Project Planning, Integration and Scope Management - Mubadala Development Company - Case Study Example

Project Planning, Integration and Scope Management Student Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Project Planning, Integration and Scope Management 3 Introduction 3 PART 1 3 Strengths and Weaknesses of Mubadala Development Company Portfolio, Program and Projects Systems 3 Portfolio 3 Advantages of a Diversified Portfolio 4 Disadvantages of a diversified portfolio 5 Management Program and Project Systems of Mubadala Development Company 6 PART 2 7 Lifecycles and Phase Structures of Projects 7 Project Management Life Cycle 8 Systems Development Life Cycle 9 Product Life Cycle 11 Conclusion 12 References 13 Project Planning, Integration and Scope Management Introduction Mubadala Development Company is a fully owned company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The government of the Emirate of AbuDhabi is the sole shareholder. This company falls in the category of a state corporation. It deals with high technology as well as aerospace firms as investors although it also has other investments in fields such as the oil fields, real estates as well as the health sector that as it has invested in hospitals. It can therefore be stated that the company has a diverse portfolio of economic activities which have a long term return policy. The portfolios they invest in are entered into either independently or sometimes inform of partnerships with renowned international organizations (sovereign wealth fund institute, 2008 - 2009). PART 1 Strengths and Weaknesses of Mubadala Development Company Portfolio, Program and Projects Systems Portfolio A portfolio can be described as a collection of investments by any particular company at a particular period of time. As already established, Mubadala Development Company has a big and economically focused Portfolio. The company has investments based locally, within the region of the Arab Emirates as well as internationally. It has investments in the fields of technology, healthcare, aerospace, energy, real estate, infrastructure among other services. It is evident that Mubadala Development Company makes its investments in long term projects and initiatives that will yield long term returns. It is a wealth generating company that also looks to develop the economic state of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The company has also made investments in regions such as Africa, the United States of America as well as in European countries. Therefore the investment portfolio of Mubadala Development Company is not diversified only in activities but as well as diverse regions in the world (Mubadala Development Company, 2009). Advantages of a Diversified Portfolio A diversified portfolio reduces the long term risks the company could face. By investing in different projects and initiatives a company is able to be safe from losses that could befall one of the investments. For example, if the company had invested all its funds in one investment such as the stock market and the value of the stock drops, the company will suffer huge losses and may lose everything. Whereas a company that has put its funds in different investment projects such as the stock market, the energy sector as well as healthcare will not suffer as much if the stock market falls. This is because the other investments will cater for the loss or if not the investor will not feel the same intensity of the loss. Therefore it is advisable to invest in different projects and initiatives (Akers, 2014). Another advantage of diversified portfolio is that it has a higher rate of return than single portfolio investments. As long as the investment market is in a good state returns will always be positive in the long run. Most investments are for long term returns and not for the short terms goals and therefore the higher returns will be seen in the long run (Akers, 2014). A diversified portfolio gives the investor an option of mixing their investments to what suits their interests. Investors can choose to invest in the risky market, a stable market or an advanced market as one so wish. In terms of adjustments, an investor can study how his or her investments are performing and then chose where to invest more into and where to reduce their investment. According to the theory of behavioral portfolio an investment is meant to protect the investor from losses or provide him or her with a high potential of growth. It also states that a diversified portfolio is like a pyramid as it diversifies it represents higher income or returns, increased value of the investments as well as a reduced risk. Therefore diversified risks don’t just bring increased financial growth through regular payments as well as stability but also builds the investors wealth (Akers, 2014). Disadvantages of a diversified portfolio Investment diversification is like a way of spreading risks across different assets to reduce the impact of losses when they occur. However, the more you spread them across multiple investments you lower the risk as well as the gains. Therefore, by spreading the investments too thinly you also lower the amount of gains to be achieved.So to the investor, this means lower profits as well as lower returns (Faulkenberry, 2006-2014). Also diversification of the investment portfolio is not a guarantee of good returns in the future; the returns depend on many factors such as performance of the market, global recession, inflation, job security, and cost of investment among others (Faulkenberry, 2006-2014). Many companies lose their quality because they are forced to price their stock at lower levels