Project Management Report: Analysis of ABC plc Project

This report provides a comprehensive overview of project management principles and their application to a case study involving ABC plc. The report begins by outlining the key characteristics of a successful project, emphasizing transparency, consistency, flexibility, communication, organization, and problem-solving. It then delves into the importance of the scope statement and the role of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in defining project activities. A Gantt chart is presented to illustrate project timelines, and different approaches to project budgeting are discussed, including top-down, rule-of-thumb, and bottom-up methods. The report also explores potential project risks, such as poor leadership, technical issues, and staff problems, along with corresponding mitigation strategies. Furthermore, it details various quality assurance methods employed to ensure project success, including project evaluation, monitoring, and controlling. The report concludes with a project management perspective, examining project life cycle stages, leadership roles, and processes, including a case study of John, a project manager involved in an acquisition. The analysis covers his responsibilities in planning, documentation, and risk analysis, as well as the stages of project management: initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. The report also discusses the product life cycle stages.

Managing Projects

INTRODUCTION
Managing the project is a very vital activity for an organisation. This will not only
indicate the effectiveness and operations of business entity but also support in effective growth
in the activities and handling of business operations which will help in increase in the
effectiveness of business activities and achieving of targeted aims and objective by the firm. This
will help in better rise in operations of organisation that will help in better rise in functional
capacity of enterprise. The report will cover project management report which will support an
effective rise and handling of a business project of ABC plc. The report will lay emphasis on
different characteristics of a project (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017). The scope statement of the
organisation is been analysed with a work breakdown structure. A Gantt chart is been presented
and different approaches of the setting the project budget and different project risk associated
will be analysed and different quality methods are been introduced and evaluated that will help
in good rise in the effectiveness of the project to be completed successfully. Besides this, a
project management perspective is been presented which will support rise in management
effectiveness of cited business enterprise. It will cover the project life cycle stages and
leadership, processes followed and control the problems in handling of business project.
TASK 1
1) what are the key characteristics of any project.
Different characteristics are been considered in thought process by a business entity
which will support rise in operations which will support good handling of various business
operations and functions that are been considered by the firm. Some major characteristics are:
Transparency: this is the major characteristic that will be taken in thought process by the
business entity which supports the good increase in the operational capability of an organisation.
It will improve the employees and customers trust level over the firm.
Consistency: the project management will see through effective handling of business functions
in a very consistent manner and meet their requirements in a better way (Dykstra, 2011)..
Flexibility: the business project that will be managed is required to be much flexible and
effective as this will facilitate a better execution of the business activities and take alterations in
case of need.
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Communication: An effective project is well communicated within the organisation. This will
facilitate the better adoption of policies and measures, drafting the plan and managing the
operation's (Ilozor and Kelly, 2012)..
Organisation: the activities that are been associated with the project will support in good
management of business functions by organising the different activities in a very effective way.
It will also ensure a good management of business project.
Problem solving: the project will involve certain risks and issues or problems which will be well
managed and handled by the firm in regard to improve the effectualness of the trade functions.
2) What importance does Scope Statement have for a project? What is the role of Work
Breakdown Structure (WBS) in such a statement.
A statement of scope for a project is a documented detail, that includes the details of the
activities that are been produced while handling a business operation. It involves the details
about the different activities that are been involved in a project development process (Nicholas
and Steyn, 2017).
The work breakdown structure (WPS) will help in good planning and achieving of
targeted aims and activities that will support a better planning of project management and
handling of operations and handling of business project in a very effective way.
3) Gantt Chart and identification of the critical path with the duration of project.
The project will take 26 days to finish the project.
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4) explain the different types of approaches that are been taken in consideration for budget
planning of a project?
Various approaches is been taken in effective though process by the enterprise to handle
business activities which will support in good management of business functions which will help
in increase in the actions and activities which will help in suitable rise in efficiency of an
organisation to manage the project. Different cast estimation techniques are:
 Top down approach: it uses the actual work and cost estimation without any metrics. It
uses the raw historical data that will support a better handling of business functions which
will aid in assessment of project reports, financial statements and purchasing history of
project.
 Rule of thumb: it uses the metrics to simplify the data and thus will impact the overall
operations in a better way. This help in effective assessment of operations (Rakos and
et.al., 2015.).
 Bottom up: this will help in consideration of the people that will be the part of the
project and thus the expenses are been planned and analysed accordingly. The list of
resources are been drafted and allocation is decided.
5) in what way the risk in a project arise? Explain various responses to the risk factors.
The project risk will arise due to various factors like employee dissatisfaction, technical
issues and financial crisis (Kubba, 2010). These are needed to be mitigated in order to ensure
proper handling of the business project and achieving of targeted goals and actions which will
support a rise in good planning of business activities which is been taken in thought process by
enterprise and thus will help in effective increase in trade activities which are been considered by
the firm.
