Extended Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership

Project Development and Implementation for Strategic

Managers
Strategic Management and Leadership

Submitted by:
Dima Anoir
FP98718

Cornerstone College of International Studies (CCIS)

A.Y. 2014-2015

STATEMENT AND CONFIRMATION OF OWN WORK

Students Declaration

I can confirm the following details:

Program/Qualification Name: Edexcel BTEC Level 7 Extended Diploma in strategic Management and
leadership
Student ID/Registration Number: FP98718
Students Name: Dima Anoir
Centre Name: Cornerstone College of International Studies
Module Name: Project Development and implementation for Strategic Managers
Module Leader: Dr. Munir EL-Khatib
Number of Words: 2629
I certify that works submitted for this assignment is my own work and research sources are fully
acknowledged and have not plagiarized any part of it.
Due Date: September 30, 2014
Students Signature: Dima Anoir
Submitted Date: October 15, 2014

Table of Contents

Statement and confirmation of own work

Introduction

1.Project Selection .....................................................6

1.1

Project Selection Factors.6

1.2

Project Specifications..7

1.3

Agreed Project Specifications..8

2.Project Planning.......................................................9
2.1 Agreed Project Plan...9
2.2 Resources10
2.3 Cost Plan..13
2.4 Time schedule.14
2.5 Strategy Plan15

3.Project Implementation16
3.1 Agreed Project Implementation 16
3.2 Measures..17
3.3 Monitoring18

4.Project Evaluation.19
4.1 Outcomes............19
4.2 Outcome Evaluation......20
4.3 Recommendations................................................21

5.Project Closing22
5.1 Procedures Report........22
5.2 Presentation...............23

References

Introduction

Case Study:
Emirates Gulf Contracting (EGC) is a leading contracting company operating since 1967. EGC
offers full contracting services for high-rise developments, hotels, commercial development,
stadiums, mixed used developments, industrial developments.
EGC is a dynamic and progressive organization that has grown to become a leader in
contracting industry with $1.4 billion annual turn over and 10% profit for big project and 20%
small to medium.

EGC vision is to be the leading world-class contractor in the region. One of EGC strategies is to
work towards the vision. The pillars of this strategy are:

Quality and Safety

Customer Service

Corporate Excellence

In order to reach operation excellence and make the right decisions in timely manner based on
reliable and accurate performance data the project selected is called Project Performance
Executive Dashboard (PPED) which aims to establish a team to monitor, capture capital
projects, time and cost performance data and develop an application to capture this data and
display it on dashboards.

Task 1:

Analyze the factors that contribute to the process of project selection.

Develop outline project specifications for the implementation of new product, service or

process.

Produce a specification for an agreed project to implement a new product, service or

process.

1.Project Selection

1.1

Project Selection Factors

In order to select the right project to reach corporate excellence in EGC, several factors should
be considered starting with analyzing opportunities, identifying reasons for selecting the project
passing by exploring the options and selecting the best options till the plan implementation and
closure of the plan.
First of all the feasibility of this project should be investigated and positive and negative
outcomes of the project should be studied.
Several factors should be considered, whether any regulations or governmental policy conflicts
or if there are any political factors that might affect this project.
Economic factors such as economic growth of the organization and the projects effect on this
should be considered and what are the positive economic impact and benefits to EGC.
In addition is the social factor, which is by answering how this system will change the attitudes
towards socio cultural changes, and what are the impacts to the culture such as environmental
factors.
Technological factor is another factor mentioning the replacement technology our system will
provide. All of these factors can be contained and considered to result in selecting the PPED
system which is considered an investment noting that, this project focuses on broad
organizational needs and is more of infrastructure project for EGC.

1.2

Project Specifications

The objectives of PPED project are:

1. Develop and deploy the PPED application in a secured environment and ensure
availability, credibility and secure access of the system.
2. Establish a projects performance monitoring team with well-defined operating
models and processes.
3. Provide training workshops and awareness on the usage of the PPED Application
focusing on reporting quality projects performance data and on the standard project
performance indicators as defined in the Earned Value Management* (EVM)
standard.
In conclusion, the system will show performance of projects reflected on dashboards where
executives can visualize it in a quick manner using third party tools and integrate in system.

