Project Management discussion

Company Name

Business Case

(Name of project proposition)

Prepared By:
Presented To:
Date:
Project Standing:

Table of Contents

Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………….………...2

Purpose/Background of the Project………………………………………………………………..………....2

Scope……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...3

Available Solutions………………………………………………………………………………………….…….…....…...3

Solution One (Costs, Schedule, Financial Analysis, Benefits and Risks, Feasibility)............4

Solution Two (Costs, Schedule, Financial Analysis, Benefits and Risks, Feasibility)…….......7

Evaluation Criteria..……………………….………………………………….………………………………………...…....10

Recommendation………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10

Implementation Approach…………………………..……...…..…………………..………………………………...10

Project Authorization………………………………………………….……………………………………………………….12

Appendix……………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………..…..13

Executive Summary

The executive summary will give a brief detailed summary of the project and its purpose. It should give define what the problem or opportunity is clearly, and mention the solutions to these problems. The recommended solution should also be expressed at the end of this summary.

Below is a sample table that can be used to summarize the project.

Summary of Project	Briefly describe the project and its objectives.
Problem/Idea	Describe the problem and why the business needs to implement this project.
Solution One	Briefly describe solution one and its benefits/risks. This will include costs and financial information.
Solution Two	Briefly describe solution two and its benefits/risks. This will include costs and financial information.
Recommendation	Describe the recommended alternative and a brief explanation of why this is the best solution.

Purpose/Background of the Project

· Background information: This section should give a more detailed background on the business and what its objectives are. The background should include the following:

· Vision of organization

· Strategy of organization

· Objectives of organization

· Problem or Opportunity : This section should describe the core problem of the organization, and why the project is needed (i.e. what is the business need?)

· Analysis of the Problem/ Opportunity: This section should analyze why the problem exists and how this problem is affecting the company.

· Purpose of the project: This final section should give the direct purpose of the project.

Scope

The scope will define the boundaries of the project and should include key milestones, assumptions, and key restraints within the project. This part of the business template also clarifies what the deliverables are and the process of obtaining the variables.

Below is an example of how the scope can be organized.

· Boundaries of project: this will include technological constraints, equipment/software used, and business limitations like budget, resources, and time restrictions

· Key milestones: key milestones can be divided into different goals with specific deadlines

· Assumptions: project assumptions should discuss anything that the business believes to be true, but has not been verified with real facts-this can include cost assumptions, resource expectations, customer assumptions, etc.

· Members of project: this section will describe who is involved in the project, and assign parts of the project to each group member

· Tasks of project: project tasks should include organization, initiation duties, labor requirements, tech requirements, etc. (anything that has to be completed during the project)

· Project process: the project process will give the methodology of how to accomplish the tasks

· Deliverables: this will include expected measurable outcomes, including increased production or performance

Available Solutions

A description of the available solutions to address the problem or the opportunity should be included in this section. The available solutions should include propositions of all different levels-from doing nothing to high level change solutions. Followed by the solutions there should be a detailed breakdown of the most feasible solutions proposed.

The following is an example of how the proposed solutions should be described.

a) Proposed Solution One: a brief explanation of the first solution alternative should be described here. This will be followed by the costs of choosing this solution, the schedule of the proposed project, a financial proposition of how the project will be funded, and the benefits and risks of this option.

Procurement Costs: these costs will include planning costs, supplies, how much the company will save if this solution is chosen, etc.

Description	Source	Cost
Material needed	Obtained from	$$$
Service Required	Obtained From	$$$
Licencing Cost	Obtained From	$$$
Savings	Obtained by reductions in certain departments or other	$$$
Etc.	……..	$$$

Total Cost $

Human Resource Cost: this is a breakdown of the costs the project would incur by choosing the first alternative with the specific personnel the company has considered to execute the solution; it would include the prospects name, work department, salary, and other information deemed needed.

Name	Department	Contact	Supervisor	Salary of staff

Total Cost : $

Description	Estimated Total
Material Cost
Service Cost
Human Resource Cost
Etc…..

Total Cost: $

Schedule of Project: A time frame of the deliverables of the project from completion to end should be described here. This will include which tasks must be completed before the next task can start or if the tasks have to be completed simultaneously in order for the project to be completed.

Task A:

Description	Start	End	Dependency
Task to accomplish	mm/dd/yyyy	mm/dd/yyyy	What has to be completed in order for the task to be started.

Task B:

Description	Start	End	Dependency
Task to accomplish	mm/dd/yyyy	mm/dd/yyyy	What has to be completed in order for the task to be started.

Task C:

Description	Start	End	Dependency
Task to accomplish	mm/dd/yyyy	mm/dd/yyyy	What has to be completed in order for the task to be started.

Financial Analysis: Proposition on how the project will be funded and how long it will take for the project to reach a breakeven point.

· Initial Funding Provided By: Retained earnings, loan, selling of stocks or company share, grants, etc.

· Return on Investment: Will profits be obtained as the project is being completed or does the project have to be completed before a return is realized? Depending on the project, both of these can vary.

· Total Cost: Complete cost that would be incurred by choosing the first proposed solution. This number would include the procurement and human resources cost.

