Tag: Groups

  • Key Groups of Stakeholders in Project Management Short Essay

    Key Groups of Stakeholders in Project Management Short Essay

    What are Key Groups of Stakeholders in Project Management? Short Essay, Key stakeholders are the stakeholders who can have a negative or positive impact on a project or the people who are important in or to an agency, institution, or organization involved in a project. Also, Examples of key groups of stakeholders are managers, employees, customers, project teams, suppliers, government, and the public.

    Here is the article to explain, Short Essay, What are key groups of stakeholders? What is the role of stakeholders and how can one manage stakeholders at each phase? Pick two types of stakeholders and describe how you set expectations with each. What are some common mistakes that a project manager might make? What do you think are the most important practices and skills needed to successfully work with stakeholders?

    The two selected types of stakeholders are the customers and the suppliers. The customers expect to conduct a market survey and support the businesses through purchasing the products regularly. Also, The role of the customers must ensure that the products and services offered to meet their needs and expectations. At the various phases, the customers can manage through shared communication and assessment which is useful.

    The suppliers are important stakeholders who involve in delivering materials and products to the businesses. Also, The role of the suppliers is to ensure that the businesses have adequate resources to produce quality and increased products for the customers. The suppliers can manage through proper assessment of their supplier capacity and setting standards for the supplier engagements.

    The job of overseeing project stakeholders can, paradoxically, end up being a project on its own. Common mistakes the project managers can make are failing to identify all the stakeholders at the beginning of the project, failing to correspond well with the stakeholders. The PMs must identify and correspond with the diverse stakeholders. Also, The project team needs to decide the recurrence of communication and what will incorporate; typically, correspondence ought to be compact and emphasize advancement and value.

    Communication should be meaningful to all stakeholders. Another mistake is failing to engage stakeholders throughout the process. It’s important to engage stakeholders in problem-solving, reviewing new requirements, and creating lists of lessons learned. Also, Stakeholders need to agree with what done looks like; otherwise, the project may easily get off track.

    Some of the practices and skills needed to engage the stakeholders are to improve communication skills, interpersonal skills, managerial skills, and leadership skills. Other practices critical are proper engagements and assessment of programs in the organizations.

    What types of stakeholders are there?

    No, that’s not a typo. Each of the types of stakeholders in project management, business categorizes in 3 ways:

    • Internal or external
    • Primary or secondary
    • Direct or indirect

    Internal stakeholders are, as the name suggests, stakeholders that exist inside a business. These are stakeholders who are directly affected by a project, such as employees.

    External stakeholders are those who have an interest in the success of a business but do not have a direct affiliation with the projects at an organization. Also, the supplier is an example of an external stakeholder.

    Primary stakeholders (also known as key stakeholders) have the highest level of interest in the outcome of a project because they are directly affected by the outcome. They actively contribute to a project. These types of stakeholders include customers and team leaders.

    Secondary stakeholders also help to complete projects, but on a lower, general level. These types of stakeholders help with administrative processes, financial, and legal matters.

    Direct stakeholders involved with the day-to-day activities of a project. Also, Employees can consider direct stakeholders as their daily tasks revolve around projects at a business.

    Indirect stakeholders pay attention to the finished project outcome rather than the process of completing it. Indirect stakeholders concern themselves with things like pricing, packaging, and availability. Customers are a type of indirect stakeholder.

    Reference; Skills and Role of a Project Manager. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/project-management/skills-and-role-of-a-project-manager.php?vref=1, and https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/types-of-stakeholders

    Key Groups of Stakeholders in Project Management Short Essay Image
    Key Groups of Stakeholders in Project Management Short Essay; Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay.

  • Library and Internet Research

    Understanding and Using the Library and Internet Research

    What is Library? A library is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material and may be a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both. A library’s collection can include books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, films, maps, prints, documents, micro-form, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, e-books, audio-books, databases, and other formats. Libraries range in size from a few shelves of books to several million items.

