Work Breakdown Structure Essay Example

taking back the activities and business process handled by third parties and having them handled by the organization that had previously outsourced. Essentially, when used effectively, outsourcing can be cost-effective and it is affordable to purchase these products and services to an organization that has a comparative advantage instead of having them produced internally. For example, some companies, such as technology companies may deem it fit to outsource some of the manufacturing activities to save production costs or outsource book keeping in instances where it would be cheaper to do so than to have an in-house accountant (Saxena&Bharadwaj, 2007).

On the other hand, a make-or-buy decision is the business decision that involves choosing between making and manufacturing the product in-house or purchasing it externally from a supplier. In making such a decision, the most important factor to consider is the costs involved in either side of the decision, as well as the availability of the capacity to facilitate production. Since outsourcings has become somewhat of a global phenomenon in business circles, the make or buy decisions is the one that managers have found themselves having to grapple with in recent times in many business settings. Various factors make influence the business into making a decision to buy part of, or subcontract part of manufacturing or other processes, instead of manufacture wholly or conduct the business process wholly (Saxena&Bharadwaj, 2007). These factors may be such as the lack of expertise within the organization to complete the business process, the desire to source in a multiple dimensions small and inadequate volume requirements, and the act that the outsourced product and process may not be critical to the business

strategy anyway. In the same sense, an organization may decide to make some of the process previously outsourced in house as a result of factors such as the realization that the company has existing capacity to do so that is just lying idle, the need to have better control on quality, or the need to protect proprietary technology.

Domino’s Pizza Inc., also known as just Domino’s, is a restaurant chain and international Franchise whose roots are traced and embedded deeply in the United States of America. Founded in 1960 and headquarters located in Michigan at the Domino Farms Office Park, the company is the second largest Pizza franchise in the United States and he largest in the world with numerous stores in over seventy countries in the world. The company has been publicly traded since 2004. Previously known as Domino’s Pizza, the company changed its name and rebranded to just Domino’s, since it started offering other foods besides pizza. The company operates in various other countries, whereby pizza is the main product, but offers a range of cuisines and foods customized for the countries and areas it is located in. Pizza remains to be the main thing and is offered in various toppings and forms. Besides the expanded menu, efficiency in delivery is the main business aim in delivering its foods and services that includes delivery of pizza to the customer’s preferred location.

Evaluation on whether to make or buy is a decision that is based mostly on the availability of needed resources and expertise as well as the place of the process in the business model or in achieving a competitive advantage (Goehlich, 2008). For Domino’s

the main business is selling pizza as well as other dishes that have been recently added to the menu. In fact, Dominos was more mediocre than other players and its competitors in the business, but had a re-engineering process that involved enriching their menu as well as designing their foods and pizza in a manner than enhanced their corporate social responsibility to the community through reducing fat due to obesity issues associated with fast foods. In addition, the company also re-designed their packages in line with recognizing environmental responsibilities and conservation issues through re-cycling of packages (pizza boxes). The company, in recent times, has recognized the need to have a better online ordering system that will enhance their achievement of the CSR to customers and business strategy in which the Dominos seeks to offer the best pizza as well as efficient accompanying services such as delivery of the products.

The primary objective for Domino’s is the food, not information technology. Issues that pertain to the menu and foods offered in their outlets are in-house since this is the core business of the food. Therefore, the company lacks expertise on information technology and does not prioritize on this area as much as it supports service delivery. Therefore, since the business needs a better information technology system that supports its core business and the CSR to customers, which is delivery of services in an efficient way, Domino’s had to outsource this project since they only need a one-time designing of the system and probably sporadic and periodic checks and control on the system as well as support services. Instead of hiring on-house engineers and technology gurus to work

full time on a salary for a project that is only momentary, the cost of outsourcing is lower than hiring full-time in-house information technology experts and opening a function or department to deal with the same.

