Management Initiatives of Bedford Borough Council - Assignment Example

Operations Management Executive Summary The project management initiatives of Bedford Borough Council have been recognised to achieve gradual increase in terms of reducing various types of un-social behaviour and domestic abuse incidents across the community. Although the council has gained significant insights to protect community members from different criminal activities, the Chair of Bedfordshire Integrated Offender Management still focuses to formulate and implement long-term solutions to reduce the number of crimes being re-committed by ex-offenders. In this context, the study tends to provide a twelve-month overview on the Integrated Offender Management programs to build a safer community within the Bedford Borough Council. Therefore, the project implementation tends to incorporate an effective set of attributes and enable the council to achieve its ultimate desired objectives. It has been found that with the implementation of the planned project, the community safety would increase by manifold and would enable the council to reduce the rate of crime in the Bedford community. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 1. Introduction 4 2. Background Information and Justification 5 3. Business Case 6 3.1 Primary and Secondary Objectives 6 3.2 Project Rationale 7 3.3 Expected Benefits and Estimated Total Costs and Resources Required 7 3.4 Selected Business Option and Considered Alternatives 8 4. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 9 5. Gantt Chart 11 6. Network Diagram and Critical Path Analysis 12 6.1 Timing of Activities and Total Float 12 6.2 Network Diagram 14 6.3 Critical Path Analysis 15 7. Risk Analysis 16 8. Stakeholder Analysis 18 9. Conclusion 20 References 21 Appendix 1 23 1. Introduction Project management can be considered as one of the major management paradigms, which enables the business organisations to effectively and efficiently achieve their business goals within the constantly changing phase of the business environment. An effective project management approach facilitates the organisations to execute various business competencies to effectively handle uncertainties, risks along with pressure of its competitors within the existing market (Laureate Online Education, 2010). Moreover, project management can be differentiated with the various standards of the business operations with respect to focusing on uniqueness, timescales, financial projection, resources, risks and uncertainties along with the major activities regarding skills, tools and processes of project management (Westland, 2003). The methodology to be followed to gain required information is the evaluation of information available from secondary sources. With due consideration of preparing project implementation plan, this report will highly focus on developing the major aspects and processes of project management which will be highly beneficial for Bedford Borough Council. The discussion of this paper will cover the major elements and their activities in order to successfully implement of the new and developed project management. 2. Background Information and Justification With respect to the observation from last three years, it has been ascertained that Bedford Borough Council has aimed at minimising the amount of general crimes within the council. According to the empirical study of the particular borough, the Bedford council has been able to decrease the number of general crimes up to 56.61% in each one thousand population, which is recognised to lower the criminal activities in comparison with the year 2011 and 2012 within the respective location. According to the present initiatives of the council, the crime prevention projects undertaken in the Bedford Borough play a major role to bring significant changes in the annual crime rate within the council. In this context, a number of effective project management activities have been observed that have provided adequate support to the council to minimise the figure of criminal incidents within the council. Alcohol Arrest Referral & Outreach project, multi-agency risk assessment approach to dealing with incidents of domestic abuse, CCTV in public areas and others have been widely accepted to influence the crime prevention projects of Bedford council. Additionally, the critical review of the Offender Management Programs conducted by the council has also been considered to reduce the number of criminal offences within the particular area (Qin & et. al., 2009). 3. Business Case The concept of business case can be defined as the process of outlining the costs and benefits of the different chosen solutions that are generally developed to achieve the goals of a particular project (McQueen, 2010). With regard to the major objectives of the project, the analysis of the required activities along with quality expectation of the stakeholders would be taken into consideration to build a crime prevention project in the Bedford area. Moreover, the identification of major constraints and risks associated with the project activities would also facilitate to enable the council to efficiently achieve its desired project objectives. In order to gain adequate insights of the project, the study may also need to integrate feasibility assessment activities to secure relevant information and minimise potential risks associated with the different project activities. The primary factors in the business case associated with the project have been briefly discussed in the following section (Qin & et. al, 2009). 3.1 Primary and Secondary Objectives The primary objective of this project is to build Bedford as a safer community through reducing the number of crimes within the particular area. In order to obtain the primary objective, the project would require involving a number of activities, which can have an impact on the overall budgeting structure. Therefore, minimising costs associated with each activity of the project would be considered as a secondary objective for the council. Additionally, developing competencies to maximise employability prospects sequentially with reducing unsocial behaviour of the population has also been considered as a secondary objective of the project (Qin & et. al, 2009). 3.2 Project Rationale The project relating to minimise criminal activities involves a number of rationales that are often observed due to the increasing number of unsocial behaviour of the population. With regard to the project of reducing crime in Bedford community, the study would undertake few major rationales. According to the various surveys and researches, it has been widely observed that a lack of education or employment and proper accommodation facilities often lead the offenders to involve in different criminal activities. Moreover, lower level of self-esteem and behavioural issues can also be considered as a major rationale of the project that would further influence ex-offenders to face significant challenges to survive in the community (Qin & et. al, 2009). 