Project Management: 513807

Question:

Your task is to prepare a report considering the commercial issues that affect projects.  These issues include finance, pr1 2 3ocurement, contract, supply and legal aspects. You should consider a project of your choosing and evaluate commercial issues. The project may be one that you have been personally involved with in the past, or the project could be a commercial venture that you like to perform in the future. To perform this assignment you will need to:

  1. Inform the reader of your report what project you have chosen.   Undertake an appraisal of the project’s business environment.
  2. Carry out an investment appraisal for the project. You are to represent a scenario where there is a requirement for investment in the project and a capital budgeting exercise must be performed. Perform an investment appraisal, ensuring you critically analyse the capital budgeting tools available. Make sure you consider differing financial scenarios. Given that you might not be able to access data that will give you exact figures, you may use realistic estimates for this exercise.
  3. Consider supply chain or procurement issues: explain how the issues can be managed. Elaborate on the role which contracts play in managing supply chain and procurement issues.
  4. Discuss legal issues that can impact the project.  Critically evaluate how legal issues can be managed, avoided or mitigated.

Answer:

Introduction

The Banister Infant and Nursery School Project is one of the significant initiatives taken by the Southampton City Councils with the aim of reducing the cost associated with the education of children in the Southampton area.

This report is aimed at appraising the commercially feasible project thus highlighting the environment of the same and the effect of commercial integrity on the successful achievement of the project objectives.

 1.1 Definition of project business

The Banister Infant and Nursery School Project is a part of the Moorland School Project taken up by Southampton City Council, aimed at the development of three educational facilities in the locality (Banister Infant and Nursery school, Wordsworth Infant school, and Moorlands Primary School) within a very limited funding.  The Banister Infant and Nursery school would provide the locales with an opportunity to child education at a much less expense than that of the private education institutions that prevail in the region.

1.2 Project rationale

At present, the number of   public schools in the Southampton region is much less than that of that of the requirements of the local people. Thus, the residents of the region are compelled to send their children to private institutes, which are far more expensive than the public institutions. Thus, the Southampton City Council has taken up the initiative of developing the new school for providing the public with an opportunity of less expensive child education.

1.3 Project options appraisal

The following appraisal techniques would be utilized for appraising the project:

  1. Business environment appraisal: would be conducted for the identification of the factors that might affect the commercial aspect of the project.
  2. Investment appraisal: Investment appraisal techniques would be utilized for estimating the commercial success of the project.

1.4 Preferred options

The preferred options for conducting this project are:

  1. Producing a core strategy document with the aim of identifying the strategies that could be utilized for addressing the commercial issue associated with a project.
  2. Consultation reports, along with audit reports to identify the progress of the project and the recommendations made by the experts at different stages of the same.

1.5 Project success factors

The success factors of the project have been highlighted below:

  1. The project should be completed within the time and budget committed to the Southampton City Council.
  2. Effective communication and project planning activities should be utilized.

2.0 Business environmental appraisal

The following sections of the report would be utilized for appraising the business environment of the Banister Infant and Nursery School Project.

2.1 PESTLE analysis

Factors Description
Political  The project has been initiated by the Southampton City Council and   would thus have full political support.
Economic  The project would be financed by the Southampton City Council and would thus not be affected   by the economic conductions of the market.
Social The nature of the project ensures that there would not be any social opposition towards the same.
Technological  The technological requirements of the construction work are easily available in the market.
Legal  The number of lawsuits that have been pressed against such novel social projects in the past few years is   significantly low.
Environmental  The  number  of public schools in the Southampton City Council are  is far less compared  to the demand  of the  public,  thus  creating  the perfect  environment for conducting  the project.

2.2 Porter five forces

Factors Description
Supplier power  The   supplier   power j is high, as the contracts once made with the suppliers cannot be revoked easily.
Buyer power The project is being developed so as to encourage the residents of Southampton City Council (who currently send their children to expensive private schools) in public schooling. Thus, the buyer power is high.
Threat of new entrants Low, as  it  is  very  less  likely that any  private school  would be  capable  of  providing  educational services at  less expenses.
Threat of Substitutes Low, as private schools would not be able to match up with the low cost educational facilities of public schools.
Competitive Rivalry High, as the Banister Infant and Nursery School would have to compete with the standard of services provided by the private school operating   in the region.

3.0 Project investment appraisal

The following  section  of the report  would include  the tools that  have  been utilised  for   conducting  the investment  appraisal  of the project  under  consideration. The annual accounts of the project would be included in section 3.1, followed by the details of the project funding, budgeting and cost control and cash flow schedule of the project in the successive sections.

