BUS375 Assignment 4: Project Motorcycles – The Comprehensive Project Plan

ASSIGNMENT 2: PROJECT MOTORCYCLES 10

Assignment 2: Project Motorcycles

M. Owens

Strayer University

Project Management BUS 375

Professor Puckett

October 31, 2013

Select one (1) of the types of project organization that would suit the development of the larger touring class motorcycles.

The project management organization I would use for this instance is pure project management organization. This helps to separate this project from the home company. It will be an independent segment. It will have its own technical staff and administration, which would be linked to the home company's administration. However, these links will not be strong, and it will enjoy some autonomy. This segment will be able to prepare its own reports on how the project is advancing, make minor purchases, and deliveries without consulting the home company. This will be in order to quicken the development of the motorcycles. The project manager is the head of this segment he will bear full responsibility for the project, although he will report to the senior staff at the home company. This decentralization will also lead to better communication in this segment as the project manager will be able to make some decisions without consulting senior staff in the home company.

Outline the process steps that your company would take in order to develop the motorcycle. Provide a rationale for the response.
1. Team Assembly

The team tasked with assembling the motorcycles has already been assembled. This team could be selected from within the home company, or in this case of the skilled labour, experts from outside could be included. The team should have representatives from the clients, vendors, subcontractors, and suppliers to give their opinions and views on the development of the motorcycles (Archbold).
2. Definition of Project Objective

Once the team is together, it should come up with a clear purpose and objectives to carry out the project. A phase-exit review should also be conducted to determine whether the project should continue to the next phase (Archbold).
3. Definition of Project Scope

The team should develop an appropriate Work Breakdown Structure. This will ensure that all the stakeholders in the project understand what's expected to be done throughout the span of the project (Kerzner, 2013, p.529). Ensuring the project's divided into small manageable sub-projects will assist with an easier completion of the project.
4. Initial Plan

The tasks in the Work Breakdown Structure should be organized into logical network diagrams. Estimated durations should also be attached to the individual activities in the network diagrams. These include the earliest start times and latest finish times. This information will help the project manager to estimate the completion times of the projects and assess the feasibility of the targeted days (Kerzner, 2013, p. 537). With this information, he will also be able to determine the critical path for the project.
5. Ascertainment of Resources, Costs and Risks

The project team will then determine the resources required for the project, how to obtain these resources and their cost. Information, when cost occurs can assist in avoiding cash flow problems during the project. Risk assessment should also be made to ensure the project does not have a high risk. Risk management should further be considered to be able to handle problems that are beyond the capacity of the project team.
6. Obtain Stakeholder Buy-in

Support of all the stakeholders involved in the project should be sought to ensure smooth implementation and completion of the project. The initial plans should be reviewed in the presence of all stakeholders and the project team should try to solicit buy-in from each of the stakeholders (Hopkin, 2012). Finally, a phase-exit review should be carried out to determine whether the project is ready to continue to the next stage.
7. Publish the Plan

The plan for the entire project should be published either through electronic means, hard copy, or both (Archbold). It is important to communicate the details of the project effectively to all the stakeholders. To ensure this communication is effective, a communication plan should be developed, so plans can be distributed accurately.
8. Collection of Progress Information

The project manager should closely monitor the project, his team, and should collect project information from time to time. This will assist in preparing progress reports that will include details such as the projects completed within a specified duration, projects planned for the next duration, resources used in the duration, and a forecast of the resources used in the following duration. The growth of the project can also be measured in other ways such as activity float statistics and earned value. If the project manager determines the completion of the project, he will carry out the phase-exit review, and the project will move into its final phase.
9. Analysis of Current Status

From the development information that the project manager has received, he will be able to determine which parts of the project require attention or are likely to cause problems in the future. This will eventually enable the project manager to be able to focus on the necessary parts of the project, so as to achieve greater success.
10. Adjustment of Project Plan

With support from the project team and judging from the review of the current status, the project manager should make adjustments to the plan to reduce the risk to accommodate changes, and make up for projects that have fallen behind schedule. Once the project manager has achieved this, he will republish the plan. This step is repeated over and over again as deemed necessary until the projects completed.
11. Project Closure

Once setting out and achieving these objectives the project manager will then close the project.

