Final Project Management Plan

Final Project Management Plan

BUS633: Project and Operations Management

Final Project Management Plan

In its efforts to increase their global reach, International Logistics services (ILS) has expanded into the country of Peru through the purchase of an existing company. ILS currently offers logistic services for major retailers and other industries. With the acquisition of a warehouse and truck fleet in its new global location, ILS has found that it inherited several key issues that could hinder its ability to attract clientele in this new region, specifically Walmart, Inc. (Walmart, n.d.). To get the acquired warehouse to be better aligned to partner with the core values of other organizations, ILS will need to implement several improvements in its warehouse operations. To manage these initiatives, they will be managed as a project, which will outline the roadmap for planning and implementing the proposed enhancements within the confines of budgets and timelines. A well-defined project management plan can help businesses define the scope of changes, create an accurate budget and timeline, allocate resources appropriately, and stay on budget and schedule (Kloppenborg. Et al., 2019). This is accomplished through effective project management leadership, along with a sound change management and risk management process, and quality controls.

Project Scope and Solutions

To be better aligned to meet the needs and expectations of our target customers, ILS will need to initiate several improvements in the overall operations. The ILS project team will reduce the number of safety incident occurrences by introducing a safety and wellness plan for the warehouse. This includes an evaluation and root cause analysis of prior incidents. The proper protection equipment will be identified and issued to all employees. Safety procedures will be reinforced with signage in the appropriate spaces. To reduce energy waste, we will introduce energy-efficient lighting and equipment in the warehouse. We will will include a plan to phase into sustainable, renewable energy sources. Improvements to the warehouse will include mapping out the floor plan, developing a plan for storage and inventory, and the design and implementation of an inventory management system. We will compile a record of all equipment in the warehouse and their maintenance records and implement a phased replacement plan, as all equipment cannot be immediately replaced. A formal training plan will be instituted for each position as well as safety procedures. All processes and functions will be documented in current state and reviewed for effectiveness and efficiency and updated accordingly.

Project Schedule

The project schedule is important to any project as it allows the project manager and stakeholders to determine if the project is ahead of schedule, on schedule or off schedule (Project Manager, n.d.). The project is expected to commence on February 1, 2021, with an expected end date of December 31, 2021. This allows the team ten months to complete the outlined deliverables. We have slated the project to end on November 15, 2021, allowing ourselves additional time in the event of unanticipated changes or events. The overall schedule activity categories are reduction of safety incidents, energy conservation, warehouse organization, upgrade of equipment, standard operating procedures, and training. We formulated the activities and corresponding sub-activities utilizing an indented work breakdown structure (WBS). A WBS provides a visual representation of the deliverable objectives of the project (Work Breakdown Structure, n.d.). Each activity category is comprised of individual sub -activities that will work accomplish the goal (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2017). We have assigned a start and end date for each activity within the project. The duration for each scheduled activity is measured in the number of days. We have utilized Project Libre software to develop and maintain the schedule for this project. The detailed project schedule is provided in Appendix A.

Project Budget

The project budget is essential as it provides a baseline constraint of how much money can be spent in total, as well as outlines the associated costs of each specific activity within the project (Lacoma, 2020). The allocated budget for this project is $100,000. We have projected a cost of $94,500 for the project, leaving a small amount for underestimation of or last-minute changes to the project scope. The detailed project budget is provided in Appendix B.

Leadership Approach

A good project manager must be adept at communication, negotiation, and motivation of team members (Alexander, 2020). They should also be able to adapt based on the cultural environment they are in. The culture in Peru is one that would require a leadership approach that is firm, and provides structure for the workers, but is also flexible (Hofstede Insights, n.d.). As s collectivist society, they place high value on community, and have loyalty and pride in their heritage. Therefore, a leader that exhibits a value-based, charismatic approach will serve best to bring together members of the team (Northouse, 2018).