A project management technique for measuring project performance and progress.

1.3

Agreed Project Specification

Project Charter includes and lists all the specifications (information and definitions) for the
project.

Figure 1. Project Charter

Task 2:

Produce a project plan for an agreed project.

Match appropriate resources to a project.

Cost all resources required for implementing a project.

Agree timescales for the management and implementation of a project.

Plan an appropriate strategy for the implementation of a project.

2. Project Planning

2.1

Agreed Project Plan

The scope of the project is to develop a system that will meet the project performance
management requirements and establish a unit with well-defined models, procedures and
organization structure and conduct training workshops for PPED usage.
The project cycle is the base for the Project manager to start the project plan.

Business Aspect: is to reach corporate excellence and increase trust of our clients
after implementing this project.

Budget Aspect: is investing in this project which will attempt to assist in reducing costs
and payments will be mainly within week 13 and week 14 will be discussed later in task 2.3
(80% of total proposed cost). The first payment will be made when the official contract is
signed.

Technical Aspect: will be outsourcing during the analysis, modeling and design of the
system, where the objective is to have a reliable credible system that will enhance
corporate excellence.
In order to meet all this, we will have a Project Manager, which will coordinate and
optimize required resources (manpower, skills, budget, systems and equipment) in the
planning and implementation cycle in order to complete the project.
Planning main goal is to meet the project objectives; GANTT charts are developed
during the planning.
People required to be involved in setting the plan and activities are: Project Manger (
sets the plans and activities),Human Resource Analyst(for the unit),Project Manager
Officer, project Administrator (to coordinate information),Procurement Officer, Business
Analyst ( to review the work),Procurement Officer, System Tester( to test the work and
system),Training Coordinator.

2.2

Resources
Figure 2 below shows the organization chart plan of PPED system.

PPED

Level 0

System

Unit

Training

1.1

1.2

1.3

System
Implementatio
n
1.1.2

Operating
Model
1.2.1

Identifying
Trainees
1.3.1

Level 3

Business
Requirement
1.1.2.1

Staffing
1.2.2

Training
Workshops
1.3.2

Analysis and
Modeling
1.1.2.2

Design
1.1.2.3

Level 1
Level 2

Procurement
1.1.1

Develop outline
tutorial
1.3.3

Implementatio
n
1.1.2.3

Testing and
Acceptance
1.1.2.4

Figure 2. PPED Organization Chart

The figure above shows the organization structure of PPED project starting with level 0 which is
the system itself, then under that comes System, Unit and Training at level one. In level one,
there is the System that has Procurement responsible for selecting a vendor to do the system,
scope of work, bidding and evaluation).
Under System Implementation comes Business Requirements (Function, infrastructure,
software and hardware), Analysis and Modeling (conceptual understanding, detailing
functionality), Design (blueprints), Implementation (software development or modification,
system documentation, training), Testing and Acceptance (testing the system).
Under Unit comes Operating Model (Team mission, team processes, team structure, process of
training people; in this step usually a Project Manger and Project Manger Officer might be
assigned if required but not in our case). Staffing (might include recruiting if not available which
is not in our case).
Under Training comes Identifying Trainees, training workshops and developing online tutorials.