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Different responses to the various risk factor associated with a project are:
 Poor leadership: this will be managed by the firm by assessing the leader and replacing
him, if found inefficient.
 Technical issues: this can be rectified by the proper handling of the technical factors that
are been taken in thought process by the enterprise.
 Staff problems: it can be managed by proper communication and negotiation by HR in a
firm (Lientz, 2012)..
6) Explain the different quality assurance method used by the enterprise to handle the project
successfully?
Some major quality assessment and marinating measures within the firm will be:
 Project evaluation: this involve the assessment of the various risk factors, functions and
outputs that are been taken in consideration by the firm to maintain the quality of project.
 Monitoring: it will help in keeping a check on the functions using six sigma approach
and total quality management (Janda and Killip, 2013)..
 Controlling: it involves the lean management and peer reviews that will help in making
the project more effective.
TASK 2
As per the given case scenario, John has been approached by senior project management
whether he would be interested in the role of project manager of the acquisition. Being a project
manager within the company, he has several kinds of roles and responsibility to accomplish task
and objective. He would need to adopt it for every aspects of project planning, implementation
and execution of the acquisition project (Artto, Kulvik, Poskela and Turkulainen, 2011). As ABC
company considered awarding the acquisition project handling process to consultants from
outside as they had done with previous acquisition. A project leader is a person who has the
overall responsibility for successful planning, initiation, design, monitoring, controlling,
execution, and closure of a project. In addition to this, project manager also have to carry the
responsibility to making decision for both small and large manner regarding the project. They
have to understand the objective and situation of project and create a systematic planning and
path to achieve it in effective and efficient manner (Bredillet, Yatim and Ruiz, 2010). In order to
achieve the success and objective of project regarding acquisition, John has to focus on several
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roles and responsibility which have allotted. Following are some roles and responsibilities of the
John regarding to achieve target of project that is acquisition-
Planning and defining scope- This is one of the essential responsibility of project manager
regarding to achieve objective of project. In this aspect, project manager have to develop a
systematic planning and scope so as effective activity can conduct for achieve objective of
project. In the case scenario, project manager John have to develop a systematic planning
regarding the acquisition of DEF Ltd. In this regard, John has to develop a systematic plan and
scope so as acquisition task can successfully accomplish (Bredillet, 2010).
Time estimating- This is another great responsibility of John regrading the project of acquisition
by which he can able to identify a specific time period. With help of effective time management,
all task of project can effectively accomplish by project manager.
Systematic documentation- Proper documentation is another responsibility of project manager
in the acquisition project by which he can able to accomplish target of project in effective
manner. With help of documentation, proper information and data regarding the project can
obtain by project manager (Burke, 2013).
Risk analysis- Risk analysis is another responsibility of project manager under which they have
to identify associated risk and issue regarding project. With help of risk analysis, project
manager can eliminate hazard and uncertain risk within the project.
As per the above discussion it has been analyzed that there are various skills and competencies
within the project manager through which they can effectively achieve target of project and
accomplish it in systematic manner (Caniëls and Bakens, 2012.). John has to acquire these skills
and abilities for accomplish task of acquisition project. In addition to this, John have also needed
to focus on the project management process that have several stages. These phases are discussed
below-
Initiating- This is one of the most significant stage in the process management under which
project manager have to focus on the concept development. In this phase, project manager
focuses on the aim, objective, responsibility and time duration of the project. John has to focus
on the aim and objective of acquisition project in this stage (De Bakker, Boonstra and
Wortmann, 2010). Planning- Planning is another stage of the project management under which John is
responsible to develop a systematic planning for achieve task of acquisition of project. In
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this John is responsible to develop a systematic planning and set each task according to a
systematic time period so as determined target can achieve. With help of systematic
planning, John can easily achieve target within a specific time and overcome risk
associated with it. Executing- In this phase, project manager have to focus on two stage that is plan
execution and contract administration. In the plan execution, project manager handling
out the project plan by executing the task identified therein and handling the various
technical and organizational interfaces. In addition to this, in the contract administration
phase, project manager have to manage the contractual aspects of the procured product
and services.
 Controlling- In this stage project manager focuses on the controlling aspect like current
staffing plan, reliance on overtime, on trade off's between budget and schedule objective
etc. It is great duty of project leader to control and monitor each and every activity in the
project development so as determined target can achieve in effective and efficient
manner. In this stage, project manager focuses on the progress measurement and
reporting, scope change management, quality control, quality improvement, time and
schedule control, risk control etc.
 Closing- In this stage project manager focuses on the closing process under which al
activities and functions related to project can accomplish.
