Comprehensive Project Management Plan for Widgets 'R Us (WRU)

This project management plan is designed for Widgets 'R Us (WRU) to address the challenges of increasing customer demand, internal communication gaps, and slow market response. It proposes the implementation of a Management Information System (MIS) to improve decision-making, streamline communication, and analyze market data. The plan includes detailed sections on project concept, objectives, requirements, key performance indicators, feasibility, stakeholder management, schedule management (including a Gantt chart), cost management, quality management, risk management, and procurement management. The report evaluates alternative solutions using a weighted scoring model, concluding that the MIS is the most suitable option. It also outlines specific targets for stakeholders, an organizational chart, and addresses potential project constraints and improvements. The overall goal is to enhance WRU's operational efficiency and customer satisfaction through strategic project management.

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Project Management Plan
Widgets ‘R Us Widgets ‘R Us (WRU)
5/14/2019

Project Management Plan
Executive Summary
The report is a Project Management Plan (PMP) and it is prepared for Widgets ’R Us
Widgets ’R Us (WRU). With the increase in demand, it is becoming difficult for WRU to
meet the customer needs. The company was also slow to pick up signs from the marketplace.
Internal communication is also extremely poor and there is poor circulation of the
information and the business decisions. There are gaps in communication and decision-
making activities and these gaps can be resolved with the aid of automated Management
Information Systems (MISs). The three alternatives that have been chosen are Management
Information System (MIS), Automated Market Analysis tool, and Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) tool. The outcomes state that the score obtained by MIS is higher than
the other two alternatives.
The report covers the details of project handling and management.
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Project Management Plan
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................1
Background...........................................................................................................................................4
Needs for improvement.....................................................................................................................4
Proposed Solution & Justification.....................................................................................................4
Evaluation of Alternative.......................................................................................................................4
Weight Scoring Model.......................................................................................................................4
Justification of Criteria in Project Selection Matrix...........................................................................5
Summary & Analysis of Outcome.....................................................................................................5
Project Concept.....................................................................................................................................6
Project Concept.................................................................................................................................6
Project Objectives..............................................................................................................................6
Project Requirements and Deliverables.............................................................................................6
Project Key Performance Indicators..................................................................................................7
Project Feasibility..................................................................................................................................7
Feasibility and Sustainability of the Project - Key Areas of Strength and Weaknesses.....................7
Approval Requirements.....................................................................................................................8
Project Assumptions..........................................................................................................................8
Known Constraints............................................................................................................................8
Possible Improvements......................................................................................................................9
Project Stakeholders Management.........................................................................................................9
Specific Targets.................................................................................................................................9
Stakeholder Map................................................................................................................................9
Project Organisational Chart............................................................................................................10
HR and Communications Management...........................................................................................10
Project Schedule Management.............................................................................................................13
Schedule Milestones........................................................................................................................13
Project WBS....................................................................................................................................14
Project Gantt chart...........................................................................................................................14
Process of Schedule Management in Project...................................................................................15
Information related to time management.........................................................................................15
Project Cost Management....................................................................................................................15
Estimated Costs...............................................................................................................................15
Justification/Basis for Cost Estimates..............................................................................................18
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Project Management Plan
Process of Cost Management in Project...........................................................................................19
Information related to Cost Management........................................................................................19
Project Quality Management...............................................................................................................19
Quality items to be measured during the planning, executing and monitor/control phases..............19
Justification of the measurable items and units of measure in a Quality Definition Table...............19
Quality Definition Table..................................................................................................................20
Information related to Quality Management....................................................................................20
Project Risk Management....................................................................................................................20
Risk Register...................................................................................................................................20
Risk Matrix......................................................................................................................................21
Information related to Risk Management........................................................................................21
Project Procurement Management.......................................................................................................22
Types of Contracts required.............................................................................................................22
Make-or-buy Analysis.....................................................................................................................22
Information related to Procurement Management............................................................................22
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................23
References...........................................................................................................................................24
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Project Management Plan
Background
Widgets ’R Us Widgets ’R Us (WRU) is a medium-sized business organization that
specializes in the design and manufacturing of quality widgets. The company succeeded in
providing the customers with the desired widgets and has been able to establish a reputed
name in the market.
Needs for improvement
There has been an increase in the demand for widgets in the past three years. It is necessary
to meet the increase in the public demand by developing new widgets. The average life cycle
associated with the widgets is 12-15 months. With the increase in demand, it is becoming
difficult for WRU to meet the customer needs. The company was also slow to pick up signs
from the marketplace. Internal communication is also extremely poor and there is poor
circulation of the information and the business decisions. There is a blame game by
department heads on the other heads, and likewise (Nturibi and Wainaina, 2014).
