project management written report

Group Project Overview & Case You Can Use 1

III. Case to use for Final Project: Part I Overview use for Deliverables 1 - 4

(Modified from a problem case summary through PMI.org to fit the learning objectives of this course)

Forward-Aid, a top-ranked US retail pharmacy in Chicago, IL with more than 11,000 stores nationwide that employs more than 244,000 people overall has brought your team on to consult (dedicated PM team) to facilitate managing a potential future project. The company has engaged in innovative business practices and once again they are considering a groundbreaking concept. Forward-Aid is secretly considering delivering prescriptions by flying drone. D-Tech, a small firm in Chicago, IL provides drone technology that is currently piloting drone delivery systems, has executed a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) committing to the intent to move forward with customizing its systems and business process to fulfill Forward-Aid’s prescription delivery requirements.

As the consulting team brought on to lead the project, your group project team will be working directly for Forward-Aid. The Operations Vice President Joe Zewel of Forward-Aid wants to develop a pilot project to get something in motion and see how it performs. He will provide the funds and oversee all aspects of this initiative.

Mary Pearson is the Project Manager for Forward-Aid’s internal IT department, and she has been assigned by CIO, James Connor, to lead the information systems development that will be needed to support the initiative. Phillip Greenberg is the project manager at D-Tech who will work with you. Generally, from the Operations perspective, the project will likely need to accomplish the following:

Develop Forward-Aid’s online order entry process that will allow customers in the Chicagoland area to register their willingness to have a drone deliver their orders by means of online entry or smartphone entry. There will be significant restrictions on the approval of customers for this service, so there will need to be a segment of the process to allow Forward-Aid’s management to approve the customer, send a confirmation to the customer, etc.

Create reports for Forward-Aid’s management to provide information on sales, customer reactions and key performance indicators that senior management will define for you.

Create communications for customers electronically through email, online and through mobile alerts as the customer requests.

D-Tech will handle piloting the drones and delivery of the products. They already have processes that handle order entry, delivery confirmation and a mobile app, but they need to be customized for Forward-Aid so that customers don’t see these as two separate companies. Eileen Seymour is the point of contact on the information systems side with D-Tech and will be overseeing the team on their side. A price for this system customization is not yet determined and the development of this proposal will be a part of your project plan. You will need to build in the contract negotiations between Forward-Aid and D-Tech as you develop the project plan as well. Members of the legal teams of both organizations will assist you with this.

Ensure that the relationship between D-Tech and Forward-Aid does not compromise the security of Forward-Aid’s business information, the customer’s privacy and the proprietary information about how Forward-Aid will use the drones for delivery. You will work with Forward-Aid’s Information Security Management Team to accomplish this, and William Scott is the project lead on that team for this project.

You will need to identify basic business process requirements and then determine your team members from the list of people given in this document as you move toward final project planning.

It has been determined that only four (4) Forward-Aid pharmacies will participate in the prototype delivery system. These are in a close geographic area to one another, and they are in a non-city environment consisting mainly of suburban homes and small businesses outside of Chicago proper. Customers in apartment buildings will not be permitted in the prototype due to delivery issues. You will need to ensure that the four participating pharmacies are fully ready to engage in this prototype by the time for first flight, and the drone deliveries need to be seamless enhancements to Forward-Aid’s already top-quality delivery processes for customers.

· The IT folks have determined that no additional IT infrastructure will be required for this project from Forward-Aid, as all of that specialized technology is only on the D-Tech side, and they will be including it in their proposal and a separate project plan that they will give to you as a part of their contract. Forward-Aid can accommodate operating this prototype system within their existing infrastructure that handles customer orders, but those processes need to be enhanced in order to provide this delivery option and all the management processes that must accompany them.

· Forward-Aid has allocated a maximum of $1,750,000 for this prototype project, although this is only an ultimate constraint – you will eventually need to tell Mr. Zewel what your project estimate will be, but you don’t have enough information about the project design yet to be able to give such a budget figure. You have been asked by Mr. Zewel to ensure that your project not only does not go over this figure, but that it is under that total if possible. The two companies agreed that they would like to begin the project on next January 4, and that their first customer delivery flight should take place no later than November 30 to avoid harsh weather in the Chicagoland area.

