PDISM

Project development and implementation for strategic

managers

Tutor Name: Dr Pavlos Stavrakakis

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction........................................................................................3

2 The case of Business...........................................................................3

2.1 Research and consultancy as a new product........................4

3 Market Competitiveness....................................................................5

3.1 Competition and Regulations..............................................6

4 Marketing Strategies..........................................................................7

5 Evaluations and Monitoring..............................................................10

6 References..........................................................................................13

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1 Introduction:

Research and consultancy services are been offered by the CTPD Management

consultants for a great number of policy areas. These consultancy services

provide a clear understanding on how the policy process works. Research and

policy advice are the tools which are required to help the customer in

pinpointing the main bottlenecks and finding solutions to their problems.

Understanding of the policy process work depends on skills to map and fathom

the problems. The clients are not only expecting a list of problems but it is more

important to find out solutions to cope up with them, which can be done by

research and policy advice.

A comparative benchmark study is very important in acquiring the

knowledge that is necessary on policy issues, understanding and analysing it

and placing them in their context. The CTPD Management consultants use

experience when a policy analysis is done. They use the experience that is

gained in projects for governments and other institutions and in policy areas.

The CTPD Management makes use of the scenario for creating an image for

more distant future. The statistical data that is collected should be able to

follow and guide policies if the project is about monitoring. Policy research is

not only about taking stock or about looking back. The CTPD Management also

makes good founded proposals to create an image of the near or distant future.

2 The case of business:

Strategy and policy consultancy:

If an inadequate consideration is given at an early stage for the consideration

of risk and volatile environments, for the identification of measurable outputs

and consideration of risk of delivery machines, in such a case a well conceived

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policy concepts and even most sophisticated policy concepts and strategies will

also fall short. Many a times the strategy is limited by the inability to provide an

adequate evidence for quantitative supporting and also by lacking to see the

“Big picture”. This is particularly the case of decision that relate to many

strategic options of choice such as acquisitions and mergers or new policy

responses or strategic options for expansion in different markets.

2.1 Research and consultancy services as a new product:

The key strength of CTPD is its ability for strategic development and

implementation and also ability to provide research and consultancy services in

support of the policy. We have the ability to provide research and consultancy

services in support of the policy and implementation and strategy development.

We do have the capacity of providing certain skills such as major social and

economic impact analysis deploying both qualitative and quantitative survey

techniques and the skills also include detailed economic modelling for

feasibility studies and also may include stakeholders or softer facilitation

consultation skills (Coghlan and Brannick, 2005). Another ability of CTPD is

that it can support project implementation and support policy with help of

developing good communication and public relation skills. The CTPD is called

up regularly and it plays a negotiator or intermediately role if there is

requirement of resolution for any of the project development or complex

program issues. The CTPD has good skills in covering both content and

process. The increasing proportion of the work for the CTPD in particular is the

change management program for the public sector organisation, whether the

concern may be the outsourcing of government services or the concern may be

the privatisation or the concern may be because of the opportunity for

developing a new business the CTPD may help in providing their appropriate

experts for executing the task (Naoum, S. G., 2007).

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3 Market competitiveness:

The issue that may come across may be the urban regeneration field for a major

corporate client to make market entry and it may also range from initiation of

development of major public policy for the transport. The experience is used by

the CTPD Management and the consultants always use an experience for doing

a policy analysis and if the project is about monitoring than whatever data is

collected that is the statistical data should be such that it should be able to guide

and should also be able to follow the policies (Murray, R., 2006). The clients

always expect that the list of problems it is necessary to understand it

thoroughly and this understanding depends on ones skills and how it can be

mapped and then solved. Many a times a strategy set up is so that it fails to

provide a evidence and it is limited by its ability as it fails to provide a

quantitative supporting evidence and acquiring a knowledge in setting

benchmark that is necessary on policy issues and also analysing and

understanding the issues. Hence advices based on research and policies act as a

great tool that help the customers in pointing their bottlenecks and helping them

in solving their problems (Naoum, S. G., 2007).

The work areas include the following:

Developing a master plan.

Support of a management and also a management advice

Assessing if any technical issues.

Developing a policy and also development of a strategy.

Developing or building capacity and institutional development.

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Giving advice on networking and also advice on partnership.

Developing a self-evaluation and evaluation.

Experiences are to be exchanged.

Developing a master plan for good strategy and policy.

