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Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 1 of 28
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................................... 2
2 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3
3 Success Criteria ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
4 Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) of Deliverables .................................................................................................... 5
5 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ............................................................................................................................... 6
5.1 Work Breakdown Structure for Spring Meadow Launch .................................................................................... 6
5.2 Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) ............................................................................................................ 7
6 Schedule........................................................................................................................................................................ 9
6.1 Overview/Milestone Schedule ............................................................................................................................ 9
6.2 Complete Schedule Plan .................................................................................................................................... 10
6.3 Scheduling Assumptions.................................................................................................................................... 12
6.4 Schedule Risks ................................................................................................................................................... 12
7 Resource Plan ............................................................................................................................................................. 14
8 Stakeholder Management Plan .................................................................................................................................. 15
8.1 Key Stakeholders ............................................................................................................................................... 15
8.2 Power/Index Matrix .......................................................................................................................................... 16
8.2.1 Management strategies utilised ................................................................................................................... 16
9 Costing ........................................................................................................................................................................ 18
9.1 Costing Assumptions ......................................................................................................................................... 18
10 Risk Management .................................................................................................................................................. 21
10.1 Risk Register Table ............................................................................................................................................ 23
11 Project Monitoring Strategy .................................................................................................................................. 24
12 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................................... 26
13 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................................ 27
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 2 of 28
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This document demonstrates the objective, success criteria, the breakdown of deliverables and tasks,
project schedule, resource plan, stakeholder management plan, costing information, risk management and
project monitoring strategies for the Spring Meadow Launch, set to commence in June 2011.
According to the PBS and WBS drawn, the deliverables and project tasks are divided into two main criteria;
advertising campaign and training program where the responsibility matrix aims to connect all the tasks to
the corresponding personnel or team involved. The detailed schedule illustrates that both the campaign and
training program will run in parallel with the net preparation for the launch is subject to complete by 28th
May 2011. The total project cost is estimated at 918,403 including contractors fee, staff overheads and
consumables, where approximately 79% is to be spent on marketing campaign.
The manpower planning is done to allow for strategies in matching the sizes and skills of the personnel
specifically to the companys requirements to be developed, to avoid unnecessary use of resources. The key
stakeholders such as Spring Meadow, the companys shareholders and management are also recognized,
with their objectives and interests identified in order to aid the fluidity in companys communication
throughout the project.
The main risk recognized in the project is the failure of subcontractors to meet the contract commitments
which will cause the project to be severely delayed and extra expenditure incurred to rectify it with
contingency plans. Finally, to ensure the quality of the deliverables, techniques such as Gantt chart tracking,
control charts, and scatter diagrams will be utilized throughout the project.
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 3 of 28
2 OBJECTIVES
Athina recognised a market opportunity to sell its broadband services on a wholesale basis. The first selected
customer is the supermarket chain Spring Meadow. The two areas of the project, training and advertisement
campaign, have specific objectives and targets.
Training sessions are meant to provide store managers and customer service personnel with the
right expertise to respectively promote the product in-store and take orders while offering pre/after-
sales advice to buyers and potential buyers.
The advertising campaign is estimated to achieve the following:
- An average of 1,000 leads per store per month from in-store contacts
- 30,000 leads in the first two months
- 15 % of all leads to be converted into sales by trained staff.
Ultimately the main Board aims to:
Operate the new business by end of June 2011
Increase turnover by 20% after year one of operation.
Recover development and launch costs, break even and eventually make a profit after year 1.
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 4 of 28
3 SUCCESS CRITERIA
By definition success is measured on the basis of cost, time and quality.
In the case of Athinas project:
The major costs are those related to the training (material, hotels) advertisement campaign (Red
balloon services, press advertising), resources (key personnel involved). Success is achieved if cost-
efficiency is maximised and over- run costs are avoided. The latter depends on the extent to which
Athina will be able to negotiate with external stakeholders, namely the hotels and the advertisement
agency, for the sake of mutual gain. The ratio between planned and actual costs will have an impact
on the estimated sales and profit.
Time relates to the when the product will be launched, that is end of June 2011 the latest, although
the Board would rather anticipate the deadline to an earlier date. The ability to draw an optimised
schedule and adhere to it will dictate the extent to which the project will be a success in terms of
time. Moreover, on a longer term, success for time will be compared against Athinas forecast to
recover development and launch costs after two years of operation.
Quality relates to the effectiveness of the training and advertisement campaign. With Customers
level of satisfaction and positive feedback in addition to the number of orders for the product are
factors against which quality will be assessed. For the latter Athina has set sales targets in term of
leads and effective sales that should materialise following the campaign. They are the terms of
comparison to establish whether the project succeeds in quality.
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 5 of 28
4 PRODUCT BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (PBS) OF DELIVERABLES
The product breakdown structure (figure 5-1) shows a breakdown of the individual items needed to be
delivered for the successful launch of the product (1). The product launch is separated into two phases, one
which focuses on the training Spring Meadows staff and one which focuses on the product launch.
In terms of the training aspect, Spring Meadows 300 customer services staff shall be trained on how to take
orders and deal with customer problems. Spring Meadows 50 store managers shall be trained at 2 hotels,
one in Warrington and the other in Cardiff. They will be supplied with informative material and trained to
sell the product and spread the word about the new broadband product in-store.
