Resource Planning Issues - Assignment Example

Name: Tutor: Task: Date: Resource Planning Project Plan Project planning can be referred to as the coordination existing between different activities taking place within a given period of time with the main objective of attaining a specified goal of a given budget. In most cases, projects are handled by managers who act as resource allocators and this means that they are the ones who are left to handle everything that is related to decision making in the firms. Any project that is considered to be serious enough and beneficial to the society has to be prepared for a long time and it must have several stages before it becomes implemented by people in the society. The stages that a reliable project goes through are such as the development of ideas, preparation of how to implement these ideas, appraisal of the ideas, its funding, evaluation of the project and finally its implementation. A project that aims at making impacts on the lives of people in the society must have a plan that can be relied upon. Planning in a project can be referred to as the fundamental part of the project and its implementation in the society. Without proper planning a project cannot be seen to be effective in the modern world thus it should be given enough attention. Planning is very important because through planning is when one can know whether its implementation will be effective because there are many things that a plan addresses. When a project is being put across, it ensures that it has addressed the most important objectives, requirements and scope among other things. Management plans that are put across mainly focus on the most important aspects of the project and how it can be communicated from one person to another, risk management plans and its implementation among other plans associated with the achievements of the project. Requirement 1. New computers As part of requirements, new computers are needed so as to ensure that there is better and faster implementation of the projects. The best computers to be used are the ones having 3GB RAM and 250GB HD since they are effective. Windows 2007 is also preferable due to the fact that it is user friendly and that it uses graphical user interphase (GUI) and that it is easier to learn how use it. Using specified computers will be effective because this will help the planning of the project to be made easier since the programmes being used will be up to date like the adobe Photoshop. 2. Printers The printers that are to be used must be of better quality and this means that the preferable printers to be used are the HP laser since they are of better quality as compared to inkject printers. The HP printers efficiently utilize ink and that they are very fast especially when printing bulky documents. Most clients prefer to have their work to be done clearly so that they can easily read them. They prefer printouts that are done by the HP printers due to the fact that they are of better quality and clear enough. Colors that can be seen well are used in the print outs made by these printers. Even though the clients are highly charged after using these printers, they do not mind because the work done is of high quality. 3. Air conditioners Owing to the fact that most of the rooms are small in size, there will be need for air conditioners to be used so as to ensure that the room temperature is well maintained and that the room is at a range that is conducive. This will be effective since it will contribute to better performance of the staff who will be working there. Air conditioners will also help the computers and the printers not to heat up beyond its normal performance because this could affect the rate of performance by the staff. This will be very effective since it will ensure that the computers that are utilized do not get to affect the rate of work being produced. Objectives Any business that wants to succeed must have an objective or several objectives. The main objective of any business is to grow and develop from one stage to another. These objectives must translate into success for any given business. The sole purpose of any given business is to make enough profits. The quality of work is also an aspect that is considered in a business since when the quality of services being provided is not to standard then the performance is also seen to be retarded. Any given business firm should be more focused on giving their clients services that suits them. Sustaining the business is also another objective that a business organization should have since it needs to be based on a long-term plan that will also benefit its clients. This will be possible if the business will be expanded through selling of drinks, snacks opening a cybercafé so that the clients will be able to access their mails at a fee that will benefit the business plan. Scope The business should entail tasks such as printing documents for the clients, typesetting, designing business cards for them and photocopying their official documents among other stationeries. This is a scope that is in the short run of the business. In the long run the business must include things such as selling fast foods that can be taken by the clients as they wait for their work to be completed and this is also the time when the cybercafé will be established to benefit the clients too. Output The outputs that are expected to have been completed by the end of the month are such as increased profits, customers who are satisfied, strong future that the business will have been revealed through its increased assets and goodwill. Any increment by the profits and assets up to 2.5% per month can be used as the milestone that will help the company to gain the 30% growth that it requires by the end of the month. This is one of the growth that will be projected in the next three years if the company maintains it good level of performance. In the long run the growth should go beyond the 30% and its profits should be more as the assets will also be increasing and this will also contribute to the good will of the clients of this business project while showing how the clients are also growing. Communication Management Plan Communication can be described as the process of transferring information from the main source to its destination. For effective communication to take place it has to be passé through different channels of distribution that will contribute to the speed at