PRM701 Project Management Report: Research and Development for ATC

This report details a project management plan for Australian Tree Crop (ATC), a company facing challenges in the forestry industry. The project aims to establish a research and development team to investigate environmental issues impacting the business. The report covers the project's background, goals, objectives, and deliverables, including a feasibility analysis, project plan, and evaluation report. It outlines a detailed schedule with milestones, project requirements, and a work breakdown structure. Furthermore, the report addresses risk management and presents a communication management plan. The project's strategic alignment with ATC's goals is discussed, emphasizing the importance of the research and development team in mitigating business losses. The report provides recommendations based on the project findings and is designed to contribute to the sustainable growth of ATC. The project deliverables include feasibility analysis, project plan, setting up the R&D team, generation of reports and development of project evaluation report.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3
1. Background ..................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Project Background .................................................................................................. 4
1.2. Project Goal ............................................................................................................. 5
1.3. Project Objectives .................................................................................................... 5
1.4. Project Deliverables ................................................................................................. 5
1.5. Strategic Alignment of Project................................................................................. 8
2. Schedule .......................................................................................................................... 9
2.1. Milestone.................................................................................................................. 9
2.2. Project Requirements ............................................................................................. 10
2.3. Limits and Exclusions ............................................................................................ 10
2.4. Work Breakdown Schedule ................................................................................... 11
3. Risk Management ......................................................................................................... 13
4. Project Budget ............................................................................................................... 14
5. Communication Management Plan (template) ............................................................. 17
5.1. Research and Development Project for ATC: Project Information ....................... 17
5.2. Purpose of Communication Strategy ..................................................................... 18
5.3. Communication Strategy ....................................................................................... 18
5.3.1. Internal information management ................................................................... 18

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5.3.2. Internal stakeholders ....................................................................................... 19
5.3.3. External Communications ............................................................................... 19
5.4. Communication Plan .............................................................................................. 19
5.4.1. Report on Internal Communication ................................................................ 20
5.5. External Communication Plan ............................................................................... 20
6. Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 21
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 22

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Introduction
A project has been undertaken by Australian Tree crop, to improve the forest condition.
Australian Tree Crop is a three old private company that is working with roots in the American
tree farming industry. The company has made an effort of adopting better practices to save forest
and trees. This is necessary as forestry play a significant role in Australian economy. The company
own a number of forested estates in Western Australia and invest in growing Australian pine.
However, when ATC has emerged to be a private business, they faced a number of problems in
growing their business in a meaningful way. The company has decided to invest in a feasibility
study. The feasibility study will be evaluating a number of options of cutting down the tress. The
problems faced by ATV is multiplied mainly because of the increasing natural disaster in the
region. The increasing natural disasters is one of the most significant reasons behind the increasing
loses. The vulnerability of the specific natural disaster have resulted in a situation where ATC has
been struggling to meet the target of the company. The company have therefore decided to invest
on a project related to research and development to ascertain sustainable growth of the Australian
Tree crop. This particular project is chosen mainly because it is easy to implement and will require
very less cost investment. It is long term effective approach which will help in identification of the
core issues persisting in the business and will also help in researching about the mitigation
approaches of the same. The report provides an idea of the project background, the goal and the
objectives of the project along with the major project deliverables. The strategic risks linked with
the project and the communication approach that is needed to be followed is discussed in the report.
1. Background