In order to cater to the customer demands and maintain the market shares and reputation, it
has become essential for WRU to improve upon its existing procedures.
Proposed Solution & Justification
It is necessary to resolve the internal issues and gaps in the organization before picking up on
the external conditions and requirements. There are gaps in communication and decision-
making activities and these gaps can be resolved with the aid of automated Management
Information Systems (MISs). These are the systems that collaborate all of the data sets and
allow the business leaders to take correct decision. Also, the communication and flow of
information is streamlined with the aid of this system.
The internal problems and issues currently existing in the organization will be resolved with
the aid of the MIS.
Evaluation of Alternative
Weight Scoring Model
Criteria Weight MIS Automated
Market
Analytics Tool
Customer
Relationship
Management
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Project Management Plan
(CRM) Tool
Ease of
decision-making
28% 85 80 78
Communication
and
Collaboration
22% 80 65 70
Implementation
success
10% 75 75 75
Usability 15% 81 73 75
Urgency 15% 88 80 80
Return on
Investment
(ROI)
10% 85 82 80
Total 100% 82.75 75.35 75.99
Justification of Criteria in Project Selection Matrix
The criteria included in the above model are selected on the basis of the need of
improvement. Currently, the organization is suffering from internal communication issues &
gaps, inability to meet the customer demands, poor information sharing, and inability to use
market information. The criteria meet the demand for the project that will resolve these gaps
and issues. The weights are assigned as per the order of priority as ease of decision-making is
high on priority. This is because the decisions will be effectively take and these decisions will
have an impact on the rest of the project tasks and processes.
The three alternatives that have been chosen are Management Information System (MIS),
Automated Market Analysis tool, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. The
score has been assigned to these alternatives on the basis of the analysis carried out. The total
score obtained by MIS is the highest at 82.75 followed by 75.99 for CRM and 75.35 for
automated market analytics tool (Chen, 2014).
Summary & Analysis of Outcome
The weighted scoring model has included the primary criteria behind the project that WRU
shall select and implement in its business architecture.
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Project Management Plan
The three alternatives that have been chosen are Management Information System (MIS),
Automated Market Analysis tool, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. The
outcomes state that the score obtained by MIS is higher than the other two alternatives.
Therefore, MIS shall be implemented in the organization.
Project Concept
Project Concept
The basic concept that will be involved with the MIS is shown in the figure above. The data
sets from all of the data sources will be collected and it will be processes by the MIS. The
management will be provided with the reports and outcomes (Oni, 2014).
Project Objectives
 To ensure that the communication gaps in the organization are effectively filled
 To assist the business leaders and managers in the decision-making processes
 To analyse the market data and information to reveal the patterns and trends
 To deliver the system as per the schedule and budget estimated
 To maintained 100% ethical and legal compliance (Shah, 2014)
Project Requirements and Deliverables
The requirements for the project will be to successfully install the MIS in the organization
and integrate it with the existing technical tools and applications. It will be required to make
sure that the existing data and information sets are successfully migrated without resulting in
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Project Management Plan
any form of security and privacy risks. It will be required that the system collects the data
from all the relevant sources and analyses these sets to provide the management with the
customized reports and results. The customization of the reports shall be one of the
significant features of the system. The communication mechanisms shall also be included to
publish the results to be accessed by the operational members of the staff.
The list of deliverables that the project team shall provide is:
 Project Proposal
 Project Management Plan
 Management Information System (MIS) installed in the organization
 Implementation Plan and Reports
 Status Reports
 Completion Report
Project Key Performance Indicators
 Schedule Variance: The value of the variance shall be either zero or positive.
 Cost Variance - The value of the variance shall be either zero or positive (Hairul
Nizam Md Nasir et al., 2015).
 Open Defects: The number of open defects at the time of deployment shall be zero.
 Customer Satisfaction Score: The employees of WRU will be the primary
customers/users of the MIS. The score obtained shall be 9 or above on a scale of 10.
 360-degree Feedback: The feedback shall be collected from the other stakeholders
and customers and it shall be positive.
Project Feasibility
Feasibility and Sustainability of the Project - Key Areas of Strength and Weaknesses
Strengths
 Strong customer base associated with
the organization
 Skill set to carry out the project tasks
and activities (Nayak, Sequeira and
Senapati, 2012)
 Management willing to adapt to the
Weaknesses
 No such system has been installed or
used in the past
 Training requirements
 Chances of integration and
compatibility failures
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Project Management Plan
changes
Opportunities
 Automated system for information
handling and communication
 Increased return on investment
 Better customer satisfaction rate
Threats
 Information security risks and attacks
 Technical failures
 Operational errors
The strengths and weaknesses associated with the project are included in the SWOT analysis
conducted. The project will be feasible as the associated weaknesses and threats will be
handled using a defined risk and change management plan. Also, the organization has the
skills to make sure that the resolution of the failures and operational issues is done with ease.