so as to provide a margin of safety. Many investors get greedy and invest in so many projects and initiatives which they don’t understand and thus causing a complication in their management (Faulkenberry, 2006-2014). Investors get a below average return especially when they combine both inferior and quality investments. Management Program and Project Systems of Mubadala Development Company Scope management also known as project management refers to the efforts exerted by managers in developing methods and plans to ensure that a project starts and ends well. Whereas the project systems refer to the methodologies that are incorporated to ensure that the projects run smoothly as required by investors so as to ensure good returns for them(Mubadala Development Company, 2009). The company is managed by a seven member board of directors where the crowned prince of the emirate is both a member and the chair of the committee. The company also has approximately 500 employees that are placed into groups so as to serve specific functions (specialization and division of labor) (Mubadala Development Company, 2009). With regards to the projects at Mubadala Development Company there is a group of employees that are given the specific role of identifying, screening, developing as well as pursuing investment opportunities (Mubadala Development Company, 2009). Strengths Specialization ensures that the employees are able to sharpen their skill at their various roles without any conflicts and also allows improvement of professionalism in one’s own department or sector. This is because they focus only on their jobs and commit to their roles. It also makes work easier as the employees only have to learn their roles and no other responsibilities. Weaknesses Doing the same job every day for a long time lowers productivity. The employees get bored and they might want to venture into something new. It also gives little room for growth and development at the work place as the employees cannot do other responsibilities other than those allocated to them. PART 2 Lifecycles and Phase Structures of Projects We are going to look at the life cycles of three different projects and they are; system development life cycle, software development life cycle and project management lifecycle. A life cycle in a project refers tophases a project goes through from its inception to its completion. Project Management Life Cycle In a project management life cycle four phases are undergone and they include; project initiation, project planning, its execution and then the closure. During the initiation phase the following steps are followed; start with developing a business case or interest then conduct a feasibility test. After that then establish the charter of the project and thereafter select a team that will undertake in the project. After following the steps then set up an office and review the initiation phase (Method123, 2014). In the planning phase, many plans will have to be formulated and they include the project plan, a resource plan, the financial plan, a quality plan, an acceptance plan, a risk plan, a procurement plan and eventually a communications plan. In the procurement plan, the team should contract the suppliers and in the contracts they should define the tender process, issue a statement of work as well as a request for information regarding the products tendered. They should also issue a request proposal and prepare the contracts for the suppliers thereafter review the planning process (Method123, 2014). The execution process involves two major processes and they are building deliverables and monitoring and control. Monitoring and control involves quite a series of events and they include; management of time, cost, quality, change, risk, issue, procurement, acceptance and also communications management (Method123, 2014). Finally the team conducts a project closure and a review of the completed project. Systems Development Life Cycle A system development life cycle refers to a model in project management that explains the phases involved during the formation to the completion of an information system development project. There are many models that have been developed with respect to systems development life cycle and these include; waterfall, fountain, spiral, build and fix, rapid prototyping, incremental as well as synchronize and stabilize (Kay, 2002). This report looks at the stages of the waterfall model of the systems development life cycle. In the waterfall modelthe output of one stage becomes the input for the next stage in the life cycle. In the project planning and feasibility stage, the team looks at the high level of the intended project and thereby establishing its goals (Kay, 2002). The systems analysis stage on the other hand refines the established goals during the project planning and feasibility study and transforms them into the functions and operations of the core of the project. It therefore looks into the needs of the end user (Kay, 2002). In the design phase the team is able to deduce and describe the features of the designs and the operations of the desired project and even come up with the layouts, the rules and regulations of the business, the processes and the diagrams, codes as well as other documentations required or necessary (Kay, 2002). After the designs have been established another code is written and the implementation stage commences (Kay, 2002). The next stage is the integration and testing of the final product. The final product is assembled and given a try out so that they can look out for any errors or any malfunctions that could threaten the ability of the product to operate (Kay, 