With regards to the product launch, there will be a huge advertising campaign which shall focus on
advertising through both leaflets and press. It is planned that 5,000 leaflets shall be placed in each of the 50
Spring Meadow stores for the first three months following the launch. A major advertising campaign shall be
made through the press using both broadsheet and red top newspapers, these will include details of the
numbers to call to get more information on the product and to sign up for the services.
Figure 4-1: PBS of deliverables
Spring Meadow Product Launch
0.
June 2011
Training
1.
Customer Services
1.1.
Store Managers
1.2.
Advertising Campaign
2.
Press
2.1
Broadsheet
2.1.1
Red Top
2.1.2
Leaflets
2.2
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 6 of 28
5 WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS)
A generic work breakdown structure (WBS) for the Spring Meadow launch has been produced (2). The work
breakdown structure will provide the necessary structure to ensure that all areas and aspects of the tasks
are included and will act as the basis of the project schedule. It encompasses the entire projects scope of
work and provides the basis for the risk identification process and the responsibility assignment matrix
(RAM).
5.1 WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE FOR SPRING MEADOW LAUNCH
The work breakdown structure for the Spring Meadow launch is presented below (figure 5-1):
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the Spring Meadow Launch
0. Spring Meadow Launch
1. Training
1.1. Set up training session
1.1.1. Organise delegates
1.2. Arrange accommodation
1.2.1. Cost budgeting (55 per person per session)
1.2.2. Book the rooms
1.3. Prepare two sets of training material
1.3.1. Find out services and prices
1.3.2. Write the materials
1.3.2.1. Sign-off by Subin and Marketing Department
1.4. Run training sessions
1.4.1. First round
1.4.2. Rest of the training
2. Advertisement campaign
2.1. First concept
2.1.1. Development of first creative ideas
2.1.2. Choice of preferred options by Spring Meadow
2.2. Rough concepts
2.2.1. Production of print-based advertising
2.2.2. Pre-testing with the target audience
2.2.3. Selection of final concept
2.3. Approval of final concept
2.4. Production
2.4.1. Press
2.4.1.1. Press copy
2.4.1.2. Press visuals
2.4.1.3. Press artwork
2.4.1.4. Proof
2.4.1.5. Distribution
2.4.2. Leaflet
2.4.2.1. Leaflet copy
2.4.2.2. Leaflet visual
2.4.2.3. Production and print
2.4.2.4. Leaflet distribution
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 7 of 28
5.2 RESPONSIBILITY ASSIGNMENT MATRIX (RAM)
The responsibility assignment matrix (2) presented below (table 6-1). It is based directly off the WBS and
identifies the major members of the staff that hold the responsibilities of each task at hand. The
responsibilities are split into different categories which highlight the level of responsibility for each member.
The different symbols used to represent the different types of responsibility:
Responsible R
Support S
Notification N
Approval A
Consultation C
2.5. Media planning and scheduling
2.5.1. Determine media (Tabloid- Broadsheet)
2.5.2. Develop schedule of proposed media with timing and costing
(Tabloid 35,000- broadsheet 20,000 for first 2months)
2.6. Media buying
2.6.1. Negotiation of slots and pricing
2.7. Implementation
2.7.1. Confirm with Subin; go/no go
2.7.2. Campaign run with 5,000 leaflets in 50 stores and press advertisements
2.8. Monitoring and control
2.8.1. Collection of feedback during campaign
2.9. Evaluation for comparison with set targets of leads and sale
2.9.1. Post-campaign research
2.9.2. Post-campaign report
Figure 5-1: WBS for the Spring Meadow launch
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 8 of 28
Athina Spring Meadow Contractors
Sub
in M
eh
ta
(Pro
gram
me
Man
ager
)
Susi
e P
alm
er
(Co
ntr
act
PM
- L
aun
ch)
Ste
lla B
rew
er
(Mar
keti
ng
Dir
ecto
r)
Ric
ard
o S
on
tas
(Tra
inin
g)
Luke
Pe
arl
(Mar
keti
ng
Man
age
r)
Just
in S
pri
ng
(Dir
ecto
r o
f M
arke
tin
g)
Ala
n F
on
tain
e
(Tra
inin
g M
anag
er)
Sub
-Co
ntr
acto
r 1
(Red
Bal
loo
n a
gen
cy)
Sub
Co
ntr
acto
r 2
(Pre
ss)
Sub
-Co
ntr
acto
r 3
(Lea
flet
)
WBS/OBS
1. Training
1.1. Set up Training Session R
1.1.1. Organising delegates R
1.2. Arrange accommodation R
1.2.1. Cost budgeting (55 per person per session)
1.2.2. Book the rooms
1.3 Prepare two sets of training material R S
1.3.1. Find out services and prices R S S
1.3.2 Write the materials A R A
1.3.3. Sign-off by Subin and Marketing Department
1.4. Run training sessions R S
1.4.1. First round R
1.4.2. Rest of the training
2. Advertisement campaign N R
2.1. First concept R C
2.1.1. Development of first creative ideas R C
2.1.2. Choice of preferred options by Spring Meadow A
2.2. Rough concepts A R A
2.2.1. Production of print-based advertising R S R R
2.2.2. Pre-testing with the target audience N A R A R
2.2.3. Selection of final concept N A R A A
2.3. Approval of final concept N A R A
2.4. Production
2.4.1. Press C R
2.4.1.1. Press copy N A R A C R
2.4.1.2. Press visuals N A R A C R
2.4.1.3. Press artwork N A R A C R
2.4.1.4. Proof N A R A R
2.4.1.5. Distribution N A R A R
2.4.2. Leaflet N A R A C R
2.4.2.1. Leaflet copy N A R A C R
2.4.2.2. Leaflet visual N A R A R C
2.4.2.3. Production and print N A R A A R
2.4.2.4. Leaflet distribution N A R A R
2.5. Media planning and scheduling
2.5.1. Determine media (Tabloid- Broadsheet) C A R A C
2.5.2. Develop schedule of proposed media with timing and costing
C R C
2.6. Media buying
2.6.1. Negotiation of slots and pricing N A R A C
2.7. Implementation
2.7.1. Confirm with Subin; go/no go A R A
2.7.2. Campaign run with 5,000 leaflets in 50 stores and press advertisements
N R C
2.8. Monitoring and control
2.8.1. Collection of feedback during campaign S N R N N
2.9. Evaluation for comparison with set targets of leads and sale
2.9.1. Post-campaign research R
2.9.2. Post-campaign report R
Table 5-1: Responsibility Matrix
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 9 of 28
6 SCHEDULE
A schedule plan denoting the breakdown of the tasks, their estimated completion date, and any key
milestones has been produced. An overview schedule plan has been presented (figure 7-1) which shows the
key tasks, estimated completion dates, milestones and persons involved in the project.
A full schedule plan is presented (figures 7-2 to 7-7) which includes a Gantt chart and shows the key tasks
and sub tasks, milestones and estimated completion dates together with the persons involved.
6.1 OVERVIEW/MILESTONE SCHEDULE
Figure 6-1: Overview/Milestone Schedule
ID Task Name Duration Start Finish PredecessorsResource Names
1 Press and Leaflet campaign 120 days Tue 01/03/11 Mon 15/08/11
2 First Concepts 8 days Tue 01/03/11 Thu 10/03/11
3 Development of creative ideas 7 days Tue 01/03/11 Wed 09/03/11 Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
4 Evaluation 1 day Thu 10/03/11 Thu 10/03/11 3 Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
5 Concept roughs 4 days Fri 11/03/11 Wed 16/03/11 4 Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
6 Pre-Testing 15 days Thu 17/03/11 Wed 06/04/11 5 Creative Researcher[50%]
7 Final Concepts 5 days Thu 07/04/11 Wed 13/04/11 6 Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
8 Compilation and review of designed concepts 4 days Thu 07/04/11 Tue 12/04/11 Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
9 Selection of best concept for approval 1 day Wed 13/04/11 Wed 13/04/11 8 Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
10 Review meeting for final concepts 2 days Thu 14/04/11 Fri 15/04/11 9 Stella Brewer,Justin Spring
11 Approval for concepts 0 days Fri 15/04/11 Fri 15/04/11 10
12 Press copy 5 days Mon 18/04/11 Fri 22/04/11 11 Copywriter
13 Press visuals 4 days Mon 18/04/11 Thu 21/04/11 10 Visualizer
14 Press artwork, proof & distribution 15 days Fri 22/04/11 Fri 13/05/11 13,12 Sub-contractor[0%],Visualizer[25%]
15 Media planning & scheduling 5 days Mon 25/04/11 Fri 29/04/11 12,13 Media Planner
16 Media buying 20 days Mon 02/05/11 Fri 27/05/11 15 Media Buyer
17 Negotiation of prices with Broadsheets and Tabloid 10 days Mon 02/05/11 Fri 13/05/11 Media Buyer
18 Final approval* 1 day Mon 16/05/11 Mon 16/05/11 17 Susie Palmer,Subin Mehta,Stella Brewer
19 Purchasing of media slots 9 days Tue 17/05/11 Fri 27/05/11 18 Media Buyer
20 Leaflet copy and visuals 2 days Mon 16/05/11 Tue 17/05/11 14 Copywriter,Visualizer
21 Leaflet production & print 10 days Mon 16/05/11 Fri 27/05/11 14 Sub-contractor 2[0%]
22 Preproduction preparation 5 days Mon 16/05/11 Fri 20/05/11
23 Production and Printing 3 days Mon 23/05/11 Wed 25/05/11 22
24 Leaflet Distribution 2 days Thu 26/05/11 Fri 27/05/11 20,23 Sub-contractor 3
25 Product launch 54 days Wed 01/06/11 Mon 15/08/11 16,21,19,24
26 Advertisement runtime 44 days Wed 01/06/11 Mon 01/08/11
27 Post-evaluation research & report 10 days Tue 02/08/11 Mon 15/08/11 26 Market Research Group
28 Training 63 days Tue 01/03/11 Thu 26/05/11
29 Prepare material 9 days Tue 01/03/11 Fri 11/03/11
30 Evaluate alternatives and prices 1 day Tue 01/03/11 Tue 01/03/11 Luke Pearl,Ricardo Santos
31 Write material 8 days Wed 02/03/11 Fri 11/03/11 30 Ricardo Santos,Alain Fontaine
32 Marketing sign off 5 days Mon 14/03/11 Fri 18/03/11 31 Susie Palmer,Alain Fontaine,Ricardo Santos,StellaBrewer,Justin Spring
33 Book hotel sessions* 1 day Mon 21/03/11 Mon 21/03/11 32 Susie Palmer
34 Training sessions 24 days Mon 25/04/11 Thu 26/05/11 33
35 First training session 5 days Mon 25/04/11 Fri 29/04/11 Alain Fontaine,Ricardo Santos
36 Second training session 19 days Mon 02/05/11 Thu 26/05/11 35 Alain Fontaine
Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
Creative Director[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
Creative Researcher[50%]
Creative Direct
Creative Dir
Stella B
15/04
Luke Pearl,Ricardo Santos
Ricardo Santos,Alain Fontaine
Susie Palmer,Alain Fontaine,Ricardo Santos,Stella Brewer,Justin Spr
Susie Palmer
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T28 Feb '11 07 Mar '11 14 Mar '11 21 Mar '11 28 Mar '11 04 Apr '11 11 Apr '11 18 A
Task
Split
Progress
Milestone
Summary
Project Summary
External Tasks
External MileTask
Split
Page 1
Project: Schedule mouseDate: Tue 15/12/09
ctor[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
rector[50%],Creative Executive[50%]
rewer,Justin Spring
Copywriter
Visualizer
Sub-contractor[0%],Visualizer[25%]
Media Planner
Media Buyer
Susie Palmer,Subin Mehta,Stella Brewer
Media Buyer
Copywriter,Visualizer
Sub-contractor 3
Market Research Group
ring
Alain Fontaine,Ricardo Santos
Alain Fontaine
W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F Spr '11 25 Apr '11 02 May '11 09 May '11 16 May '11 23 May '11 30 May '11 06 Jun '11 13 Jun '11 20 Jun '11 27 Jun '11 04 Jul '11 11 Jul '11 18 Jul '11 25 Jul '11 01 Aug '11 08 Aug '11 15 Aug '11 22 Aug '11
Task
Split
Progress
Milestone
Summary
Project Summary
External Tasks
External MileTask
Split
Page 2
Project: Schedule mouseDate: Tue 15/12/09
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 12 of 28
6.3 SCHEDULING ASSUMPTIONS
The following main assumptions were used to develop the project plan:
1) It assumed that the training and marketing campaign are independent of each other (no shared
dependencies), although some coordination is used for logical purposes
2) It is assumed that press artwork, proof and distribution is dependent on press copy and press
visuals, as both of the tasks are required before a final proof can be made.
3) Approval process was assumed to be in the most critical phases of the schedule, the media buying
and after final concepts.
The schedule was designed to maximise available float without incurring unnecessary costs, subject to the
dependency conditions presented in the plan.
Training sessions, although independent, have been chosen to have a lag in order to closer coincide with
leaflet production and distribution. This has logistical advantages as the staff from Spring Meadow will be
able to see the final design of the material they will be using to sell the broadband product. The lag between
the booking of training sessions and the actual start also gives a possibility to acquire more beneficial rates
from the hotels, while also providing flexibility to change the booking and group sizes.
Post evaluation is scheduled to begin after the marketing campaign finishes, however data is assumed to be
gathered continuously throughout the campaign and the post evaluation will serve mainly to provide
recommendations for the long term marketing strategy.
6.4 SCHEDULE RISKS
Gantt Charting is a very well known technique for networking scheduling, it focuses on the path of critical
activities that control the projects duration and can be considered under the general title Critical Path
Scheduling (CPS). CPS is a management control tool for defining, integrating and analysing what must be
done to complete a project on a set budget and on time. Not only that but also this technique can be used to
identify risks that might affect the project be it financial, time, quality or cost wise(3).
Marketing campaign
First Concepts has a duration of 8 days, if delays happen at this stage this will give rise to a domino
effect on the rest of the activities trickling down to the Approval stage, because all the tasks that
follow First Concepts are dependent on the task before. Of course delays will translate in over
running the project in terms of time and cost and possibly compromising quality of the deliverables.
The duration of the Pre-Testing phase is quite substantial and lies on the critical path. The activity
lasts for 15 days, again any delays at this stage will have a knock on effect on the proceeding
activities posing a delay on when the Approval can be achieved.
The Approval activity should take one day to complete resulting in an outcome whether to proceed
with the campaign or not. If the latter is the outcome of this particular activity, then the entire
project will be terminated.
Activities primarily associated with external parties such as advertising agencies and graphics
designers may have different ideas than those of the client (Athina/ Spring Meadow) on how to
project the marketing campaign to the masses, possibly giving rise to conflicts of interests and
subsequent delays and/or overspending. Sometimes this is the case because the marketing
companies are more aware of what works and what doesnt work on the target audience without
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 13 of 28
violating rules and regulations imposed by the law of the land and industry watchdogs. If delays
occur at this stage the marketing campaign launch will be delayed with possible implications on sales
figures of the service (i.e. if the campaign is delayed the market will be unaware of the service hence
sales might flat-line initially.)
Training
Since training is expected to last twenty-four days and it also runs independently of the marketing campaign,
there are no real threats or schedule risks per se, because training can be carried anytime during the
marketing campaign.
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
Page 14 of 28
7 RESOURCE PLAN
Resource planning in general is a process where entities such as personnel, material and facilities are
allocated to organizational needs, with costs incurred in most cases. Manpower planning is the development
of strategies for matching the sizes and skills of the personnel specifically to the companys requirements (1).
The planning serves the purpose to aid the organization (Athina) in employing, retaining and optimizing the
deployment of the personnel needed to meet the business objectives, which in this case is the Spring
Meadow Launch and to respond to changes in the external environment.
The manpower involved in the Spring Meadow Launch consists of (4):
Athinas internal staff, ranging from director to store managers and customer service
Susie Palmer, the contract project manager
Red Balloon Agencys staff
and two other subcontractors
The allocation of workforce for the launch begins by specifying the work segment, tasks or activities to be
accomplished in order to complete the project. This can be seen from the WBS and Responsibility Matrix
established. From then on, the bar (Gantt) chart is drawn where milestones are identified, the duration of
each work segment and total working days are quantified.
From this chart, the Internal Resource Allocation list and Red Balloon Agency/Subcontractors manpower
and cost list are cross-referenced to achieve the objectives and milestones, while accounting for the
resource loading and costing simultaneously. From the Gantt chart it can be easily seen that the
advertisement campaign has the most resource loading and needs the most time to complete. The loading
and costing for each personnel are also different, where the skill level is one of the factors, and quantifying
these will help to reduce unnecessary cost to the project. The loading may also be reduced or increased
when needed depending on how the actual work is performed.
This allows for(5):
Identification of shortages or surpluses in workforce and rapid action to be taken to rectify this
(hiring contract project manager)
Identification of skill shortage (the training program for store managers and customer service)
Avoidance of extra costs incurred due to overstaffing or understaffing. Overstaffing could also lead
to troughs and inefficiency in resource usage.
Since it is crucial for the project to finish on time and with the bar chart indicating a float of 3 day only,
rescheduling needs to be done to provide an option for a different resource planning to be constructed. This
may include working during weekends, which is a factor for extra cost to be incurred, so attention will have
to be paid in making sure the availability of resources during weekends is considered or unnecessary
personnel is not involved during weekends.
Through this process, the project is set to effectively utilize the right personnel with the right skills, doing the
right tasks at the right time.
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
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8 STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT PLAN
8.1 KEY STAKEHOLDERS
The key stakeholders have been evaluated (6):
Internal Objectives and interests
Senior management, Project
sponsor (Maggie Diamond)
Return on investment;
Profit maximisation;
Expansion of business;
Increase on dividends.
Marketing dept
& Training dept (Ricardo
Santos, Alain Fontaine, Justin
Spring)
Good performance in training and advertisement campaign to gain
recognition from employers hence their satisfaction;
promotions or bonuses;
Customers satisfaction;
Good working conditions.
Contract PM (Susie Palmer) Performance;
Recognition;
Employers satisfaction;
Good Short-term contract conditions
Project teams Recognition; Increase of salary; Promotion;
Good working conditions;
Job security.
Peers who have their own
project going
Not directly involved but affected by temporary loss of co- workers
taking part in the project.
External Objectives and interests
Retailer/customer
(Spring Meadow)-
Exploit business opportunity;
Increase of profits, sales, market share; gain of competitive
advantage; positive feedback from customers.
Supplier (Red Balloon) Increased revenue; business opportunity;
profit maximisation;
establishment of existing and new business relationships,
customer satisfaction;
End buyers Satisfaction with product; value for money; satisfying pre-after
sales service.
Hotels for training purposes Increase of revenue;
Establishment of business relationship.
Shareholders Maximising shareholder value.
Prospective customers Motivation for future lucrative projects
Community Service benefits to and social and environmental impact on local
communities.
Government Employment for local community; tax collection.
Trade unions Serving employees interests
Table 8-1: Kay stakeholders
Project Management MSIN 3001 Team Mouse Assignment 3: Project Plan
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Keep satisfied
Government
Regulatory bodies
Trade unions
Media
Community
Key players
Senior management-
Project sponsor-
Marketing dept-
Training dept-
Contract PM- Project team-
Spring Meadow-
Red Balloon- End buyers
Minimal effort
Hotel staff
Keep informed
Shareholders
Peers and co-workers
Media
Hotels senior managements
LEVEL OF INTEREST
PO
WE
R
HIGH
HIGH
LOW
LOW
8.2 POWER/INDEX MATRIX
The following grid exposes the position of each of the stakeholders described above in relation to their power and
influence in the project (7)
:
8.2.1 MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES UTILISED
Communication
Communication is crucial and should be maintained among project members via emails, formal and informal channels, presentations, briefings and addendums, when necessary, and status reports to evaluate the progress of the project at a moment in time.
To ensure the support of the stakeholders, it is necessary for them to be well informed, actively involved and
their opinions respected.
The detailed schedule incorporates several stages where management takes on an active role in the
development of the project, however the involvement of the other stakeholders is not formalised to the
same extent.
