E-Commerce System for a Clothing Company in Abu Dhabi Problem Solution Essay

Executive Summary

This paper provides a detailed review of the stages of project management for the triumphant execution of an e-Commerce system for a clothing company in Abu Dhabi, the Unites Arab Emirates (UAE). Project management is a vital process in ensuring a successful implementation of projects since it allows a room for proper planning and reduction of risks that may arise.

The world of technology has revolutionised the business environment in ways that had never been imagined before. This project management dossier details the successful execution of an e-Commerce system at Apparel Company in UAE. The report details various stages and aspects of the project implementation, including the goals and objectives of the project, the project plan and schedule, estimated budget and revenues, and execution and launching.

Introduction

The emergence of computer technology and the internet has brought drastic changes in the world of business in the last one decade. E-Commerce has emerged as a major marketing platform that 21^st century businesses can only avoid at their peril.

E-Commerce allows businesses to trade their goods online to equally technologically perceptive customers who are keen on comparing different options, receiving discounts, and making comparisons between different products they seek to purchase. E-Commerce has eliminated the restrictions of time and space, that is, the need to do shopping physically, a factor that is very attractive to customers and hence a platform that businesses cannot ignore.

This paper seeks to give a detailed project management report on a successful implementation of e-Commerce application for Apparel Company in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The report discusses all stages of project management that are necessary for a successful implementation and execution. These stages, which constitute the project implementation cycle, include project definition, planning, execution, and delivery/completion.

Project Description

The need for the adoption of e-Commerce has never been as important as it is in the 21^st century (Laudon & Guerci 2002; Nielson 2014). As a marketing platform, e-Commerce offers businesspersons with a platform that has endless opportunities of selling their products to a wider group of people through the internet.

In less than a decade, e-Commerce has redefined and changed how businesses and customers interact in buying and selling. Through the platform, customers have the opportunity to compare products online, remotely place an order, and receive a delivery of their products, all without physically visiting the shop or the outlet (Harris 2000; Metafuse Inc. 2013).

The importance for the Apparel Company in adopting an e-Commerce system is therefore evident. In preparation for the implementation of this system, a preliminary survey to shed light on internet usage and online shopping in Abu Dhabi has been done. Further, a detailed design highlighting the goals, tasks, specifications, and responsibilities has been developed. The schedule of implementation of the e-Commerce application and a detailed stage-by-stage discussion of each phase has been discussed.

Defining

The main of the project discussed in this paper is to implement successfully, an e-Commerce system for Apparel Company in the city of Abu Dhabi, the UAE.

Goals

The main goals of the e-Commerce project are as follows:

1. To augment the sales and the revenues of the company by 15% or more.
2. To raise the company’s market share by up to 20% or more.
3. To upgrade the company’s systems and technologies to support effective and efficient services to customers.
4. To diversify the range of services that are offered by the apparel company.

Specifications

The following are the specifications for the successful implementation of the e-Commerce application:

1. To develop, test and successfully launch an e-Commerce application and system for the company.
2. To develop the application, carry out pilot trials, test for errors, fine time the application in response to results of pilot trials and test results for errors, and successfully launch a fully functioning e-Commerce for the company.
3. To develop and carry out a one-month training program for employees to implement and use the application successfully.

Project Stakeholders

Project stakeholders refer to those persons and institutions that have an interest in a given project or institution and can influence the implementation and execution of a program (Caniels & Bakens 2012). They are key in the process of defining the goals and objectives that relate to all stages of the project cycle. The following are the key stakeholders:

1. Customers: The e-Commerce application is specifically made with a focus on improving customer experiences and shopping options. Hence, they are the major stakeholders.
2. The Apparel Company/Owners: The company and its owners are major stakeholders of the project since they expect to get good returns from the e-Commerce application (PMBOK 2013).
3. Project Managers-These are the people who are bestowed with the responsibility of ensuring that the e-Commerce application is developed and implemented according to the agreed specifications (Hooley et al. 2007).
4. Departmental bosses-These people are important in ensuring that the project runs effectively to serve the needs of customers and the organisation (Raymond & Bergeron 2008).

Tasks

The definition of the activities or their sequence of implementation in project management is referred to as work breakdown arrangement (PMBOK 2013). Consequently, the following is the work breakdown configuration:

Project Personnel and Responsibilities

The success of a project is highly dependent on the personnel and the execution of their different tasks (Caniels & Bakens 2012). The process of project management is a collaborative process where each party to the process has a specific role and works as a team members for the overall completion of the project.

For the e-Commerce application project, the personnel who will be involved and their respective roles are summarised in the table below:

Planning

Project planning refers to the process of stating how a given project will be completed as guided by a given project schedule, stages, and appropriated resources (Kahura 2013). The table below shows the milestone timelines and budgetary appropriation.

Work Breakdown Structure

The following diagram is a detailed work breakdown configuration for the completion of the e-Commerce system:

Milestone Timeline Table

The milestones of a project indicate the various stages through which the project implementation passes. These milestones include preliminary study, definition and planning, development and implementation, and delivery stages. The following table gives the approximate milestones timelines:

Project Budget and Financial Impact

The project budget includes the estimated financial resources that are expected to be used for the successful implementation of the projects. On the other hand, the financial impact is a measure of the net present value of the project at 15%internal factor and internal rate of return for the project.