2002). The next stage in the waterfall model is the acceptance, installation and deployment. The final product is then produced in a mass production processing plant and taken or rather deployed to real businesses to run their enterprises (Kay, 2002). Finally there is a stage that becomes a part of the business for the rest of the product’s entire operational life and that is the maintenance stage. This stage will be continuous for the business so as to ensure that everything runs accordingly (Kay, 2002). Product Life Cycle This is an analysis that describes the stages of a commercial product. A commercial product has four life cycles and they are; the introduction stage, the growth stage, the maturity stage and the decline stage of the product. Project Life Cycle Stages The introduction stage is the phase where the product is introduced to the market. If the product is completely new the sales of the product may be very low because of a small market size for the product. During the production process the firm will incur hefty costs such as research and development, marketing, consumer testing and production among other costs. The cost will also depend on the market of the product; if the product belongs to the competitive sector then the cost will be higher (Living Better Media,2014). The growth stage; in this stage there is an increase in the number of sales of the product and the firm can begin to enjoy the economies of scale in the production as well as from profit margins. The profit of the firm will definitely increase as a result of increased sales. The business can choose at this stage to increase its investment in the product by marketing it more to increase the level of growth from sales and popularity (Living Better Media, 2014). The maturity stage;at this stage the firm exerts efforts to ensure that the product maintains the market share that they have gained. For the firm to maintain its market share it should invest more in better marketing strategies as well as product innovation which might give them an edge over their rivals in the market(Living Better Media,2014). The decline stage; the market share of the product goes down at this stage. This is attributed to various factors which may include; saturation of the market. The product has been copied by other firms and the consumers will have already bought enough of the product. The decline could also be attributed to change of product preferences by the consumer. The only ways to ensure the product continues generating revenue for the firm is by using cheaper methods of production or venturing into a cheaper (Living Better Media, 2014). Conclusion Project planning, integration (diversified portfolio) and scope management are important evolutions in the business sector. They bring diversity and creativity in the production process, managing projects and also developing software products. There are many processes that are similar across different life cycles such as planning, conducting feasibility studies, implementation as well as acceptance among other stages. These stages bear the same roles in both project management life cycles and system development life cycles while the production process has different stages from the rest. Life cycles are important as they help individuals and firms understand the process of the final product they use. References Atkinson. R. (1999). Project Management: Cost, Time and Quality, Two Best Guesses and a Phenomenon, it’s Time to Accept other Success Criteria. International Journal of Project Management.Vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 337- 342. DeLone, W, H and McLean, E, R (1992) Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Dependent Variable. Information Systems Research, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 60-95 Morris P, W, G and Hough G, H. (1993). The Anatomy of Major Projects. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. Wirth, I & Trylo, D, (1995). Preliminary Comparisons of Six Efforts to Document the Projects Management Body of Knowledge. International Journal of Project Management, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 109-118. Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, (2008-2009). Mubadala Development Company. Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from http://www.swfinstitute.org/fund/mubadala.php Mubadala Development Company, (2009). Overview of Mubadala Development Company. Pp. 1-6. Method123, (2014). Project Management Life Cycle. Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from http://www.method123.com/project-lifecycle.php Faulkenberry, K. (2006-2014). Disadvantages of Diversification in Investing. Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from Great Options Trading Strategies, (2008-2014).Problems with Diversification - Diversification Disadvantages. Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from Frontier Investment Management, (2008).The Benefits of Portfolio Diversification. Pp. 1-7. Akers, H. (1997-2014). Advantages of a Diversified Portfolio. Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from Dixon Advisory, (2014).Benefits of diversification. Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from Theme4press, (2013).The Advantages and Disadvantages of a Diversified Portfolio. Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from Kay, R. (2002). QuickStudy: System Development Life Cycle. Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from Rouse, M. (2009). Systems development life cycle (SDLC).Retrieved on 15th march, 2014 from Living Better Media, (2014).Product Life Cycle Stages. 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