project management paper 4

PMBOK's ten (10) Knowledge areas as highlighted, will be of us in analyzing our company of choice- Adidas. The three dimensions of project management that will be focused on include; efficiency, team success and business- now and future. The three dimensions as they offer effective mechanisms through which project management is done, acted as good pillars in guiding the adjustments to be made to Adidas in order to move closer to attaining the set profit margins. IT projects often fail despite effective management and availability of resources due to; poor communication, and lack of effective management skills (Schmid, Dauth, Kotulla & Leding, 2018); these are factors that were considered in the Adidas project. Nevertheless, effective risk management is required for the success of all projects.

The second paper offered an insight Adidas and as such the changes necessary were identified. The company has been in service for 20 years (Nunes, 2018), and as such, regular improvements are necessary. When the company was formed, it targeted athletes as its main customers because the main goal of the company from ancient times was to make sports shoes for sports events. The company, however, faces stiff competition; Nike is Adidas’ main competitor (Brohi, Prithiani, Abbas, Bhutto & Chawla, 2016). The company has however acquired a steady growth over the years with technology and innovation its main reasons for success. This led to the need to improve some of its problems in order to keep up with the competition.

The research led to the final paper in which project management skill were applied. ADIDAS intends to develop and implement IT solutions to ensure IT challenges affecting organizations are effectively addressed (Kang & Kim, 2019). The problem was identified as; In Store Logistics. In this regard, RFID Technology is the IT solution used in solving the problem identified. Project management was used to guide the project breakdown in order to eliminate lag or any negative effect on the day-to-day flow of work in the company. The project will take 100 days:

i. Planning which will be undertaken for 60 days

ii. Installation : Installation is the next step and is scheduled for 33 days.

iii. Maintenance and Testing, which is the final task is scheduled for 27days.

The above schedule can only be achieved if the following assumptions are met:

i. RFID equipment is delivered before 4/11

ii. Employees are receptive to the changes

iii. IT Specialists are briefed and prepared by 25/11

iv. Vendors and clients are excited for the RFID system

v. Customers are receptive the system and have the technology to accept and use RFID technology

vi. The project timeline of 60 days is realistic. It would be ideal to finish early and have a lot more time for testing.

Milestones

In order for the completion to be carried out as per the agreed schedule, various targets need to be met at every stage of the implementation process. Below are set targets to allow the smooth transition and daily running of other activities in the organization;

a. Complete project budget by 02/20

b. Contract with IT specialists for system installation

c. Install RFID systems 04/12

d. Ensure inventory is reporting accurately 29/11

e. System testing and implementation 30/12

WBS Structure

A WBS is a key element of a project whereby tasks are divided into small and manageable elements referred to as task. Below is a work breakdown structure as represented in MS Project.

Analysis of Risk Mitigation

Mitigating of risk is an important step in speeding up the rate of success of a project. Risk cannot be avoided in a project. As such, as a project manager, one needs to check the probability of any risk to occur and the degree of the risk (Ind, 2017). Enough preparations should therefore be made to ensure enough resources are made available for the risk mitigation process. Below is an analysis of risks that are considered in our project.

How to Ensure That Ethical Standards are applied to the Management of the Project

Honesty, responsibility, fairness and respect are among important values that drive ethical conduct in project management. These are indeed the principles that guide ethical standards in project management (Ind, Iglesias & Schultz, 2015). In the bid to achieve success for the project, I will ensure adherence to ethical standards. The first step I will use to ensure ethical standards are applied is to inculcate the culture of collective responsibility among all participants. All personnel involved in the project will further be made to sign the ethical standards code to ensure they abide by all rules.

Quality Analysis and Testing

Quality analysis is important in order to ensure that the project is feasible. As seen from the budget : The project will cost an estimated $100k initial investment and a maintenance and parts cost of $25k annually. It is therefore important to constantly check that the RFID tags installed are in good condition in order not to exceed the maintenance cost set. The tags are checked to ensure that they will operate in harsh weather conditions and as such, reducing the probabilities of errors. Proper quality analysis will ensure that the project is feasible.

References

Ind, N., Iglesias, O., & Schultz, M. (2015). How Adidas Found Its Second Wind. Strategy+ Business, 80, 1-5.

Brohi, H., Prithiani, J., Abbas, Z., Bhutto, A., & Chawla, S. (2016). Strategic Marketing Plan of Nike.

Ind, N. (2017). Adidas: rediscovering the source of its success.

Nunes, V. H. S. (2018). Adidas acquires Under Armour: a new era in Sporting Goods (Doctoral dissertation).

Kang, M., & Kim, S. (2019). Fabrication of 3D printed garments using flat patterns and motifs. International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology.

Schmid, S., Dauth, T., Kotulla, T., & Leding, P. (2018). Adidas and Reebok: Is Acquiring Easier than Integrating?. In Internationalization of Business (pp. 27-61). Springer, Cham