Launch a New High-Tech Entertainment Game for the Developing World - Case Study Example

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: LAUNCH A NEW HIGH-TECH ENTERTAINMENT GAME FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD. Executive summary The team was appointed by IBM Company to launch High-Tech game for the developing world. The game was developed to gather for the needs of the current technological infrastructure in these countries. The appointment was made in a competitive basis through tendering process. The remuneration of the team was agreed at 20% of the total cost incurred in financing the project. The project plan is divided into three parts which include scope of the project i.e. objectives, budgets, schedule and quality. Also, project life cycle is indicated showing activities and effort required by the team to accomplish the task. Lastly, the report shows teams approach putting the project into practice where team stipulates five importance aspects of plan structure. The aspects include resource structure where the team gives direction on resource coordination and budgeting. Also, the structure schedules activities within contract’s timeframe. Stakeholders and management structure for the project is also mentioned by identifying and giving out roles to respective individuals. The report also provides quality measures used by the team in evaluating the project. Lastly, report shows the projected risk and how to mitigate these risks to reduce loss or failure of the project. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Definition of project’s scope 1 1.2 Objectives 1 1.3 Budget 2 1.4 Schedule 3 1.5 Project’s Quality 3 2.0 Project Life cycle 3 3.0 Project’s plan structure 7 3.1 Project’s Risk 8 3.2 stakeholders and management 10 3.3 Scheduling 12 3.4 Resourcing 13 3.5 Quality 15 Conclusion 15 1.0 Introduction The IBM Company is planning to roll out the new game made for the developing world. The game is designed to suit the needs and infrastructure available in the developing world. IBM has been on forefront in changing the life in these countries by using technology to solve the issues facing them. The project is aimed at creating interest on technology by encouraging children and youths to interact with it through games. The game is termed “Revolution” to signify the effect of the game to the developing world in revolutionizing the technological sector. 1.1 Definition of project’s scope The project will mainly involve launching the new High-Tech entertainment game for the developing world. The game is able to run in computer with low performance in terms of random access memory, processor, graphics and hard disk. Developing world entails countries with low economic levels and technological advancement. Majority of the population in these countries leave below poverty line. Therefore, they are unable to afford high performance computers thus forcing them to buy cheap and slow computers which are not compatible to most games like FIFA or NFS. The project will entail identifying developing nations, determining the available infrastructure, technological trend and strategy that will appeal to the selected audience (Kerzner). The pricing of the game will be tailored to meet the ability of the people in the locality where will launch the product. 1.2 Objectives The success of the project depends on the set objectives since it is important in appraising it. During appraisal, predetermined objectives are compared with the actual performance. The objectives that were not met are evaluated and corrective measures taken to ensure that the project records success. Therefore, setting objectives for the launch of Revolution is crucial and requires close attention to reduce emphasis on less important issues and overlooking essential aspects (Kerzner). The launch is required to achieve the following objectives; Create awareness of the product availability in the market and inform the potential customers on how to use the product. The launch will ensure that more than one million potential buyers in at least 15 developing countries are aware of the product. Increase level of sales which is estimated to reach 1.5million download in the first year and grow by 10% in consecutive years. Enable potential buyers to differentiate company’s products from competitors’. It is measured by number of downloads of Revolution and related application from competitor in a given region. The customers are expected to switch to Revolution at the rate of 8.5% and grow by 1.2% in consecutive years. The launch is expected to give customers ability to consume and react giving detailed information on the defects found in the product. The information will be collected from 500 users who are expected to identify defects. The response will be addressed by our developers and released as versions of the same application. The team projects 98% acceptance by those interviewed. The Customer should be able to enjoy the product and receive maximum satisfaction. The launch will ensure that the company will receive 500,000 positive compliments from customers. 1.3 Budget The launch will require financial resources to fund different cost incurred which is detailed below; Details Amount ($) Administrative cost (Salary, consultation, travel, legal cost etc) 3,700,000 Marketing (website, billboards, TV and newspaper Ads, direct mailing etc) 4,589,000 Promotion (T-shirts, free samples, bracelets etc ) 1,230,000 Compliance fee 3,234,000 Variation cost (10% of the estimated cost) 1,275,300 Total 14028300 The cost will vary depending on the intensity of the launch. Therefore, it is possible to incur lower cost than projected, but increase in actual cost will be covered by the variation cost calculated at 10% of the estimated cost. 1.4 Schedule The launch schedule will be divided into four sections, each section have different functions and stipulated period. The schedule can be summarized below; Details: Timeframe: Preparation stage: Preparation of relevant resources, compliance, content and testing of the product. 1st to 7th October, 2015 Communicating with stakeholders e.g. distributors and retailers on: Branding stores, vehicles, giving direction on distributing pamphlets and emailing customers using consumer data warehoused 8th to 15th October, 2015 Marketing and promotion stage on: -Social media -Website -Ads on TV, Radio and Newspapers -Channel of distribution -Draws and gifting winners 16th to 29th October, 2015 Measuring launch project performance on: -Social media followings -website visits -Sales 1st to 3rd November, 2015 1.5 Project’s Quality Product’s success depends on launch strategy thus need to closely monitor this process. The quality of the launch is evaluated by comparing the predetermined goals with the actual performance (Hobbs). The quality of the launch project will be evaluated by KPMG, this resolution was reached after consultation where it emerged that the opinion required about the quality is independent. Therefore, for the project to meet predetermined objectives launch team needs to be creative, aggressive and stick to the plans set. 2.0 Project Life cycle The project will take waterfall life cycle which rhymes well with the schedule above (Hobbs). The activities depend on the preceding activities for example, communication with channel of distribution is required before using them to market and promote the product, it enables them to participate and convey uniform message about the product. Identification of projects stage in the life cycle is important in matching resources with intensity of the work required. Therefore, project’s activities will be matched with the life cycle stages as shown below; Stages Fig1.project life cycle Key 1-Intitiating stage 2-Planning stage 3-Executing stage 4-Closure stage Stage one: Initiating It is the first stage of launching Revolution in developing world. The stage entails identification of the objectives of the launch i.e. objectives mentioned above for example creation of awareness. After identification of goals for the project, a team is sent to the field to carryout feasibility study to determine if the set objectives can be met and possible techniques to address it. The team will be sent to the targeted market and others communicate via emails and phone calls. It will document recommendation on approach to achieve the set objective which will sought approval from project manager (Field and Keller). Also, the process will entail identification of marketing strategies, platforms and potential channels of distribution. Stage two: Planning It is the second stage of the project life cycle and it cannot be carried out without approval of the first stage. The approval is required to ascertain that the document is error free and it can be used as a blueprint of the project. The stage majorly entails pooling and organizing resources to reduce wastage or stalling of project due to lack of funds. Other activities carried out at this stage include budget harmonization, risk analysis, setting project quality, management structure and stakeholders. According to schedule above, communication with distributors and retailers forms a good example of this stage. The launching team needs to plan stakeholders on how to execute different activities such as distribution of posters and promotional products. Also, ensuring that message conveyed to different countries are uniform to avoid contradiction. Planning ensures that there is coordination during the all process thus enabling the team to achieve the set objective within the required timeline (Field and Keller). The stage should be closely monitored to reduce shortcoming that might cripple down the success of the project for example, lack of adequate financial resources due to poor budgeting. Therefore, planning stage requires close monitoring to eliminate risk that might halt the project. Stage three: Executing Executing stages entails putting the project into practice. The launch is carried out as per the plan developed in preceding stage. This stage requires close monitoring and constant communication during project execution to reduce errors. The project at this stage is carried out in teams which are developed by segmenting market on basis geographical location and functions. The launch of Revolution will have three team which are, internet marketing, physical marketing and monitoring team. Internet marketing team is tasked with running social media accounts, website and direct mailing. Their responsibility includes developing content, responding to potential customers and relaying information to monitoring team. On the other hand, physical marketing team responsibility entails ensuring posters, billboards and pamphlets reaches a large area. Also, they are required to coordinate with stakeholders such as distributors and retailers to ensure uniformity on the message being communicated to the consumer. (Eric Kirkland) The team is required to provide reports to the monitoring team on the success and shortcomings facing the project in their part. Lastly, monitoring team is required to receive information on the progress of the project from the two teams. They evaluated the results against the predetermined goals and provide project status. Also, they provide best solution from the proposal given by the other two teams in solving shortcomings experienced during the exercise. The report prepared by the monitoring team is forwarded to the project manager for approval or pointing out correction before approval. The project manager is required to give periodical reports to the top authority in the organization. Deviation in the project from planned structure requires quick alteration to avoid extension or failure of the project which leads to wastage of resources. The stage requires high effort from concerned parties since it is the last stage that requires approval from consumer (Eric Kirkland). The consumers are made aware of the product, consume and give feedback if they are satisfied or not. Acceptance of the product by