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This section of the report provides an idea of the business background and the business
environment of the project undertaken. The details of the business environment and the
background of the project is discussed in this section. The background, goal, objectives and the
deliverables of the project is discussed in the following section.
1.1. Project Background
The research and development project is undertaken by ATC in order to identify the
operational issues and the business problems persisting in ATC. The Australian Tree Corporation
is a three year old private company, whose business is linked with the farming industry as well.
Although the company has been profitable since its formation, the company has struggled to form
the own identity. The business of the organization is related to supply chain, where certain
operational issues are identified. Another issues that is identified is related to product
accountability. It is necessary for the ATC to have a better accountability of the volume of the tress
grown and trees that are being sold. ATC has identified the lack of effective system competencies.
In order to address these incompetency and the issues persisting in the business organization, it is
quite critical to successfully complete the proposed project. The project aims in creation of a
research and Development Team, that will be researching to analyze the root cause of the
environmental changes so that the business losses can be reduced. It is necessary to learn more
about the vulnerability of a tree to specific natural disasters that can help in planning and managing
the forest in a better way. Along with the preparation of the research and development team, it is
critical to set up a stakeholder group that can help in solicitation of the crucial information from
public. These stakeholder group can significantly assist the team in development of a sustainable
business.

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1.2. Project Goal
The goal of the research and development project as undertaken by ATC is identified on
basis of the SMART criteria. SMART is acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic
and Timely.
The goal of this project is to develop a research and development team in ATC, which will
help in development of a sustainable business by researching the environmental issues linked with
the losses faced in the business.
1.3. Project Objectives
It is necessary to identify the objectives of the project in order to analyze the process of
project execution and implementation. The identified project objectives linked with the
development of the research and development team in ATC are indicated as follows-
 To identify the reasons behind the decreasing sales and production
 To set up a research and development team for ATC
 To research about the changing climatic condition and its effect on forestry
 To recommend strategies that can significantly help in improving the forestry and
related business of ATC
The project will be conducted on basis of the identified objectives.
1.4. Project Deliverables
It is necessary to identify the tasks and the work that is needed to be delivered at the
completion of the project. The aim of this project is linked with setting up of a research and

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development team to research about the major risks and the issues behind disruption of the forestry
business in ATC. The main deliverables of this project are indicated as follows-
 Feasibility Analysis of the available project options
 Development and Delivery of Project Plan
 Setting up of a Research and Development Team in ATC
 Generation of reports based on the research
 Development of Project Evaluation Report
The tasks that are needed to be executed for fulfilling all the above identified deliverable,
and the time needed to achieve those deliverable are indicated in the table below-
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Research and Development 264 days Wed 29-05-19 Mon 01-06-20
Project Start 0 days Wed 29-05-19 Wed 29-05-19
Project Planning 19 days Wed 29-05-19 Mon 24-06-19
Analysis of the project Requirements 1 day Wed 29-05-19 Wed 29-05-19
Identification of the Project Needs 1 day Thu 30-05-19 Thu 30-05-19
Feasibility Analysis of the project 15 days Fri 31-05-19 Thu 20-06-19
Finalization of the Project 1 day Fri 21-06-19 Fri 21-06-19

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Development of a Project Plan 1 day Mon 24-06-19 Mon 24-06-19
M1: Approval of the Project Plan 0 days Mon 24-06-19 Mon 24-06-19
Project Execution 235 days Tue 25-06-19 Mon 18-05-20
Setting up of the Research and Development
Team
15 days Tue 25-06-19 Mon 15-07-19
Researching about the project Vulnerabilities 3 months Tue 16-07-19 Mon 07-10-19
Analysis of the root cause of the problem 2 months Tue 08-10-19 Mon 02-12-19
Researching about the trends of Natural disasters 4 months Tue 03-12-19 Mon 23-03-20
Researching newer techniques of managing
forests
2 months Tue 24-03-20 Mon 18-05-20
M2: End of project execution Phase 0 days Mon 18-05-20 Mon 18-05-20
Report Generation 162 days Tue 08-10-19 Wed 20-05-20
Generation of Root cause analysis Report 20 days Tue 08-10-19 Mon 04-11-19
Generation of report on project vulnerabilities 25 days Tue 03-12-19 Mon 06-01-20
Report generation on trends of natural disasters 15 days Tue 24-03-20 Mon 13-04-20
Documentation 2 days Tue 19-05-20 Wed 20-05-20

