project management course project

BBA222 Project Management Project Proposal

Task:

 The following assignment is and individual task.  Questions and tasks:

o PROJECT GENERATION & SELECTION.  Based on the Case Study and on your research, what are the vision, mission and values of the company? What is its goal and

objectives? In your opinion, what are the most important challenges that the company will face short-medium term (in the next 3-4 years)?

 Based on the Case Study and on your research, propose at least 10 projects that the company could carry out during a short- medium term (in the next 3-4 years)? Remember the projects should be align with the strategy of the company and their current and possible future challenges.

 Do a Project Pre-Assessment and choose 5 from the 10 pre-selected projects. Use the template provided in class.  For those remaining 5 projects, do a Project Assessment using the Qualitative Method. Use the template provided in class.

o THE PROJECT CHARTER  Describe the project.  Describe the project justification and objectives.  Define the triple constraint:

 Scope. Define the most important requirements.  Time. Set an overall calendar with the most important phases and milestones.  Cost. Set an overall budget with the most important concepts.

 Define the most important assumptions and constraints.  Identify the project’s high-level risks.  Define the Project Team  Define the project stakeholders

 Contextual information o The case study about the company that manufactures sports clothing and equipment, especially for outdoor use, presents basic

information about the company, as well as more detailed information about its origins, evolution as a brand, catalog of products it handles and some of the most recent strategies you have followed.

 You must submit a formal document in pdf format.

Formalities:

 Wordcount: 1500-2000  Cover, Table of Contents, References and Appendix are excluded of the total wordcount.  Font: Arial 12,5 pts.  Text alignment: Justified.

 The in-text References and the Bibliography must be in Harvard’s citation style.

Submission: week 6 – Deadline for submission is Sunday 7h March at 23:59 CEST. – Via Moodle (Turnitin).

Weight: This task is a 40% of your total grade for this subject.

It assesses the following learning outcomes:

 Outcome 1: Describe the need for a project- based approach inside organizations  Outcome 2: Understand the role of project management as a strategic element inside organizations  Outcome 4: How to select, develop, plan, schedule and measure its outcomes and risks.

NEW PROJECT IDEAS FOR AN OUTDOOR CLOTHES AND EQUIPMENT RETAIL STORE

By: Miguel Sánchez Araujo

THE ORIGINS

The North Face is named for the coldest, most unforgiving side of a mountain. The company’s origins are in the San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, where in 1966 two hiking enthusiasts resolved to follow their passions and founded a small mountaineering retail store. From the beginning, the brand committed to serving all those who desired to explore and to serving our natural wild lands by helping to conserve them. The company strongly believes exploration creates an indelible bond with the outdoors, inspiring people to protect the land and pass these beliefs down to the next generation. Soon thereafter, that little shop became known as The North Face, a retailer of high-performance climbing and backpacking equipment. In 1968, The North Face moved to the other side of San Francisco Bay, to the unbridled possibilities of the Berkeley area, and began designing and manufacturing its own brand of technical mountaineering apparel and equipment.

Fig. 1. The North Face Logo. Source: The North Face Webpage

Through the 1960s, The North Face brand cherished a following amongst avid outdoor athletes and began sponsoring expeditions to some of the most far-flung, still largely untouched corners of the globe. This launched a proud tradition which continues in full force today and constantly reinforces The North Face mantra, Never Stop Exploring™. THE RISE OF THE BRAND

By the early 1980s, The North Face was taking exploration to the outer limits of the ski world, adding extreme skiwear to the product offering. These were the days of pastels, neons, hair dye, and mohawks; they laid the groundwork for today's free-spirited snowsports athletes. By the end of the decade, The North Face became the only supplier in the United States to offer a comprehensive collection of high-performance outerwear, skiwear, sleeping bags, packs and tents. The 1990s ushered in an era during which The North Face further broadened the outdoor world it helps athletes to explore. The decade saw our debut in the sportswear market with the launch of Tekware™, an innovative collection designed to provide rock climbers, backpackers, hikers, trail runners, and outdoor enthusiasts with the ultimate fit and function. The North Face half dome logo began to appear with greater regularity on ultramarathon courses, high-country trails, and big walls. And, as the calendar clicked toward a new

Fig. 2. Doug Tompkins, co-founder of TNF (National Geographic, 2015)

millennium, The North Face launched its own line of trekking and trail-running shoes to ultimately address the head-to-toe needs of those always striving for the next horizon. While the brand continued to shape the outdoor market through product, expedition and athlete achievements, it launched two game changing product lines – Thermoball and Fuseform. Thermoball introduced synthetic insulation mimicking the capability of down. Fuseform revolutionized the manufacturing space as it changed the way technical apparel is produced.

Fig. 3. TNF slogan: Never Stop Exploring (The North Face, 2014)

Now, more than 50 Years after its humble grand opening, The North Face delivers an extensive line of performance apparel, equipment, and footwear. We push the boundaries of innovation so that you can push the boundaries of exploration. We remain deeply proud to be the first choice of the world's most accomplished climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers, snowboarders, endurance runners, and explorers. There's little telling what the next 50 years hold for us. However, there is one bedrock of certainty: The North Face will maintain an unwavering commitment to pushing the limits of innovation and design, so that you can push your limits outdoors. Never Stop Exploring.

