Project Management Strategic Design and Implementation - Case Study Example

Project Motorcycles- The Comprehensive Project Plan of the of the of the Table of Contents 1.Project Scope 3 2.Project management plan 3 3.Staffing plan 4 4.Effective team building tactics 5 5.Project manager’s role 6 6.Traits of an efficient project manager 7 7.Significance of identifying critical path 8 8.Elements of Work Breakdown structure costing and pricing strategy 9 References 11 1. Project Scope The project involves design and production of a 1500 cc next heavy weight motorcycle. The motorcycle will be given a vintage yet masculine look which is why the motorcycle is not regarded as being youth centric. Nonetheless, the scope of this project lies in the target segment which is the population that falls within the age group of 35 to 60 years. This is potentially a huge target market as well as a prospective one. The power packed motorcycle that offers a smooth ride and stability in terms of comfort is definitely going to grab the attention of motorcycle lovers. The target market is very prospective given the fact that a majority of the population are income holders. Another scope of this project lies in the fact that this1500 cc motorcycle is an upgrade to the 500 and 1000 cc motorcycle previously sold by the company. The previous motorcycles enjoyed huge success thereby increasing the company’s market share tremendously. This is a favorable result and therefore it is being strongly expected that the 1500 cc motorcycle will surpass the expectation of the already satisfied customers, who may be willing to have the upgraded model stocked up in their garage, as well as the potential customers. 2. Project management plan The project management plan involves appointing analysts who would be majorly responsible for conducting a thorough analysis of the market. In that way they will be able to make a precise estimation of the demand for this product in the market. Thereafter, the project manager will be working with the architects who would be entirely responsible for designing the product. The product specifications have to be clearly explained to them in order to make sure that the design is appropriate to the target customers. Following that, the required raw materials have to be procured. The project manager will then be responsible for working with the engineers and developers who would carry out the part of assembling the motorcycle. Later, in the project closure phase, the researcher will be working along with the testers who would be testing the bicycles for any manufacturing defects and other areas of performance improvement. 3. Staffing plan Job title Job responsibility Required expertise Number Project manager Manage the overall project Project management 1 Team leader 1 Lead architect team Project management, automobile architecture 1 Team leader 2 Lead engineering and developer team Project management, automobile design and engineering 1 Architects Design the motorcycle Automobile design 5 Engineers and developers Configure and assemble different parts into one unit Automobile design and engineering 150 Quality and risk management team Quality control and risk mitigation Quality and risk management 20 Tester Test the motorcycle for manufacturing defects and areas of performance improvement Motorcycle operation 10 4. Effective team building tactics Formulation of an effective team building strategies is extremely important in order to ensure successful completion of the project. The first and foremost strategy is conveying the objectives and goals clearly to the project team members. The project manager has to make sure that the objectives are realistic, achievable and measurable. In such a context, formulation of SMART objective is extremely important. By doing so, the project manager will be able to ensure that each and every activity related to design and manufacture of the motorcycle is completed on schedule (Dyer , et al, 2013). Secondly, the progress report of the project has to be properly communicated between each and every official associated with the project. This will enable the team members to understand the need of the hour and make an estimation of the time period required to conclude the project. In this type of situation it can be said that establishing a proper communication between the team members will enhance the collaboration between each of them whereby the individuals can work collectively progressing towards a common goal (Miller, Butler & Cosentino, 2003). Thirdly, a project manager has to make sure that each and every individual member of the project is aware of each other’s culture. Given the magnitude of this project, it is quite obvious that the team members may belong from different culture. This in turn may give rise to cultural conflict. This is precisely the reason why the project manager has to spread culture awareness among the team members of the project. They have to be made aware of the importance of respecting another culture and adapt to a multi cultural environment. In that way the project manager will be able to reduce the probability of cultural conflict (Natale, Sora & Kavalipurapu, 2004). 5. Project manager’s role The primary role of the project manager will be to ensure a successful completion of the project within the stipulated deadline. He will be entirely responsible for scheduling the activities in various levels of the project as well directing the flow of work. One of the fundamental job roles of the project manager will be to work in complete collaboration with the project team member. The project manager will have to allocate the workforce resources appropriately throughout the lifecycle of the project as well as make sure that the job responsibilities are equivalently distributed to the workforce. It will be the project manager’s responsibly to keep track of the raw materials that arrive and thereafter make sure that the raw materials are being appropriately allocated according to the project requirements. He will have to establish a robust interconnectivity between junior employees, the middle managers and the top tier managers of the company in order to make sure that every intricate detail regarding the project are being appropriately channelized between the functional departments. A crucial part of the project manager’s job responsibility is to identify the risk associated with the project and make sure that contingency plans are in place in order to counter the effects of any such risk. Quality control is another aspect that the project manager has to emphasize upon. Given the fact that the project is about manufacturing a 1500 cc motorcycle, the project manager has to make sure that the raw materials procured are of superior quality. In addition to that thorough inspections have to be made in order to ensure that different automobile parts are being assembled according to specifications (Wysocki & McGary, 2003). Health and safety is another concern for the project manager. The individual has to monitor the fact that the motorcycles are being manufactured with proper safety measures in place. 