Subject: Project Management Hello, I was hoping you could write a letter to my team paper. I have attached the file which explains how the letter needs to be written. In the File "MGMT640 team 02 Ass

Risk Management Plan of UCW Junior Enterprise Project

Akshdeep Kaur (1911503)

Gatha Desai (1813117)

Sarosh Saiyed (1814338)

Tamires Walsh (1813731)

Yassaswi Ramineni (1813933)

University Canada West

MGMT 640: Project Management

Professor Dr. Belay Gaga

June 07, 2020

WBS Codification

The WBS was used at the beginning of the UCW Junior Enterprise project in order to identify each activity clearly and efficiently along with the subproject activity. In the project work breakdown structure, there are six main activities, such as a business idea, business development, business validation, business structure, further improvement, and evaluation. There are also sub-level activities for each level 1 event, and each sub-activity presents risks that will be further identified. Each sub-activity is concerned about different risks. For example, chances are of two types, such as internal risks and external risks that will be discussed in detail in the following sections. The sub-activities that are codified below in the table are demonstrated that we might have a chance of the cost of arranging all activities, risk of quality and performance, and risk related to the schedule. The WBS activities are codified and expressed in Table 1.

Table 1

UCW Junior Enterprise WBS and its codified activities

Risk Identification

Risk Identification is exceptionally essential in order to figure out all the risks associated with our project and classify them to systematically figure out the main factors which should be the core and mainly looked upon in the risk analysis stage. The importance of this process is that if the risks are not identified now at the level, then the procedure to follow this process will become null and void. It will become meaningless and of no use. The thing is that even if we have analyzed the risks and placed it according to the order of importance, it is of no use if we fail to identify the risks at this stage (Hak, Bok, Kue, Young, & Suk, n.d.).

Types of Risk Identification

In our UCW Enterprise project, identifying these risks is the most important task we had on our hands as, without it, the other steps will become meaningless. We had separated our risk identification in two phases:

1. Identifying the risks initially: We sat down and noted the risks that we were going to face and, based on that, devised a plan to avoid it.

2. Identifying the ongoing risks: We kept a buffer in our schedules and deadlines to accommodate the risks which will arise while we execute our project (Dinu, 2012).

Methods used to identify risks

• SWOT Analysis: The technique was used to build a strategy for the project. Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses helped us to look at the internal risks which are project may face. It helped look at our structure, strategy, and financial resources with scrutiny. The strengths enabled us to figure out what advantage we may have over the other companies working on the same sort of project. Opportunities and threats helped to look at the project from the outside and gave us inputs as to what external threats or risks we can be up against. One thing we observed was that for this SWOT analysis to be victorious, we have to spend much time and make sincere efforts to concentrate on weaknesses and not be carried away by just spending time on strengths.

• Brainstorming: When the project head briefs everyone involved in the project, and they know everything that is going to happen in the project, this brainstorming session can be of immense importance. We decided to sit together and then used our creativity and mixed our thoughts to identify and articulate many risks. It took some leadership skills for us to see through this session as there was a risk of conflicts arising among the project team members as well. Nevertheless, this was one of the most efficient ways of generating and identifying the risks for us.

• Designing a flow chart: Sometimes, if everything is there in front of us, and we can see the visual representation of things, it becomes easier to find the loopholes. We used the exact technique by drawing the graphical and pictorial representations of ideas and processes we are going to need to conduct in order to complete this project. It gave us a much clearer picture and helped us figure out the risks that we may face on our way to the completion of this project.

• Surveys about the project: Lastly, we developed a questionnaire and sent out amongst our team members and stakeholders who had enough information about the project we are working on. This strategy helped us to get some feedback and critical acclamation to our project structure. This input helped us in our brainstorming session as well in identifying risks (Dinu, 2012).

Internal Risks

In project management, these are the risks that come from within the team or from within the organization when the project is being executed. They are easy to tackle because, in most cases, we can forecast these internal risks and thereby can mitigate them. These risks are mainly caused by a combination of human errors or a single human, and there can be several technical or physical factors often causing them. Internal risks associated with our UCW Enterprise project are (Internal and external risks, 2016):

1. Risk related to costs: There is a risk to our project that our project cost will keep on changing if the scope of our project keeps on changing depending on the deadlines. So inaccurate estimation of costs is a considerable risk to our UCW Enterprise project.

2. Unable to follow or stick with the schedule: If we are unable to meet our deadlines and the timelines continually keep on changing that will destroy our cost budgeting and may increase our costs.

3. Risk related to quality and performance: There is always this risk that we may not be able to deliver as promised with the quality and standard we had claimed.

4. Risks related to operations: These generally arise when there is an unaccounted loss to the company, usually in the form of theft, fraud, or poor purchasing or selling deals and techniques.

5. Risks related to strategy: These arise when we use expensive technologies and methods, but those means do not give us the desired results (Wanner, 2019).

