Introduction
The Concrete Masonry Corporation is a company specialising in manufacturing and designing for the building industry. To manage in the highly competitive environment the organisation work in, it has decided to transfer several machines to a new manufacturing site located in Eastern Europe. The project manager responsible for the transfer is Kevin Lewis. This report aims at addressing the issues Lewis should address from the project management perspective. It presents the activities he and his team should complete to implement the initiative successfully. The paper addresses the project life cycle, project scope statement, project priorities, work breakdown structure, and cost estimation specifically, noting the significance of these tasks. The report also offers charts helping to visualise the presented information. The paper concludes by stating the actions Lewis and his team should take to ensure that the project is successful.
Project Life Cycle
The activities Lewis should complete to implement the new initiative should be based on a project life cycle. This concept can be defined as the set of phases a project passes through from its start to its closure (Project Management Institute, 2013). Notably, the stages of the project life cycle are sequential; they can be divided based on the objectives a responsible team has, results it wants to achieve, milestones, or economic factors. It is vital to add that the project life cycle does not depend on the life cycle of the product produced (Project Management Institute, 2013). Typically, all phases of the project life cycle are time-bounded, which will also be considered in the design of Lewis’ activities.
Normally, the project life cycle has several phases that should be noted; the following generic structure can be applied to the majority of projects. The first stage is the start of the project, followed by the phase of organisation and preparation; the latter stage is longer than the former one (Project Management Institute, 2013). The third stage is carrying out the project work, which is the longest period of the project life cycle that is finished when accepted deliverables are achieved. The final phase is closing the project, which ends when project documents are archived.
It is crucial to mention that the project life cycle has several characteristics that should also be outlined, as they are significant for outlining the issues Lewis should address. First, staffing level and costs associated with the project are low at its start, peak at the third stage mentioned above, and decrease rapidly by the last phase (Project Management Institute, 2013). At the same time, this typical curve may not apply to all projects, especially the ones requiring significant expenditures in the early stages. Second, the levels of uncertainty and risks are the highest at the start of the project and the lowest at its end (Project Management Institute, 2013). Third, the final features of the product created within the project may be affected at the start of the work, but this opportunity decreases as it continues. Otherwise, costs may increase highly if the need to change the final characteristics arises.
Activities to Be Completed
The primary theoretical basis for this report and the suggested activities are the works by the Project Management Institute (2013), Pinto (2016), and Burke (2013), along with the other authors working in the field. These books have been selected because they provide extensive information about project management and are reliable sources for information. Other articles used in the report address various aspects of project management, structure, and cost estimation, and can be considered valuable sources as well.
Project Life Cycle
As shown above, designing a project life cycle is crucial for implementing the initiative. The basis for the development of the project life cycle consisting of four stages is taken from the book by the Project Management Institute (2013). Lewis should outline the four stages of the project; the start of it is to be set in September, and the end should be in 6 months, in March.
The first stage of the project can take three weeks when the project scope statement will be presented, and the information about the project will be outlined. The stage of organisation and preparation can last for one month and two weeks and result in developing a project management plan (Project Management Institute, 2013). During this stage, Lewis and his team should visit the new site and analyse the weather conditions and the road infrastructure. The third phase, carrying out the work, is the longest one and can take up to four months. During this time, the equipment will be transferred to the new location. Finally, the closing stage can last for two weeks; the documentation will be prepared during this time, and the outcomes of the project will be presented.
It is crucial to mention that the project Lewis is responsible for may be associated with several concerns. The primary one is that the company has selected the site without visiting the area where the machines will be transferred, which means that the weather conditions may be inappropriate. This concern is particularly significant considering the fact that the project will be carried out in winter. Another possible problem is that Lewis will have to decide how to delegate authority to the members of his new team. However, these concerns can be mitigated when the activities for the project will be completed.
Project Scope Statement
The first activity Lewis should complete to implement the initiative successfully is presenting a project scope statement. This statement can be considered a tool outlining the goals of a project, its milestones, exclusions, and possible constraints (Ubani, Ibeawuchi and Ukwuoma, 2015). Moreover, by presenting the project scope statement, Lewis can ensure that the boundaries for the project are set, and the deliverables are clarified. The project scope should include the description, aims, key deliverables, milestones, potential risks, assumptions, and exclusions of the project in addition to stakeholder approval (Ubani, Ibeawuchi and Ukwuoma, 2015; Burke, 2013). It is crucial for Lewis to mention all of the aspects of the project scope, as project activities will be linked to them.
