Project Management: Dream Vacation Project Analysis and Planning

This project management assignment analyzes a dream vacation to Switzerland, focusing on applying project management principles to a personal goal. The project defines objectives, including exploring tourist destinations within a five-day timeframe and a $3,000 budget. The scope statement outlines deliverables like the vacation's activity list, essential arrangements, and milestones, such as departure and return dates. Stakeholder analysis identifies the travel agent and hotel authority as key players, assessing their project impact. A priority matrix (Tic-tac-toe grid) emphasizes time as the primary constraint, optimizing cost while accepting the scope. The project also discusses the importance of organizational skills and provides a basic overview of managing actual projects, evaluating schedule, budget, and quality. The assignment demonstrates how to manage projects, which is essential for enhancing knowledge and professional skills.

1. Definitions and Introduction
1.1. Definition of project management:
Project management is a process, which plan, develop and execute strategies, which
include initiation, planning, execution, and controlling and closing project activities through
joint effort of project team so that specific goal and objective of the project is achieved
(Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017).
Here in this project to execute the dream vacation plan various activities are defined
which include arrangement for flight ticket, boarding hotel in the destination, exploring
various important destinations of the tourist spot and then depart from there once vacation is
finished. These activities needs to be completed within approved timeline and budget. Hence,
this requires an accurate planning and execution of that planning for executing the project
successfully. This is known as project management, which provides context for managing
project ideas and execution for completing project goal and objectives.
1.2. The Yin and Yang concept of project management:
The Yin and Yang concept of project management is to keep an appropriate balance
between project best strategy and project risk.
For example, in this project, best strategy is to organize the vacation within time and
budget, which is Yang, whether affecting vacation experience for maintaining project time
and budget, is a risk in the project, which is Yin. Hence balance between is required for
project success.
1.3. Introduction and context to dream vacation assignment:
This project is about a dream vacation project for exploring various tourist
destinations in Switzerland, which is a favourite destination for many tourist. The project
requires arranging travel facilities and lodging facility in Switzerland so that the vacation is
according to the plan and without any issue.
A project is an collection of various activities that needs to be executed properly and
in proper sequence so that the defined objective and goal is achieved (Marcelino-Sádaba,
González-Jaen & Pérez-Ezcurdia, 2015)
Three important characteristics of the project are the following:
 Time: project plan requires to follow specified project schedule. Project requires to
follow this specified schedule for completing the project. Designing a proper project
schedule and execute project activities is an important characteristic of any project
(Harrison & Lock, 2017).
 Cost: cost is an important aspect of any project and without required financial
resources, it is not possible to compete a project. Hence, having a well-planned budget
and adhering to that budget is an essential characteristic of any project (Kerzner &
Kerzner, 2017).
 Performance: project always integrate a performance matrix to analyze project
outcome and compare that with predefined project performance matrix. Designing
and integration of project performance matrix is an essential characteristic of project
(Marcelino-Sádaba, González-Jaen & Pérez-Ezcurdia, 2015).

In relation to this three important characteristic of a project, the dream vacation
project considered in this context is analysed.
Project schedule, which is an important characteristic of project, is valid for this
project as well. This project needs to be only 5 days long and the tour should not extend this
timeframe.
Project always has a fixed budget, which might be flexible in some cases. However,
in this project, a hypothetical budget $3,000 cash (Canadian) is assigned and this project
needs to be executed within this budget as well.
Project always integrate a quality matrix and for this project, a quality matrix is
defined as well. Success of this project will be compared with these performance criteria.
1.4. Importance of the project for personal strategy and goal:
This project according to me will be beneficial for me in various aspects and this will
provide me opportunities to improve various aspects that I have decided for me both in
personal and professional context.
This project will provide me organisational skills, as I needs to organise various
activities for this vacation such as selecting travel agency, travelling to abroad, stay there also
come back after vacation. All of these things have to be arranged properly and this will help
me organizing other activities in life that requires organisational skills.
Along with this, this vacation will also be helpful for me from professional context as
well. Although this project is not a big one, this will provide me an opportunity to get a basic
overview of managing actual projects, which is different from learning that concept from
textbooks as it, only provide theoretical knowledge. However, this project will help to me to
identify how to evaluate project schedule and budget and mange project with that constraints
while marinating quality of the project. As I aspire to become a project manager in my
professional carrier, this is an opportunity for me to learn concept of project management
through execution of actual projects, which is important for enhancing knowledge and
professional skills.
2. Scope Statement
2.1. Project objectives:
 To visit Switzerland for vacation and explore various important tourist destination
such as Matterhorn, Zermatt, Swiss National Park, Lake Geneva and surrounding
cities. The project is about to explore the natural beauty of the country for which the
country is famous for
 To complete the vacation within the approved time.
 To keep the budget for the project within the limit for budget allocated
2.2. Three main deliverables:
 Limit of budget and time for vacation
 Activity list in the vacation
 Essential things to be arranged for this vacation
2.3. Three main milestones:

Project activities Start date End date
Departure from the airport and
reaching destination
25/05/2019 25/05/2019
Staying in Switzerland and
exploring the planned
destinations
26/05/2019 28/05/2019
Leaving Switzerland and
coming to the native town
29/05/2019 29/05/2019
2.4. Technical requirement, limitation and exclusion:
Technical requirement: to evaluate available resources for the project including project
budget and organize the vacation accordingly
Limitation:
Ton finish the vacation within five days, which might affect travel experience in terms of
tourist destination visited
Exclusion:
Budget for shopping during the vacation is not included in the project scope
3. Stakeholder Analysis
Two project
stakeholders
Relation with the project Project
impact on
stakeholder
Description
Travel agent Travel agent will make all the
arrangement that will be required for
going to Switzerland such as booking
tickets, booking hotel and providing visa
and return flight for departure from the
destination. Hence, travel agent is an
important stakeholder for the project
Positive monetary benefit
Hotel
authority in
Switzerland
Provide accommodation and food in this
vacation in Switzerland
Positive monetary benefit
4. Priority Matrix
Priority Matrix (Tic-tac-toe grid)

Constrain Optimize Accept
Scope X
Cost X
Time X
Time is the highest priority here as the project has to be finished with five days and
hence this has been identified as project constraint and hence included in the constraint
column. Cost is included in the optimize column which means that the cost of the project will
be optimized while keeping time for completing the project constrained. Hence this means
that the scope of the project is considered in the accept column of the priority matrix while
time for completing the project is still considered in constraint column and the project will try
to optimize the cost considered in the optimization column.
Hence, this shows that this is not possible to consider time, cost and the scope at the
same time.

References:
Harrison, F., & Lock, D. (2017). Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Li, P. P. (2016). Global implications of the indigenous epistemological system from the East:
how to apply Yin-Yang balancing to paradox management. Cross Cultural &
Strategic Management, 23(1), 42-77.
Marcelino-Sádaba, S., González-Jaen, L. F., & Pérez-Ezcurdia, A. (2015). Using project
management as a way to sustainability. From a comprehensive review to a framework
definition. Journal of cleaner production, 99, 1-16.