future. This way, the firm would be able to create a base larger number of loyal customers try their products and confirm the quality (Roberts 2011, p. 98). This would give this firm a lead in this market. The collaboration with other organizations will also make it easy for the firm to increase its organizational customers in the market.
Threats may not be predictable in this project, though the possibility of occurrence would be reduced considerably. The first threat that this project may bring is price wars in the market. It is true that the firm has concealed the fact that it is charging lesser price by giving customers extra responsibilities. However, there is a possibility that the competitors may consider this move as a strategy that this firm uses to charge cheap for their products. The impact of this is that the competitor may respond by equally lowering their prices in the market. Such price wars are always dangerous to the prosperity of a business. The initiative may fail to make any serious sense. However, this threat has been minimized by introducing other responsibilities for the project, and the invitation of the whole society to participate.
The Project Outline
Objectives of the Project
The following are some of the objectives that this firm should consider maintaining. The objectives are meant to satisfy marketing requirements, financial capacity of the firm and the general image of this firm in the selected market.
- The environment should be eliminated from all the electronic wastes from this company
- The environment should be rid of all other electronic wastes from any other company that has not considered coming up with a strategy of eliminating their wastes from the environment.
- All plastic materials in the selected regions should be eliminated within the three months that the project would last.
- The community should be sensitized of the need to eliminate all forms of environmental pollution. This can be achieved by running adverts in both mass and social media. They should be made to appreciate that they have a role to play in ensuring that the environment is kept clean.
- The society should be made to appreciate the importance of continued environmental conservations even after the departure of the team from this company.
The above objectives satisfy the SMART criteria of a good project. They are very specific, in that it aims at eliminating all electronic wastes, and by extension, the plastic wastes. They are measurable, because, after the project, it would be easy to determine the level of pollution in the environment. The project is achievable because the region of focus is specific. The team has the financial capacity to meet the obligations.
The Case for Project Implementation
This project would be very important in ensuring that this firm succeeds in the market. It would bring a favorable image of the firm in the market. When implemented successfully, it would be possible for the firm to increase its market share. It would have a competitive advantage in the market as a company that is concerned with the welfare of the society. It would be possible to convince the market that this firm is more concerned of the social well being of the society than of the possible profits it can generate in the market
Gaps Skills
This project is very ambitious. However, it requires employees who understand public relations. The firm has a limited number of employees in this area, as most of them are stationed at the head office. There will be need to ensure that enough workforce is hired for this task.
Feasibility Analysis
The current market is very competitive, and it requires firms to come up with appropriate formulas of managing this competition. This project is geared towards ensuring that this company gains some advantage in this market. There is very strong competition from other companies that offer same products or close substitutes (Lewis 2006, p. 32). The main target market for this firm is the youth. The youths are the largest consumers of electronic gadgets. They also make satisfactory repeat purchases because they always move with fashion. They would change the products they have as soon as they are aware that a trendier product has been introduced. This market segment is also known for its impulse buying. They rarely plan for the product they want to buy. When they want an item, their judgment is always affected by the perception of the society. A product perceived to be of high quality by the society would be favorable to them. This project is viable. It would cost this company considerable amount of money. The firm would need to spend about $ 1 million for the project to make an impact. However, this amount, and much more, would be recovered through increased sales by the firm.
Project Risks
Although this strategy is very beneficial to the firm, it has some risks that may affect the firm in one way or the other. The leading risk of this project, as explained above, is the financial constrain. The project will require a lot of financial investment. The society may also fail to appreciate the effort made by the firm in coming up with the project. The firm can mitigate the financial risks by setting aside enough finance for such activities on a yearly basis. In order to ensure that the society appreciates the work of this firm, the management should consider engaging them directly in their activities.
List of References
Kousholt, B 2007, Project management: theory and practice, Cengage, New York.
Lewis, J 2006, Fundamentals of project management, American Management Association, New York.
Murch, R 2004, Project management: best practices for IT professionals, Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River.
Roberts, P 2011, Effective project management, Kogan Page, London.