External Risks

These are risks that arise from outside the organization. There is no point in fighting these. At most, we can forecast or predict these kinds of risks, and in order to tackle them, we can make a plan to recognize them and react to them. Most of the external risks can be due to environmental or political factors that we do not have much control over. The external risks associated with the project are (Internal and external risks, 2016):

1. Risks related to environmental hazards: The act of nature, such as earthquakes, cyclones, and tsunamis.

2. Risks associated with legal issues: These include risks related to contracts, patents.

3. Risks related to the market: These generally happen when the currency rates and interest rates fluctuate, and due to that, the risks associated with credit also arises (Wanner, 2019).

Table 2

Risk Chart

Pitfalls and Risks in our Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

When we analyzed things, we figured out five risks that we may come across while creating our work breakdown structure. We thought that if we can keep a track on the risks mentioned below, we will be able to come up with a more WBS.

1. The scale of the details of work breakdown: We thought that if we design the WBS with a lot of scrutiny, there will be many small numbers of tasks that will need to be accomplished. If there are many tasks to reach to an output, it becomes challenging for the project manager because, in that case, the project manager will have to micromanage a lot of things which will consume a lot of time and hence the project manager will not be able to concentrate on essential issues.

2. Include deliverables and not activities: The WBS plan should contain things that will be accomplished and given or presented to the customer or the stakeholder. It should not include the tasks and the activities and the processes of how we are going to carry out procedures in order to achieve those deliverables because the process might change according to the need and situation so it will give false information to the customers and stakeholders. Hence you do not want to include the methods.

3. Work Breakdown Structure is neither a plan nor a schedule: Our purpose with WBS is to draw a visual representation of the things we are going to deliver to the stakeholders, so it should not be created in a particular order. The order may vary depending on the need so that it will be depicting false information that way to the stakeholders and customers, and we do not want to do it. Depicting incorrect information will make the WBS ineffective or obsolete.

4. Updating WBS: Remember, WBS is a very important and a very formal document which gives information about the deliverables to the stakeholders and the customers and so even a small change in the WBS will directly have an effect on the scope of the project. Hence any update or modification needs to be done in an orderly manner eventually sanctioned by the project manager.

5. Organizational Hierarchy and WBS are two different things: Never confuse the organizational hierarchy with the WBS. The organizational hierarchy contains a chain of command and the communication lines which should be followed, and we agree these two documents look very similar but are different because WBS only shows the deliverables and scope of the project. Hence if one confuses one document with the other or mixes both the documents, it will mess up the entire project (Mathis, n.d.).

Qualitative Analysis by Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Estimating risks during the initial stages of a project is significant; once if they are not addressed during the initial stages, they may pose a substantial threat to the entire project. Hence, the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was used to estimate the problems during the start of the project due to the reliability of the tool, as it helped increase the chances of the successful delivery of the project (Project management 101- what is failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)? 2018).

Overview

The tool can be used to identify the potential risk and save the project from failure. The main factors in which it helped the UCW Enterprise Project are the following:

· The rate of occurrence of potential risks.

· The blow of these risks on the project outcome.

· The chances to detect these risks.

(Project management 101- what is failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)? 2018).

Different techniques of FMEA

The different techniques of using the FMEA tool can be estimated based on:

· Process: This generally focusses on the processes used to carry out the deliverables.

· Design: This includes the components of the subsystems.

· System: This stresses on the functions globally.

· Software: Concentrates on the software of the system

· Service: This includes how the service is being delivered.

(Project management 101- what is failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)? 2018).

FMEA Implementation

The technique of using FMEA is pretty straightforward. The first step of the analysis is to estimate the potential risks which were done by brainstorming sessions, reviewing instances from the past, and reviewing the systems having similar designs. In the UCW Junior Enterprise project, there are six main risks identified in table 1 and table 2 in the "failure" column. After that, the risks were given a rating on a scale of 1 to 10 based on the results of the processes mentioned above and the severity (S), likelihood (L), and detectability of failure (D). Then, it was possible to calculate the Risk Priority Number (RPN) by multiplying these numbers given in each factor. As a result of the RPN establishment, it was possible to grade the risks more analytically and consistently.

In a case that the RPN number is high, the risk of failure is high, requires immediate attention, and is a red flag. If the RPN number is low, the risk can be dealt with rather quickly as compared to the higher RPN number risk. It is essential to highlight that the FMEA is not a replacement for a risk management plan, it is just a proof to make the risk management plan fail the test by applying experience and knowledge (Project management 101- what is failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), 2018).