The table below gives a breakdown of the estimated project budget for the e-Commerce system:

From the above table, the project will cost approximately 350000AED, which will be funded partly through equity and partly through debt in the form of loan. The table below shows the sources of funds:

In calculating the financial impact of the project, NPV, and IRR models are used where several assumptions are made as follows:

1. The average unit price of a product is 90 AED escalated at 2% per annum
2. The number of units per month is 500 units growing at 5% per annum
3. Maintenance expenses are estimated at 30% of the total revenues, where 10% covers administrative and miscellaneous expenses
4. The project manager’s cost is an expense for the overall duration of the project at an escalation of 5%
5. The interest rate is the average of the opening and closing debt calculated at 10% interest rate
6. The depreciation and tax rates are at 0% as the project does not involve capital assets
7. The financial impact of the project is estimated at15% discounting factor as detailed in the table below:

Project Resources Plan

The table below gives the staffing plan and the costs involved in compensation:

Project Communication Plan

A project involves different people and information. Hence, it is important to identify the communication channels and processes that will ensure that the decision-makers and all involved people are on the same page. The following is a table indicating the communication plan for the project:

Risks

Each project has its risks that relate to finances, schedule, resources, and market (Laudon & Guerci 2002). It is important for an organisation to identify these risks and take the necessary actions through a risk response plan as discussed below:

Methodology and Risk Identification

It is important to keep on reviewing the project progression to identify any eventuality (Caniels & Bakens 2012). In this case, daily progress discussions by the project team is an important aspect of ensuring that risks are identified as they arise. Secondly, the project manager and financial managers must be alert to notice any deviation in budgeted costs and schedules and act accordingly through discussions with the top management during monthly reviews. In reviewing project progress, it is important for the project team and the top management to discuss any risks relating to resources, finances, schedule and budget.

Risk Response Plan

The following table shows the risk response plan adopted for the project:

Execution

Execution is also referred to as the project development and implementation phase. It denotes the period of putting plans into reality (PMBOK 2013). Project execution requires the development of progress reports, meetings, and quality assurance to ensure the project is successful.

Submission of Progress Reports

It is important to ensure that all members who are involved in the project share the project progress with each other for input, risk reviews, and quality assurance. As such, it is important after every review meeting to share progress reports to all members. Secondly, during the review, it is important to have a follow-up on issues identified in previous review meetings and a discussion of the actions taken.

Changes

In each review meeting, a discussion of issues that have been identified in the previous meeting and the respective action allows members to acknowledge and approve any changes on the project before current issues are discussed. Major changes such as those that touch on budget or schedule must be addressed to the top management for approval or any other appropriate actions.

Quality Assurance

While implementing the project, it is important to ensure that every process meets the set quality expectations (Raymond & Bergeron 2008). Such an approach ensures that the final product is of the highest quality as required by the company. This goal can be achieved by applying the quality measurement parameters set during the project planning and generating quality report as required. The table below is a sample report t testing the quality of the e-Commerce application:

The following is a Quality Assurance and Quality Control logbook samples for the application:

Sample Quality Assurance log:

Sample Quality Control log:

Delivery

Delivery is the final stage of the project management cycle and involves activities such as training, resource and staff releases, documentation and reporting.

Training

This involves the training of staff members on the key aspects of the application for its successful execution.

Documentation

This stage involves the development of a manual concerning the use of the application and/or a transfer all the necessary documents from the project staff to the organisation.

Release Resource and Staff

The stage involves termination of contracted resources and staff.

Lessons Learned

This stage involves taking a record of lessons learned from the risk response plans, progress meeting and reports on the project for future use to avoid same problems in future projects.

References

Caniels, C & Bakens, J 2012, ‘The effects of Project Management Information Systems on decision making in a multi project environment’, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 30 no. 2, pp. 162-175.

Harris, L 2000, ‘Librarians and E-Commerce: Making E-Commerce Work for You’, IFLA Journal, vol. 1 no. 1, pp. 129-131.

Hooley, G, Saunders, J, Piercy, F & Nicoulaud, B 2007, Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning, Prentice Hall/Financial Times, New York, NY.

Kahura, N 2013, ‘The role of Project Management Information Systems towards the success of a project: The case of construction projects in Nairobi Kenya’, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 3 no. 9, pp. 104-116.

Laudon, C & Guerci, C 2002, e-Commerce: business, technology, society, Addison Wesley, Boston, MA.

Metafuse Inc. 2013, Basic Phases of Project Management. Web.

Nielson, M 2014, Global e-Commerce Report, Project Management Institute, New York, NY.

PMBOK 2013, A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Project Management Institute, New York, NY.

Raymond, L & Bergeron, F 2008, ‘Project management information systems: An empirical study of their impact on project managers and project success’, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 26 no. 2, pp. 213-220.

Annexes

Weekly Progress Report Template

Vendor’s Evaluation Criteria

Review Presentation Agenda

1. Introduction.
2. Project Status.
3. Modules Developed.
4. Percentage progress.
5. Project budget.
6. Modules to be developed.
7. Quality assurance log.
8. Quality control log.