3.1 Competition and regulation:

There are many questions that are to be kept in concern when competing in

market. A well and good planned strategy always does have a competitive

approach in market. It is always necessary to keep in mind that how the rules of

competition influence the market opportunities of individual firms. Hence these

rules play a vital role in market competition for these individual firms. It should

also be in concern that, can one plan for an acquisition or can plan for a merger

or would it be prevented by the authority of the competition or whether it would

be a position that is dominant in the market. It should be of a great concern that

how can the performance be regulated to be improved in markets (Murray, R.,

2006). These are the issues that confront the policy makers and the corporate

organisations regularly So as to remain competitive in the market. The

organisation or firms have to regulate their performances and should have a

good planning strategy. As the organisations or the policy makers are

confronted certain policies of competition and certain rules of competition of

state of the art knowledge are required to be addressed and also the economic

analysis is required to be addressed to be confronted (Coghlan and Brannick,

2005). The analytical skills of CTPD Management cover the services of full

range from studies of pricing policy to that of the competition analysis and

services from the analysis of sector market and mergers proposals for their anti-

trust analysis. The knowledge of the CTPD Management helps in offering a

better understanding of regulatory regimes of member state and also in

understanding of SADC. The state of the art knowledge is providing a better

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understanding of the legal developments and also in understanding the most

recent economic development in policy regulation (Naoum, S. G., 2007).

The areas of work of CTPD Management include the following:

Evaluation of mergers and the proposals anti -trust analysis

Analysis of the performance in the market

Supporting of the policy regulation

The dominant positions are abused

Regulatory economic analysis

vertical restraints

Collusion and cartels

Analysing the market competitiveness

4 Marketing Strategies:

Financial and marketing advisory services:

There exists a substantial risk uncertainly for all the private individual

investors, contractors and public authorities and for all the stakeholders for the

development of the infrastructure project or in development of a real estate and

this substantial risk is similar for all of them. These risks could be limited by

presenting a clear distribution and identification of the uncertainties and across

all partners interest, the reward and the risk should be balanced. The financial

products with that of growing range could be a great offer as there is a

diversification and internationalisation of financial sectors (Murray, R., 2006).

There should be a detailed and complete understanding of the partner and a role

of each contracting partner when it comes to matching these financial products

with that of the project. The financial solution that are tailor made are said to be

the order of the day (Coghlan and Brannick, 2005). The CTPD Management

could provide a full finance risk assessment and can also give advices on

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financial packages that are customised and assessment of risk to infrastructure

sponsors, to the developers of real estate and also to the corporators. The

corporators and the investors are assisted in the assess management. The CTPD

management also do provide certain “in-house” complementary services in

legal advices, management, marketing and communicational services (Naoum,

S. G., 2007).

The areas of work for CTPD Management include the following:

Study based on feasibility

Study based on marketing

Measurement of performance and measurement of benchmark

Planning required for strategic actions

Operational guidelines and operational policies

Study based on financial sector

Privatisation of the financial sectors and restructuring of the finance

Strengthening of the institutions and its assessment

Engineering of financial sectors and financial modelling

Making deal with the financiers depending on their identification

Allocation/ weighting and analysis of the risk

Structuring, organising and implementation of PPP’s

Tendering and financial concession assessing the management

Realisation and management of program:

Public and the corporate agencies are looking forward increasingly to the

third parties to provide them management services so that they can be able to

control the risk and can introduce ”learner” project or the product delivery. The

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companies that are capable of deploying product or sectoral knowledge and

management skills provide most effective response and they also help in

covering the inception to evaluation of the whole project or the program cycle

(Murray, R., 2006). The CTPD Management have various expertises that could

deliver the management services which will be in direct support of program and

projects. The consultancy and the research experiences are heavily drawn in the

fields of formation of a policy, its implementation and then the evaluation. The

proposal and feasibility stage of the project sponsor at the time of initiation are

supported from the CTPD Management range of services(Coghlan and

Brannick, 2005). This may include drafting terms of applications or references

for a financial support to managing a full multi annual of a complete program.

The organisations that are undergoing project funding could be helped by the

CTPD Management by the selections of contractors and by the selection of

executive agencies and consulting specialist. It also supports for example: in

managing many of the technical assisting programs for the commission of some

parts of the African union. The funding of the private and public sources are

also secured and advised by the management (Murray, R., 2006).

The CTPD management provide ongoing management and wherever

required they also act as project managers if there is a requirement of

multiagency partnerships. The CTPD management is involved in almost all

stages of the process for example: monitoring of the contractors, enduring

targets, terms of references are drawn and achieving the outputs (Naoum, S. G.,

2007).

The areas of work for the CTPD management include the following:

Selection of the project and its appraisal

Project management and development of the project

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Assessment and management of calls for applications

Funding sources allocation and funding of the project.

Management of the program and also project

Management of the budget and the finance

5 Evaluation and monitoring:

In an increasingly dynamic environment are the projects, programs and

policies delivered. An essential tool for early warning is the monitoring of the

need to adjust and to fine tunes may this be in regards to staff establishment,

working methods, fundamental objectives or budgets. Similarly it has been

recognised by the organisations that there is a increasing need on evaluation.

