Project Management Report: CRM System for Consultancy Business

This project report examines the implementation of a CRM system for a consultancy service provider undergoing an office relocation. It outlines the business objectives, which include enhancing income and profitability while reducing costs. The report details the selection of a CRM project, its sub-division, and resource estimations, including time and cost. It evaluates the use of the PRINCE2 methodology for project management, assessing its feasibility. The report also presents a management and administration structure, including roles and responsibilities, along with a job description and person specification for a project manager. Furthermore, it includes a project plan, assesses alternative project team structures, designs a quality management process, and manages project change proposals. The report identifies potential issues and risks, designs a monitoring system, and concludes with the tasks needed for project completion.

Project Management in Business
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................5
ACTIVITY 1........................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Business objectives and identification of the project that will be required to carry out the
relocation.........................................................................................................................................5
1.2 Developing sub-division of project and estimation of resources including cost and time........6
ACTIVITY 2........................................................................................................................................7
1.3 Evaluation of suitable methodology for chosen project............................................................7
1.4 Assessment of feasibility of CRM project.................................................................................7
2.1 Structure for the management and administration of the project...............................................7
2.2 Roles and responsibilities of staff who will manage CRM project...........................................8
3.2 Job description and person specification for a Project Manager...............................................9
ACTIVITY 3......................................................................................................................................10
2.3 Project plan..............................................................................................................................10
ACTIVITY 4......................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Assessment of alternative project team structure.....................................................................10
3.3 Designing of process for quality management of the project..................................................11
3.4 Managing project change proposals........................................................................................12
ACTIVITY 5......................................................................................................................................13
4.1 Issues and risks that may impede a project..............................................................................13
4.2 Issues and risks likely to be encountered in the final stage of CRM project...........................14
4.3 Designing of monitoring and appraising the status of a project..............................................15
5.1 Detecting and managing issues arising in the course of projects............................................15
ACTIVITY 6......................................................................................................................................16
5.2 Assessment of the tasks needed to be completed in the final stages of a project....................16
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................16
References..........................................................................................................................................17
APPENDIX........................................................................................................................................19
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Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Sub-division of CRM project ........................................................................................7
Illustration 2: Structure for the management and administration of CRM project...............................8
Illustration 3: Gantt Chart of CRM project........................................................................................10
Illustration 4: Network Digram of CRM project................................................................................10
Illustration 5: Alternative project team structure of CRM project......................................................11
Illustration 6: Process for quality management..................................................................................12
Illustration 7: Change Control Process...............................................................................................13
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Index of Tables
Table 1: Issues and risks that may impede a project...........................................................................13
Table 2: Detecting and managing issues arising in CRM project.......................................................15
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INTRODUCTION
Project management is regarded as an effective discipline of planning, initiating and
executing the work of a team with a motive to accomplish the aims and objectives of a project.
Further, it is well known fact that for carrying out any specific project, it is necessary to consider all
the range of activities which are crucial (De Bakker, Boonstra and Wortmann, 2010). Behind
implementation of any specific project, there are some objectives and for their accomplishment,
proper plan has to be developed. The present study being carried out is based on project
management where case of consultancy service provider business has been undertaken. Business
enterprise has to relocate its office to new place with a motive to reduce the overall cost. Apart from
this, report covers various aspects such as appraising the business objectives, considering list of
projects, alternative project structure etc.
ACTIVITY 1
1.1 Business objectives and identification of the project that will be required to carry out the
relocation
Objectives of Business
Considering the present case study, consultancy service provider business wants to relocate
office from present place to new one (Burke, 2013). Further, the location decided for the same is
around Banbury, Oxfordshire where the main motive is to reduce cost. For the same, there is a need
to develop small team and involve consultants with a motive to execute the overall plan in an
appropriate manner. Moreover, various objectives have been set which are linked with the move of
office such as retaining earning capacity of business, enhancing profitability level etc. (Turner,
2014). Following are the key business objectives which are associated with moving of office and
these are as follows:
 To enhance the income level of business by 10% on the annual basis
 To retain earning capacity of the company.
 To enhance profitability level on the partial basis with a motive to decrease the physical cost
linked with the accommodation (Kerzner, 2013).
 To improve overall quality of support that office provides to the clients along with other type
of consultants.
