ENG8208: Engineering Project Review and Development Plan - USQ

This document presents a comprehensive analysis of three engineering projects (A, B, and C) within the context of BGC construction organization, addressing their features, potential risks, and strategic alignment. Project A focuses on developing an asset management information system, highlighting issues like scope changes and poor change control. Project B involves facility development in a remote area, facing challenges such as component supply delays and cost overruns. Project C concerns infrastructure implementation, complicated by environmental concerns and stakeholder opposition. The review assesses each project's coherence with organizational strategy, stakeholder engagement, and potential environmental impacts, further providing a development plan to address the identified shortcomings and improve project outcomes. The document also includes a report for the board of directors and an essay discussing the impact of changes in engineering project implementation and delivery processes.

Project management

Table of Contents
Question 1 (a).............................................................................................................................1
1. The nominated projects..........................................................................................................1
2. Features of the selected projects............................................................................................2
3. Review of projects..................................................................................................................5
4. Development plan for projects............................................................................................10
QUESTION 1(B) REPORT FOR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.......................................14
QUESTION2: ESSAY.............................................................................................................18
Abstract................................................................................................................................18
Introduction..........................................................................................................................18
Discussion............................................................................................................................18
Impact of changes in engineering project implementation and delivery process................21
Knowledge and skills needed for engineering project manager for active development and
management of the project in the future..............................................................................23
Conclusion............................................................................................................................24
References................................................................................................................................25

Question 1 (a)
1. The nominated projects
According to given scenario, the organization is operating business in engineering
sector and offering the services related to construction and asset management. The board of
members of organization has offered the three different projects to increase the performance
and operational efficiency to meet the objectives of clients more customized manner. There
are total five projects in the program and two out of the five well towards satisfactory results
and remaining three are requiring attention. Following are the remaining projects that going
to be completed by project management organization:
Project A:
Project A is a small but complex project as it involves the sub-systems to develop the
asset management information system for organization. The BGC construction organization
is looking to handover the project to the specialized organization in project management that
has good knowledge about the IT-related project development as well information technology
for staff. The aim of project team would be a successful delivery of project by considering all
requirements of a client organization (Fuller and et al., 2017. Para 2). As per the given
scenario, the small project does not have well-defined directions and senior management is
looking for changes in the scope of managing the internal process of BGC construction
organization. In the project, numerous change control procedure are poor that need to be
fixed by the project manager to resolve the issues of the client organization.
Project B:
The second project is related to the development of facility in a remote area for the
BGC construction organization. The project is based on Earned value analysis and it shows
that the project is not achieving its planned cost and targets. For managing the project
operations and development of the facility, the organization has arranged specialized major
components from international suppliers. The issue that are affecting this project progress is
the delay in supply of components which may not be manufactured and transported by sea
according to a schedule of the project. However, the organization has ordered the components
several months ago but the delay in supply influencing the cost and time of completing the
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project. The project manager will look to identify the gaps and purpose of the project to
manage the risk and meet the defined outcome (Harrison and Lock, 2017, Para. 6). The
frequent changes in financial outcome and lack of skilled labour are one of the major
problems for the organization to meet the objectives of engineering discipline.
Project C:
This project is a planning, design and implementation of infrastructure for the BGC
construction organization. The residents of areas are concerned with the impact of the project
for a slow-growing orchid that has potential medicinal value. The residents are more concern
about the implementation of rules and regulations for protecting environment and
management of waste control for the project. The development of property and destruction of
bush land will change the fabric of the region and create the threat to society (Gollenia, 2016,
Para 7). The organization is taking consult from Citizen Action Committee which determines
to prevent the project from succeeding that is also well funded and ready for any court battle.
These kinds of threats are affecting the progress of the project to meet the satisfactory
outcome. According to given scenario, the major areas of lacking for this particular project
are sustainability, stakeholder management and development of infrastructure in the
environmentally sensitive area. The alternative of this project is also controversial and the
delay in the project will cause additional $3 million.
Organization:
The board of director of the BGC construction organization has changed and the new
directors are concern about development and achievement of strategic direction by focusing
on business cases and well-defined project charters. The aim of the board to minimize risks in
the project as well manages the project according to engineering discipline of the
organization. The stakeholder management practices of the organization are also poor and
influencing the business objectives of the organization to commit the sustainable project
management practices.
2. Features of the selected projects
Project A:
The current project of developing an asset management information system for the
BGC construction organization is going to help in the achievement of the strategic direction
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of the organization for increasing the planning, collection, analysis and sharing of the data
internally. The objective of developing and implementing this technical system is to improve
the communication among staff and encourage the capacity of the organization to make
optimum utilization of resources at the workplace (Heagney, 2016, Para 10). According to
given scenario, the cost of project A is $3 million and estimated time of completing all tasks
is one year. The work of the project is already started and current expenditure is 35%. The
quality standards that considered for developing asset management information system are
ISO 9001 that involve design, components, development and implementation of the whole
system. The project team and board of directors are concern about quality in information
technology system. The key stakeholders of this project are a project manager, team
members, and staff of the organization, supplier as well, owner (Freeman and et al., 2017, pp.
