Project Management Sample Assignment www.sampleassignment.com

Assessment 1

1. A discipline which involves planning, organizing, motivating and resource controlling for achieving specific goals is known as project management. The characteristics of a project is to Endeavour temporarily with a definition beginning and end the undertaken to meet the end goals and objectives typically for bringing about change which is beneficial or value being added.

2. There are 4 key deliverables in a project. Each deliverable identifies a clear outcome. This outcome is known as the deliverable. In certain cases, the outcome is some kind of achievement of change depicted and in various other cases the deliverable is the production of something which is completely new. These deliverables are plan of the project, plan of transition, plan of communication and the lessons which are learned. These deliverables also constitute description, criteria of acceptance and date on which the project is due (Heskett and Sasser 2009).

3. The role of a project manager is to attain complete responsibility for planning successfully, executing, monitoring, controlling and closing of the project. The manager’s role is to have an ultimate technique comprising of ultimate skills related to achieve the objective providing specifications.

4. Project Management Body of knowledge presents a set of terminology standards and guidelines for managing project. The guide is based on process implying that it provides a description as being accomplished through process (Howarth 2007).

5. Project management has changed rapidly becoming that stage which is a way in which business is done in organizations. Considerable portions have become accomplished in typical firms for making them put efforts into the process of projects. Projects have become such tools of implementation which have provided them with a strategy of business within the organization. Each project in organization contributes towards planning the strategy. This linkage has to be made sure of and this can be done only by integrating the process through project prioritization by contributing within the scenario of plan and linking the organizational strategy with project management.

6. There are certain steps needed to follow the process of project management:

Ø  Explaining the plan to main stakeholders and discussing the main components

Ø  Defining the roles and responsibilities

Ø  Holding a kickoff meeting

Ø  Developing a statement of scope

Ø  Developing a baseline of scope

Ø  Developing the schedule along with baselines of cost

Ø  Creating management plans at the baseline

Ø  Developing the plan for staff

Ø  Analyzing the quality of project and risks involved (Heskett and Sasser 2009)

Ø  Communication

7. There are three main structures becoming foundation for how most of the organization runs which are functional, projectized and matrix. Each structure adds an advantage. A functional organization is that which is the most essential of all the three and it works best when organizations are small where several sections are closed together geographically and provide something which is only employed in small goods number and services.

In projectized structure, it is all about the project and in matrix structure there is a combination of functional structure as well as the projectized structure together in association with each other.

8. The four stages in project life cycle are as follows:

Ø  Introduction: This is when a new project is planted and launched into the market

Ø  Growth: this is when the market has taken acceptance of the product and increase in sales takes place

Ø  Maturity: This is when the sales have reached the peaks

Ø  Decline: This is when the sales begin to decrease as the product has reached the point of saturation

Also, there does not exist any schedule or time for the stages in particular (ANdreassen and Olsen 2008).

9. The definition of project scope lies in saying what is supposed to be accomplished through the project and the budget keeping in mind the time and money associated with the project in order to achieve the project objectives. This is the project scope. When the definition and budget while project scoping are precise and in detail then best results are produced. A document of good project scope is when it specifically tells that what tasks have to be performed.

10. A Work break down structure in management of project  is a decomposition of hierarchy on the basis of tasks and various activities. The project of work team has to be performed fr achieving the objectives of the project and for creating the deliverables as required.

b. Within the management of project framework, there are milestones and these milestones are events receiving extra attention. At the end of the stage a mark for completion of the package of work is accomplished. Milestones are often put at the end of this phase so that active corrections can take place in cases of problems and these deliverables in time can be completed (Howarth 2004).

11. Within the framework of project management, a project charter is a scope statement, objective statement and statement of project for participants in the project. The charter provides a delineation in roles and responsibility outlining the objectives of project for identifying the major stakeholders and defining the project manager authority.

