Comprehensive Project Management Report: ACME Products PLC Analysis

This report provides a detailed analysis of project management principles and their application within the context of ACME Products PLC. It begins by outlining the core principles of project management, including project structure, clear goals, transparency, and risk recognition, and links them to the project life cycle. The report then explores suitable success and failure criteria for a new project, considering factors such as user involvement, resource management, and clear requirements. It also delves into project management systems and procedures, highlighting the importance of time, cost, and quality objectives, and discusses the principles behind effective coordination, communication, and visibility. Furthermore, the report examines the management of project human resources, including organizational structures, roles, responsibilities, and skills assessment. It includes a work breakdown structure and explores project processes and procedures, such as Gantt charts, resource histograms, and methods for managing changes. The report also analyzes cost and time performance, methods for closing projects, and evaluating overall project success, providing a comprehensive overview of project management practices.

Project Management in Business
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 Understand Project Management Principles (LO1)...............................................................3
(a) 1.1 Describe the main principles of project management process and linked to the project life
cycle.................................................................................................................................................3
(b) 1.2 Suitable success and failure criteria for the new project .....................................................5
(c)1.3 Principles behind project management systems and procedures...........................................6
(d)1.4 Key elements involved in terminating projects and conducting post-project appraisals......7
TASK 2 Be able to manage a project’s human resources (LO2)..........................................................8
(a) 2.1Most appropriate organizational structures, roles and responsibilities of participants within
a project ...........................................................................................................................................8
(c) 2.3 Assessment of skills and qualities in project leader of ACME project .............................10
(d) 2.4 Planning and specifications of human resources and requirements for a project .............11
(e)2.2 Work Breakdown structure of ACME project ....................................................................13
TASK 3 Be able to apply project processes and procedures (LO3) ..................................................15
(a) 3.2 Final duration of project ....................................................................................................15
(b) 3.1/3.2 Delays in the activities ................................................................................................15
(c) 3.1 Use of Gantt chart and Resource histogram in order to improve the management of
ACME project................................................................................................................................15
(c) 3.2 Crash some activities in project to complete it more quickly ...........................................16
(d) 3.2 Analysis of cost and time performance for ACME project ...............................................16
(e) 3.4 Methods of managing changes that are likely to be required during the life of ACME
project............................................................................................................................................17
(f) 3.1 Ways to close the project ...................................................................................................18
(g) 3.3/3.4 Evaluation of complete project ...................................................................................18
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................19
References..........................................................................................................................................20
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INTRODUCTION
Project management is mainly related to the planning and managing changes within the
organization. The common areas of where it is used are: staffing and management of people,
manufacturing and production, quality management, new business development purchasing etc.
Project management can be considered as an art or science where the different components of the
project has organized in the right manner (Boud, Cohen and Sampson, 2014). It has never taken as a
part of normal business operations. It is the application of skills, knowledge, techniques and tools to
project activities which help in meeting the requirements of the project. The following research has
related to the project management and to determined its importance in the business, ACME
Products PLC organization has taken into consideration. The areas which will be covered under the
following study are project management principles, ways to manage project human resources and
applications of project process and procedures (Heagney, 2012).
TASK 1 UNDERSTAND PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES (LO1)
(a) 1.1 Describe the main principles of project management process and linked to the project life
cycle
As per the given case study, it has been identified that during implementation of ACME's
new facility, it has important to considered project management process and project life cycle
(Kshama, 2012). The main principles of project management process and its relationship with the
project life cycle is as follows.
Project structure: During creating the structure for proposed ACME project, the three aspects have
to be considered: project goal, project timeline & order and project milestones (Kshama, 2012).
Under this stage, a goal has prepared as well as the various junctures have developed which defined
the different phase of ACME project in the respect of costs and outcomes.
Definition phase: In this principle, there are many kinds of inputs giving by the stakeholders of
ACME Company. Therefore, by involving the all the stakeholders in every stage of project, the
project manager can show his own commitment towards the project work.
Clear goals: Here, it is important for the project manager of External Project Management
Consultants to achieve the goals of ACME project. In this regards, the SMART objectives should be
develop. Along with this, the project manager has clearly define the goals of the proposed project
between the team members.
Transparency about project status: Under this principle of project management process, the
project manager of ACME has required to develop a short report on the status of project at every
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stage of plan (Kshama, 2012). By organizing the meetings, the project manager can give short
overview regarding the costs, meet deliverables and remaining time of completion of project.
Risk recognition: ACME project has contained the different types of risk. Therefore, it has project
manager responsibilities to determine the included risk in the project plan. By early identification of
the risk, it becomes easy to resolve it and complete ACME project within the give constrains.
