Business Project and Programme Management

This article discusses the wide area of study and practice of Business Project and Programme Management. It covers topics such as strategic transformation, scope and deliverables, estimation and scheduling, and more. The article also provides insights into the challenges and issues faced in implementing a transformation programme.

BUSINESS
PROJECT AND
PROGRAMME
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
OVERVIEW....................................................................................................................................1
BUSINESS CASE / PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT.................................................................1
Hard Issues.............................................................................................................................2
Soft Issues...............................................................................................................................2
Performance Criteria..............................................................................................................3
PROGRAMME SCOPE AND DELIVERABLES..........................................................................3
Acquisition of WN.................................................................................................................3
In-House Manufacturing and Outsourcing.............................................................................4
New Product Development.....................................................................................................5
ESTIMATING AND SCHEDULING.............................................................................................6
RISK AND ISSUES MANAGEMENT..........................................................................................7
ORGANISATION, GOVERNANCE AND STAKEHOLDERS....................................................9
Determination of Organisational Structure considering existing challenges.........................9
Critical Evaluation of Stakeholder Views on Outsourcing / Location of Manufacturing....10
PROGRAMME CONTROL..........................................................................................................10
Key Performance Indicators.................................................................................................10
Benchmarking.......................................................................................................................11
CONTRACTING AND SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Business Project and Programme Management is a wide area of study and practice which
requires individuals and organisations towards appropriately planning, managing, executing and
controlling the projects, as well as programmes that are scheduled within a firm (Mottaeva,
2018). It is a highly imperative activity which needs effective set up of a structure, along with
anticipated targets and deliverables in order to ensure that all the projects related to the company
are executed as per the set scope and plans. Hence, in regards to this, the report below is based
on SB, which is a global technology organisation situated in Washington, United States. It is
currently planning a strategic business transformation. Therefore, to support the discussion, the
report would be covering a business case / programme management towards the Strategic
transformation programme, along with setting up of the scope and deliverables of the project.
Furthermore, the report undertakes effective estimation and scheduling, as well as Risk and
Issues Management. In addition, the report undertakes Programme management, governance and
stakeholders, effective control and supply management to plan and execute the project in a
prominent manner
OVERVIEW
SB is a prominent technology company within the US which manufactures low cost yet
reliable hardware products. The firm has a high manufacturing and outsourcing unit in Far East
and product development centre in Western Europe, along with Supporting Centre of
Engineering Excellence in Europe. The company is under the consideration of development of a
new vision which would allow the firm to expand and diversify in terms of its product portfolio
and market presence. Therefore to achieve this, it has several key change projects which involves
acquisition of WN, in-house manufacturing and outsourcing facility, New Software
Development Project and Setting up of New Software Development Centre of Excellence.
BUSINESS CASE / PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT
For an organisation which is currently planning a complete transformation process, it is
imperative for the organisation for considering a range of issues that are existing towards a
complete execution and effectiveness of the whole programme (Breese and et. al., 2015).
Therefore, there are certain key aspects which the board is necessary to understand in light to
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begin the transformation process in a considerate and planned manner. Hence, in light with the
strategic objectives, below are several undermining issues related to the project.
Hard Issues
 Location Issues: One of the key aspects which the organisation is required to take into
consideration is the problem with location after the acquisition of WN. This is because one
of the strategic objectives of the company is to enhance its manufacturing operations and
keep the cost of the same to a minimum without losing the quality. However, a key
challenge is associated with the location of the facility which is being set up in the Europe.
This is because it would lead to disruption in structure and functioning of both the
organisations.
 Political Factors: Another potential element which the firm is needed to take into
consideration is associated with political factors within the Europe. The reason for this is
because while the organisation would enjoy regulatory clearances within Europe after its
acquisition of WN, there is s still a high level of political uncertainty within the region.
Quite recently this has been a cause of concern for investors within the Europe. The reason
for this is because factors such as Brexit might lead to formation of several policies which
might be tough and challenging for business expansions (Political uncertainty considered
top concern among European investors, says EY survey, 2020). This is a cause of concern
for merging the skills and resources of both the companies, along with an issue for New
Software Development Centre of Excellence.