12. All businesses have issues when they are concerned with abiding by the law. Whether it is the business of food or it is the catering industry or even when business is involved with selling non perishable goods, here are various laws which businesses have to abide to. The laws are for protecting customers from buying unsafe products and bad quality items and also there needs to be a protection of workers. Without the employees and customers, business cannot function properly. When there is working knowledge of all the laws related to the operations then businesses will not lose their customers and employees in the future. All about the laws have to be known as they directly are related to trade. Examples of legislations are consumer protection acts and also legislations involved for safety at work and minimum wage payments.

13. There are various challenges while working with a project team but the most evident ones are the following:

Ø  Bad communication

Ø  Poor thoughts in management of project plan

Ø  Conflicts in thought processes

Ø  Not enough resources (Heskett and Sasser 2008)

Ø  Scope creep

Ø  Objectives being unclear

Ø  Not enough stakeholders

14.

Ø  Setting goals for the team

Ø  Communicating these goals to each member in the team

Ø  Assumptions have to be clarified

Ø  Holding a personal meeting

Ø  Sending details of the project across e-mails (Homburg et al 2002)

15. Steps are as follows:

Ø  Asking the project manager from time to time about the functions and status of the project

Ø  Having the project plan written and knowing where it has reached and where it should have reached

Ø  Asking the right people about the risk things

 16. If one does not care about how well the project is going and whether it is on time or not then the quality and the impact of the work cannot be assessed. Monitoring and evaluation are extremely importance. Also, monitoring and evaluation are important because:

Ø  They help in identifying the problem and their cause

Ø  They suggest the solutions possible

Ø  They raise questions about strategies and assumptions (Andreassen and Olsen 2011)

Ø  They push towards reflecting on where one is going and how that is obtained

Ø  Providing the right insight and information

Ø  Encouraging one to act on the information and insight

Ø  Increasing the process that will make difference in project development

Projects have to be monitored and evaluated at regular intervals of time as it should not be too late to fix the problem. The details of this assessment can be taken from project manager assigned.

17. There are three categories under which records management fall. These are:

Ø  Service

Ø  Profit

Ø  Social responsibility (Howarth 2008)

The importance of these records being managed in the organizations data base systems lies on the following:

Ø  Controlling and creating the records growth

Ø  Reducing operating costs

Ø  Improving efficiency and production

Ø  Assimilating the records in accordance to technologies

Ø  Minimizing litigation risks

Ø  Ensuring regulation compliances

Ø  Safeguarding important information

Ø  Supporting management decision making in a better way

18. The last phase in the life cycle of project is project closure phase. This is the phase when project is formally closed and the overall success level of the project is reported. Project closure involves handling the customer deliverables, documents of the business to be passed, cancellation of contracts of suppliers, staff release and equipment release and then providing the stakeholders about the project closure information. The steps involves are:

Ø  Performing closure of project

Ø  Reviewing the project completed (Howarth 2008)

As a business owner, there is one responsibility to relate the face of the public towards the company. It is likely that the key aspect is developing the relationship with the customers and the managers. In order to grow, the best way is through conferences. In order to make the conference promoted towards local businesses, following steps can be taken up:

Ø  Broadcasting the news in local newspapers

Ø  Broadcasting the news in form of posters

Ø  Letting the stakeholders know through e-mails

Ø  Attracting the stakeholders by highlighting the essential conference information (Andreassen and Olsen 2008)

Assessment 2

1.

COLLECTING RELEVANT INFORMATION
Title of the Project you have to manage	KFC annual Conference
Company details
Name of the Company	KFC
CEO’s name	Mike Shine
What does the CEO want to achieve	Mike Shine, the CEO also wants to open up the Friday welcome session to local business owners in Brisbane, as he believes it will help to raise KFC’s profile and raise some income to cover the costs of the Conference. He wants to sell tickets for the welcome function for $100 per person. He believes that the business owners will be willing to pay for entry as they will have an opportunity to meet the Minster for Trade and also network with other business people.  He hopes that at least 50 business people will attend the Friday evening function, which means that there will be 200 people attending on Friday in total
Who are the key stakeholders?	The team members, the delegates and the CEO
What other information do you need to complete the project successfully?	Information on time constraints, the requirements on cross cultural aspects and also the venue which would fit everyone’s requirement
What process will you follow to gather more information about the project?	A feedback information form

2.