3.1 Annual accounts

The following table indicates the 3-year financial plan of the project under consideration.

Banister Infant and Nursery School Project    
3 year financial plan      
Balance sheet projections      
           
           
Assets Initial balance Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
  Cash in hand  £     6,000,000.00  £         5,890,532.42  £           5,573,136.84  £            6,768,636.55
  Accounts receivable  £          20,000.00  £               20,000.00  £                 20,000.00  £                 20,000.00
  Total inventory available  £   15,000,000.00  £        15,000,000.00  £          15,000,000.00  £          15,000,000.00
  Expenses paid in advance  £                       –  £                           –  £                             –  £                              –
  Deferred  taxes  £                       –  £                           –  £                             –  £                              –
  Other assets  £          10,000.00  £               10,000.00  £                 10,000.00  £                 10,000.00
   Current assets (Total)  £   21,030,000.00  £       20,920,532.42  £         20,603,136.84  £          21,798,636.55
           
  Estimated cost   of Buildings  £          25,000.00  £               25,000.00  £                 25,000.00  £                 25,000.00
  Estimated cost of Land  £          10,000.00  £               10,000.00  £                 10,000.00  £                 10,000.00
  Capital improvements  £            5,000.00  £                 5,000.00  £                   5,000.00  £                   5,000.00
  Estimated cost   of machineries  and equipments in use  £        100,000.00  £             100,000.00  £               100,000.00  £               100,000.00
  Less: Accumulated depreciation expense  £                      –    £              26,000.00  £                52,520.00  £                 79,560.00
  Estimated current cost   of  properties and equipments  £        140,000.00  £            114,000.00  £                87,480.00  £                 60,440.00
           
  Total assets  £   21,170,000.00  £       21,034,532.42  £         20,690,616.84  £          21,859,076.55
           
Liabilities  Initial balance  Year 1  Year 2  Year 3
   Payable Accounts  £          50,000.00  £               50,000.00  £                   3,000.00  £                   3,000.00
  Accrued expenses  £                       –  £                           –  £                             –  £                              –
  Short  term debts  £                       –  £                           –  £                             –  £                              –
   Leases  £                       –  £                           –  £                             –  £                              –
  Other current liabilities  £            5,000.00  £                 5,000.00  £                   5,000.00  £                   5,000.00
  Current liabilities (Total )  £          55,000.00  £              55,000.00  £                  8,000.00  £                   8,000.00
           
  Loans taken  £          80,000.00  £              65,522.02  £                50,320.13  £                 34,358.16
  long term debts  £          20,000.00  £               25,000.00  £                 75,000.00  £               100,000.00
  Total debt  £        155,000.00  £            145,522.02  £              133,320.13  £               142,358.16
           
  Additional  liabilities  £                       –    £                           –  £                             –  £                              –
           
  Current  liabilities  £        135,000.00  £            120,522.02  £                58,320.13  £                 42,358.16
           
Equity  Initial balance  Year 1  Year 2  Year 3
  The Owner’s equity  £     1,000,000.00  £          1,000,000.00  £            1,000,000.00  £            1,000,000.00
  Paid-in capital  £     4,500,000.00  £          4,500,000.00  £            4,500,000.00  £            4,500,000.00
  Preferred equity  £                       –  £                           –  £                             –  £                              –
  Retained earnings  £                       – -£            125,989.60 -£              457,703.30  £               702,718.39
  Equity (Total )  £     5,500,000.00  £         5,374,010.40  £           5,042,296.70  £            6,202,718.39
           
  Liabilities and equity (Total )  £     5,635,000.00  £         5,494,532.42  £           5,100,616.84  £            6,245,076.55
           

3.2 Project funding

The funds allocated to various domain of the project have been depicted below:

Sl. no Activity Allocated Fund
1. Project Planning Activities £ 21,500
2. Contracts management £ 36,000
3. Developing project documents £ 14,500
4. Construction phase £ 194,500
5. Operations activities of the school starts £ 75,000
6. Project Signoff £ 7,000
Total  fund for Banister Infant and Nursery School Project £ 348,500

3.3 Financial investment appraisal

3.3.1 Payback period

The payback analysis of the project is being depicted in the table below:

Payback Analysis
Benefits of the project Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Reduction in educational cost 10000000 10000000 10000000
Earning from the school 350000 450000 500000
services to the citizens 150000 150000 150000
Total Benefits available from project 10500000 10600000 10650000  £       31,750,000
Costs of the project Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Cost of developing the buildings  £    200,000  £                    –  £                   –
Cost of equipments used in construction work  £    100,000  £                    –  £                   –
Operation costs 4800000  £         4,800,000  £       4,800,000
other costs  £             –  £                    –  £                   –
Cost of maintenance  £  2,500,000  £         2,500,000  £       1,500,000
Total Costs 7600000  £         7,300,000  £       6,300,000  £       21,200,000
Net benefits/costs  £  2,900,000  £         3,300,000  £       4,350,000
Cumulative benefits/costs  £  2,900,000  £         6,200,000  £      10,550,000
Payback Period 2.57236842

As depicted in the table above, the payback period of the project is 2.6 years approximately.

3.3.2 Net present value

The net present value of   the project is being provided below:

Cost Benefit Analysis using Present Value
Benefits of the project Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Reduction in educational cost  £  10,000,000  £          10,000,000  £             10,000,000
Earning from the school  £       350,000  £              450,000  £                  500,000
services to the citizens  £       150,000  £              150,000  £                  150,000
Total Benefits available from project  £  10,500,000  £          10,600,000  £             10,650,000
Costs of the project Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Cost of developing the buildings  £       200,000  £                       –  £                          –
Cost of equipments used in construction work  £       100,000  £                       –  £                          –
Operation costs  £    4,800,000  £            4,800,000  £               4,800,000
other costs  £               –  £                       –  £                          –
Cost of maintenance  £    2,500,000  £            2,500,000  £               1,500,000
Total Costs  £    7,600,000  £            7,300,000  £               6,300,000
Net benefits/costs  £    2,900,000  £            3,300,000  £               4,350,000
Cumulative benefits/costs  £    2,900,000  £            6,200,000  £             10,550,000
Net benefits/cost (NPV @ 5%) 2761904.762 £ 2,993,197.28 £ 3,757,693.55
Cumulative NPV 2761904.762 £ 5,755,102.04 £ 9,512,795.59

3.4 Budgeting and cost control

3.4.1 Project WBS

The work break down structure of the project is as follows:

1

Figure: The work break down structure of the Banister Infant and Nursery School Project

(Source: Developed by author)

 

 

3.4.2 Project schedule and budget

The estimated schedule of the project is as follows:

Outline Number Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors Cost
0 Banister Infant and Nursery School Project 646 days Mon 23-01-17 Mon 15-07-19 £ 348,500.00
1    start project 0 days Mon 23-01-17 Mon 23-01-17 £ 0.00
2    stage 1 of the project: Planning phase 23 days Mon 23-01-17 Wed 22-02-17 £ 21,500.00
2.1        Searching for the property on which the school building built 13 days Mon 23-01-17 Wed 08-02-17 1 £ 20,000.00
2.2        Representatives of city council visit sit and approve it 10 days Thu 09-02-17 Wed 22-02-17 3 £ 1,500.00
2.3       Site for school finalized 0 days Wed 22-02-17 Wed 22-02-17 4 £ 0.00
3    stage 2 of the project: Contracts management 70 days Thu 23-02-17 Wed 31-05-17 £ 36,000.00
3.1       Communicating with the property owners 16 days Thu 23-02-17 Thu 16-03-17 5 £ 5,000.00
3.2        Developing contracts for the procurement of the site 19 days Fri 17-03-17 Wed 12-04-17 7 £ 15,000.00
3.3       finalization of terms and conditions of the contract 15 days Thu 13-04-17 Wed 03-05-17 8 £ 10,000.00
3.4       finalizing contracts pricing 15 days Thu 04-05-17 Wed 24-05-17 9 £ 5,000.00
3.5       Signing contract with the property owner 5 days Thu 25-05-17 Wed 31-05-17 10 £ 1,000.00
4    stage 3 of the project: Developing project documents 92 days Thu 01-06-17 Fri 06-10-17 £ 14,500.00
4.1       Developing the schedule and budget of the project 20 days Thu 01-06-17 Wed 28-06-17 11 £ 3,000.00
4.2        developing the project plan 17 days Thu 29-06-17 Fri 21-07-17 13 £ 4,000.00
4.3       finalizing the plan 15 days Mon 24-07-17 Fri 11-08-17 14 £ 1,500.00
4.4       developing the site plans 20 days Mon 14-08-17 Fri 08-09-17 15 £ 3,000.00
4.5       developing the construction plans 20 days Mon 11-09-17 Fri 06-10-17 16 £ 3,000.00
4.6       Client approves project plan 0 days Fri 06-10-17 Fri 06-10-17 17 £ 0.00
5    stage 4 of the project: Construction phase 376 days Mon 09-10-17 Mon 18-03-19 £ 194,500.00
5.1       Bidding phase 61 days Mon 09-10-17 Mon 01-01-18 £ 12,500.00
5.1.1          Develop biding documents 36 days Mon 09-10-17 Mon 27-11-17 18 £ 1,000.00
5.1.2          making copies of bidding documents 7 days Tue 28-11-17 Wed 06-12-17 21 £ 500.00
5.1.3          Conducting the bidding process 15 days Thu 07-12-17 Wed 27-12-17 22 £ 10,000.00
5.1.4          Contractor finalized 3 days Thu 28-12-17 Mon 01-01-18 23 £ 1,000.00
5.2       Construction phase 191 days Tue 02-01-18 Tue 25-09-18 £ 70,500.00
5.2.1          Colleting all permits required for the construction of the school building 31 days Tue 02-01-18 Tue 13-02-18 24 £ 5,000.00
5.2.2          Clearing the site 6 days Wed 14-02-18 Wed 21-02-18 26 £ 5,000.00
5.2.3          construction work 150 days Thu 22-02-18 Wed 19-09-18 27 £ 60,000.00
5.2.4          Representatives of the Southampton city council review the building 4 days Thu 20-09-18 Tue 25-09-18 28 £ 500.00
5.2.5          Constructed building approved by the Southampton city council 0 days Tue 25-09-18 Tue 25-09-18 29 £ 0.00
5.3       Interior designing 124 days Wed 26-09-18 Mon 18-03-19 £ 111,500.00
5.3.1          Installing all electronic and electrical equipments 30 days Wed 26-09-18 Tue 06-11-18 30 £ 50,000.00
5.3.2          Plumbing work 20 days Wed 07-11-18 Tue 04-12-18 32 £ 20,000.00
5.3.3          Flooring work 36 days Wed 05-12-18 Wed 23-01-19 33 £ 20,000.00
5.3.4          Painting work 32 days Thu 24-01-19 Fri 08-03-19 34 £ 20,000.00
5.3.5          Representatives of the Southampton city council review the finished building 5 days Mon 11-03-19 Fri 15-03-19 35 £ 500.00
5.3.6          Constructed building approved by the Southampton city council 1 day Mon 18-03-19 Mon 18-03-19 36 £ 1,000.00
5.3.7          Building handed over to the Southampton city council 0 days Mon 18-03-19 Mon 18-03-19 37 £ 0.00
6    stage 5 of the project: operations activities of the school starts 65 days Tue 19-03-19 Mon 17-06-19 £ 75,000.00
6.1       collecting all the permits required for operating the school 30 days Tue 19-03-19 Mon 29-04-19 38 £ 20,000.00
6.2       Hiring resources for working in the school 30 days Tue 30-04-19 Mon 10-06-19 40 £ 50,000.00
6.3       Admissions start 5 days Tue 11-06-19 Mon 17-06-19 41 £ 5,000.00
7    stage 6 of the project: Project Signoff 20 days Tue 18-06-19 Mon 15-07-19 £ 7,000.00
7.1       signoff with the Southampton city council 15 days Tue 18-06-19 Mon 08-07-19 42 £ 1,000.00
7.2       Signoff with construction contractors 15 days Tue 18-06-19 Mon 08-07-19 42 £ 1,000.00
7.3       Project documentation completed 15 days Tue 18-06-19 Mon 08-07-19 42 £ 5,000.00
7.4       Project resources released 5 days Tue 09-07-19 Mon 15-07-19 46,44,45 £ 0.00
8    Project end 0 days Mon 15-07-19 Mon 15-07-19 47 £ 0.00

 

The Gantt chart of the project has been depicted in the following section   of the report.