The stakeholders are no longer accepting the crude ratios of accounting as a

measure of achievements (Murray, R., 2006). The CTPD Management

understands the nature and scale of the problem and based on this

understanding it responses to the need. The specific problems are targeted by

using various research techniques and they offer a carefully structured menu of

analysis, information and recommendation (Coghlan and Brannick, 2005).

Each assignment is done by carefully selecting appropriate methods and

instruments such as forecasting methods, sophisticated models, organisational

mapping, cost benefit analysis, questionnaires and much more. Even the

relevant data is stored in extensive databases and the management can act as a

valuable source for assignments.

1) Monitoring:

The evaluation and monitoring is one of the most important stages in a project

and independent viewpoint could be provided by the management for the

impact of interventions and the performance and also wherever it s needed. The

CTPD management consultant companies use research, monitoring and

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evaluation tools and understand the policy and answer the clients about why

and how the work is doing well or not doing well and the reason behind it and

why the work and things are as they are. The clients have many questions as

how is the project doing...? And will the project work...? And what difference

is been made....? Etc. This may be due to several of things such as an action

plan, may be due to the project, due to the entire funding program, may be due

to the policy or due to a strategy, whatever the reason may be the CTPD

Management can draw a experienced step and can develop a approach that

meets the need of each individual situation and their particular needs (Murray,

R., 2006). The management is often asked to formulate certain

recommendations on the basis of their findings and use of their findings by the

clients to inform their future work.

2) Evaluation

It is also an essential stage in a project. There are many different forms of

evaluation. These different forms of evaluations may be such as interim

evaluations, ex-post evaluations, spin-off studies that are specific, and studies

based on impact. The evaluations in general have two goals: using past

experiences and learning from them, justifying the expected expenditure and

the expected results to the stakeholders.

Each type of evaluation varies based on the project. Ex-post evaluations are

used for learning and for justifying; Ex-anta evaluations are used mainly for

adjusting execution. The reliability of the findings of the management and the

validity of their analysis are useful and they provide a well founded

recommendations and useful and specific conclusions (Murray, R., 2006). The

quality of the work is always dependent on the relationship between the

interested parties and the management and they go hand in hand which involves

executors, target groups and policy makers. The result of the work been done is

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always discussed interactively, in this the interest of the organisations are kept

on track for those organisations who want that their work should be done as

effectively as possible. Until the real effects of activities or policy are clear the

management continues with their activities and find a better way to reach the

targets that are set (Coghlan and Brannick, 2005).

3) Auditing:

Auditing is directly related to evaluation and monitoring and it comes in

different shapes such as organisational audits, quality audits, financial audits

etc. Unlike monitoring, audit is also a management instrument. The key is the

connection between input and output in auditing and the CTPD Management

offers many of the auditing services. Depending on auditing the aspects of

processing is also taken into account. With the help of “in-jouse” research

program, the CTPD management are developing various research techniques

and they also maintain a good working relationship with the research

departments of different institutions, many different universities and various

organisations that are present worldwide(Murray, R., 2006). The management

is now able to provide more sophisticated and latest methods, ideas and

techniques to the clients and also exchange their experiences and knowledge

(Coghlan and Brannick, 2005).

The areas of working include the following:

Research that is comparative and benchmarking

Cost-benefit analysis

Working on market research

Study based on behaviour and organisational studies

Assessing the needs and study based on feasibility

Applied analysis and research work

Qualitative and quantitative surveys are done

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Reviewing and analysing the data

Projections, building scenario and forecasting

Modelling

Managing the research of international networks

References:

Coghlan, D and Brannick, T. (2005). Doing Action Research in Your Own

Organization. London: Sage Publications, ISBN 1412902479.

Drucker P F (2000) — Harvard Business Review on Decision Making (Harvard

Business School, 2000) ISBN: 1578515572

Hart, C. (1998) Doing a Literature Review. London: Sage Publications, ISBN:

0761959750

Kovacic B (1994) —New Approaches to Organizational Communication (State

University of NewYork Press,) ISBN: 0791419185

Little S, Quintas P and Ray T (2001)— Managing Knowledge: An Essential

Reader 

(Sage Publications,) ISBN: 0761972137

March J G — Primer on Decision Making; How Decisions Happen (Free Press,

1994) ISBN0029200350

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McKenzie J and van Winkelen C (2003) —Understanding the Knowledgeable

Organisation

(Thomson Learning,) ISBN: 1861528957

Murray, R. (2006) How to Write a Thesis.Buckingham: Open University Press,

ISBN 0335207189.

Naoum, S. G. (2007) Dissertation Research and Writing

Preston P — Reshaping Communications (Sage Publications, 2001) ISBN:

0803985630

Quirke B —Communicating Corporate Change(McGraw-Hill, 1996) ISBN:

0077093119

Stewart T A — Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organisations

(Nicholas Brearley Publishing Ltd, 1998) ISBN: 1857881834

Welch D — Decisions,Decisions: The Art of Decision Making (Prometheus,

2001) ISBN: 157392934

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