Therefore, instead of ‘making’-adding an information technology function to the organizational structure to handle this need, Domino’s opted for the cost-effective method of outsourcing. In fact, the decision was not only cost-effective and viable; it was also excellent since the organization they contracted to handle the project was experienced in the area. Domino’s pizza chose Capgemini to assists in implementing the cloud-based supply ordering system that they needed for more efficient service delivery that would give them a competitive edge over their competitors who may have overshadowed them in previous years. By hiring Capgemini, Domino’s sought to make phone and online ordering a more efficient process that would make customers happy and work well. The new system, which will be built on the Net Suite Commerce platform, will completely replace the former system that the company used on the supply order management system. This is a huge task considering the large number of outlets the company has in America alone.
Further, the make or buy decision, leading to buy decision at Domino’s, can be attributed to the fact that in re-engineering the company tried to hire their own IT experts in making the former system that has not been as effective as the company would have wanted. Hence by contracting Capgemini to assist in designing a new system, the in-house information technology exerts and human resource will acquire necessary knowledge that will enable them in running the system in the future

since Capgemini is acting in an expert capacity as a consultant on the project. Domino’s employees alone would not have been able to design the needed system. Capgemini will therefore increase the availability, efficiency, and functionality of Domino’s ordering system. Ultimately, Domino’s will be able to provide improved and better experiences for the company’s partners and enhance Domino in driving for growth and development opportunities in the future. In the following sections, the paper will delve deeper into the project and relationship between these two companies as it evaluates literature on the outlined knowledge areas.

In essence, companies need to outsource information technology services for three main reasons: reduction of costs associated with the projects, quality improvement of IT services, and focus on the core competencies of an organization. In most organizations, just like at Domino’s, saving on costs is the main reason behind outsourcing of IT processes and associated operations. However, for Domino’s quality improvement was also a factor that led to making of the decision to outsource and work with Capgemini on the project to make a better system than what the company had previously. Besides cost constraints on the project being a motivation to outsourcing and decision making to buy, the cost benefits that are realized in the end are also motivating. This is because the long-term objective is provision of services at the lowest price and a reduction on the total value of production and service provision (Saxena&Bharadwaj, 2007).
In other instances, supplier selection for outsourcing of such services is based on competitive advantage. In this instance, a company may hire a supplier who provides services at a low price if it intends

to gain a competitive advantage through having lower prices as long as the product specifications are met. Also, an organization may hire a supplier that provides the best and highest quality if it seeks to gain a competitive advantage by having the best quality in the market. Lastly, if an organization decides to gain a competitive advantage by having a better image and better positioning, hiring a reputable supplier and contractor with a good image is also encouraged. In the case of Domino’s, the overreaching goal is to have the best quality, and this overrides with the fact that the organization, as the paper will highlight, went for a reputable consultant on IT matters and with a good image. In an instance where the outsourcing methodology is meant for a good or service that does not seek to directly compromise or contribute to the competitive advantage of the organization, the selection criterion involves going for the low costs. Competitive advantage has become the fundamental strategic thinking in modern days for most organizations of modern times. Other factors that affect decision-making are relegated to the sidelines. This is because the success of an organization is dependent on the competitive advantage the organization has (Kirk, 2010).

Concisely, in most organizations, IT is a resource that is undergoing a process of transformation disguised in acquisition because of the abundant availability, standardized facility, and prices for use and hiring. As computers as well as associated hardware and software become more popular, it is essential to exercise the use of IT with caution to avoid interruption of services as a result of no-functional systems or system glitches. Also, it is wise

for companies to invest slightly less inIT than they do in core business and supporting processes. This can be seen in the case of Domino’s as the company is investing less in IT through contracting the process development rather than have an in-house team handle it. This is because systems run obsolete n the dynamic tech world full characterized by sporadic innovations.
However, even when most companies are investing in IT resources, the competitive edge is realized by effective management of these resources as well as their optimization to bring the best results (Saxena&Bharadwaj, 2007). In the case of Domino’s, technology is strategic as much as it is merely operational and sales can be made without it. It is the effective management and development of a better system that will enhance service delivery that will give the company a competitive edge. The company seeks to align IT solutions to the strategy with the aim being integration of the system to support the strategy and ultimately offer a competitive advantage.

