CRANEFIELD COLLEGE OF PROJECT AND PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

FIRST GROUP ASSIGNMENT FOR M1

“We hereby declare that this assignment is entirely our own work, and that it has
not previously been submitted to any other Higher Education Institution. We also
declare that all published and unpublished sources have been fully acknowledged
and properly referenced. This includes figures, tables and exhibits. Where modified
by us, this has also been indicated.”

Print Name Signature ID Number

Fazlyn Vries 721029 0214 087
Tiisetso Timothy Molefi 820323 5340 082
Table of Contents
PREAMBLE..................................................................................................................2

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................................................3

2. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................4

3. PROBLEMS AND RELATED CAUSES.................................................................4

3.1 PROJECT LEADERSHIP AND ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE..................4

3.2 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION WITH STAKEHOLERS.......6

3.3 BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION POINT OF VIEW.......................................7

4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.....................................................7

4.1..............................................................................................................................7

4.2 XXXXXXX............................................................................................................7

4.3 XXXXXXXXXX....................................................................................................8

4.4 CONCLUSION....................................................................................................8

5. PRIORITISED RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................8

5.1 XXXX...................................................................................................................8

6. REFERENCES.......................................................................................................8

Bibliography..................................................................................................................8

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
PREAMBLE

This is second group assignment for the module Leading, Creating, Implementing
and Improving (M1)

The Case Study is based on Communicating with stakeholders: A Bernard Matthews

case study (Source: xxxx).

CASE QUESTIONS:

1.1 Critique the case from a leadership, internal and external communications with
stakeholders, and barriers to communication point of view.

2.1 How would the above influence Product Development Projects in the
organisation?

3.1 What should be done to remedy the situation?

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Complete this section last xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In conclusion, the xxxxxxx

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
2. INTRODUCTION

In 1950, a young entrepreneur, Bernard Matthews started a turkey production

company which soon became a household brand. The company operated in a
competitive environment with farms based in various locations. With changing
consumer buying patterns around healthy eating, food safety and animal welfare,
Bernard Matthews met with criticism from a high profile in 2005 on unhealthy
produce from its Turkey Twizzlers at schools. This tarnished its brand and image
with consumers in confusion on the issue of processed food. The company did not
respond to this incident. Its image was further damaged in 2007 with an outbreak of
bird flu at one of its farms and media claiming its produce was imported, hence the
cause of the outbreak. The company again did not respond to the adverse press
coverage and accusations instead focused its energies on successfully resolving the
crisis to eliminate the disease. Despite this success, lacking was the strategy on
internal and external stakeholder communication. Eventually the company opened
up to the press; however it was too late as the trust had been severed. Despite the
two rescue attempts to rescue the company with rebranding, debt management and
turnaround plan, Bernard Matthews became insolvent and no longer a household
name.

3. PROBLEMS AND RELATED CAUSES

According to Strydom (25:2018), in order to stay competitive and manage the impact of the factors
in the environment, a business needs to analyse both the internal environment (the micro-
environment) and the external environment (the market- and macro-environments). The process
involves analysing the internal environment’s strengths (what the business is good at) and its
weaknesses (what needs to be improved in the business). The external environment is then analysed
by identifying a business’s opportunities (prospects that the business could use to grow and make
more profits) and its threats (factors that could stop the business from growing and making profits).

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
 Internal External

Strengths: Opportunities:
Household brand Customers loyal to the brand – opportunity
High demand product was there to develop a marketing strategy
when Rutland Partners stepped in and
Weaknesses: acquired a majority share
Lack of R & D in consumer and market trends – The marketing leaning towards healthier
market access strategy in need alternative protein sources
Poor communication when faced with Threats:
reputational risks Increased cost for turkey feed
Lack of identification of key stakeholders High profile chef creating negative perceptions
(engagements) with both internal and external Increased competition of healthier or
stakeholders perceived to be healthier alternative
Poor organisational change management and
lack of operational strategy
Lack of strategic leadership
No Project Manager appointed for Bernard
Matthews Farms (CPO)
No effective marketing strategies

In conducting a SWOT analysis, information needs to be collected from a wide range

of role players including customers, competitors, suppliers and bodies in the macro-
environment of the business. There are various ethical issues that need to be
considered when collecting this information, including the following:

Accessibility: Does the business have the right to access the required information?
Is the information being accessed private or confidential?

Privacy: This has to do with the degree of privacy of information and how it is
shared. An example would be how information that is collected about customers is
protected and what it is used for.