Considering the UCW Junior Enterprise project, the main risks were identified and rated following the process described above. As shown in Table 2, six main potential risks for the UCW Junior Enterprise were identified:

1. The services provided by the UCW JE' consultants do not present feasible and efficient solutions to clients;

2. The client resistance to the new services and solutions which we are provided by the consultants;

3. Delivering tasks and results on time;

4. Cost increase;

5. Inability to understand the business needs and requirements;

6. Unavailability of the required software and technology.

Table 3

FMEA for the UCW Junior Enterprise project

The risk that services provided by the UCW JE' consultants do not present feasible and efficient solutions to clients was identified with the highest RPN. In order words, this is the most critical risk that members of the project may face. This risk has a high severity rate (S= 9) because the successful consultancy project with clients is vital to maintain UCW JE, a sustainable organization. Despite that UCW JE will be composed of students and will be supervised by UCW faculties, the likelihood rate of this risk occurs is high (L= 8), once the team who will provide consultancy service might be composed of students with low to medium business and consultancy expertise. In contrast, the detectability of failure is medium to low (D= 5), once one of the responses to this risk is apply a performance evaluation in every phase of the consultancy process, which can increase the probability of failure detection.

The other risk in the RPN order is the client resistance to the new services and solutions which will be provided by UCW JE. Even though the services will not be charged, clients can resist in several manners, such as:

· Fear in sharing the strategic information of the business;

· Fear in consultancy quality;

· Feeling of wasting time;

· Do not agree with the consultancy approach.

Considering all the factors above, the likelihood of this risk occurrence is high (L= 7), once the UCW JE will be the first in East Canada, Vancouver, and University Canada West. It is a new project for all stakeholders, including the project members, and this is the reason for this risk receive a high score in likelihood. About the severity, the risk also received a high score (S= 7) due to the nature of the business. In order words, without client willingness and collaboration, the service cannot be provided, and, as a consequence, the organization may lose the reason for existence. Similar to the previous risk, the detectability is high (D= 3) once the client's allowance and feedback come in the first phase of the consultancy, which will be identified early.

The third risk in the RPN scale is about cost increase. The severity is considered high (S= 7) once the organization budget is thigh due to the non-profitable nature of the business. The budget will depend on stakeholder's donations, and because of that, any cost increase will harm the project sustainability. The likelihood of this risk is considered low (L= 4) once the high detailed WBS will provide the project manager and members a broad view of tasks and theirs costs that will facilitate more efficient cost management. About the detectability of this risk, it is considered medium (D= 5) because the cost of a future task might increase during the project or early stages and do not be detected.

In the RPN scale, the fourth risk is the inability to understand the business needs and requirements. For this risk, the severity is also high (S= 8) once the project can be built in a non-feasible and consistent manner and create shallow and ineffective responses to general and client's needs. The likelihood of this risk is medium because the members of the project are also graduate students and do not have high expertise in junior enterprises; however, it is not considered high because the project will have supervision of a senior manager who will support the team members. Last, the detectability is deemed to be high (D= 3) once the understanding of the business needs reflects in the quality of the deliverables.

The fifth risk in the RPN scale is to deliver the results on time. If results, especially in the early stages, are not delivered on time, the reputation of the project, as well as project members can be affected. The project will involve the status of UCW in exposing the student's skills and the teaching method for Vancouver society, and, considering that the project is presented to external clients to obtain support, the project members will be commuting with given deadlines. In a case that the dates cannot be often met, the reputation will be negatively affected as well as the project deliverables, and this is the reason for a high severity in the risk (S= 7). The likelihood of this risk is also medium (L= 5) because the majority of the team members have never run a junior enterprise as well as work in this type of project. About the detectability level, it is considered high (D= 2) because the project follows the natural project structure in being divided by phases with an evaluation process. Every step will be evaluated in a manner of quality and time.

The last and lowest risk priority number is the unavailability of the required software and technology. The severity is considered medium to high (S= 6) because, without software that can provide the information management, the business operation might be inefficient and do not achieve its goals on time. The likelihood is considered low (L= 2) once there is several free software that can provide information management; however, the challenge will be to find one that will be able to meet the organization's needs. Finally, the detectability is high (D= 2) because without software, the probability of the project goes further is low due to the low level of organization and efficiency provided without a software.

Risk Response Matrix

The risk response metrics help us quantify the fictitious qualitative data into quantitative data by identifying the risks before it occurs. Risk response metrics help to determine the responsibility of the risky situation that occurred, which allows identifying whom to blame. It also has data about the probability of the risk happening. It determines the extent of the impact on the project. Risk response metrics divide the probable risk into three categories them being low medium and high. This helps discuss the risk response strategy right away instead of waiting for the incident to happen and then determining the possible response. Risk response metrics also determines the cost of that strategy, which is used to eliminate that risk.

Low risk

Unexpected infrastructure failure is a low-level risk. Responsibility is in the hands of the office administrator. Such risks cannot be controlled. The only strategy to respond is by hiring a technician temporarily in constant monitoring of infrastructure.