 2

Figure: Gantt chart of the Banister Infant and Nursery School Project

(Source: Developed by author)

The earned value analysis of the project, as conducted on 11th January, 2017 has been depicted in the following diagram:

3

Fig : Earned value analysis of  project

 

3.5 Cash flow

The cash flow of the project is being outlined in the section below:

Banister Infant and Nursery School Project      
3 year financial plan        
Cash flow        
           
           
    Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total
Operating activities        
  Net income of the project -£             125,989.60 -£              331,713.70  £           1,160,421.69  £  702,718.39
  Depreciation cost  £               26,000.00  £                26,520.00  £                27,040.00  £    79,560.00
  Accounts receivable  £                          –    £                           –    £                           –    £               –  
  Project Inventories  £                          –    £                           –    £                           –    £               –  
  Accounts payable  £                          –   -£                47,000.00  £                           –   -£    47,000.00
  Amortization of assets  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
  Other liabilities of the project  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
   Additional cash flow items  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
  Total expense of all operating activities -£               99,989.60 -£              352,193.70  £           1,187,461.69  £  735,278.39
           
Investments        
  Capital expenditures of the project  £                          –    £                           –    £                           –    £               –  
  Cost of business acquisition  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
   Revenue generated from  selling fixed assets  £                          –    £                           –   -£                 1,000.00 -£      1,000.00
  Other investments  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
  Total investing activities  £                          –    £                           –   -£                 1,000.00 -£      1,000.00
           
Financing activities        
  Long term debts -£                 9,477.98  £                34,798.12  £                 9,038.02  £    34,358.16
   Stock  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
  Sum total of  all cash dividends paid  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
  Stock of the project  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
  Additional cash flow items  £                           –  £                            –  £                           –  £               –  
  Total financing activities -£                 9,477.98  £                34,798.12  £                 9,038.02  £    34,358.16
           
Cumulative cash flow -£             109,467.58 -£              317,395.58  £           1,195,499.72  £  768,636.55
           
Beginning cash balance  £           6,000,000.00  £           5,890,532.42  £           5,573,136.84  
Ending cash balance  £           5,890,532.42  £           5,573,136.84  £           6,768,636.55  

 

4.0 Supply chain

Experts in the domain  of  construction  engineering  projects define the term  supply chain as the sequence  of  resources,  process and people activities  that   are utilized for  the  construction  of products that  fulfills the objectives of a  project (Pala et al. 2016). The following section of   the report would shed some light on the supply chain issues that might affect the progress of the project.

4.1 Supply chain issues

The progress of the Banister Infant and Nursery School Project might be affected by the following supply chain problems:

  1. The lack of communication between the  building contractors,  raw material suppliers,  architects, construction  workers  and  the Southampton  City  Council  representatives  associated with the project (Zheng, Tong  and Sun  2015).
  2. Any architectural design change requests made by the Southampton City Council after significant progress in the project.
  3. The quality of products procured through the suppliers being of substandard quality (Brandenburg et al. 2014).
  4. Lack of proper supply chain planning and control activities.
  5. Non-utilization of appropriate methods and tool for measuring the performances of the building contractors, raw material suppliers, architects, construction workers, and other resource associated with the project (Pala et al. 2016).

4.2 Procurement route and purchasing

The procurement of the material required for construction would be conducted through the process of bidding and tendering. The tenders for the  supply of all raw materials required  in the project would released  in  public, along with the details of the qualities  of  the materials to be supplied, the  legal consequences  of  not meeting the quality levels and the tools that would  be used  for performance  measurement.

The bidding and tendering process would not only allow the selection of the contractor capable of supplying goods at the lowest level, thus guaranteeing the availability of products at   the lowest price. On  the other hand,  legal  contracts developed during the tendering  process  would  also  ensure that the  contractors  remain aware  of the penalties  that they would have to face  in  case  the term  and  contracts are not abided by. Thus, it  can  be said  that  issues  associated with  the supply chain  process  (as  identified   in  section 4.1 ) would be successfully  avoided by the  selected procurement process.

  4.3 Management of supply chain issues: the role of contractors

The supply chain issues that have been highlighted in the section above can be mitigated using the following strategies:

Sl. No Issue Mitigation
1. Lack of communication  Effective communication plans need to developed and utilized for so as to facilitate the sharing of information in the supply chain (Fewings 2013).
2 Architectural design change requests made by the Southampton City Council  Effective change management procedures need to be followed during the project life cycle.
3.  Raw materials of substandard quality  The legal contracts should include the details regarding the quality of raw materials to be supplied to the project (Zheng, Tong and Sun 2015).
4. Lack  of planning Appropriate supply chain planning methodologies should be utilized (Pala et al. 2016).
5.   Performance  measurement  Effective performance appraisal tools need to be utilized in the project (Brandenburg et al. 2014).

