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Operationalization: A Case of Walmart

Over the course of time, a new development has been at the basement level for my chosen company, but finally, it shall come to see the light of day. In any new business idea, there reaches the time of implementation and inevitably, after a decent amount of work and effort put into building the business strategy and business plan. This document is focused on pointing out the steps that will be taken in implementing the Chicken Bite idea by Walmart (Bloom & Hinrichs, 2017). This study shall be looking at the logic and statistical apparel of the whole process with the aim of pointing out the potential challenges the plan might face and how to counter them on time with the right apparatus. Thus, all this simulations and calculations will see through the progression of the primary business plan and strategies into a wholesome project.

For this study to meet the required needs, a quick overlook on what is needed for the project will be determined regarding, estimated costs for production, settlement, the ideal marketing strategies are necessary to be applied as well as a representation of how the work will be distributed using various tools and techniques. All this will cover the key milestones that are meant to be achieved by the organization in the long run. Not only this but in the challenges that will be facing the new plan, the organization will be able to spot the necessary changes they would need to make in regards to there and with their mission and vision statements.

Therefore, this study is a full-on operationalization scope that will assist the company in ways of walking into the new markets, verification of the new product, acquiring new stuff and stuff policies as well as wages for the sole purpose of making sure that this new project achieves the required set goals.

Potential Costs

The world of the fast food industry is one demanding one as it is essential to target one's market scope with the aim of attaining the appropriate amount of customers to keep a business afloat. Thus, considering the capabilities of my chosen company, Walmart, a decision has been made to "Go big or go home" after all in business you need to use the money to make money. Thus, after consultation with the financial department, the project management team and the board of directors, the below financial plans have been put in place to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

· Financial Scope

First and foremost, Walmart has allocated six million dollars to the start and completion of the new project which will first be done in two of the major stores across the United States of America. The plan that was put in place for this development was setting up the project in a store that was located in a high-end location while the other one will be placed in a suburban area such as New York. This is a plan on establishing customer acceptance of the new product (Barton, 2015).

The statistical data such as, sales, cost of production, client preferences, quality of product and traffic increase to the stores, which will be retrieved from the two stores will be used in determining potential obstacles, building a risk management team and policies as well as giving a map out for expansion and sighting new markets thanks to the present advertisement.

The renovation and advertisement will each be allocated half a million dollars, while the production, equipment installation and purchasing while be awarded $1.5 million in both stores. As for the remaining one million dollars, project management will use it into incorporating the new business monetary systems into the companies accounting structure and also the database alongside the new delivery app that will be hosted in the cloud (Li & Shah, 2017).

Potential Financial Risks and Advantages

Risks

1. Over budgeting: this can be a potential risk to the business as it might end up costing less.

2. Mistrusts: investing this large sums of money into a business idea that appears small might not sit well with some stakeholders despite the high potential returns (Sunder, 2016). Thus, this level of mistrust might cause pullouts to some extent.

Advantages

As much as the project seems to have minimal disadvantages, there is a high level of benefits that are looming in this set up as follows:

1. Quality: the amount paid for the project will make it possible to purchase all the quality products and equipment (Kshirsagar & Konnur, 2017).

2. Vast marketing: the financial plan is very welcoming in promoting high levels of promotion services thus winning more crowds and making the new product even more available.

3. Partnerships: thanks to the financial budget, it has been possible to attain new partners such as the equinox lab which will be assisting in our product validation and testing.

Work Breakdown

In this section, the study shall be developing an overview of the works that will be done for the completion of the new project in the shortest time possible of about three months. Therefore, a lot of work and effort needs to be applied since this will be a squeezed breakdown that will need all hands on deck. Below is the work break down structure:

Project = Chicken Bite (Fast Food project)

Work to be done = 100%

Project financial allocation = $6,000,000

In the above breakdown, the project has been titled and given the amount used for the project to attain stability (Ashtiani et al., 2017). Not only this but the project needs to be done to completion, this will be made possible by splitting the production into three phases.

· Phase One

1. Task allocation

In this segment, every unit viable to the project completion (from the top management to the ground level staff) will be given a task to do to see the project through and reduce the amounts of pressure build-up for the management team (Ashtiani et al., 2017).

1.1. Renovations

This is the first step that needs to be taken to propel the project to completion. This is crucial since it will be best to finish up with the renovations to offer room for the other Walmart businesses to continue as usual without destructions and interference.