Other steps and processes to consider as you work on this project:

Regular Meetings with the Team, Stakeholders, and Cross-impacted areas of the company.

Approval points as needed through the project sequence.

Points at which you will refine cost and staffing requirements

Points at which you will produce the various Project Plan documentation deliverables

Testing, quality control and provision for issues that may develop.

User training and other preparations for system implementation. The Forward-Aid Change Management Team, headed by Shirley Johnson, will assist you in this effort.

IV. Summary of Personnel Involved in the Project (name initials are in brackets):

D-Tech Corporation Staff:

Jordan Kempler (JXK), CEO and Founder

Phillip Greenberg (PAG), Project Manager – main point of contact

Stephanie Williams (SMW), Senior Business Analyst

Gerald Hasper (GPH), Flight Operations Manager

Eileen Seymour (ERS), Project Lead, IT Systems

Katie O’Ryan (KRO), Corporate Attorney – D-Tech

Forward-Aid’s Staff:

Joe Zewel (JZ), Operations VP

James Connor (JFC), CIO

Mary Pearson (MJP), Project Lead, IT Systems Team

William Scott (WKS), Project Lead, Security Team

Julie Green (JRG) Pharmacy Manager Store #35864

Steve Haskell (SLH) Pharmacy Manager Store #32185

James O’Donnell (JLO) Pharmacy Manager Store #38734

Wilma Marcy (WPM) Pharmacy Manager Store #33001

You as Project Manager on the Business Operations side (Come up with your own initials)

Mary Kerstner (MJK), Business Systems Analyst

Jonathan Perry (JSP), Retail Operations Assistant

William Postner (WKP), Marketing Analyst

Sherry Loganthorpe (SPL), Social Media Specialist

Other helpful information:

· The project is set to take flight January 4, 2021. Your team will put together the entire project overview (in written and an executive brief presentation format) that is due on 11/21/20. Your goal is to be selected to lead this project at Forward-Aid, beginning January 4, 2021.

· From a milestone standpoint, the project begins January 4, 2021 and the first customer delivery flight should take place no later than November 30, 2021 to avoid harsh weather in the Chicagoland area.

· You must ensure that all required deliverables appear in your WBS specifically, and that each includes design, development, testing and implementation as appropriate. Your WBS must include project management steps for the charter/scope, risk management plan, WBS, schedule, training and the required meetings to conduct and manage the project.

· If choosing to move forward with this case, you must use “Modern PM”, not “Agile PM” approach.

Example Case to use for Final Project: Part 2 Additional Details use for Deliverables 3 & 4

(Modified from a problem case summary through PMI.org to fit the learning objectives of this course, this information is not necessary for deliverables 1 and 2 )

Please review Part 1 as it includes the general background and requirements for this project. This information in Part 2 should be included as you work on the project schedule and key milestones:

· Total Project Cost must not exceed Project Constraints. Project Schedule should begin January 5, and should meet the schedule constraints.

· It is up to you to add the project management, communication, testing and training tasks as needed to make the project successful. Use the information in the case and the other assignments, along with your own ideas about how much effort is involved to ensure a quality implementation overall throughout the project. Be sure that you do not exceed the project constraints.

· Remember that this project will be tight in terms of time and cost, so do not include steps that are not necessary for this particular project. You should schedule the project from the beginning, including Charter/Scope, planning meetings, Risk Management and Communication Plan development, WBS and schedule and key milestones development.

· The personnel involved in the D-Tech Corporation do not have billing rates per hour because their cost is being absorbed by the fixed fee specified in their proposal below. These people should be listed in your resource sheet, but with $0.00 standard rate, and they should be assigned to the appropriate tasks for the project.