    What is Internet Research? Internet research has had a profound impact on the way ideas are formed and knowledge is created. Common applications of Internet research include personal research on a particular subject (something mentioned on the news, a health problem, etc.), students doing research for academic projects and papers, and journalists and other writers researching stories.

    Research is a broad term. Here, it is used to mean “looking something up (on the Web)”. It includes any activity where a topic is identified, and an effort is made to actively gather information for the purpose of furthering understanding. It may include some post-collection analysis like a concern for quality or synthesis.

    A third approach to generate new business ideas is to conduct library and Internet research. A natural tendency is to think that an idea should be chosen, and the process of researching the idea should then begin. This approach is too linear. Often, the best ideas emerge when the general notion of an idea, like creating casual electronic games for adults, is merged with extensive library and Internet research, which might provide insights into the best type of casual games to create.

    Libraries are often an underutilized source of information for generating business ideas. The best approach to utilizing a library is to discuss your general area of interest with a reference librarian, who can point out useful resources, such as industry-specific magazines, trade journals, and industry reports. Simply browsing through several issues of a trade journal on a topic can spark new ideas. Very powerful search engines and databases are also available through university and large public libraries, which would cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to access on your own. An example is IBIS World (www.ibisworld.com), a company that publishes market research on all major industries and subcategories within industries. IBIS World published a 30-page report on the solar power industry, for example, in March 2011, which includes key statistics (about industry growth and profitability), a complete industry analysis, and an outlook for the future. Spending time reading this report could spark new ideas for solar powered devices or help affirm an existing idea.

    Internet research is also important. If you are starting from scratch, simply typing “new business ideas” into Google or Yahoo! will produce links to newspaper and magazine articles about the “hottest” and “latest” new business ideas. Although these types of articles are general in nature, they represent a starting point if you’re trying to generate new business ideas from scratch. If you have a specific idea in mind, a useful technique is to set up a Google or Yahoo! “e-mail alert” using keywords that pertain to your topic of interest. Google and Yahoo! alerts are e-mail updates of the latest Google or Yahoo! results including press releases, news articles, and blog posts based on your topic. This technique, which is available for free, will feed you a daily stream of news articles and Blog postings about specific topics. Another approach is to follow business leaders and experts in the industries you’re interested in on Twitter. The best way to locate people on Twitter you might be interested in following is by typing into the search bar labeled “Who to Follow” relevant keywords preceded by the “#” sign. For example, if you’re interested in solar power, type “#solar power” into the search bar. All the results will be people or companies who tweet about solar power topics.

    Once an entrepreneur has an idea, it often needs to be shaped and fine-tuned. One way to do this, in conjunction with the suggestions made previously, is to enlist a mentor to help. An explanation of how to use a mentor in this regard, and where mentors can be found, is described in the “Partnering for Success” feature.

    Library VS Internet Research

    Many people are confused about what constitutes library research versus what constitutes Internet research. Some people argue that effective research is never conducted on the Internet, that one needs access to the resources of a library to conduct thorough investigations. People in this camp argue that institutional libraries pay significant sums to provide access to proprietary databases to their customers that is, databases that offer abstracts, bibliographical information, and, oftentimes, full texts of articles published in scholarly journals. Also, research purists may argue that documents published on the Internet lack the authority of research that is peer-reviewed and published by major publishers. Something important to consider is the difference between an Internet resource and an academic resource accessed via the Internet. For example, if I simply Google “research method,” one of my first search results is from about.com – a good resource, but not necessarily an academic resource. Although I can glean about.com for useful information about the generics of a topic like “research methods,” for the purposes of an academic research assignment, it may be wise to use the Internet to access my library’s databases (like Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, etc.) for online access to a plethora of information pertaining to my search term. The Internet hosts a variety of resources, some of which are useful for casual, everyday references (like about.com) and others which are more appropriate for an academic research assignment (like my library’s databases: Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, etc.)