Managing project disturbances: During implementation of ACME project as per the plan, some
changes have always occurred in the pre decided plan. Therefore, the project manager has to
identify the major disturbances in the work activities and try to manage them. This help in
achieving the objectives of ACME project.
Responsibility of the project manager: There are various kinds of roles and responsibilities
playing by project manager of ACME project during different phases of project management. For
the proposed project, the roles of project manager have managing changes, integration of several
project management systems, proper reporting of the status of the plan, deliver the ACME project
within time and costs etc.
Project success: For the proposed ACME project, the project manage has decided some project
success criteria so the deliverables have achieve or not can be easily measure (Kshama, 2012).
Along with this, the various kinds of methods have used for assessment of the success of ACME
project plan.
Commitment: The team members of project team of ACME should be committed towards their
work (Boulmetis and Dutwin, 2014). They must show the adequate level of commitment regarding
goals, quality, time duration, overall cost of the project etc.
Tetrad-Trafe off: This principles has simply defined the quality, cost, scope and time which should
he attainable and must be in a balanced state (Tohidi, 2011). It help the project manager of ACME
project to achieve the objectives of the project plan and meet the success level.
Primary communication channels: It has more important to develop a communication between
project manager and the client. It helps in sharing the important information about the project of
ACME between the team members.
Cultural environment: The selection of management has depended on type of project. The present
status of ACME project defines the outcomes of the work (Tran and et.al., 2013). Therefore, with
the help of effective team management strategy, project manager can achieve the deliverables of
work of ACME project.
Process: As per this principle, the project manager of ACME project should decided the process of
implementation of the plan. Along with this, the roles and responsibilities of the team members
should be clearly define and documented.
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Life cycle: This principle defines the different stages of project of ACME project and ensure the
project manager to determined the major and important milestones in the project plan (Schwalbe,
2013). It has provided the clear picture of starting and sending of the work.
(b) 1.2 Suitable success and failure criteria for the new project
The proposed project has related to implementation of ACME new facility. In this context,
the success and failure criteria has needed to be set by the project manager (Burke, 2013). It has
helped in determine whether the project has developed according to the requirement of the client or
not. Some criteria for measuring the success and failure of project are as follows.
Success and failure criteria
User involvement: If the project team members have not involve the client in decision making
process then it will directly made the impact on the implementation of project. The reason is the
lack of user involvement in the decision making process will not help the project manager to
determine the needs (Caniëls and Bakens, 2012). This will be a failure criteria for the project. But,
if the project manager has taken the suggestions of the users then it will assist in meeting the
objectives of the plan which can be considered as a success criteria.
Resource management: If the project manager has not able to manage the resources such as under
or over utilization of the different resources then it will be impossible to provide the deliverables on
give time (Holzmann, 2013). This can be considered as a failure criteria for the proposed project.
But if the project manager has the capabilities to manage the resources in more effective and
efficient manner then it will be easy to meet the deadlines of the project .
Cleat statement of requirements: If ACME Company is not clearly stated the requirements related
to the project then the project manager will not deliver the required things. It will entirely affect the
project and considered as failure criteria for the new project. But if the company knows what they
are want from the projects then as per the requirements of the client, project manager will able to
deliver the project.
Other aspects: Time, budget, scheduling and planning can be include in success or failure criteria
for the proposed project (Gido and Clements, 2014). If the new project has unable to any out of the
these elements then it will be considered as a failure criteria of the project .
On the other hand, there are many other project success and failure criteria for ACME
project which are as follows .
Scope: It is combination of fundamental elements and features which are achieving after
completion of project in the form of deliverables (Cheng and Teizer, 2013).
Resources: Cost and budget of ACME project can be considered in resources. If these are
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effectively utilized then it will considered as a success criteria for the work otherwise it will count
in failure criteria.
Schedules: It is actual time duration which are estimating for complete the project (Davenport,
2013). In the case of ACME project, if it has completed within a given time duration then it will
count as a success criteria for the project otherwise considered as failure criteria.
Other factors that can be count as success and failure criteria are as follows.
Project success factors Project failure factors
Effective leadership Poor leadership
Dedicated commitment of team members Underutilized resources
Clear vision (Wright and Adviser-Gottwald,
2013)
Unclear goals and objectives
Effective distribution of information Improper communication (Kerzner, 2013)
Motivation Lack of motivation
Support of top management Unsupportive top management
(c)1.3 Principles behind project management systems and procedures
In the case of ACME project, there are three objectives: time, cost and quality. For achieving
these objectives, the project management process and systems have played an important role which
can be understood from the examples (Killen and et.al, 2012).
Time cost: For allocating time and cost for the proposed project, resource levelling and activity
based costing method have used. With the help of these techniques, the project manager will able to
easily and effectively utilized and allocating the time and cost at every stage of project plan.
