Evaluating the Efficiency of Project Management Tools and Practices within SMEs in the UK (Essay Sample)

An evaluation of the efficiency of project management tools and practices within SMEs in the UK
CHAPTER ONE: ORIENTATION OF THE STUDY

Background of the study
Small and Medium enterprises varying from innovative, dynamic, growth oriented to conventional enterprises contented with their fixed nature are vital to the economy, acting as the engine for both social and economic development explains Turner and Ledwith (2018). According to North and Kumta (2018) whereas assessing the growing significance of SMEs in the UK, stressed this fact by affirming that an augmented importance has been given to small and medium enterprises with regards to business policy of the UK. The European Competitiveness report of 2013 further notes that SMEs account for 99% of activity in the UK. Basing on this finding, the probable threat to SMEs existence leads to the conclusion that there is a need of increasing their quality and competitiveness to match the competition. Thus, use of an effective project management tool would help enhance the chances of progression of SMEs. Project management tools and techniques are well proven with Rostami, Sommerville and Lee (2015) explaining them as logical approach used in all phases of a project by ensuring that all steps are not only carefully planned, but also monitored and well accounted for.
Project management is an entrenched discipline that characterizes in detail the tools and systems that are required to characterize, plan and execute any task. Be that as it may, while numerous researchers have tended to the issues encompassing the administration of tasks inside large firms (Ate et al 2013; Kumar, Khurshid & Waddell, 2014) there has not been a great deal distributed to date about project management tools and techniques in SMEs.
Albeit at first intended for use in large organizations with complex frameworks that require such a procedure, (Ate et al 2013), present-day techniques for project management can be adjusted and modified to suit the necessities of the smaller enterprises. This paper intends to build up a comprehension of project management attributes and how they are overseen inside SMEs, what variables enhance a projects success and the view of the capability of project management as a procedure. These discoveries will add to the advancement of a rearranged way to deal with managing ventures in SMEs.
Characteristics of SMEs
The definition of an SME has varied over time and there has been a lack of compromise about what makes up a small or medium enterprise (Vedanthachari & Owen, 2015). Nonetheless, Durst AND Runar Edvardsson (2012) explains that SMEs display both advantages and disadvantages when constrated to larger organizations. Audretsch, Prince et al. 2012 in their relative paper analyzing large, medium and small firms found that little firms have a more noteworthy potential adaptability and closeness to the client and an edge towards customization and advancement. They seekout business sectors where their focal points include and they are not in direct challenge with their bigger partners. Be that as it may, in spite of these key focal points, SMEs need economies of scale, learning and scope.
Ogunbiyi, Goulding and Oladapo (2014) recommends that SMEs show social highlights that give them an imaginative bit of leeway over large firms these incorporate the capacity to react quickly to outside dangers or openings, progressively proficient internal communication and intelligent administration cycles. In any case, (Bhattacharya et al 2016) found that SMEs were restricted in their capacity to improve as they, 'come up short on the material and mechanical assets that empower enormous firms to 'spread hazard over an arrangement of new items' and 'store longer-term R&D'. An assessment of the abilities of task directors in little and huge hardware firms (Ledwith 2014), demonstrated that undertaking supervisors in little firms were powerless in the regions of inspiration, advertising and the board. Little firms showed restricted utilization of task the executives procedures and were not profiting by undertaking the board as far as expanded new item achievement.
High innovation SMEs are described by long lead times from essential research to mechanical application and short lead times in commercialization. They endure quickened oldness under worldwide focused weights from new item and procedure advancements (Coyte, Ricceri & Guthrie, 2012). High innovation SMEs will in general have pioneering the executives styles with natural structures and their prosperity is frequently founded on sound learning of the business, profoundly gifted workers and the capacity to detect a hole in the commercial center, (Wren, 2018). 
Research questions
1 What are the prevailing project management practices and tools used in UK SMEs?
2 Are there any benefits and challenging areas of project management in SMEs?
3 What is the correlation between project management and national development?
4 How has the existing project management tools and practices helped reduce the high rate of failed small projects?
5 To what extent can project management techniques and approaches be used to manage changes in SMEs?
6 What is the success rate of project management tools and techniques in managing change among SMEs in UK?
7 What are some of the recommendations to dealing improve and solve challenges in tools and practices used in SMEs?
General objectives
The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of project management tools and practices within SMEs in the UK. Other secondary objectives include:
* To examine the prevailing project management practices and tools used in UK SMEs;
* To investigate the benefits and difficult areas of project management in SMEs;
* To find out the correlation between project management and national development, if any;
* To study if existing project management tools and practices has helped reduce the high rate of failed small projects;
* To measure to which extent can project management techniques and approaches be used to manage changes in SMEs;
* To find out the achievement of project management tools and techniques in managing change among SMEs in UK;
* To give a recommendation on the way forward against identified challenging areas.
Benefits of the study
The findings of the study will be useful to entrepreneurs as well as the policy makers in various ministries including the ministry of water, planning, lands, and housing.
The goals of the study are additionally to discover the connection between project management best practices as well as project performance; from this knowledge, project members accordingly remove themselves from project management practices that have a negative association with performance while connecting more with those that show a positive relationship. This would add to acknowledging improved execution of development extends in the UK.
Moreover, the important bodies overseeing project management are provoked to benchmark pertinent practices that would improve the presentation of the activities it oversees. Over the long haul, business engaged with project management in UK would have upgraded nature of project management best practices.
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This part of the dissertation gives an overview of how different authors have experienced effective project management tools and techniques to SMEs. Majority of the SME managers have considered project management as the process by which time is displayed within various parts of the business with tasks sequenced in a need basis channel (Garengo, 2019). There is an increasing awareness of useful project management tools and practices that have guided many business managers in various ways throughout their business operation in the global SME operations (Harris et al., 2018). Many have experienced positive results although those who ventured in in the world of management have been threatened by the complexity of the project management tools and practices applicable to various categories of SMEs.A substantial literature on the business world of today have made project management techniques to appear as a very complex activity to most of the managers. There are several areas that has processed methodologies and techniques that have been successful in SMEs (Harris et al., 2018). While majority of the SMEs can afford full-time project managers who are likely to be present all-time for extreme business operation and others have decided to engage part-time project managers who in most cases extend few project management expertise to the business. It is unrealistic for project managers to expect two final results from similar project tools and techniques. Due to the complexity of the techniques applied to SMEs, many managers tend to manage projects using their best experience that was gained from successful businesses even though they may not work for their business (Wren, 2018).  This study aims at looking at the overview of project managing in different ways that can address the needs for project managers in SMEs to increase their success. The study views the definitions of project management tools and techniques with emphasis on evaluating their effectiveness in the operations of projects in SMEs. Additionally, the research has also looked comprehensively at the uses of project management tools and practices in SMEs with explorations of history and reasons in the project managing with crucial thinking of the relationship wit...