 

The construction and raw material supplier contractors can take up a significant role in the mitigation process. The inclusion of details of the raw materials to be supplied in the supply contract documents would essentially be an effective strategy in avoiding further issues in the (Pala et al. 2016).  On the other hand,  the  same  strategy cam be  utilized by the  building contractors,  so as  to remain on the same  page  with the representative of Southampton City Councils  regarding the architectural detail of  school building (Zhen, Tong  and Sun  2015).

4.4 Contract management

The ‘time and cost contract  management suite’, as the name  implies, emphasis on the core elements  any construction  contract  work, namely  the time  and cost  of  the  project.  This  particular contract suite  is   utilized  mainly  in  case   of  such  project works   that scientific approach for the management  of the risks associated  with  a construction  work.   The  project   being  discussed  in this report   is  essentially  of the  same nature  and  thus the time and cost contract  management suite’ can   be  utilized  for managing  the same.

The utilization of this contract management issue would facilitate the following activities:

  1. Development of the building according to the designs specified by the Southampton City council
  2. Development of the building with the raw materials provided by the contractor organization itself
  3. Any pricing strategy can be utilized along with this particular contract management process.

5.0 Legal issues impacting the project and their management

5.1 Legislative issues

The Banister Infant and Nursery School Project must adhere to the following legislative consents of the Government of the United Kingdom;

  1. The Building Regulations Approval has to collected from the appropriate ‘building control body’ or BCB of the government (Burr 2016). This particular consent approves the architectural plan of any building and non-adherence to the approved plan often results in prosecution of the construction contractors associated with it and/or fines for the same.

The Building Regulations Approval procedure, as conducted  by  the  Government   of the United Kingdom,  also mandates the detailed documentation   regarding  the  ventilation  techniques  utilized in the buildings, along  with that  of  the waste disposal methods, methods for protection from falling, techniques utilized  in ensuring the  electrical safety of the worker, etc (Holder and O’Brien  2013). Non-submission   of these documents and/ or the non-adherence to the approved   plans, as mentioned earlier, leads to fines   or   prosecution.

  1. The non-adherence to the legislative regulations for the Land Registration Act 2002 (during the procurement of the site for the school might result in the prosecution or monetary fines of the representatives of the Southampton city council (Agapiou 2013).

5.2 Management of legal issues :  conflict and dispute resolution methods

Experts in the domain of construction management projects comment that the most  construction  projects conducted  in the United Kingdom’s utilize the mediation  technique  for resolving  any  legal  dispute   associated  with  the procurement  process  associated  with  the  project (HuygHe and Chan  2013). Researchers Holder  and O’Brien (2013) on the other   hand, are  of the opinion   that  the popularity  of   this particular  dispute resolution  technique among construction  project  managers  lies  in the very fact that  the mediation technique  is by  far  the  fastest available resolution   process; each  resolution  process  takes  1 to 2  days  on  an average,  thus saving  significant amount of time. On the other  hand, it not  only encourage the  involved  parties to search for  solutions  acceptable to both   the sides, but also ensures  that the details   of the dispute are  not  released in public.

It is worth mentioning the mediation process is essentially conducted in the presence of third party.  On  the other hand, the parties  involved  in the dispute  can also conduct  a resolution process  by  themselves  (without  the assistance or interference  of  any  third party) thereby  making  attempts of   finding   a  solution  to the dispute . Such dispute resolution processes is known as negotiation (Burr 2016).  Besides this, several other dispute resolution techniques can also be utilized, like that of neutral evaluation, expert determination, and litigation.

6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations

The preceding sections of the report provide detailed information regarding the Banister Infant and Nursery School Project, as conducted by the Southampton City Council. The  background  of the project has   been highlighted  in section 1.1  of  the report,  followed by  the  rationale of  conducting  the  same  and the methods  to be utilize for appraising  the same.  The business environment of the project has been appraised in section 2 of the report. The findings  of the same  indicate  that in spite of the legal, political  and  social  support towards   the project, the  Banister Infant and Nursery School might  have  a tough time in  providing  the level of services  that  the  private  schools operating in the locality make  available to the students. However, the investment appraisal of the project, as discussed in section 3 of the report, encourages the conduction of the same.

In the light  of the discussions made in the project,  the following  recommendations  are  e being  made  to  the managerial personnel associated  with  the project:

  1. Supply chain planning: Effective supply chain planning and control techniques should   be  utilized by the  project  management team,  so as to avoid  the supply and  procurement issues  discussed in section 4 of  the report.
  2. Adherence to legislative regulations: The legislative regulation highlighted in section 5 of the report should be adhered to, to avoid any disputes in the future.

 

 

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