Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic

This project report explores the process of recycling gourd to replace plastic cups. It discusses the theories and skills required for successful project management, including team management, conflict management, and decision making. The report also highlights the importance of clear roles and responsibilities in minimizing conflicts. The student gained practical knowledge and improved upon weak areas through the simulation project.

Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Project background and context.................................................................................................2
Models and Theories..................................................................................................................2
Project phases.............................................................................................................................4
Skill development.......................................................................................................................5
Analysis and evaluation.............................................................................................................6
Learning.....................................................................................................................................7
Conclusions................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8
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Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic
Introduction
This project report has been prepared for a simulation case in which recycling of gourd would
be done to create cups that could be used to replace use and throw plastic cups. The project
was executed with an aim to understand how recycling projects work and the role that a
project manager would play in managing the resources on a project. The report contains
details of the related theories to build upon the conceptual foundation. It also explores how
the student has learnt through the experience of simulation project and have shown
applications of the theories in practice. It also deals with the skills that the student needs for
personal development.
Project background and context
The project is about the simulation of a real business situation in which a project manger
would be required to take critical decisions related to a recycling project. The project was
completed in four weeks. First one week went into understanding how gourds can be used for
replacement of plastic cups and how recycling of the gourd is done to manufacture those
cups. In the later weeks of the project, a simulation was run to apply the knowledge to see
how such a project would work (Helyer, 2015).
Models and Theories
Plastics are made of polymers and go through a number of stages of development including
manufacturing, usage, and disposal. Each of these processes pose challenges for the
environment. Manufacturing of plastics need a significant amount of resources that are not
renewable which depletes the fossil fuels in the world. While burning , plastics release smoke
that can have hazardous substances polluting environment. Once it is disposed, it stays in the
environment adding to the environmental problem by causing blockages in drainages and
sewage systems. Many products use plastic as containers or packages and are soon disposed
after consuming the products. Such public wastage can cause landfill spaces to dispose. Such
a wastage has been in large quantities and thus, a major concern for the environment.
Alternatives options to plastic are thus being explored and in many countries steps have been
taken to ban plastics from specific usages to minimize plastic wastages form polluting the
environment.
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Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic
Restaurants and food stores use plastic for single use such as straws, bottles, glasses, and
containers that are disposed after the consumption of food or liquids. Most of this plastic is
not reused but thrown by the consumers which causes addition to the pollutants in the
environment. Thus, alternatives options have been explored to replace plastic with material
that is more biodegradable. Gourd which is a fruit from a tree has properties that can serve as
containers and thus, can be used instead of plastic for use and throw purposes. The benefit of
using in the applications is that it is naturally biodegradable material and can easily be
recycled to produce more containers, bottles, or glasses without polluting the environment.
Recycling is the process in which a used material which is a waste is used for
remanufacturing as the ingredient. With the use of recyclable materials, the wastage in the
environment can be reduced. Gourd as a replacement for plastic provides dual benefit as it is
biodegradable as well as can be recycled for reproduction of items. Even after disposing it to
nature, it can biodegrade itself without concerning the environment.
For managing the complete project of recycling, the student would need to do several
activities that would require him to have professional skills including resource management,
time management, and team management. The student as the project manager would need to
manage the resources available including team members and manage the time effectively.
The student would face a number of different situations where conflicts can arise between
team managers or problems arise making it difficult to manage the project. To be able to
overcome these challenges, the project manager would need to have to use skills of decision
making, leadership management, problem solving, and conflict management.
A commonly used theory for team management is the Tuckman theory that suggests that
project teams go through five key stages of development. These include forming, storming,
norming, performing, and adjourning. Each of these stages can present different challenges
that student would need to overcome. In the forming stage, the teams learn about each other
and discover the activities that each of them should be performing during the project.
Once the team members are introduced to each other through role assignments, issues arise
due to differences of opinion causing conflicts. These conflicts can destruct a project. The
theory of drama triangle can be used here to understand conflicts (Prieto-Remón, et al.,
2014). As per this theory, project team members can assume three types of roles including
presecutor who can be aggressive in expression, victim shows a non-assertive behaviour
because of lack of acceptance, and rescuer who would work to solve the problem of the
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Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic
victim. In the current case, the student acting as the project manager would assume the role of
the problem solver and bring out a win-win solution that satisfies all of the conflicting
members (Ohlendorf, 2001).
