Objectives of Emperor Communication Limited - Case Study Example

Unit code PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICE PROJECT PLAN, RISK AND ISSUE REGISTER Team Name Names of the Students Lectures’ Name Name of the University Tutorial time TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY....................................................................................................4 2 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................4 3. METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................................5 4. THE BODY.............................................................................................................................5 4.1. PROJECT PLAN................................................................................................................5 4.1.1. Project description...............................................................................................................5 4.1.2. Project prerequisites............................................................................................................6 4.1.3. External dependencies.........................................................................................................6 4.1.4. Planning assumptions..........................................................................................................7 4.1.5. Lessons incorporated...........................................................................................................8 4.1.6. Monitoring and control........................................................................................................9 4.1.7. Tolerances............................................................................................................................9 4.1.8. Product description .............................................................................................................9 4.1.9. The product breakdown structure......................................................................................11 4.1.10. The product flow diagram..................................................................................................11 4.2. RISK REGISTER............................................................................................................ 12 4.3. ISSUE REGISTER………………………………………………………………………14 5. EXPECTED OUTCOME.......................................................................................................15 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION...................................................................15 7. REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................17 LST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables Table 1: Product description........................................................................................................ 9 Table 2: Risk register....................................................................................................................12 Table 3: Issue register....................................................................................................................14 Figures Figure 1: Product Breakdown structure.........................................................................................11 Figure 2: Product flow diagram.....................................................................................................11 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The paper is about the case study of the management aspects of the project plan. It bases its contents on the marketing objectives of the Emperor Communication Limited. Emperor, a phone manufacturing company, plans to launch its 6th generation phone, with modern advanced and unique features, one month prior to the launching of the competitor’s product, iphone that has similar features. Its aim is to have a significant market share before the competitor’s product is released. The paper provides a project plan for the intended project. The paper utilises secondary information from the internet, books and periodicals to come up with a workable plan. From the discussions, a number of important project plan details are covered, including the possible risks and issues of the project. Proper mitigation practises are put in place so as to realise the goals. The paper recommends that the company should focus on all the aspects of the project plan and adhere to them so as to realize the full potential of the project. 2. INTRODUCTION Preparation for execution of any given activity requires adequate planning. The plan covers all the expected aspects of activity including the schedule, the cost, the participants, the tools to be used among others. With specific attention to project planning, a workable formulation of the design involving the plan descriptions, assumptions, possible external effects among others are worthy being looked at in details. The process is a vital part of any organization, therefore, the entire stake holders are supposed to be represented for effective design. (Lear, 2006). The project involves the planning for the launching of the new product, myPhone, by the Emperor communication Limited. It is a phone manufacturing company that plans to launch its new product, with modern technological features, 1st February 2013. The company responds to the Industry intelligence report that announced the release of the 6th generation iphone on 1st March 2013. Therefore, Emperor’s strategies are to popularise its product before the release of the similar product so as to have a significant market share. 3. METHODOLOGY This is a case study report that focuses to the details of management aspects and tactics in project planning. The paper adopts the method of collecting relevant data from the secondary sources. The information complied are derived from the internet, library books and periodicals and made to suit the project details of the Emperor Communication Limited. 