SIM335 - Project Management: Merger Analysis of DEF LTD. & ABC PLC

This report provides a detailed analysis of the merger between DEF LTD. and ABC PLC, a prominent food and drinks retailer in the United Kingdom. The report, presented by the Project Manager, explores various project management concepts and techniques applied to the acquisition. It covers key aspects such as the project life cycle, managerial skills, cost management, budgeting, work breakdown structure, and scope statement. The project aims to acquire DEF LTD. within 26 days, with a budget of $25,000,000 and a contingency reserve of 15%. The report also includes a Gantt chart, workflow chart, and a discussion on risk management and quality control measures to ensure the successful execution of the project.

SIM335- Managing Projects
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Table of Contents
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
1) Define the key characteristics of any project..........................................................................4
2) What is the Scope Statement for a project? What role does the Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS) have in such a statement?................................................................................................5
3) Using the information below, plot out a full project Gantt chart and identify the critical
path. How many days does it take to complete the project?........................................................6
4) What approaches exist to generate a budget for a specific project budget?............................9
5) How can project risk arise? Outline the various responses to risk that may be taken within
project management...................................................................................................................10
6) What quality methods (project evaluation, monitoring and control) would you introduce to
ensure a project is completed successfully?..............................................................................11
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................13
Project Scope Statement............................................................................................................15
Work Breakdown Structure.......................................................................................................16
Project Budget...........................................................................................................................17
Work flow Chart........................................................................................................................18
Gantt chart.................................................................................................................................19
Characteristics and skills of a project manager.........................................................................20
The Project Scope Statement.....................................................................................................21
Project Life Cycle and Stages....................................................................................................22
References......................................................................................................................................25
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Task 1
Introduction
The task aims at identifying the project concept and its various attributes such as work break
down structure, the scope of planning, budget, Gantt charts, risk management and quality
assurance approaches.
1) Define the key characteristics of any project.
A Project may be defined as a group of various interlinked activities and processes in order to
achieve certain pre-defined derivable. A project may include the following characteristics:
 Temporary- Projects are temporary in nature as they are deemed to be completed within
a specified time period. It has a definite start and end point.
 Budget Specified-The projects are executed under a specified budget and are determined
to be completed under the defined budgets (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017).
 Cross-functional- Projects are identified as a cross-functional group of activities that are
interlinked.
 Consumer-Centric- Projects are consumer-centric processes that are focused towards
accomplishing the needs and objectives of the consumers.
 Resources-Projects requires various types of resources such as financial, human,
technological and raw materials.
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2) What is the Scope Statement for a project? What role does the Work Breakdown
Structure (WBS) have in sucha statement?
A scope statement for the projectcan be defined as a document which records for the project aims
and objectives, processes, functions, budgets, time schedule period, work breakdown structure
and the project baselines etc. The scope statement is developed to depict the projects objectives
and the outcomes that are to be accomplished through the project activities (Burke, 2013). The
statement document provides with project assumptions and various criteria on the basis of which
the project will be assessed and valued.The statement is developed to aid in the project
management and decision making activities for the project functions and processes.
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3) Using the information below, plot out a full project Gantt chart and identify the critical
path. How many days does it take to complete the project?
Project Gantt charts and Critical Path are developed for determining the time that will be
undertaken to complete the projects and its various activities. Gantt chart represents for the time
that will be undertaken to complete the various project stages and processes. The critical path is
the scheduled path and flow structure of the project that will be followed throughout the project
life cycle. As per the following time schedule, 26 days will be required to complete the project in
a successful manner.
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(Figure: Work Breakdown Structure)
(Figure: Critical Path)
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(Figure: Gantt chart)
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4) What approaches exist to generate a budget for a specific project budget?
There are several approaches available to generate a budget for a specific project. The budgetsare
the pre-defined amount of financial resources that will be required in order to undertake the
project functions and processes. The approach towards developing a project budget considers for
various types of project costs and expenditures. The project budget considers for Direct and
Indirect costs as the basic types of costs involved in developing a project budget (Harrison and
Lock, 2017).The direct costs includelabour costs, material costs, travel costs, technical costs and
training costs etc. Where else the indirect costs includemanagerial costs, communication costs
and operational costs incurred in various project processes. The budget approaches also include
for controlling measurements, monitoring measurements, and quality assurance activities etc.
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5) How can project risk arise? Outline the various responses to risk that may be taken
within project management.
Project risks are various obstacles and uncontrollable activities that takeplace due to natural and
human errors. Risks and uncertainties in projects are normal and are predictable to some extent.
In order to control the project risk, certain risk responses are developed in advance to execute a
reformative and secondary approach in the project lifecycle.The types of risk that are identified
are scope risk, scheduling risk, resource risk, capital risk and technological risks etc.The
responses to risks are as stated approaches or strategiesas below:
 Mitigation- Project Risk Mitigation includes various strategies and approaches that
enable to reduce the impact or influence of the risk on the project outcomes and
deliverables.
 Avoidance- Project Avoidance is the risk response through which the risk is completed
eradicating and out ruling the cause or reason for the risk in the project (Kerzner and
Kerzner, 2017).
 Transfer-Risk Transfer is the response to risk through the risk is completely transferred
to a third party outside the operational areas of the projects.It is done so to reduce the
costs of the risk, for example, assigning a sub-contractor or an insurance agent.
 Acceptance-Acceptance is undertaken as a risk response when the probability of its
occurrence is very low and it is acceptable as a part of the project.
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6) What would quality methods (project evaluation, monitoring and control) you introduce
to ensure a project is completed successfully?
Numerous types of quality methods are available in order to ensure the successful competition of
the projects. Project quality methods such as project evaluation, project monitoring and project
controlling can be undertaken. Project evaluation is executed in order to access the
performanceof project through evaluating the project performance and outcomes with some pre-
defined project performance standards. Project monitoring refers the activities undertaken in
order to monitor and control the project processes. Controlling activities in the projectare
undertaken by the tools and techniques cause and effect diagrams, control charts, flow-charting,
and histogram etc.
The methods that can be adopted by this project are stated as below:
 Project Quality Plan-This plan is developed in order to measure and assure the quality
of projects. The scope statement develops the quality plan in which various criteria for
assessing the quality and performance of the project are depicted and stated (De los Ríos-
et. al., 2015).
 Project Teams and roles-The project teams and roles are developed in diversified
projects in order to maintain and control the quality of project processes. Project teams
provide with project managers and regulators that assure the project quality and
performance as per the scope statement.
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Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that various types of approaches and project
controlling systems are required in order to assure the quality of the projects. Project scope
statements and controlling activities are effective tools for successful execution.
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Task 2
Executive Summary
The report has been developed in order to establish an understanding of the merger of DEF LTD.
with the ABC PLC. The ABC PLCis a well reputed and established food and drinks retailer
company in the United Kingdom. The report has been established in order to create a complete
understanding of the merger between the two high street businesses. The report has been
presented by the Project Manager to communicate on the various project management aspects
and concepts. The report will present with a clear understanding of the successful management
of the projects through effectiveproject management tools and techniques. The analysis of the
report is determined to provide withan understanding of project life cycle, processes, managerial
and leadership skills indulged in the project processes etc. The report is aimed at establishing and
communicating the execution and controlling of the project with aspects such as costs, budgets,
work break down the structure, scope statement etc.
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