Soft Issues
 Employment Jobs: Due to quality issues, the firm has been considering shifting up its
manufacturing and outsourcing from Far East to USA. This would be leading to loss of job
within its unit in the east and would also cost a lot of restructuring in the US. This would be
leading towards de-motivation of existing employees within the company, as well as would
also lead to lack in productivity and specialised skills due to immense change in the status
quo.
 Brand Reputation: A company’s strategic transformation could only be possible if its brand
reputation remains intact. US is the home country of the acquired firm WN, whose principle
headquarters are being planned towards closure by SB after acquisition for its in house
manufacturing / production, along with the New Software Development Centre of
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Excellence. This would be bad for the firm’s image within the US due to the fact that WN
has an independent market over there which would surely be affected if the firm takes such a
step.
Performance Criteria
Hence, the above mentioned issues require the company to take into consideration some
essential criteria in regards to assess the overall success of the transformation programme of the
company. Therefore, some of the key essential performance criteria are mentioned below:
 The very first and most essential performance criterion is the cost of production, which the
company is willing to keep low to enhance its revenue and profit margins.
 Another essential performance criterion is the performance of the new product, which is a
new and integrated offering of appropriate mobile interface software, along with the bespoke
software for specific clients.
 Flexibility in operations must be another essential aspect that must be considered by the firm
to assess the whole transformation process, seeing its experience with external agencies like
DDC.
PROGRAMME SCOPE AND DELIVERABLES
Scheduling is yet another essential aspect to determine the time frame in which the
programme or business project is likely to be completed and executed. In relation to the strategic
transformation programme of SB, there are several interrelated projects as well which are
necessary to be evaluated to determine the individual scope for these programmes.
Acquisition of WN
This is one of the most prominent separate projects that is linked with the overall
transformation which the company is willing to undergo. The reason for the same is that it would
allow the company to expand its manufacturing capacity and processes towards developing new
software, along with synergising its resources and existing capabilities, which are necessary
towards bringing in change within the firm. Furthermore, this would also allow the organisation
towards keeping the cost of production low along with sharing of resources available with WN.
In terms of its scope as well as deliverables, below are certain tasks and activities associated with
the same:
 Setting up the Location:
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The scope of this project is determined by the fact that it there are multiple locations where
WN has its manufacturing unit, the main one of which is in Europe and a smaller unit in USA.
The firm is willing to establish a unit with this company within Western Europe which would be
beneficial for the firm’s agenda of in-house manufacturing and sourcing strategy. However, in
context of critically assessing this project, shifting the core operations in Western Europe would
lead to closure of the firm’s unit in USA. This would be a major setback for this organisation, as
well as would reduce the firm’s capabilities. Therefore, a balanced approach is required to be
adopted by SB which allows the firm to function independently on international grounds while
setting up a main unit in Western Europe.
 Identification of Possible Synergies:
There are several ways in which the WN could synergise with SB. For instance, the software
skills of WN could effectively integrate and merge with the production capacity of SB which
could ensure development of new offerings inclusive of hardware and software. This is one of
the key deliverables of this project as well (Wagner, 2016).
 Determining the Strategic Approaches:
As per the above discussion, a prominent approach which would allow SB to acquire this
through strategic alliance with the available skills and market reputation, with the capacities and
capabilities of the company. Moreover, after acquisition, integration must be the strategic
approach which would require amalgamation of the resources in relation to new software
development which would also enhance the scope of success of this company within the market.
In-House Manufacturing and Outsourcing
Cost Cutting and product quality are two prominent strategic objectives of SB for which
another project towards transforming the organisation. The company has currently planned
towards re-shoring some of the production facilities within the US, which would have enhanced
the product quality. However, there are a lot of concerns in terms of losing the jobs, as well as
reduction in the firm’s reputation in the host country. Therefore, this project scope brings in
more negative factors rather than the positive, which only include enhanced product quality.
Therefore, in order to ensure that these deliverables are highly managed, another alternative
option for the firm would be to set up a small production unit which would manufacture only the
necessary parts that are not up to the mark by the far east units and ensure proper assembling of
products rather than setting up a unit that would add to the cost.
