JB Hi-Fi New Ventures in Australia - Essay Example

? JB Hi-Fi New ventures In Australia Part Introduction There are major uncontrollable and major factors that influence an organization’s decision-making and alter its strategies and performances. It is a condition in the economy and it is general to all companies in the specific economy. It includes the trend in the (GDP) Gross Domestic Product, Level of inflation, rate of population growth, Government spending, technological changes, legal-political factors, social conditions and fiscal and monetary policies. The specific factors that affect the business environments are political, environmental, social, technological, economical and legal factors are most common, and as a result of this the company’s management has decided to add new venture as well as expand the resent ventures to increase the rate of stock turn over with the reduction of price. These new ventures are being opened in the lesser developed urban centers of Australia. Basic legal environment They are the factors associated with the legal environment of the firm. In Australia, there have been many changes in the legal framework of the firm such as increase in minimum wage, introduction of disability and age discrimination legislation and greater requirements of the firms to keep the standard requirements by the Law. These changes have helped JB Hi-Fi to be up to standard in offering the best services to the customers. It has also facilitated it new projects that aim at expanding the customer reach (Porter, M., 1998). Social environment Demand for a firm’s product depends on the social trends in a country, the willingness and availability affects the rate of demand. In Australia, like any other developed country, the population is aging because of increasing life expectancy and low infertility. This has resulted to very few people with the age below fifteen years and being a threat to the company because the market is stagnant (Porter 1998). Economic environment These include taxation changes, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation and economic growth. Demand for a certain firm’s product may rise because of an increase in national income. Investments are always discouraged by increase in interest rates. Wage demand may be proved by inflation because overall demand drops. Taxation leads to increase in price because an increase pushes the price upwards thus discouraging demand, this call for new strategies to dominate the market such as starting up new ventures in other regions (Richard 2002). Managerial, operational and financial operations of the company Project management Project management defines the following: business and project goals and objectives, project purpose, scope and expectations, constrains and assumptions, roles and responsibilities, expectation and scope, project management, project budget, ground rules of the project, the conceptual of the new advanced technology and project timeline. Many objectives and goals have resulted from implementation of this quality project by the management. These includes: market dominance, healthy competition, availing quality products at low cost, encouraging remunerations which enhances effectiveness and the ability of staff to perform their job, increases the security of the data and provides a flexible, open, reliable base for the future (Disaster Recovery 2011). Critical paths and Contingency planning In a project plan, a project schedule is the main plan included in any project management. The main purpose of project schedule is bringing project time, quality and cost under control. It also helps in linking resources such as time and task. Once the project manager has efforts estimates, work breakdown structure (WBS), he/she is fully equipped for project schedule. The risks involved in any project are avoided and analyzed by the project schedule; the Critical Path Methodology (CPM) comes in because it is one of the elements of the schedule network analysis together with Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011). Critical Path Methodology (CPM) DuPont developed this schedule network analysis technique in the year 1957. CPM helps in the determination of the shortest time to compete a project because it is the longest duration path through a network of tasks. To understand fully the nature of a given task, you will be in a position to understand CPM. According to empirical research, every schedule task can be divided into four different sections. 1. Early start: this is the earliest point in which a task can start in reference to the scheduled time. 2. Late start: this is the latest tie that a task can be started in reference to the scheduled time. 3. Early finish: it is the earliest time that a task can be ended in reference to the scheduled time. 4. Late finish: it is the latest time that a task can be finished in reference to the scheduled time. Early finish and start dates are analyzed and calculated by means of Forward Late, Pass Start and Late Finish dates analyzed by means of Backward Pass. Various tasks always have some buffer added on them and are always referred to as “Slack Time” or at times known as Floats. Slack time is allowed before the task begins and within this period, a task may begin at any time. Pert chart and Gantt chart are tools, which are used in different illustrations in a project schedule. Below is an example of each (Planning skills 2011). A sample of a pert chart Gantt chart sample Implementation of plan contingencies Business Contingency Planning evaluates and makes sure there are no chances of disaster. An interruption could be because of the winter season, inaccessibility of an item, loss of power among others. The occurrence of the problem does not matter, but because of this management tool which is there to handle such inefficiencies. Depending on the extent of the interruption, the consequences will depend on the capability of the management to reestablish critical business functions. JB Hi-Fi is a company that has equipped itself in this area. There are back-ups in the process of meeting the goals with the given time (Mind tools 2011). Staffing needs and tools The tools and the needs of the staffs are the remuneration and other tools that help in the motivation process as well as the carrying out the task. The company has ensured that all materials needed in the expansion of the new ventures are available to facilitate the completion of the project. Analysis of impacts of potential changes and factors and function of the management JB Hi-Fi is a company that has used this strategy in the process of expanding its rate of stock turn over. The new venture are deemed to take it to higher levels as it will be in a position to reach more and more clients as well as customers in reference to the reports from the management. This will make the company grow regardless of the diminishing population and steep competition in the country. Other firm should emulate JB Hi-Fi in start up new projects other than using other exploitive techniques that may lead to loss of market dominance. References Planning skills, 2011. What is Contingency planning? Retrieved on 5th November 2011. Available at: http://planningskills.com/askdan/6.php Disaster Recovery 2011. Business planning. Retrieved on 5th November 2011. Available at: http://www.drj.com/new2dr/w3_006.htm Porter, M., 1998. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. London: Free Press. Richard, C., 2002. The economics of waste. Washington: Resources for the future. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011. Australia’s Statistics. [Online] Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/ JB Hi-Fi, 2011. Cheapest Prices. [Online] Available at: http://www.jbhifi.com.au/tv-lcd-led- plasma/soniq/32-inch-hd-lcd-tv-sku-70375/ Mind tools, 2011. Project Management Tools. Retrieved on 5th November 2011. Available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_PPM.htm Part Two Question 1: This is a project management tool that is used to organize, schedule and coordinate tasks in a project. It stands for program evaluation Review technique. It is a methodology that was developed by the U.S navy in early 1950s in the process of managing Polaris submarine programs. It is similar to Critical Path Method (CPM) a methodology that was developed by the private sector at the same time. Complex projects are planned well using this technique which facilitates them to be performed parallel with other activities. This is because in a project many tasks need attention at the same time and thus the project management ensures that all is perfect by scheduling the activities. PERT is a network that also facilitates randomness of activities, it has the capability to reduce the cost and time to complete the project. Therefore, PERT is a very important element in project Management (NET MBA, Business knowledge center, 2011). Question 2: Answer: I would first handle part B because it is part of the project by draining all resources to it or by using back ups because it would end up causing severe penalties unlike C and D which are not part of the critical path. Steps that are not part of the critical path should first be put aside to facilitate time for the completion of steps within the critical path. Project managers should always that they have followed the critical path so that all activities with it are covered within the allowed time. Anything out of the schedule can be handles within the latest finish time if the projects are completed before the time allowed is over (Hamilton, 2004). Question 3: Answer: The manager should address the issues on part B because they were scheduled in the project unlike part C and Part D. this is because the time allocated in the schedule has allowed time for the completion of the step unlike the steps in C and D (Stevens , 2002). Question 4: Answer: No, I would not prioritize them so that I finish the project in time. This is because some time was used in the process of repairing the issues in part B and directing concentration out of B may lead to exposure to risk (Hamilton, 2004). Read More