6. Traits of an efficient project manager Given the fact that this project involves manufacturing a next generation 1500 cc cruiser motorcycle in the heavyweight category, the project manager has to have an in-depth knowledge and experience in the field of automobile design and manufacture. The project manager has to have sound knowledge regarding the use of technology in order to make sure that this motorcycle if fed with all those aspects that has the potential to grab the attention of the target customers (Cleland & Ireland, 1999). A project of such magnitude would always require a project manager who is not only effective but also has a futuristic vision. An effective manager needs to have a foresight of what is coming in the future. The individual will have to be qualified enough to make predictive deductions regarding certain market wide movements that may or may not increase the probability of success of this product. The project will have to provide valuable inputs according to his/her insight regarding the demand of this product in the future. All this requirements speak in favor of an effective project manager who has to have a futuristic vision (El-Sabaa, 2001). A project manager can only be effective if he/she follows an appropriate leadership style. He has to adopt a mix of team or friendly style of leadership and transformational leadership. By adopting a team or friendly style of leadership, the project manager will be able to give equal emphasis on both productivity of the company as well as welfare of the employees (Zeidan, 2009). The project manager has to communicate effectively with the project team members in order to make sure that there is a smooth flow of information. An effective manager will also have to follow a transformational leadership style so that he/she can infuse a sense of rationale among the subordinate employees thereby enhancing their engagement level towards the work (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012). The project manager will have to make sure that there is a complete alignment between the objectives of the organization as well as the employees. 7. Significance of identifying critical path Identification of critical path is arguably one of the most important activities that are to be conducted while managing a project. Quantification of critical path enables a project manager to have an idea about the work flow of the project. It directs the flow of work within the project towards the project’s conclusion. Managers as well as project team members are able to get a holistic view of the activities that needs to be conducted within the project. It also allows the individuals to have an estimation of the starting time of a particular activity as well as finish time of the very same activity (Kleijnen, et al, 2011). This provides a brief approximation of the duration of a particular activity as well as overall duration of the project. Assessment of the critical path also allows project managers to convey the activities on the basis of their priorities. Critical path serves as a guidance tool for project team members which allows them to identify the slack associated with activities. By doing so, project team members are able to pin point the activities that can be delayed by a certain time (known as the float time). Critical path of a project can be identified through the implementation of critical path method. It allows the organizational managers to plan those activities which are to be initiated after the completion of the project (Moore, 2007). For example, this project involves the design and manufacture of a 1500 cc motorcycle targeted towards people between the age group 35 and 60. In his case, assessment of the critical path will allow the managers to plan the appropriate time frame for marketing and promotional activities to be conducted after the motorcycle is manufactured. 8. Elements of Work Breakdown structure costing and pricing strategy The work breakdown structure has been categorized in four phases. All the activities, starting from the documentation part of the project to manufacturing the motorcycle, have been distributed appropriately over these four phases. The first phase is the project initiation phase where the project manager will be entirely responsible for developing the project charter. The project charter will constitute an in-depth explanation of the project scope, project requirements, and high level roles. Thereafter comes the project plan phase which has also constitutes of two sub-phases: work plan development and project control plan development. In the work plan development sub-phase, the project manager will outline the project staffing plan and will also develop a project schedule as well as budget plan. In the project control plan sub-phase, the project manager will be majorly responsible for developing the project risk management, quality control and communication plan. The third and the most important phase is the execution and project control phase. In this particular phase, all activities associated with the design and manufacture of the motorcycle will be carried. At the end comes the project closure phase which involves follow-up sessions and project quality review session. As far as the elements of the costing and pricing strategy are concerned, the major elements that needs to be considered are factors related to economies of scope and scale, the manufacturing cost incurred per unit of production, cost of acquiring as well as holding inventory, cost of raw materials, procurement cost, purchasing power parity as a percentage of GDP of the country where the motorcycle will be distributed, economic viability the target market, price of competitive products, price of substitute products, event or occasion surrounding the launch of the motorcycle, disposable income of higher and middle income households. By incorporating these factors the researcher will be able to make a precise estimation of the cost to be incurred during the project. This in turn will enable the organizational manager to set an appropriate price for the motorcycle that will increase the margin of profit for the company. References Cleland, D. I. & Ireland, L. R. (1999). Project management: strategic design and implementation. New York: McGraw-Hill. Dyer Jr, W. G., Dyer, J. H. & Dyer, W. G. (2013). Team building: Proven strategies for improving team performance. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. El-Sabaa, S. (2001). The skills and career path of an effective project manager.International journal of project management, 19(1), 1-7. García-Morales, V. J., Jiménez-Barrionuevo, M. M. & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, L. (2012). Transformational leadership influence on organizational performance through organizational learning and innovation. Journal of Business Research, 65(7), 1040-1050. Kleijnen, J., Dolmans, D., Willems, J. & Van Hout, H. (2011). Does internal quality management contribute to more control or to improvement of higher education? A survey on faculty’s perceptions. Quality Assurance in Education, 19(2), 141-155. Miller, R. L., Butler, J., & Cosentino, C. J. (2003). Followership effectiveness: an extension of Fiedler’s contingency model. The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 25(4), 362–368. Moore, D. (2007). Project Management: Designing Effective Organizational Structures in Construction. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons. Natale, S. M., Sora, S. A., & Kavalipurapu, S., B. (2004). Leadership in teams: managerial responses. Team Performance Management, 10(3/4), 45-52. Wysocki, R. K. & McGary, R. (2003). Effective project management: traditional, adaptive, extreme. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Zeidan, H. (2009). The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid Identifying five different leadership styles. The Certified Accountant, 39, 82-85. Read More