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New Product Development
This project is perhaps associated with the highest scope and major deliverables, which
include quality and integrated software and hardware product, along with the bespoke software
for specific clients (Bradley, 2016). Moreover, the scope of the same is vast as this would take
place in almost all the future units of the company for a foreseeable time. Therefore, it is
necessary that all the activities and tasks related to the new product development are planned in
an appropriate manner. For this purpose, NPD process is being used which is explored below: Idea Generation:
The very first step is associated with generation of idea from internal and external sources.
This would mean SB to indulge in market research to derive the required mobile technology and
bespoke software requirements.
 Screening:
This stage would need the firm to screen the ideas that are mentioned above. Hence, in terms
of market requirement and feasibility, SB must develop effective software related to mobile user
interface, along with the bespoke software for other companies. Along with this, another product
that must be taken into consideration is the current software project with DDC for tablet
computers.
 Development of Concept and Testing
This needs the company to develop the concept along with specialist knowledge gained from
WN for the new mobile interface and specialist software programmes. Furthermore, this step
with also lead the company towards testing the current requirements for the tablet computer
software too. Moreover, the testing phase is also linked with providing training to existing and
new employees towards working with one another, along with developing and using the
technologies towards product development (Daniel, Ward and Franken, 2014).
 Marketing Strategy:
Marketing of offerings is very crucial for the company so that an appeal within the market is
created. Therefore, the firm is required to use methods like digital and social media marketing.
 Business Analysis:
Another crucial step within this process is associated with the development of forecasts
towards the new offerings which SB is planning to launch in the market. Therefore, for this
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purpose, the organisation is required to use tools like cash flow analysis, profit and loss
projections, calculations of ROI and so forth.
 Product Development:
This is the actual product development within the company where all its capacities,
resources and techniques would be subjected towards formation and testing of these software as
per the market requirements (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017). Test Marketing and Commercialisation:
It is the last step of this model, which would be requiring SB to test the effectiveness of the
software within the market upon samples and then finally commercialise the offerings.
ESTIMATING AND SCHEDULING
It is another essential aspect within the whole transformation strategy to identify and critically
evaluate the scheduling and completion of the overall programme, as well as for each of the
project associated with the same. Hence, below is the timeline distribution of the programme
along with relevant issues and approaches, along with differences in pursuing each project.
OVERALL
PROGRAMME TIMESCALES DIFFERENCES
Acquisition of WN 2 Months -
In-House Manufacturing 3 Months 1 Month
New Product Development 4 Months 2 Months
New Product Development
Centre for Excellence 9 Months 3 Months
TOTAL 2 Years
(Note: The explanation above does also count the differences of starting the new project after the
previous one within the overall period of 2 years)
Critical Evaluation:
As seen above, a period of over 2 years has been decided towards completion of the
overall change programme which denotes the differences, as well as the scheduling of all the
interlined and associated projects. However, in terms of critical evaluation of the overall
programme, 2 years is a very limited period towards bringing and embedding changes within the
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company, along with acquisition and setting up new units in US and Western Europe. The
timeline does not give enough space for effective market research or for performance testing
after the acquisition, as well as setting up of new units across the regions (Butler, Szwejczewski
and Sweeney, 2018). Moreover, there are several aspects that could create issue within this
scheduling. These aspects are highlighted below:
 Employee Resistance:
 Weaker Productivity:
 Delay in infrastructural developments of new units
 Product failure
Therefore, the approach towards the timeline set up for the overall project is necessary to be
sequential, which means the projects could not start until and unless the previous project has
been completed. Moreover, as for differences, since the setting up of the centre for Excellency is
a highly imperative and bigger activity, it has been given 3 months gap to prepare the overall
activities and align each resource towards its development/ Moreover, since the new units will be
set up on contractual basis with WN, SB would only require a month of 1 month to set up the
infrastructure and plan its development.
