An Extension of the Resource-based View - Case Study Example

Project Management: Case Study a). Bespoke system – project management Gantt chart Figure Gantt chart (Source: creation) Network diagram Figure 2: Network diagram (Source: Author’s creation) Earliest start time: It is defined as the earliest time at which a particular project related activity can be started provided that its precedence activity or activities are fully completed (Badiru, 2011). Late finish time: It is defined as the latest time at which a project related activity must be completed thereby preventing any form of delay in the overall project (Baligh, 2008). The following table shows the earliest start time and the late finish time for all the project related activities of Bespoke system. As is evident from the table the overall duration of the project is 188 weeks. Activity Earliest start time Late finish time A 9-2-2015 14-8-2015 B 15-8-2015 28-1-2016 C 29-1-2016 23-6-2016 D 17-8-2015 8-1-2016 E 29-1-2016 30-6-2016 F 24-6-2016 29-12-2016 G 30-12-2016 1-6-2017 H 2-6-2017 2-11-2017 J 3-11-2017 5-4-2018 K 6-4-2018 19-9-2018 Float or slack: The float time or slack for a project based activity is the timeframe in between the earliest start time and the late start or late finish time (Carmichael, 2010). During this time frame the activity where slack or float time is observed can be delayed by a certain extent without delaying the overall completion of the project (Chitkara, 2007). It is evident from figure 1 and 2 given above that float time or slack is associated with activity D and E. This indicates that activity D and E can be delayed by a definite extent without delaying the overall completion of the project. The float time for activity D is 140 weeks and that of activity E is 115 weeks. Therefore, the total float time for activity D and E is 255 weeks. Critical Path: The longest path in a project is referred to as the critic path (Clarke, 2008). The project related activities which falls within the critical path cannot be delayed by any means as delaying these activities would mean delaying the overall completion of the project (Crawford, Pollack and England, 2008). In figure one and two given above, the project based activities highlighted in red are the critical tasks. Therefore the critical path can be marked as follows: C – F – G – H – J – K. 1(b). Alternative strategy evaluation Taking into account the fact that there is a delay of 6 weeks in activity H, it can be seen that a delay of such scale and magnitude will certainly delay in the completion of the project. The major reason behind that is the fact that activity H is a critical task that falls within the critical path of the project and henceforth project managers cannot afford to let loose anything which might result in a delay in any of the critical tasks. However, a project is always associated with external factors and therefore uncertainty. There are various risk factors that can push the overall duration of a project. Therefore, it is the duty of the project managers to adopt appropriate counter measures in order to be prepared for any adverse scenarios which in turn will allow them to prevent the overall delay of the project. In this case a delay is noticed on activity H (user acceptance testing). Multiple courses of actions can be taken in order to prevent delay in overall completion of the project. It is extremely important for the project managers to make sure that any adverse effect upon the overall project is equivalently distributed or shared among the project related activities. The underlying rationale behind this is that it will offer managers with more flexibility to adapt to the changing circumstances. Sharing the risk or delay (in this case) among the subsequent project based activities is extremely important as directing the effect on any particular activity may threaten the overall success of the project. Therefore, keeping this point of view in mind and talking into consideration the importance of activities J and K, the best course of action in the case of this project is to decrease the time fixed for both the aforesaid activities. Given the fact that completion of activity H was delayed by six weeks, the time allotted for activity J and K should be reduced by 3 weeks each. This will not only allow the project managers to share the impact of delay among both the subsequent activities but will also enable the individual to prevent an impediment in closure of the project. It is believed that reducing the time duration for the activities J and K would not have much impact of the quality of the project deliverables. In fact shortening the time span of these activities by three weeks each will optimize the utilization and channelization of resources. Given the fact that the organisational managers will have to rethink their strategy after this delay, this will allow the project managers to identify any loopholes that existed in the project management model or strategy. Reducing the time duration of these activities will quicken up the remaining project operations which will enable the project managers to shuffle the workforce and raw materials appropriately. On the flip side, it is believed that shortening the time duration of these activities would leave less time for the project team members to test the project deliverables. This in turn may lead to an undesired user acceptance level. However, given the fact that an overall delay in the project may have severe repercussions, it will be in the best interest of the company to shorten the time duration by three weeks each for activity J and K and simultaneously try to manage and allocate resources effectively and efficiently in order to make sure that the project outcomes satisfy the criteria of the user. 2. Resource based view and its importance in the location selection process In the modern business setting organizations struggle to achieve competitive advantage against