HEADINGS	Write your answers below
Name of the project	KFC Annual Conference
Name of the company requiring the project	KFC
Key contact person within the company who you will report to for the project	The Manager, MR. James Anderson
Purpose of the project	The franchisees are invited for an annual conference that is managed by the head office in Brisbane.  The conference is a means of sharing best practice amongst franchisees, exchanging ideas about growth and profitability and learning new skills through professional development sessions.
Why is the project important? How does the project relate the organization’s overall mission, goals and objectives?	This annual conference is a key event in the KFC calendar and the CEO of KFC, Mike Shine, always wants to ensure that the conference is managed extremely well as the reputation of KFC worldwide depends on the conference.  He also wants to make sure that the program is interesting and the promotion is done in such a way that all the 100 franchisees commit to attending the conference.
Is the project linked to any other project that the company is undertaking?
Project planning start date	The program will run for 2.5 days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) in the last week of September.  The program will include one welcome function on Friday evening, 2 full days of presentations/ workshops on Saturday and Sunday followed by a social networking function on Saturday and formal cocktail evening on Sunday.
Dates of the actual conference
Project end date
Budget allocated to the project
List of resources allocated to the project: ·         Financial resources ·         Human resources ·         Technology ·         Raw materials ·         Plant and equipment	A budget of 75000 dollars The members of the organization All technological aids Resources availability in abundance Venue, catering and other business associations
Will you need any other resources?  How will you access the resources?	No
How many participants will be attending	200
What are the key objectives of the project?	Objective 1	Attracting business representatives
	Objective 2	Raising salaries
	Objective 3	Implementing strategic objectives for further projects
What are the agreed deliverables/ measurable outcomes you need to achieve for project completion		OUTCOME	DELIVERY DATE
	Outcome 1	Welcome function	Friday
	Outcome 2	Presentation and Workshops	Saturday
	Outcome 3	Closing ceremony	Sunday

3.

a.        Is the project linked to any other project that the company is undertaking? 

b.      Are there any other resources required?

c.       What will be the suitable venue?

d.      Will there be issues of cross cultural differences?

Assessment 3

Style of the Conference: Formal and traditional

Key Speakers: from US and also the chief guest which is the minister of trade

DAY/ DATE	Time	Program/ Session details	Room No	Any other information
Friday, XXX	9:00am	Registration opens	Reception area
	11:00 am	Registration closes and guests settle	Conference hall
	12:00 noon	The welcome ceremony begins with tea being served	Conference hall
	2:00 pm	Lunch begins	Lunch area
	3:00 pm to 6: 00 pm	The trade minister addresses his speech key note speakers give their introduction	Conference hall
	6:00 pm	Guests leave and they take their accommodation	Accommodation rooms
Saturday	9:00 am to 6:00 pm	The process will be repeated and workshops will take place	Conference hall
Sunday	9:00 am to 5:00 pm	The closing ceremony will take place	Conference hall

2.As a business owner, there is one responsibility to relate the face of the public towards the company. It is likely that the key aspect is developing the relationship with the customers and the managers. In order to grow, the best way is through conferences. In order to make the conference promoted towards local businesses, following steps can be taken up:

Ø  Broadcasting the news in local newspapers

Ø  Broadcasting the news in form of posters

Ø  Letting the stakeholders know through e-mails

Ø  Attracting the stakeholders by highlighting the essential conference information

The publicity material used will be through posts, telemarketing, websites, advertisements, press releases, online calendars, industrial publications, newspapers, posters and through flyers.

DRAFT FLYER

3.