The North Face states in its webpage that “our fundamental mission is to promote a global movement for the conservation and exploration of the outside world” Also, the company claims that “The desire to share our passion for nature and the great outdoors is our driving force in developing all that we do and the reason we work to manage our products and operations responsibly. At our new European headquarters in Switzerland, 100% of the electrical energy we consume comes from renewable energy sources and we have developed the best sustainability strategies in the industry with our Clothes the Loop clothing and footwear recycling program and the Standard Responsibility for Down (RDS). Also, the implementation of programs such as Hot Planet / Cool Athletes by our athletes helps to raise awareness and alert young students about the impact of climate change, and the Explore Fund encourages them to participate more in outdoor activities and explore nature” (The North Face webpage, 2021)

CHANGE OF STRATEGY

In 2018 the North American brand decided to reclassify its entire client portfolio, prioritizing it by virtue of the alignment that each operator shows with the brand's strategic positioning and the priority it gives to the price factor when selling. Joaquim Tomás, General Director of The North Face for Spain and Andorra, said: “We are going to divest in those operators that base their differential factor on price and we are going to invest in those that align with our brand positioning strategies before the end consumer." (CMD Sport, 2018)

CONTROVERSY: COVERT ADVERTISING ON WIKIPEDIA

In May 2019, the clothing the company revealed that it had hired marketing agency Leo Burnett Tailor for a marketing campain that included replacing some images of outdoor tourist destinations with images of the same destinations that contained company clothing, positioning their advertising at the top of Google results. After the fact became known, the photos were reversed by the Wikipedia administrators team. The Wikimedia Foundation condemned the action, stating in a press release that “when The North Face takes advantage of the trust you have placed in Wikipedia to sell you more clothes, you should be angry. Adding content solely for commercial purposes is directly against Wikipedia's policies, purpose and mission”. (The New York Times, 2019) “We believe deeply in @Wikipedia’s mission and apologize for engaging in activity inconsistent with those principles,” the North Face said on Twitter. “Effective immediately, we have ended the campaign and moving forward, we’ll commit to ensuring that our teams and vendors are better trained on the site policies.” (The New York Times, 2019)

Questions and Tasks

1. PROJECT GENERATION & SELECTION. This part of the exercise is oriented to determine the scenario of the Company, its Business Objectives and the definition and prioritization of the Project Portfolio of the Company for the next 4 years.

Tasks:

 Based on the Case Study and on your research, what are the vision, mission and values of the company? What is its goal and objectives? In your opinion, what are the most important challenges that the company will face short-medium term (in the next 3-4 years)?

 Based on the Case Study and on your research, propose at least 10 projects that the company could carry out during a short- medium term (in the next 3-4 years)? Remember the projects should be align with the strategy of the company and their current and possible future challenges.

 Do a Project Pre-Assessment and choose 5 from the 10 pre-selected projects. Use the template provided in class.  For those remaining 5 projects, do a Project Assessment using the Qualitative Method. Use the template provided in class.

2. THE PROJECT CHARTER

Tasks:

 Describe the project.  Describe the project justification and objectives.  Define the triple constraint:

 Scope. Define the most important requirements.  Time. Set an overall calendar with the most important phases and milestones.  Cost. Set an overall budget with the most important concepts.

 Define the most important assumptions and constraints.  Identify the project’s high-level risks.  Define the Project Team  Define the project stakeholders.

The Project Charter must be able to answer the following questions. These questions are a guide for you to know if what you are doing is correct or not. You DON’T need to answer them as part of your assignment! So here you have some clues…

 What is your view on the project selected? Do you consider it to be an adequate decision for the business?  What is your view on the Project Management approach? Do you consider is necessary to hire an external consultant/s or

provider/s to manage it? It could be a right strategy? Analyze the advantages and disadvantages.  Have you identified a Project Sponsor and a Project Manager?  What would be the project and product requirements in terms of technical specification, quality and management processes?  What assumptions, restrictions and exclusions should be considered?  Who are the Stakeholders involved?

Rubrics

Exceptional 90-100 Good 80-89 Fair 70-79 Marginal fail 60-69 Knowledge &

Understanding (20%)

Student demonstrates excellent understanding of strategic concepts (project selection, pre-assessment and assessment) and project parameters (project charter) concepts. Uses vocabulary in an entirely appropriate manner.

Student demonstrates good understanding of the task and mentions some relevant concepts regarding strategy (project selection, pre-assessment and assessment) and project parameters (project charter). Demonstrates use of the relevant vocabulary.

Student understands the task and provides minimum theory regarding strategy (project selection, pre- assessment and assessment) and project parameters (project charter). and/or some use of vocabulary.

Student understands the task and attempts to answer the question but does not mention key concepts regarding strategy (project selection, pre-assessment and assessment) and project parameters (project charter) or uses minimum amount of relevant vocabulary.

Application (30%) Student applies fully relevant knowledge regarding strategy (project selection, pre-assessment and assessment) and project parameters (project charter).

Student applies mostly relevant knowledge regarding strategy (project selection, pre-assessment and assessment) and project parameters (project charter).

Student applies some relevant knowledge regarding strategy (project selection, pre-assessment and assessment) and project parameters (project charter). Misunderstanding may be evident.

Student applies little relevant knowledge regarding strategy (project selection, pre- assessment and assessment) and project parameters (project charter). Misunderstands are evident.

Critical Thinking (30%)

Student critically assesses in excellent ways, drawing outstanding conclusions from relevant authors.

Student critically assesses in good ways, drawing conclusions from relevant authors and references.

Student provides some insights but stays on the surface of the topic. References may not be relevant.

Student makes little or none critical thinking insights, does not quote appropriate authors, and does not provide valid sources.

Communication (20%)

Student communicates their ideas extremely clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck

Student communicates their ideas clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck

Student communicates their ideas with some clarity and concision. It may be slightly over or under the wordcount limit. Some misspelling errors may be evident.

Student communicates their ideas in a somewhat unclear and unconcise way. Does not reach or does exceed wordcount excessively and misspelling errors are evident.