1-12).
The project manager will try to engage all stakeholders in managing tasks more
customized manner and achievement of objectives by anticipating their interest and capacity.
Additionally, the risk in the project is related to scheduling of tasks, engagement of
stakeholders as poor coordination with them is affecting quality and progress of the system.
The project of developing asset management system will not affect the surrounding and
social environment. The project is large and involves various subsystems that need to be
integrated with the main server for managing the flow of information and collection of data.
The involvement of numerous phases in project and subsystem is increasing the level of
complexity and creating a threat for project management team to achieve the objectives
(Kaiser and et al., 2015, pp. 126-139). In spite of that, factors like changes in scope lack of
change control request and lack of communication in sharing of information affect the
progress. To overcome these issues, coordination and planning is essential for the project
team.
Project B:
The development of facility in the remote area is coherence with the strategic
direction of the BGC construction organization that includes the improvement in engineering
functions and encourages the planning and execution of the plan. The estimated cost and time
of project B is $8 million and 2 years. The project team will look forward to completing the
project within given time and cost that will help to increase their brand value and meet the
satisfaction level of the client organization. The organization has made ordered for
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components that used for developing facility in the remote area of the organization as per the
required quality that include the various software and hardware (Joslin and Müller, 2016, pp
364-388). According to given case, the project of developing facility in the remote area is 25
% completed. The major issues that identified in the project are lack of monitoring and
control over functions that affect the cost of the project. For the project, key stakeholders are
employees of the organization, investors, project manager and supplier from overseas
locations. As per the Earned Value analysis, the development of facility in the remote area is
having risks of changes in exchange rate, lacking in scheduling, planning of cost and unstable
financial conditions (Kelly and Chisholm, 2017, pp, 126-139).
The project manager is also aware of these issues and looking to develop the strategy
that supports to manage the issues for successful completion of the project. The development
of facility in the remote area will not affect the environmental and social condition. The
management of information through the remote area will increase the effectiveness of
organization and support to meet the business objectives. This project does not involve
various stages and subsystem for developing the facility in a remote area that lower the level
of complexity and maintain a fixing process. However, the lacking in scheduling and
planning of the activities of the project as well delay in the supply of components from
overseas locations in influencing standards and cost of the project (Kerzner, 2017, Para. 8). In
addition to this, issues of expensive labor and development of advanced technical areas are a
big task for the project team to maintain high quality in operations. The integration of project
changes with the scope and lack of flow in funds for managing tasks. The development of
remote area facility is requiring the use of advanced technology and knowledge to manage
the operations of the organization as per the strategic direction of the BGC construction
organization. The significant factors of the project involve consideration of the negative
impact on staff members and stakeholder to maintain the relationship (Lock, 2017, Para. 14).
Project C:
The key feature of project C which is for planning, design and implementation of
infrastructure include improvement in monitoring and control over organizational activities.
The BGC organization is looking for advanced technical support and improvement in the
planning of business case objectives. The cost of this project is $20 million and completion
time is four years. The project team will follow ISO 9001 standards for managing quality and
meet the satisfaction level of client organization this kind of approach will help to encourage
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the functionality of the project. The completion percentage is not mentioned in the case
scenario but the project is going under the supervision of project team which looking to meet
the strategic direction of client organization as per their engineering discipline (Martin, and
Haggerty, 2017, Para. 11). The key stakeholders of this particular project are the employee of
the organization, project manager, supplier and investors that are taking active participation
in planning and implementation of the project. The risk factors that involve in the project of
development and implementation of infrastructure involve lack of analysis and consideration
of stakeholder needs, negative impact to the environment, high labor rate as well health and
safety of workers at the site (Medina and Medina, 2014, pp. 1459-1470).
Moreover, the governing risk like approval from Citizen Action Committee can also
influence the working discipline of the organization. Apart from that, the impact of this
project on the environment is vital as the use of resources and improper management of waste
material could affect the environmental condition and impact the social living environment
for local people. The level of complexity is high for this project as it involves large numbers
of stakeholders and estimated time is long. The factors that required to be considered for
managing the project successfully are the management of human resources, proper
consideration of needs of stakeholders and citizen committee to improve the sustainability of
the project. If the project team considered these objectives in the proposed manner will help
to increase the effectiveness of the project (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017, Para. 21). In addition
to this, the integration of project involves analysis and change in project scope, planning and
forecasting of cost for upcoming years to meet the quality. The significant factors of the
project design, planning and implementation of infrastructure involve medicinal value,
changes in social fabric and bush land destruction. The use of alternative route will be
controversial and increase the cost up to $3 million which will be not paid by the BGC
construction organization (Sánchez, 2015, pp. 319-330).
