The Concept of Doing First and Analyzing Later - Essay Example

Introduction The world has evolved from the concept of doing first and analyzing later. This revolution is driven basically by the tough competition being faced by corporations. As competition grows it becomes impossible for them to have any chances of tolerating losses. Concepts such as customer loyalty are being challenged continuously these days. This is because customers do not want to stick to bad service or bad returns in case of shareholders. Every manager must understand that all businesses no matter how small can be broken down into small segments. Each segment of a business can thus be analyzed as a different project. The daily delivery of goods from the factory to the retailer or wholesaler is a project in itself, with its unique CBA (Cost Benefit Analysis) and risks. Therefore we can safely assume that the entire systems of a corporation perform as collage of small projects and if each project is not executed with perfection, the corporation will face difficulties. This bad project management results in bad financial performance and thus shareholders divest, moving to better investment options. The above argument is just a glimpse of the importance of project management. Whenever a project is undertaken a complete analysis of activities is therefore very important. There are a number of things which are very important when analyzing projects. A few significant ones are as follow: Time Deadlines are very important when it comes to analyzing the time it takes to complete a project. The best method to ensure that there are no problems when it comes to meeting deadlines is to divide the entire time into smaller segments. These smaller segments must then be allocated to each single activity. This gives a twofold advantage. First of all the project remains on schedule, secondly no activity is missed and times are allocated according to significance. The project manager has a better understanding of removing or adding activities according to time constraints or unforeseen developments. Cost Most projects are oriented at generating revenues, except the nonprofit ones. The main aim of each manager engaged in a project is to find ways to reduce project cost. The reduction in cost however should not compromise on quality. The total project cost consists of many different categories. Many costs are negotiable and controllable, others however are not negotiable. The effects of inflation must also be taken into account when estimating project cost. This is another factor which emphasizes again on projects being on time. The project cost also might increase due to unforeseen factors therefore there must always be a reserve or contingency fund for a project. Human Resources From perspective of a project manager, human resources are of key importance. Unlike manufacturing ventures projects are usually more labor intensive. They involve fewer machines and more people. Therefore effective management of these people is imperative to a project success. Southwest Charity Concert Name The project under analysis is a charity concert being held in Southwest. The name given to the concert event is ‘Charity Rocks’. The concert is aimed at involving the youth in events of fun that also generate charity. The event will be a six hour saga consisting of many local bands. There are many reasons for inviting local bands in the concert. Large bands usually charge very high fee for concerts and rarely engage in charity concerts. Smaller bands will give more play time and many of them are playing without any fees. These bands are actually in the initial stages of their development and therefore are more interested in recognition. Local vendors are being invited for foods and drinks. Each vendor will pay a fix price for a place inside the park. They will not however be charged for any electricity or other utilities because the mayor has decided to let the organizers use everything for free. The event will have a host which will be hired as a professional is required. The professional host will keep everyone energetic and also help the management with brand development. Another important role of the host will be to introduce different brands that are official sponsors of this event. These sponsors will contribute a lot to total revenues being generated by Charity Rocks. They will be awarded three different promotional incentives. The incentives are as follow: Tickets: Each sponsor can have its logo placed on the ticket. Onsite Banners: Sponsors will be allocated places inside the hall for advertisement. The place inside the hall is distributed on a competitive basis. The highest bidder will get the place of their choice and so on. Brand intro: The professional host will introduce each brand for extra contribution to the fund. Location The location for the concert is being provided by the mayor and is free of cost. The organizing committee will however be responsible for any damages or alterations needed to make it ready for concert. The place of concert is the hall at Southwest Community center. The hall can accommodate around a thousand people in a concert setting. The lighting system in and outside the hall is excellent and no extra lighting except the ones on stage will be needed. There is adequate parking space outside the hall and volunteers from a local college will maintain parking order. Fundamental objective of the project The project is basically a charity event. The project has some other objectives as well which are as follow: i) The event aims to inculcate a sense of closeness in the society. This is the very reason that the community center has been chosen as the place of performance. The tickets are also being sold locally so that the maximum numbers of people are from Southwest. The bands playing are local so that will also give the participant a homely feeling. The money from the charity will also be given to a local public school which will be a seen as a gesture from the entire community. ii) There will be economic activity and the concert will help local economy flourish. The people at food and drinks will get an income and brands will get promotion etc. Detailed Plan for project Stages and Time Scales The details of different stages can be seen in Exhibit 1. The project has been divided into six different stages and nine main activities. The initial activity is named ‘Formation of Teams’. This will be project kickoff stage were tasks will be assigned to each worker. The final stage i.e. the sixth stage of the project represents the completed project. Project Unit Cost The first sheet in Exhibit 2 shows different costs associated with the project. The main cost as we can see is of hiring and paying the local bands. There will be cost saving in a lot of different areas such as free theater, no electricity cost (as town government is paying for it) etc. The main utilities are associated with small employee expenses such as transportation of equipment etc before the project starts. The project management team will also pay for food of employees when they are on duty that is shown under the heading of ‘Food’. There are many costs which are not taken as per unit cost and accumulated sums are given. This has been done to maintain simplicity. Examples of such costs are decoration cost. In a decoration venture many small items such as glues and chart papers etc are bought. The management committee will pay a lump sum amount to the team involved in managing decorations and they will spend the budget according to their own analysis. Allocation to stages As we can see in the Gant Chart that different functions in the project are mostly started simultaneously. This is because different teams are being allocated to these functions. Each team will be responsible for tasks assigned. As you can see in Exhibit one the financial overview and team allocation are started in the same week. This means that time of different activities will be overlapping. This also makes allocating costs to different activities impossible. A common example can be of daily food given to employees. Each day the food will be given to all teams now this is irrespective of which function the team is involved in. Therefore we have divided the stages according to weeks. There are six different stages to the project. Each stage has been allocated cost according to the number of activity taking place in the week. The percentage method of cost allocation has been chosen to allocate cost. Risks Primary risk to successful completion The primary risk to successful completion is an accident during the concert. As the most of the people turning out for the event will be teenagers, we must keep in mind that there is a high chance of accidents. Most of these teenagers will be drunk and will not be able to make wise choices if a risky situation ever prevails. If such a situation materializes the committee will have to pay for any damages. The biggest contingency will be to pay for any damages to the hall. This is because the mayor has agreed on providing the hall only if the committee takes complete responsibility of any repairs. If the accident disrupts the concert and stems for a fault of the management committee, all the tickets will have to be reimbursed. Contingency Plans The security can play a big role in minimizing any accidents. A very wise thing to do will be to use metal detectors installed at the community center. These will detect any lighters and metal items that can cause accidents. The committee should also carry out a comprehensive review of the entire project and facility. These would include checks on equipment and facility services. In case something goes wrong the committee should have a contingency plan ready. First of all to save them from any economic loss, the event should be insured against accidents. The team should than establish an evacuation plan in case something does happen. This evacuation plan should include many exits and all these must be communicated to the crowd by security. This would reduce injuries caused by people pushing each other etc. Read More