10

WBS #

Activity

Start

End

Resource

Dependency

PPED

Week 1

Week

------

------

-----

------

Procurement

------

16
1.1

System

Week 1

Week
14

1.1.1

Procurement

Week 1

Week 2

officer
1.1.2

System

Week 3

Implementation
1.1.2.1

Business

Week

Vendor

1.1.1

Mid

Project

1.1.2

week 4

Manager,

14
Week 2

Requirements

Business
Analyst, Project
Administrator
1.1.2.2

Analysis and

Mid

Mid

Project

Modeling

week 4

week 5

Manager,

1.1.2.1

Vendor
1.1.2.3

Design

Mid

Mid

Project

week 5

week7

Manager,

1.1.2.1,1.1.2.2

Vendor,
Business
Analyst
1.1.2.4

Implementation

Mid

Mid

Vendor, Project

1.1.2.1,

week 7

week 13

Manager,

1.1.2.2,1.1.2.3

System Tester
1.1.2.5

Testing &

Mid

Mid

Vendor, Project

Acceptance

week

week 14

Manager,

13
1.2

Unit

Week 1

1.1.2.4

System tester
Week 4

-----

-----

11

1.2.1

Operating

Week 9

Model

Week

Project

11

Manager,

-----

Project Manager
Officer
1.2.2

Staffing

Week

Week

HR Analyst,

11

12

Project

1.2.1

Manager,
Project Manager
Officer
1.3

1.3.1

Training

Week

Week

-----

-----

13

16

Identify

Week

Week

Training

-----

Trainees

13

13

Coordinator,
Project Manager

1.3.2

Training

Week

Week

Training

Workshops

14

15

Coordinator,

1.3.1

Project
Manager,
Project Manager
Administrator
1.3.3

Develop online

Week

Week

Vendor, Project

tutorials

13

15

Manager,

1.3.2

Training
Coordinator

Figure 2.1 Resource Plan

Figure 2.1 lists the Work Base Structure Activities with start and end dates.

12

2.3

Cost Plan

The PPED total allocated budget is 1.5 Million dirhams. The cost plan below shows the budget
of each activity and when is each payment due.

Figure 2.2 PPED Cost Plan

13

2.4

Time Schedule

Figure 2.3 PPED Time schedule

The table above reflects the time schedule of the project activities. The diamond shape reflects
the milestones. Each activity shows its start and end.

14

2.5

Strategy Plan

Before planning the strategy for implementation, the areas of strategy planning should be
highlighted and followed:

Planning the PPED project work.

Planning the resources and organization.

Planning the money and cost.

Planning the information system.

In order to achieve all of the above successfully the following steps should be followed for
successful planning:

Setting the project objectives and identifying the work activities of PPED.

Creating PPED organization. Refer to task 2.2.

Prepare PPED schedule. Refer to figure 2.3.

Make a resource plan. Refer to task 2.2.

Prepare a forecast of time, work, cost and performance projections.

Objectives and strategies are the skeletal system of the success of the project. Throughout the
life cycle of the project, Project Manger has to accommodate and adjust between the
contradicting goals of technical performance, cost standard and time targets.
Solid project organization, proper implementation planning, timely payments and effective
control and monitoring of the project progress are vital strategies for successful PPED
implementation.

15

Task 3:

Implement a project in accordance with an agreed specification.

Develop appropriate measures to monitor and evaluate progress and outcomes.

Monitor the implementation of a project.

3.Project Implementation

3.1

Agreed Project Implementation

Implementation Period is a critical task for the Project Manager. The timeline of PPED is slightly
tight; the Project Manager shouldnt compromise the time with any of the steps of system design
and implementation.
On the other hand, he is required to manage the project as budgeted and planned. There will be
a vendor (ATLAS Systems) involved in System Implementation; Analysis and Modeling and
Design specifically and in Training. The Project Manager should work on conveying the
requirements and demands of EGC.
Also, Project Manager needs to be in control and stay in control while eyeing all the activities.
During the operation period, the interaction with the vendor (ATLAS Systems) will be on
continuous basis, any hiccups or defects should be reported immediately.
Evaluation of the system will help EGC contain and improve the system.
After successful implementation of PPED, the project team will gather end users feedback.
Project Manager will build up lessons learnt for better improvements.
Final evaluation is if Key Performance Indicators that are set were met. E.g.: meeting
companies objectives of corporate excellence.

16

3.2

Measures

Performance, Cost, Time and Scope monitored by having project tracking and reviewing
processes throughout the whole project. Having consistent and constant information reporting
on the accurate and actual status of PPED is vital and essential.
In PPED,the following tools should be prepared during executing for monitoring and controlling
the project:

Cost Reports: reviewing cost reports should be on bi weekly basis

Status Reporting:
1. Timeline progress
2. Issues of any problem or concern occurring
3. Changes required

Issue Register, which is creating a log of:

1. List any issue that occurred
2. List its impact on the project (severity or priority whether low, medium or high)
3. The owner of the issue (who is supposed to solve it?)
4. The completion date of the issue (when was it solved?)