consumer will lead to closure of the project. Stage four: Closing The project closure depends on the performance of project execution. The process entails submissions of final document by teams to the project manager who will then submit to the company for approval. Also, project team is required to gather remaining resources and handing over to the company and it is accompanied with documentation regarding resource use (Eric Kirkland). The closure should be communicated to project stakeholders i.e. company management, distributors, retailers and board of governors. The recommendation made in the final submission is important for the company. The recommendation will have necessary steps required by the company to maintain or improve awareness of the availability of the product in the market. Also, recommendation will be important in future projects since it spells out success and failure thus reducing possibilities of recurring in other future projects. The project manager is supposed to monitor all the stages and approve the work of the teams. He plays an important role in moderating and conveying information to other stakeholders. For example, when the team is running short of financial resource, manager communicates with the company to release finance. Therefore, it is important to appoint a competent project manager because it determines project success or failure. Importance of waterfall life cycle The project team adopted waterfall life cycle because of project’s nature and merits of using the method. The method is easy and simple to understand since it is procedural where stakeholders are able to contribute or point out errors easily. Also, it is easy to manage since it is procedural and the next process depends with the preceding stage. This reduces errors because every stage receives maximum monitoring and review. Lastly, the project is completed within the required time since stages do not overlap because of timeframe (Yeates). According to the nature of the project, we are able to note that the project is simple thus segmenting into stages will not affect the time required to deliver the final results. The method could have not been workable for complex project since it might cause serious delays even on independent activities (Yeates). Also, product definition is simple since the team sells a product that is already defined. The work is to deliver it to potential consumers. On the other hand, project have simple requirement which does not require delegation or lengthy period to acquire. 3.0 Project’s plan structure The project’s plan structure is essential in ensuring that all aspects of the exercise are captured and reduce duplication or overlooking on important functions in it thus enhancing its success. The process is important in any given management practice due to the following importance; First, having plan structure gives the team direction of the project where ideas are written or drawn and arranged in a logical manner. Setting direction ensures that goals of the project are achieved within the required timeline since the path clear and well understood (Watt). For example, budget shows direction on financial expenses that the project needs to adhere to thus reducing under or overspending by the team. Secondly, plan ensures that risks are mitigated or reduced since the plan structure assumes or foresee certain risk that might befall the project. For example, risk associated to compliance or violation of laws in certain country since the project is global and covers countries with diverse restriction on foreign products. Thirdly, increases innovativeness and improve decision making process in project approach since putting it down in writing gives the team opportunity to understand it clearly and provide new dimension on how to approach it. Fourthly, project plan structure establishes standard control used by the team in evaluating actual and predetermined performance. This gives the team signal if the project is responding well or not. Lastly, creation of plan ensures maximization of resources since plan structure spells out allocation of human resource, finance and timing. Also, coordination of activities is enhanced thus enabling sharing of resources and reduction of duplication of activities (Watt). For example, internet marketing and monitoring team working on the same project such as writing status report. 3.1 Project’s Risk Projection of project risk is very important in any given assignment since success or failure depends on the effectiveness of the team to manage it well. The risk projection and management brings balanced opinion to management when dealing with complex issues, prioritization of activities in a dynamic environment i.e. giving risky activities more time, enables management to anticipate uncertainties other than depending on intuition, enhance use of risk avoidance strategies and identifying project’s gaps at an early stage (Randolph). The risk identified at early stage costs the team less than the risk at advanced stage of the project. The figure below illustrated the relationship between damage and the stage of the project in the life cycle. Fig 2: Risk management According to fig 2, we are able to note cost per risk during initiating and planning stage is lower than cost in execution and closure. Therefore, team should take more time in examining project’s risk at its initial stage rather than waiting until the project is in advance stage. The risk management strategies include avoidance, transfer, acceptance, control and investigation of risk (Maylor). The team can avoid the risk by choosing alternative methods, for example risk associated with culture can be avoided by choosing individuals from the locality to participate in launching the project. Risk transfer can be done by taking insurance cover for example health insurance for the team. The insurance will cover medical bills of the team in the field since they are exposed to many risks such as accidents and diseases. On the other hand, the team can accept