Project Management - Cathway Pacific - Assignment Example

303KM Project Management In this context of Cathway Pacific, the underlying problem involves the aspects of company’s publicity and customer loyalty. From the WWF’s findings, the aspect of goodwill built over the past years in service is threatened. The findings have a potential negative influence on customers’ loyalty to the company. This juncture warrants Cathway management’s attention to roll out a project aimed towards addressing the matter conclusively. The issue of pollution has been narrowed down to the food scrap issue (Schwalbe 128). At this point, the problem’s definition is clear. What follows entails the planning on how the problem’s solution will be attained. The planning section involves identifying all the possible courses of action capable of solving the underlying problem. In this context, Cathway has three possible courses of action available to solve the problem. What remains is to select the best course of action from the three options. Selecting best course of action entails subjecting the options to a system of criteria meant to evaluate the suitability of each possible course of action. A weighted Scoring Model is the best technique to select the most appropriate option. The criteria to be used must meet the desired purpose of the project. The options will then be evaluated if they meet the criteria. These criteria include; The method should benefit the society. This means that the technology adopted should result in a positive effect to the subject society. Hong Kong residents have been subjected to pollution for a long time. Therefore, it is the company’s turn to compensate the locals. The method should not affect customers’ financial aspect. This means that any expenses required to install the technology should not be transferred to the customers, as this may affect their loyalty. The method chosen should serve to indicate social responsibility. Every organization has an obligation to conduct its operations in a socially responsible manner. Therefore, the technology adopted should depict the concepts of social responsibility. The method should reduce carbon emission to the greatest extent. The project strives to address the issue of carbon emission. Therefore, the technology adopted should function effectively with regard to the project’s objectives. In the Weighted Score Model, the priorities or weights used are 0,1,3 and 5. 0 means the requirement is not applicable to the method or technology option 1 means the criteria is of a considerably low benefit at the moment 3 means the criteria is important and should be met 5 means the criteria takes the first priority and is of high importance in the project. Still on the model, the scores used are 0,2,4 and 6. 0 means that the technology option does not possess any aspect of the requirement. 2 means the technology option meets some of the principles of the requirement. 4 means the option is in consistent with the requirement’s principles 6 means the option sub-passes the requirement. For convenient tabulation of the three technological options, it is better assign them convenient variables. Option A- Use of commercial food scrap generators Option B-Use of GOMIXER technology Option C-Employing the Carbon-Offset program Weighted Score Model OPTION A weighted OPTION B weighted OPTION C weighted Requirement Priority Score Score Score Score Score Score Benefit the locals 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 Promote social responsibility 1 4 4 6 6 6 6 Not cost the customers 3 0 0 2 6 0 0 Reduce pollution considerably 5 6 30 4 20 4 20 Total 34 32 26 The option with the highest weighted score is Option A. The results are consistent with the requirements expected of the best technological option. This method reduces pollution considerably, does not cost the customers, promote the aspect of social responsibility, and benefits the locals to some extent. Therefore, the best technological option to tackle the issue of carbon emission faced by the airline company is to use the food scrap generators. Project Charter General Information Project Title: 303KM Project Management Brief Project Description: This project is meant to select and implement the most viable technological option to reduce carbon emission by Cathway Airlines Company Prepared By: Date Prepared: Project Objectives The objective of this project is to maintain the company’s vision, which strives towards building a good reputation by being environmentally friendly. The project aims at tackling the issue of carbon emission and recovers back the company’s image to its customers. The problem will be solved through adoption of the most appropriate technology in practice. The expected outcome of this project is good public image concerning environmental conservation practices by Cathway Airlines. Assumptions The assumptions made while chattering this project is to provide an outline of the general principles guiding the project to the company’s management. It highlights the major objectives of the basic idea that led to the conception of this project. It also serves to indicate the project’s deliverables and achievable benefits once the project is completed. In addition, the charter indicates all the resource requirements needed to implement the project. Scope of the project This project has its boundaries defined by the projects objectives and the requirement of the best technology to be adopted. Its scope operates within the objectives of promoting the deteriorating company’s image regarding environmental concerns. Its in-scope elements include reduction of carbon emission by the use of the best option, which is by use of food scrap generators. It also avoids affecting the customers in terms of costs. In addition, it aims at depicting the aspect of social responsibility in the company’s practices. Anything outside these requirements and objectives falls outside the scope of this project. Stakeholders in the project Sponsor The project’s sponsor, which is the company’s management, has the responsibility of approving both the project’s plan and charter. The sponsor also supplements all the required resources to the project, provides guidance and assistance to any roadblock and makes major decisions concerning the projects progress. Project Manager The project manager’s responsibility includes planning, organizing, directing and controlling all activities pertaining to the project. The manager plans the project’s objectives and the expected results. The manager also evaluates the risks expected and develops a risk management plan on time. In addition, the manager is charged with the role of maintaining all the documents concerning the project’s activities. Lastly, he/she relays information concerning the progress between the project site and the stakeholders. Project Expert The project expert provides the expertise knowledge required to carry out the project effectively. His/her responsibilities include providing the required knowledge and information regarding the technical aspects of the project. The expert also advices on the options available to ensure the project is completed in an economical manner. Customers These are the people who are behind the main reason of the project. The customers have the responsibility of providing fast hand information on the expectation of the project. The customers also liaise with the team members to provide a clear definition of the project’s business objectives. Team member Team members are the one’s carrying out the actual implementation of the project. They