Typical outsourcing projects have a methodology that comprises of phases, which are broken down depending in the product that a project seeks to deliver as well as factors like cost down engineering and the work that needs to be undertaken. The project management philosophy that guides the phases acknowledge that initiation is essential, followed by planning; control; execution; and lastly acceptance. The first phase in outsourcing projects is information gathering, whereby the contractor and client work together for the contractor to understand the client’s strategy, needs, culture, objectives, and other requirements besides the products that need to be outsourced. The second stage is preparation of a statement of

work that outlines the project plan followed by a supplier’s/ contractor’s request for quotation. The third stage is a feasibility study where audits on quality are made and other processes that ascertain the project’s viability (Kirk, 2010).
Contract negotiations follow in the fourth stage with the project set-up coming in as the fifth stage. The fifth stage of set-up normally includes design work, setting up production, transferring knowledge, developing and setting up test systems as well as approval of any required vendors. The last stage is pre-production, where simple runs on the outsourced product is tested upon delivery and audited before it can be given a greenlight. This is to ensure that quality standards are met.

As for the case of Domino’s, the company knew what they needed. Therefore, the order of phases was not as the standard methodology outlined in this section. After identifying the supplier and consultant they needed to work with their IT department to deliver the system they needed, negotiations were started, followed by exchange of information on the highly discrete system needed for a competitive advantage. After interactions and brainstorming to transfer information, the project was set up, followed by the last stage of testing the system before it could be rolled out for use.

Apparently, every project is unique from all others. Therefore, it is essential to design and select a project methodology in regards and in respect to the project environment and regarding the differences among projects. The first knowledge area and for consideration in a project is integration management this comprises of the project plan, the execution of the plan, as well as the needed process to control the implemented

plan in regards to the set standards. Integration management involves a range of processes that is needed in ensuring that elements of a project are coordinated successfully. These parts mainly consist of time scope, and cots involved in executing a project. The necessary factors should be integrated to produce a project that suits the needs of the stakeholders that seek to be affected by the project that introduces a new product or process in service delivery. For Domino’s, the project was to deliver an IT product and process that would eventually enhance and facilitate better service delivery (Tracy, 2013).

The second knowledge area is scope management, which includes a collation of all information that may be needed in starting a project as well as any other features needed in a project in meeting the requirements of the stakeholders. For projects to be successful, such as in the case presented, it is essential to meet all the deadlines that have been set as well as the allowances of resources. In fact, scope is a creep that may have detrimental and adverse effects if the project managers fail to manage it appropriately and properly. The third knowledge area is time management. In essence, the restrictions placed on time in a project depend on the nature of a project. However having a well-scheduled and structured project plan plays a critical and huge enabling role in ensuring that the project is a success. Time management includes developing a timeline to be followed in the project, which includes important aspects such as milestones and a structure of activities and schedules. It is from this that a critical path of the project

can be deduced (Tracy, 2013).

The fourth knowledge and process area is cost management. Projects need to exercise cost management in an effective way. This includes proper estimations, proper budgeting, managing, funding, as well as controlling of costs in the confines of the approved budgets in the budget. The fifth knowledge area that is vital in project management is quality management. A good project should meet the requirements and expectations of the sponsor or organization for which the project is being undertaken for. In this case, the information technology system should meet the expectations of Domino’s in regards to boosting service delivery by enabling ease in ordering o foods from nearby outlets and restaurants. Quality policies need to be pre-determined, project responsibilities on quality outlined, and the objectives that the project should meet as well as the specifications. These act as the yardstick upon which the success of the project is based upon. The sixth knowledge area is human resource management. In essence, projects are carried out and executed by teams. It is therefore important to put together a capable team and one that will deliver the project accordingly and as expected. The team needs to be selected in a manner that will ensure that the members will perform well and ultimately satisfy the project’s demands. As much as the size of teams varies across projects, team members need to be managed and organized effectively (Tracy, 2013).