the risk which is beyond their control i.e. natural calamities. The team can also control the effects of the risk for example appointment of KPMG to appraise the project is a good example of control mechanism. Lastly, the team can appoint a group of individuals to find out the risk that the project will likely experience and use finding by taking necessary actions (Ponnappa). The following are risk anticipated, effects level and strategies required in mitigating its effects; Type of risk Level of Damage Strategy Culture: -Language barrier -Religion barrier -Poverty level Moderate -Avoidance through involvement with the locals in the launch of the product and setting prices according to average economical ability of the surrounding Geographical: -Safety issues and procedures -Crime rate (cyber crime for downloads) Moderate -Investigation and use of control to reduce issues like hacking and other safety related issues. Working technicalities: -Communication inefficiencies - Number of countries -Management related risk -Teams’ health and related issues High -Transfer risk by purchasing insurance cover -Control risk by setting up a clear channel of communication and organization structure -Accept risk associated with managing large number of countries at the same time. Political related risk: -Legal and regulation on trade and IT -Political instabilities (Mostly in developing world i.e. Rwanda and Burundi) -Government support or relationship with the company and team High -Investigate risk that might come as a result of legal and regulation issues. -Control risk by approaching government agencies i.e. Organizations on IT -Accepting low threats relating to political instability The team project needs to effectively manage above risk to record success in launching Revolution in developing world. The risk ranges from low to high level depending on the damage associated with it. 3.2 stakeholders and management Stakeholders are parties who relates to the project directly or indirectly. On the other hand, management is the team that is required to carry out daily routine in the running of the launch campaign. The management is required to obtain goodwill from all stakeholders to minimize violation of rules and regulation or avoid conflict of interest (Maylor). The stakeholders related to the project include government, distributors, retailers, consumers and IBM Company (owners of Revolution). These parties require special consideration in involvement during launch exercise. The consideration is as shown below; The team should involve government agencies that works on issues related to information technology, consumer protection bodies, competition regulation agency, ministry of foreign affairs, bureau of standards and agencies tasked with revenue collection. For example, failure to involve government bureau of standards in gauging the quality of product before releasing to the market is dangerous. The product can be termed substandard thus removal from the market leading to huge losses. Also, members in the channel of distribution are the major stakeholders who will engage in the exercise directly i.e. distributing pamphlets, stocking product, offering advice to the team since they have better knowledge of the market and other support. Therefore, active involvement of distribution channel is crucial in the success of the launch campaign. Customers are the major stakeholder of the project since they are consumers of the product. They determine whether to accept or reject the product. Developing a good communication system is mandatory since the team needs to obtain reaction of the customers to determine effectiveness of the launch (Kerzner). The channels of communication that the team will adopt include use of social media, website, blogs, toll-free line and message line. The team should respond to customers’ response 24/7 to address issues and develop recommendation that addresses shortcoming of the project. The Company is direct stakeholder of the project since the launch affects the sales, acceptability and desired goals set by the board of directors. The IBM is responsible in financing, providing product description and correspondence required to solve certain issues before, during and after the project. The table below shows stakeholders and interest or role they play in launching the project; Stakeholder Interest/role Channel of distribution (Distributors and retailers) -Relaying information from project team to customers and vice versa. -Advising the team on approaches to take when dealing with consumers. -Stocking Revolution product Customer -Responding by giving feedback (complains and compliments which will be used in appraising the project) Company -Providing resources for the team (financial, human and ascent to the team to act on behalf of the company) -Adopting recommendation from the team to ensure they maintain or increase market share. -Advising the team on certain issues concerning product use and performance. Government -Giving enabling environment to the team and company to market their product. -Advising on issues related to tax and products standards. The project management requires to be well define to reduce overlapping or duplication of function which leads to waste of resources (Hobbs). The organization structure below shows the levels of power and responsibility for the management team; The coordination of the communication and resources is crucial in the success of the project. Therefore, each management level is given roles and responsibilities and is required to supervisors who then report to the project manager. 3.3 Scheduling Scheduling of activities is required to reduce wastage of resources due to duplication of function or delays from lack of coordination. The table below shows the schedule adopted by the project team; Details 1st-7th Oct, 2015 8th -15th Oct, 2015 16th -29th Oct, 2015 1st-3rd Nov, 2015 Preparation Communication with stakeholders Marketing & promotion Evaluation The waterfall life cycle adopted by the team ensures that activities are finished before moving to the next stage. 