Risk Log: listing the risks occurring

1. Probability of occurrence (how likely is it going to happen? And rate it.)
2. Risk owner (who will handle it?)
3. Mitigation Plan (what are the actions being taken to reduce the impact of the
risk when taking place?)
4. Risk Handling (how are the risks being handled when risk triggers? Who is
assigned and responsible?)

Basically, the management function of finding and controlling is crucial to the effectiveness
and efficiency of PPED. In conclusion, tracking and finding => the fact finding process,
monitoring => analysis of these facts, therefore, both are essential for management of the
project.

17

3.3

Monitoring
Monitoring should be from the start of PPED till the end of it.it should be executed by
every stakeholder of PPED.
Meeting the deadline for example is one the main indications of a successful project
planning. Each activity in the project is scheduled and timelined.eg: training is
scheduled 4 weeks. There is a possibility that not all employees will be covered in 4
weeks, while working on Gantt chart, we should consider giving more timeline to this
activity, which have more likelihood to be delayed.
Precautionary measurements and right calculation of critical path activities will allow us
to finish on time planned.

Current
.State.
Employees
working,
accomplishing
their tasks but
not motivated,
innovative or
creative

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Task 4:

Analyze the outcomes of a project in terms of the original project specification

Evaluate the outcomes of a project

Make justified recommendations for improvements to the project

4.Project Evaluation

4.1

Outcomes

The outcome of this project is the final product that will increase corporate excellence by
capturing project performance data and presenting it on dashboards format, in order to
inform the top management and directors to make the right decisions and take actions
relevant to the success and help of monitored project, which will enhance the quality of
project monitoring.
Another outcome is on the long run of using the system effectively, which is gain trust of
clients due to the accurate, timely, and efficient information and data presentation.

19

4.2

Outcomes Evaluation

The outcome of the project is the product, which is PPED system. The evaluation of this
system, depends on:

Quality

Time

Actual versus Plan

If we are satisfied with the quality of the system and the actual time the system was completed
by and overall actual cost and time were close or as planned. Therefore, our system is
successful.
In addition, demonstration of the system to executives can be conducted and pilot data entry
can be done to evaluate the system.

20

4.3

Recommendations

The PPED serves as the pilot project and a proof of concept for an Enterprise Business
Intelligence (BI) System where current performance or future projections for the company can
be captured and analyzed to inform the decision making process. As a future enhancement,
business requirements for a versatile BI System can be prepared and used to implement and
evolve the PPED System into a more robust and comprehensive IT enabled enterprise solution
that comprises all business areas and operations which far surpasses the scope of just projects
performance monitoring.

21

Task 5:

Produce a report of all project procedures used.

Present the outcomes of the project to an audience using an agreed format and

appropriate media

5.Project Closing

5.1

Procedures Report

Create a user-friendly format of the report including the scope of the project, objectives,
product and table of contents.

List all work base activities and its breakdown and subcategories and tasks

Include WBS Dictionary define tasks, task requirements and expectations

Include WBS Package stating critical information about completing the task (start and
end dates, task owner, allocated budget, etc.)

Present results of project and implications of the project results

22

5.2

Presentation

The outcome of PPED procedures can lead to development and introduction of a new
integrated system. By presenting the system via presentations, spreading feedback
sheets and surveys and sending informative information on the progress and
achievements of this project we will enhance having a clearer and bigger picture of the
roadmap of our system, where by this we can make corrective actions from responses in
feedback forms, or even during a Q and A session after presentations. Hence, this will
lead to improving our system and might positively impact on future expansion plans of
EGC by putting more information together which will give us a roadmap and show us
how our system is performing.

23

References

Bryson,J.M.,&Bromiley,P.(1993).Critical factors affecting the planning and

implementation of major projects.Strategy Management Journal,14(5),319-337.

JISC,n.d.Project Planning:Objectives,outputs and outcomes.[online]Available at:

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uk/fundingopportunities/projectmanagement/planning/objectivesoutputs-outcomes.aspx [accessed on Sep 12,2014]

Mathis,M.(2009)Work Breakdown Structure:Purpose,Process and

Pitfalls.[online]Available at: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk [accessed on Sep 16,2014]

Bibliography

Srinivasan,B.,2009.Project Selection Methods-An overview.[online]Available

at:http://leadershipchamps.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/project-selection-methods-anoverview/[Accessed on Sep 29,2014]

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