· Economic Value Added: The true economic profit the investment would generate after taking into account the opportunity cost of capital invested, which would evaluate how much profit would be obtained by choosing the other solution instead, and/or any other profitable action.

· Amount of Time Until Breakeven: A comparison of the time it will take for the company to start generating revenue from the investment after all costs have been offset.

Benefits and Risks: This can be done by completing a SWOT analysis of the project i.e. a comparison of the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the project may incur.

Strengths	……...
Weaknesses	……...
Opportunities	……...
Threats	……….

Feasibility of project: Describe the likelihood of this particular solution working-what are the functional and technical requirements? Perform a study on this solution, create any prototypes necessary, and record the results here.

b) Proposed Solution Two: a brief explanation of the second solution alternative should be described here. This will be followed by the costs of choosing this solution, the schedule of the proposed project, a financial proposition of how the project will be funded, and the benefits and risks of this option.

Procurement Costs: these costs will include planning costs, supplies, how much the company will save if this solution is chosen, etc.

Description	Source	Cost
Material needed	Obtained from	$$$
Service Required	Obtained From	$$$
Licensing Cost	Obtained From	$$$
Savings	Obtained by reductions in certain departments or other	$$$
Etc.	……..	$$$

Total Cost: $

Human Resource Cost: this is a breakdown of the costs the project would incur by choosing the second alternative with the specific personnel the company has considered to execute the solution; it would include the prospects name, work department, salary, and other information deemed needed.

Name	Department	Contact	Supervisor

Total Cost: $

Description	Estimated Total
Material Cost
Service Cost
Human Resource Cost
Etc…..

Total Cost: $

Schedule of project: A time frame of the deliverables of the project from completion to end. This will include which tasks must be completed before the next task can start or if the tasks have to be completed simultaneously in order for the project to be completed.

Task A:

Description	Start	End	Dependency
Task to accomplish	mm/dd/yyyy	mm/dd/yyyy	What has to be completed in order for the task to be started.

Task B:

Description	Start	End	Dependency
Task to accomplish	mm/dd/yyyy	mm/dd/yyyy	What has to be completed in order for the task to be started.

Task C:

Description	Start	End	Dependency
Task to accomplish	mm/dd/yyyy	mm/dd/yyyy	What has to be completed in order for the task to be started.

Financial Analysis: Proposition on how the project will be funded and how long it will take for the project to reach a breakeven point.

· Initial Funding Provided By: Retained earnings, loan, selling of stocks or company share, grants, etc.

· Return on Investment: Will profits be obtained as the project is being completed or does the project have to be completed before a return is realized? Depending on the project, both of these can vary.

· Total Cost: Complete cost that would be incurred by choosing the second proposed solution. This number would include the procurement and human resources cost.

· Economic Value Added: The true economic profit the investment would generate after taking into account the opportunity cost of capital invested, which would evaluate how much profit would be obtained by choosing the other solution instead, and/or any other profitable action.

· Amount of Time Until Breakeven: A comparison of the time it will take for the company to start generating revenue from the investment after all costs have been offset.

Benefits and Risks: This can be done by completing a SWOT analysis of the project i.e. a comparison of the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the project may incur.

Strengths	……...
Weaknesses	……...
Opportunities	……...
Threats	……….

Feasibility of project: Describe the likelihood of this particular solution working-what are the functional and technical requirements? Perform a study on this solution, create any prototypes necessary, and record the results here.

Evaluation Criteria

Once a detailed comparative analysis of the two solutions has been conducted (as shown above), an evaluation of what criteria the organization uses regarding costs, risks, and business alignment to evaluate the solutions will be described.

· Solution 1 Evaluation: gives insight to unnecessary actions and describes if the following factors are met by this solution- organization/business alignment, financial alignment, minimum requirements

· Solution 2 Evaluation: gives insight to unnecessary actions and describes if the following factors are met by this solution- organization/business alignment, financial alignment, minimum requirements

Recommended Solution

In this section, provide your recommendation on which of the propositions you believe to be most beneficial to the company and the reasoning behind it. It could be the lowest cost, most added value, or highest return on the investment. The “Recommended Solution” component should include how the project is going to be initiated and the project team formed. It should describe who is going to be responsible for which aspects of the project and how they will be coordinated. It should also include how the project will conclude and the steps associated with the project completion.

Below is an example of how this section can be organized:

Recommended Solution: (insert solution one or two here)

Implementation Approach: (describe how the solution will be implemented within the organization)

· Initiation phase: (how will the project begin/be established?)

· Project team members/managers involved: (names of people and their duties)

· Project plan: (details of phases and activities of project)

· Identify Stakeholders and Stakeholder management Strategy: (names and positions of stakeholders , details of plan to fulfill their requirements, communication strategy)

· Execution phase: (give detailed steps of how each phase of the plan will be completed)

· Closing steps: (describe the actions necessary to finish the project and obtain the expected results)

Project Authorization

In initializing the bottom pages of this document and signing below, I ________________, In my capacity as ________________ authorize the recommended solution/ opportunity to be started.

_______________________________

Signature

_______________________________

Printed name

Date: ________________

Appendix

The appendix should include any supporting documents that are important for proving why one specific solution is better than the other. This can include the following:

· Research materials (both business need and feasibility materials)

· External quotes or tenders

· Any cost data and spreadsheets

1