 To boost technological advancement in terms of IT systems and other tools adopted within
the workplace (Wysocki, 2011).
 To reduce the overall cost related with human resource in area of redundancy, training along
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with recruitment.
So, these are some of the main objectives which are directly associated with the new project
and by considering these, it is possible to focus on the overall accomplishment of desired aims.
(Blomquist, Hällgren and Söderholm, 2010). Apart from this, different types of projects are being
present which can be supported at the time of office relocation and these are as follows:
 Transaction processing system
 Customer relationship management system
 Business intelligence system
 Implementation of total quality management for quality enhancement
 Building construction tools
So, these are some of the key projects which can be undertaken and in order to implement them
in an appropriate manner, it is necessary for business to consider various activities so that large
amount of benefits can be easily obtained with the help of this (Pemsel and Wiewiora, 2013). Apart
from this, various stages have to be developed which need to be followed in a proper sequence for
the effective implementation.
1.2 Developing sub-division of project and estimation of resources including cost and time
For effective implementation of customer relationship management project, it is necessary
for management to determine well in advance the range of resources required along with the time
and cost (Mir and Pinnington, 2014). Further, this project has been selected which can easily meet
with an aim of relocation of office. One of the main reasons behind choosing this project is that
through this project, it is possible to meet with the requirement of the company in an appropriate
manner. Moreover, it is well known fact that enhance relationship with target market is one of the
main objectives of every business and therefore, undertaking this type of project can easily bring
favourable results (Ajmal, Helo and Kekäle, 2010). By undertaking this activity, it is possible for
company to focus on its sales along with enhancement in the profitability level. Apart from this,
objective linked with enhancement in the income level of 10% is possible which is also fruitful for
the company. Further, through this system, it is possible for organization to know about actual need
and requirement of the target market and it can surely act as a development tool for the business.
Moreover, it will develop IT system of the company in the most effective manner and overall targets
of the consultancy service provider of the business can be accomplished easily. So, in order to
complete the entire project, time along with resources are important (Koppenjan, Veeneman and
Leijten, 2011). The overall time required for completing this project is 3 months along with the
resources such as human, technological, financial etc. So, the overall cost for the development of
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new system is £ 700.
Illustration 1: Sub-division
of CRM project
ACTIVITY 2
1.3 Evaluation of suitable methodology for chosen project
In order to evaluate the project of CRM in an effective manner, PRINCE 2 as a methodology
will be employed. As per this method, the entire project is segregated into manageable along with
controllable stages (Turner, 2014). This methodology aligns various elements of the work along
with the objectives. On the basis of evaluation, it has been found that this method directly supports
in managing quality of the work and helps in delivering expected outcomes. Apart from this, it
assists in keeping control on the projects and supports in deviation from the aim on the basis of
which project is carried out (Tiwana, 2000).
1.4 Assessment of feasibility of CRM project
Assessment of project is considered to be quite important and before implementation, it is
necessary to know whether project is feasible or not. It has been identified that project of CRM will
totally focus on new technology and will highlight the objectives of the company estimation of right
internal resources and completion of the project aim as per the set budget (White and Fortune,
2002). Apart from this, all the range of resources required for implementation are present within the
workplace along with the cost and due to this reason, project of CRM is highly favourable for the
business and in turn, it can provide additional benefits to the company.
2.1 Structure for the management and administration of the project
For effective implementation of project, it is necessary to develop appropriate structure of
management along with administration so that expected results can be gained easily (Murphy and
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Ledwith, 2007). Further, for this, it is necessary to develop an efficient project team which involves
skilled along with knowledgeable workforce. This team will assist in separating parent organization
from other units. One of the main reasons behind proposing this structure for administration along
with management is that it can help all the members to share common goals which are defined for
the project and clear responsibilities of each and every member can be known easily (Oliver and
Electronic Data Systems Corporation, 1999). Apart from this, every employee can know the
responsibilities assigned to them and in turn, they can work efficiently.
Illustration 2: Structure for the management and administration of CRM project
2.2 Roles and responsibilities of staff who will manage CRM project
In order to carry out the CRM project in an appropriate manner, it is necessary for the entire
company to assign proper roles and responsibilities to the employees so that they can work
efficiently (Rodrigues and Bowers, 1996). Further, the key roles along with duties which will be
assigned to employees are as follows:
 Sharing ideas and other type of important information with the employees so that they can
easily carry out the assigned responsibilities in an appropriate manner.