The next stage of team development is norming when people start to understand each other
and initial conflicts are resolved. Once team members become comfortable with each other,
they start to perform the activities required. Once project comes to its stage of completion,
the team members are released from the project in the adjourning stage.
To be able to manage the project, its resources, and take critical decisions related to team
management and project management, the project manager would also need to have some
leadership skills. A theory of situational leadership can be used as it provides the flexibility to
the leader to assume specific style of leadership based on the requirement of the project and
the teams (Burke & Barron, 2012).
For making decisions related to project and the resources utilized, a simple decision making
model of Howard can be used which suggests three steps to tackle the decision problem.
These include formulation of objectives, evaluation of alternatives, and appraisal of one
alternative that would make the final decision. Using this theory can provide a structural flow
to the process of decision making (Tiainen, 2014).
Project phases
The project was managed using standard methodology provided in the PMBOK guide in five
key stages including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure. Following
activities were involved in each of these stages:
Initiation: In the first stage of project initiation, requirements of the project in terms of
recycling process and resources would be clarified. This would also include assessment of the
performance goals of the project and evaluation of the skills that the student needs to acquire
through the simulation project.
Planning: Once requirements of the project are clear and sufficient data is collected, a plan is
developed for the simulation project to follow. This would include documentation of the
details of activities that student would be performing during simulation, timelines, reporting
structures, monitoring processes, and recording of the lessons learned from the project.
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Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic
Execution: In the project execution phase, simulation would be performed in which the
student acts as the project manager for the recycling project and would manage the resources
involved. This would involve a practical learning which would also be documented
throughout the project execution (BIS, 2010).
Monitoring: To monitor the executed processes and evaluate the performance of the project,
some project management tools and learning tools would be used, like WBS and Gantt charts.
The project management tools include WBS which would record the activities and gantt chart
that would plot the timelines against these activities to use it for monitoring. For learning, the
student would use learning contract, learning, journal, and a project report.
Project Closure: Project closure is the last stage in the project management which marks the
completion of project activities and recording of the lessons gained from the experience, the
student would summarize the experience and record the lessons in the project report which
would be finalized at the closure stage (Clements & Gido, 2006).
Skill development
To complete the project of recycling, the student would need some skills related to the
profession and behavioural needs of a manager. Student has a few of the skills required for
the project but there are also some in which the student is lacking. The skills that the student
needs as a project manager for a recycling project include conflict management, decision
making, resource management, problem solving, time management, and team management.
With the experience of the simulation project, the student was able to understand how each of
these are needed and can be learned. Relevant management theories can be applied here
related to these skills (Helyer, 2015).
The student was continuously guided by the tutor who revealed the weaknesses of the student
and suggested improvement in specific areas. Areas in which student was found lacking in
professional skills included conflict management and decision making. The tutor suggested
him to utilize some principles defined in the related theories to improve upon these skills.
With application to the real situation, the student was able to gain the practical knowledge of
how conflicts can be dealt with on a project and how student can learn to make more efficient
decisions (C, 2009).
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Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic
The student gained some professional skills in the process that included communication
management, team management, and time management. These skills have helped the student
to become a better person in a professional conduct which would be very useful when the
student would go for an actual employment in an organization. The student could understand
the individuals on the project have difference of opinions and at times the lack of clarity of
their responsibilities that can become the source of conflict. Thus, it is important for the
project manager to have a very clear line of decision of roles and responsibilities for team
members before project execution to avoid some conflicts (Goh, 2002).
Analysis and evaluation
When participating in the project and acting as a project manager, the student had to take
many decision which was very challenging. However with the past experiences, theoretical
understanding, and observation skills applied, the student as able to finally make decisions
but with consulting views from others. At certain points where he had to take critical
decisions of the team, he would look for opinions of everyone and take decisions on the basis
of what majority would approve of to ensure that everyone was happy. While this would get
the student accepted in the team positively, the dependencies caused delays in making
decisions that involved careful examination and expertise on the subject. However, due to
good time management skills, the students were able to somehow complete the project on
time but working under pressures. To tackle these pressures, the student needed to show the
ability to manage teams which was very challenging (Mishkind, 2014).
