Question:

Project Management Questions

1. At this moment the nature of the project is somewhat undefined – describe what you believe will be the key features of the project and why you believe them to be so.                                                       (12 marks)

2. Who are the major stakeholders impacted by the MD’s vision? Using the stakeholder quadrant given in lecture 2 place each of your major stakeholders into the most appropriate slot on the quadrant and explain your reasoning. For 3 of your selected stakeholders decide on a set of appropriate actions (2 per stakeholder group) that you can take to maximise the chances of those stakeholder groups actively participating in your project.                                                                                                       (12 marks)

3. Testing will be a major issue with the project – who needs to be involved in this and why?                                                                                                               (8 marks)

4. List out 5 critical risks associated with the project and recommend what actions that you should take to minimise their impact. These risks should relate to the case study – avoid generic risks that may apply to any project (e.g. software may not work as required).                                                                   (10 marks)

5. Communication is another very important aspect of project management. What steps would you take to ensure that all stakeholders received the right level of communication during the project and what form should that communication take?                                                                               (8 marks)

Answer:

Answer to question 1

As the Diamond business offices provides complete office solutions starting from the fully furnished office spaces, to the value added items like interpreters, secretaries, receptionists, technical support and technical facilities like the audio visual equipment’s, catering and video conferencing units to its customers in the 120 centrist in 15 countries throughout the world, therefore it is important for the organization to have an information system along with a revamped website for  the company. This will help the existing and potential clients of Diamond business to enquire for the office spaces and other value added items, therefore the features for the project is listed below.

Availability of business information:  The Diamond business offers products and services to its clients to make profit. As the organization is working (doing business) in several countries, gigantic volumes of information is created from the different business operations such as the (information about the properties under different centers in different countries, information about the client’s needs, information about the employees at the different centersand information of other sources) (van Offenbeekand Vos 2016). These amount of information becomes an essential part of the contemporary business organizations like Diamond business. Therefore this huge amount of data must be properly stored, processes and managed using the information system. Therefore, one of the most important features will be development and implementation of an information system throughout the organization (covering all the centers in the different countries.)

Gaining competitive advantage: As there are several business organizations in the country providing the same services that consequently increases competition in the market therefore to cop up with the changing business environment the diamond business have to change their IS techniques by embracing the in-house advancement of the application suites rather than adoption of the application programming bundles that does not meet all the business requirements.  Therefore, another feature of this project will be helping the business organization to get competitive advantage against the similar other business organization.

Flexibility: The information system developed and implemented through the project for Diamond Business will be anweb based system  that can be accessed from anywhere at any time whether the user is at the center or out of center. The greater part of the existing information system used at the different centers of the  Diamond business house are the  isolated databases on the centralized computer, and while centralized computer frameworks react somewhat speedier than online frameworks, they don’t offer the  required flexibility  expected to meet the changing business requirements of the Diamond business.

Integration of the existing information system: Additionally the present information system frameworks will be integrated with the newly implemented system is likewise incorporated with another information system frame work. This permits the users at the centers of the diamond business about all individuals related with the accounts department, regardless of their position in the organization, to live in a solitary framework (van Offenbeekand Vos 2016). It likewise streamlines forms that require data about individuals who are both understudies and representatives of the organization.

Effective communication and control over the different business process: While the project is going on, it is expected that there will be an effective communication between the different stakeholders of this project o Diamond business (Gardner 2016). This will ensure the involvement of the different stakeholders like the customers, employees of the Diamond business, the management personnel and the accounting people at the different centers of the organization.

Cooperation of the stakeholders:In this project for Diamond business, the cooperation for between the project team and the clients requires a typical comprehension of reason and the applicable basics like spending plan, timetables and extension. Giving a similar data to everybody included, conveys attachment to the group. Data’s genuine esteem is the point at which it is utilized viably in the administration of the venture. Data does not naturally prompt to successful administration of project but rather absence of data lead to the failure of the project.

Answer to question 2

Stakeholders are the people or gatherings of individuals inside Diamond business who have a personal stake in the implementation of the information system and its usage result and additionally whose support is required to launch and successfully implement this project, drive it forward to a fruitful conclusion and guarantee that the system is used to its fullest extent (Gardner 2016). Silent and short term support for this project of implementing the information system project can lead to the failure of the project.

Table 1: Stakeholder Quadrant

Toward the beginning of the project manager of the project need to identify the major stake holders of the project distinguished who might be influenced by the presentation of the information system framework, how such individuals may respond against the implementation of the system, and what pre-emptive activity may be taken to encourage its execution (van Offenbeek and Vos 2016).