Conflict among team members is another lower-level risk. Office responsibilities live with the project manager. This is caused by differences in opinion among the teammates. To mitigate this risk, conflict management training has to be given to team leaders, which costs about 2 to 3 hours to train the team leaders.

Wrong Evolution of worker outstanding tasks in hand and giving them work prematurely before the completion of the previous project is another low-level risk. It is the responsibility of the project. To mitigate such risk, we need more workers to work overtime for the time lost. It's my cost from 1 to 20 hours.

Medium risk

Setbacks in opening required approvals and permits are considered to be as a medium risk. These responsibilities in the hands of the founding members of the project and the project leaders to get the required permissions and approvals. The only way to mitigate such loss is hard to hire a professional to help establish the firm

Insufficient knowledge about the project within the team members is considered to be a medium risk the responsibility to mitigate such risk lying in the hands of the recruiters you are responsible for recruiting only the associates who have required knowledge. The only option is to relocate the same project to a different team with the total time loss of the existing team and the new team to minimize this risk.

High risk

Promising impossible deadlines for a client is considered to be a high risk in this enterprise. Usually, this is done to attract clients to give projects to this non-profit organization, but sometimes the negotiators except impossible deadlines from the phone without discussing with team leaders or project allocators. To mitigate such a risk, we need to assign more work first word is a single project to give the deliverables in time.

Misappropriation of the budget is another highest variable to be considered in a project because everything depends on the budget. It is impossible to create a high-quality project with a low budget. To mitigate such a risk, we need to limit the quality and scope of the project and the deliverables.

UCW Junior Enterprise Risk Response Matrix

Dinu, A.M. (2012). Modern methods of risk identification in risk management. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 1(6). http://hrmars.com/admin/pics/1296.pdf

Hak, K.C., Bok, J.S., Kue, L.Y., Young. P.S., & Suk, M.H. (n.d.). The risk management model of construction projects using WBS generator linked 4D CAD. SCIX. https://itc.scix.net/pdfs/b763.content.08955.pdf

Internal and external risks. (2016, September 13). Word Press. https://tcagley.wordpress.com/2016/09/13/internal-and-external-risks/#:~:text=Internal%20risks%20are%20from%20within,human%2C%20technical%20or%20physical%20factors.

Mathis, M. (n.d.). Work breakdown structure (WBS) purpose, process, and pitfalls. Project Smart. https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/work-breakdown-structure-purpose-process-pitfalls.php

Project management 101- what is failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)?. (2018, January 26). Copper. https://www.copperproject.com/2018/01/project-management-101-failure-mode-effects-analysis-fmea/

Wanner, R. (2019, January 20). The differences between internal and external risks in projects. https://rolandwanner.com/the-differences-between-internal-and-external-risks-in-projects/

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Appendix A

Letter to the Sponsor

To Mr. Belay Gaga,

Gaga Tech,

Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia V3G N5T

From Sarosh Saiyed,

UCW Enterprise,

West Pender Street,

Vancouver, BC V6B 1V9

Date: June 01, 2020

Subject: Increasing the budget for risk management

Dear Mr. Gaga,

I read about the new technology and machines your company launched to treat the waste on the farms. You have been a constant support to our UCW Enterprise project, and as you know, with the help of UCW Enterprise, we are planning to help all the students in the universities to get jobs by connecting them with potential employers. We have plans to design software with massive databases so that, once students enter their credentials with qualifications, they will be automatically directed towards the job matching their skills. Simultaneously, an automated email will be sent to potential employers who need these kinds of students. 

Our team has had brainstorming sessions, conducted surveys, designed flow charts, and detailed SWOT analysis have also been carried out. Also, with the help of tools like FMEA, we have tried to make our WBS failure-proof. After going through numerous rigorous sessions, we decided to take a risk register in which we noted down all the possible internal and external risks that we might come across. 

With the market becoming so volatile and the pandemic's current situation, we think that these risks, which we have noted down, cannot be avoided and needs to be dealt with before it becomes big and hampers our entire project. As we are a start-up of experienced individuals from different countries, our project's success depends on how we deal with potential risks. As the project manager, I know that we will require money to manage internal structure, initiate and collaborate on new campaigns, and manage risks among our project's different departments to succeed. Planning, coordinating, and directing these risks is essential for developing this program, and I will need resources in the form of funds for doing the same. After weighing everything, we have forecasted a budget of over $10,000 to conduct the practice of weighing risks and managing them across all the aspects of our project.

I am writing this letter to inform you of the importance this money has in the project's successful execution. I would be more than happy to sit down with you at your convenience and discuss this further to assure you even more. In case you need to get in touch with me and have any queries, you can reach me directly at 123456789. You may also send in your questions at [email protected].

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you in advance for your generosity and support.

Sincerely,

Sarosh Saiyed

Project Manager (UCW Enterprise)