· Jordan Kempler (JXK) - CEO and Founder

· Phillip Greenberg (PAG) - Project Manager – main point of contact

· Stephanie Williams (SMW) – Senior Business Analyst

· Gerald Hasper (GPH) – Flight Operations Manager

· Eileen Seymour (ERS) – Project Lead, IT Systems

· Katie O’Ryan (KRO) – Corporate Attorney – D-Tech

They should be assigned to project tasks as appropriate using the information in the case and the details below.

· D-Tech Corporation Contract Fees and Dates: After a complicated negotiation, Forward-Aid has executed terms and conditions coming to an agreement with D-Tech specifying the following phased payment plan that is linked to specific dates or deliverables. You are responsible for ensuring that the payments occur on time, but are only made if the appropriate conditions have been met. Be sure to include the necessary tasks in your WBS to accommodate evaluating, and paying for, these contract activities:

· Total D-Tech fee for customizing order entry, delivery confirmation and mobile application software to Forward-Aid’s’ specifications: $423,592.00 with payments to be received as follows:

· February 2 – Initial payment due: $42,000

· After Forward-Aid’s approval of D-Tech Customization Design Phase: Payment of $45,000

· After Successful demonstration of Order Entry module: Payment of $35,000

· After Successful demonstration of Delivery Confirmation module: Payment of $55,000

· After Successful demonstration of Mobile Application module: Payment of $25,000

· After Production System Test Approval by Forward-Aid: Payment of $85,000

· After Successful Implementation Signoff by Forward-Aid: Final Payment of $136,592

· Forward-Aid’s Staff, Internal effective hourly rates and official abbreviated names (initials):

· Joe Zewel (JZ), Operations VP ($200/hr)

· James Connor (JFC), CIO ($150/hr)

· Mary Pearson (MJP), Project Lead, IT Systems Team ($55/hr)

· William Scott (WKS), Project Lead, Security Team ($50/hr)

· Julie Green (JRG) Pharmacy Manager Store #35864 ($60/hr)

· Steve Haskell (SLH) Pharmacy Manager Store #32185 ($60/hr)

· James O’Donnell (JLO) Pharmacy Manager Store #38734 ($60/hr)

· Wilma Marcy (WPM) Pharmacy Manager Store #33001 ($60/hr)

· You as Project Manager on the Business Operations side (Come up with your own initials) ($55/hr)

· Mary Kerstner (MJK), Business Systems Analyst ($45/hr)

· Jonathan Perry (JSP), Retail Operations Assistant ($40/hr)

· William Postner (WKP), Marketing Analyst ($52/hr)

· Sherry Loganthorpe (SPL), Social Media Specialist ($45/hr)

· Linda Thornton (LET), Online Customer Process Analyst ($40/hr)

· Gerald Peritoni (GEP), Testing Specialist ($38/hr)

· Elizabeth Walton (EMW), Senior Testing Specialist ($49/hr)

· Shirley Johnson (SPJ), Change Management Coordinator ($40/hr)

· Alan Swanson (AES), Attorney – Legal Department ($60/hr)

· Denise Delgado (DLD), Financial Operations Analyst ($40/hr)

· The following is the estimated total EFFORT HOURS for only the business process enhancements and reporting to the customer and Forward-Aid’s management for the prototype systems.

1. Forward-Aid’s/D-Tech Legal Contract Negotiations (250 hours)

2. Forward-Aid’s Inventory Management Process Modifications (180 hours)

3. Forward-Aid’s Pharmacy Customer Information Modifications (180 hours)

4. D-Tech Reporting Interface – Forward-Aid’s Side System (150 hours)

5. Website/Mobile App Content Update – Forward-Aid’s Side (175 hours)

6. Social Media Strategy and Implementation Plan – (75 hours)

7. Customer/Management Reporting (135 hours)

8. Store Management Reporting (135 hours)

9. Credit Card Processing (75 hours)

10. Forward-Aid’s Sales Management Reporting (150 hours)

· You need to determine who on Forward-Aid’s and D-Tech’s staff should be involved in the various deliverables based upon what you think best, and how their positions and skills relate to the tasks.

MGT 303: Managing Projects & Teams