CASE STUDY

System Support Management

Implementing asset management in a naval organisation

General
The Project Management course has been designed for you to help you preparing to adapt and respond to the competitive environment of modern global business. You have learned to recognize the different types of projects and to understand the different approach to planning, project start up and style of management. In addition you have learned to identify and manage potential problems and the importance of communication. Consequently you have learned how to achieve your goals and objectives in the best possible way whilst contributing to the strategic objectives of the organization. Now you will be involved in a final Case Study. First you will be asked to set up a detailed Project Master Plan concerning the implementation of a primary business process (Practise Case) in a System Support Management environment. Secondly, you are to organize a number of visits to businesses, organizations and authorities that are specially involved in or are knowledgeable on the main subjects related to your project. As a final task you must write an evaluation document and motivate all aspects, steps and proposed processes. The latter is considered the most important part for your assessment. In the following paragraphs the Practice Case will be described in more detail. The way this case has been set up will allow you to work in teams and bring the newly acquired knowledge into practice. This means that the case can be considered as a Multi Project or a Programme containing several projects to which you may assign different priorities. Your Project Master Plan should identify these projects and their priorities.

Introduction and setting

In order to accomplish its vision and mission, a naval organisation requires several assets. A well know framework for Asset Management, PAS55, identifies a diversity of assets a naval organisation may possess: human assets, financial assets, information assets, intangible assets and physical assets as shown in Figure 1. PAS55 asserts that a proper management of a physical asset cannot take place independent from the other assets. PAS55 may be applied on any subset of an organisations physical asset. However, this subset should at least entail those assets that are crucial for accomplishing an organisations mission and vision. The naval organisation from this case recently acquired some new vessels to protect the coast of a particular country. Of course this naval organisation intends to ensure that these vessels and their supporting systems achieve their associated performance, risks and expenditures over their life cycle to accomplish the organisations strategic plan.

The naval organisation has identified these vessels and their supporting systems as a pilot project to test the effectiveness and the efficiency of asset management that satisfies the PAS55 requirements.

Figure 1 Classification of assets according to PAS55

Assignment description
An asset management system may entail Figure 2s elements. The student group may initially identify these elements as projects in an overall endeavour to implement asset management for these particular vessels of this naval organisation. The student group may decide to enter or remove project from this portfolio. So, the initial project portfolio comprises: - Project organisational strategic plan; - Project asset management policy; - Project asset management strategy and objectives; - Project asset management plans; - Project life cycle activities; - Project assets.

Figure 2 elements of Asset Management according to PAS55

The student group is invited to expose the naval organisation to a fit-gap analysis using the PAS55 requirements as a reference. Having done this exercise, the current state of the initial project portfolio is known. The student group may then review the initial project portfolio and its underlying projects. Eventually, the portfolio needs to be redefined. The students are invited to compose a Project Master Plan that comprises the project portfolio. Priorities assigned to the various projects are reflected in the master schedule Finally the Evaluation Report must be written and shall explain the approach of the team to organizing the project, the problems encountered and their solutions. Special attention should be given to answering the following question, what would you do different next time with regard to your: multi-projec t management process; organizational structure concerning these project management processes; information structure with respect to management processes and organizational structure Communication process Risk management process Support management process

Some hints to help you

a) Identify the type of project you have chosen: Type 1. engineering project; Type 2. product development; Type 3. application software development; Type 4. research and organizational change. b) Identify the stakeholders and define their interests. Define their roles, competencies, responsibilities and make a force field analysis. c) Develop a Project Master Plan according to the presented format. This Project Master Plan must deal with the following 10 Project Management aspects: scope organisation scarce ressources time cost information quality risk stakeholders social dynamics