3.4 Resourcing Allocation of resources in the project is complex and important in ensuring that maximum benefit is achieved at a minimum cost. The major resources required include capital and human resource. Human resource entails acquiring and developing employees with required skills and competency to undertake a given task (Heerkens). The team is qualified and has the required qualification since most of them have more than two years experience in their respective fields. Coordination of the human resource is important to reduce effect of over or under staffing in certain departments. The table below shows the allocation of human resource according to the organization structure above; Post Responsibilities Number of employees Project manager -Supervise the whole project -Link between company and launch team -Link between the team and other stakeholders i.e. government and distributors. -Release reports to KPMG for appraisal 1 Internet marketing supervisor -Relay information to and from project manager -Implement measures from monitoring team -Approve reports from his/her team 1 -Social media - Promote product on social media platform i.e. twitter -Respond to customer quires -Inform consumers on product and projects events 5 -Website and blogging -Develop content -Market the website and blog in different platforms -Monitor downloads and respond to customers queries 4 Tradition marketing and promotion supervisor -Relay information to and from project manager -Approve report made by his/her team -Relay reports to monitoring team 1 -Print media -Develop content for print media i.e. newspapers and posters -Chooses strategic platform to publish its content 5 -Audio and video media -Develop audio and video content to be aired -Chooses media and time to air the Ads 5 Monitoring team -Receive reports from marketing supervisor -Evaluate project performance -Develop corrective measures to the project plan 5 Total 27 The human resource above shows rough estimate of the team that is required to perform the task. Though, we might involve the locals and individuals in the channel of distribution e.g. retailers and distributors. The additional human resource will only participate in technical issues such as gathering customers, giving out pamphlets and identifying major gathering to market the product. The human resource will undergo rapid development which includes holding seminars, training, rewards and appraisal to reduce labour turnover. The capital resources include provision of financial or material resources for example money, information technology infrastructure and vehicles (Field and Keller). Capital resources are provided by the company upon request by the project manager and approval by concerned parties. According to the contract, financial resources are provided in phases depending on project life cycle. The table below shows finance to be released in each stage; Phases Proportion Amount Initiating stage 1/8 1,753,538 Planning ¼ 3,507,075 Execution ½ 7,014,150 Closure 1/8 1,753,538 Total 14,028,300 The financial resource allocated to each stage is adjusted with variation amount of 10% of the estimated amounted projected by the team. 3.5 Quality Project quality is essential in determining its effectiveness by comparing predetermined and actual results. The quality depends on three major processes which include quality planning, control and improvement (Eric Kirkland). Planning stage involves identifying customer needs, results variables and anticipated response from consumer, while quality control entails adoptions of benchmark or standards in the project. On the other hand, quality improvement entails taking corrective measures to achieve minimum performance set in the quality control. The table below shows the project’s quality plan; Variable Control/benchmark Measurement Consumer Awareness -Reach 1million consumers in 15 developing countries. -Consumer download history and response location Sales -Reach minimum of 1.5million download in the first year and increase by 10% in consecutive years Sales volume Switching of consumer preference to Revolution -8.5% in first year and 1.2% in consecutive years Published Consumer reports Consumer reaction -98% acceptance in surveys and 500,000 positive compliments. -Surveys and compliments through phone call, messages and emails e.t.c The actual performance will be compared with benchmark by the monitoring team before releasing corrective measures and report to project manager. Conclusion The success of the project will primarily depend coordination of activities and resources availed by the company in launching the product. Planning is required to be intensive to reduce risk and make it workable. The project contract should perform in accordance to the set objective since it determines success or failure of the product. REFERENCE: Eric Kirkland, C. 'Project Management: A Problem-Based Approach'. Project Management Journal 45.1 (2014): e3-e3. Web. Field, Mike, and Laurie S Keller. Project Management. London: International Thomson Business Press, 1998. Print. Heerkens, Gary. Project Management. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Print. Hobbs, Peter. Project Management. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2009. Print. 'Index Of 2013 Project Management Journal Papers And Authors'. Project Management Journal 45.1 (2014): 88-89. Web. Kerzner, Harold. Project Management. New York: John Wiley, 2001. Print. Maylor, Harvey. Project Management. London: Pitman, 1996. Print. Ponnappa, Gitanjali. 'Project Stakeholder Management'. Project Management Journal 45.2 (2014): e3-e3. Web. Randolph, Steve. 'Maximizing Project Value: A Project Manager's Guide'. Project Management Journal 45.2 (2014): e2-e2. Web. Watt, Adrienne. '3. The Project Life Cycle (Phases) | Project Management'. Opentextbc.ca. Web. 29 Sept. 2015. Yeates, Don. 'Software Project Management'. International Journal of Project Management 12.1 (1994): 57. Web. Read More