Motorcycle Project Analysis - Essay Example

?Motor Cycle Project Questions and Answers Select one of the types of project organization that would suit the development of the larger touring class motorcycles. Outline the process steps that your company would take in order to develop the motorcycle. Provide a rationale for the response. A project organization is a formation that allows the management and execution of project tasks. Its primary motive is to create a setting that promotes communications amongst the group participants with a minimal amount of disorder, conflict and overlap. One of the significant results of project management is the type of managerial structure that will be applied for the project. Every project has its exclusive features and the framework of a managerial outline must deem the organizational background, the project attributes in which it will function, and the range of power and control the project manager is delegated with. A project framework can take on a variety of types with every type having its own benefits and limitations. One of the key purposes of the structure is to lessen uncertainty and perplexity that characteristically takes place at the project commencement stage. The type of project organization explains the relationships amongst associates of the project team and the link with the outside ambience. The structure exhibits the ability through the way of a graphical diagram referred to as an organization chart (PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS, 2007). For the present scenario a suitable project organization should be developed for manufacturing larger touring class motor cycles. There are basically three types of project organizations which are- Programmatic based- It is a traditional arrangement within which the program section managers possess the official control over most of the resources of the organization. This structure is appropriate for the projects within the domain of a single program section. Matrix based- This kind of organization facilitates program units to put emphasis on their particular technical proficiencies and permits the projects to be staffed with domain specialists from right through the organization. Project based- The project managers possess a high degree of power and control to administer and supervise the project reserves. In this type of structure the project manager exerts total control over the essential resources and the project tasks necessary to attain the aims from within the parent management or from staying away from it, subject to the quality, budget and scope restraints recognized within the process involved in the completion of the project. For manufacturing larger touring class motor cycles it would be appropriate to choose the project based structure since a project manager is involved in this specific structure who would handle the organization’s new project of manufacturing large touring class motorcycles. The recommended steps for the organization are- Surveying the market for getting the response of the customers regarding the large touring class motorcycles. This will help the firm to acquire important information about the customer’s choice and competitor’s product. Considering all other environmental forces like political, economic, social, cultural, legal and technological factors and their effects on the product. Implementing the feedback collected from the market in efficiently developing a sample product. Marketing a few sample products to find out its level of acceptability. Finally setting up the product development framework. 2. Recommend one (1) strategy to the senior executives that the organization might use to balance short- and long-term needs. Specify the crucial resources that you would need as a project manager to run the existing business interests at the same time that the business changes to the production of touring class motorcycles. A strategy suitable for the senior executives which can be implemented by the firm to strike a balance between the short and long term requirements is the application of balanced score card system within the operations (Kaplan, 2010). Balanced score card was developed by Kaplan and Norton in the year 1996 for the management and measurement of corporate performance. Balanced score card is a framework that recognizes the evaluation of corporate performance involving multi-dimensional approaches and so incorporates both financial and non financial measures accordingly. It is a management system and strategic planning which is used to align the business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization by effectively monitoring its performance against its strategic goals. The specific feature of balanced scorecard and the derivatives of balanced scorecard is its presenting a mixture of measures, both financial and non financial, each of which is, within a single concise report, compared to a target value. The report is not meant to replace the traditional operational or financial reports; rather it is a summary capturing the most relevant information. The balanced scorecard makes articulation of the link between leading inputs like physical and human processes with the lagging outcomes. It focuses on the importance of managing the components in order to achieve the strategic priorities of the organization. According to balanced score card, the performance of a firm is measured on the basis of four perspectives, which are financial, customer, internal business process or value chain and learning and growth. The name balanced scorecard reflects balance between long term and short term objectives, financial and non financial measures, leading and lagging indicators, and between internal and external perspectives. Balanced score card is more than a system of measurement. It should be transformed into a strategic management system. The new measurement system is used to align and communicate with the new strategies of firm and to properly manage them. For this, the suggested steps could be: classification and translation of strategy and vision, communicating and linking the strategic measures and objectives, planning, setting targets and aligning strategic initiatives and enhancing the learning and strategic feedback. 3. Suggest the project management leadership style that is most conducive to overseeing the operation of the business growth plan. Leadership styles can generally be of four types namely Transformational, Transactional, Laissez-faire, and Mixed style. In transformational style the leader guides and transforms the staff. The leader makes continuous efforts to address the grievances of the employees and motivate them for improved performance. Here open communication between the staff and the leader is always encouraged and the leader follows participative style of management. The staff gets highly influenced by the leader in Transformational Leadership Style (Northouse, 2010). In transactional style the main focus of the leader is on management’s objectives. In this style the leader constantly motivate his followers by offering rewards for completed tasks. These leaders are mostly work oriented; they usually follow a particular structure and practice directive style of management. In this style of management, innovativeness and creativity are ignored and people are often motivated by the use of extrinsic motivational factors like incentive and holiday trip. The laissez-faire style also termed as “passive leadership” exercises least control on the staff. The managers avoid the responsibility of setting objectives and making important decisions. It allows the scope for macro management and self management. Here the interaction between the leader and his followers happen on a rare basis. The fourth style is mixed styles. Most of the managers chooses the good element from all the styles and lead their organizations with the help of a mixed style of leadership. This style motivates the employees from both the intrinsic and extrinsic viewpoint. When the transformational leadership attitude and the transactional leadership related rewards are used, a positive co-relation can be noticed among the staff of the organization. Thus the mixed style can be recommended for the activities and growth of the business plan. 4. Recommend at least three (3) risk mitigation strategies to address project plan details that might be forgotten or overlooked. Justify the selection. For the purpose of risk mitigation, it is necessary to address the details of the project plan so that vital information doesn’t get overlooked or forgotten. Therefore it is necessary to implement the ideal risk identification technique. Three such techniques are SWOT analysis, Delphi technique and Brainstorming. The SWOT analysis is a situational analysis which can be split into internal as well as external analysis. The internal analysis is largely focused on studying the various internal factors of the company while the external analysis is targeted towards evaluating the external factors of the company. In explaining further, it can be stated that the internal analysis of the company is done by identifying the relative strengths and weakness, while the external analysis of the company will be focusing on the opportunities and threats. The main focus on conducting a SWOT analysis is to develop as well as fine-tune a specific business model for a company while taking into account the internal and external factors of influence that may impact the business. The purpose of Delphi technique is the creative and reliable investigation of ideas or the creation of appropriate information for making the right decision.  The Delphi technique is based on a planned process for gathering and refining insight from a group of specialist by means of a sequence of questionnaires intermingled with restricted judgment feedback. The Delphi technique is an activity in group interaction among a section of geologically discrete specialists.  The technique facilitates the specialists to deal methodically with a multifaceted task or issue.  The quintessence of the technique is moderately straightforward. Brainstorming is the technique for forming ingenious solutions to crucial issues. The method was made known by an advertising manager Alex Faickney Osborn, during 1953 in his writing, “Applied Imagination”. 10 years afterward, he suggested that the project groups can double their inventive productivity with the technique of brainstorming. Brainstorming operates by emphasizing on an issue, and then consciously finding out the possible solutions and by extending the line of thought as far as feasible. Ideas are refined and processed through the process of brainstorming. Reference PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS, (2007). Project Management Organizational Structures. Retrieved from http://www.classtoolkit.org/sites/default/files/documents/PM4DEV_Project_Management_Structures.pdf Kaplan, R.S. (2010). Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard. Retrieved from http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/10-074.pdf Northouse, P. G., (2010) Leadership: theory and practice. USA: SAGE Read More