RMIT BUSM4612: Analysis of Risk and Control in Travel's Fun Project

This report delves into the intricacies of risk and control within the Travel's Fun project, addressing the implications of an urgent client request that disrupts the project's established plans. The analysis encompasses a range of potential risks, including schedule overruns, cost implications, and stakeholder conflicts, providing insights into effective mitigation strategies. The report meticulously examines the importance of proactive risk management, particularly in the face of unexpected events, and the necessity of clear and consistent communication with stakeholders to ensure project success. Furthermore, the report explores the impact of resource constraints and the measures required to maintain team engagement and productivity amidst changing project demands. The report also addresses the importance of change management, impact analysis, and the integration of project areas to ensure smooth project execution and stakeholder satisfaction. The overall emphasis is on the development of a robust risk management framework, emphasizing the importance of preparation, communication, and adaptability in managing project risks effectively.

Risk & Control
Part A
There are several risks that can emerge in the project and the case is the same for Travel’s
Fun Pty Ltd. Project management has been implemented as a discipline in the organization.
The estimation of the schedule, budget, scope, and effort is done as per the guidelines
included in the project management methods. However, there are certain unexpected
situations that may come up during the project timeline. The occurrence of such situations
can have adverse implications on the project areas if the management is not properly done.
The presence of risk management methodology and protocols in advance will make sure that
the intended goals are achieved.
One such sudden and urgent news has come up from the Senior Manager of Dixon Co. The
company has its headquarters located in Melbourne. The news has come to keep the storage
tanks in the Yarraville terminal facility in the good condition and these shall be ready in
about 5 weeks. The company is expected to receive 4 million litres of fuel and the storage
tanks shall be ready to receive the same. The company does not want to lose the associated
revenue of $2 Million on a per month basis. Also, if it does not fulfil the demand then there
will be a penalty of $3 Million per month (Zhang, 2011).
With the emergence of such sudden and urgent news, there are new project risks that have
emerged. The current project schedule is behind its estimated schedule by 5 days. With the
emergence of the new requirement, there will be another 15 days that will be needed to
accomplish the task. The project at the client-side is also running behind the schedule by 10
days. There is a risk of schedule overrun that is observed and it cannot be tolerated in this
condition. The demand of keeping the storage tanks ready in the next five weeks is essential
and cannot be played with. The schedule risks associated with the project can be avoided by
rescheduling the project activities (Aven & Zio, 2013). The reworking on the schedule needs
to be done by reallocating the resources in such a manner that the operational time spent by
every resource is enhanced and the project activities are balanced. If the schedule will
increase from its estimated values then there will be negative impacts on the associated costs.
The cost overrun is a major risk that can emerge and it will not be tolerated in the project.
This is because the customer has millions of dollars at stake and the organization will not be
able to bear such losses. The re-forecasting of the schedule and budget will be done so that
the trade-off is maintained and the deadlines as well as budget constraints are met.
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Risk & Control
The urgent news will have negative implications on the stakeholders and the resources as
well. It is possible that the conflicts among the project stakeholders emerge in order to meet
the new demands from the clients. Some of the stakeholders may agree with the client and
may support the requirements that are put forward. There are also stakeholders that may
disagree with the customer demands and may not agree with the decision to incorporate these
demands. As a result, the conflicts among the interest and perspective of the stakeholders will
be observed (Hallegatte & Rentschler, 2014). Communication will be the key to deal with
such a situation. The senior management and the steering committee will look in to the
feasibility of the customer demands with respect to the availability of the resources. The
perspectives of all the stakeholders will also be put forward and the discussions will take
place to reach consent. There will be resource risks that may also emerge due to the
introduction of such changes. If the management agrees to meet the customer demands, there
will be a lot of pressure on the resources. The resources will be over-burdened for at least five
weeks and they will have to devote additional hours to meet the customer demands. This may
lead to the reduction in the resource interest, efficiency, and productivity levels. The
avoidance and prevention of such risks will be possible with the aid of proper communication
and additional benefits to the resources. The management must communicate the need for
change and the benefits that it will provide to the project and to the organization. Also, the
benefits in terms of flexible work hours, rewards, etc. shall be explained to the resources to
keep them engaged (Bier & Lin, 2013).
The urgent news and changes requested from the client can take a toll on the ongoing project
activities which may negatively implicate the entire set of project areas. The operational
continuity may be affected with the occurrence of the risk. The risk will be resolved with the
use of adequate project management techniques. The re-distribution of the schedule and
budget will be done in such a manner that the operational continuity is not impacted.