which the message will be transmitted and the signals for it to be received. In this synthesis there are some channels that will be discussed later on by Blackwood travel services. Communication is viewed as an integral part of any given project that is developed and being implemented. The communication plan that Blackwood travel services has is composed of six parts that are interrelated and these are such as the collection and storage of information that is being received, the structure of its distribution, communication format, schedule of production, methods being used to access the information, ways in which the information can be updated and having a general stakeholder analysis of the communication being passed across (Schwalbe Kathy, 2002). Collection and Storage of information All the members of the business project ought to have equal responsibility being shared towards the achievements of the objectives of the enterprises and its overall success thus all the relevant information required should be collected by all the members. In this case, a serious market research needs to be taken so as to find out which computers and printers are most effective and are available in the market, how much they cost and the capacity of upgrading its process. Each of the staff members is required to come up with different price tags that they think the business project should include and they should do this from their different and personal point of view that they have checked. And if they also prefer there to be any discounts, they should also include in their price lists and this will create harmony in the business project plan that will have been put across. Distribution structure The structure of distributing information to all the members will be done in accordance to the nature of the task that is being undertaken at a given time. Communication format An external tender will have to develop a unique report and letterhead so as to ensure that there are standard reports being given as part of the business project. This is very important because it ensures that the business has an identity. Different communication tools shall be used in order to disseminate the intended information and this means that landlines/cell phones, memos, email while a member of the business project was away and sent some messages, notes that were taken and faxing among others. Production Schedule As part of the business plan, there shall be reports on how the business is progressing on a daily basis and this should include the set objectives such as having a minimum of 3000 color pages being printed on a daily basis since this is what will help the business to achieve its 30% growth in the next three years. This report shall be given on a daily basis in accordance to the performance since the business will still be new. Methods of accessing information Different methods of accessing information will be used and this means that each member of the staff will be given a platform to create their own password and username for security purposes so as to access all the important information concerning business. These can also be availed to them from the general manager’s office. Few hard copies of the information will be found in the office informing quarterly reports in registry. Information updating Information will be updated online on a daily basis to also ensure that each member is aware of the progress of the enterprise that the sales of the business have achieved. Stakeholder analysis Since the organization is small, the members of the staff are instructed to attend to the number of customers as soon as they come and make their orders because this is one of the ways in which there will be cooperation among all the members. Risk Management Plan A risk can be referred to as any threat that the smooth flow of any business encounters. There is no business in this world that is threat free (Murch Richard, 2001) and hence it is very important to have a risk plan management. Some of the risks that can be overseen are such as the competition that the business will face from larger printing businesses, inflation of the printing papers in the market and possibilities of the machines breaking down. The risk management plan will be developed so as to reduce these risks from taking place or if they will happen, they will be minimal. Competition Blackwood travel Services is operating in a free market thus services can be determined by the existing interaction between market supply and its demand. The firm must start by introducing a market entry price that will have to be relatively lower than the market price but still ensure that it breaks even. This will be important since it will serve as a promotion that will be used to invite the customers. After the firm has developed a good customer base then it can be able to maintain building good relationship with the public. Another strategy that can be used to the effect of this competition is comparing the prices of the printing papers and ink so as to ensure that they have purchased the best quality of these two at the lowest price that they can afford. Discounts should also be agreed on since this will help the cost become much lower. Inflation The performance of the market will be affected as a whole by inflation. The steps that Blackwood travel services will take will be to buy the inputs that are required in bulk. The budget that will be put will have to ensure that they have bought ink and printing papers that can last for six months just in case there will be an inflation in any of these two inputs. Incase the prices will be increased; the business will have already acquired it at lower prices thus counterfeiting the inflation force. This strategic plan will be effective since it will give the business an added advantage over other enterprises. Having negotiations with other small business in order to have decreased prices of products that will help them stand the increased level of inflation will also be a right tract to take since their low priced stock will attract more clients. Tear and Wear The business will also have to purchase new machines that are strong enough to perform hard tasks efficiently and this will minimize the level of breakdowns. The gadgets should have warranty just incase they turn to be faulty. This will ensure that there is reduction in maintenance and good quality work is upheld. The machines that show signs of becoming worn out