 Analysing the scope of the project along with additional benefits which it can provide to the
company.
 Following the range of project plan steps and development of related documents in order to
monitor progress of the entire work being carried out (Kerzner, 2013).
 Coordinating and preparing effective plan for carry out all the activities in a proper sequence
 Making effective plan for resources so that situation such as its inadequacy may not arise in
near future.
 Identifying the range of issues faced by other staff members at the time of implementing the
new project (Nummelin, Young and Lanata, 2001).
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Therefore, these are some of the main roles along with responsibilities that are assigned to
staff members during implementation of this project. Further, it is the major duty of management to
ensure that every employee is playing assigned duties in an appropriate manner so that favourable
outcomes can be accomplished easily (Koppenjan, Veeneman and Leijten, 2011). Apart from this,
every individual has to plan actions as per the project requirement so that business enterprise can be
benefited with the help of this in every possible manner and this can bring favourable results.
3.2 Job description and person specification for a Project Manager
Job description
Job Title: Project Manager
Location: Banbury, Oxfordshire
Country: UK
Scope of position: The Project Manager should be responsible for formulation and execution of
CRM system. He should also have knowledge regarding change management methods and
effectively keep control over the project plan.
Key Responsibilities: Project manager should be able to develop a project plan, predict budget
and time needed to accomplished project. He should also be able to use resources in an optimal
mode. In addition to this, he should measure and manage related risks with the project.
Person specification
Job Title: Project Manager
Qualification:
 Graduate in Information Technology field and MBA in Operation from any recognized
university.
 Having maximum 8 years’ experience in project management field.
Interpersonal Skills:
 Decision making
 Good communication skills
 Leadership
 Motivator
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ACTIVITY 3
2.3 Project plan
Attached in Appendix
Illustration 3: Gantt Chart of CRM project
ACTIVITY 4
3.1 Assessment of alternative project team structure
For the proposed CRM project, it is needed to develop a new project team structure.
Evaluation of existing team structure shows that team members reported to more than one senior
members (Wysocki, 2011). This situation has created confusion for them and it has the reason of
miscommunication between the top management and staff. Along with this, project team members
have not any kind of power to take decision without involving the higher management. To
overcome such situations, a new and alternative project team structure is required to be developed.
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3.3 Designing of process for quality management of the project
For CRM project, it is essential to manage quality of entire work because it ensures that
expected outcomes have been delivered to the client or not (Kerzner, 2013). Quality management
can be helpful to manage the quality of entire CRM process. The process of quality management is
given below:
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Illustration 5: Alternative project team structure of CRM project

Illustration 6: Process for quality management
(Source: Quality management process, 2016)
It will help in the management of quality in each step of the process and the deliverables. So,
it will be beneficial for the team to use quality management to complete the CRM process.
3.4 Managing project change proposals
There is a possibility that any change can be occur in the existing project plan of CRM. In
this situation, it is the responsibility of project manager to manage those changes in a right manner
so that impact of modifications can be minimized over project plan (Pemsel and Wiewiora, 2013).
The process of managing project change for CRM project is as follows:
Find scope of change: Project manager has determined the scope of proposed changes. It
has helped to ensure that proposed modifications are in the favour of delivering expected outcomes
of work or not (Mir and Pinnington, 2014).
Identify the impacts of new changes: Here, project manager has explored the impacts of
proposed modifications on different areas such as project plan, resources, budget, scheduling of
activities etc(Ajmal, Helo and Kekäle, 2010). On the basis of this, a change request form has
developed and send to the project control board.
Gain approval or rejection regarding the changes: The rejection or approval process
regarding the changes can be take few days or few weeks. The project board has analysed the
alterations as well as its impact on the different aspects of project plan (White and Fortune, 2002).
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Implementation of changes: After gaining the approval from the project board, the project
manager has communicated the modifications to the team members and carried out the project plan
according to the new changes.
Illustration 7: Change Control Process
(Source: Baxter, 2015)
ACTIVITY 5
4.1 Issues and risks that may impede a project
Table 1: Issues and risks that may impede a project
Issues in a project Explanations
Staffing inadequacies It is a major issue that can be faced at the time of implementing
project plan of CRM in the organization. It may be possible that
project manager may be unable to find skilled staff who can
complete the job duties (De Bruijn and Ten Heuvelhof, 2010).
