The Effects Of Culture On Diversity Management Essay

CHAPTER TWO 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter outlines the effects of culture on diversity management in organizations in Kenya. Secondly, it highlights the literature related factors that affect culture and in turn diversity management in organizations in Kenya such as technology, level of skilled workers, policies enforced by organizations in Kenya, and the level of resources available to them. The chapter also analysed literature related to other aspects that effect diversity management in organizations in Kenya. 2.2 To determine the extent to which technology influences diversity management in organizations in Kenya. Modern organizations are faced with challenges because of turbulent environments and a competitive global economy. Among these challenges are the use of information and communication technology (ICT), a multicultural workforce, and organizational designs that involve global virtual teams. Ad hoc teams create both opportunities and challenges for organizations and many organizations are trying to understand how the virtual environment affects team effectiveness. Cultural diversity has a positive influence on decision†making and a negative influence on communication. ICT mitigated the negative impact on intercultural communication and supported the positive impact on decision making. Effective technologies for intercultural communication included e†mail, teleconferencing combined with e†Meetings, and team rooms. Cultural diversityShow MoreRelatedDiversity Management Has Increased Improve Competitiveness Within The Business World1146 Words   |  5 PagesDiversity man agement has increased to improve competitiveness within the business world. Diversity shows employees that they are valued for their differences and are accepted for who they are. In the USA, effective diversity management is a critical factor for companies to be successful. 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Tools for project management workshops and consult †Free Sample

Question: Discuss about the Tools for project management workshops and consult. Answer: Introduction The purpose of this report is to put emphasis on the lagging factors of the project Woody 2014 and identify the possible measures those could have eliminated the failures of the project. This was primarily a construction project in which, the approach was to enhance the space capacity at the production section. This report emphasize on the factors those have affected the start-up of the woody project and recommend the possible factors those could have eliminated these lagging factors. The first section describes the identification of the drawbacks and presents possible measures those could have protected it from being a failure. It describes how important could be the Project Management for the accomplishment of the activities within the budget and schedule of the project. Thereafter, the report describes the causes those had affected the success of the project and led to the failure. Higgins Woodworking company would have successfully accomplished this transformation and enhance the production of the organization if proper theory and practice was applied under the proper guidance of a professional and experienced leader or manager. He or she could have documented the factors involved in the project and led them in effective and efficient manner. This report also presents the key success indicators those could be helpful in measuring the quality and performance of the project after and/or execution of the project. It was a considerable factor to identify and predict these factors during the planning of the project and document them for the execution of the project in an effective and efficient manner. This report presents a thorough research on identifying the factors those had affected the growth and development of the project and present recommendation for representing how the project could be saved. Project Start-up Start-up Management by Woody There were so many drawbacks in the woody project during the startup time as not any paperwork was made on the ownership. The ultimate goal of the project was estimated for the product without considering the proper planning and procedures that could have affected the whole activity within the project and thus, could affect the production in a negative manner. This was an inappropriate approach by the executives to deliver the project, as proper planning is the basic key to the completion of any project. There was not any planning made by neither the Leadbetter nor Moneysworth and this left the sectors without any assurance of the sectors that include acceptance of the building, or testing, dry-running and production start-up of the production train other than the ownership inspection (Brones et al. 2014). Many failures were accounted during the execution of the project those had been affected the project in a negative manner and caused distortion in the execution of the project. Exp ert Industrial Developers (EID) did not have insisted on the receiving of the building occupation certificate that was another drawback in the startup of the project. It can be stated that the startup of the project not very effective and efficient and had led the organization to a failure in the production and the output of the woody project (Kerzner 2017). Although, assigning the project in the hand of an untrained professional who does not have any experience and knowledge of project as this project had many establishments and new procedures needed to be implemented within the existing system of the organization. The main cases those could be noted for the failure of the Woody project can be listed as assigning leadership to an individual without having proper knowledge of the project management, and not proper planning for the execution of the project (Kerzner 2015). Following paragraphs describe the drawbacks of the startup in the woody project: Over Extension: The project milestones and deadlines will be affecting and altering if, proper and effective planning had not been done in an effective and efficient way as seen in this project. Even the