3.3 Expected Benefits and Estimated Total Costs and Resources Required In relation to the proposed study, the project can offer significant benefits that can be characterised into council’s and business perspectives. To the Council In relation to the benefits for the Bedford Council, the project can be estimated to offer a range of benefits in terms of reducing criminal activities within the community. Moreover, the long- term benefit of this project is to reduce the cost of the council during the implementation of required project activities. Furthermore, reducing significant pressure on the community prisons and developing discipline and well-being of each prisoner can be considered as a major beneficial aspect for the council as well (Qin & et. al., 2009). To a Business Perspective From the perspective of business, the successful implementation of the proposed crime prevention project would facilitate to increase positivity of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which can further help the council to build long-term sustainability in the community. Moreover, the greater availability of labour with a feasible cost in the next 10-20 years would also help the council to maintain low cost of each project activity (Qin & et. al., 2009). 3.4 Selected Business Option and Considered Alternatives With reference to the proposed objectives, the chosen business option of the project is to rehabilitate ex-offenders within the community of Bedford. In order to achieve the desired project goals, the rehabilitation programs for the ex-offenders would generally focus on complying with an effective conceptual structure. In this context, the programs would incorporate essential factors in order to successfully accomplish the rehabilitation of the ex-offenders. The activities underneath the chosen business option would incorporate various steps such as transforming program, review and assessment, screening and recruitment along with evaluation process. Moreover, business option would also consider an alternative selection in order to increase the viability and accountability of the project. In this concern, compulsory community service would be emphasised in order to compensate benefits to the ex-prisoners. The process would enable the council to develop each ex-prisoner to refurbish their employability prospects along with developing their well-being within the community. The key sources of funding would include the council as the major source along with charities and donations, National Lottery and revenue generated through selling of products by ex-offenders (Qin & et. al., 2009). 4. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in the project management paradigm signifies an effective analytical model, which is generally practiced in order to critically understand and classify different activities to be required in a particular project. The integration of an effective WBS tends to represent the major deliverables and elements through an apparent graphical representation along with facilitating to successfully align project activities with the ultimate objectives (Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, n.d.). WBS of the crime prevention framework for Bedford Borough Council project would incorporate key activities that are graphically represented in the following diagram. Fig: WBS Structure of the Project Activities 5. Gantt Chart 6. Network Diagram and Critical Path Analysis 6.1 Timing of Activities and Total Float 6.2 Network Diagram 6.3 Critical Path Analysis 7. Risk Analysis 8. Stakeholder Analysis In order to analyse the viability and suitability level of the stakeholders associated with the project, the integration of an effective justification of Mendelow’s stakeholder analysis can provide a major support to the Bedford Borough Council. Source: (Schwalbe, 2008) High Power and Highly Interested Group: This group of stakeholders would be considered to include the Bedford community along with the governmental bodies. Moreover, the Bedfordshire Police, Prison and Probation Trust among others are also considered as the groups require high level of communication. High Power and Low Interest Group: This segment of stakeholders constitutes high power and low interests group which can enable the council to maintain its performance. For instance, the investors, community members and labours among others. Low Power and Interested Group: This type of stakeholders bestows higher level of interests with regard to performing project activities by the council. The legal advisory committees, community members and labours can be considered in this particular group. Low Power and Less Interest Group: In this group, the ex-prisoners are the primary stakeholders of the Council as they have major bearing upon the project activities. The Pastoral Councils and other charities among others have been considered as the groups that are required to maintain regular contact with the council. 9. Conclusion With reference to the overall process of project implementation plan, it can be critically identified that the rehabilitation of the ex-offenders significantly helps to reduce the amount of criminal activities within a particular community. In relation to the project of Bedford Borough Council, the effective implementation of a conceptual framework in the rehabilitation program of the ex-offenders would highly enable the council to refurbish the overall community. Moreover, the program can also help the council to considerably reduce the number of crimes along with various types of anti-social behaviours of the population. Although the higher risks associated with the training and development of the ex-offenders may also create various types of negative impacts, the successful implementation of the proposed implementation plan would enable the council to accomplish its desired project objectives. In this context, the proper implementation of the proposed plan would enable Bedford Borough Council to gain feasible support from the community along with other major groups of key stakeholders within the particular area. Moreover, the implementation plan also ensures to improve the present crime prevention performance of the council along with enabling it to build a safer community. References Laureate Online Education, 2010. Introduction to Project Management. University of Liverpool. [Online] Available at: http://success.ohecampus.com/success_images/documents/syllabi/Syllabus-Introduction_to_Project_Management.pdf [Accessed January 22, 2012]. McQueen, C., 2010. The Business Case for a Project and Portfolio Management Platform. Creating the Business Case. [Online] Available at: http://www.agorainc.com/services/epm/the_business_case_for_a_ppm_platform.pdf [Accessed January 22, 2012]. Qin, S. & et. al., 2009. Community Strategy – A Safer Community (2009 – 2021). Bedford Borough Council. Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, No Date. Work Breakdown Structure. LCLS Conceptual Design Report, 15.1-15.4. Schwalbe, K., 2008. Introduction to Project Management, Second Edition. Cengage Learning. US Department of Energy, 2003. Work Breakdown Structure. Project Management Practices, pp. 1-16. Westland, J., 2003. Project Management Guidebook. Method123. Appendix 1 Gantt Chart Generated Through Microsoft Project Read More