MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Project Quality

Title : Final Exam

Due Date : 19 May 2020
Lecturer : Dr. Asnidar

Name Student ID#

Gatla Karthik Rao 110022238

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ASSIGNMENT 1: Case Study

2. Based on your reading from the article, articulate your understanding on how
business can sustain its sales collection through changing their medium of
communication via online promotions.
Answer

Many retail businesses and restaurants have gone digital during the MCO to reduce losses. But
making use of online delivery platforms, they are able to still make sales although not as much as
when before the pandemic hit. Even though the online delivery platforms take a certain percentage
as commission, the little bit of revenue collected at least supports them to stay afloat. They can
make enough to pay rents and able to keep staffs on board during these difficult times. Also, many
businesses have never expanded into the online space because they don’t have the time, or they
think it is too complex. But having the downtime available in lockdown gives business owners the
chance to try it out.

3. According to the article, it can be seen that some of the businesses face difficulties
during the Covid 19 pandemic. From the viewpoint of business management,
elaborate two (2) types of challenges that the businesses encounter and how you
think the problems can be solved?
Answer

Most companies are seeing no revenue coming in, and businesses ranging from retail, to food and
beverage, to manufacturing, have been hit. And funding fixed overheads with no revenue is a major
issue. Employee retention is another major problem where salaries need to be paid even though
work efficiency has been severely hit.
From a business management point of view, there are a few steps that can be taken to get the
company through in these difficult times. One way is to renegotiate rental agreements with the
landlords for discounts or offer to pay later when the business resumes with a small percent of
interest, so the landlords don’t lose money too. Employee salaries can be readjusted based on the
fact that working from home saves commute costs. So, pay cuts are a far better option than having
to layoff completely. Another way is to cut down on marketing spends and change focus to
building brand presence and awareness on social media platforms instead. This way the brand can
maintain its presence in front of their usual consumers and may even result in new lead generation.
4. Assume yourself as a Business Development Manager for a manufacturing
company which experienced drop in sales due to the situation of the outbreak. Based
on your judgement, develop one (1) business strategy to help sustain your business
during the tough times like this.
Answer

With the onset of the pandemic, lots of manufacturing companies have lost sales and business due
to having to shutdown on government orders. And a lot of hospitals throughout the nation are
struggling with lack of protective equipment for the essential staff. Especially since most depend
on Chinese manufacturers for such goods, and with the whole shipping and logistics industry on
hold.
If I were to develop a business strategy to help sustain the business, one solution is to do some
research and modify our plant to be able to produce goods that can help the healthcare industry in
fighting the pandemic. This move will have three main advantages, it will help the hospitals with
valuable equipment to fight the virus. The plant can request the government bodies for permissions
to run the plant in order to manufacture the goods required to fight the disease. And thirdly, it will
help the business stay afloat and provide jobs for daily wage workers.
ASSIGNMENT 2: Review of Article

2. Summarize five (5) important points from the article’s abstract.

Answer

The five important points are:

1. The goal of the study to explore current implementation of Quality Management System.
2. The study aims to identify the Critical Success Factors of Project Quality Management
System along with finding the indicators for each Critical Success Factor.
3. To aid with the research, all the previous study on Critical Surface Factors for Project
Quality Management System implementation was gathered.
4. Six Critical Success Factors for Project Quality Management System in the Construction
Industry were identified.
5. Three indicators for each of the Critical Success Factors were linked that present evidences
of the implementation.

3. Based on the article, construct your discussion on these Critical Success Factors:
a. Client’s Commitment
b. Integration of Quality Plan
c. Measurement and Improvement
d. Education and Training
e. Teamwork and Communication
f. Use of ICT

Answer

a. Top management commitment to QMS is seen as paramount in ensuring and achieving

high levels of quality as expected by the customers. Top management must ensure high
levels of understanding and competence of all quality programs themselves so as to set an
example for all the rest of the departments. Companies must strive to develop quality-
oriented cultures throughout the organization and try to provide incentives for certain
quality milestones achieved. This will motivate the departments to commit more towards
quality management. At the same time owners or customers of the project must also take
involvement during the project execution phase so as to define the expected level of quality
from the contractors.

b. A project quality plan is a written plan that details how you will manage quality on a
specific construction project. All the main parties in a construction project like clients,
contractors and consultants must prepare their own project quality plans according to ISO
9000. All these plans must then be integrated by a quality consultant. These plans must be
integrated to avoid duplication and redundancy of activities, processes, procedures and
forms.
c. In the construction industry, performance measurement is used as a systematic way of
judging project performance by evaluating the inputs, outputs and the final project
outcomes. Quality Assessment System in Construction (QLASSIC) model developed by
the Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia to assess the contractor’s
performance in terms of quality of the finished product. The five key objectives of the
model are: to evaluate the quality of workmanship, to comply with a set of approved
standards and specifications, to compare quality between projects, to evaluate a
contractor’s performance and, finally, to estimate the productivity level of the project. The
model emphasizes three components of construction physical works namely, structural,
architectural and external. Assessments are conducted on the three components and points
are summed up to give a total score, called the QLASSIC score for the building. The
strength of this model is that it is very simple to implement. However, a major weakness
is that assessment of architectural and external work is not conducted until the project is
completed. This quality system performance score can be taken into account when clients
make interim payments to the construction parties.

d. Education and training of all staffs involved is very important before every new project as
the quality systems are usually designed exclusively for that particular project. The quality
systems and contract requirements vary from project to project. Quality training workshops
must be targeted at every level of the organization all the way down to the foreman level
at least to ensure sufficient quality levels. Quality control meetings must be held regularly
to hear from on ground staff for areas of improvements and hear their ideas towards solving
a particular issue.

e. Often during the execution phase of a construction project, important discussion and
decision related to quality in construction project are done impromptu and informal due to
spontaneous incidents demanding immediate action. So sometimes it is good to establish
and maintain informal relationships between all parties involved to share important updates
sooner. Regular construction control meetings among project teams further support the
achievement of the desired quality level.

f. Information and Communication technology are very important tools in managing the
documenting of a quality management system. In a traditional system, quality plan records
stored in hardcopies are very cumbersome to manage and the quantity of paperwork keeps
increasing as the project moves forward with involvement of more parties. Every change
has to be documented and updated across all hardcopies. Electronic document management
and web-based access of these records solves this issue. It is easy to update and
immediately accessible by all relevant parties. Communication technologies also help in
maintaining informal relationships across the board to pass information seamlessly instead
of going through the regular channels of communication for even small updates.
4. In order for you to cite from this article in your own academic writing, you have
to address the research gap which has not been covered by the article. Based on
your opinion, generate your understanding on the possibility of future study on the
same topic of this article.
Answer

For future study on this topic, more emphasis should be laid on the views and QMS plans for key
stakeholders of the construction project like the client, the consultant and contractor. Further
studies must also focus on a more comprehensive Critical Success Factor assessment and
identifying their indicators for Project Quality Management Systems. Also, all the previous
literatures, as stated by the authors focused mainly on the success factors of Total Quality
Management implementation in construction and limited research was documented on the ISO
9000 based project quality management system. So, that is another area that needs to be covered
in future studies.