    Because of a misunderstanding about the way in which the Internet serves both purposes (casual, everyday research and formal, academic research) some students report they never use their library’s resources. Studies of the research processes of students have found that many students limit their investigations to search engines such as Google, paying especially close attention to the first eight or so hits on any search. Unfortunately, students who conduct research in this way often end up with sources that they later realize aren’t useful in crafting informed, thorough, formal academic research and/or arguments.

    To conduct effective research, you may need to use both the library and the Internet. Limiting yourself to the library cuts off some very innovative work that may not yet be accessible for your library’s periodical indexes and abstracts. In turn, relying solely on the Internet is like trying to dig a hole with your tongue rather than a shovel: extremely counterproductive and a waste of time.

    Information junkies know arguments for using either the library or the Internet are out of touch with reality. As research libraries increase the number of electronic resources they subscribe to, many traditional resources are now accessible via the Internet although passwords may be required. In other words, distinctions between the library and the Web are blurring.

  • Brainstorming

    What is Brainstorming?

    Meaning of Brainstorming: “Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members.”

    Definition of Brainstorming

    Process for generating creative ideas and solutions through intensive and freewheeling group discussion. Every participant is encouraged to think aloud and suggests as many ideas as possible, no matter seemingly how outlandish or bizarre. Analysis, discussion, or criticism of the aired ideas is allowed only when the brainstorming session is over and evaluation session begins. See also lateral thinking and nominal group technique.

    A common way to generate new business ideas is through brainstorming. In general, brainstorming is simply the process of generating several ideas about a specific topic. The approaches range from a person sitting down with a yellow legal pad and jotting down interesting business ideas to formal “brainstorming sessions” led by moderators that involve a group of people.

    In a formal brainstorming session, the leader of the group asks the participants to share their ideas. One person shares an idea, another person reacts to it, another person reacts to the reaction, and so on. A flip chart or an electronic white-board is typically used to record all the ideas. A productive session is freewheeling and lively. The session is not used for analysis or decision making the ideas generated during a brainstorming session need to be filtered and analyzed, but this is done later. Show the four strict rules for conducting a formal brainstorming session. As you’ll see, the number one rule for a brainstorming session is that no criticism is allowed, including chuckles, raised eyebrows, or facial expressions that express skepticism or doubt. Criticism stymies creativity and inhibits the free flow of ideas.

    Formal Brainstorming Session

    I. No criticism is allowed, including chuckles, raised eyebrows, or facial expressions that express skepticism or doubt. Criticism stymies creativity and inhibits the free flow of ideas.
    II. Freewheeling, which is the carefree expression of ideas free from rules or restraints, is encouraged; the more ideas, the better. Even crazy or outlandish ideas may lead to a good idea or a solution to a problem.
    III. The session moves quickly, and nothing is permitted to slow down its pace. For example, it is more important to capture the essence of an idea than to take the time to write it down neatly.
    IV. Leapfrogging is encouraged. This means using one idea as a means of jumping forward quickly to other ideas.

    Brainstorming sessions dedicated to generating new business ideas are often less formal. For example, as described in more detail in Case 11.2, during the creation of Proactiv, a popular acne treatment product, Dr. Katie Rodan, one of the company’s founders, hosted dinner parties at her house and conducted brainstorming sessions with guests. The guests included business executives, market researchers, marketing consultants, an FDA regulatory attorney, and others. Rodan credits this group with helping her and her co-founder brainstorm a number of ideas that helped shape Proactiv and move the process of starting the company forward. Similarly, Sharelle Klause, the founder of Dry Soda, a company that makes an all-natural soda that’s paired with food the way wine is in upscale restaurants, tested her idea by first talking to her husband’s colleagues, who were in the food industry, and then tapped into the professional network of a friend who owned a bottled water company. Through the process, she met a chemist, who was instrumental in helping her develop the initial recipes for her beverage. Klause also went directly to restaurant owners and chefs to ask them to sample early versions of her product. While this approach only loosely fits the definition of brainstorming, the spirit is the same. Klause was bouncing ideas and early prototypes of her product off others to get their reactions and generate additional ideas. DRY Soda is the subject of Case 9.1.