Quality: In the terms of quality, before converting the project plan into the action, some quality
standards have already set (Mir and Pinnington, 2014). When the new facility has completed then
project manager can compare the actual quality outcomes with the set standards.
The principles behind project management system are as follows.
 Effective coordination between multiple projects
 Provide clear visibility of the work (Reed and Knight, 2013).
 Develop clear communication between the project manager and its team members as well as
increase their participation (Garton and McCulloch, 2012).
The procedure of project management system for ACME project has included the various
functions which are as follows.
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 Develop a project plan and make its scheduling with the use of software.
 Project manager has to allocate the tasks and deadlines for the various activities (Boulmetis
and Dutwin, 2014).
 Prepare the documents which include the various information about ACME project and
share it with the stakeholders.
 Schedule the calendar which include the meeting, activities date etc. regarding the project.
Along with this, by updating the contacts of different stakeholders of ACME project, it can
be easy to share the information with them.
 Under this step, the project manager has taken action against the bugs and errors in the
project and take the required actions to resolve them (Tohidi, 2011).
 The last step of project management system is tracking time in which project manager has
needed to track time for all activities and maintained records of entire work.
(d)1.4 Key elements involved in terminating projects and conducting post-project appraisals
Key elements of project termination process:
Project termination is an hard and complex decision for the every project team. The project
termination process can be taken place during the implementation of the project plan and after
completing the project. In the case of ACME project, the project termination key elements are
complete all the legal requirements, closing the contract with the different suppliers and contractors,
payment of the remaining bills, auditing, transferring the roles and responsibilities, sharing of
information of the project and other supportive things (Meredith and Mantel, 2011). The major
reasons in which a project manager can take the decisions of ACME project termination are
technical issues, project cost is high as compare to estimated budget, existing method has not
supported the new strategies for work, unexpected loss of human capital, working capital and other
resources and the deliverables of the project are not according to the set objectives (Tran and et.al.,
2013). Specific examples from the case ACME
Post project appraisals:
Post project appraisal is an evaluation of the project that help in determining the extent
where the project has accomplished the objectives of the company. The items which will involve in
post project appraisal are as follows.
Variance analysis: Here, the comparison between the expected outcomes and actual results from
the proposed project has calculated.
Benefit analysis: In this, the initial investment for ACME Company will be high but in the near
future it will be improve the production process capabilities which will beneficial for the firm.
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Risk analysis and its review: Under this method, the project manager will analyse and identified
the risks before handover the project to client. It will help in solving the post implementation risks
changes (Patanakul and Shenhar, 2012).
Post project appraisal procedure:
Step 1- Planning of post project appraisal: The different crucial part of ACME project plan has
included. The scheduling of post project appraisal has planed after implementation of the project
where the strengths and weaknesses information of the work has gathered.
Step 2- Review of elements: Review all the activities so that the require tasks can be included in
post project appraisal.
Step 3- Review key documents: Gather all the data by reviewing the documents so that project
manager of ACME project can develop post project report. The elements which included in report
are methodology, key findings, recommendations and conclusion.
Step 3- Sharing of key findings and recommendations: Here, the findings during post project
appraisal has shared between the team members of ACME project and owner of ACME Company.
It help in implementation of the recommendations as per the guidance.
TASK 2 BE ABLE TO MANAGE A PROJECT’S HUMAN RESOURCES (LO2)
(a) 2.1Most appropriate organizational structures, roles and responsibilities of participants within a
project
Main participants and their roles and responsibilities in the ACME project
The list of main participants as well as their roles and responsibilities in the ACME project
are as follows.
Participants for
ACME project
Roles and responsibilities in the form of job description ACME Project
specific
Project manager Capable to develop and implement the plan for new facility.
Able to manage the risk and resources (Schwalbe, 2013).
Ensure the quality of project deliverables
Able to meet the deadlines of the project plan (Turner, 2014).
Managing and leading the team for ACME project.
Recruitment of the staff members.
Managing the outcomes of the entire project of ACME.
Monitoring the progress and performance of plan (Cheng and Teizer, 2013).
Architecture To able to develop the design of construction of building with the complete
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details.
Able to pay environmental and sustainable issues as well as promote energy
saving technology in the building specifications of ACME project.
Quality analyst Responsible for provide the review on the designs of plan.
Able to find out the issues in the new facility (Söderlund and Geraldi,
2012).
Mechanical engineer Able to design and implement the cost effective equipment’s in the plant.
Monitoring and commissioning plant and systems.
Planning and designing the new production process.
Project team
members
Working with subordinates to meet the needs of ACME project.
Identification of information needs (Davenport, 2013).
Project sponsor Review the solution of issues which has given by project manager.
Approve budget.
Taking the major decisions regarding the ACME project.
Project board Approve strategies and plan of a project (Wright and Adviser-Gottwald,
2013).
Managing changes within the team.
