Executive Summary
The recent success of Johnson and Johnson has led the management to seek growth and to expand the company’s market reach. In order to further develop its capabilities and to achieve a sustainable advantage over its competitors, the company decided to open a new base for the company’s research and development activities.
Company Background
Johnson and Johnson are a company that specializes in the microbiological testing of swimming pool water quality. They specifically test swimming pool water for pseudomonas, e-coli, colony counts and legionella. They collect samples from swimming pools and then send these samples to the local hospital for a laboratory bacterial analysis.
Currently Johnson and Johnson have one base in the North East of England, where in they employ 1 manager, 3 assistant managers, 2 administrative officers and 10 water testing technicians.
Recently, the companies have acquired a new base and have built a custom laboratory within the said base. The base is about 1,500 sq meters in size. The existing staff will then transfer from the old, to the new base, and a new microbiologist will be employed in order to operate in the said laboratory.
Project Brief
The project will focus on the project life cycle as well as the different stages and concerns in opening a new base for Johnson and Johnson. This report will outline the different phases in managing the project and the different considerations in each phase. The aim in opening a new base is to enable Johnson and Johnson to expand its research and development capabilities and to develop a state of the art research facility.
The project will develop a new base for Johnson and Johnson. Construction will include office, administrative and laboratory spaces.
1. Offices, Conference Areas, Administrative Space – the new base will have offices for the employees and administrative staff. There will be a conference room in the new base.
2. Computer Research Space – as the new facility will be a center for research and development, computer research space must be provided. The computer research will involve a central cluster with many processors and hard disks.
3. Wet Laboratory Space – the facility will have some traditional wet laboratory space, designed for handling chemicals and radioactive materials. Much of the activity will be centered on relatively large instrument systems, each requiring several feet of bench or floor space.
4. Flexible (Dry) Laboratory Space – some of the research will entail operations that do not require chemicals or radioactivity. This will include some analytical operations. In addition, this space will be sued for developing and testing equipment and instrument systems that are deployed off-site.
5. Storage – The new base will house two storage facilities. One is the storage of samples and the other is the storage of instruments and other field equipment.
Project Life Cycle
1. Initiation Phase
The initiation was the first phase in the project. In this phase a business opportunity which is to develop the skills, abilities and knowledge of new employees and help them to adapt to the organizational culture was defined. A feasibility study was conducted to investigate the likelihood of each option that will help in the achievement of the business goals. After the deliberation, a final recommendation was put forward. Once the recommended approach was approved, a project was initiated to deliver the desired outcomes. A ‘Terms of Reference” was completed, which outlines the objectives, scope and structure of the new project and a Project manager was appointed. The Project Manager started recruiting a project team and establishes a Project Office environment. Approval was then sought to move into the detailed planning phase.
Activities Involved:
- Feasibility Study
- Evaluation of Site Concerns
- Formulation of Project Team
- Design of the Project Proposal
2. Design/Planning Phase
Once the scope of the project has been defined in the Terms of Reference, the project entered the detailed planning phase. This involved the creation of:
- Project Plan outlining the activities, tasks, dependencies and timeframes
- Resource Plan listing the labor, equipment and materials required
- Financial Plan identifying the labor, equipment and materials costs
- Quality Plan providing quality targets, assurance and control measures
- Risk Plan highlighting potential risks and actions taken to mitigate them
- Acceptance Plan listing the criteria to be met to gain customer acceptance
- Communications Plan listing the information needed to inform stakeholders
- Procurement Plan identifying products to be sourced from external suppliers
Activities Involved:
- Define Project Requirements
- Select Contractor
- Define Project Site (including site amenities, parking requirements, and infrastructure and utilities)
- Assess Design Elements
- Provide Information for Contractor
- Identify Potential Risks
3. Implementation Phase
This phase involved the execution of each activity and task listed in the project plan. While the activities and tasks were being executed, a series of management processes were undertaken to monitor and control the deliverables being output by the project. During this phase, the changes, risks and issues surrounding the project were identified and the review of deliverable quality and the measurement of each deliverable being produced against the acceptance criteria were conducted. Once all of the deliverables have been produced and the goals of the project have been achieved, the project was ready for closure.
Activities Involved:
- Actual Construction
- Project Control
- Project Milestone Report
3. Commissioning Phase
This phase involved releasing the final deliverables to the client, handling over project documentation, terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources and communicating the closure of the project to all stakeholders. The last remaining step was the Post Implementation Review to quantify the overall success of the project and list any lessons learned for future projects.
Activities Involved:
- Preparation of Reports
Resource Allocation Schedule
TASKS/ACTIVITIES
PERSONS RESPONSIBLE
# OF PERSONS REQUIRED
Pre-Design Phase
1) Developing Project Requirements
2) Determine Scope and Budget
3) Accomplishment of Permits
Developer, and contractor
2
Design Phase
1) Update Project Requirement
2) Review Designs
3) Determine Manning Requirements
4) Determine Construction Technology Methods
5) Accomplish Construction Checklist Requirements
6) Develop CPM
7) Construction Documentation
Design/build contractor, architect and construction manager
3
Construction Phase
1) Update Construction Team
2) Verify Construction Checklist
3) Resolve Construction Issues
4) Preparation of Materials and Tools
Developer, contractor, design/build contractor, architect, construction manager and construction workers
5 and 80 construction workers
The Project Manager
According to Ng (2001), a good project manager is the key to a project’s success. Project managers work with the project sponsors, project team, and other people involved in delivering the project scope and goals. Each project is constrained by its scope, time goals, and costs goals. Scope deals with the question ‘what is the objective of the project?’ Time deals with the question ‘how long it takes the project to be completed?’ Cost deals with the question ‘what should it cost to complete the project?’ (p.2).
It has been said that project success is simply determined by being on time, on budget and to specification. This report will focus on the importance of being on time and its impact on the success of a project. Now let us analyze the knowledge areas in project management.
1. Project Integration – It includes the processes and activities needed to identify, define, combine, unify and coordinate various processes and project management activities with project management process group. It ensures the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. The goal is to successfully meet customer and stakeholders’ requirements and managing their expectations. It also coordinates changes across the entire project( Society for Technical Communication, 2003).
2. Project Scope Management – Includes processes required to ensure that project includes all the work required to complete the project successfully. Project scope management ensures that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully (Society for Technical Communication, 2003).
3. Project Quality Management – Includes the processes and activities that determine quality policies, objectives and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken (Society for Technical Communication, 2003).
4. Project Human Resources Management – Includes the processes that organize and manages the project team. It includes all the stakeholders, sponsors, customers and project team members’ support staff (Society for Technical Communication, 2003).
5. Project Communication Management – Includes all the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination and storage, retrieval and ultimate disposal of the project information (Society for Technical Communication, 2003).
6. Project Procurement Management – It includes the processes to purchase or acquire the product, services, or results needed from outside the project team to perform the work (Society for Technical Communication, 2003).
7. Project Time Management – It involves the processes required to accomplish timely completion of the project. It involves definition, sequencing, and duration estimating (Society for Technical Communication, 2003).
8. Project Risk Management – Includes processes concerned with conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, and responses and monitoring and control on the projects. Includes maximizing the probability and consequences of positive events and minimizing the probability and consequences of adverse events to project objectives (Society for Technical Communication, 2003).
9. Project Cost Management – Includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, and controlling cost, so that the project can be completed with the approved budget.
Gantt Chart
Gantt charts are a particularly effective tool for managing the project schedule. Even though they may contain a great deal of information, they are easily understood. While they do require frequent updating, they are easy to maintain as long as task requirements are not changed or major alterations of schedule are not made. Gantt charts provide a clear picture of the current state of a project (Dube & Hormozi, 1999, 37).
Appendix: Gantt Chart
Event
1st Month
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Feasibility Study and Report
Evaluation of site concerns including infrastructure and utility requirements
Site Design: Landscape, Hardscape, Circulation, Parking
Work with Project Team to define the approach to construction management
Floor Plan and Building Elevations
Event
2nd Month
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Program and Preliminary Design
Project Requirements
Contractor Selection
Define Project Site including amenities, landscape approach, parking requirement
Assess building elements and selection of building materials and methods
Event
3rd Month
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Program and Preliminary Design
Guidelines for budget concerns
Prepare preliminary construction budget
Identify potential risks to the project budget, design and schedule
Coordinate with contractors
Event
4th Month
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Design Development
Finalize project elements
Construction Documentation
Start of Construction
Event
5th Month and 6th Month
Weeks 1&2
Weeks
3&4
Weeks
5&6
Weeks
7&8
Construction
References
Crandall, R E & Murray, M J 2006, ‘IT Offshore Outsourcing Requires a Project Management Approach’, SAM Advanced Management Journal, vol. 71, no. 1, pp. 4+.
Dube, L F & Hormozi, A M 1999, ‘Establishing Project Control: Schedule, Cost, and Quality’, SAM Advanced Management Journal, vol. 64, no. 4, p. 32.
Frame, J D 2002, The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Marchewka, J 2006, Information Technology Project Management: Providing measurable Organizational Value, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NJ.
Ng, E 2001, Information Technology Project Management, viewed 26 December2008, <http://www.edvencomm.net/itpm.pdf>.
Planning and Delivering Writing Projects using Project Management 2003, Society for Technical Communication, viewed 26 December, 2008
<http://www.stc-sm.org/documents/ProjectManagement.pdf>.
Reiss, G 1995, Project Management Demystified: Today’s Tools and Techniques, E & FN Spon, London.
Stuckenbruck, L C 1981, The Implementation of Project Management: The Professional’s Handbook, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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