The Work-based Project
Introduction
During the turn of the century, the world experiences more drastic changes than before, which include changes in the environment, culture, education, knowledge, the society, and technology. The world has evolved into a massive ball of information and technology that led to the expansion and the development of the society in several aspects. However, despite the improvement of the performance of many companies, these changes also contributed to the distress of some, which are not apt for these changes. From this, it can be understood that, existing and persisting in the business industry is not as easy as it seems. Because of these, many business organisations and companies are encountering a variety of problems and issues that determine the success or failure in the business arena and in the industry. These problems and issues arise from the external and internal changes that the company encounters.
With regards to this, certain business improvement procedures should be practiced in order to enhance the business practices and development of the company. In this paper, the discussion of the construction of an Information System that enhances “the Flexible Work Practices” to my company will be shown. Change is a part of every organisation. Sooner or later, organisations have to change and adapt to a competitive environment, it is a must for organisations to change in order to stay on top of the competition. This paper will be discussing the issues of business improvement efforts within our company.
The Business Improvement
Project life cycle, basically subdivides the project into a number of definable phases or stages. In the case of our company, the development of an information system that enhances “the Flexible Work Practices” are considered with respect to the efforts that will enhance the business practices of our company. These were divided into four (4) phases/stages as adopted in Cleland, & Gareis (1994) i.e. concept and initial phase, design and development phase, implementation or construction phase, and commissioning and handover phase (See Figure 1).
Figure 1. Project Life-Cycle
Basically, the business improvement efforts in our company are often implemented to provide a facility or to produce a product that will give a client a return on investment. And in our case, the implementation of project in our company is to enhance the “Flexible Working Practices” of our employees. By looking at the bigger picture the designers are able to trade-off the cost of the construction with the cost of maintenance, upgrading, expansion and disposal over the life of the facility. The extreme case would be a cheap construction which turned out to be expensive to maintain, difficult to upgrade and expand, and an environmental disaster to dispose to.
One of the methods in addressing the problem is to make the company responsible for all aspects of the life-cycle, thus eliminating any short term construction gains. These are often called BOT contracts (Built, Operate and Transfer), or BOOT (Built, Own, Operate and Transfer), or ROT contracts (Refurbish, Operate and Transfer) where a company is given a licence to finance, build, operate and sell. Governments find these contracts attractive as they are seen to provide facilities without having an impact on budget (Burke, 2003).
Time Planning
A time plan or a schedule must be prepared to enable the manager to budget time and energy effectively. Timescales and time allocation is allows the company to eliminate wastage and allocate resources appropriate to tasks importance (Blair 2009). With setting the appropriate timescale, the company can focus and prioritise the activities in accomplishing the project. Timescales also allows the persons involved in the project become prepared for meetings, monitor project progress, and plan each day and week efficiently (Blair 2009). This would enable the company assess the progression of project and make certain improvements when necessary. Proper time allocation also allows the company to reject excessive workloads and ensure that long-term projects are not neglected (Blair 2008). With proper monitoring of projects, short-term goals can be easily completed and long-term goals can be given priority.
Figure 2. Project Plan and Timescales
Classical Project Schedule (10 weeks)
time frame (weeks)
payment
involved staff
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
PM*
SA*
AP*
Project Kick-off
Signing the Agreement
30%
Y
Preparation of Project Plan
Y
Y
Implementation Process
User Requirement Capture / Gap Analysis
20%
Y
Y
Programs Development
Y
Y
Y
Training IT / User
Y
Y
Y
User Acceptance Test
Y
Y
Y
Parallel Run
30%
Y
Y
Y
Live Run
20%
Y
Y
Y
* PM: Project Manager, SA: System Analyst, AP: Analyst Programmer
In implementing the new IS development as for our company, several problems may occur. However, despite the presence of these problems, they can be solved by effective communication. One of the problems to be encountered is dealing with the impetus for change, for all organisations are resistant to change. An organisation will only undertake change when it can no longer meet the demands placed on it in the current mode of operation, and these demands come from customers, the problems the organisation is attempting to solve, and by the threat of competition from other companies (Ward 2009). Through effective speaking and listening, both the employees and the management can focus on informing each other of their beliefs and perceptions regarding the new implemented system. With this, the employees can speak to the management of their fears and lack of knowledge regarding the system. Moreover, the management or the leader can ask the project manager to make some adjustments regarding the problem, such as providing training for the staff and making the software program more user-friendly.
Time Definition
By definition, time management is actually the ability to efficiently help give more worth to the time and energy spent with the goal to make life better and easier. As indicated in the previous presentation i.e. Figure 2, the timescales of the project will be divided into two major parts (i.e. Project Kick-off and Implementation process). Basically, these defined stages are based on the network analysis presented in the next section. For the success of any business project on careful planning, the manager must plan, organise, and control a project that consists of a number of interrelated activities. The best known network models are PERT which stands for Program Evaluation and Review Techniques and CPM which stands for Critical Path Method.
