Queen Margaret University College - Essay Example

?OUTLINE OF THE BUSINESS CASE: Background: The management of Queen Margaret College is looking for changing the old campus sites by building a new campus at Craighall. The Queen Margaret University College is providing the education in two disciplines namely health and social science and business and arts. Furthermore, each discipline consists of two schools. The discipline of health and social sciences consists of School of Health Science and School of Social Sciences, Media, and Communication. On the other hand the discipline of business and arts consists of School of Business and Enterprise and School of Drama and Creative Industries. The current property and location of the college is in not in proper condition and at the same time is inflexible and not fit for purpose. Despite of the large amount of space the campus cannot be altered according to the needs and requirements. For this reason the overall utilisation rate is considerable low. Business Objectives: The main objective out of this project implementation and management is to increase the flexibility of the campus along with the increasing utilisation of the space allocated in order to increase the overall efficiency of the campus and reduce the cost associated with the whole process. Apart from this other objectives are to: Rationalise the property or estate of the campus and to replace the outdated facilities and space with the new one In order to come up with appropriate strategy for the space utilisation and to achieve use the space in efficient and effective manner. Increase the flexibility and versatility of the space and property in order to change it according to the changing requirements of the campus and schools. Problem Statement: The management of Queen Margaret University College is facing serious problems and issues with regard to the current estate of the college. Some of the problems and issues being faced by the management of Queen Margaret University College are as follow: The estate at Corstophine was in very bad condition as the property performed worst during the overall condition survey in the region. The room sizes in the campus were not according to the requirements of the school. The campus at Corsatophine was previously designed and being used for fulfilling the needs of the hospitality discipline and thus was not suitable for the classes of health and drama and for this reason cannot be altered. The campus at the Lieth site was also inflexible in reference to the use of the space. As Queen Margaret Univesity College has divided its schools and disciplines into different facilities therefore the management has to face the cost of the duplicate facilities. The current estate is reported to have low levels of utilisation during the utilisations surveys. At the same time it was also found that the existing facilities provided in the campus were not according to the needs and requirements of the teachers and research. Although the overall space and the of space per student full time equivalents was considerable in amount but due to the inflexibility it is not possible to alter it according to the needs and requirements of the students and teachers in order to increase the overall utilisation rate. Critical Assumption and Constraints: According to the management of the college it was not beneficial and cost effective to invest in the current estate and property and it will be beneficial to shift to a new location which is not only small but is also flexible. At the same time the management has to be considerate about the environmental and financial constraints. The new campus should not only be financial sustainable but also environmentally sustainable. Also, the new campus will be financially supported by the amount gained through the disposal of the campus sites at Corstophine and Leith. Apart from the financial constraints the organisation also kept in mind the environmental constraints in order to make sure that there are no compliance issues and all laws and regulations are followed in appropriate manner. The decision of changing the location of the campus was based on the assumption that the college will be able to reduce the overall space. According to the management of college, the new campus could result in the 35 percent space saving and at the same time will provide enough flexibility for any further changes and modifications for future growth and development. It is important for the management to decide about the important financial and other resources which are required for the overall project at the initial phase of the project life cycle. For this purpose the management should come up with realistic assumptions and also should keep in mind any potential constraints (Atkinson, 1999). Preliminary Project Requirements: In order to make sure that the project is successfully implemented the project team and management of the school has to keep in mind the preliminary project requirements. In the planning and initial phase of the project life cycle it is important to consider all requirements including financial and other resources. In this case, the project team has carefully modelled the space utilisation in order to keep in mind the actual requirement of the space. Potential Risk and Key Quality Issues: The potential risks and quality issues associated with the project are as follow: The space utilisation is not reduced according to plan. The new campus is not fit for purpose and is not constructed keeping in mind the success criteria. The new campus is not in compliance with the legal and environmental requirements. Investment and Benefit Analysis: The new location and campus will result in reducing the total net internal non residential area which in turn will allow the school to reduce the overall cost. The management of the school will be able to make higher income per square metre because of the decrease in the floor area. Opportunities: The new campus will provide the school management with the opportunity to improve the overall quality of the education. Apart from this the management of school will also be able to reduce the overall cost as there will be increased space utilisation and no duplication of the facilities. Analysis of Options: The management