budgeting is altered because of the deployment of the unplanned project and various estimation was presented based on the deadline and timing intervals (Marcelino - Sdaba, Gonzlez - Jaen, and Prez - Ezcurdia 2015). However, Kim Cashman, who tried to control the cash flow of the project, managed this in an effective way. Miscommunication: It is an obvious factor within a project that if there is not any proper planning, the managers handling the project and the members involved in the project. In this project, the communication plans were fast handwritten in memos without a date that resulted in a meeting without objectives and without results. Alteration in Project Objectives: The above factors resulted due to lack of proper planning will affect the objective of the project in a negative manner (turner 2016). Improper planning and leadership under an untrained professional (of project management), would mostly relate to the alteration in the actions and activities involved in the project, as that happened in the Woody Project. The primary objective of the project was to introduce space for the enhancement in the production and later on the objectives seemed to be turning over towards the budget of the project, and later on, handling the project from collapse (Bucero and Englund 2015). These all are proofs that how negative effect could be caused to the project and thus, affected the whole project. Over Extension: The schedule and budget of the project always seem to be altering because of the lack of transparency between the stakeholder and activities included in the project. The living example is in this Woody project where, poor planning resulted in improper communication and thus, execution of the project without any proper planning. Lack of Professionalism: The overall project was to modify or implement new construction within the organization in a manner to enhance the output and production of the organization for better profit (Andler 2016). Increase in demand no doubt needs extra production and thus, additional infrastructure can be a helpful measure for boosting the production. However, the heads in the woody project took the wrong decision of offering all responsibilities to an unprofessional manager whose professionalism was in mechanical engineering. Ian was the project engineer who was responsible for the establishment of the mechanical infrastructures and software needed for the execution of the operational activities and he would have executed his role as a mechanical engineer (Sears et al. 2015). However, he lacks in leadership and management and that took the overall project in crisis because of lack in proper management or poor management style. He did not considered the factor of planning at all in the whole project execution that leads to several drawbacks in the development of the project. Implementation of PMBoK methodology could be recommended as the better option for the Woody Project in manner to accomplish the objectives of the project and implementation of new operational activities. It could have emphasized on the planning factor that was the most crucial drawback for the failure of the Woody Project and could have saved it from being destroyed (Haynes, Owens and Southworth 2017). This methodology includes Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Controlling, and Closing and these steps had helped in better communication between the stakeholders and documenting all the papers before and after execution of the project. This methodology would be helpful in executing the processes those are valid and better effective for the organization to implement additional features (including operational activities and infrastructure) within the existing system, continuously monitor the milestones of the project, and manage them within the schedule and the budget estim ated during the planning phase of the project (Burke and Barron 2015). This methodology would be applicable in delivering and concentrating at the objectives of the project and keeping risks out of the course of the project. Woody Project on Run Causes of Failures in 2014 Woody Project Following are the list of the factors, which led to the closure of the 2014 Woody Project: Lack of Proper Planning: Planning is the most crucial factor for any project that is helpful in laying a path for the activities those are about to be executed at a scheduled time and under certain milestones. This includes a record of all the milestones, activities, risks, communication, documentation, and many other crucial factors and this is what Ian lacks while executing the project. Ian had not considered planning as a factor he just ran into the development of the project that results in the failure of the project (Fukuda et al. 2016). The main aim behind the execution of the project was to establish a new infrastructure for which appointing a mechanical engineer could be the best approach for the effective and efficient completion of the project. However, management can be represented as the very important factor for the successful deployment of the project whether; it is new constraint or manipulation in the existing system. Poor Management: Proper management is the only factor for the successful deployment of any project in any sector and this was the sector where Woody Project had lagged crucially. The whole management was under an unprofessional (in the sector of management) individual and had not any idea about the management. The executives of the project had not shown their interest in the management of the project constraints that could be associated with the lagging factor of the project manager (Ian) and this is the related factor for all the drawbacks of the project (Fuller et al. 2017). There was not any proper and effective communication plan executed during the development of the project, as there were not any proper documentation of the meetings that were conducted during the development of the project. The project constraints were not scheduled considering the overall completion of the project and this lead to the overtime extension of the schedule for the overall project. Ineffective Communication: there was not any effective or proper