Major stakeholders impacted by the MD’s vision:  After the analysis of this project it can be said that the main stake holders in this project are the employees of the Diamond business organization working in different countries, the customers of the Diamond business, the country manager and the center manager for each country, government and legal authorities. The project manager needs to adopt a suitable approach which will play a critical role in the implementation of the framework innovation had not been utilized as a part of this specific project. The employees responsible for booking of the properties, entering data related to the occupied properties, purchase data, customer liaison and support etc.

The successful implementation of the information system in the Diamond business organization requires noteworthy hierarchical also as specialized changes (Gardner 2016). These will influence different stakeholders with fluctuating degrees of force and with changing degrees of enthusiasm for the new information system – yet MD of Diamond business have to rely on upon them if the Project needs to be successful. Recognizing the stakeholders and their expectations empowers the owner of the project to oversee usage in a way that lives up to their desires and energizes acknowledgment for this project.

Ways to maximize the chances of participation of the stakeholders

Ahead of schedule in the project, lead an intensive stakeholder investigation to recognize the different stakeholders. Recognize and inspect key components including closeness to the project, socioeconomics, enthusiasm for the project, needs and concerns, desires of your venture and any past open proclamations.

Finding out the opportunities: From a risk management point of view, it is enticing to concentrate on those stakeholders destined to make disturbance the project. Similarly critical are those partners who see this project positively or may be benefitted by this project (Jinno, Abe and Iizuka 2017). Distinguishing these stakeholders and explore chances to use their positive observation as the support to the project.

For the customers it is important to maintain a information repository in which they will get the status of the project and can provide inputs or suggestions in the different phases of the project.

Another way to involve the customers is encouraging the customers to use the prototypes of the information system and share their experience with the development or project team.

For the employees they some of them need to be include in the project team so that they can have active role in the in the whole project.

Another way is to provide incentives for their active participation in the project. This will motivate the employees to take active role in the project.

For the country managers, they should be included in the core team for the project so that they have a feeling of responsibility in the project which will lead to active participation of the country managers.

Additionally essential is picking up a comprehension of the internal stakeholders, for example, quick staff, providers and temporary workers, more extensive organizations or collusions and shareholders (Coronel And Morris 2016). Mapping of the internal stakeholders will permit the MD of the organization to examine whether they have the correct assets and whether your group will work successfully.

Answer to question 3

The Test Phase concentrates on the investigation of the developed system in which the outcomes depict the nature of the system: testing is not about affirming the frameworks capacities legitimately under all conditions yet can build up that in which particular conditions the system can fail. A notable proverb in programming execution is the prior an imperfection is found in the improvement procedure the less costly the settle (van Offenbeekand Vos 2016).

In case of the Diamond business, the following people will be involved in the testing phase of the system.

1. Project sponsor.
2. Project manager

• System development team.

1. Top level management personnel of the organization or the end users.

Role of Sponsor: The sponsor in the project is the   individual who commissions others to convey the project also leads the all project throughout the lifetime of the project. They will typically be a senior individual from staff with a pertinent region of obligation that will be influenced by the result of the project (Gardner 2016). They are included from the beginning of the project, incorporating characterizing the project in conjunction with the Project Manager.

Once the project for the Diamond business has been propelled they ought to guarantee that it is effectively investigated and the deliverables with the desired output is documented. The Project Sponsor is normally the person who needs to arrange a way through the dubious conciliatory zones of the project in spite of the fact that the Project Manager will no doubt be included in such segments of the project (Jinno,Abeand Iizuka 2017). The project sponsor for the project is responsible for the delivery of the desired and planned outcomes from the developed system at the end of the project.

Role of Project manager: The project manager is the individual in charge of defining the desired out comes from the system, in conjunction with the Project Sponsor. The Project manager then guarantees that the venture is conveyed on time, as per the budget and to the required quality standard (inside concurred determinations) (Coroneland Morris 2016). In the testing phase of the project, the project manager is responsible to ensure that the predetermined quality standards and outputs are met by the developed system. In addition to that, the project manager is also responsible to guarantee the developed system is easy to use and does not have very complex user interface.

Role of The developer team of the system: The developer team is responsible for the development of the system and work with the project manager to have a clear definition about the business requirements from the developed system. In the testing phase the developer team is responsible for the migration of the data from the isolated information systems to the newly developed system. In addition to that, they are also responsible for reporting of the issues and progress in the system to the management of Diamond business.