3. Review of projects
Project A:
The project is designed and developed for implementing the asset management
information system for the organization that is helpful for managing the engineering
discipline. The main objectives developing this project are to improve the change control
procedure and increase the capabilities of the organization by using the information
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technology. The BGC construction organization is facing the issue in managing the staff. By
developing the asset management information system the project team will help the
organization to improve the monitoring system that will compile with the subsystems of the
organization. The implementation of advanced technology system will help to encourage
sharing of data and collection of an information system for future decision making (Meng,
and Boyd, 2017, pp. 717-728). The board members are focusing on requirements and
improvement in the efficiency of staff members that will help to increase coordination among
staff members. For the development and implementation of the system, the role of
stakeholders is important as they will provide input for integrating the internal subsystems of
the BGC organization.
The risk factors that are having the influence of requirements of development and
implementation of the system include the changes in scope and scheduling of the tasks. The
changes in requirements and scope are affecting the planning of the project as well the time
of delivery of the project. The project manager is not able to develop a plan for managing the
tasks as well allocation of role and responsibilities to team members as changes in scope
influencing the acceptance (Pace, 2017, Para. 32). The lack of communication and
engagement of stakeholder are major issues that might shape the planning of the asset
management information system. For engagement of stakeholder the project manager and
board members will conduct a meeting which will help to analyze their interest and develop
the plan accordingly. This kind of approach will help to increase the success rate of project
and integration of the system. Accordingly to given scenario, the communication level of
staff and senior management is low that affecting initial planning and development of the
plan.
The consideration of project management principles for the current project will help
to increase the sustainability and project structure. This task is conduct by project manager as
vision and mission of the BGC organization. The business case of engineering organization
involves improvement in client satisfaction by timely delivery of products and services
(Taylor, 2016, pp. 29). For that purpose, development of information technology system is
essential that increase the efficiency and communication among staff members. In addition to
this quality and standards of the project are considered as the highest priority. The
consideration of vision of organization in development and implementation of the system will
increase the transparency in project planning and structuring of activities. The outcome of
this project is craft improvement in communication and sharing of data with employees. The
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quality standards that considered for this project is ISO 9001 as well aligned with the
strategic direction of the organization (Thiry, 2016, Para. 27).
A good process for managing changes is essential for maintaining the quality of the
project. The change control process is needed for a baseline that can be big, small and
complex. The change control process is agreed before baseline and communicated to all
stakeholders. Moreover, the change control process is backed up by the clearly defined
policies that enforce the consistency in the project. However, sustainability of the project is
good as the project is 35% completed and meeting the quality standards required by the
organization but the lack of coordination and stakeholder management might affect the
overall project outcome for developing asset management information system.
Project B:
This project is related to craft improvement and development of facility in the remote
area to manage the operations of the engineering organization. According to earned value
analysis, the project is not achieving its planned objectives and determined targets. Now, a
task for a project manager is to identify the issues and develop the facility according to needs
and expectations of the BGC organization. The project charter involves delivery of project
according to standards and quality that satisfy the expectations of the engineering
organization. As per the given scenario, the project requires specialized components that are
ordered from overseas suppliers but the delay in delivery of these components is affecting
delivery and cost of the project (Vijayasarathy and Butler, 2016, pp. 86-94). Board members
have sated the orders three months ago but delay in transportation through road and sea has
affected the process. The project plan involves consideration project management principles
such as the use of ISO 9001 standards and intervention and execution of strategy by
analyzing the gaps. The major gaps in this project of developing facility in remote areas are
the engagement of stakeholder and management of quality that meets their interest. The
project manager has taken the note for requirements and distribution of project meeting
minutes for developing the action plan. The plan for managing activities will support project
structure and alignment of operations with the strategic direction of the engineering
organization (Webb, 2017, Para. 24).
The issues that might affect project planning and development involve lack of labor,
the price of human resources and delay in the supply of the resources. Moreover, the risks
that are increasing time and cost of the project of developing facility in a remote area are
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changes in the exchange rate, lack of financial resources and management of stakeholders.
These are creating barriers for a project manager to complete the tasks in the estimated time.
The delay in supply of components is also hampering the achievement of goals and maintains
the quality. For project manager it is important to analyze these issues and develop the plan to
improve the sustainability of the project as well develops the structure (Bryson, 2017, Para.
31). The proper scheduling is required for managing operation and integration of project.
However, the project is 25% completed till now but the gaps in integrations are affecting the
compliance of project with the business case of an organization. The organization is looking
to maintain high quality and optimum utilization of resources for developing the facility in
remote areas.