When	TASK	Who?
5-6 months ahead	Establishing objectives and planning how it should be done	Project manager
3-4 months ahead	Planning and Designing	Project manager
2 months ahead	Planning and monitoring	Project manager
1 month ahead	Designing and Planning	Project manager
3 weeks ahead	Arranging for people and monitoring that everyone is doing their work in accordance to what is required	Team members and project manager
2 weeks ahead	Monitoring and Evaluation	Team members and project manager
1 week ahead	Making sure that everything is fine and all the resources are outlined	Team members and project manager
During the conference	Making sure that everything is going as planned	Team members and project manager
1 week after the conference	Taking feedback from people attending the conference	Team members and project manager

4. Floor plan

 

Tasks will be assigned in accordance to the abilities of people. The team members will be given a chance to choose what they are good at but this may cause chaos and so it is better that based on prior experiences of working with the team members, tasks and responsibilities will be allotted. These duties will be:

Ø  Managing guests

Ø  Taking care of food

Ø  Taking care of required technology

Ø  Coordinating the guests

Ø  Making them comfortable

Ø  Guiding them in accordance to their requirements

Ø  Welcoming guests

5. Training provided will be as follows:

Ø  Communication

Ø  Hostility

Ø  Risk management

Ø  Management

               

6. There can be various cross cultural issues such as difficulties in language understanding, food not matching the tastes of all people and organizing the event in a way which does not match the requirements of others. These can be sorted by being well prepared of the situations before hand that is by going through the list of guests and knowing the nationality of the people attending the conference. Then, taking the nationality into consideration planning the rest in accordance by studying their differences up to a certain level.

7.

	RISK- What can go wrong?	Likelihood of Risk? (High/ Medium/ Low)	Impact of Risk? (Very severe/ Medium/ Low	What strategies will you use to minimise the risk?	What action will you take if this goes wrong?
1	Example:  You send the wrong airport pick-up details to the participants and they are left waiting at the airport	Medium	Low	I will get a team member to double check all the bookings and send the information to the participants	Apologize to the participant and offer a complimentary dinner and ensure the rest of his stay is extremely comfortable
2	Food not enough for people	Low	High	Planning for more	Apologizing and asking people to just wait a little longer. Promising them free breakfast next morning
3	Technology error	High	Low	Keeping back up devices	Apologizing and making sure it wont happen again
4	More people attend than planned for	Low	Medium	Planning for a little more people than thought of	Apologizing and providing people extra experience of hostage
5	Water problems	Low	High	Storing extra tankers of water	Apologizing and providing services as soon as possible

8. BUDGET

INCOME		Total	Give details
	Total income
EXPENSES	Cost	Total for group  $	Give details
Example: Accommodation for 3 nights	$150per person per night or $450 for 3 nights	$22,500	50 participants X  $450
Accommodation for 3 nights	100 dollars per person	25000	50 participants

9. This budget will be seek for approval by defining all the associated costs and that there is no way that the project can be accomplished below this. The company also has to to abide towards its image and provide the best for its delegation guests.

10. Budget management will be by consistently aiming and telling everyone involved in the project that the budget cannot exceed the set budget. In addition, the budget plan will be made before hand.

11.

Presenters,

This is to inform you that KFC which is known as one of Australia’s famous fast food chains has 100 franchisees across Australia.  The franchisees are invited for an annual conference that is managed by the head office in Brisbane.  The conference is a means of sharing best practice amongst franchisees, exchanging ideas about growth and profitability and learning new skills through professional development sessions. 

This annual conference is a key event in the KFC calendar and the CEO of KFC, Mike Shine, always wants to ensure that the conference is managed extremely well as the reputation of KFC worldwide depends on the conference.  He also wants to make sure that the program is interesting and the promotion is done in such a way that all the 100 franchisees commit to attending the conference. 

The conference for this year is due in 6 months and the CEO wants to invite international guest speakers (with their partners) and some international dignitaries from a number of countries.  The program will run for 2.5 days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) in the last week of September.  The program will include one welcome function on Friday evening, 2 full days of presentations/ workshops on Saturday and Sunday followed by a social networking function on Saturday and formal cocktail evening on Sunday.  The Friday session will include an opening speech by a keynote speaker who has been invited from the US.  The Federal Minister for Trade will also be attending the Friday function.  On Saturday and Sunday, the delegates can attend options sessions that will run concurrently in 4 different rooms.