Property: This deals with ownership and the relative value of the information that the
business collects. Questions that would be asked here relate to whether the
business has paid a fair price to a legitimate source for the information.

Accuracy: This asks whether the information being collected is both accurate and
authenticate.

The organisational environment has three parts:

1. Micro-environment: This is the environment inside the business that consists of

the different business functions and the way they are managed.
5

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
The operations function is responsible for producing the products that the business
sells (e.g. at a fastfood restaurant, this is the kitchen that produces the food). If the
operations function does not perform effectively, the business will not be able to
supply its customers with the required quantity and quality of products.

The logistics function is responsible for getting the right quality products, in the
right quantity, at the right time, and at the right price (purchasing), as well as for
distributing the products of the business, either within the organisation or by
delivering them to the customer (e.g. one of the key factors that SPAR attributes to
their success is that they are efficient in supplying products to their stores). If this
function is not working well, the products of the business will not be in the right place
at the right time, at the right price, and the business will lose customers.

The financial function must operate effectively to ensure that the business has
enough capital to run the business in both the short and the long term. It must collect
debts and pay the creditors of the business. If this does not work properly, the
business will definitely fail.

The human resources management (HRM) function must get the right quality of
employees for the business and then look after them so that they stay and help the
business to achieve its goals. The HRM function is thus responsible for the selection
and recruitment of employees, orientation and induction, personnel administration,
training and development, performance appraisal, career management and labour
relations.

The marketing function is there to tell potential (likely) customers about the
products sold by the business, and to persuade them to buy these goods and
services. A business can have the best goods or services in the world, at the best
possible price, but if customers do not know about them, they will not buy them. The
6

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
business must also have a ‘positive image’ (attractive mental picture, often linked to
its brand). If it does not, customers may not buy its goods and services.

The public relations function is there to make sure that the business keeps a
positive image among its customers as well as in the broader society.

2. Market environment (task environment) This is the environment immediately

outside the business, where the business gets its resources from and trades its
products. It comprises suppliers, intermediaries, customers and competitors.

Product requirement problem Consequences

Poor quality  Customers dissatisfied

 Manufacturing failures will result
 Customer will buy elsewhere, and
business profits will decrease

Not the right quantity  If too little is delivered, customers

will be disappointed
 If too much is delivered, stock will
spoil in the store
 Customers will buy elsewhere
and the business’s profits will
decrease

Not at the right place  If the product is not delivered

where the manufacturing process
requires it to be, work will be
interrupted
 If the product is not delivered to
the retail stores where it is
required, customers will not get
what they need. They will then
buy elsewhere and the
7

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
 business’s profits will decrease

Too expensive  If the raw materials or processed

ingredients are too expensive,
the manufactured products will be
too expensive
 Customers will buy somewhere
else and the business’s profits
will decrease

3. Macro-environment: This includes all those factors that affect the business,
including the natural, technological, social, political, economic and international
environments. The macro-environment is all the factors on the national and
international levels that affect the success of the business. These are the factors
over which the management of the organisation has very little or no control. These
are events and circumstances to which the business is a ‘victim’. The best that
management can do is to try to predict these factors and deal with their
consequences, which can be either positive or negative for the business.

The macro-environment consists of a number of ‘sub-environments’, including the

natural, technological, social, political, economic and international environments,
which have a wide-ranging impact on business activities.

An important point about these three parts of the organisational environment is the
degree of control that the manager has over each one.

The natural environment includes the availability of natural resources, which are
the raw materials that the manufacturing industry uses, as well as matters such as
the climate, weather patterns and natural disasters

Technology is the process by which people make tools and machines to influence
and understand the physical world. In 1970, Alvin Toffler wrote the book Future
Shock,10 where he stated that the only thing we can be sure of is change, and that
this change is exponential (i.e. tremendously fast) as opposed to additive.

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the changes in the technological
environment. Technology has enabled computers and machinery to become smaller,
faster and cheaper, and this is happening at an ever-increasing rate. Think of the
changes that have occurred in computing. The smartphone you have in your pocket
has millions of times more power than all of NASA’s combined computing in 1969
was used to put the first man on the moon, a 356, 000km trip.11 Goods are now
scanned at till points, when previously their prices were entered into the cash
register by hand, or even at self-service points, using radio signals. Production lines
that had dozens of employees are now mechanised and controlled by computers.

The key concepts here are invention, which is the discovery or creation of a new
product or process, and innovation, the process through which new ideas and
inventions become a reality.

A business that fails to keep up with developments in the technological environment

cannot remain competitive and will be overtaken by competitors.