their competitors. According to successful managers one of the most important ingredients of attaining competitive advantage is an appropriate resource identification, selection and allocation strategy. An appropriate resource allocating strategy not only allows managers to manage the utilization of resources effectively and efficiently but also allow them to reduce the cost of inventory management by attaining economies of scale and scope. Resource, regardless of their type and functionality, play a key role in the development of the organization and that is why managers emphasize a lot on making sure that adequate resources are in place so that business operations do not get stalled (Lavie, 2006). Nonetheless, as important as it is, resource management can often become a complex responsibility to handle and therefore an inappropriate resource management and allocation strategy can often lead to performance deterioration. This is precisely because organizational managers may find it difficult to identify and select the necessary resources for their operations. They might fail to implement the appropriate resource allocation strategy or may not be able to assign priority to the resource that has been identified or selected. This is where the significance of resource based view is evident. The resource based view enables managers to comprehend the actual source of competitive advantage as far as resource allocation and management is concerned. According to resource based view, resources can be referred to as all assets possessed by a company, its processes and capabilities, characteristics, knowledge and information and so on and so forth, controlled and managed by the organizational managers that enables them to conceive of and apply strategies which are directed towards efficiency and effectiveness (Kraaijenbrink, Spender and Groen, 2010). The resource based view states that there are certain specific assets which have certain characteristics that can enable a company to attain sustainable competitive advantage and therefore lead to realization of greater market share and higher profit. Another way of putting the resource based view is that heterogeneity in an organization’s resources and their corresponding extent of mobility are the fundamental determinants of the organization’s strategies. With this aspect in mind it can be said that the resource based view is extremely important when it comes to selection of location for conducting a particular operation, project or setting up an operational base. Resource based view should be thoroughly taken into consideration while managers choose strategic locations (Barney, Ketchen and Wright, 2011). This is precisely because new operational locations have their own facilities, features and functionalities. The location which is selected is the fundamental determinant of the kind of resource that will be available for input in operations. Therefore it is extremely important to consider the resource based view as it will enable the managers to identify the right kind of resources that may be required for operational purposes and assign priority to them. Thereafter, the location can be selected on the basis of the availability of the resources previously identified as being important for operational purposes (Wu, et al., 2006). By implementing the resource based, managers are able to identity and select the right types of resources. Thereafter they are able to determine the intrinsic endowment dynamic of the resources. This allows them to formulate resource maps and charts which in turn serves as a robust foundation on the basis of which strategic resource management plans and managerial regulations are devised. All of the above mentioned aspects of the resource based view allow managers to facilitate a reliable location selection process on the basis of the resource requirements. Application of such a robust resource management and allocation strategy paves a way for an organization which leads them one step closer to the attainment of sustainable competitive advantage (Rivard, Raymond and Verreault, 2006). Reference List Badiru, A. B., 2011. Project Management: Systems, Principles, and Applications, 3rd ed. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf. Baligh, H. H., 2008. Organization Structures: Theory and Design, Analysis and Prescription, 5th ed. Heidelberg, New York: Springer Verlag. Barney, J. B., Ketchen, D. J., and Wright, M. 2011. The future of resource-based theory revitalization or decline?. Journal of management, 37(5), pp. 1299-1315. Carmichael, D. G., 2010. Project planning, and control. 5th ed. Canada, New York: Taylor and Francls. Chitkara, K. K., 2007. Construction project management: planning, scheduling and controlling, 7th ed. Hoboken N.J: Wiley. Clarke, A., 2008. A practical use of key success factors to improve the effectiveness of project management. International Journal of Project Management, 17(3), pp. 139-145. Crawford, L., Pollack, J. and England, D. 2008. Uncovering the trends in project management: journal emphasis over the last 10 years, International Journal of Project Management, 24, pp. 175–84. Kraaijenbrink, J., Spender, J. C. and Groen, A. J., 2010. The resource-based view: a review and assessment of its critiques. Journal of management, 36(1), pp. 349-372. Lavie, D., 2006. The competitive advantage of interconnected firms: An extension of the resource-based view. Academy of management review, 31(3), pp. 638-658. Rivard, S., Raymond, L. and Verreault, D., 2006. Resource-based view and competitive strategy: An integrated model of the contribution of information technology to firm performance. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 15(1), pp. 29-50. Wu, F., Yeniyurt, S., Kim, D., and Cavusgil, S. T., 2006. The impact of information technology on supply chain capabilities and firm performance: A resource-based view. Industrial Marketing Management, 35(4), pp. 493-504. Read More