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M3: End of Report Generation 0 days Wed 20-05-20 Wed 20-05-20
Project Closure 8 days Thu 21-05-20 Mon 01-06-20
Complete Project Evaluation 5 days Thu 21-05-20 Wed 27-05-20
Documentation 1 day Thu 28-05-20 Thu 28-05-20
Project Sign off 1 day Fri 29-05-20 Fri 29-05-20
Resource Release 1 day Mon 01-06-20 Mon 01-06-20
M4: Project Ends 0 days Mon 01-06-20 Mon 01-06-20
Table 1: Representing the tasks and the Deliverables of the project
The fulfillment of all the above identified task and the deliverables can significantly help
in achieving the desired target and the organizational goals.
1.5. Strategic Alignment of Project
The proposed project has the capability of improving the current condition of ATC. The
goal of Australian Tree Corporation is to reduce the business issues and the losses faced by the
organization. The current condition of the company indicates that the company is struggling to
meet the target after facing a series of natural disasters, which include drought, wildfires, cyclone
and flooding. The research and the development team that is set up will be researching to identify
the most prominent reasons behind the decrease in sales and production. As a part of
implementation of the project, a research and development team will be set up, to research about

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the increasing effect of changing climatic condition on forestry. The report that will be generated
at the end of the project will help in recommendation of the effective strategies that can
significantly help in improving the current business condition of ATC. A realistic project plan is
prepared for development of a research and development team. A project plan is prepared that
provides the details of the schedule and the resource needs of the project.
Therefore, it can be commented that the project plan that is prepared aligns with the
strategic goals of the organization. The successful execution of the project will help ATC in
achieving the goals and fulfilling the objectives of the project.
2. Schedule
This section of the project report will provide an idea of the major milestone, requirements
and the work breakdown structure of the project. The schedule of the project is depicted in form
of a Gantt chart.
2.1. Milestone
The schedule development of the research and development project identifies four most
critical milestone of the project. The milestone and the date of fulfilling those milestone are
indicated as follows-
Milestone Date of Archiving
M1: Approval of the Project Plan Mon 24-06-19
M2: End of project execution Phase Mon 18-05-20
M3: End of Report Generation Wed 20-05-20
M4: Project Ends Mon 01-06-20

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Table 2: The Milestone and the Date of Achievement
2.2. Project Requirements
For successful execution of the research and development project, it becomes integral for
the project team to identify the most significant project requirements. These requirements are
indicated as follows-
1. For setting up of an effective research and development team, it is necessary to involve
those individuals who are knowledgeable about forestry business and its related issues
2. For successful execution of the project, it is necessary to have a better understanding of
the business operations of ATC
3. Research and Development is a time consuming work and therefore, it is necessary to
allocate considerable about of time for generation of the report.
4. Another project requirement involve critical risk analysis and reduction of the risk in
order to execute the project within the allocated time.
2.3. Limits and Exclusions
A project plan is developed, that provides an idea of the tasks and the deliverables of the
project. However, the development of the project schedule is associated with consideration of
certain limit and exclusion. The limits and the exclusion are indicated as follow-
1. The research and development is a time consuming project. The schedule has been
prepared by considering the minimum time needed for research and generation of report.
2. The possible delays in generation of the reports is not considered in this projet.

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2.4. Work Breakdown Schedule
The work breakdown structure of the project considered is represented as follows-
WBS Task Name Duration
0 Research and Development 264 days
1 Project Start 0 days
2 Project Planning 19 days
2.1 Analysis of the project Requirements 1 day
2.2 Identification of the Project Needs 1 day
2.3 Feasibility Analysis of the project 15 days
2.4 Finalization of the Project 1 day
2.5 Development of a Project Plan 1 day
2.6 M1: Approval of the Project Plan 0 days
3 Project Execution 235 days
3.1 Setting up of the Research and Development Team 15 days
3.2 Researching about the project Vulnerabilities 3 mons
3.3 Analysis of the root cause of the problem 2 mons