Priorities the tasks and communicate the required information.
Steering committee Giving advice on key technical aspects of ACME project (Kerzner, 2013)
Monitor the progress and deliverables of current project plan
System administrator Managing and support different internal and external environment for this
ACME project.
Managing database (Reed and Knight, 2013).
Appropriate organizational structure of ACME Project
The organization structure of ACME Company is matrix in which firm has followed more
than two kinds of organization structure. The best possible benefits of the following organization
structure are effective use of resources, coordination between the different departments, easy flow
of information, improve communication process etc. (Teller and et.al. 2012).
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(c) 2.3 Assessment of skills and qualities in project leader of ACME project
The project manager of ACME project, there are various kinds of skills and qualities are
require. The justification of needed skills and qualities in project manager are follows.
Problem solver: The creative problem solving quality is a sign of good project manager. If the
project manager of ACEM project has able to resolve the problems related to the project then he can
easily manage the work and complete the allotted task within given time (Barry, 2015).
Time management style: A project manager of ACME project should know the techniques of
managing the time, without managing the time, he cannot able to complete his work.
Team building skills: Project manager is a person who is holding and lead the team for the
achieving the common goal. To increase the performance of the team, project manager of ACME
project should know about the team building skills. He should know the appropriate use of
leadership skills and under the working styles of the team members (Barry, 2015).
Work under pressure: The project manager of ACME project should know how to work under the
pressure. Because sometimes, some problems with the proposed project may be created which can
affect the entire project.
Good communicator: A project manage should of ACME project be a good communicator because
he is responsible for clear communication about objectives, aims, performance of the project,
responsibilities of the different team members etc. He is creating a link of his team members direct
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ACME Project
Manufacturing
Production
manager Y
Marketing R&D
Production
manager X
HR FinanceProcurement

to the organization. Therefore, to ensure the success of the project, the project manager of ACME
project should be a good communicator (Barry, 2015).
Vision: The vision of project leader of ACME project should be clear. Vision of ACME project is
developing a facility which can help in production, supply of raw material, manufacturing and
delivery of finished goods and services in effective manner.
Integrity: Project leader of ACME project should be honest and loyal because this attitude has
created the examples for his team members (Boulmetis and Dutwin, 2014).
Empathy: Project leader of ACME project should understand the needs of its team members. For
this, he has to give proper attention at the workplace and develop the personal relationship with the
different project team members.
Competence: The project manager of ACME project must have the ability of accepting the
challenges and resolve the conflicts between the team members (Tohidi, 2011).
(d) 2.4 Planning and specifications of human resources and requirements for a project
For the proposed project, the major required human resources are 4: project manager,
architecture, quality analyst and mechanical engineer. Rather than these, the 30 people will be more
required which will help in implementing the plan into the action.
1. Project manager:
Personal characteristic
Good communicator: Project manager of ACME project has responsible for communicating the
goals, objectives and responsibilities within the team which decided the probability of success of
project plan.
Technical characteristic
Knowledge about the different project management tools: Project manager of ACME project has the
wide knowledge about the various project management tools because he is responsible for manage
the entire project activities (Reiss, 2013).
Other characteristics
Along with personal and technical characteristics, the project manager of ACME project has
also having the ability to recruit the staff members, know the techniques to meet the deadlines of
plan as well as develop a plan to monitor the progress of project plan.
2. Architecture
Personal characteristic
Creative thinking: With the help of the creative thinking, the architecture can bring the new
innovation in the designing of the building. It helps in delivering the expected outcomes as per the
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requirements of the clients.
Technical characteristic
Having the knowledge about designing of construction: This characteristic has helped in developing
the effective design of new facility so the new energy saving techniques can be used in building
(Leach, 2014).
Other characteristics
Architecture of ACME project has also the knowledge about various environmental and
sustainable issues. Along with this, he has complete information about energy saving technologies
to overcome environmental issues.
3. Quality analyst
Personal characteristic
Work under pressure: During the implementation phase of ACME project, the workload on the
quality analyst has increased with the time. Therefore, it is important for him to work under the
pressure.
Technical characteristic
Technical expertise: Quality analyst must know about the different techniques of analyzing the
quality and specifications of new facility. It has assisted him to determined whether the ACME
project able to meet the requirements of company or not (Kerzner, 2013).
4. Mechanical engineer
Personal characteristic
Good management style: Mechanical engineer have to know about how to manage the time and
complete the task within given time frame. Along with this, he has to be able to design and
implement the cost effective machines in the plant.
Technical characteristic
Designing of machines: Mechanical engineer has required the enough knowledge about the
designing of machines. The reason is he is responsible for integrated the new facility production
system with existing factories (Pemsel and Wiewiora, 2013).
(e)2.2 Work Breakdown structure of ACME project
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