Instructions

Submit the assumptions and contingency planning, which includes your explanation of assumptions you have made in creating your business implementation plan, any factors that may affect those assumptions or the success of the project, and how you have planned for those contingencies. At a minimum, you should discuss any cross-cultural, economic, and geopolitical factors that may impact the business environment and concept; how you will ensure that the project operates in a legally and ethically compliant environment, including relevant laws, regulations, or patents or permits that may need to be obtained; plans for incorporating stakeholder and customer diversity into planning and implementation of the concept; and the role corporate social responsibility will play in the implementation of your concept.

For additional details, please refer to the Milestone Five Guidelines and Rubric document and the Final Project Guidelines and Rubric document.

Assumption and Contingency Planning

Introduction

The implementation of projects is faced with major assumptions, especially in financial analysis, where many inventories, costs, budgets, and sales forecasts are conducted. Hypotheses on the expectations and future performance of any projects are made and should be evaluated to ensure they do not affect the project implementation plan negatively and adversely. They should be in range and not beyond the company’s capabilities (O Akinradewo, 2019). Nevertheless, a project is subject and vulnerable to unexpected events, uncertainties, and risks that can affect or compromise the success rates of the project. Developing coherent, conclusive, and comprehensive plan B or better a contingency plan would profoundly increase the success rates of the Rebranding project in Starrett Company. The paper focuses on the assumptions made throughout the project and implementation plan while analyzing their probable impact on the project’s success, in addition to developing Rebranding Contingency Plan. Secondly, the external milieu is evaluated and provides recommendations on legal and CSR compliance during the implementation period.

Assumptions

The assumptions made in the implementation plan of rebranding the logistics departments in Starrett Company are prevalent in the financial analysis, the success factors, and events experienced in previous similar projects such as budget constraints, natural disasters, operation of the autonomous vehicles, and possible dependencies. Primarily, through the financial analysis, it is assumed that the revenue will increase in the second year by 29%, attain the breakeven point during the first year after the sale of 807 units, and in the third year by 22%. This empirical data is from the assumption of selling 35,000 tools in the first year, 45,000 in the second, and 55,000 in the third year (Gupta, 2017). Secondly, during the implementation, issues such as budget constraints, which are unavoidable due to aspects such as additional labor, taxa, and legal obligations, among other macro and microeconomics. The overall performance of the project is assumed high due to corporate leadership, image, and reputation in the industry for both the tools and technological advancements. These assumptions extend to the company not experiencing any legal, tax, or patent issues, as the company holds over 5,000 patent rights (SEC, 2020).

The assumptions made can be affected by possible negative customer feedback or resistance due to the technological ‘complexity’ involved. In addition to typical project constraints and dependences such as inadequate staffing budget constraints, and the success of the project at large. The success factors of the projects will involve the financial projections; customer feedbacks reduced operational costs in the logistics departments, increased trips, maximized sales, and reduced product returns, among others (O Akinradewo, 2019). The assumptions, natural disasters that can affect the autonomous vehicles, uncertainties, and events are likely to affect the project’s success positively or negatively, thus necessitating a contingency plan. The contingency plan for the Rebranding Project is comprehensively developed to cater for all the factors mentioned earlier. For instance, the issues with natural disasters, possible injuries will be mitigated through risk and crisis management procedures, effective public relations will address any mismanagement event, including legal and customer relations. The continuity of the project will be mitigated by a continuity plan, notably when the staff is missing or specific tasks are incomplete due to the unavailability of a faculty or resources. The company’s assets used in the project will be secured using sustainable security strategies to maximize compliance and sustainable development (Patrick Harper-Smith, 2012). Concisely, the contingency plan will aim at mitigating the limitations and threats acquired from a SWOT or SPACE analysis of the project’s implementation plan.

Influence of the Cross-cultural, Economic, and Geopolitical Factors

Rebranding the logistics departments of STD in Starrett Company is likely to be faced by numerous cross-cultural, economic, and geopolitical factors because the company is multinational operating globally. Each country has its unique sets of beliefs and shared norms that will likely affect the business’s organizational, communication, and even etiquette. Implementing the rebranding idea and mostly the autonomous vehicles may be faced with communication barriers in some countries, which is essential in the success of any business. In addition, introducing driverless trucks in some countries may be met with resistance because the vehicles do not require any drivers (Werhane, 2009). In the case of an accident, responsibility and acceptance may bring about conflicts. The business idea must align with the unique cultures in different countries and complement Starrett’s organizational culture, which can affect the corporate hierarchy.

