Project Requirements and Suitable Measures in MidlandsPhones Company - Assignment Example

Smartphone Introduction of Case Study MidlandsPhones Company has been in the market for a long period, manufacturing and selling cell phones. They have adopted the most recent skills and have established a market for smartphones. Their clients are both commercial entities and individuals from various parts of the world. In the recent past, the company has engaged in rigorous investigation of their stakeholders and has decided to launch Midlanders2 Smartphone which has improved features focusing on a high quality cell. This is expected to increase its demand and, hence, profit for the company. It will also help to minimize rivalry since there is no other product of its kind in the market (Sheila, 2008). MidlandsPhone Company has contracted PowerDev Company to design the cell for them and is expected to be ready before the end of October 2013. The first sales of the smartphone incorporating the light and long lasting cell is expected to capture large clientele during Christmas vacation in 2013. It is also necessary to complete the project as soon as possible before entry of rivals with the same offer. The company has established a panel that will be implementing these activities. Also, the company has contracted a panel director who will work in collaboration with two other internal directors to ensure success of the project. Question1. Importance of Identifying Organizational and Project Requirements and Suitable Measures in Midlandsphones When management is making preparation for a business venture, they should do a thorough investigation concerning the right time for committing resources in a project. MidlandsPhones has planned to start its activities by early July 2013 and end by October 2013. Setting activities at the right time will enable MidlandsPhones to get into the market before their rivals. The company will be able to produce a cell that can retain charge for a long time and which is appealing to their consumers because of its light weight. This will enable them to capture the smartphone market before the Korean rivals. Through proper assessment, MidlandsPhones will be able to identify the amount of resources that they have to commit to this undertaking. Having the necessary resources before implementation is necessary because it will enable the company to complete their activities at the scheduled time (Lewis, 200, p. 65). For example, MindlandsPhones has adequately planned for skilled directors and other people who will be executing the plan. This will enable them to achieve the company’s target at the right time without causing the company extra expenses. They will be able to identify any other area which is not adequately supplied, and thus provide the missing resources to avoid delaying the implementation of the activity. If the company makes proper preparation for its business activities in advance, they will be able to identify the market potential of their products. In addition, they will be able to assess their potential to meet the market requirements. In case they realize that they do not have the capacity to produce what the market requires, they will be able increase resources appropriate for completion of the project. MidlandsPhones Company will be able to assess their competence in the market and prepare adequately to overcome any rival. For the company to overcome any limitation resulting from its inability to meet the market demand, they should ensure all necessary events are adequately accounted for (Sheila, 2008). Also, they should hire competent personnel who will oversee the implementation of the project. Finally the company should carry out thorough market research to ensure they have an adequate potential to meet customers’ requirements. Question 2 A company should make proper arrangement before they engage in any undertaking. This will ensure that they have all necessary resources for the project (Bolles and Hubbard, 2007, p. 206). They will be able to identify any threat which may hinder implementation of the project. It is important for the company to examine their expertise in producing what their clients need. They should also ensure that the expenses that will be incurred by the project are manageable and will not result in products with the cost higher than the prevailing market value. MidlandsPhones is a producer of superior value smartphones for both retail and commercial purposes. They are targeting to enter into the market with a cell model which will help them to overcome their rivals (Dinsmore and Cabanis-Brewin, 2006, p. 287). The cell will provide clients with a better alternative to the current cell because of its light weight. It will also offer a prolonged lifecycle and does not require recharging more often. Many customers prefer using smartphones to other cell phone models in the market. Smartphones have attractive features to consumers and are offering solutions to most of the consumer needs. They provide computer based applications such as Internet browsers, word processors and graphics (Lewis, 2007, p. 34). However, due to continuous usage of smartphones’ many applications, they are unable to maintain power for a long time. This has become one of the most limiting factors for utilization of this gadget. Therefore, incorporating this new cell in a smartphone will offer a better solution to clients’ needs and will help boost sales for the Midlanders2 Smartphone. The cell is light in weight; hence, it will offer convenience to consumers. The company’s target is to design the cell as soon as possible and offer it to the market for sale. This should be implemented and taken to the market before other rivals could launch a similar cell. For example, a Korea based company has already engaged in the same activity and is posing a great threat. MidlandsPhones should be careful to ensure they launch their product before their rivals. To ensure this activity is carried out as planned, the company has hired experts who will work in collaboration with the company’s staff to speed up the process. The project manager will mobilize the project staff to ensure its success (Jonassen, 2004, p. 1027). The director will work together with other two company’s directors to ensure the success of the activity. However, the operations director will maintain contact with the project staff to inform them of the operation progress (Ireland, Liu and Yu-Chih, 2008). This will be done twice a month until the end of the activity. They will carry out all necessary activities involved in designing the cell and then will leave the rest of the production activities to the company producers who will steer forward this process. The event is scheduled to kick off at the beginning of Jul 2013 and culminate by the end of October 2013. This cannot be started earlier because it may interfere with other company’s activities. Timely launching of this product will be of the essence at that scheduled time because it will make the smartphone available for sale during Christmas vacation in December 2013. Also, it will help MidlandsPhones Company to enter the market before any other rival, which will help them to establish clientele and boost company’s sales. 