Project Planning - Dcheduling and Control

Question: Discuss about the Project Planning, Dcheduling and Control. Answer: Introduction: Introducing changes in an organization can result to a lot of uncertainties on the part of the management as well as the workforce because they cannot accurately predict the outcome of these changes as well as the impact of such changes on their careers (Wirick 2009). This analysis is based on HCC Industries case study. The case study is about the companys intention of changing its budgeting strategy from stretch targets method to Minimum performance standard method to better their business prospects. One Disadvantage that the case study identifies is about the income of managers would be not predictable as it was before. Before adoption of the new strategy managers were sure that their bonuses would come automatically and they did not have to work for them but with the change of strategy they had no option but to work for their bonuses. The risk with this is that it had the possibility of increasing employee turnover in the company .This would be necessitated by the employees desire to have a guaranteed pay for their work. Employee turnover usually has a negative impact on an organization. This would also be necessitated by employees dissatisfaction especially because of close monitoring of their performance and operations by the corporate. Employees usually want their space as well .Such close monitoring is also capable of making employees to feel demotivated hence impacting on their performance. Inadequacy of resources is another risk for the project. Implementation of the project would require some good amount of money for successful implementation .Without this, the project could be implemented fully The other risk that could be identified from the case study was the uncertainty on company incomes. It could not be possible to accurately determine if the new strategy would work well for the company. Either way, it could either bring positive impact on the company by significantly improving their prospects or on the other hand it could lead to a reduction in the income of the company significantly hence failing to meet their objectives. Risk Register No Risk Probability Impact Significance Risk Score Strategy Risk Resolution Plan In charge person Time limit Record reference Additional notes PM Sign 1 Minimal performance 3 3 High impact hinders progress 3 Adopt alternative implementation strategy Partial implementation corporate Before 31st Dec 2016 Waiting approval 2 Lack of resources 3 3 High impact hinder implementation 3 Look for funding Allocate more resources Corporate Before 31st Dec 2016 Resources register Waiting approval 3 Turnover 2 2 High Impact hinders performance 2 Clarifications Involve employees in decision making Corporate Before 31st Employees Register Waiting approval Risk Probability Frequent likely Occasional seldom Unlikely 1 2 3 Catastrophic I. Extremely high Critical II. High Moderate III. Medium Mitigation strategies Testing of the new strategy on some divisions One of the strategies that can be used by the company to mitigate on the partially introducing the intended change .This has the possibility of providing them with a snapshot of how the outcome will be like. Depending on the outcome on that particular division, they can then choose to introduce or not to introduce it to the whole Organization. This would ensure that the company did not engage in a loss making operation but rather it engaged in operations that would enable it to better their incomes if not maintain them at their current states. Testing of the new strategy would ensure that the company did not engage in an operation that would lead to wastage of resources and fail to achieve any meaningful outcome. Consulting employees The full implementation was to a large extent dependent on the employees. If they wanted it to be implemented fully they would ensure that it was but if they did not want it to be implemented they would make sure that it failed. One of the reasons that would make them ensure that the new strategy was successful was consultation. The management or the corporate should have considered seeking the opinion of the workforce so that all their concerns would be considered and their fears clarified. With this their rate of turnover would be minimized Basically the stakeholders in this project were the Corporate, the Division managers and the employees working in the divisions. Each of this had a role to play in as far in as far as the project was concerned. Their appraisal would depend on their role in the whole project. The corporate had the responsibility of ensuring that the strategy was effectively adopted by every division in the company. It was their responsibility to ensure that all the necessary resources for the implementation were availed as well as the necessary support to their task force. They also had the responsibility of ensuring that all precautions were followed in the implementation. Additionally they were supposed to offer the necessary explanations and clarifications regarding the project to their employees so that they would minimize resistance to change on the part of the employees. Their appraisal would therefore be dependent upon these key responsibilities. The division managers had the responsibility of ensuring that the project was successfully implemented in their respective departments. They are required to guide and motivate their subordinates towards the implementation of this strategy. So that it could be successfully implemented. Their Appraisals would depend on how effectively or ineffectively they had achieved these expectations. On the part of the employees, they are usually the people responsible for ensuring that any change is successfully implemented because they are directly involved in the implementation process through the activities that they perform. If they fail then the management cannot implement the change on their own because they are not directly involved in the production process. The Employees would then be appraised on their ability to successfully or unsuccessfully implement the project. References: Breyfogle, f. W. (2008). Integrated enterprise excellence. A management and black belt guide for going beyond lean six sigma and the balanced scorecard volume iii, volume iii. Austin, tex, bridgeway books [in cooperation with citius publishing]. Callahan, k. R., brooks, l. M. (2004). Essentials of strategic project management. Hoboken, nj, j. Wiley. Http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=214286. Frigenti, e., comninos, d. (2001). The practice of project management: a guide to the business-focused approach. London [u.a.], kogan page. Kendrick, t. (2010). The project management tool kit: 100 tips and techniques for getting the job done right. New york, amacom american management association. Http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=34156. Lewis, j. P. (2011). Project planning, scheduling control: the ultimate hands-on guide to bringing projects in on time and on budget. New york, mcgraw-hill. Project management institute. (2008). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (pmbok guide). Newtown square, pa, project management institute. Rolstadaas, a. (2008). Applied project management: how to organize, plan and control projects. Trondheim, tapir academic press. Wirick, d. W. (2009). Public-sector project management: meeting the challenges and achieving results. Hoboken, n.j., wiley.