of QUMC has two options i.e. either continue operations in the current estate or change the location of the campus and integrate the activities of different schools and campuses. The second option is more feasible as it provides the opportunity to reduce the overall cost and increase the space utilisation. At the same time the new campus will facilitate the management in the process of implementing the space management strategy and centralised timetable management. Analysis of Public Funded Projects: The management of school is looking forward to increase the efficiency of campus and provide the students with high quality teaching facilities in order to maintain an appropriate level of income generation per square metre. This in turn will facilitate the process of funding and investment for upgrading the campus according to the changing needs and requirements in future. EVALUATION OF STAKEHOLDERS: For the success of any project it is first important to clearly identify the important stakeholders involved in the whole process, who can either influence or can be influenced by the implementation of the project. In order to make sure that effective and efficient strategies are formulated and implemented for the project it is essential to identify and understand the perspectives and ideas of the stakeholders involved (Cleland and Gareis, 2006). This will allow the organisation to overcome any resistance on part of the stakeholders. It is essential for the organisation to come up with appropriate strategies for managing the stakeholders involved in the process in order to avoid any potential issues with regard to the quality or any serious risk. This is important because quality management and risk management are integral part or element of the overall project management (Cowie, 2003). In reference to this business case study, different stakeholders involved in the overall process of project management are as follow: 1. Management of the Campus 2. Students 3. Faculty 4. Staff of the Campus 5. Society and Environment The main requirement of the management and owners of the school is to increase the profitability of the campus by enhancing the overall performance and reducing the cost involved in the whole process. Apart from this, in order to avoid any risk or constraint at the later stage, the management of the school should be considerate about the specific needs and requirements of each and every stakeholder involved in the whole process. For this purpose, the management of the school conducted some initial surveys and tests to monitor the current situation and the expected requirements of each and every stakeholders. The main focus was on the reduction of the space and increasing the space utilisation and for this reason the management of the school calculated the space requirements of the faculty, students, and other office staff in order to keep in consideration their specific requirements. For this purpose the management of school allowed the faculty members and students to visit the new location before taking any final decision in order to include their feedback in the process during the initial phase of the project life cycle and avoiding any conflicts or issues at the later stage. Apart from this the management of school should also keep in mind the environmental requirements in order to make sure that there are no compliance and legal issues. It is important to come up with appropriate management strategy for all stakeholders to eliminate the chances of any possible resistant and constraints. Project management is not only about the management of the financial resources but also keep in consideration the needs and requirements of the other people involved in the process (Kerzner, 2009). For this purpose each and every important stakeholder should be involved in the decision making process and the initial phase of the project life cycle. In this way one can avoid any serious conflicts at the later stage (Hamilton, 2004). QUALITY MANAGEMENT ISSUES: For any project it is highly important to keep in mind the quality issues associated with it. The project should not only be cost effective but should also be of high quality. For this purpose different organisations undertake several quality management techniques and methods in order to maintain the overall quality of the project and at the same time avoid any legal issues or compliance issues (Harrison and Lock, 2004). With reference to this business case, the management has to keep in consideration the fact that the new campus should be fit for the purpose i.e. it is according to needs and requirements of the campus and all facilities should be provided. Also the management has to give consideration to the success criteria i.e. the space utilisation should be decreased. For this purpose, the project management team of the school underwent thorough space modelling exercise in order to come up with appropriate model for the new campus according to the future space needs. Apart from this in order to avoid any compliance issues, the management of QMUC has keep in consideration the legal requirements of the campus according to the SMG model for benchmarking. And all calculations are done keeping in mind the legal and environmental considerations. Quality Register: User Group Quality Required Satisfaction level with Outcome Teachers Excellent teaching facilities and sufficient space High: new campus will provide more teaching facilities and sufficient space. Students Well maintained and planned classrooms and specialist labs. High standard learning facilities High: new campus will provide more planned and according to the need classrooms and labs High: new campus will facilitated in the process of providing high standard facilities School Management High Flexibility Increased space utilisation Increased quality of education High: the new campus will provide the school management with more flexibility in order to alter and manage the campus according to the changing needs High: the new campus will increase the space utilisation according to the space management strategy of the school management This depends on the dedication level of the teachers and instructors. However, the new campus will provide improved learning and teaching facilities Environment