PERT is used to plan the program in advance and to estimate the expected completion time of the entire project (Cleland & Gareis 1994). It indicates the activities that might need modification regarding completion time. In short, PERT allows the manager to compare actual progress of each activity and concentrate those activities that are behind schedule and may cause delay of the project. On the other hand, the CPM was developed to aid in the scheduling of some management works like routine plant overhaul, maintenance and construction work. Since such work projects fall under repetitive operations of which the management has experience on data involving time and cost among others, and relatively small variance in their performance time, and CPM reasonably assumed that the completion time for each activity involved in a work project is known. Moreover, the CPM incorporates no statistical analysis in its determination of time estimates. Thus, in accordance to the convenience use of CPM, our company consider the use of this method.
Cost Planning
There are main activities involves in the cost management project that includes cost monitoring and cost control. These activities need to be thoroughly and carefully followed up based on the project requirement. In our company, project cost management includes cost monitoring and cost control which will be shown in preceding sections. Actually, finding ways to reduce costs sometimes may be crucial to firms and is a necessity most of the time. The learning phenomenon and the learning curve offer opportunities for cost reduction programs in general and in the pre-project planning areas in particular. In the pre-project planning stage, the type of learning curve to be used subsequently may be affected by the level and content of organisational planning. More precisely, the more preplanning that is done in all aspects associated with the launching of a new IS, the lower the cost of the initial unit. With the cost of the initial unit being the starting point of the learning phenomenon, the lower it is through effective pre-project planning, the greater the savings generated by the resulting learning curve.
Earned Value Analysis
When running an improvement business project, it is important to understand the values and issues that workers have in order to address them and keep everyone on board for the duration of the project. Workers are not always keen to participate but engaging them at this early stage of the project will help ensure success. With respect to the success of the projects, the approach to arrive at a price base for the purpose of tender assessment must be considered. From the presentation, several factors can be determined, which need improvement. Primarily, the contracts to be used in the projects must be appropriate, which suits the style and preferences of its employees. The management style of the project managers must then be given enough attention to ensure the organisation and control of the tenderers. Function also includes organising, which determines what needs to be done, how will it be done and who will do it, leading to directing and motivating all parties and resolving conflicts, controlling, and making sure that the organisation has achieved its stated purpose (De Bono, 2005). In short, the scope in the project management entails the refreshing and reinforcing of the tasks and responsibilities of the project manager. Due to the problems and the target project plan that have been distinguished by our company, it is decided to create a plan in relation to project measures.
Implication and Financial benefits of Business Improvement
The changes in technology and management underwent by our company allowed us to adopt serious changes in strategy and development. From the desire to cope with the technological advancements of the century, the company is making plans of implementing a new Information Systems technology that will enhance the flexible work practices of our employees. Basically, the opportunities before our company are significant. The company has the technical solution and the market expertise to become the dominant force in the market i.e. to enhance the flexibility of employees. But as is typical in the software industry, the window of opportunity will not remain open for long. The possibilities are virtually limitless, but the company needs to introduce into the marketplace as soon as possible to ensure that they were able to take advantage of future opportunities even more lucrative than those presented herein. To be able to cope with competition against other companies, our company must therefore plan actions properly and implement the plan immediately. However, given the intention for change, the company must not also forget the presence of technical and non-technical problems that they can encounter, such as choosing the software program itself, its compatibility with the organisation’s system, budget, time and people. This is why, the adequate allocation of resources, including time and money must be planned accordingly to achieve success. In relation to this, effective management and well-planned project implementation must be practiced to encourage teamwork and business progress. This can be done through effective communication, with good interpersonal, speaking, writing and listening skills. Aside from these, the organisation can also seek professional help from IS professionals for additional guidance.
Conclusion
Planning is one of the fundamental functions in management. It underlies the factors that will lead the organisation into achieving its main goals. Thus, it is crucial to lay out a plan to organise the activities that are to be undertaken by the entire organisation. The process of planning though entails setting the desired outcomes and drafting the set of actions to be implemented. It is a complex process that will require analysis of the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the external factors such as the opportunities and threats. Moreover, an action plan needs to be implemented to assess the effectiveness of the set goals of the organisation. In order to this, the managers will have to communicate the information to subordinates. This undertaking entails competent interpersonal skills that will persuade and motivate the employees to work hard and in the long run, achieve the plans. In the case of our company, the planning of projects implementation should also include other external factors that might cause significant effect to the overall implementation of the project. These factors are sometimes immeasurable since it is more related to the characteristics of project manager itself. To be able to carry out plans, the managers must provide continued motivation to the employees towards excellence and high performance. This pursuit involves the development of the managerial skills to create an efficient team that will lead to increased productivity. Observing the work conditions of the employees which involves the interaction and work flow is crucial to facilitate adjustments and improve the procedures.
References:
Blair, GM (2009). Personal Time Management for Busy Managers, viewed 12 May, 2009, <http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art2.html>.
Burke, R. (2003). Project Management: Planning and Control Techniques. (4th ed.). West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons.
Cleland, D.I. and Gareis, R. (Eds) (1994). Global Project Management Handbook, McGraw-Hill International Editions.
De Bono, S (2005). Assessing Managerial Attributes Case Study of Maltese Managers in the Service Industry, DBA Executive Summary.
Ward, JA (2009) Implementing Quality Initiatives in Information Systems, viewed 12 May, 2009, <http://www.jamesaward.com/implementing%20quality%20initiatives.htm>.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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