With recent technological advances such as artificial intelligence (see Chapter 1), the
technological environment is changing, which will have a negative impact on
employment absorption in the South African labour market. Other technological
drivers, such as the internet of things and robotics, will also impact negatively on
employment levels, but will create new product opportunities and enhance the
productivity of businesses and consumers.

Relate to the case study

3.1 PROJECT LEADERSHIP AND ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

According to Burke (345.), the APM BoK 6ed (2012) xxxxxx definition on leadership.
The leadership of Bernard Matthews failed to provide vision and direction to
influence the media perception (external stakeholder) and align internal stakeholders
towards a common purpose. This led to the failure to empower and inspire
stakeholders toward achieving success.
The lack of direction and motivation is compounded by the lack of leadership to
address the emerging challenges where a change is required. With uncertainty on

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
the objectives, Burke (345:2019) states that self-directed cross-functional teams are
employed to adopt an adaptable or agile style of leadership. This enables the project
team to navigate the way forward and progressively bring structure in an uncertain
environment.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT THEORY AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS – VIRTUAL

DYNAMIC LEARNING ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND BALANCES
SCORECARD

The xxxxx
organisations shape their cross-functional portfolios
into various programme structures, some processes serving internal customers and
others external customers.
Strategic or goal-oriented programmes come about as a result of the planning,
development and implementation of both prescriptive and emergent strategies.
Strategic programmes are grouped around a common aim or purpose, such as a
strategic objective where uncertainty exists about the final outcome, strategic scope
changes occur, and projects and large tasks are added or removed accordingly
(Murray-Webster and Thiry, 2000). Benefits derived from this approach includes that:
10

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
strategic needs are translated into tangible actions, there is efficient absorption of
emergent change, uncertainty is reduced through iterative programme development,
and finally, projects are subject to an integrated review and approval process. The
main gain achieved through the strategic programme approach is organisational
effectiveness.
The organisational structure was not favourable to address the problems at hand
and uncertain environment did not allow for fostering linkages among the teams

Lack of effective marketing strategies

No R&D to address consumer trends and concerns – no risk management plan and
lesson learnt documented

3.2 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION WITH STAKEHOLERS

The onset of the negative press coverage failed to identify key stakeholders, both
internally and externally. Furthermore the lack of proper communication channels to
link all the stakeholders was not evident to provide an informed basis to address the
negative press coverage.
According to Burke (323:2019), the emphasis on communication management has
evolved to focus on the process of mechanism instead of intent or desire of the key
message, where stakeholder engagement is focused on engaging and influencing on
strategic objectives to be met. The lack of communication on the negative press
releases fostered a perception of the products of the company being an unhealthier
alternative

According to Burke (335:2019), APM BoK defines a stakeholder management as the

systematic identification, analysis, planning and implementation of actions designed
to engage with stakeholders. It is imperative for Bernard Matthews to understand the
stakeholder needs and expectations; as well as their skills and expertise toward
engaging stakeholder to harnesses the positive influences whilst mitigating the
effects of their negative influences.

Customers loyal to the brand not addressed

11

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
PROJECT MANAGEMENT THEORY AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS –
STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION AND COMMUNICATION PLAN

Citing Burke (335:2019) – refer table on identify stakeholders, assess their interest,
develop communication plans and engage & influence stakeholders

It is further recommended that

3.3 BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION POINT OF VIEW

According to Burke (324:2019)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT THEORY AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS – xxxxx

According to Burke ……

Customer expectations

Product enhancement

Collaborative innovation

Organisational forms

3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1
Cccc

Pg. 27 on study guide – VDLO Structure

12

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
VDLO structure

4.2 XXXXXXX

It is recommended that the Bernard Matthews

It is further recommended that

4.3 XXXXXXXXXX

It is recommended that the

4.4 CONCLUSION

The xxxx

4. PRIORITISED RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 XXXX

The xxxx prioritises to identify the key deliverables and outline

5.2 XXXXXX ORGANISATIONAL

The xxxxx prioritises to conduct a stakeholder’s analysis …..This will bring about a
collective pool of the human resources skills, expertise, standards, and priorities with
different agendas. Burke (xxxx) indicates that this will help to assign the work
13

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021
packages.

for the efficient use of the time, cost, budget and effective resources available.

5. REFERENCES

Bibliography
Burke, R., 2019. Project Management Techniques. 3rd ed. s.l.:Burke Publishing.

14

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: PRETORIA GROUP 1

MAY 2021