1.2. Installations

To make sure that the premises is over and done with to allow the company to continue with its daily routine. The installation of equipment will be done as soon as possible considering that some of the material will be bought straight from the store.

· Phase Two

2. Sample production

The company shall be conducting production samples that are to be the sole creating of the company. By hiring a chef, the new project will carefully be crafted alongside other snacks that will complement the Chicken Bite.

2.1.1. Testing

Thanks to the equinox lab partnership, the new product shall be put under examination to ascertain it to be fit for human consumption as well as meeting the set goals of the project (Bird, J. (2016).

2.1.2. Customer Sampling and Review

As mentioned in the business plan, once the product has been developed and officiated by the Health Department and our new partner, customers will be called in to sample the new product with the purpose of giving their views and opinions of changes that could make the product even more captivation. They will also offer their views on an estimated price which will assist in determining the appropriate selling price.

· Phase Three

3. Technical team and Parameters

For this product to move as fast and efficiently as well as maintain the exact flavours, appearance and health content, the organisation will recruit staff members from our stores who will be willing to undergo training to join the new Walmart Fast Food enterprise.

3.1. Selling price

Using the relevant information offered by the sampling consumers, the company will apply various methods of determining the selling price of the commodity such as regression which will provide a suitable price range (Hill & Alexander, 2017). 

3.2. Advertisement

It is most sensible to begin advertisements after the product has finally been achieved. This will make it possible for the consumers to build upon interest since the product will not yet be on the shelves. As a marketing technique, the organization will use statements conveyed by those who sampled as a marketing technique long with health findings made by equinox lab (Bird, J. (2016).

3.3. Grand Opening

A project is never over until it opens and even then the team must oversee that every quotient of the new plan is in proper succession. Thus, a grand opening will be held for both stores at the same time with a product promotion which shall be free promo codes given to customers when they purchase items in Walmart as well through social media platforms.

Project Management Systems

Having discussed all the significant steps to be taken and the narratives to each level and sub-step, in this section the study shall turn to look at the various the set of techniques and tools that will attain usage in the project management after the grand opening with the purpose of maintaining the profits and even improving the processes. In the long-run, this as the means that will be implemented to manage product and service quality especially in the line of Walmart's lean business structure (Bloom & Hinrichs, 2017). Therefore, diving into the study, the first area to look into will be the quality control plan.

Six Sigma

In the description and strategy section that presented a few weeks ago, the business environment or structure was determined to be a lean form of business. This is very important as this means that Walmart ensures that its clients get the best quality out there at the least reasonable prices. This business structure is tailored to Walmart's mission and vision which aims at providing affordable commodities at excellent condition. The study also pointed out the three quality levels that Walmart delivers to its customers each being of high standards (Sunder, 2016).

Therefore, for this new project Chicken Bite, the company shall employ the use of the Six Sigma techniques and tools to improve processes. This technique and apparatus will be used to do the following:

1. Increase in profits.

2. Improve customer staff relations.

3. Reduce time wasted in the supply chain.

4. Provide constant feedback on consumer preference to improve satisfaction and quality, even quantity.

Considering the Walmart business structure is a lean-based environment, the best way to ensure that the Six Sigma techniques and tools will be felt throughout the organisation will be through merging the two. By combining lean production and Six Sigma, we as a company shall be able to attain what is known as the Lean Six Sigma methodology (Sunder, 2016). This unique methodology will benefit in the management of the chain of stores in line with the new project since it offers more diversity and variation which has a core focus on business and operations promotions.

Acceptance Sampling

Considering that Walmart has walked into the Food Industry, the primary and significant step taken would be the successful partnership with equinox lab. This means that the application of the acceptance sampling statistical sampling will be very viable and more comfortable to manage without any form of risks. Walmart's Chicken Bite is an edible commodity that must be inspected first before being placed in the market. This means, every item being used in the producing the final product, as well as the final product, MUST be tested to determine its acceptance to the market (Schilling & Neubauer, 2017).

For this purpose, Walmart will be implementing the use of the multiple sampling plans. This is so since the production process is very demanding and will be using several elements to develop the final commodity. This sampling technique conducts tests on more than one samples of the same taxonomy with the aim of verifying it. This method is very efficient for the Chicken Bite project as it will save on time wastage in testing and it will also maintain the same levels of quality and health throughout the products offering the consumers nothing but the best.

