Project Management Report

This report provides a detailed analysis of a project management case study involving the development of a six-story hotel and swimming pool. It covers various aspects of project management, including background and principles, investment viability assessment (using NPV and payback period calculations), organizational structure, resource allocation, project scheduling (using PERT and Gantt charts), performance measurement methods, and change control procedures. The report also includes a detailed project plan, outlining tasks, durations, and dependencies. The analysis demonstrates the application of project management tools and techniques to minimize time and costs, manage risks, and ensure successful project completion. The report concludes with a post-project appraisal, highlighting lessons learned and areas for improvement.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Describing the background and principles of project management...........................................4
1.2 Appraising the viability of the investment in the hotel and swimming pool and develop a
success and failure criteria...............................................................................................................6
1.3 Principles behind project management systems and procedures...............................................7
d. Key elements involved in terminating projects and conducting post-project appraisals.............8
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................9
2.1 Identification of the most appropriate organizational structure, roles and responsibilities of
participants of the project................................................................................................................9
2.2 Explaining how the structure identified above would help in control and co-ordinate the
project............................................................................................................................................10
2.3 Assessing the leadership style and qualities required to manage the above project
successfully....................................................................................................................................11
2.4 Planning and specifying human resources requirements for the proposed project..................12
TASK 3...............................................................................................................................................13
3.1 Preparing a detailed project plan for the proposed project......................................................13
3.2 Applying the appropriate project scheduling tools to plan the project activities so as to
minimise the time and costs of the project....................................................................................14
3.3 Analysing the methods used to measure project performance.................................................15
3.4 Explaining the change control procedure for evaluating project at its completion.................15
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................17
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Project Management Timeline...............................................................................................5
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INTRODUCTION
The past several decades have been stated by rapid growth in the use of project management
as a means by which organizations achieve their objectives. Building a new skyscraper, designing a
commercial ad campaign, launching a rocket etc are some examples of this concept. The present
research is based on project management and to understand this, a case study is taking into the
consideration. As per the given case scenario, Alan, Joy, Shab and Sudjat are four partners who are
running a restaurant in Borehamwood, near London from last 5 years. Organization has made 2
million profits in previous year and on the basis of this, the capital base of partners have become 3
million. According to long term strategy, it has planned by the owners of restaurant to build a 6
storey hotel which will contain a swimming pool in Borehamwood. This will serve both community
and business customers from overseas locations. In this regards, the 4 managers have already talked
with the bank manager for grant a loan of £1.5 million pounds on 10% interest rate. Before starting
the project, Joy has disused it about a management consultant who is specialising in hotels.
According to him, it will not worth full for the company if they will hold it after the development.
So, management consultant has advice the owners to make money by selling the new 6 start hotel
and reinvest the amount in new opportunities.
TASK 1
1.1 Describing the background and principles of project management
Background
At the time of Second World War, the concept of project management has developed. In the
late of 50’s and early of 60’s, project management was applied by civil sector for various
developments. This was the time frame where diverse tools and techniques related to project
management like CPM, PERT etc. Along with this development, integrated computer systems have
evolved (Harpham, 2003). These were able to deliver the quality work under the set time, costs and
other limitations. On the other hand, in 1980-1994, a revolutionary development in the Information
management has taken place with the introduction of Personal Computer (PC) and other network
facilities. These were highly efficient in managing and controlling of complex project schedules
(Kerzner, 2013). From 1995 to present, development related to the internet has changed business
practices. The result of this is many of the project management related software have directly
connected with internet and it has provided interactive, fast and customized mode to manage simple
to complex projects in easier manner.
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Figure 1 Project Management Timeline
(Source: Harpham, 2003)
Principles of Project Management:
Vision and mission: For a successful execution of a project, vision and mission of plan
should be clear for all members of project team. It assists in clarify the expected results and
develops strategies to attain them. Moreover, it gives a proper path to be followed for achieving
results.
Business objectives: Here, some objectives related to project develops by responsible
project team members. It is significantly gives the contribution in the direction of success of the
plan (Burke, 2013). The SMART and concrete objectives help in achieving desired results with
better efficiency.
Standards of engagement: This is means setting of standards related to how will become a
part of the project team. There are several parameters and protocols designing to clarify objectives
of the project (Kshama, 2012). These parameters act as a factor according to which quality of work
can be enhanced.