A total of 150 delegates 60% male and 50% female are expected including interstate and overseas franchisees and invited visitors.  The budget for the event is $75,000. The event will be funded by the head office in Brisbane.  The head office will cover all expenses for all the delegates; however the 100 franchisees will be paying for their own travel and accommodation costs.  For the above, it is required that if here is any specific the presenters would like to add as their requirement then they are welcome to do so, so that we can provide them with all the available resources.

Thanking you,

CEO

12.

IF anything fails, the following will be available in the form of resources

High Speed ADSL 2+ Broadband connectivity No charge

Venue broadband wireless network for multi users 120

Whiteboard and Markers 35

Electronic Whiteboard and Markers 130

Flip Chart and Paper 35

Screen only 35

Data Projector + Screen (Cancellation policy is 48 hours. 250

You may supply your own Data Projector)

Conference Phone 35

Overhead Projector + Screen 60

Infra-Red Slide Projector and Screen 75

Video/DVD and Monitor (TV) 80

HD Plasma screen 320

Lectern 35

Lapel radio microphone 115

Hand held cordless microphone 115

PA and microphone 185

Computer Equipment/Lighting Equipment Inquire

AV technical support operator 90 per hour

13. The conference kit would consist of the following:

Ø  Final details of catering

Ø  Menus

Ø  Cancellation process

Ø  Parking information

Ø  Liability

Ø  Damage

Ø  Payment details

Ø  Smoking information

Ø  Information on confirmation

14. The process used would provide the following:

·         Improving services for existing customers

·         Reducing the complaints that are likely

·         Increasing the likelihood of being able to defend complaints successfully

·         Increasing the cost avoided for legal action

·         Allowing the plan and change management in the service of business

·         Opening up new markets for attracting more customers

This would be done in order to demonstrate commitment throughout the development project plan and showing that there is a clear consultation process in the level of communication being implemented.

15. Record management is essential. This will be done after the project design in completed and everything known will be stored in the data base system of the organization. All the records will be stored in a way which is completely confidential and each information will have a connection to everything associated to the project plan.

16. At the last stage of the project all the documentation will be completed. This is because only at the project closure stage will it be known that nothing else is left and there is nothing which still needs to be acknowledged.

References

Andreassen, TW. & Olsen, LL., pp. 309–28,2008, The impact of customers' perception of varying degrees of customer service on commitment and perceived relative attractiveness, Managing Service Quality, vol. 18, no. 4

Ballantyne, D., pp. 3–6,2006, Guest editorial: Getting your way in business,  Asia-Australia Marketing Journal, vol. 4, no. 1

Berry, LL., 2008,  pp. 6–8, Guiding and inspiring performance through a service strategy, Customer Service Management Magazine, no. 12

Davidow, WH. & Uttal, B., 2005, Total Customer Service: The Ultimate Weapon, Harper and Row Publishers, New York.

Deshpande, R.,  Farely, JU. & Webster J., 2007, pp. 23–27,  Corporate culture, customer orientation, and innovativeness in Japanese firms: A quadrad analysis, Journal of Marketing, vol. 57

Grönroos, C., 2010, Service Management and Marketing: A Customer Relationship Management Approach, John Wiley & Sons, Manchester.

Hart, CW.  & Johnson, MD. 2007, Growing the trust relationship, Marketing Management, Spring, pp. 9–19.

Heskett, JL., Sasser, WE., & Schlesinger, LA., 1997, The Service Profit Chain, The Free Press, New York.

Homburg, C., Hoyer, WD., & Fassnacht, M., pp. 86–101, 2002, Service orientation of a retailer’s business strategy: Dimensions, antecedents, and performance outcomes, Journal of Marketing, vol. 66

Howarth, B., 2004, Customer care pays, Business Review Weekly, vol. 22.

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