RISK AND ISSUES MANAGEMENT
As mentioned above, there might be possible contingencies and risks associated with
each and every process, as well as strategy which the company is willing to perform (Worobei
and Flämig, 2014). Therefore, in relation to the overall programme, the risks and associated
mitigation options are provided as under:
RISKS SEVERITY MITIGATION
STRATEGIES
Limited User Interface in
Software
HIGH
To deal with the risk, SB is
required to ensure consistent
product testing through
online auditing or adoption of
methods like Six Sigma for
software development.
Ineffective Infrastructure MEDIUM In relation to mitigate the risk
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associated with the same, the
company must indulge in
effective market research,
along with project
methodologies like Lean and
TQM to ensure that the
infrastructure is developed as
per the requirements of the
customers and the
stakeholders (Turner, 2016).
Employee Resistance
MEDIUM
Proper communication is
required to be maintained
from the employees which
would allow the company to
assess their personal
insecurities and points of
view which would allow the
firm to take corrective
actions that are in the favour
of employees.
Development of Contractual
Terms
LOW
The company must ensure
that the contractual basis are
set up through certified and
highly professional legal
consultants who would be
helping the company in
safeguarding its interests in
the market (Smyth and
Duryan, 2016).
Ineffective Team
Relationships
LOW Proper Training and
Communication must be
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facilitated within employees
of both the companies, along
with approaches such as
Tuckman’s Team
Development theory, which
would be enabling the firm
towards developing and
executing work within
effective teams with
progressive relationships.
ORGANISATION, GOVERNANCE AND STAKEHOLDERS
It is imperative that SB operates in manner which facilitates the aspects such as governance
and good practice. For this purpose, it is essential that the company analyses its accountability
towards a range of different stakeholders for its different projects. Hence, below are several
factors that are necessary for SB to follow in regards to delivering good practice:
Determination of Organisational Structure considering existing challenges
As mentioned in the case, SB adopts functional structure to manage its operations and
functions towards manufacturing of its offerings. However, it brings in several challenges that
include ineffective integration of hardware and software offerings, delayed finishing and delivery
of the product, along with compromised quality of the offering. The major impact which these
challenges are imposing is towards the customers who put their faith and money to purchase a
high quality products and services (Dalcher, 2016).
Therefore, in order to deal with this change, the company must adopt divisional structure.
The reason for this recommendation is that there would be different divisions who would be
inclusive of divisional heads. These individuals would be monitoring the performance standard
of their teams and would be ensuring a timely and high quality delivery.
Critical Evaluation of Stakeholder Views on Outsourcing / Location of Manufacturing
It is again very important to analyse the views of stakeholders towards different projects
that are being undertaken by the company (Lock and Wagner, 2016). Therefore, in regards to the
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Outsourcing and Location of Manufacturing, there are different viewpoints as denoted by the
case study. Some of these are discussed below: Chief Financial Officer:
This individual has a prominent view over the location and outsourcing of manufacturing.
For example, according to him, the product quality, along with the cost would be managed
appropriately if the re-shoring happens within the US or even any other location. However, he
believes that doing so would not be effective for the firm’s reputation in WN’s home country.
 Employees:
Their point of view is completely contrast with the CFO, considering the fact that there if the
re-shoring happens to the US, then this would mean closure of WN’s supporting unit, as well as
loss of jobs in both the Far East, as well as in this country. Therefore, they do not agree with the
same of the issue of job insecurity.
Therefore, as per both the views form stakeholder, the good practice for the company would
be to ensure that the interests of all the stakeholders are maintained effectively. For this purpose,
it must appoint audit and control managers in units within Far East, along with setting up a small
unit for manufacturing to safeguard the product quality appropriately. This would allow them to
enhance the scope of improvement towards fulfilling the aspirations of the CFO and employees
of both the companies.
PROGRAMME CONTROL
Key Performance Indicators
This approach is associated with setting up of indicators for the overall programme. In
relation with the transformation taking place in SB, the indicators would be cost effectiveness
within manufacturing, product quality, timeliness of product delivery, as well as positive
feedbacks form customers (Rijke and et. al., 2014).
Benchmarking
This method is associated with setting up benchmarks and milestones to sequentially
denote the success of the project. As for the transformation programme, they key milestones
would be effective acquisitions with limited disruption, high unit production of the integrated
hardware and software product, essential high units of outsourcing, product quality and sales
(Lytvynchenko, 2016).