Product Life cycle Introduction- In the primary phase of the item life cycle, association will present the new
item and administration in the market. It is the primary period of thing under which
association introduce the new thing in the market. This stages is basic stage which
compose is the looking point for the thing life cycle under which new thing is just
introduced inside the market close by a couple of parts like conceptualizing, need
examination, preliminary and detail setup, creating et cetera. Growth- In this stage cost of the item and administration can decreased because of
economies of scale and income of the business can increment. In this stage open
mindfulness can increment and rivalry among the association can likewise increment.
Organization is beginning to build the showcasing, commercial and advancement of item
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and administrations in the market. Because of the high advancement and ad, offers of the
item and administrations is likewise essentially increment in the market. Maturity- It is the development organize under which item and administrations can end
up stable in the market. In this stage, new contenders can go into the market and income
of the business is decay as contrast with the past stage The cost of the item has been
diminished in light of the fact that volume of the item is expanded. In this stage, highlight
enhancement and brand separation is underscored to keep up.
Decrease- This is the last phase of item life cycle under which item deals has begun to decay in
light of the fact that if the cancellation of product from the universe of market. The gainfulness
of business and cost of the product can likewise lessen in this stage. The significant explanation
behind increment in the expenses of the item and administrations is some loss of economies of
the scale (De Bakker, Boonstra and Wortmann, 2010).
Leadership
A leadership style is a procedure of arranging bearing and inspiration individuals. Initiative style
is a way a man utilizes energy to lead other individuals. Some pioneer can't play out their work
with high number of adherents interest in basic leadership. Some business do not have the
capacity or want to take obligations. Administration is capacity of organization's administration
to set and accomplish authoritative objectives make quick and definitive move beat the
opposition and move other to perform well.
Project manager John have to understand the leadership and monitoring skill and ability so as he
can effectively lead, control, monitor and manage the subordinates and other member of project
development. John has to adopt effective leadership style to control, monitor and manage the
project and accomplish its success within specified time period. John will adopt democratic
leadership style for accomplish the target of project by which he allows all subordinates to take
active participation within the project development plan. In this style, John focuses on the
subordinates issue, conflicts and problem and find out solution for them (De Bakker, Boonstra
and Wortmann, 2010).
Project life cycle and the administrative and control problems associated with it.
As per the above discussion it has been analysed that there are several kinds of stage of
successful product life cycle and development that is very important to consider by John at the
time of operating and conducting project of acquisition. There are various administration and
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control problem which face by the John at the time of initiating the project of acquisition
(Boonstra and Wortmann, 2010).
Different administrative and quality control activities are been taken in thought process
by enterprise that will support in achieving of objectives which will support the increase in
management of acquisition project taken in consideration by business project by ABC plc. The
administrative problems that are been faced by the organisation are needed to be mitigated and
handled with extensive care in order to ensure successful execution of project (Hallowell and
Wehle, 2013). The basic acquisition activities which are been taken in the thought process by
John to improve efficiency of organisation.
The acquisition project life cycle will involve the following operations in an effective and
significant manner which will involve following factors:
 At the initial stage, John has to face the issue from the staffing and the management and
the work force.
 Convincing the stakeholders for the acquisition of DEF plc will be the major challenge
that has to be looked after by John for the successful execution of the acquisition process.
John has to make them understand that them merger or taking over of the firm is
beneficial for both the enterprises which will support in high amount of revenue generation and
increase the effectiveness of the organisation that will help in effective rise in business functions
and activities which are been followed by John to make acquisition process more effective and
successful (Walker, 2015).
Besides this, the controlling of the activities has to be looked after that will support a
good rise in the carrying out of acquisition process of DEF plc by ABC plc. The proper
controlling of the business actions will involve the better achieving of targeted aims and
activities which will help in a good control over operations and meeting of targeted business
activities that will be followed by John for good merging of both the firms. Other than this, the
quality control activities will help in better rise in contentment and trust level of stake holders
and customers as well as the employee's towards the firm and acquisition activity(Griffith,
Stephenson and Watson, 2014). The quality assurance and management activity will support in
superior handling of business activities which will support an effective rise in quality of the
product and services produced by the firm. Besides this, it will help in superior rise in the
business operations and meeting of the set aims and objectives The adoption of the total quality
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management and lean management approaches along with the following and implementation of
six sigma approach by the firm will support effective rise in productivity and achieving of
targeted goals and aims related to acquisition process. This will improve the work performance
of both the cited enterprises(Addis, 2012).
CONCLUSION
From this entire report it has been concluded that project management is a systematic
process of initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing the work of a team to achieve
specific goal. It has bee also concluded that John have tasked to accomplish the project of
acquisition so for achieve this objective, project manager have to focus on the several stages of
project management product life cycle and effective leadership.
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