Levi Jeans Project: Project Management Plan and Analysis Report

This report presents a detailed project management plan for the Levi Jeans project, which was initially a market failure. The analysis begins with an overview of the Levi business, examining the causes of the project's failure, such as inappropriate strategies, lack of customer focus, and product variations. The core of the report outlines a comprehensive project plan based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) framework, including the five stages: Initiating, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. The report emphasizes the importance of factors like project scope, success criteria, stakeholder management, and the selection of appropriate software (MS Project) for structuring and managing the project. It also highlights the data required for each phase of the project and discusses the critical success factors, such as effective communication, proactive top management support, and brainstorming. The report aims to provide a strategic approach for Levi Strauss to mitigate the effects of their project failure and transform it into project success by implementing a well-structured project plan.

Running head: PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION: A Case Study of Levi Jeans
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
Overview of the Business....................................................................................................2
Project Planning...................................................................................................................2
Success Criteria...................................................................................................................2
Appropriate Software for the project...................................................................................2
Data required to complete the project plan..........................................................................2
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................2
References............................................................................................................................2

2PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Introduction
Project plan is a significant part of project management area. It is a formal paper
generally developed to control and execute a project. Every project requires an appropriate
project depending on which every project operations is performed. A project plan is designed by
documenting and communicating with stakeholders, controlling delivery and schedule (Newton
2016). Lastly, a project plan also documents the risks associated with the project. Project plan
helps the project members to handle their project easily. Project plan contains multiple factors
like project scope, project aims and objectives and project methodology (Young 2013).
In this report, a project failure will analyzed. The chosen project for this report is the Levi
jeans project. A proper project plan will be developed such that the project failure of Levi Jeans
can be transformed into project success. The report will be providing a strategic approach for
Levi jeans such that they can use it to mitigate the effects of their project failure and turn it into
project success. The reason of project failure will also be analyzed in this report such that all the
factors behind the failure can be excluded and drive Levi to manufacture better products for their
customers. The project outline will be revised for formulating and managing the thoughts of the
project members.
Overview of the Business
Levi is known for its classical and outstanding products. The business was started in 1853
when Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis tailored their first jean pant. Now, Levi is the largest jean
brand globally headquartered from San Francisco, Brussels and Singapore operating in 110
countries. The business is successful in developing the brand image globally (levistrauss 2020).
The core products of the business are jeans, skirts, hats, slacks and belts. However, the project of

3PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Levi failed due too inappropriate strategies and leadership. Their project also failed because of
bring variations in their core product. The market was required to be analyzed properly before
marketing such products in the market. Another important factor behind the project failure was
not focusing on the customer requirement (De Mascia 2016). Therefore, all these factors behind
the project failure of Levi can be resolved by implementing an appropriate project plan. This
project plan can help them to become successful in the market.
Project Planning
Project management body of Knowledge categorized a project in five various phases. The
stages can or cannot be conducted in chronological manner. For instance, in a situation of any
alteration, the project lead can easily go back in the planning phase. Due to this fact, the phases
are known as the process groups. The stages of a project are mentioned below:
I. Initiating: In this phase, the project is required to be generated and authorized. In
initiating phase, the project manager just prepare an overview of the chosen project. In
this case, Levi Jeans is an effective product for the business to recover the loss faced by
the business. Due to the high brand image, Levi Jeans is an effective and appropriate
product for the business (Phillips 2013). In this phase, an appropriate project charter can
be established. All stakeholders will also be identified. The project charter will also
appoint a project manager for the project. Moreover, in this phase the project scope and
the project budget will also be determined. The project scope in this case is turn the
project failure into project success. The stakeholders of this projects are the customers,
managers, executives, marketing personnel and so on (de Valence 2013). Therefore, the
initiation phase is an important step of the project because according to this step a project
is started and planned.

4PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
II. Planning: After proper analysis of the chosen, an appropriate project plan has to be
produced according to which the project is to be started and further steps are to be taken
to complete the project in time. The planning stage contains multiple parts such as project
scope, success factors, project deliverables, procurement management plan, human
resource plan, change in procedures and risk management plan. The success factors for
Levi jeans are the tight schedule and the bounded budget estimated for the project. These
two measures can result in the project success for Levi jeans. Support from higher
management is also required for project success in this case (Heravi, Coffey and
Trigunarsyah 2015). A definite team should be there to design innovative designs of the
products. Variations in products can help the business to involve more customers in their
business. Moreover knowledge management is also an important success factor for Levi
Jeans. Every project plan should have an alternative plan or back up plan. This allow the
project members to handle their project easily and carefully (Harrison and Lock 2017).
The project of Levi jeans failed due to the lack of proper management planning. The
business just launched their product without an appropriate planning. They thought that
their project will be successful due to high brand name and image. An alternative plan
could help them to solve the matter.
III. Execution: After developing a project plan, the project needs to be implemented
according to the planned strategy. In this stage, every stakeholders are equally significant
as they play a major role in this execution phase. Their roles in the plan is assigned by
project managers. The roles are assigned according to the skills of the project managers.
If every member of the project successfully complete their roles and responsibilities then
it became easier for them to achieve the aims and goals of their project. Turning a project

5PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
failure into success and starting a new project both are completely different to each other.
It is quite difficult to recover a failed project. In such cases, the project lead has to
guarantee that the roles and responsibilities are assigned carefully such that it become
easier for him to turn the project failure into project success (Harrison and Lock 2017).
Proper skills and proper project resources are highly significant for this project. Project
execution is successful when the skills are provided with sufficient resources.
IV. Monitoring and Controlling: While executing the project, a project manager also
requires to monitor the project by verifying if the project is proceeding in a right path or
not. This can be achieved by taking feedback from every stakeholders who are associated
with the project. According to their feedback, the alterations will be done. The project
lead needs to ensure that every move of the project aligns them towards the project aims
and goals. Appropriate monitoring of the project will also guarantee that the project will
be completed within the estimated time and budget (Kumari and Pushkar 2013). The
reasons of the project failure will be analyzed in this phase such that they are not repeated
in this case.
V. Closing: The project will be completed when their products meet the requirements of the
customer. Each and every requirements of the customers should be fulfilled. The positive
feedback from the customer end will allow the project manager to close their project.
Moreover, this will ensure that the project manager has turned the failed project into
success.
Success Criteria
An effective project management strategy is required to turn the failed project into
success. In this project, the reason behind the project failure will be analyzed in detail such that

6PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
they are not repeated in this project (Besteiro, de Souza Pinto and Novaski 2015). It is also
important that the failure factors are known by every project members. They should be aware of
these factors such they do not repeat the same factors in this particular project. In each
department of the project it is also required to carefully allocate the responsibilities to
appropriate person. Each and every department should have a positive and effective response that
can align them towards the project goals. Work distribution is a critical part for this project
(Saadé, Dong and Wan 2015). The project success factor is dependent on the proactive ness and
support of top management. The top management should be dynamic for handling complexities
of their project anytime. It is necessary to complete every task timely.
As the previous product of Levi was failed it is highly important to have brainstorming.
Brainstorming can help the business to recover the project (Pinto 2013). Brainstorming provides
multiple ideas to project leads related to the project and proper management of the project.
Brainstorming support the project scope. The participants of the previous project will also be
engaged in the new project such that they can contribute their ideas on the project and help the
project manager to recover the failed project. A successful project require effective
communication among every project members (Costantino, Di Gravio and Nonino 2015). The
communication will allow the project members to know the required modifications that are to be
done for recovering the project. The business can study the trending products which can bring
innovativeness to make the jeans. Innovativeness in the project will allow the business to gain a
competitive advantage and turn the unsuccessful project to a successful one.
Appropriate Software for the project
The appropriate software for this project is MS Project. This software will be very helpful
for project leads to structure and handle the project deliverables. All the factors behind the

7PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
unsuccessful project will be considered as the challenges for the new project. The project
deliverables for the new project can be organized and handled in MS Project. MS Project is an
appropriate software in this case because (Larson and Gray 2013):
I. Flexibility: MS Project is an experience software since it was released 30 years ago.
Therefore, the project manager can easily rely on this software to manage their project.
The features of the software are regularly updated which is highly beneficial for the
business.
II. Easy to Integrate: This software can be easily unified with supplementary Microsoft
tools like Excel, Access, Word, Outlook and so on (Jang, Kim and Wu 2013). Therefore,
the project manager can perform multiple operations in this software.
III. Multiple Channels to Communicate: The integration with supplementary tools will
allow the project members to communicate with each other. As mentioned earlier, proper
communication is highly important for this project. An efficient connection will be built
throughout the project. Therefore, MS Project can help the project members to enhance
their responsibilities and roles in an efficient manner.
The tasks can scheduled and planned using the MS Project. All the tasks will be
prioritized using this software. Prioritizing the tasks will allow Levi jeans to develop their
products. Using the same software a project calendar can be generated following which every
project member can maintain their daily tasks (Trendowicz and Jeffery 2014). High
Collaboration can be generated using MS Project which is a significant factor for Levi Jeans.
Moreover, the project manager can manage all the project resources required for the project. The
progress of the project can also be documented in this software from where every member can

8PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
check and update their progress. Therefore, MS Project is an appropriate software that can be
used in this particular project to develop the products of Levi jeans.
Data required to complete the project plan
The data required to complete the initiation phase are the project goals, stakeholders
associated with the project, timeline and budget.
The data required to complete the planning phase are the project schedule, project
deliverables, project risks and the project resources.
The data required to end the execution stage are the progress update of the project,
feedbacks from every stakeholders of the project, leftover resources and there sources used in the
project.
The data required to complete the monitoring phase are about how the project members
are approaching the project to complete it, the problems faced by them while operating in the
project and possible alterations that can occur in the project.
The data required to complete the closure phase are the project deliverables and the
project report.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it is clear that the project manager and the whole
project team is jointly responsible to turn the failed project into a successful one. To success a
project, Levi jeans required joint efforts of the team and the project manager. The mentioned
IPECC model should be strictly followed to succeed with the concerned project. The business
should also consider the mentioned success criteria such that their project is successful and can

9PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
gain sufficient customer support. The MS Project software is recommended to utilizee by the
project lead to handle his or her project. Moreover, support from top administration is also an
important success factor for this project.
References
Besteiro, É.N.C., de Souza Pinto, J. and Novaski, O., 2015. Success factors in project
management. Business Management Dynamics, 4(9), p.19.
Costantino, F., Di Gravio, G. and Nonino, F., 2015. Project selection in project portfolio
management: An artificial neural network model based on critical success factors. International
Journal of Project Management, 33(8), pp.1744-1754.
De Mascia, S., 2016. Project psychology: using psychological models and techniques to create a
successful project. Routledge.
de Valence, G., 2013. Project initiation. In Building in value: Pre-design issues (pp. 23-36).
Routledge.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heravi, A., Coffey, V. and Trigunarsyah, B., 2015. Evaluating the level of stakeholder
involvement during the project planning processes of building projects. International Journal of
Project Management, 33(5), pp.985-997.
Jang, H., Kim, S. and Wu, D., 2013. Bayesian lead time estimation for the Johns Hopkins Lung
Project data. Journal of epidemiology and global health, 3(3), pp.157-163.

10PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Kumari, S. and Pushkar, S., 2013. Performance analysis of the software cost estimation methods:
a review. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software
Engineering, 3(7).
Larson, E. and Gray, C., 2013. Project management: The managerial process with MS project.
McGraw-Hill Education.
Levistrauss, 2020.Levis History - Levi Strauss & Co. [online] Levi Strauss & Co.
Newton, R., 2016. Project Management Step by Step: How to plan and manage a highly
successful project. Pearson UK.
Phillips, J., 2013. PMP, Project Management Professional (Certification Study Guides).
McGraw-Hill Osborne Media.
Pinto, J.K., 2013. Project management: achieving competitive advantage (No. s 57). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Saadé, R.G., Dong, H. and Wan, J., 2015. Factors of project manager success. Interdisciplinary
Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management, 10, pp.63-80.
Trendowicz, A. and Jeffery, R., 2014. Software project effort estimation. Foundations and Best
Practice Guidelines for Success, Constructive Cost Model–COCOMO pags, pp.277-293.
Young, T.L., 2013. Successful project management (Vol. 52). Kogan Page Publishers.

11PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION