proposal

The acquisition project will be scored based on metrics in the following four distinct cohorts; Timelines, Project duration, budget and meeting frequency (Scheiblich, et al., 2017).

Timelines

The overall project has been divided into milestones and tasks which has further been broken down into work breakdown structure. Each of these work breakdown structures have timelines for completion and interdependence upon the completion of each of the tasks and the allocated resources. The overall structures need to meet the timelines that have been clearly set and defined according to the initial budget. The phases initially were to take 3 months, 6 months, and 3 months for the initiation, transaction and completion phases respectively. However, because of unavoidable circumstances that led to more time being used in the initiation process, during the valuation process. The company to be acquired required much time to complete their financial evaluation n and the period extended to three and a half months. The other timelines are however in place according to the budget.

Project duration

The project is estimated to take 18 months from the sign off to the closeout and post project analysis for business benefit. The project has been divided efficiently into three phases with each of them having a definite timeline for completion. With risk mitigation strategies to respond either positively or negatively to risks, it is expected that the overall period of the project will still be maintained at 18 months for the completion and deliverables of the project.

Budget

The project was allocated a total of $5 million. The initial budget will however be inadequate to complete the project successfully because of some overruns. Among these overhead costs were, the risk of suppliers increasing prices required to supply the materials needed (Yao & Liu, 2016). Also, because the key financial analysis step took time, it is expected that the initial amount required to complete this process might be relatively higher. The funds allocated to the training of staff and integration process was $1 million. After consideration, given the organizational culture of the firm to be acquired, there might need to be more funds being allocated into the training of staff, merging of departments and additional training of key personnel to take up some vital duties in the merged organization. These variables that are different from the initial plan will see to it that the initial budget and the actual budget are not matched, with the initial budget being relatively lower to the actual budget required to complete the project.

Meeting frequency

Because of the need to stay in line with the initial agreements outlined in the project sign off, meetings will need to be held more frequently. These meetings will involve the project team, the manager and key stakeholders according to the need. They will be held once every two weeks to assess the project. The main agendas of these meetings will be to discuss the project progress, to review the processes if they are in line with the agreed outlines and to review risks that may be met along the way. Also, there may be need for proactive thinking to come up with better project deliverables and one that covers a wider scope. From these meetings, it is expected that there will be resolution of problems and conflicts that may occur in the lifecycle of the project. A s a result of these meetings also, it is expected that there will be more focus towards completion of the project and delivering the expected outcomes.

References

Scheiblich, M., Maftei, M., Just, V., & Studeny, M. (2017). Developing a project scorecard to measure the performance of project management in relation to EFQM excellence model. Amfiteatru Economic, 19(11), 966-980. Retrieved from https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=678093

Yao, J., & Liu, J. (2016). E-Government Project Evaluation: A Balanced Scorecard Analysis. Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO), 14(1), 11-23. Retrieved from https://www.igi-global.com/article/e-government-project-evaluation/156549