complete all the necessary research concerning the plan and the technical information obtained from the expert. Work Break Down Structure Dictionary Level 3 Develop Charter Deliver Charter Approval of Charter Level 1 Level 2 Work Breakdown Structure 1 303KM Project Management 1.1 Plan Initiation 1.1.1 Develop the project charter 1.1.2 deliver the project charter to the stakeholders 1.1.3 Have the project charter signed and approved by the stakeholders 1.2 Project Planning 1.2.1 Create the project plan 1.2.2 Organize the project teams 1.2.3 Organize for the required meetings 1.2.4 Deliver the plan to the stakeholders 1.2.5 Have the plan approved 1.3 Project Execution 1.3.1 Provide the preliminary training to the project team 1.3.2 Design all the required technical mechanisms 1.3.3 Procure all the necessary logistics 1.3.4 Start the actual project tasks 1.4 Project Control 1.4.1 Provide all the expected progress guidelines 1.4.2 Evaluate the progress for any deviation from the expected results 1.4.3 Employ the appropriate corrective measures 1.4.4 Manage any risk arising 1.5 Project Closure 1.5.1 Employ audit exercise to the procurements 1.5.2 Update all the required information on files 1.5. Gather all the relevant documents and file them together for presentation GANTT CHART Critical evaluation of the project From the basic definition, a project entails the act of carrying out research and design exercises meant to achieve a particular objective within an organization. On the other hand, management is the skill of planning, organizing, and leading, directing and controlling all the resources within an organization in an effort to accomplish the organization’s objectives. Consequently, project management entails the co-ordination of all the activities involved during the research and design of an activity aimed at achieving a certain objective. It is crucial to acknowledge that a project is usually meant to provide a solution to a particular problem. Developing a solution to a problem requires the appropriate resources and time. Therefore, the process of management comes in, whereby all the resources and activities involved has planned, organized, directed and controlled. This calls for the need to employ management techniques in carrying out a project. All project management exercises seem to follow similar patterns from inception till closure. The first step involved in project management is definition of the problem. Defining the underlying problem accurately increases that chances of coming up with a successful solution. Project definition is based on the required objectives of the project (Lock 66). The second stage involves project planning. This stage covers all the planning practices including identifying the project’s requirements, the activities involved, and how all the resources and tasks are interrelated toward achieving a common goal. The third step is executing the planned set of activities. It entails allocating the appropriate resources to the involved parties in the project. After executing the project, a project manager has to control all the tasks involved to conform to the stipulated guidelines. It involves identifying errors and employing appropriate corrective measures meant to facilitate accomplishment of the task as required. On completing this stage, the project manager closes the project. Project closure entails assembling the human resources who were involved in the project to evaluate the projects outcome. Based on all the activities involved during the project exercise, I can conclude that the project could be 80% successful. The project followed all the steps required of an ideal project. It started by defining the underlying problem followed by evaluating all the available options on how to deal with the problem. This entailed subjecting all the options into a system meant to determine the best course of action. The system evaluates alternatives’ viability in terms of their merits and de-merits with respect to the objectives of the project. After identifying the problems, the project goes into its second phase, which is the planning stage. It considers all the necessary logistical materials required to execute the project. At this stage, various actions are taken to ensure all the requisite resources are acquired. It also involves obtaining approval from the relevant authorities. The whole aspect of project management revolves around three major areas. These areas include defining the problem, planning for the project and executing the project. These three parts are guided by the objectives relating to the problem being solved. After carrying out the project, I have learned on the most important areas that need to be given attention during management. These areas include obtaining the approval of all the stakeholders and building a great team. I also learned on the concept of selecting the best alternative from all the available courses of action that can be used to solve the problem. If I am supposed to start the project all over again, I can improve creating a perfect plan, which should take into consideration the aspects of time and financial cost. I will ensure that the project charter is substantially convincing enough to win the sponsors and customers’ approval at a glance. I will also concentrate on identifying other technological options that can be used to tackle the same problem in question. Increasing the options available will ensure that the selected alternative bears all the project’s requirements. I will also recommend the use of decision making models during the selection of the most appropriate alternative. Decision models increases the likelihood of coming up with the best available course of action. The quality of the project can be evaluated by the time taken to complete the tasks concerned. Quality can be evaluated from the time taken to complete the project and the resources committed towards completion of the project. A good project should take the shortest time possible, and consume the least resources available. In addition, a project’s quality can be appraised by checking if all the involved stakeholders played their roles as expected. After the project, the project manager should table all the documents gathered from the exercise. This will indicate the efficiency of project management. The project has enhanced my understanding on the aspect of project management. It has refreshed all the necessary concepts and skills needed to implement a successful project. In addition to the technical knowledge I have gained from this project, I am now in a position to tackle all management aspects of leading a project management exercise. I have learned the requisite skills needed to coordinate the whole process from inception until the closure stage effectively. It has also added me experience on articulating all the stakeholders involved in the execution of a project exercise. Having chose the food-scrap project, we cannot rule out the fact that this option has some risks involved. Some of the positive risks that may result include increased customer torn-out for the company’s services and the improvement of the company’s reputation concerning environmental conservation. The two positive risks can be enhanced by publicity of the technology that has been employed by the company. This can be achieved through the media and the approval of quality control agencies. Works Cited Lock, Dennis. Project management. California: Gower Publishing, Ltd., 2007. Schwalbe, Kathy. Information Technology Project Management. New York, NY: Cengage Learning, 2010. Read More