The project will be economically feasible as the funds will be arranged by WRU and the
execution of all of the project activities will be done without any hindrances.
Approval Requirements
It will be required that the internal approvals are provided by the Project Manager and the
external approvals are given by the Project Sponsor. The deliverables will be considered as
accepted and approved only when these approval requirements will be met (Rose, 2013).
Project Assumptions
 The resources will remain available for 40 days in a week
 The vendors will be available for communication
 The resources will have the workstations ready at the time of start-up
 The communication tools will be available in the project for carrying out internal and
external stakeholders
 The managers and resources will be selected on the basis of their skills and
competencies
Known Constraints
 The schedule estimated for the project will have 5% tolerance limit.
 The budget estimated for the project will have 5% tolerance limit.
 The availability of the resources will be one of the constraints.
 The ethical policies and norms as ACS code of ethics will be a constraint as 100%
compliance will be needed.
 Data Protection Law and Privacy Laws will also be constraints as non-compliance
will not be acceptable.
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Project Management Plan
Possible Improvements
 Improvement in the communication mechanisms in processes that are currently
carried out at the organization.
 Improvements in the decision making activities and processes
 Improvements in the data storage and management mechanisms and tools
 Improvements in the integration of information and data pieces with each other
 Improvements in the quality of the business operations and activities
Project Stakeholders Management
Specific Targets
 Use: The MIS will be used by the management and employees of WRU and therefore,
the system shall always remain available and accessible to the stakeholders.
 Use for: The MIS will be used by the end system users for improving the
communication and decision-making abilities and for integrating the data and
information sets (Price, 2011).
 How to use: There will be a front-end of the MIS that will be accessible to the end-
users and all of the system functions will be performed using the front-end. It will be
accessible on the web and mobile platforms.
Stakeholder Map
Stakeholder Type Interest Level Contribution
Level
Involvement
Level
Influence
Level
WRU –
Project
Sponsor
External High Moderate Moderate High
WRU
Employees
and
management –
End System
Users
External High Moderate Moderate High
WRU
Customers
External Moderate Low Low High
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Project Management Plan
Project
Control Board
Internal Moderate Moderate Moderate High
Vendor
Groups
External Moderate High Moderate High
Project
Manager and
Team
Internal High High High Moderate
Project Organisational Chart
HR and Communications Management
Resource Name Work
Project Manager 576 hrs
Proposal of the solution and its justification 32 hrs
Weighted Score Model 24 hrs
Formal Proposal and Feasibility Study 56 hrs
Development of the Work Breakdown Structure 24 hrs
Project schedule management and estimations 40 hrs
Development of the scope 48 hrs
Modifications and handling of changes 112 hrs
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Organization
Management
Procurement
Manager Business Analyst Project Manager
Marketing Analyst
Data Analyst
Technical Associate
Quality Assurance
Engineer
Technical Writer
Data Engineer
Networking
Associate

Project Management Plan
User training sessions and two-way feedback 144 hrs
Performance evaluation and final reporting 96 hrs
Marketing Analyst 64 hrs
Market trends and patterns - Qualitative Analysis 64 hrs
Data Analyst 248 hrs
Vendor analysis 64 hrs
Migration of data sets 64 hrs
MIS audits and reviews, integration validations 80 hrs
Recording of learning and takeaways 40 hrs
Business Analyst 336 hrs
Analysis of the organizational problems and issues 40 hrs
Proposal of the solution and its justification 32 hrs
Project cost management and estimations 40 hrs
MIS audits and reviews, integration validations 80 hrs
User training sessions and two-way feedback 144 hrs
Technical Associate 392 hrs
Planning and management of other areas - risks, quality, communication,
stakeholders, procurements 56 hrs
Installation of the MIS and its integration with the other components 72 hrs
Migration of services 64 hrs
Modifications and handling of changes 112 hrs
Resolution of defects 88 hrs
Quality Assurance Engineer 344 hrs
Planning and management of other areas - risks, quality, communication,
stakeholders, procurements 56 hrs
Quality checks and assessment 88 hrs
Modifications and handling of changes 112 hrs
Resolution of defects 88 hrs
Technical Writer 192 hrs
Formal Proposal and Feasibility Study 56 hrs
Recording of learning and takeaways 40 hrs
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