will be replaced with immediate effect so as to avoid costs that are unnecessary. Natural Risks Risks that are beyond the planning capacity of the business will have to be insured against and the major policies to be considered will have to be of theft and fire against the properties of the business. Capacity Planning The main plan of Blackwood travel services is to meet the demands of its clients. This will only be possible if the staff members have the required skills required for them to carry out tasks that they are assigned to and this means that they will handle these tasks effectively. As part of capacity planning, the firm will also organize training sessions for the staff members who require having sufficient knowledge. There will be information technology experts that will be provided in order to train the staff members who need to acquire more knowledge to carry out their tasks. All the expenses that will rise to this effect will be catered for by the business and the staff members will only be required to offer their time. The training of the staffs will be taking place concurrently with official duties in the sense that there will be two staff members to be taught every week as others are working. There will be $100 that will be set aside to cater for all these plans. After the staff members have acquired the intended knowledge to run their activities then they will be able to meet the set objectives. Output The output that will be expected the staff members have been taken through the training will be such as increased typing skills minimized typing errors and better designs. This will be effective since it will be showing better quality of work, saving of time and this will make it easy to meet the needs of the customers in the market. The trained staff members will be expected to do some practical of what they had been taught so as to prove that they got the concepts that they had been taught. There will be use of projectors that will enable them to have clarified presentations. This is going to e used as an indicator that is objectively verified. The staff members will be encouraged to have discussion sessions that will help share more ideas since it is very productive for staff members to share and try to implement new ideas in the tasks that they are given. The source of the information shared will be the clients who had been served there earlier by the firm and the information will be mainly based on the services that the client has received and this will eventually contribute to the success of the business. Implementation Plan After all other plans have been put across; there remains one more thing to do which is to implement all the plans mentioned. This process is the most important because it proves to the business that what the staff members have been planning can actually be put to action. A lot of investment is required in order to put these plans into actions thus establishing the upgrade of the business. This plan will be broken into different phases so as to ensure that all parts of the plan has been well implemented. The very first phase will entail renovating the rooms that wll be used for the business operation to take place. This ensures that the room is clean enough, has sufficient lighting, it has sufficient air flow and that machines that are not wanted are disposed from the room. The renovation will be a little bit expensive since it will cost at least $500 and it will take a whole month for the renovation to take place. After the renovation, the room will have to be stocked and this will be considered to be the second phase and that the first batch of stock will have to be fixed. The business will ensure that it has purchased printers, computers and photocopiers. This will cost the company around $2000 to purchase stipulated machines that are of high quality. The third phase will include stocking the current stock that the business already has and these are such as; ink for printing, printing papers, glue, clips and other stationeries that are necessary. The budget for this will be approximately $1000 since it will be able to help the business maintain it for the next six months. Finally, the last part of the implementation plan will be more concerned with the operation license since a smooth running business should have one. The business will have to secure a two year business permit. Acquiring this permit will be very essential since it will ensure that the business is being run without any disruptions from anyone. Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring the performance of the business and evaluating it will be taking place concurrently. Monitoring will be taking place on a daily basis while evaluation will be taken at specific points across their performance. This evaluation will be measured with the amount of work done and the time that has been used to complete a given task by the manager of the business. Monitoring will be taking place throughout the implementation plan of the project and its planning. This will be very effective since it will ensure that the project is being kept active. As part of their development plans, reports related to the planning and implementation of the skills that the staff members had been taught earlier on will be made. The success of all the plans being made will be seen when the 2.5% profit has been seen every month. There will be analysis of the time taken to complete a given task and this will mean that the performance is improving thus the training will have been effective. For those who cannot put the training into practice can still be given another chance to do the training again but through a fellow staff who has implemented it well and this will reduce unwanted costs. Another benchmark that will be used as part of monitoring and evaluation will be interviewing the clients and this shall be done time after time so as to know how their needs are being met and how they can be improved. A decrease in complaints will be an indication that the business is doing well and that the business is bound to achieve its goals which is to make profits. Occasional audits will also be taken so as to ensure that the business project has been sustainably undertaken. References Schwalbe Kathy, 2002. Information Technology Project Management, Course Technology, Boston. Murch Richard, 2001. Project Management. Best practices for IT Professionals. Prentice Hall. USA. Pgs 161-167. Read More