communication plan for the accomplishment of the objectives, development of the project, risk estimations, innovative talks and many more. In the Woody project, it was found that the communication was established in rapid manner and most of the statements had not any date and this should be always enlisted in the documentation of the communication plan in a manner to consider all the facts raised and solved during those sessions. It important to consider what matters are solved and what are not solved during the meetings arranged for raising the concerns and allowing every individual to express their point of view in the respective of the topics being discussed. The objective was not set for the execution of the project: Poor planning lead to various disorders in the project such as there were not any exact objective for the employment of the project and it should be the primary activity for any project to set objectives, and goals around which, the whole project should revolve. It can be seen in the case study that the whole project was executed in just a flow and the whole project not certain about any objective or goal for the project execution. The project manager had not stated the particular goal and objective of the project and thus, each stakeholder was not capable of concentrating towards single direction (Shah 2016). Every aspect of the project considering from schedule to budget was seemed to be distorted because of the goals and objectives. Ownership was not made clear: from the initiation to the closure of the project, none of the managers had given priority to prove the ownership of the transformation that was about to be implemented within the existing infrastructure of the Woods (Caldern and Ruiz 2015). The EID of the project had not concerned any topics for the ownership that led to several lagging in the schedule and budget of the project and thus, for some instances, it can be enlisted in the drawback factors for the failure of the 2014 project. Lack of Proper Methodology: since the assigned project manager was not proper for managing the project, as his professionalism was mechanical engineering and he was not suitable for manage such a big project and led to the failure. The initial findings made by the executive was to enhance the area of the organizational infrastructure and the mechanical engineer could implement it successfully, however, he or she should have experience about the project management (Pinnington and Needham 2015). The project also lacked in the project management methodology and for the successful delivery of the project, it is necessary to implement a feasible methodology to accomplish the project constraints in scheduled and continuous manner. Opinion on Failures It can be stated that these failures could have been eliminated through proper and effective implementation of the project management in a manner to accomplish the transformation and additional operational activities in an efficient and effective manner. It was identified that proper manager was not assigned to the project and if a trained and professional manager were appointed within the project, the project would have been completed within the schedule and much efficient manner. The executives of the organization should have considered the appointment of a skillful manager for the completion of the project (Browning 2014). Poor management and planning lead to several negative aspects of the project however, this could be minimized at the extent level and project could be saved from failure if the project was handled under proper project management methodology. This could have eliminated all the missing factors of the project, its constraints could be completed, and in return, the organization could have gained higher profits in the place of being a failure. Key Success Indicator List of Key Success Indicators The Key Success Indicators for this project could be listed as following considering the infrastructure sector and project management aspect for the Woods 2014 as it was a construction project. Following are the key success indicators based on their priority: I) Construction Time Cost: It should be the primary factor for the project to consider both these aspects as the performance measurement. The Woody Project was initially considered to be completed in twenty Million Pounds within the schedule of eighteen months and the cash flow was meant to be distributed based on labor per hour in a manner to easily monitor the contribution made by the employees associated in the project (Newton 2016). II) Client Satisfaction: After the previous indicator, client satisfaction could be considered as another crucial indicator to measure the development of the project. The satisfaction of the clients is a better approach for identifying the quality of the project delivered during the transformation in the Woody project. The project was being delivered for the satisfaction of the clients only and it should have been reached to the maximum level. III) Productivity: This infrastructure was about to be established for the enhancement of the production and thus, the productivity could be enhanced through the enhancement in the production area of the organization (Leach 2014). The woody project had led to the enhancement of the productivity and thus, it can be said that for this section only, the project direction was on the right path for some instance. IV) Profitability: This is another major factor for the determination of the quality and success of the project that will be determined through the production made by the woody project after the transformation. This will be helpful in measuring the depth of the success of the overall project execution and deployment of additional space and operational activities. V) Defects: The initial planning could be different from the deployment and execution of the project and this could be determined by the change occurred during the development of the project. It also includes the resources utilized for the deployment of the project, workmanship, and it could have affected the infrastructure of the project, however, Ian tried to manage this of the top quality. VI) Unresolved Issues: It is a matter of management where issues identified based on the development going on during the execution of the project. Its efficiency can be measured through the development of the communication plan that was not developed at all during the Woody Project (Costantino, Di Gravio and Nonino 2015). VII) Estimation of Project Completion: There was not any planning for the accomplishment of the activities within the project and was the major drawback for the execution of the project and thus, it is at the minimum level in this project. VIII) Current Resource Allocation: Resources were utilized at the high rate and of good quality that led the construction of the new space for the organization. However, further, it was noticed that the quality of the resources was not evaluated before utilizing those resources that certainly contributed to the failure of the project. IX) Current development backlog: The woody project had not any documentation regarding the ongoing processes and estimation of the activities about to be accomplished during this transformation. This resulted in the low-grade performance of the organization that managed to keep altering the performance and led to the failure. This will be helpful in measuring the activities Done To Do and Ongoing and documenting this measurement (Verzuh 2015). The more activities are enlisted in the Done section, higher is the performance of the project. X) Labor costs spent: Comparing the profit and labor costs, it can be said that this was the factor that sinks the whole project, as the total spent the amount on the labor was 20 Million Pounds. However; managing the cash flow on hour basis was a reasonable and efficient approach for monitoring the performance of the stakeholders (Martinelli and Milosevic 2016). This was managed at the low cost and could be measured by the measurement of the performance of the project. XI) Project schedule: The schedule of the project was not much deviated as determined in the case study and thus, it contributed to the enhancement of the project (Lientzand Rea 2016). Initial estimation of the project schedule was about eighteen months and it could have been completed within the estimated schedule of the project if, there was proper planning for the execution of every objective of the project. XII) Issues found by Question Answering: Since there was not any proper communication plan executed during the development of the project, thus, there was not any record of the issues found or communicated with the stakeholders (Heldman 2018). However, the maximum is the solved issues found during the QA, higher is the performance of the project. There were certain meetings executed during the deployment of the project and lack in records were the major drawbacks of the project and it led to the failure or sinking of the project (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). XIII) Issues found by customers: Customers are the main aim of any transformation for every organization and the primary goal should be to fulfill the needs and requirements of the consumers. This project was delivered for fulfilling the requirements of the project and for this accomplishment (Ghaffari and Emsley 2015); new space was being introduced for letting the organization to fulfill the requirements of the organization. It can be noted that overall rating of the key performance indicator was poor and because of that the whole project sank in the failures. Most of the activities were not associated to the key performance indicator or towards enhancing or supporting the quality of the project was delivered in the name of completion only regardless of planning, monitoring, evaluation, and documentation. There was not any document prepared for the accomplishment and quality of the ongoing activities within the project. Conclusion Based on the above report, it can be concluded that the Woody project was a failure and various knowledge can be gathered from this project in a manner to apply these learning to another project. It has resulted in better understanding of the aspects and records how a project could be affected negatively if the constraints explained in the above project is not managed in effective and efficient manner. Project management is the most considerable factor for the accomplishment of the objectives and goals of the project in effective and efficient manner. The project had many drawbacks those could have been eliminated through applying proper management and leadership and could be executed in an effective and efficient manner. There were many lagging factors in the accomplishment of the project that affected the deployment of the project in a successful manner. It can be stated that planning was the crucial factor in the woody project that affected the overall execution of the project and leads the project in failure direction. Documentation was another considerable factor that could have saved the project from sinking into failure, and could have been protected if, the project was executed considering recording the activities, meetings issues, and other ongoing, done, or about to be done in the project activity list. Last but not the least, it can be concluded that this project could be protected from being failed if an experienced and professional project manager was assigned for the accomplishment of every activity of the project. This could have helped in applying accurate project management methodology and execute the aspects of the organization in an effective and efficient manner. References Andler, N., 2016.Tools for project management, workshops and consulting: a must-have compendium of essential tools and techniques. John Wiley Sons. Brones, F., de Carvalho, M.M. and de Senzi Zancul, E., 2014. 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MANAGING THE PROJECT.Doing Research in Education: Theory and Practice, p.80. Sears, S.K., Sears, G.A., Clough, R.H., Rounds, J.L. and Segner, R.O., 2015.Construction project management. John Wiley Sons. Shah, D., 2016. Managing Retrofit Project. Turner, R., 2016.Gower handbook of project management. Routledge. Verzuh, E., 2015.The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley Sons.