Allocation of Human Resources

An effective project manager can assemble the right group of subject matter experts to work on the project, that can drive completion of related activities and tasks (Lacoma, 2020). Therefore, they need to identify the type of skills and expertise required for the project, and when they would need available (Kloppenborg et al., 2019). Once this has been determined, the project manager should work in conjunction with the project sponsor and the department leads to determine the best resources for the project. Having a resource breakdown structure (RBS) can help organize and manage identified resources by skill type (PMI, 2017). The availability of the required resources may become a constraint on the project. Therefore, the project manager will need to be prepared with effectual negotiation skills, offering trade-off solutions to maintain relationships with the various business areas (Project Management Videos, 2018). This will ensure that the existing operations can be maintained, and the project has the resources it needs.

Risk Management Plan

All projects will have some risk associated with them. The more complex the project, the greater the probability there is of risk occurring. A risk management plan (RMP) details how risks will be handled during a project, should they arise. The RMP will help identify those positive risks that provide opportunities and benefits to the project. It will also help better manage and monitor those negative risks. It is critical to have a plan to manage risks as they can derail the progress or completion of a project (PMI, 2017). Once a risk has been identified, it will be captured on the risk register which will detail what the risk is, the root cause analysis, and the mitigation steps to resolve it (Kloppenborg et al., 2019). That will allow for the project management team to determine impact, initiate an effective response, and monitor and control for the risk.

Quality Management Plan

The quality management plan defines what the acceptable level of quality is for a deliverable and governs how it will be managed and measured during the project (Kloppneborg et al., 2019). This ensures that the objectives are accomplished at the level of acceptance required by the customer and/or stakeholder. For ILS this includes a 75 percent reduction in safety incidents over prior years, a 50 percent reduction in energy waste, improved service level objectives (SLOs) for vendor inventory management, employee assessments, and documentation of internal workflows and procedures. The key stakeholders will be responsible for defining and approving the acceptable quality standard for each deliverable. Effective quality controls will be established to ensure consistent levels of quality are maintained or improved.

Change Management Plan

The change management plan of a project outlines how changes to the project scope, objectives and/or deliverables will be handled and managed once the project plan has been approved (Kloppenborg et al., 2019). To control and maintain the scope of the project, it is important that all changes, even minor ones, are routed through the established change management process. Therefore, all changes will be submitted to the project manager through a formal Change Request Form (CRF), which will detail the change, and the impacts to the budget, scope, and timeline of the project. The complete CRF will be reviewed by the project manager, the project sponsor, and the accounting department head, who will then render their approval or rejection of the proposed change.

PMP Summary

ILS has outlined several key initiatives that will be included in the project in its efforts towards operational improvements. With a timeline of ten months and a budget of $100,000, the project management team has prioritized the objectives that will allow ILS to be primely positioned for a logistical partnership with major retailers, such as Walmart. The project will serve to reduce safety incident, reduce energy waste, and improve emissions into the environment, increase opportunities and development of the workforce, and advance current inventory management practices. With effective risk, change, and quality management plans outlined, this project will deliver on key objectives to help align ILS with the quality expectations of our target customers. These enhancements will allow ILS to be the premier logistic operation in the region.

References

Alexander, M. (2020, December 10). 10 traits of highly effective project managers. CIO. https://www.cio.com/article/2433916/project-management-six-attributes-of-successful-project-managers.html

Hofstede Insights. (n.d.). What about Peru? https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/peru/

Kloppenborg, T.J., Anantatmula, V., & Wells, K.N. (2019). Contemporary project management (4th ed.). http://www.cengage.com

Lacoma, T. (2020, November 09). The purpose of a project plan. Houston Chronicle. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/purpose-project-plan-54949.html

Northouse, P. G., (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice (8th ed.). Sage Publications

Project Management Institute. (2017).  A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK(R) Guide–Sixth Edition / Agile Practice Guide Bundle: Vol. Sixth edition. Project Management Institute.

Project Management Videos. (2018, July 2).  How to negotiate better - project management training [Video]. Youtube. 

Project Manager. (n.d.). Project Planning. https://www.projectmanager.com/project-planning

Walmart (n.d.).  Global responsibility.  https://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility

Work Breakdown Structure. (n.d.). What is a work breakdown structure? https://www.workbreakdownstructure.com/

Appendix A

ILS Project Schedule

Appendix B

ILS Project Budget

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