3. Rationale for Project Planning a. Scope Before the company engages in any venture, they should ensure their resources are ready and that they have structured how those processes will be executed. They should define the amount of work that needs to be done and how it will be done (Urquhart-Brown, 2008, p. 54). Finally, they should assign tasks to those who will be involved in the execution of the activities and establish a time limit upon which this should be completed. MidlandsPhones has set to enter into the market with Midlanders2 Smartphone that has light weight and a long lasting cell. This will boost their sales and overcome their rivals. b. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) MidlandsPhones has arranged their activities in the order in which they will execute them (see Appendix 1). c. Schedule (Including Milestones) Every business project should be executed for a specific period of time. This will help to define the commitment of the staff involved since they have to complete the work assigned within a set duration. MidlandsPhones will start their operation in early July 2013 and is expected to complete by the end of October 2013. Therefore, the company has to commit resources and time to meet the scheduled time. Working within the set time limit will enable the company to get into the market before their competitor. This will give them a competitive advantage over any other rival. d. Costing Any business venture must incur some expenses. However, some will be sustained once in the entire project life cycle, while others will be recurring in the entire life cycle. The costs which are incurred once are referred to as fixed costs while those which are determined by the level of activities are referred to as variable costs (Smith and Mazin, 2004, p. 183). The expenses for the entire project are called total costs. They include both variable and fixed costs. The entire project cost is the total amount paid to execute the idea. MidlandsPhones will incur the following costs from various activities involved (see Appendix 2). For the MidlandPhones Company to execute its plan to launch production, they will require 830,000 Euros. It is also important for the company to estimate the expenses they will incur to produce every unit of the product. This is important because it will help the company to determine the value of the cells and hence, their market price (Kendrick, 2010, p. 74). The number of cells to be produced should be enough to cover the total cost incurred and create profit for the company. MidlandsPhones Company has estimated a demand of ten thousands cells by 2014. Assuming that this will be its only number of cells they will produce, this amount can be used to estimate the value for a unit cell. Therefore, the unit value will be obtained by dividing the amount incurred by units produced (Bertels, 2003, p. 231). This will be 830,000 Euros divided by 10,000 units. Therefore, the production cost per unit of the cell will be eighty three euros per unit. Therefore, they have to produce more cells to reduce the expenses per unit cell. d. Stakeholder Analysis Before a company engages in any activity, they should establish the correct project panel that will be executing the company’s plan. The company’s management should establish a panel of skilled people to ensure that resources are utilized effectively. This is essential because the company will be able to establish the business undertaking within the right time. Having the right panel of workers will enable them to meet the quality of products they require and proper coordination of activities (Kendrick, 2010, p. 78). The management will be able to understand the kind of motivation the panel may require in advance so that they can achieve their target. It will enable them to establish the concern of the panel in the project and make the choice of what they can do to achieve the goals of the company. e. Communication Plan MidlandsPhones should establish the right channel of disseminating information between the management and project panel. The company has decided that the project director will be required to present a report to the company’s directors twice a month. They have not, however, decided the criteria they will use. The management should decide how the report will be submitted to the directors (Urquhart-Brown, 2008, p. 46). Finally, if there is proper information exchange before initiation of the project, it will help the planners to gather the necessary resources and establish a good relationship throughout the project life cycle. This will improve efficiency of implementing the plan. f. Risk Evaluation Before the company commits its resources to any activity, they should first examine the perils which occur either during or after the execution of activities (Smith and Mazin, 2004, p. 167). For example, MidlandsPhones should investigate the possibility of any occurrence which might hinder them from achieving their target. 4. Closing down the Project Once the project team has completed their assigned duties, they will have to end it officially (Sheila, 2008). This is the right process regardless of the size of the company or complexity of its activities. It enables the staff which was involved in the implementation process of a particular activity to be set free for other activities. Also, the company is able to assess the extent to which they have been able to achieve their objectives. Appendix1 Source: Smith and Mazin, 2004, p. 123 The arrows represent processes, direction and time it will take to complete each scheduled activity. Each square represent the activity that has to be completed. The arrows and squares show which activity should be completed first before another one starts. Appendix 2 £ Project Team Expenses 50,000 Concept Design 30,000 Detailed Design 90,000 Prototypes Build 40,000 Systems Testing 50,000 Marketing Planning 40,000 Design of a New Assembly Line 30,000 Assembly Line Construction 110,000 Supply of Batteries 40,000 First Production Run 150,000 Marketing Campaign 140,000 Production Launch 60,000 Total Project Cost 830,000 References Bertels, T., 2003. Rath & Strongs six sigma leadership handbook. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, p. 592. Bolles, D. L. and Hubbard. D. G., 2007. The power of enterprise-wide project management. New York: AMACOM, p. 345. Dinsmore, P.C. and Cabanis-Brewin, J., 2006. The AMA handbook of project management. New York, p. 518. Ireland, T.D., Liu,L.R. and Yu-Chih, J., 2008. Project management: IS/IT research challenges. Journal of International Technology and Information Management, 17 (1). Jonassen, D. H., 2004. Handbook of research on educational communications and technology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, p.1270. Kendrick, T., 2010. The project management tool kit: 100 tips and techniques for getting the job done right. New York: American Management Association New York, p. 273. Lewis, J. P., 2007. Fundamentals of project management. New York: American Management Association, p. 176. Sheila, S. M., 2008. Project management effectiveness construct: project success factors. Review of Business Research, 8 (3). Smith, S. and Mazin, R., 2004. The HR answer book: an indispensable guide for managers and human resources professionals. New York: AMACOM, p. 256. Urquhart-Brown, S., 2008. The accidental entrepreneur: 50 things I wish someone had told me about starting a business. New York: AMACOM, p.192. Read More