4. THE BODY 4.1. PROJECT PLAN 4.1.1. Project description The marketing department will oversee all the project cycle as the Sydney convection centre takes care of the venue arrangements. The project aims at successfully launching the new product, myPhone, by achieving the following sub programme; Appointment of the project management committee to oversee the whole project. Allocation of various staff to manage various stages of the project including the risk and issue management. Drafting of the program to be used on the launching day. Identification, invitation and scheduling the speech giving times. Advertising of the product with all its features. Public announcement of the day of launching the product and its venue. Preparation of the venue, the products and other tools to be used. Organizing the availability of security on the launching day. 4.1.2. Project prerequisites Effective preparation and management of the prior activities is the key to success of the project planning ahead (Mira, 2004). The related prerequisite activities are made available for the execution of the project. These activities include: Availability of enough products, myPhone, for the launching purposes so that all the willing participants can purchase one or more. Availability of enough labour resource to run the launching and planning activities Prior advertisements to inform the public about the new product, its features, the launching date and the venue. Identification of a suitable venue for the conference. This venue should be easily accessible and able to accommodate a good number of people. Instillation of temporary structures and displays for the myPhone. 4.1.3. External dependencies The success of the project does not only depend on the operations within the Company but also the outside activities and influences. This may be from organizations or individual people. People have different personalities, weaknesses and conscience, effective management and preparation of an activity will never miss an error (Derrington, 2004). Despite the early attempts to cub any impact that these external stakeholders may have, a time to time follow up is essential to avoid failure. Different external activities that may affect the success of the project include: Major events and celebrations set in the very day of the conference. These ceremonies involve Christian celebrations, national holiday celebration and other celebrity meetings. Manufacturing machine breakdown leading to a reduction in the manufacture of enough products for the day. Late preparation of the conference room External stakeholders that may affect the smooth running of the activity as schedules include: The partner companies such as software Development Company like Microsoft and hardware Development Company like Intel. The government or its argents may affect the activity in case of late provision of licence to hold the advertisement or the conference. It may also declare the conference illegal upon the realization of expected security threats posed by terrorists or other illegal groups. The guests may also affect the success of the activity in case one or a number of them fail to turn out for the conference. 4.1.4. Planning assumptions The project plan is based on the following assumptions There are enough funds for all the activities planned. There is no external or internal factor that will lead to the postponing of the launching date. All the expected features of the myPhone will work effectively to convince the clients about the quality of the product. All the staffs and attendants have the PRINCE2 project management skills to apply during the project cycles. Most participants will buy the product the very day or a few days from the day. The products are enough to serve all the clients of the conference day. The cost of various goods and services towards the project does not change significantly as budged for earlier. The expected number of attendants will fit in the venue selected. There will be high standard of security on the launching day. 4.1.5 Lessons incorporated The marketing strategy of launching new products has proved to yield enormous benefits in the respective companies. In the article “Mitsubishi Launches New 17- Seater LCV” (2010), the sales manager of Centro Manufacturing Corporation confirms that the launching of the product really boosted their sales. He continues that the vehicle became very popular among the dual cab light. Likewise, the entrepreneur Darren Williams records a remarkable output in his hair products retail business. This was as a result of the launching of his business that his products gained popularity. The degree of the performance of his business is depicted when he is awarded a trophy for being young business person of the year 2010 (“Article title: Accept the Challenge - Seek the Opportunity”, 2011). Therefore, launching a new product is the most effective marketing plan that guarantees one a greater market share. 4.1.6. Monitoring and control According to ILX group, on the PRINCE2 methodology, (2012), the monitoring and the control of the project are achieved by division of the project into subgroup and allocation of the subgroups to the staffs. With the project management committee in position, the project is divided into potions. These are the supervisory section, the advertising section, the guest invitation and related activities’ section, the products and tools availability section, the attendants, the hospitality and venue management section, the account and budget section and the security section. Each section is assigned a number of staffs led by one head of the section. The sections are given full mandates to carry out their responsibility under the supervision of the head of the sections. The monitoring and control practice is enhanced by periodical submission of the section’s report to the supervisory sections which acts upon them accordingly. The supervisory section makes visits to inspect the progress of the other sections while providing necessary support where possible for quality delivery of the assigned role (Resnick & Estrup, 2000). This is done to realize the intended objective of the project. 4.1.7. Tolerances Due to a short remaining period, for the execution of the project, there is no tolerance on time. However, the estimated budget for the project is $500,000USD with $20,000USD tolerance. 4.1.8. Product description Table 1: Product description PRODUCTS DESCRIPTION MyPhone It has basic features like Bluetooth, video recording, camera. It has a window 7 operating system with Microsoft office suite that has applications like word, excel among others. It has a high speed processor. It has holographic keyboard for comfort when typing. It has a projector with 17” screen that can go up t0 15meters away. The arrangement The entire participant will sit facing the stage where presentations and speeches will be held. The stage will be raised to enable all the participants to see the proceedings. The sales of myPhone will be outside the conference hall. The displays One major display will be at the stage with a big myPhone model while the other displays will be outside the room. Flayers will be provided in and outside the conference room. The display will have transparent glasses for the clients to see the phones. The phone models will be exposed outside the display for the clients to feel the kind of phone being launched. Work allocation There will be staffs to attend to clients as the conference continues. The ceremony will be presided over by a staff from the marketing department. Security men and women will supervise the machine screening and take care of the whole compound Technical support The customer will have their new acquired products tested in the temporary installed workshops. Distant customer support after the conference or during the conference will be done by the technical staffs using the online service. 