Managing a Sky Plaza Leeds Project - Case Study Example

Project Management Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 3 Project’s Stakeholder Analysis 3 The Government 4 The Architecture: Carey Jones 4 The Contractor: Shepherd Company 4 The Customers: Residents 4 Project Description 5 Factors that made this project a success 6 Recommendations 7 Conclusion 7 Executive Summary Sky Plaza is among the most important buildings in Australia which provide accommodation to students. The project was started in the year 2004 and was completed in the year 2005. The total cost of the project was £80m and about 80% of this cost was provided by the government. The stakeholders of the Sky Plaza project include the Shepherd Construction Company, Carey Jones architects, the government, the suppliers, the project mangers, the employees and the customers. Issues which affected the project include the environmental concerns and ineffective analysis of customers’ needs. However the project was a success because of the strategies which were applied which include risk assessment, corporate governance, quality management and strategic planning. Introduction Sky Plaza Leeds is a project which was completed in the year 2005. The project had taken almost two years to complete as it started in the year 2004 in Australia. This project was initiated as a result of the act of parliament to build a storey building to help students in offering accommodation. The architecture of the project was Carey Jones architects and the contractor was Shepherd Construction Company (Sky Plaza, Leed, 2013). The project was passed by the act of parliament with the aim of improving accommodation services to students. The project was to build a 20 storey building and the project costed £80m. The storey building could provide studio rooms and spacious flats to meet the different needs of tenants. The building could accommodate at least 500 students. The project was started because there was increasing need for accommodation services and the students could be accommodated by the already existing buildings therefore the main purpose was to solve the accommodation menace. The objectives of the project were to offer accommodation to students and provide various features in the rooms to meet the students’ demands. Project’s Stakeholder Analysis The stakeholders of Sky Plaza Leeds include the government of Australia, the constructor who is Shepherd Construction Company, the customers and the Architecture who is Carey Jones. All these parties took part in the construction of the project because they all influenced the construction of the 20 storey building in various ways. The Government The parliament of Australia was concerned with passing an act to construct the building to meet the accommodation needs of the students (Sky Plaza, Leed, 2013). The concern of the Australian parliament was to increase the accommodation facilities to the students. The government also provided financial support for the construction of the company. The Architecture: Carey Jones This was the main constructor of the project. The project could not have been started without a clear plan for the construction. The company designed the structure of the building and presented it to the Shepherd Construction Company to commence the project. Therefore, the architecture contributed to the success of the project. The Contractor: Shepherd Company The construction company also made a great contribution in the management of the Sky Plaza construction project. The company did the real implementation of the structural plan designed by the architecture (Sky Plaza, Leed, 2013). It depends on the competency of the construction company to fully implement the design of the building. The company had qualified engineers who offered their skills to ensure the project is a success. The Customers: Residents The customers of the company are the students who will take accommodation in the 20 storey building. They influenced the construction of the building because the planners took into consideration the various needs of the final users before designing the structure of the storey building (Hartley 2009, p. 62). Therefore, the customers of the project enabled the architecture to design the building that will meet the different needs of the customers like studio rooms and spacious flats for students who prefer it that way, thus they are important stakeholders of the Sky Plaza project. In this regard therefore, the above stakeholders of the Sky Plaza project enabled the project managers to ensure the project was a success. Without the stakeholders it could have been difficult to design the project structure. The government also played a great role in monitoring the progress of the project. The constructor and the architecture influenced the success of the project because they took into consideration the various interests of the stakeholders and the availability of resources available. Project Description The project was initiated by an act of parliament. The architecture of the project was then selected who is Carey Jones Company who designed the structure of the storey building. After the constructor had been selected, the mission and vision of the project was designed (Sky Plaza, Leed 2013). The various resources required in implementing the project like the financial and human resources were assessed and allocated after which the time frame with which to complete the project was agreed upon by the government and the constructor. The project commenced applying various strategies like quality management to ensure success. Sky Plaza construction project applied various strategies that made the project a success. The strategies that were applied