Intervention and execution: With the help of various methods and techniques, gaps in the
expected and actual deliverables determine. This assists in minimize or resolving the issues that
may affect the final outcomes of the plan (Burke, 2013). This step helps in making corrective
actions as well to reduce the chances of errors.
Organizational alignment: By ongoing communication concept such as meetings, mails
etc, different and important information easily communicates with the team members. This ensures
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the success of the project by engaging the teams.
Measurement and accountability: This is the important principles of project management
in which various methods use to measure the success of the plan on different criteria and aspects. It
reflects over the areas where improvement must be needs to attain the objectives of project
(Schwalbe, 2015).
1.2 Appraising the viability of the investment in the hotel and swimming pool and develop a success
and failure criteria
As per the given case study, it has found that Alan, Joy, Shab and Sudjat have run a
restaurant in Borehamwood, London from last five years ago. They have made 2 million profits
from the business in previous year. Now, the managers have planned to open a 6 star hotel and it
will contain a swimming pool. The initial investment for hotel has £4m and swimming pool has
£1.5m. In this context, it has become important to appraise the viability of the investment in the
hotel and swimming pool to decide success and failure criteria of the plan.
Hotel
Years Cash flow in
£m
PV factor at
10%
Present value
(in £m)
1 600 0.9091 545460
2 600 0.8264 495840
3 600 0.7513 450780
4 600 0.6830 409800
5 950 0.6209 589855
Total 2491735
Initial investment 4
NPV -1508265
Swimming pool
Years Cash flow in
£m
PV factor at
10%
Present value
(in £m)
1 300 0.9091 272730
2 300 0.8264 247920
3 300 0.7513 225390
4 300 0.6830 204900
5 1300 0.6209 807170
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Total 1758110
Initial investment 1.5
NPV +258110
Payback period for Hotel
Year Cash inflow in £m
1 600
2 600
3 600
4 600
5 950
Total 3350
Analysis No Money Back after five years
Payback period for Hotel
Year Cash inflow in £m
1 300
2 300
3 300
4 300
5 1300
Total 2,500
300 x 12 = 36
1300
36
13 =2.7
Analysis Money back after 4 years and 2.7 months
Success and failure criteria
From the above both of the tables of NPV for hotel and swimming pool, it has tried to
determine the viability of the investment in both of the project. NPV value of hotel has showed after
the 5 years, new present value of the investment at 10% interest rate has become negative. It has
demonstrated that restaurant will not recover the invested amount after 5 years. While in the case of
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swimming pool project, initial investment will cover after completion of 5 years and it will give
positive net present value of funds. So on the basis of the above discussion, it can be said that value
of NPV will work as both success and failure criteria for hotel and swimming pool project.
The major criteria on which the project's success and failure can be decided is its timely
delivery. The technical requirements which are necessary for making this project successful should
be arranged after making a check for all the sources that are required for it in advance manner. In
addition to this, it is necessary to give a due consideration to the stakeholders without which the
project's success cannot be attained. It has been noticed that risk assessment aspects also being
discussed effectively so that better outcomes can be attained. Insufficient regards in context to cash
flow might be affected so management need to consider it effectively. Stakeholders involvement in
the project is also significant because it allows to improve the overall performance.
1.3 Principles behind project management systems and procedures
Systems for allocating time and cost
Resources levelling: Under this method, the adjustment in start and finish dates of tasks
have based on the resources constraints with the aim of maintain the balance between the demands
of resources with the availability of supplies. With the help of resource levelling system, it will
become easy to make changes in beginning and ending duration of project plan of opening of 6
storey hotel as per the accessibility of resources within the particular time duration. It is considering
as the most effective technology in terms of both time and costing (Wysocki, 2011).
Activity based costing: In this, the cost for each activity assigns along with all resources as
per the real consumption of each one. It will assist the opening of 6 storey of hotel and swimming
pool project to effectively utilize the funds and resources by minimizing the spending over the
unnecessary expenses (Walker, 2015).
Process of integrate material and human resources
To allocate material and human resources in more effective manner, a systematic process can
be used by opening of 6 storey hotel project which is as follows:
1. By finding the real requirements and needs of material and human resources for the planned
project (De Bakker, Boonstra and Wortmann, 2010).