The risks of urgent situations and circumstances in the project are a common occurrence. It is
necessary that the project team and management are prepared in advance to deal with such
situations. The development of a risk management framework assists in the same and a step
by step methodology for dealing with the risks is also obtained. In this case, the project would
have additional resources in spare to utilize to deal with such a situation if the prediction is
done in advance. It is necessary that the identification of the risks is done on the basis of all
the available sources of information. The same attention shall be paid to the subsequent levels
in the risk management process. The analysis of the risks along with the evaluation of the risk
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Risk & Control
as acceptable or not shall be based on the extensive research. The treatment and closure will
be automatically streamlined as an outcome. The disaster handling capabilities will be made
possible with the defined risk management framework. Also, the impact on the rest of the
project areas will also be reduced with proper handling and management of the risks
(Tichayacute, 2017).
Part B
The urgent set of changes requested by the client had an impact on the project
communications and dealing with the stakeholders.
The client had sent the email requesting for the change and the details on the schedule &
budget impacts and the need for change was mentioned in the mail. The change that was
requested had an extremely short timeframe to act upon and it was necessary to communicate
with the client about the possible impacts of the same on the rest of the project activity. The
client was too rigid with this change and was not ready to modify any of the change details.
The methodology to implement the requested change as per the client requirements and
maintain the continuity of the ongoing project activities was not easy. The client agreed to
provide additional support after the communication of the probable issues and the massive
impacts on the project resources and team due to the change requested (Ponnappa, 2014).
The senior management also had to be informed about the change in order to seek approvals.
Also, it was necessary to provide the resources with additional benefits and the internal
management had to provide their go-ahead on the same. The key to develop the senior
management interest and receive the approval was communication of the details to the senior
management. The detailed change request provided by the client along with the completion of
the impact analysis on the change was done and sent to the senior management. There were
multiple meetings organized to explain the management the nature of the change and the
associated justification of the change.
There were many other stakeholders that also had the impact due to the change that was
requested. In order to meet the customer demands, there were additional tools, material, and
equipment that were necessary for the project team. The project supplier and vendor groups
were required to make the deliveries on an urgent basis so that the execution of the project
activities could begin. The vendor and supplier groups were invited to meet urgently and the
details of the requirements were shared. There were some of the supplier issues that emerged
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Risk & Control
in terms of urgency, pricing, and delivery constraints. The balance between the supplier
demands and the organization needs was maintained so that the deliveries could be obtained
on time and within the approved budget.
The project team had the excessive impact due to the change that was requested. It was
because the team had to put in extra effort and was required to re-schedule the project
activities. There were disturbances in the ongoing project activities that were also witnessed
along with the variations in the scope (Sutterfield, Friday-Stroud & Shivers-Blackwell, 2015).
The mismanagement of such situations could have led to resource disengagement and
increased conflicts among the resources. The management of the project team was done with
the preparation of the plans in details and the change execution and control was done in a
series of steps. The resources were also communicated about the change and the reason
behind the same
The project steering committee also raised questions on the sudden changes. The steering
committee had to be provided with the detailed justification on the change being carried out
and the details communicated by the client.
There were internal and external stakeholders involved in the project and the project could be
marked as successful only when the stakeholder engagement levels were maintained. The
different areas under project management are closely synced with each other. The risk and
change management is one area that has a close connection with stakeholder communication
and management. The change control and monitoring could be carried out only when the
stakeholders had complete information about the nature of the change. Impact analysis is one
of the significant activities that made sure that the stakeholders understood the need for
change and the consequences of the same. The impact analysis was done as per the
information available with the project and the organization. The evaluation of the changes in
the existing schedule, budget, scope, and effort was determined on the basis of the impact
analysis that was carried out.
The integration of the different project areas with each other made sure that the project
activities were completely in sync. Also, the better change control and change handling
processes could be carried out. The stakeholder engagement and contribution levels did not
get disturbed and the implementation of the change that was requested by the project client
could also be done smoothly and without any major risks and concerns.
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References
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Bier, V., & Lin, S. (2013). On the Treatment of Uncertainty and Variability in Making
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Hallegatte, S., & Rentschler, J. (2014). Risk Management for Development-Assessing
Obstacles and Prioritizing Action. Risk Analysis, 35(2), 193-210. doi:
10.1111/risa.12269
Ponnappa, G. (2014). Project Stakeholder Management. Project Management Journal, 45(2),
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Sutterfield, J., Friday-Stroud, S., & Shivers-Blackwell, S. (2015). A Case Study of Project
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Risk. Project Management Journal, 42(4), 5-18. doi: 10.1002/pmj.20250
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