This closure will have two aspects: archiving project materials and financial closure. The project team will also document the lessons and experiences from the project to help in future projects.

Recommend one (1) strategy to the senior executives that the organization might use to balance short- and long-term needs.

To balance short-term and long-term needs; I would suggest the balanced scorecard. It consists of non-financial metrics, which predict financial performance and not only reporting the past. The balanced scorecard links long-term strategies to short-term decisions and actions (Kaplan & Norton, 2007). This gives the senior executives better quality information as compared to financial data. Senior executives will not only rely on the financial indicators, as the only indicators, of performance for the company. The balanced scorecard consists of four management processes: communication and linking, business planning, translating the visioning communication and linking (Kaplan & Norton, 2007). These processes will lead to the linking of long-term objectives and effects to short-term actions, as a result, the senior executives will be able to balance their short-term and long-term needs.

Specify the crucial resources that you would need as a project manager to run the existing business interests at the same time that the business changes to the production of touring class motorcycles.

One of the most important resources needed to run the existing business would be the skilled technicians. Skilled technicians will then be tasked to coming up with the prototype of a new motorcycle for the target market. It is very important that they come up with a design that will please the target market, or the project would be a failure. The technicians will also be tasked with maintaining the quality of the existing designs to be able to hold on to the existing clientele.

The amount of money that will be available for this project and for running the operations of the existing business interests is also very important. Lack of money to fund research, to manufacture and to purchase parts might lead to failure of the project. Money should be divided into a proportional manner, to avoid grinding any of the two undertakings to a halt. Purchases should be made in a considerate manner and during the right period to avoid cash flow problems.

Suggest the project management leadership style that is most conducive to overseeing the operation of the business growth plan.

The most conducive project management leadership style that will oversee the operations of the business growth plan is the democratic management style (Hopkin, 2012). This style is mainly about building the team’s consensus. If the team does not support the idea, there are high chances that the project will not be a success. The project manager should listen to all the views of team members before, during and after completion of the project. He should be open to new ideas and suggestions. Once hearing and considering the team’s views the team will own the plan, then the project will most likely be a success. If the team does not discuss their views, the project may not be a success.

Recommend at least three (3) risk mitigation strategies to address project plan details that might be forgotten or overlooked. Justify the selection.

1. Risk Acceptance
The project team could decide to accept that they have overlooked some parts of the plan and adjust the plan accordingly. This approach is most viable when the cost of risk management options like risk avoidance or risk limitation outweighs the cost of the risk. Companies that do not spend a lot of money to avoid high possibility risks may use this strategy.

2. Risk Avoidance
This is the direct opposite of risk acceptance. The project team in this case takes every possible measure to avoid the occurrence of risk. However, it will cost a lot to avoid all the risks. Therefore, this is the most expensive risk mitigation strategy (MHA Consulting, 2013).

3. Risk Limitation
This is the most common form of risk mitigation. This involves limiting the company’s exposure to risk, by performing a certain action like having a disclaimer on its products or suggesting ways of avoiding problems with its products; such as using the right oil for the motorcycle to function well (MHA Consulting, 2013).

Reference

Archbold, K. (2012). The simplified project management process. Retrieved from

http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/simplified-project-management-process.html

Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and

controlling. (11th ed., pp. 529-537). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Hopkin, M. R. (2012, October 20). [Web log message]. Retrieved from

http://leadonpurposeblog.com/2012/10/20/five-leadership-styles-for-successful-project-

management/

Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2007, July). Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic

management system. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2007/07/using-the-balanced-scorecard-as-a-strategic-management-system/ar/1

MHA Consulting. (2013, May 17). Four types of risk mitigation. Retrieved from http://mha-

it.com/2013/05/four-types-of-risk-mitigation/