The student faced certain situations and tackled them in following ways:
Team Building: The student would need to ensure that every member in the team would
work efficiently on the project. Thus, it is essential to have a good understanding of each
other. Applying the Tuckman model of team formation, student suggested the team to have
some fun activities together so that they can mingle with each other sand have a better
understanding of each other. This could help in minimizing possible conflicts on the project.
Interactive sessions were done beyond the project time which helped in building strength in
the team (Fapohunda, 2013). This helped student gain an understanding of working
environment and also understand how teams work together and align themselves to project
goals. The student discovered that motivation plays an important role in ensuring that teams
members worked effectively and were committed to the project goals (Purohit, 2015).
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Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic
Conflict Management: The student applied the model of conflict management by identifying
the prosecutor and victim so that he could work as a rescuer to resolve issues between them.
The student would sit with both the team members who were involved in the conflict and
would come up on a consensus. However, this was proven very difficult when one of the
person involved was very dominating while other spoke less. The dominant person wanted
things to happen his ways while the person acting as the victim mostly went silent and did not
perform. At this point also, student considered having discussion with the whole team to
arrive at a conclusion on what should be done to manage the conflict. The team decided to
clearly tell the dominating person that he has to cooperate and act in the favour of whole team
while working.
Learning
The student gained following lessons from the experience of the simulation project:
 Project management can be very challenging as its effectiveness depends on the team
work and thus, team management is the most important skill needed in a project
manager (Teague, et al., 2015).
 A project manager has to do a lot of things like managing time, managing people,
taking decisions and ensuring smooth progress of the project which would require him
to also have a leadership skill. The leadership style of the project manager must match
to the situation and the people who are being managed.
 If the roles and responsibilities are clear at the beginning and certain conflicts at the
storming stage can be avoided as everyone would be clear about their work
responsibilities and constrains.
Conclusions
The report serves as an evidence for the experiential learning gained from the simulation
project of recycling of gourd to replace plastic materials and proven successful in teaching
practical lessons to student. The student was able to identify his weak areas like conflict
management and decision making that he could also improved upon. He was also able to
utilize the theories into practice which helped him gain an understanding of how theoretical
models work in practice and can be useful in project management.
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Recycling of Gourd to replace plastic
References
BIS, 2010.
GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING PROJECTS: How to organise, plan and control projects, s.l.:
BIS.
Burke, R. & Barron, S., 2012.
Leadership Theories and Styles. s.l., Wileys.
Clements, J. P. & Gido, J. .., 2006.
Effective Project Management, s.l.: Thompson.
C, S., 2009.
Human Resource Management Functions: Managerial, Operative and Advisory Function,
s.l.: Your Article Library.
Fapohunda, T. M., 2013. Towards Effective Team Building in the Workplace.
International Journal of
Education and Research, 1(4), pp. 1-12.
Goh, S. Y. W.-K., 2002. Managing human resources toward achieving knowledge management.Journal of Knowledge Management, 6(5), pp. 457-468.
Helyer, R., 2015.
The Work-Based Learning Student Handbook. 2nd ed. s.l.:Palgrave MacMillan.
Mishkind, A., 2014.
Evidence-Based Professional Learning, s.l.: State of California.
Ohlendorf, A., 2001.
Conflict Resolution in Project Management, s.l.: MSIS.
Prieto-Remón, T. C., Cobo-Benita, J. R., Ortiz-Marcos, I. & Uruburu, A., 2014.
Conflict Resolution to
Project Performance. s.l., 28th IPMA World Congress.
Purohit, B., 2015.
A case study on processes in team building and performance improvement at
Government Health Centers in Rajasthan, India, s.l.: Indian Institute of Public Health .
Teague, P., Roche, W. K., Gormley, T. & Currie, D., 2015.
How Should Workplace Conflict Be
Managed? Contrasting Pathways in the Literature, s.l.: Queen's University.
Tiainen, A., 2014.
Decision-Making in Project Management, s.l.: Allianz Managed Operations and
Services SE.
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