Key Milestones

Below are the most critical deliverables and resources requirements that will make it possible for the operationalizing the Walmart Fast Food business plan.

1. Flexible Budget: for this business plan to be operationalized, it is fundamental for the executive board and the project management team with advisory from the financial group to allocate the right amount of funds into the project. Considering Walmart is a global mogul, it is imperative to refrain from straining the new project hence offering a flexible budget plan. A flexible plan will also allow the project team to use of the class tools and techniques even if it requires outsourcing (Fisk, 2010).

2. Food Industry Team: Walmart does have a food section in its supply and retail program. However, they lack the right personnel to deal with food processing, production and verification. Therefore, the partnership with equinox lab is a significant resource to the project as well as to the running of the business (Bird, 2016).

3. Location: for ideal predictions, it is vital for Walmart to have study locations that will allow the organization to develop a way forward which will open up room for expansion into the other chains across the world in over 27 nations (Barton, 2015).

4. Human Resource: to achieve the time scheduled on the project to come to life, it is more than essential to put every employee to good use regarding improving the project progression. The company also looking into hiring the readily present staff first is nothing but an extra plus in cost control thus, making it possible to allocate funds to training the stuff rather than reaching out for additional funding (Hill & Alexander, 2017). 

Potential obstacles

Nothing comes easy as with every successful venture there comes troubling challenges. In the Chicken Bite project, there are also some obvious challenges that can become potential obstacles in operationalizing the new business. Some of these challenges are as follows:

1. Stake Holder pulls outs: Due to the high funds allocated to the new project and the work and emphasis placed on the project, some (though minor) stakeholders threaten to pull out since the venture appears to waste funds. If a pull out occurs, the company might face with negative publicity which will affect the market share as well as the reputation.

2. The market falls out: This means that the customers might end up withdrawing from the Chicken Bite after a while due to monotony and lack of a new healthy fast food product for them to compile it with.

3. Challenging to supervise and co-ordinate: An additional of a new branch of business within another operating industry might prove very difficult for the staff as well as the management team and the technical units such as accounting and information technology.

Risk Mitigation

In business, parties need to be ready for anything by deploying strategies that will combat the potential risks that may be looming around the industry. Below are the risk management strategies:

1. For the stakeholders who are willing to pull out, the company will make them an offer of buying back all their shares and rights to the company to maintain the stocks on the board and in the majority wing. This will offer a psychological impact on the stakeholders who might choose to stay or will end up benefiting the company even more since that has opened up more room for investors. Therefore, the company will have to get ahead of the news by promoting the product and building up the market desire which improves the company's value in the market (Sunder, 2016).

2. Since the Chicken Bite program is a pilot commodity to weight the Fast Food Industry, the company will make an effort in using the customers as the map out of the next products. For the purpose of improving on the market statistics, these products will be unleashed in bulk to offer variety and pull in more customers (Bloom & Hinrichs, 2017).

3. Lastly, Walmart will have to improve the staff morale by committing looking into the wages and employee needs such as offering bonuses (Hill & Alexander, 2017).  The organization will also have to develop indoor departments that will be divided between the two businesses to provide supervision. With the mission of reducing the struggles of maintaining the accounts and the technologies in the firm, it will be best to outsource to acquire high levels of management with the appropriate skills and know how.

References

Barton, D. N. (2015). Monetary valuation of urban ecosystem services-operationalization or tragedy of well-intentioned valuation? An illustrated example. Ecosystem Services: concepts, methodologies and instruments for research and applied use, 65

Bird, J. (2016). Providing perspectives on recent research into vitamins and nutritionals. Nutrition, 01.

Bloom, J. D., & Hinrichs, C. C. (2017). The long reach of lean retailing: Firm embeddedness and Wal-Mart’s implementation of local produce sourcing in the US. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 49(1), 168-185.

Fisk, P. (2010). People planet profit: How to embrace sustainability for innovation and business growth. Kogan Page Publishers.

Hill, N., & Alexander, J. (2017). The handbook of customer satisfaction and loyalty measurement. Routledge.

Jakhar, S. K., Rathore, H., & Mangla, S. K. (2018). Is lean synergistic with sustainable supply Li, A. A., & Shah, D. (2017). Optimal Resource Consumption with an Application to Cloud Computing via Data-Driven Prophet Inequalities.

Sunder M, V. (2016). Lean six sigma project management–a stakeholder management perspective. The TQM Journal, 28(1), 132-150.