Unable to track changes It may be possible that project manager has not traced out the
changes with the project plan (Tiwana, 2000). This situation has
created an issue for the work because it directly affects the
expected outcomes.
Poor communication Poor communication is one of the major issues that may impede
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CRM project success. Due to this, project manager is not able to
communicate right and complete information between the staff
members.
Team members are not able to
understand their roles and
responsibilities
There may be a probability that team members do not clearly
understand their roles and responsibilities. It leads to increase the
mistakes and errors in the work and it also affects the expected
outcomes of project.
Risks in a project Explanations
Less executive support Less executive support may be risk for the CRM project because
if top management does not explain the requirement clearly than it
becomes hard to meet the expectations of client.
Improper definition of project
scope
If project manager is not able to define the scope of project then
probability of scope creep may increase and it will affect the
expected deliverables (Burke, 2013).
Ineffective cost management It is risk for the project that may impede a project plan. Ineffective
cost management has increased the situation of mismanagement
of budget and it may go beyond the budget.
Unable to manage changes If project manager is unable to manage change then it may raise
the changes of failure of project plan because it will directly affect
the expected outcomes of work (Ajmal, Helo and Kekäle, 2010).
4.2 Issues and risks likely to be encountered in the final stage of CRM project
Exist of IT expert: It is both issue and risk for CRM project that may be encountered in the
final stage of planning. The impact of this on the work is that project manager will get less time to
recruit IT experience persons (De Bakker, Boonstra and Wortmann, 2010). It will lead to bring
delay in project plan and affect various aspects of project plan.
Lack of coordination between team members: Poor coordination between all the project team
members will raise the chances of mistakes in the work and it will affect the final outcomes of the
project plan (Murphy and Ledwith, 2007). It will also create because of miscommunication among
the team members.
Breakdown in experimental equipment: At the final stage when developed system is
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checked by project team, it may be possible that breakdown in experiment machine can occur
(Rodrigues and Bowers, 1996). It will bring delay in completion of the project.
4.3 Designing of monitoring and appraising the status of a project
With the time of completion of every stage of CRM project, project manager needs to design
a monitoring and appraising system to know about the status of work (De Bruijn and Ten
Heuvelhof, 2010). Some methods of monitoring and appraising the progress of project are as
follows:
Documentation: With proper documentation of every step of project plan of CRM system, it
can be easy to compare actual outcome with the expected results. On the basis of this, project
manager can monitor and appraise the status of following project.
Meetings: By organizing meetings with project team members, status of CRM project can
be monitored and appraised in an effective manner. Information delivered by the team members
helps the project manager to ensure the status of work and take mitigation actions to keep the plan
on track.
Define roles and responsibilities: By clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of project
team members, the project manager can track the progress of project plan in terms of monitoring
and appraising the work and ensure that it has meet the expectations of clients or not.
5.1 Detecting and managing issues arising in the course of projects
At the time of implementation of CRM project, there are some issues that can arise in the
course of projects which can affect the progress of the project. In order to deal with these issues,
risk mitigation activities can be proposed:
Table 2: Detecting and managing issues arising in CRM project
Issues Solutions
Lack of resources Resources should be efficiently used.
Work breakdown plan can be used for allocating resource
in an effective manner (Nummelin, Young and Lanata,
2001).
Setting priorities can be helpful.
Choosing appropriate team It is essential to complete the CRM process in the given
time frame (Pemsel and Wiewiora, 2013).
Team should consist of specialists who can perform the
tasks according to their skills and competency.
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Modifications in final stage Change Request Model can be used to make modifications
in the CRM process.
It will make it easier for the team to make changes in the
process easily (Kerzner, 2013).
These changes can be made without affecting any of its
deliverables.
ACTIVITY 6
5.2 Assessment of the tasks needed to be completed in the final stages of a project
There are certain activities which are required in the final stage of a project. Some of these
activities are given below:
 Evaluation and comparison of actual work with the planned process in order to find out
variations in the process. It will help the team to know whether the project is successful or
not (De Bruijn and Ten Heuvelhof, 2010).