and Society The new campus is according to the rules and regulations and pre set standards As the new campus will be constructed keeping in mind the industry standards and the school management has benchmarked best practices and standards, so there will no compliance issues RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN: In order to make sure that the project is properly planned and implemented it is important to come up with appropriate risk management plan (Lewis, 2006). The risk management plan allows the organisation to keep in consideration any possible risk which can hinder the implementation of the project or can affect the success of the project. For this purpose, it is essential to monitor and evaluate every element and phase of the project implementation. Apart from this it is also important to keep in consideration the different stakeholders involved in the whole process to avoid any conflicts or constraints (Bedford and Cooke, 2001). Nature of the Project: The project involves construction according to the needs and requirements of the campus staff, students, and teachers in order to increase the overall efficiency of the project. For this purpose it is important to keep in consideration the actual requirements so that the new campus and location is able to facilitate the teaching and research activities. Funding Issues: One of the major risk in any project is regarding the funds and finance. It is highly important for the project manager and other top management to clearly identify the funding requirements and resources and should be clear about the different fund sources. In reference to this business case, the new location of the campus was being funded by the disposal of the campus sites at Corstophine and Leith. However, the management of the school also wants to make sure that the new campus should be financial sustainable in coming years also. This mean that the focus should not be only short term but also long term. For this purpose, the recurrent costs should be lower. In order to avoid any financial risk the management had to carefully monitor and evaluate whole process. Constraints: In order to avoid any risk and issue at the later stage it is important to keep in consideration any possible constraint that can arise at later stage (Phillips, 2003). For this purpose the management of campus is undertaking several initial tests and surveys so that there are no issues at the later stage of project life cycle. Expectations and Needs: The expectations and needs out of the whole project are as follow: High integration High flexibility Maintainable Environmentally sustainable High space utilisation Appropriate teaching space for the classrooms Specialist space Admin office support Learning resource centre Should be able to expand and alter in future Risk Management Cycle: The risk management cycle involves four important steps which are as follow (Meredith and Mantel, 2012): 1. Measure 2. Assess 3. Evaluate 4. Manage In reference to this case study, the project team of the school has carefully measured and assessed all important aspects associated with the overall project and have evaluated the implications of different steps and lastly have managed the overall project in effective and efficient manner. Quality and Compliance: In order to avoid any issues with the quality and compliance the management of the school has to keep in considerations the different requirements while taking different decisions. For this purpose, the project management team of the school has keep in consideration all requirements including the environmental and legal requirements. Apart from this in order to make sure that the new campus is fit for the purpose and is constructed keeping in mind the success criteria the project management team has done the necessary homework and tests. Risk Register: Category Probability Importance Risk Mitigation Approach Sustainable Funding Issues Med/ high Very High The possibility of high recurrent financial costs and inability of the school management to cover these costs. The management of school has carefully analysed and planned the current and future financial costs. Quality Issues Medium Very High The new campus is not fit for the purpose and is not build upon the success criteria In order to avoid this possibility the management of school has conducted several tests and surveys in order to assess current and future needs. Environmental Sustainable Moderate High The new campus is not according to the laws and regulations. In order to avoid any compliance or legal issues at later stage the management of school has conducted external surveys in order to assess the standard dimensions and requirements. Apart from this the management has taken into consideration the SMG model for benchmarking. The learning, teaching, and other needs are not met Moderate High The new campus is not able to fulfil the needs and requirements of teachers, students, and other office staff In order to avoid this risk the management has conducted different surveys. List of References Atkinson, R. (1999). 'Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, it is time to accept other success criteria.’ International Journal of Project Management, vol.17, no. 6, pp. 337–42. Bedford, T., and Cooke, R. (2001). Probabilistic Risk Analysis: Foundations and Methods. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Cleland, D., and Gareis, R. (2006). Global Project Management Handbook. London: McGraw-Hill Professional. Cowie, G. (2003). 'The importance of people skills for project managers,’ Indust Commer Train, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 256–8. Hamilton, A. (2004). Handbook of Project Management Procedures. London: TTL Publishing, Ltd. Harrison, F., and Lock, D. (2004). Advanced project management: a structured approach?. Surrey: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Kerzner, H. (2009). Project Management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Lewis, R. (2006). Project Management. London: McGraw-Hill Professional. Meredith, J., and Mantel, S. (2012). Project Management: a managerial approach. USA: John Wiley & Sons. Phillips, J. (2003). PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide. London: McGraw-Hill Professional. Read More