In project scope objectives, Lewis should state the aims the company wants to achieve; the primary one is transferring eight pre-stressed concrete assembly machines and ancillary equipment into Eastern Europe within six months successfully. Moreover, Lewis can address the goals of exploring the weather conditions and the road infrastructure. Project score deliverables may include achieving efficiency within the Concrete Masonry Corporation’s manufacturing supply. The milestones should include all the events that can mark progress within the project timeline, including the exploration of the area. Assumptions and exclusions should be set to clarify the scope of the project, managing the expectations of stakeholders (Project Management Institute, 2013; Pinto, 2016). Potential risks should be identified based on the expectations the company has and the observations the team will outline after visiting the new location.
Project Priorities
Another activity Lewis should complete to transfer the equipment successfully is setting project priorities. To do so, he can follow several significant steps and outline balanced project trade-offs. First, it may be crucial for Lewis and his team to make a full list of tasks and individuals responsible for them. The case study reveals that, although it was challenging for Lewis to delegate tasks at first, he can rely on his five team members freely now. It means that it is vital to outline what individuals are responsible for the organisation of the first trip to the new manufacturing site and the analysis of necessary data, especially the weather conditions. Moreover, Lewis should assign the tasks of cost estimation and the development of work breakdown structure to one of his team members.
Second, it is crucial for the team and their manager to evaluate the significance of each task. Lewis and his co-workers should identify the tasks that are associated with the highest value for the project. To do so, they can analyse the possible consequences of each task and rank them based on the results. Third, it is vital to for Lewis and his team to outline due dates for all tasks within the project, as it may be necessary to prioritise those that need to be finished earlier.
As mentioned above, project trade-offs are crucial for setting project priorities. They can be defined as the problems that will require Lewis and his team to find a balance between the time and the cost associated with the project (Biswas, Karmaker and Biswas, 2016). As the company does not have unlimited resources to transfer the machines, and the expectations of the stakeholders may vary, it is crucial to implement trade-offs to balance possible conflicting issues (Pinto, 2016). The primary elements of trade-off decisions are time, cost, and quality of performance (Biswas, Karmaker and Biswas, 2016). However, some of the other factors that may affect the priority a company outlines include the reputation of the organisation and its market position.
One of the crucial priorities Lewis should consider is the analysis of the weather conditions and road infrastructure at the new location. It can be considered a priority based on the fact that the cost of the possible error is high related to the cost of the visit to the site. The reason for it is that, without a proper preliminary analysis, it may be challenging for the team to transfer the machines successfully. If the road infrastructure is found to be inappropriate, the decision to transfer machines to the location may be unfeasible, and the project may be unsuccessful. Such an outcome would also result in the fact that the company would spend much valuable time on mitigating the results of it. On the contrary, the time and investment needed to organise a trip may be relatively low but highly beneficial for the organisation’s future performance.
Another significant priority is completing cost estimation, which will be discussed in detail below. Such a task is crucial because it will allow seeing whether the decision to transfer machines to a particular location is feasible. Moreover, it can help Lewis and his team to analyse alternative options in case some parts of the project cannot be implemented successfully. Thus, it is evident that the priorities should be outlined at the start of the project.
Work Breakdown Structure
Work breakdown structure should also be completed to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative. The goal of this activity is partitioning the project into stages, work packages, and deliverables (Siami-Irdemoosa, Dindarloo and Sharifzadeh, 2015). The benefit of the work breakdown structure is that it can affect other project management processes, including the definition of activities, risk analysis and response, the development of project schedule, and control tools.
Lewis can use this tool to help his team and stakeholders in understanding the project scope better. The main work packages he can include in the structure are analysis, planning, and transportation. Within the first package, the tasks related to the investigation of the weather and road conditions should be presented. The second one can include the tasks related to primary and supplementary planning. Finally, the third package can involve tasks associated with the transportation of the equipment.