2. Preparing resource allocation plan as per the determine supplies needs.
3. By arranging human and material resources with the aim of meeting the objectives and
deliverables of project.
4. Resource plan implementation process carry out by considering the different factors such as
abilities and skills of the team members, priorities of the activities etc (Jun, Qiuzhen and
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Qingguo, 2011).
5. By regular meetings and other techniques, monitoring and control process related to
performance improvement of plan, human resources and optimal utilization of materials can
be done.
6. Changes in current plan to attain the objective of opening of 6 storey hotel project (Jun,
Qiuzhen and Qingguo, 2011).
7. Analyze the outcomes of the work can be carried out by assessing resources allocation plan.
Objectives
The objecticves to be set for the project should be based on SMART criteria. This will help
in proiper allocation of tasks among concerned workers and clarifying their roles. Besides this,
expectation of company will be also clear for them according to which they will work on the
project.
Adaptability
The project should be planned in a proper way with a scope of making changes in easier way
so that in condition of changes, the plan can be adjusted accordingly.
Integration
The integration is a process in which various activities are incorporated in a proper way so
that all tasks can be accomplished with a better link.
Input and output
The input and output of materials is a necessary process in which it is necessary to arrange
the resources in appropriate way as per the need. Thus, it will help in accomplishment of work on
time with less number of flaws.
d. Key elements involved in terminating projects and conducting post-project appraisals
Key elements of project termination process
In project management, Project termination is a very important section that can be taken at
any stage of the plan by a project team. Most common reasons of take this type of decisions are less
profitability, technical issues, delay from supplies sides, finance issues etc. There are four types of
project termination: integration, starvation, addition and extinction. These are the most essential
sections where it assists to terminate the project at any stage. The major elements of project
termination are cost, time, legal requirements, audits logs, payments of bills, closing the different
contracts, transferring of software, reports and data to the firm, etc (Artto, Kulvik, Poskela and
Turkulainen, 2011). In cost factor, project manager has to compare actual and expected costing of
the plan and then terminate the contract. Along with this, all legal requirements related to
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cancelation of contracts with complete formalities also require to carry out. Apart from this,
transfer of rights and releasing of resources also takes place. These all have needed to be considered
in the case of closing or termination of opening of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project.
Post project appraisal
The reason of using post project appraisal is to assess the outcomes of the plan by
considering various factors. The post project appraisal is important as it is a strong way to have a
continuous improvement in project. This gives greater opportunities for entire project team to have
a discussion on what went good and things which went wrong. All this discussion helps in making
good decision and plans which will be an advantage for the next projects which would be made on
the basis of improved skills. In the case of opening of 6 storey hotel project, process of post project
appraisal is as follows: Conduct variance analysis: It assists in find the variations between expected and actual
results related to opening of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project (Wu and Low,
2010). Cost benefit analysis: The initial costing of opening of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool
project will be high but in the future, it will deliver various benefits to restaurant. So, with
the help of cost benefit analysis, the owners of the organization will predict the profits of
future. Risk analysis and its review: Under this, risk analysis process will carry out to minimize the
impact of uncertainties over opening of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project
(Bredillet, Yatim and Ruiz, 2010).
 Recognising achievements of the project: Here, the achievements of project team members
will recognize with effective methods. This will highlight the learning and skills of team
members in terms of experience (Mantel, 2011).
 Identification of things which performed well- The appraisal of project can be done by
making an analysis on things which went well so that this can be used as a factor in next
projects for making it better.
 Identifying things that can be improved: Another requirement which can be applied for post
project appraisal is identifying those points which have a scope of improvements. So, some
extra efforts can be made to make some improvements which can help in improving the
quality of project.
The project's post appraisal is necessary so that the work can be checked and it can be
determined that the tasks have been accomplished in a better way. The
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TASK 2
2.1 Identification of the most appropriate organizational structure, roles and responsibilities of
participants of the project
Organizational structure
The organizational structure of opening of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project will
be Project based structure. The reason of selecting the following one is to allocate the roles and
responsibilities to the team members as per their skills and capabilities. It will create a good
communication channel between the team personnel (Patanakul, Iewwongcharoen and Milosevic,
2010). In addition to this, the project based structure is best suitable for those businesses that need
to make frequent changes and innovations in their working practice. This structure provides enough
scope for flexibility and also gives opportunity to execute diverse works as quickly as possible.
