Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling - Example

Project Analysis Report By Author Date Table of Contents Introduction Effective project management and planning is a key to success for every project. Effective project management offers efficient management and control over project tasks and resources. In addition, with the proper planning and project activity management we can make overall project a success. In this scenario we need to better take care of project activities those are required to be effectively planned and managed for the successful project accomplishment (Kerzner, 2006; Meredith & Mantel, 2006). This report presents a detailed overview of the way project was planned and performed. In this report I will analyze some of the important aspects of the project management theories and practices those are applied for ensuring effective management of project aspects. In this case I will analyze some of the important aspects of Fletcher Tax Accountants business’s new project of cloud computing business management systems application. This system was about the overall digitization of the customary business practices. Business Overview Fletcher Tax Accountants business is an Australian company. Fletcher Tax Accountants business has very capable and competent personnel who are very much effective to facilitate our business regarding our taxation requirements. Fletcher Tax Accountants specializes in tax planning and compliance for small businesses, sole traders and property investors. Fletcher Tax Accountants endeavor to offer a holistic method towards our company and investment corporate; from a financial, tax as well as management viewpoint (Fletcher Tax Accountant, 2012). Objectives and Scope the Project The new technology based arrangement of the cloud accounting is actually a mash up of 2 main schemes and has been attaining extremely high attention and interest in the past few years. Fletcher Tax Accountants Business was aimed at transforming the new web based systems and tools to manage their business accounting requirements. In case of specially accounting software that is some computer application that facilitates Fletcher Tax Accountants with several structure of accounting processes (Walsh, 2010). It can be as straightforward as a small sales ledger application to all the ways to a business level complete accounting package. Consequently cloud computing based accounting application at Fletcher Tax Accountants Business was aimed to fundamentally change business system and take accounts completely online without require for offline data and information storage and software. As a result there is no resident install on business own computer and we are able to access business data, information and accounts from anywhere with an Internet connection (Walsh, 2010). In addition, it still means accessing our business accounting data with our smart phone like that Blackberry or iPhone. Such a huge facilities and applications of the cloud computing have offered a more enhanced support to accounting business as Fletcher Tax Accountants Business (Walsh, 2010). Stakeholder Analysis Fletcher Tax Accountants Business is going to implement a new technology based business management services. This project encompasses a number of stakeholders. I have presented below an analysis of the major stakeholders of this project: One of the major stakeholders of this project is Corporate Management. Management wants to improve the overall business performance and credibility. In this scenario, management wants to improve business data and information security and privacy. Another main objective of this new technology based project is to offer better support for remote access to corporate data. Another main stakeholder of this project is project clients. The application of this project will offer a great deal of technology support and better access to personal data and information. The application of new technology at the Fletcher Tax Accountants Business will improve the client access, connectivity, functional performance and working credibility. System development team is also one of the important project stakeholders. Development team is aimed at offering much better system working and operational functionally. The main objective of team is to improve the corporate performance and offer better support for business operations. Project Management Strategy For the management of Fletcher Tax Accountants Business project of new technology based systems application, the project management team applied the project breakdown strategy. Here each project stage is breakdowns into small tasks those are assigned to concerned project management and development team. It has offered a great deal of convenience regarding enhanced and effective project management and organization of tasks. These all small levels of project lead to successful completion of the project. Here all the project stages are managed and handled in a way that it could offer a great deal of project support and risk management. Implementation Phase of the Project This section will present the implementation phase of project with respect to Fletcher Tax Accountants Business project. In this scenario, I will discuss some of the important implementation stages of this project. a. Requirements Analysis In this project activity we have deeply assessed some of the important project activities of Fletcher Tax Accountants Business to better assess project needs. It has facilitated us to better plan the project for the enhanced project performance. b. Planning At this stage of project; we have planed the main tasks and activities of Fletcher Tax Accountants Business. In this scenario we have allocated time and resource to each project task. This project stage will involve task of project task planning. d. Recruiting At this stage, Fletcher Tax Accountants Business management recruited staff for the project that has involved in the project staff for managing and handling project tasks and activities. This stage of project has involved publishing the job ads. Interviewing the staff and recruiting them. e. Development and Application At this stage of project Fletcher Tax Accountants Business’s development team developed the technology based system. Here system was designed, coded and implemented for digitalizing the corporate manual workings and operations. f. Testing and Quality Assurance At this stage of project of Fletcher Tax Accountants Business the new technology based system is tested and implemented for the enhanced corporate working and operational performance. Here new technology based system is tested and checked for errors. Issues in Project In this section I will assess some of the critical problems that we faced during the implementation of the cloud computing at Fletcher Tax Accountants Business. In case of new cloud computing technology setup establishment the main and biggest problem at the company is about the proper and effective establishment of some security mechanism. Here such business arrangement is more open to business data hackers and security breakers. Here another problem is about defining and customizing the business authorities for the business setup. Here defining un-limited business authority for the business executive and offering some restricted access to some business staff member is also a problem. The next main problem that is faced in our company case is the overall transformation of the traditional business practice to new technology based arrangement. In this scenario the new technology based system is harder to handle and manage in case of adoption to new business working and operational practices. Benefits of Careful Planning In this section I will discuss the importance of applying effective project management processes and techniques during the life of the Fletcher Tax Accountants Business project. In case of Fletcher Tax Accountants Business project improved competence in delivering services for project management offered enhanced guidelines those simply followed to successful project achievement. In addition, the superior customer satisfaction was also one of the main objectives established in Fletcher Tax Accountants Business project. Here in Fletcher Tax Accountants Business project team offered a happy customer interaction offered the facility to project client for successful project accomplishment. Improved flexibility was also one of the main factors of Fletcher Tax Accountants project. Here project management permitted team to perform project tasks in an enhanced way. Project management team leader, offered flexibility to team members to have a great deal of performance and skills application framework. Critical Analysis of Project Outcome Establishment of IT technology and cloud computing based operating model for private or public business and organization is completely a dominant method to recognize cost savings, however merely if our businesses recognize precisely what the cloud computing technology is replacing. The application of new technology based systems offered a great deal of success and corporate goals accomplishment. However the overall transformation of the traditional business practices to the new business arrangement we can face a number of problems and issues regarding effective working and management of business as performed by the customary business practice. Another unlucky truth is that the corporate cost management for new technology based system is also of main bottleneck in successful project accomplishment. One of the most serious problems regarding the transformation to new cloud computing arrangement is the problem of the business staff working skills. In case of new technology based arrangement that is quite new for our business and working staff the main problem is facing is about the learning and working on the new technology based arrangement (Walsh, 2010; Turban et al., 2005). Conclusion In this report I have presented a systematic evaluation of a project. In this scenario I have outlined and analyzed some of the important aspects of project management in case of technology based systems application for Fletcher Tax Accountants Business. Here I have assessed key factors of project management for the business and outlined advantages and issues faced by business and project team. References Fletcher Tax Accountant, 2012. Tax Issues? Ask Our Expert Accountants! [Online] Available at: http://fletchertaxaccountants.com.au/ [Accessed 29 September 2012]. Kerzner, H., 2006. Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. 10th ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Meredith, J. & Mantel, 2006. Project Management: A Managerial Approach. 6th ed. Asia: John Wiley & Sons. Turban, E., Leidner, D., McLean, E. & Wetherbe, J., 2005. Information Technology for Management: Transforming Organizations in the Digital Economy. New York: Wiley. Walsh, M., 2010. What Is Cloud Accounting? [Online] Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Is-Cloud-Accounting?&id=5463938 [Accessed 29 September 2012]. Read More