Securing Support
Securing Support is required to ensure the long term success of the project. Market acceptance will be
evaluated after two months of running the campaign, to ensure that the marketing strategy is adapted to
achieve the desired goals. Data will be gathered continuously after the product launch to gauge the
performance level and the marketing campaign has sufficient flexibility for changes, in order to deliver on
the commitment to Spring Meadow. Management holds an active role throughout the entire project;
however, there is a risk of other peers with other projects competing for the internal resources available.
This aspect cannot be eliminated, but by delivering on the promises to management, the project should
enjoy the support and resources of management.
Figure 8-2: Power/index matrix
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Opposition Opposition may be reduced with different methods depending on the stakeholder. For example in the case of project members the PM is ought to anticipate conflicts via open discussions on key issues, act upon changing priorities and mistakes as they arise. At the same time PM should avoid under or over communication aiming at efficiency and effectiveness. In the case of suppliers prompt payments contributes to scale down any controversy assessing the financial stability of the company.
Stakeholders to be kept satisfied should be updated on achievements and positive results/ feedbacks as they
may exercise great power although they are not directly involved on the project, hence the reputation of the
company may be affected. For example in the case of trade unions in order to reduce any opposition the
company ensures a culturally diverse workforce fully integrated in the working environment and publishes
good practice procedures.
The group to be kept informed clusters stakeholders who, while having a high interest, they do not possess
power to affect the project in terms of time, cost and quality. Peers and co-workers have an interest in the
project to finish within the estimated timescale as they may seek support from members temporarily
committed to the project. The latter will have to ensure disruption is not caused, or kept at minimum, to
their ordinary activities. Moreover, staff that have been seconded to the project may need to be ensured job
security or they could represent a source for opposition and resistance.
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9 COSTING
A costing evaluation has been produced to include all items in the project plan. A detailed breakdown of the
costs can be found below (tables 9-1, 9-2) and calculation procedure in the appendix. A costing evaluation
was produced for the Athina/Spring Meadow press and leaflet campaign, Athinas internal staff cost and any
overheads that would be incurred during the project such as consumables, hotel costs and training costs.
The following costs were found:
1. Athina/Spring Meadow Press & Leaflet Campaign: 720,106
2. Internal Resource and Overheads: 198,297
The largest cost can be attributed to advertising, notably to national press advertising. The national press
campaign is to be operated for 3 days per week, 1 day for Broadsheet newspapers and 2 days for Tabloid
newspapers. This offers the a very good time, cost, quality balance as it is provides good advertising without
the expense of spiralling costs. Also as there will be a significant promotion in all Spring Meadow stores it is
reasonable to assume that good coverage shall be achieved through both advertising venues.
With regards to the press advertising, it is suggested that the advertisements on broadsheets be produced
on Sundays as high volumes of broadsheets are sold on this day and advertisements on tabloid newspapers
be on Sunday also and mid-week on Wednesday. This in turn would result in a large audience to be targeted;
however, ultimately it is up to the marketing department to decide on the most suitable days.
The overheads, in particular that of the cost per person attributes to a significant sum (20,300), it is
possible to reduce this cost by selecting a cheaper hotel for the training to be carried out in (lower than a
cost of 55 per person per session).
The internal resource staff represents the second highest cost of 198,297. Susie Palmer represents the
highest internal cost of 114,000 but this is reasonable considering that she is the project manager. Although
the internal staff costs are high, they are vital to the project and as they know the Athinas core business and
plan and will have had a proven track record in the firm, it is good to have them on board to ensure that the
project is executed successfully and to the highest standards.
9.1 COSTING ASSUMPTIONS
The following main assumptions were used in the costing calculation:
Loading on project the total percentage of time spent on the project
Corporate overhead transfer charge applied for Ricardo whilst he was training Alain Fontaine
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The following table shows a breakdown of the costs for the execution of the project for the advertisement (press and leaflet) campaign only.
Table 9-1: Press Advertisment Cost Breakdown
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The following table shows a breakdown of the overhead and internal costs for the staff:
Overheads 1
Training Number of staff Number of days
required:
Cost of session (55/person,
session)
Consumables (10/day)
Training manual (3/delegate)
Total cost:
Store Managers 50 4 2,750.00 40 150.00 20,300.00
Customer service 300 20 16,500.00 200 900.00
Position Name: Cost Loading on
Project Days spent on project*
Days needed for
Product Launch Task
Days needed for organising Training Task
Marketing Communications
project Cost
Including Staff costs (50% overheads)
Total Cost:
Project Sponsor Maggie
Diamond 800.00 10% 7.6 6,080.00 9,120.00 15,200.00
Project Manager
Subin Mehta 700.00 40% 30.4 1 21,280.00 31,920.00 53,200.00
PM Joanne Huntley (watching brief)
500.00 1% 0.76 380.00 570.00 950.00
PM Susie Palmer 600.00 100% 76 1 6 45,600.00 68,400.00 114,000.00
Head of Billing Ops.