by the project include effective quality management. The construction company took into consideration all the steps that could improve the quality of the project outcome (Hartley 2009, p. 62). For example the company employed engineers with adequate and appropriate skills to construct the building. The project managers also had skills to manage the whole project. In addition, the company sourced for materials from suppliers who supplied quality materials which improved the quality of the construction. Another strategy which was applied is the effective communication process. There was effective communication between the stakeholders of the project (Lewis 2006, p. 110). The construction company on the other hand improved communication and developed a clear communication channel with which to communicate with the employees so that they can avoid conflicting roles and distortion of information leading to conflicts which will otherwise lower the quality of the project. Communication with the suppliers also improved the supply of materials in time to ensure continuity of the construction process. Effective management of risk was another strategy applied by the construction company in the management of the project. The company addressed various risks like political and market risks and was able to avoid them (Harrison & Dennis 2004, p. 34). This led to effective management of the project thus it was a success. On the other hand, the tools used in the project management included project diary. This document showed how various activities were to be accomplished thus acted as a guideline for time frame. Another tool used was the project file. This file contained all the information concerning the project like the various phases. Project proposal was also used in the management of the project. The proposal was used to compare the achievements of the project against the planned events (Harrison & Dennis 2004, p.34). Cost benefit tool was another tool used in the project management. This document enabled the project managers to estimate the costs of the project and the much that has been consumed. The project was done according to plan. There were no deviations from the planned events of the project. The benefits of running according to plan included effective utilization of resources because there are no wastages (Lewis 2006, p. 110). There is no stoppage in the construction process as all events are accomplished according to the plan. Ran to plan leads to success of the project as all events are accomplished at the right time and resources consumed according to the plan. Finally, ran to plan enables the organization to achieve the objectives of the project. Factors that made this project a success The factors that made Sky Plaza project a success include effective corporate governance. The corporate governance upheld the ethical principles like accountability and transparency which led to effective utilization of resources. Effective strategic planning further led to the success of the project. The objectives which were set were clear and achievable, risks were properly assessed and monitored and performance was optimized. This led to success of the Sky Plaza construction project (Lewis 2006, p. 110). Another factor that led to successful accomplishment of the project is the selection of a qualified construction company with the required skills in the construction industry. Without these skills, the project managers could have not been able to manage the various events of the project which could otherwise lead to a failure. Recommendations Despite the project being a success, there are various challenges that should be solved to increase the efficiency of the projects. These issues include environmental issues and ineffective focus on the customers’ demands. To improve the efficiency of the projects, these issues need to be solved by analyzing the ways in which the construction company should preserve the environment like using materials which do not heavily pollute the environment and can be renewed (Nokes & Kelly 2007, p. 131). The customers’ demands should be considered in depth so that when taking up a project, the various needs of various customers can be met. Effective customer analysis will help to improve their satisfaction once the project has been completed. Conclusion Sky Plaza is a large storey building in Australia which offers accommodation to many students. It is the largest storey building which provides accommodation services and facilities to students. The project was a success because the construction company considered various needs of the stakeholders. The stakeholders of this project include the suppliers, the government, the architecture, the construction company and the customers. They succeeded in their objectives by meeting the accommodation needs of the students. Among the strategies applied the by the construction company to make it a success include corporate governance, strategic planning, quality management and effective risk assessment which reduced the risks which could otherwise affect the performance of the project. References Harrison, F & Dennis, L 2004, Advanced project management: a structured approach, Gower Publishing, Ltd. Hartley, S 2009, Project Management Principles, Processes & Practice – 2nd Edn, Sydney, NSW, Pearson Education Australia. Lewis, R 2006, Project Management, London, McGraw-Hill Professional. Nokes, S & Kelly, G 2007, The definitive guide to project management, New York, Gower Publishing, Ltd. Sky Plaza, Leed 2013, Project Description Sky Plaza Student accommodation, viewed 1st Oct. 2013from http://www.technal.co.uk/en/Projects-description/Residential/Sky-Plaza-Student-Accommodation-Leeds-/ Read More