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Out of both the methods, the firm must use KPI as an effective method as it would be
giving quantifiable results at each project phase and would allow the firm to denote the exact
issue associated with the achieving the set quality and consistency within performance.
CONTRACTING AND SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT
It is highly imperative that the contracting and supplier management takes place as per
the requirement of the company and commitment towards its stakeholders. As for its existing
contractual mechanism it is quite weak considering the case of DDC and the ineffective
management of quality within its workplace relationship. Therefore, in relation to Centre of
Excellence, there are several pointers upon which the contractual dispute could arise:
 Inappropriate Number of Supplied Material
 Deviation in quality of materials
 Ineffective scheduling of the acquisition
Therefore, there must be strong mechanisms adopted by the company as well to ensure that
these inconsistencies don’t take place (Maylor, Blackmon and Huemann, 2016). Some of these
could be to impose heavy fine over the company to compensate for their mistakes or to
immediately end the contractual terms with the firm and set up bidding for new supplier. This
would allow the organisation to ensure enhanced effectiveness within its supplier and contracting
management.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it is concluded from the report above that business project and programme
management are highly imperative to ensure that new projects of a firm are planned and
executed in an appropriate manner. It is crucial that the issues are to be considered amongst an
overall transformational programme of the company in order to determine the challenges and
barriers that could take place within the procedure. Furthermore, it is also very important to
identify and critically evaluate the scope and deliverables of the programme which allows in
determining the magnitude of the same and its alignment with the firm’s capacity. In addition,
each project within a transformation programme must be evaluated and differentiated in terms of
estimating and scheduling to understand and divide the same on the basis of priority or urgency.
Risks must also be identified, along with contingency measures to ensure that all the major and
possible factors are identified and are being dealt with. Furthermore, it is imperative that
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governance and stakeholders are set in order to ensure good practice delivery and functioning of
the organisation. Lastly, supply management is very essential to save up costs and enhance
convenience for organisations towards procuring high quality raw material, along with imposing
effective control methods to ensure that the actual targets are being met.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bradley, G., 2016. Benefit Realisation Management: A practical guide to achieving benefits
through change. CRC Press.
Breese, R., and et. al., 2015. Benefits management: Lost or found in translation. International
Journal of Project Management. 33(7). pp.1438-1451.
Butler, M., Szwejczewski, M. and Sweeney, M., 2018. A model of continuous improvement
programme management. Production Planning & Control. 29(5). pp.386-402.
Dalcher, D., 2016. Programme Management Managing Uncertainty through Programmes.
In Advances in Project Management (pp. 61-70). Routledge.
Daniel, E.M., Ward, J.M. and Franken, A., 2014. A dynamic capabilities perspective of IS
project portfolio management. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems. 23(2).
pp.95-111.
Lock, D. and Wagner, R. eds., 2016. Gower handbook of programme management. Routledge.
Lytvynchenko, G., 2016. Financial mechanism as a part of programme management. Procedia-
Social and Behavioral Sciences. 230,.pp.198-203.
Maylor, H., Blackmon, K. and Huemann, M., 2016. Researching business and management.
Macmillan International Higher Education.
Mottaeva, A., 2018. Formation of mechanism of programme management for the development of
medical organizations. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 170, p. 01053). EDP
Sciences.
Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and
technology. Taylor & Francis.
Rijke, J., and et. al., 2014. Adaptive programme management through a balanced
performance/strategy oriented focus. International Journal of Project
Management. 32(7). pp.1197-1209.
Smyth, H.J. and Duryan, M., 2016, September. Knowledge application in the supply network of
infrastructure programme management. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Turner, R., 2016. Gower handbook of project management. Routledge.
Wagner, R., 2016. International standards for programme management and their application.
In Gower Handbook of Programme Management (pp. 54-64). Routledge.
Worobei, A. and Flämig, H., 2014. Towards a methodology for bio-inspired programme
management design. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 119. pp.877-886.
Online
Political uncertainty considered top concern among European investors, says EY survey. 2020.
[Online] Available Through: <https://www.fdiintelligence.com/article/72372>
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