Andy Roslin (watching brief)
600.00 2% 1.52 912.00 1,368.00 2,280.00
Director of Marketing
Stella Brewer 650.00 20% 15.2 3 5 9,880.00 14,820.00 24,700.00
Marketing Manager
Luke Pearl 400.00 100% 76 1 30,400.00 45,600.00 76,000.00
Director of Finance
Ben Taylor (watching brief)
800.00 2% 1.52 1,216.00 1,824.00 3,040.00
Athina Training Ricardo Santos 350.00 100% 19 19 6,650.00 9,975.00 16,825.00
SpringMeadow Training
Alain Fontaine 350.00 100% 28 37 9,800.00 14,700.00 24,500.00
*The total days for the press and leaflet campaign were 76 days
Total Cost: 198,297.00
Position Name: Corporate (40/day) Days Total:
Athina Training Ricardo Sontas 40 5 200.00
Table 9-2: Overheads and internal resource costs
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10 RISK MANAGEMENT
The associated risks inherent to the project need to be addressed properly to ensure that the project
achieves its success criteria. The main focus is to eliminate, prevent or mitigate the effects of the high
priority risks to the lowest possible reasonable level without incurring substantial additional cost.
The main associated risks and their control strategy are the following:
Human factor Authority/Management procedure
Rejection of the final concept by the management will cause the project to be severely delayed, with extra manpower costs incurred to redo the production.
Control strategy
Reduce probability by getting the rough concept approved before proceeding to pre-testing
and selection of final concept.
Recovery by increasing float in the schedule by using weekends for this part of the project.
Rejection of the training material by the management may cause a delay,
Control strategy
Accepted as it is a very low impact risk due to available training float
Human factor Corporate policies/Leadership/Management competence
Failure of Susie Palmer to integrate into Athina corporate culture resulting in personnel discontentment
Control strategy
Brief Susie Palmer on corporate policies and ensure that she gets the corporate training
necessary for her to fulfil her duties
Commercial
Failure of subcontractors to meet contract, quality, quantity and time commitments
Control strategy
Reduce impact by having alternative suppliers available to us in case the contract fails
Reduce probability by reviewing their performance continuously throughout the project, to
ensure problems are spotted and mitigated early.
Failure of management to provide sufficient monetary funds, resulting in disruption of marketing
Control strategy
Reduce probability by supplying well-estimated budget with contingency funds to achieve
minimum market exposure
Reduce impact by establishing a strong contractual agreement with Spring-Meadow to
cover the costs within a reasonable time
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Commercial Underperformance to specifications
Failure of Athina to supply sufficient capacity to meet product demand resulting in failure to meet contractual obligations
Control strategy
Reduce probability by retaining good communication with the
technical/billing/management.
Commercial Collapse of contractors
Collapse of subcontractors resulting in schedule disruption and loss of provider
Control strategy
Reduce probability by ensuring a fair (win/win) contract is established
Reduce impact /Recovery by having alternative suppliers available to us
Eliminate risk by choosing providers with excellent performance history
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10.1 RISK REGISTER TABLE
Below are the identified risks of the project, each placed according to the ranking:
Type of Risk Project Phase of Impact
Description of Risk Probability H/M/L
Impacts Risk Treatment Strategy Risk Owner
Quality Cost Time
Commercial Any phase that deals with subcontractors
Failure of subcontractors to meet contract commitments
L - Increased Delayed Reduce impact by having alternative suppliers available to us in case the contract fails
Susie Palmer
Human Factor
Approval of the final concept
Rejection of the final concept by the management
M - Extra manpower cost (5550)
Severe delay (about 20 days)
Reduce probability by getting the rough concept approved before pre-testing and selection of final concept. Recovery by increasing float
Susie Palmer Luke Pearl
Human Factor
Approval of training material
Rejection of the training material by management
L - Increased May cause delay
Accepted as it is a very low impact risk due to available training float
Ricardo & Alain Fontaine
Commercial Any phase that deals with subcontractors
Collapse of subcontractors
L Reduced Increased Schedule disruption & loss of provider
Reduce probability by ensuring a fair (win/win) contract is established Reduce impact by having alternative suppliers available to us
Susie Palmer
Commercial Any phase in the project
Failure of management to provide sufficient monetary funds
L Reduced Increased Disruption of marketing
Reduce probability by supplying well-estimated budget with contingency funds to achieve minimum market exposure Reduce impact by establishing a strong contractual agreement with Spring-Meadow to cover the costs
Maggie Diamond
Commercial Before launch Failure of Athina to supply sufficient capacity to meet product demand
L - - Delayed Reduce probability by retaining good communication with the technical/billing/management
Susie/Subin
Human Factor
Beginning of the project
Failure of Susie to integrate into Athina corporate culture
L Reduced - Delayed Brief Susie Palmer on corporate policies and ensure that she gets well acquainted with her co/workers
Subin Mehta
Table 10-1: Risk register table
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11 PROJECT MONITORING STRATEGY
Monitoring is the process in which the manager obtains information about conditions in the project. They
must then decide if the project is running according to plan. If it is not, taking corrective action is part of the
controlling process early before problems become rooted in the schedule and derail efforts away from the
objective. Monitoring strategies will be used mainly for Athinas ad campaign because it is tight on timing,
budget, and due to its complexity. As the training project is less complex, has a minor budget, and has an
extended period of time in which it can be achieved.