4.1.9. The product breakdown structure Figure 1: Product Breakdown structure 4.1.10. The product flow diagram Figure 2: Product flow diagram 4.2 RISK REGISTER The table below shows the possible risks and their details. Table 2: Risk register CATEGORIES 1 2 3 Reference. PLAN1/R01 PLAN1/R02 PLAN1/R03 Risk Time wasting Machine breakdown Security Author Project management committee Project management committee Project management committee Risk category Schedule Quality and Schedule Service Risk description It is caused when the execution and completion time of some critical programs are extended. This may be as a result of late response from the external stakeholders. When the program is not critical, the effect may not be severe, but if it is critical, it may lead to postponement of the launching date thus affecting the whole strategy and main objective (“critical path analysis”, n.d.). The machine producing the product, myPhone, or the communication and testing machine on the launching date may break down due to power failure or other technical problems. This will affect the availability of enough phones and its availability time. For the case of the server, the program may delay hence leading to the delay of the whole project. Lack of proper security plans may lead to lose of the products thus bringing a loss to the company and affecting the quantity of the expected products to be sold. It may also create room for security attacks by the terrorists. Probability, impact and expected value 0.8 0.65 0.75 Proximity From the initial stage of planning From the initial stage of planning At the storage and launching date Risk response category Threat: reduce Threat: reduce Threat: reduce Risk response Effective scheduling of the activities in the project. Effective supervision and delivery of periodical reports about the progress. Strict observation and excellent management of critical activities. Day to day servicing and inspection of the machine. Intensification of security be deploying more security staffs Risk status Active Active Active Risk owner Supervision section Other sections of the project management section The technical department of the company Security section Security department of the company Supervision section Risk actionee Supervision section All other sections of the project management section The technical department of the company. Supervision section Security section Security department of the company Supervision section 4.3 ISSUE REGISTER Table 3: Issue register CATEGORIES 1 2 3 Reference. PLAN1/R01 PLAN1/R02 PLAN1/R03 Issue Delay in issuing the advertising license Declining of guest speakers Breakdown of the manufacturing machine Issue raised by Executives of the project management committee Executives of the project management committee Technical department Issue report author Executives of the project management committee Executives of the project management committee Technical department Issue description The advertising license for the promotions planned has been delayed by the concerned government urgency. This may affect the schedule hence reducing the quantity of the expected audience. It may also reduce the number of clients who may attend the conference. Some guest speakers declined the offer due to number of reasons. This may affect the launching program and expected impact the specific guest speaker was to bring to the audience and to the market. This may reduce the number of expected clients to attend the conference. The manufacturing machine developed a technical problem thus stopping the manufacturing process of the phones. This may severely affect the expected sales on the launching day and the proceeding days. Priority First priority First priority First priority Severity Moderate Moderate Severe Issue status Being solved Only a few have not yet been found. Issue solved 5. EXPECTED OUTCOME The launching day is expected to be run smoothly with no cases of insecurity and system failure. All the participants are expected to be impressed by the features of myPhone. The company is expected to sell more than a thousand phones on that launching day. 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION It is worthy investing in money generating project so as to realize its full capability. The investment should be in form of cash, time and even assets. For the Emperor Communication Company to attain its goal, of having a significant market share, it has to plan adequately to achieve this dream. As part of the marketing strategies, product launching is done by the marketing department of the company. The project is defined, then a project plan drafted. The plan covers all the important parts of the project, the launching of the myPhone. Important sections like budget, time scheduling, risk identification and analysis should not be left out for realization of a sound promotional activity. This paper recommends that all the sections of a project plan be considered and adhered for Emperor to realize its objective. 7. REFERENCES “ Accept the Challenge - Seek the Opportunity”: The Journal(Newcastle, England). (2011). P.30 Retrieved on October 29 2012 from http://www.questia.com. “Critical Path analysis” Retrieved on October 30 2012 from http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/alevel/discrete_ch12.pdf Derrington, D. (2004), Theory of negligence advanced in the High Court of Australia.  . Retrived on October 29, 2012 from http://umairbali.ekalaam.com/Umair%20Law/Assignment%202/LAWREP-078- ALJ-JL-0595.pdf ILX Group, (2012), Prince2 Methodology, Retrieved on October 29 2012 from http://www.prince2.com/prince2-methodology.asp Leah, D. (2006). Changes in Policy and Practice: A Global View: Childhood Education. Vol 82, No.6, P.322. Retrieved on October 29 2012 from http://www.questia.com. Mira, P. (2004).Model of Planning and Managing a Complex Project : Management : Journal of Contemporary Management Issues. Vol. 9, No. 2, P. 131. Retrieved on October 29 2012 from http://www.questia.com. “Mitsubishi Launches New 17-Seater LCV. Contributors”: Manila Bulletin. (2010). Retrieved on October 29 2012 from http://www.questia.com. Resnick, F. & Estrup, L. (2000). Supervision: A Collaborative Endeavor . Retrieved on October 29 2012 from http://www.gisc.org/gestaltreview/documents/Supervision- ACollaborativeEndeavor.pdf Read More