 Feedbacks and discussions meetings can be used for the assessment of team performance. It
should be carried out by CRM project manager when the entire project is completed. It will
give results about the learning of each team member.
 All the details and information of CRM project should be recorded. It can be used as a
reference in the future projects (Burke, 2013). It can help the team as work can be done
within less time and efforts.
 Furthermore, after the final stage of CRM process, project scope should be computed. It will
help in measuring outcome of the entire process (Ajmal, Helo and Kekäle, 2010).
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that project management is essential for CRM
system. Feasibility study process reflects that proposed project is suitable for Consultancy Company
and it will help them to achieve their business objectives. There are various activities which have
been carried out at the final stage of the work. There can be certain issues which may arise in the
implementation of the project. These have to be modified for the successful completion of the
project.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ajmal, M., Helo, P. and Kekäle, T., 2010. Critical factors for knowledge management in project
business. Journal of knowledge management. 14(1). pp.156-168.
Blomquist, T., Hällgren, M. and Söderholm, A., 2010. Project‐as‐practice: In search of project
management research that matters. Project Management Journal. 41(1). pp.5-16.
Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.
De Bakker, K., Boonstra, A. and Wortmann, H., 2010. Does risk management contribute to IT
project success? A meta-analysis of empirical evidence. International Journal of Project
Management. 28(5). pp.493-503.
De Bruijn, H. and Ten Heuvelhof, E., 2010. Process management: why project management fails in
complex decision making processes. Springer Science & Business Media.
Kerzner, H. R., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Knudson, J.G., Vivian, W.L. and Crego, M.S., Mci Corporation, 1998. Dynamic project
management system.
Koppenjan, J., Veeneman, W. and Leijten, M., 2011. Competing management approaches in large
engineering projects: The Dutch RandstadRail project. International Journal of Project
Management. 29(6). pp.740-750.
Mir, F. A. and Pinnington, A. H., 2014. Exploring the value of project management: linking project
management performance and project success. International Journal of Project
Management. 32(2). pp.202-217.
Murphy, A. and Ledwith, A., 2007. Project management tools and techniques in high-technology
SMEs. Management Research News. 30(2). pp.153-166.
Nummelin, J., Young, M. and Lanata, J., 2001. Distributed project management system and method.
Oliver, M. E., Electronic Data Systems Corporation, 1999. System and method for project
management and assessment. U.S. Patent 5,907,490.
Pemsel, S. and Wiewiora, A., 2013. Project management office a knowledge broker in project-based
organisations. International Journal of Project Management. 31(1). pp.31-42.
Rodrigues, A. and Bowers, J., 1996. The role of system dynamics in project management.
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Tiwana, A., 2000. The knowledge management toolkit: practical techniques for building a
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knowledge management system. Prentice Hall PTR.
Turner, J. R., 2014. The handbook of project-based management. McGraw-hill.
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Quality management process. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.renesas.com/products/common_info/reliability/en/improvement/process/
index.jsp>. [Accessed on 6th June, 2016].
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<https://vgpblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/generating-value-by-creating-a-change-control-
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APPENDIX
Project plan
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
CRM project 66 days Mon 06-06-16 Mon 05-09-16
Initiation 6 days Mon 06-06-16 Mon 13-06-16
Identify requirements 4 days Mon 06-06-16 Thu 09-06-16
Developing teams 2 days Fri 10-06-16 Mon 13-06-16 3
Planning 13 days Fri 10-06-16 Tue 28-06-16
Develop prototype of
system 10 days Fri 10-06-16 Thu 23-06-16 3
Division of roles and
responsibilities 3 days Fri 24-06-16 Tue 28-06-16 4,6
Implementation 28 days Wed 29-06-16 Fri 05-08-16
Code development 18 days Wed 29-06-16 Fri 22-07-16 7
Preparing model 5 days Mon 25-07-16 Fri 29-07-16 9
Testing 5 days Mon 01-08-16 Fri 05-08-16 10
Closer 21 days Mon 08-08-16 Mon 05-09-16
Documentation 10 days Mon 08-08-16 Fri 19-08-16 11
Post Implementation
review 10 days Mon 22-08-16 Fri 02-09-16 13
Handover 1 day Mon 05-09-16 Mon 05-09-16 14
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