The business environment is expected to be affected by the geopolitical factors and events that are closely related to the economic policies of these countries. Starrett Company operates in over 100 countries, and the business idea is set to be implemented in all of these locations and plants. However, the presence of geopolitical threats such as over regulations, uncertainties in economic and political policies, trade conflicts, and protectionism, among others, will profoundly affect the operations and success of the business idea. These countries experience internal feuds and external attacks from terrorists and violent extremism, which can affect the business environment and process of the company (Biswal, 2016). For instance, introducing these autonomous vehicles in conflict-prone countries can result in hijacking and destruction, which can result in many losses for the company and the customers. The country’s economic strengths, relations, and power highly determine the success of the business environment in addition to their national security plans, military power, and technological sophistication. The rebranding project is highly dependent on fast, disruptive, and advanced technologies, making it a change to initiate in countries without that sophistication (Biswal, 2016). These factors are essential for Starrett Company to be aware and plan for, especially on the economic, technological, political stability, and cross-cultural alignment to ensure the company’s business environment and developmental projects are successful, profitable, and not limited by any obstacle or threat.

Legal and Ethical Compliance

The implementation and operation of the Rebranding Project will be under strict legal and ethical compliance through the enforcement of professional codes of ethics and legal compliance to any legal necessity and responsibility. All team members through the RACI chart will understand their responsibility and work in alignment with the set codes of ethics, high standard professionalism, and behavior. The decision-making process among all team members at all levels will be conducted ethically, with the responsibility that the decisions should not compromise the project’s deliverables, the flow of the work, the stakeholders, and the community interest (Werhane, 2009). To realize the faster and sustainable success of the project, all principles of the Triple Bottom Line, namely the people, planet, and profits, must be respected and earned honestly. The team members will operate under a value-based culture that encourages commitment and high ethical behavior and standards. The ethical guidelines applied will be compliant to both domestic and international policies, and most importantly, any ethical policy and legitimate aspiration involving the disruptive technology at hand must be addressed and integrated.

The most important laws that Starrett Company will ensure complete compliance during the project’s operations include employee relations and labor laws, patent rights and other intellectual property rights such as the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Acts, safety and protection laws, contracts, obligations, and agreements, Information Security Law, among others. The law and legal compliance will ensure the design and development of the integrated system that facilitates the autonomous vehicles are secure, comply with security aspects of IT, and do not violate any data, information, and cybersecurity laws (Bourgeois, 2016). On the other hand, the intellectual property rights such as the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Acts play a vital role in patenting an intrapreneurship (the integrated system) in Starrett Company to maximize its competitive advantage in the industry and corporation.

In the planning of the project charter and financial projections, there are adequate resources and capital to cater for any law and legal compliance. For instance, buying and driving autonomous vehicles is under stringent legislation from the NHTSA with legislation and guidelines for the Automated Driving Systems (ADS). In addition to the federal and state laws on the ADS, there are the SAE international levels of Automations 3-5 that must be followed to ensure complete and separate responsibility and accountability (Schwartz, 2011). The legal and ethical compliance plays an essential role in ensuring maximum corporate social responsibility of the project and selling the rebranding idea as a benefit to the people, customers through increased satisfaction, reduced delivery time, and product return. In addition to benefiting the planet on environmental compliance or the go greener initiative, as the autonomous vehicles are eco-friendly and protect the environment from emissions. Finally, the project benefits the company through increased sales, revenues, reduced operational costs, and, most importantly, increased profit margins.

Stakeholder and Customer Diversity Planning

The implementation of the rebranding project will take into consideration the inclusivity and active participation in progress and performance. The RACI chart, as developed earlier in the project, outlines all project stakeholders and identified roles and responsibilities. Each project stakeholder is accountable, responsible, and can be consulted or informed depending on their levels and duties assigned. All in all, all stakeholders in the project, starting from the top executive members or sponsors to the team members, will be identified, recognized, and known to every person (Patrick Harper-Smith, 2012). This is in the quest to create an information-sharing climate characterized by a respectful, ethical, professional, and friendly organizational culture. The responsive cultural environment will smoothen information sharing, facilitate two way, and open communication, essential elements of a successful project. Significant improvement and change in the RACI chart will be to include the customers giving them their responsibilities, accountability, consultation, and a source of information.

