Project Management Portfolio: EBTH International Expansion

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This portfolio analyzes EBTH's international expansion using various project management methodologies.

PORTFOLIO OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ACTIVITIES
For the firm Everything But The House (EBTH)
1

Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
TASK 1 PROJECT INITIATION DOCUMENT (PID).............................................................................4
PROJECT SCOPE..........................................................................................................................4
PROJECT GOALS/ OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................4
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS............................................................................................................5
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PROJECT...............................................................................5
GANTT CHART................................................................................................................................7
COMMUNICATION PLAN............................................................................................................... 9
RISK EVALUATION........................................................................................................................ 10
COST BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS......................................................................................................12
GROUP WORK.............................................................................................................................. 13
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 17
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................18
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INTRODUCTION
The aim of this study is to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the vital issues of
market expansion from domestic to the international market. The study understands issues
surrounding the development of information systems that are helpful in the approaches that
the company EBTH undertakes to understand the approaches to managing projects. The project
demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the phases in information system project
management. The tools which can be made to use to accomplish the project and assist in
information system project management are included in the research including the use of
appropriate industry standards and information system project management software (Yuan et
al., 2013).
3

TASK 1 PROJECT INITIATION DOCUMENT (PID)
This document is created to make aware the participants and stakeholders associated with the
company EBTH to inform about the core attributes of the project. The Project Initiation
Document is the document that outlines the document plan and chalks out the direction of the
plan by informing all the persons associated with the project aware of the project’s beginning,
change of direction and business objectives. Some essential components of the PID are stated
as follows-
PROJECT SCOPE
The scope of the project is huge as the company EBTH has been doing immensely good on the
home ground. The company started as a native in Cincinnati and now has expanded to 22 states
within the US within a very short time which is a remarkable achievement for the company. The
plan to go international and cater to the international audience is a great path that the
company is taking as the fame of the company has travelled across borders. The company had
started with only $8 million in sales in 2012 to $70 million in the year 2016 shows the trajectory
of the company's success. The company ships to all parts of the US and now will ship to all parts
of the world (Salvioni, 2010).
PROJECT GOALS/ OBJECTIVES
The project goals and objectives are as follows-
 The project goals and objectives of the company EBTH is to expand internationally and
deliver products to other countries where persons are bidding their products
 To improve the logistics supply and to create more warehouses so that the procurement
of goods and services is feasible.
 To improve the supply chain and develop effective mechanisms for delivering the goods
to persons in a quicker and more responsive manner.
 To enable the shipping process to almost all parts of the world and deliver products and
to improve the infrastructure of the shipping side of the business.
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These are the primary key objectives of the company EBTH to expand its sales to cater to the
international audience. The company has made these objectives to expand company sales in
order to enable the bidding process to all consumers in any part of the world.
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
The stakeholders of the company are those persons who are affected by the organization’s
actions in any way major or minor. The stakeholders are affected by the organization’s actions,
objectives, policies and future plans. Some examples of the stakeholders of EBTH Company are
creditors, directors, employees, government, and owners like shareholders, suppliers, unions
and communities from where the company draws its resources. The stakeholder analysis
shows that the shareholders and the owners of the company are benefitted if the company
expands internationally (Yuan et al., 2013).
The stakeholder management process includes-
1) Identifying all stakeholders within the environment
2) Documenting the stakeholder needs and classify the business objectives according to
the role of stakeholders within the business
3) Assessing the influence of the stakeholder on the business and the interest of the
stakeholder in the business.
4) To manage and fulfil stakeholder expectations about the company and to work in that
direction to achieve the tasks expected of stakeholders
5) Taking actions and setting targets for stakeholder benefit (Cincera and Ravet, 2014)
6) Reviewing the status of each stakeholder and his contribution to the business.
These are the points covered in the stakeholder management theory and must be addressed by
EBTH Company in order to expand its business across borders.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PROJECT
The roles and responsibilities of the new project are to expand the business to new territory so
that the customer base can be expanded and that company establishes its presence all over the
world. The company focuses on creating SMART goals which are Specific, Measurable,
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Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. The goals for expanding to a new area also include
understanding the culture, diversity and business norms in the foreign country. EBTH Company
must do extensive research to search for procurement areas, tie-ups with suppliers who will
supply the goods to the consumers and enhance its logistics and shipping sector to enable the
shipping all over the world. This will expand the company’s business and will also strengthen
the company’s worldwide presence (Stone, 2013).
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GANTT CHART
The Gantt chart is created to divide the tasks that the company has to achieve in the
completion of the project. The Gantt chart gives a direction to the company’s project and keeps
all the stakeholders on the same page. The persons associated with the project can be informed