Answer to question 4

 Lack of stakeholder support: The most impactful risks related with the general achievement of the implementation of the information system implementation project were application intricacy, absence of client experience, and absence of part lucidity of part meanings of people on the project (Gardner 2016). Absence of client support was huge for the authoritative effect, while innovative freshness influenced system quality fulfillment. Frameworks advancement was influenced by the group’s general skill, application multifaceted nature and client experience, and frameworks utilize was influenced by part clearness and client encounter. Some of these risks are discussed below.

Lack alignment of business objectives: The absence of alignment between the organizational structure, business strategies and process and the functionalities of the implemented systemis one of the risks that is more than once recognized as one of the most important risks in this kind of project (Jinno,Abeand Iizuka 2017).  Without the business process reengineering, the implemented information system framework alone cannot enhance the organization’s business performance unless it changes its business processes to match with the system. Encourage, the information system execution extend must be a business activity (Coronel and Morris 2016). This requires the organization to increase vital lucidity (i.e., know the business, how it conveys esteem, and so on.) and a consistency of reason. At long last, a results introduction is required to accomplish these objectives.

Lack of support to the business: As the project is related to the development of the information system for the organization, therefore it is possible that the lack knowledge of the different business processes of the development team, the developed system does not met all the requirements of the organization.

Project complexity:  Another significant risk related to this project isthe complexity of the project. An information system usage includes generally vast uses for the securing of the equipment, programming, execution costs, counseling expenses and preparing costs, and can keep going for a developed period of time (Gardner 2016). Additionally, the implementation of the system extend has a more extensive degree thought about to most other data framework executions, and may bring about a noteworthy number of changes inside an organization. The extension and the unpredictability of the project are a wellspring of noteworthy business risks.

Lack of in-house skills: Absence of in house skills is another source of risks in the implementation of the information system at Diamond business. Absence of the project team skill has regularly been related with programming advancement chance. The implementation of information system execution extend requires an extensive variety of abilities (i.e., change administration, chance administration) notwithstanding specialized execution information.

Change management: Organizations like Diamond business frequently need change administration abilities and BPR (business process reengineering) aptitudes required for the information system implementation. Additionally, an information system is frequently based on new technologies and ideas that are in all likelihood new to existing IT staff (Coronel and Morris 2016). Accordingly, an absence of in house abilities required for the new information system execution is a potential business chance.

Ways to mitigate the risks

 Alleging the business objectives with the system: While developing the system the project manager and the top level management and the intended end users of the system should be in charge of guaranteeing that appropriate controls are set up to address trustworthiness, secrecy, and accessibility of the IT frameworks and information they possess. In this way the different processes like the training of the employees, generation of the report about the occupied and unoccupied properties in the different countries can be easily managed by the employees and the managers at Diamond business (Gardner 2016). Normally the framework and data proprietors are in charge of changes to their IT frameworks. In this manner, they for the most part need to endorse and approve changes to their IT frameworks (e.g., framework improvement, significant changes to the developed system).

Training to the employees to have in-house skills:  The lack of the in-house technical skills required to use the developed system can reduce the performance of the organization even though the system is developed as per the business requirements of the Diamond business (Jinno,Abeand Iizuka 2017). As an example we can say that  if the website to book the properties provided by Diamond business goes due to some technical errors that can easily managed by the technical knowledge of the system administrators at the organization; but due to the lack of technical knowledge the website remains unavailable to the clients till the development restores the website. Consequently the performance of the diamond business would not be able to achieve the advantage in the market due to the lack of knowledge. Therefore it is important to provide training to the end users of the system so that the desired advantage from the system can be gained in the business environment.

Reducing the complexity of the project:If the complexity of the project increases then the risk of not meeting the desired outcomes from the project also increases (Coronel And Morris 2016).  Therefore, to reduce the complexity of the project, the whole project can be segmented into different parts which will need little more time to complete the project, at the same time the project will meet all the business requirements of Diamond business with lesser amount of complexity in the project.

Answer to question 5

After the identification of all the stakeholders in the project of developing and implementing the information system, it is important to determine the communication and information needs so that the can be fulfilled throughout the project (Jinno,Abeand Iizuka 2017). The objectives for an effective communication plan for this project is listed below.

• To promote the awareness about the project deliverables with in the different stakeholders of Diamond business.
• Ensure appropriation of the obligations and activities allocated to every stakeholder, and
• Encourage two way communications about the project between the owner of the organization and the development team.

In this specific project the vertical communication will be followed to convey and share all the project related information to the different stake holders of the project. The following table shows the different information needs by the different stake holders throughout the life cycle of the project.

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