Customer inclusivity will be in the RACI chart as informants and to be consulted on the best practices and approaches to undertake the project. The customer base of Starrett Company is vast as it ranges from small-sized enterprises to large-sized incorporations. Their feedback, complaints critics, praises, and reviews will be of great help in the successful completion of the rebranding project. Moreover, the rebranding of the logistics departments, STD, is in the quest to cut on the operational costs and improve customer experience and satisfaction (Patrick Harper-Smith, 2012). Customers are essential stakeholders and tools in this project, as they will determine the growth, capital accumulation, and profit generation through their project acceptance and purchase behavior. Hence, the customer’s preferences and choices acquired from the reviews and the surveys will act as priorities and requirements for successful project implementation. The incorporation of all stakeholders will help them track and know the progress of the project and will be informed all through the project cycle in case of any changes, adjustments, or enhancements. Customer diversity, on the other hand, will enhance the implementation plan and increase the success rates, as the end products will address the situation of customer satisfaction and experience through their preferences and desires. This will make the project more successful, profitable, sustainable, and an excellent investment for all stakeholders.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Implementation Project

Corporate Social Responsibility plays a vital role in monitoring the compliance of an organization to local and international norms such as codes of ethics, law and legal compliance, environmental conservation, and community development. CSR aligns highly with the triple bottom line theory that states that businesses and organizations must conduct their operations and purpose to fulfill not only the profit goal and objective but also for the people and the planet. CSR in companies monitors compliance with people, planet, profits, and the legal aspect (Schwartz, 2011). CSR promotes the vision of the project and maximizes the accountability to the involved stakeholders. The focus is on protecting the environment (planet), through eco-friendly vehicles, protecting employee wellbeing (people) through compliance o employee relations and labor laws, and enhancing or safeguard the welfare of society (people). In response to this compliance, the company benefits (profits) include the following but not limited to improved financial performance, lowered operational costs, increased sales and loyalty among customers, and a higher ability to maintain its workforce.

CSR plays essential roles in every phase and step of the project’s implementation plan. For instance, during the launching to the end phases, CSR allows the company to create unique and shared business value among the stakeholders, promote social change, and enhances customer experience and satisfaction. All these functions create a win-win situation for all the involved stakeholders. Many aspects off this project comply fully with CSR requirements (Schwartz, 2011). For instance, for the people, the project seeks to improve efficacy and productivity among the employees, increase profits for the company through minimized operational costs, and maximized customer experience and satisfaction. For the planet, the autonomous vehicles are eco-friendly and have a higher and positive impact on climate. They are high tech, electrically moved, and reduce energy consumption by at least 15%. The reduced energy consumption results in decreased emissions of greenhouse gases and decreases the need for fossil fuels. This shows environmental protection in the rebranding project by Starrett Company.

All these benefits and compliances result in excellent and long-lasting relationships with the community in which the company operates. The relationship between a business and society is of utmost priority to an organization, as it determines and drives the success or failure. The two are interdependent, as the company requires the community as a source of labor supply and a ready market (customers). On the other hand, society needs the business for social change, economic growth and development, and a source of employment to promote their livelihood (Schwartz, 2011). A close relationship between the local community and the project plan will incur more benefits than losses from easy marketing, ready customers, and communication that is more accessible.

Conclusion

Starrett Company is an international company with other successful projects hence in a better position to undertake this project. The company’s assets, financial stability, reputation, and corporate image, as well as technological leadership, act as a reliable source of a competitive edge and advantage, increasing the successful completion of the project. When the project team ensures total CSR compliance, manages the changes and risks efficiently, integrate ethical, professionalism, and business law compliance, in addition to creative marketing and operational strategies, the rebranding of its logistics STD departments will exceed the assumptions and expectations.

References

Biswal, S. (2016). Geopolitics and it’s impact on Global business scenario: A Framework for Managing Growth & Sustainable Development (An analysis on Syrian Context). Conference: International Management Convention, Vol 1.

Bourgeois, D. T. (2016). Chapter 12: The Ethical and Legal Implications of Information Systems. In INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR BUSINESS AND BEYOND. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Gupta, A. (2017). PROJECT APPRAISAL AND FINANCING. New Delhi: PHI Learning.

O Akinradewo, C. A. (2019). Appraisal of risk contingency planning for construction projects. IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering , 1-3.

Patrick Harper-Smith, S. D. (2012). Project Management: Fast Track to Success. New York: Pearson.

Schwartz, M. S. (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility: An Ethical Approach. New York : Bradview Press.

SEC. (2020). Form 10-K Starrett L S Company For the Year Ended June 30, 2019. Washington, DC: SEC.

Werhane, L. P. (2009). The Global Corporation: Sustainable, Effective and Ethical Practices, A Case Book. New York: Routledge.