about the undertakings of the company. The Gantt chart for the company is as follows-
Activities Week 1 Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Brainstorming ideas
to
Selection of locations
of service
Preparing aims and
objectives
Preparing Project
Initiation Document
Identifying logistics
and supply chain
management in
countries
Meta-analysis
Understanding
business cultures and
norms of business
Tie-ups with suppliers
and logistics
companies
Assigning HR to hire
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persons
Uplifting technology
to manage the bulk
Recommendations
Evaluation
This is the Gantt chart created for the business plan of EBTH Company which plans to upscale its
brand by allowing international clients to bid and claim the product, service or property. The
Gantt chart is a helpful tool to set the direction for the company and achieve the targets of the
business on time (Yuan et al., 2013).
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COMMUNICATION PLAN
The communication plan is the plan set to create an effective plan for communicating with all
the persons associated with the business.
Stakeholder Information Method Time of
frequency
Sender
Logistics and Supply
Chain Management
The locations where
the company plans to
expand
Meetings Within next week Senior
management
Government Permission and
licenses to operate in
the host country
Documentation
and meeting
Within a week Project co-
coordinators
R&D Department They have to research
and update the
technology
Meetings and
email
Daily Basis Management
Suppliers To inform about the
latest locations for
delivering goods
Phone calls and
tracking
through GPS
Monthly HR Department
Shareholders About the latest
developments in the
project
Internet and
phone calls
Daily Management
Table 1- Communication plan for the company EBTH
Source- (Rosen, 2012)
This is the communication plan that is set for the company to expand its sales in foreign
countries. The EBTH should stick to this communication plan to effectively manoeuvre the
project in a successful direction.
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RISK EVALUATION
The evaluation of risks is imperative as no project is devoid of any risk. Risk assessment allows
the company to assess the risks that can be a part of the project. The risks that EBTH Company
may face during its expansion to deliver products internationally are tabulated below with their
degree of probability (Soleymani, 2011).
Risk ID Risk
Statement
Probability Impact Score Response
Scope Qualit
y
Schedule Cost
1. Change in
policy
0.4 06 0.9 0.3 0.1 0.04
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Implementation
of the change
2. Time delay
risks
0.5 0.8 0.2 0.7 0.2 0.09
2
Faster
operations
3. Operational
risks
0.6 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.8 0.05
2
HR support
4 Technological
risks
0.2 0.6 0.9 0.6 0.5 0.08
4
Implying the
latest technical
skills
5. Non-co-
operation of
government
0.4 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.78 Changing policy
according to
the government
plan
The risks that pertain to the organization are as follows-
o Change in Policy- Change in policy means that the policy governing the project or the
policies of operation in the host country or home country change then they will have an
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impact on the project continuity and success. This is a risk as if the policies change in
the middle of project completion then the project director will have to be altered to suit
the policies and appease the stakeholders (Ansari and Rahimi-Kian, 2015).
o Time Delay risks- The risks of time delay are when there are chances that the project
will not be completed on time. There can be delays in the project due to various
reasons like technology up gradation and manual training is taking time, delay in the
suppliers and contractors mutual agreement, permission and license obtaining is taking
time and so on. To bring all the functions working at the same time is not possible as
each task takes its own time. Hence there can be a delay in the time and patience is
required from the side of management to deal with the delay in the coming together of
processes (Lambrecht and Tucker, 2013).
o Operational risk- The operations department of the company deals with the monitoring
of the everyday tasks that happen in the company. The operations unit looks after the
day to day tasks happening in the company EBTH like supply of the products, effective
and competitive bid prices for the goods and uploading newer goods and services for
sale on the company site. The risks that can be felt from the operations department is
that if the operations unit is not up to the mark then it will not be able to monitor the
facilities and services of the company effectively which will result in chaos. The
inefficiency of the operations unit means that there is no one to watch over the
company's actions and that the workers are doing the work how they feel. This is also a
risk to the company as the competency of the operations unit matters a lot (Rosen,
2012).
o Technological risks- The technological risks that can hinder the project completion are
also impending. Technological risks include the inefficiency of the company to meet up
with the latest technological advancements that are happening in the world. Since
EBTH is a company that operates online where the products are bid and sold all on the
internet, the site has to be updated at all times. The company has efficient technicians
and software developers who update the site multiple times. The company also has
many beta testers who test the version of the site before it is made public. The
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technological up-gradation of the website is very important as the majority of the
functions of the site are done online and through technology (Yuan et al., 2013).
o Non-co-operation of the government- Sometimes the government does not co-operate
with the company in its expansion or other projects which also poses as a risk to the
company. The co-operation as the government is also vital for the company especially
when it plans to expand to other regions that require business operation permission
and licensing to do business without any threat. This risk can be minimised by
convincing of the authorities that the business is safe, legal and that it will generate
employment in the host country. The business is not involved in any illegal practices
and that it follows the best ethical practices has to be made in written (Stange and
Funk, 2014).
These are the probable risks that may affect the company’s project management. The risks
should be watched out for during the operation of the business plan.
COST BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS
The cost breakdown analysis is a method that gives a value to each component participating in
the project completion and success. The items in the project are itemized called the cost
drivers. Costs can be divided as direct costs and indirect costs. The most common costs that
incur in a project are labour costs, raw materials and subcontracting costs. These are the
components within the business so business has direct control over these expenses. The basic
expenses that occur in the business project are as follows-
Types of Cost Amount (in $)
Labour 10,000
Material 20,000
Conversion Costs
Manufacturing costs
Utilities
Maintenance costs
6,000
1,240
1,000
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