Cost Estimation
Cost estimation is another crucial activity Lewis should complete to ensure that the transportation of machines is successful. Such an activity should be performed at the start of the project because this approach can help the participants to avoid making crucial estimating errors in the future (Mulugeta, 2018). Moreover, it is necessary for Lewis to focus on the accuracy of initial cost estimates, as, this way, he can ensure that the evaluations reflect the budget for the project and that it can be completed within budget estimates. The current budget for the project is 900,000 pounds for six months.
There are several cost appraisal methods Lewis can utilise, each of which can be beneficial for the organisation. For instance, the method of net present value (NPV) that can be used to identify the value of all cash flows associated with the project, including those it will generate in the future. The primary benefit of this approach is that it allows assessing the financial aspects of the project from the perspectives of the company’s business context (Hopkinson, 2016). Moreover, the use of NPV will require Lewis to take the costs and benefits beyond the period he will be responsible for the delivery of the project. Finally, NVP can optimise the trade-offs between the costs and benefits as the project continues (Hopkinson, 2016). Internal rate of return (IRR) is another valuable cost appraisal method. It can help Lewis to estimate the profitability of the investments the company will potentially make (Hayes, 2019). IRR’s primary benefit is that it can help the team to decide which investments can be undertaken and which ones should not be; moreover, this approach also considers the value of money.
Payback can be considered one of the simplest methods of cost appraisal. Its main purpose is defining the time it would take a project to repay the initial investment (Kolawole, 2016). Such a method is focused on cash flows and considers the total cost of investments, analysing in what time they can be repaid. Payback can be measured from the perspectives of any period; in the case of the Concrete Masonry Corporation, it can be defined by months and years. The primary benefit of such an approach to cost appraisal is that it is a relatively simple method compared to the ones presented above, and it allows to focus on the speed of return.
It is crucial to time phase the project, as it can help to achieve effective cost control (Mulugeta, 2018). Time-phased budgets can be defined by the fact that they indicate the possible expenditure that may be present over time. Such an approach to cost estimation provides an effective project control tool. It will allow Lewis and his team to compare the schedule baseline with the budget baseline, and allocate costs across both the project activities and their time frames (Mulugeta, 2018). Finally, time phasing the project can help to identify milestones for both performance and expenditures.
In the case of the Concrete Masonry Corporation, the most feasible approach to cost estimation is NVP because it can provide more valuable data compared to other approaches presented above. From the perspective of time-phasing, it is possible to say that the majority of costs in the project will be associated with its third phase, during which transportation will be completed. Moreover, the trip to the new location Lewis and his team members will make also needs to be included in the analysis of costs.
Conclusion
The report reveals that the activities Lewis should complete to ensure the success of the project include designing the project life cycle, outlining project priorities, and developing the work breakdown structure. Moreover, he and his team should estimate costs and time phase the project to analyse possible expenditures over time and identify the milestones for performance. It is advised that the project should have four stages; the most effective cost appraisal method is NVP.
Reference List
Biswas, S. K., Karmaker, C. L. and Biswas, T. K. (2016) ‘Time-cost trade-off analysis in a construction project problem: case study’, International Journal of Computational Engineering Research, 6(10), pp. 32-38.
Burke, R. (2013) Project management: planning and control techniques. 5th edn. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons.
Hayes, A. (2019) Internal rate of return – IRR.Web.
Hopkinson, M. (2016) ‘The case for project net present value (NPV) and NPV risk models’, PM World Journal, 5(6), pp. 1-9.
Kolawole, O. A. (2016) ‘Assessment of the reliability of techniques employed in feasibility and viability appraisal’, Assessment, 7(15), pp. 89-95.
Mulugeta, T. (2018) Factors affecting project cost and time overrun: in the case of Addis Ababa University building projects. PhD Thesis. Addis Ababa University. Web.
Pinto, J. K. (2016) Project management: achieving competitive advantage. 4th edn. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Project Management Institute (2013) A guide to project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide). 5th edn. Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Siami-Irdemoosa, E., Dindarloo, S. R. and Sharifzadeh, M. (2015) ‘Work breakdown structure (WBS) development for underground construction’, Automation in Construction, 58, pp. 85-94.
Ubani, E., Ibeawuchi, E. and Ukwuoma, B. (2015) ‘Development of strategies for effective project scope management: a study of national integrated power projects (NIPP)’, European Journal of Academic Essays, 2(2), pp. 11-20.