For a project to be considered successful, it must meet time quality, and cost constraints imposed by the
client. In the case of Athina and Spring Meadows, there are two explicit deliverables, the advertisement
campaign and the training of Spring Meadows staff. In order to achieve those objectives, the project process
and teams involved need to be controlled and monitored.
Quality of product
By definition the quality of the deliverables must be fit for purpose i.e. meeting the requirements of the
customer. It is a determinant factor that, if accomplished, may benefit all the parts involved in the project. If
the new product is launched triumphantly and profitably Spring Meadow will gain a competitive advantage
and a leading position against its competitors and Athina will be on the right path to establish itself on a new
market and undertake further investments with other re-sellers.
Project Management Process
This undertaking is completely new for both companies, so to insure the quality of the management process
and thus the quality of the objectives, teams from both companies must collaborate together in an unselfish
manner in order to maximize efficiency of the process, hence co-operation must be kept at a significant level.
Techniques
To insure the quality of the deliverables, techniques such as Gantt charts tracking, control charts, and scatter
diagrams can be used. These are explained below:
Gantt chart Tracking
It is adopted by the project manager to keep track of the progress of each activity using percentage
completion so to identify delays or disruptions and act upon them. However this technique may cause the
perpetual 90% done effect (8) failing to provide an accurate estimate on how much has actually been
accomplished. In other words, initially people tend to be optimistic about the rate of progress thereby
predicating a high percentage of completion deemed to slow down afterwards.
Earned Value Analysis
This technique provides a measure of the project progress that combines both cost and time objectives (8)
by comparing the planned costs to the actual costs. However, it is important that we consider all aspects of
this technique, because at face value the project may not reflect the planned budget, so we need to consider
the amount of work actually done.
Milestone Slip Charts
Athinas advertisement campaign will be monitored by using a milestone slip chart showing the monitoring
period at the start of each task and the duration of each of the tasks, which is taken from the table showing
the costs for the press and leaflet campaign. In this case, the project is planned to run smoothly, and the
lines should move accordingly as the advertisement campaign begins to take shape. Monitoring activities
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should focus on certain areas. These include the major risks (as identified in the risk register), activities on
the critical path, cost drivers (activities which represent the largest items in the budget or budget category)
and activities prone to complexity (e.g. interfaces).
Regarding the training, the budget cost for each session could be higher, which will increase our total cost.
The actual material is written by Ricardo and Alain, but it needs to be checked once more time by Susie in
order to make sure the material is suitable for managers and staff. The time period between Ricardo and
Alain which have to be ensured that they have communicated and known the schedule already.
Focus on activities of advertising campaign on the critical path, the first concept takes eight working days, if
it delays, it will affect all the rest activities in terms of time, cost and quality. It is necessary to make sure the
first activity (Milestone 1 in the chart above) is finished in our assumed time in order to control our cost to
the minimum. The same as Milestone 4, or the pre-testing period, which takes 15 days to finish. The time
period is quite long, if it delays, we could use free float to reduce our extra to the minimum and time to the
shortest. However in terms of cost, the milestones to consider are milestones 7 (Press art work, Proof &
distribution) and 12 (Post-evaluation research & report), which are the most expensive. Should any of the
tasks prior to them be delayed, the cost of the delays will be significant. The largest cost is task 7 which
needs 10,000 to sub-contract this, if the price cannot control in the budget, it will suddenly increase the
total cost as the main cost driver (Use Fixed Price Contract), also the second largest one is post-evaluation
research and report which lasts 10 working days to do, where each day costs 800. Thus leaving free float
throughout the advertisement campaign project is something to consider seriously.
Other parts of the project should be subject to a continual survey at a lower level of intensity. This may be
achieved through regular written reporting from team leaders. Equally, attention should also be focused on
those activities that directly affect the customer requirements. If there are other important constraints,
particularly those established by executive management, then activities that impact these should also be
given priority.
Figure 11-1: Gantt Slip Chart for Monitoring ad campaign
days no
Mo
nitorin
g p
eriod
0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 102 108 114 119
40
3
8
36
34
32
3
0
2
8
2
6
2
4
2
2
2
0
18
1
6
14
12
1
0
8
6
4
2
0
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12 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Whyndham, M. Lecture notes 'Resource Planning'. s.l. : University College London, 2004.
2. Whyndham, M . Lecture notes 'Defining the Work and Configuration Management'. s.l. : University College
London, 2009.
3. Lester, A. Project Management: Planning and Control. 5th. s.l. : Butterworth Heinemann, 2007.
4. Walker, Jane. Project Management MSIN3001: Group A - Coursework Pack - Assignment 3: Project Plan. s.l. :
University College London, 2009.
5. MGS. Manpower Planning. Management Study Guide (MGS). [Online] 2009. [Cited: 10 December 2009.]
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/manpower-planning.htm.
6. Johnson, G & K. Scholes. Exploring Corporate Strategy. 5th. s.l. : Prentice Hall, 1999.
7. Walker, Jane. Lecture notes, Managing Stakeholders. s.l. : UCL, 2009.
8. M. Whyndham, Walker J. Controlling the Project. s.l. : UCL, 2008.
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13 APPENDIX
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