To fulfill the requirements of organization the project manager needs to engage the
stakeholders and manage the impact of environment and society. The strategy that
organization could use for managing operations the effective change control process
implementation is essential. The change control process for this project will be a focus on
identification of formal changes that could be made in the project as well analysis of their
impact. These changes and impact will be communicated to all stakeholders and look for
their approval. For the approval, a formal process will be followed by the project manager
that helps in the scheduling of tasks and resources. As the work managed according to
schedule the manager will track the new changes requirements by analyzing the supply of the
elements (Carvalho and Rabechini, 2017, pp. 1120-1132). The last stage of change control
process for this particular project will be the implementation of changes in design and formal
management process. This kind of approach will help to manage project activities according
to terms of cost, time and quality that requested by the engineering organization. In order to
make the decisions, the communication among stakeholders is essential that will increase the
reliability and validity of the system.
Project C:
This project is based on the development of design, plan and implementation of
infrastructure for BGC construction engineering organization. The aim of this project is to
improve the services and communication with the clients. From this project, the client
organization is looking to increase the level of business and expansion of services at overseas
locations. The business case of this project is based on significant utilization of property to
increase the services of the organization. The planning of project will be the focus of the
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schedule of task, cost and time management as well craft improvement in the sustainability.
The project is going to be implemented in a resident area that will have an impact on the
environment. The rare slow growth of orchid that has potential medicinal value will influence
the undertaking of the project with the consideration of sensitive areas (Cleden, 2017, Para.
24). Moreover, the development of Citizen Action Committee will help to increase the
sustainability of project by having concern over environmental actions. According to given
scenario, the less alternative choices and routes for developing the infrastructure also
hindering opportunities for managing project in the estimated time and cost.
The strategic directions of the organization that considered in project management
will involve communication, monitoring and control over business functions. The decision
making and distribution of resources will be done by project manager by focusing on
objectives as well current conditions of the project. This kind of approach and proper
documentation of operations will help to improve the effectiveness of planning and control
over change management functions of the project. The key stakeholders of this project are a
contractor, supplier, employees and citizens as well as investors. The major tasks of the
project manager are to develop a plan to engage the stakeholders and gain their approval for
managing the operations as per the schedule (Boyle, 2017), Para. 32. The approval and
acceptance from stakeholders will be beneficial for the project manager to increase the
effectiveness and flow of design, planning and implementation. The process of engaging
stakeholder will be done through conducting meetings and interaction with stakeholders. This
will help the manager to gain knowledge about needs and interest of stakeholders and
develop the plan accordingly. The direct communication with stakeholder will improve the
sustainability of project and decision making. The utilization of stakeholder communication
matrix will help to analyze the effectiveness and risks of the project to develop the plan and
manage the services.
The potential risk factors of the project involve short and long-term environmental
and social impact as the project will be initiated in resident area. Now to maintain the
sustainable approach to change control and overcome the impact of issues the project
manager will focus on review and comments of Citizen Action Committee. Moreover, for a
large project of design, planning and implementation the documentation for each activity is
essential. The impact on economic and environmental areas can affect the progress of the
project as well create the issues for managing sustainability. The project manager needs to
make the efforts for planning the functions as well engagement of stakeholders by identifying
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the alternative functions (Davis, 2014, pp. 189-201). Apart from that, the impact of this
project on the environment is vital as the use of resources and improper management of waste
material could affect the environmental condition and impact the social living environment
for local people.
The level of complexity is high for this project as it involves large numbers of
stakeholders and estimated time is long. To manage the sustainability and gain the success of
the project, the management will use change control process. According to this process, the
analysis of small and major changes in the project will be helpful for meeting the
requirements and satisfaction level of the client organization. The documentation of every
function and initiatives of team members will also help to identify changes as well
communication with the stakeholders (Kivilä and et al., 2017, pp. 1167-1183). For better
change control process involvement of sponsor is important as changes in estimated amount
can play a vital role.
4. Development plan for projects
Project A:
The development of asset management information system is involving various
subsystem and tasks that having a significant impact on the integration. The planning of this
project will consider the project management principles to manage the issues like lack of
communication and improvement in the cost and time. The change control process that
followed by project management team for managing activities of the project will involve
proper documentation, engagement of stakeholders. The project manager will use stakeholder
management matrix for engaging the stakeholder as well gaining knowledge about the
interest and offering the products and services (Martens and et al., 2017, pp. 1084-1102). The
project manager will apply agile project management model for managing the project
activities and proper management of project lifecycle. The agile model will be beneficial for
managing project issues and be meeting the goals and objectives of BGC construction
organization.
According to this project management approach, the requirements will be exhibit
central values and behavior of trust, flexibility as well as collaboration. The project manager
is looking for increasing the accountability and effectiveness of individual for managing
tasks. For integrating the various smaller subsystems, this model will be appropriate. By
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