Therefore, in current strategy of opening a hotel, the project based structure will be best suitable so
that firm can make suitable changes as and when needed. Matrix type of organisational structure is
not suitable as it creates the dual reporting reponsibility of workers whcih may create the
confusions.
Roles and responsibilities of participants of the project
For opening of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project, human resources will require
which will contain various skills and capabilities to attain the expected outcomes of the plan. The
major personal needed for the plan are project manager, project board, management consultant,
architecture, quality analyst, risk analyzer and other supportive team members. These all will give
contribution in planned work to accomplish the objectives (Bredillet, 2010).
Participants Roles and responsibilities in the form of job description
Project manager Manage project tasks.
Assigning roles and responsibilities to team members
Formulation and implementation of plan
Arrange and allocating different resources (Lee and Yu, 2012).
Architecture Developing a architect of building and its other related components
Quality analyst Accountable for the quality of the project.
Ensure the quality of new 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project
Management
consultant
Responsible for advising the project board related to construction of
planned project.
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Assist the suggestions where to invest or not to invest the funds (Hwang
and Tan, 2012).
Project board Analyse the issues and changes in project plan, finalize the project plan,
approve resource allocation etc.
Risk analyzer Assess the risks at different stages of the project plan and develop the
strategies to minimize the impacts of these on the final outcomes.
Other supportive team
members
Transform the ideas into the actions, determine the needs of client etc
(Portny, 2010).
2.2 Explaining how the structure identified above would help in control and co-ordinate the project
Control and co-ordination, these two are most essential things in project management. Both
have helped assess and monitor the performance of project plan. With the application of this, project
manager and its team members can manage the whole work in an effective manner at all stages. In
the case of opening of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project, the selected organizational
structure has project management design. This has assisted in keeping the control over progress of
proposed plan and has established the co-ordination between different activities. Along with this, it
has aided in scheduling as well as allocation of resources to project stages. To establish control and
co-ordinate with project management organizational structure, several techniques have used by
project manager. These are Work Breakdown structured, Product Breakdown structured and Gantt
chart. By using WBS technique, the whole project plan of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool
project has divided into the manageable section in the form of small sections (Patanakul and
Shenhar, 2012). It has also focused over the right and optimal utilization of the resources. While,
Gantt chart has assisted the project manager to measure the growth of proposed plan to ensure that
work is going as per the set procedure and schedule or not. Along with this, to establish control and
co-ordinate the 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project, roles and responsibilities of project
team members have played an essential role. The tasks perform by project manager and other
members have demonstrated their skills and abilities. From the above discussion, it has been clear
that project organizational structure has helped in establish in control and co-ordinate the proposed
project (Morris, 2010).
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2.3 Assessing the leadership style and qualities required to manage the above project successfully
The project manager of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project has needed some
leadership qualities and style to manage the planned project in successful manner. In this context,
assessments of these superiorities are as follows:
Problem solver: Project manager of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project should
having the sense of solving the problem. This assists him or her to find the solutions of issues in the
plan and select the best one to resolve them (Barry, 2015).
Time management style: Project manager of proposed plan should able to manage the time.
The reason to have such quality in him or her because this plan is complex and lengthy in nature.
So, to complete the assign work within the given timeframe, project manager need to manage the
time.
Team building skills: In 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project, project manager
should capable to develop a good team of professions who can attain the objectives of the plan. For
this, he or she can build up team by using right leadership skills.
Work under pressure: The project manager of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project
should know how to manage the work under the pressure. The reason of this is sometimes, there
may be some activities which require being complete within in the small duration and it may create
a pressure over him(Killen and Hunt, 2010).
Good communicator: A project manager of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project
should be a good communicator. By establishing a clear and right communication with the team
members, vision and mission of the plan can be stated to team personnel in right way.
Integrity: Project leader of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project should honest and
loyal. This will create a best example in front of the team members (Morris and Pinto, 2010).
Empathy: Project leader of planned project should understand the requirements of team
members. In this context, he or she has to give proper attention towards various needs of personnel
in team by establishing personal relationship with them.
2.4 Planning and specifying human resources requirements for the proposed project
In the context of 6 storey of hotel and swimming pool project, there will be some and major
human resources requirements. For this, planning and specifications related to this is as follows:
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