Communications management is the seventh knowledge area. To have a successful project, information sharing is critical whereby the right people need to be fed with the right information at the most appropriate time. Communication management comprises of identification of the

necessary information to communicate to the project team and the people that need the information to use effectively. In this case, Domino’s need to share information with the contracted IT consultant that will enable the consultant to design and assist Domino’s with creation of a suitable system and one that conforms to the needed specifications. Communication involves planning, distribution f created information, retrieval, and managing as well as monitoring how information flows. The eighth area is risk management. It is essential to have a project manager who is competent in managing risk. This improves the ability to identify, analyze, and plan for any response measures to expected risks along the project lifeline and factors that may affect the project negatively and put the project team or end users at risk. Realization of opportunities should be maximized. Risks in the project in this case may be defects and unresponsive scripts and other related technological errors and issues. These may slow down and derail service provision it is therefore essential to have back up plans (Tracy, 2013).

The ninth area is procurement management, which entails the purchase of materials and acquisition of services or results that are needed from an outside provider. The project in this case is itself outsourced to another company that will handle creation and development of the needed IT system. In this instance, the two companies have a legally binding contract that outlines the responsibilities for either party. The last knowledge area is stakeholder management, which entails the regard of the groups that will be involved and affected by the project. This is inclusive of analyzing the expectations of stakeholders. In this instance Domino’s

is a stakeholder, the employees in it, and ultimately the customers who will need to use the IT service even more in placing their orders and asking for delivery (Tracy, 2013).

A work breakdown structure is essentially a chart with the elements of a critical path, which are referred to as tasks of a project, and are illustrated in a manner that shows their relationship to each other and to the entire project. Since the WBS has a graphical nature, this helps the project managers in predicting possible outcomes based on various imagined and projected scenarios (Hirschheim et al, 2009). Rom these scenarios as portrayed on the WBS, optimum decisions can be made on whether or not to adopt the suggested changes and procedures. The actions and the critical path in this scenario, as highlighted in the steps and phases of the project begin with designing of a system depending on information provided to the consultant on specifications and standard requirements, then the actual testing of the system with controls put in place for improvement purposes, and later the implementation/ rolling out of the system ultimately (Norman et al, 2008).
The costs in the project between Domino’s and Capgemini Consulting are consultation and service fees for the consulting firm. Capgemini are highly regarded and have a good track record in consulting for many companies and other organizations and institutions seeking IT solutions. The associated costs are such as acquisition of the necessary hardware for the cloud computing, paying for data storage and management by a cloud services provider, and the wages articulated by Capgemini in seeing their skills and expertise in assisting Domino’s to come up with

a viable system and offering cloud solutions as they will be handling bigger data quantities. The company also needs to offer resources to Capgemini in forming a project team to work together and share knowledge on the project. These are the IT personnel working at Domino’s, who will be vital in the project and will get to acquire considerable knowledge.

In all business partnerships, relationships are ‘make or break’ as they can either make a company better or leave it in a worse state that they were before. For both Domino’s and Capgemini, in their different capacities, there is a perfect connection between what they do for their respective customers and what they plan to serve them in the future and in ways that are more high-values (Hirschheim et al, 2009). Everything in this instance begins and ends with customers. Excellent platforms should have the ability to delight and surprise customers and continue to offer greater value all the time. In recent times, Domino’s has been a leader in using retailer online transactions. The company is known for using online transactions in enhancing the customer experience. With the assistance and expertise of Capgemini, Domino’s will be able to improve on availability, functionality, and efficiency in a significant degree. In the digital world, organizations have to constantly ensure that they have the best means and resources to continually engage their customers.
Outsourcing relationship management encompasses elements like management and strategy, information technology, and organizational structure in managing an outsourcing relationship (Leimeister, 2010). A manager in this relationship between Domino’s and Capgemini needs to keep the strategic goals in sight, and regard the attainment of quality standards in a

cost-effective way. Project and transition delays may occur and affect the project. It is therefore essential to have a solid and shared notion on strategy direction in the planning phase of the project.