    Approaches to brainstorming are only limited by a person’s imagination. For example, to teach her students an approach to utilizing brainstorming to generate business ideas, Professor Marcene Sonneborn, an adjunct professor at the Whitman School of Management Syracuse University, uses a tool she developed called the “bug report” to help students brainstorm business ideas. She instructs her students to list 75 things that “bug” them in their everyday lives. The number 75 was chosen because it forces students to go beyond thinking about obvious things that bug them (campus parking, roommates, scraping snow off their windshields in the winter), and think more deeply. On occasions, students actually hold focus groups with their friends to brainstorm ideas and fill out their lists.

  • Focus Groups

    What is Focus Groups?

    A focus group is small, but the demographically diverse group of people whose reactions are studied especially in market research or political analysis in guided or open discussions about a new product or something else to determine the reactions that can be expected from a larger population. It is a form of qualitative research consisting of interviews in which a group of people is asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members. During this process, the researcher either takes notes or records the vital points he or she is getting from the group. Researchers should select members of the focus group carefully for effective and authoritative responses.

    Define of Focus Groups

    “A group of people assembled to participate in a discussion about a product before it is launched, or to provide feedback on a political campaign, television series, etc.”

    Definitions of Focus Groups

    Market research: Small number of people (usually between 4 and 15, but typically 8) brought together with a moderator to focus on a specific product or topic. Focus groups aim at a discussion instead of on individual responses to formal questions and produce qualitative data (preferences and beliefs) that may or may not be representative of the general population.

    Problem-solving: Idea generation or forecasting technique where several experts or informed individuals share their point of view on a specific topic or problem.

    A focus group is a gathering of 5 to 10 people who are selected because of their relationship to the issue being discussed. Although focus groups are used for a variety of purposes, they can be used to help generate new business ideas.

    Focus groups typically involve a group of people who are familiar with a topic, are brought together to respond to questions, and shed light on an issue through the give-and-take nature of a group discussion. Focus groups usually work best as a follow-up to brainstorming, when the general idea for a business has been formulated, such as casual electronic games for adults, but further refinement of the idea is needed. Usually, focus groups are conducted by trained moderators. The moderator’s primary goals are to keep the group “focused” and to generate lively discussion. Much of the effectiveness of a focus group session depends on the moderator’s ability to ask questions and keep the discussion on track. For example, a retail establishment in which coffee is sold, such as Starbucks, might conduct a focus group consisting of 7 to 10 frequent customers and ask the group, “What is it that you don’t like about our coffee shop?” A customer may say, “You sell 1-pound bags of your specialty ground coffees for people to brew at home. That’s okay, but I often run out of the coffee in just a few days. Sometimes it’s a week before I get back to the shop to buy another bag. If you sold 3-pound or 5-pound bags, I’d actually use more coffee because I wouldn’t run out so often. I guess I could buy two or three 1-pound bags at the same time, but that gets a little pricey. I’d buy a 3- or 5-pound bag, however, if you’d discount your price a little for larger quantities.” The moderator may then ask the group, “How many people here would buy 3-pound or 5-pound bags of our coffee if they were available?” If five hands shoot up, the coffee shop may have just uncovered an idea for a new product line.

    Some companies utilize hybrid focus group methodologies to achieve specific insights and goals. An example is “college drop-ins.” This approach involves paying college students to host a party at their campus and providing them a budget to buy food and snacks. During the party, the hosts interview and videotape other students about specific market issues. Everything is up-front—the partygoers are told that the information is being collected for a market research firm (on behalf of a client).

    History of Focus Groups

    Focus groups have a long history and were used during the Second World War (1939-1945) to examine the effectiveness of propaganda. Associate director sociologist Robert K. Merton set up focus groups at the Bureau of Applied Social Research in the USA prior to 1976. Psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter coined the term “focus group” itself before his death in 1991.