¶ … Charter, Scope Management, Project Planning (Project Management) PROJECT CHARTER

Sponsor:

Government Agency

Goal Definition and Performance Indicators in Soft Projects: Building a Competitive Intelligence System

Problem/Opportunity Statement

The rivalry between the different divisions in the tourism organization is very high, which calls for coordination. Nevertheless, this coordination would consume substantial portion of the organization's resources. The concept to utilize was felt, owing to the above challenges, and the organization to produce quality information, and the system would work well to eliminate this challenge. Therefore, the solution was to develop an operational Competitive Intelligence System within a timeframe of two years. In addition, this system should be good in comparison to the already existing CISs in the private sector.

Key Deliverables

The CIS system was meant to meet the needs felt at lower levels (particularly the needs for those in the middle line management)

The main reason for its design, would be to allow for improvement in job performance with the proper rewards; therefore, it had to deliver such a perception

The inspiration behind it must deliver "best business practices" (to give it legitimacy), and incorporated into the organization's culture and mandate

The people would be major stakeholders, and they should be included during the design and implementation of the system

The system should collect, store and enable the retrieval of information

The system was to assist in distinguishing best business practices, which were significant to execute within the organization

The system would help in defining options, especially, useful practices, which were not important

Key Requirements

Determination of the relevant CIS elements, which required careful analysis

Accuracy was required in formulating instructions to the personnel

Good choice of computer systems were also significant

Analysis is also a required aspect for successful CIS. Qualitative analysis is required, and line involvement in order to achieve success in implementing the system

Competitive evaluations were also required to establish the potential competitors and the threats and opportunities they represent in order to keep costs under control when collecting information

Fast and efficient recruitment of end users of this CIS

Exclusion

Set of guidelines or a sample approach for setting up and successfully running a CIS existed in large corporations

It was possible to import he "proven technology" without extensive modification

The primary function of the CIS was to collect, store and retrieve information. For example, the aim of the project was to design and setting up the technology

A CIS was because of the research and data collection function. For example, the line managers and top management were the passive consumers rather than the primary producers

BENEFIT

KPIs

The CIS would help the organization in monitoring how competitors fared in the tourism business

The organization, having this information, would use it to their advantage; hence, profitability as compared to other businesses is the indicator

Identification of threats, opportunities early enough

Strategies implemented to cope with the threats and opportunities, such as improved marketing strategies

Strategic Alignment

The Competitive Intelligence System was a strategic tool, which had the capacity to monitor how the various Canadian destinations were likely to perform in the market, and identify significant threats and opportunities in the tourism sector.

The organization would have a strategic competitive advantage as compared to other businesses in the same line of business.

The implementation followed a strategic path, whereby there was testing of the internal competition within the organization through numerous mini-projects conducted by volunteers from the three divisions of the organization. This approach was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CIS and establish whether the organization needed its assistance.

This strategy was to provide;

1. An effective approach to control costs

2. A sense of ownership in the entire organization of the system by different individuals whose diligence would respond favorably to incentives, competition and technical support

3. A gradual and smooth shift from what some had perceived as power struggle among the divisions to a standard operating procedure, which would dictate what information to use and how to use it during the decision-making process

Approximate Cost

Earlier on, there was the plan, which the organization was to follow, but after comprehensive analysis the management recognized the unnecessary budgetary towards implementing the CIS

The objectives were re-organized and a new plan created, whereby there cost was to be formulated and presented to the management team

A statement concerning the cost was to be provided showing how the cost would be defined and controlled

The main areas that would require monetary compensation include salaries, operational maintenance, capital, professional services and other costs

Approximate Timeframe

The CIS system would undergo several stages,

Design, planning, evaluation, the conducting of mini projects and the implementation process

The...

This is because the people or workforce had not been included, and they are part of the organization.
There was no CIS model existing in the private sector, which made the design process difficult because the design team did not know what constituted a good CIS.

Approval Yes / No

Authority: ____ Date:

Sponsor

REQUIREMENT TRACEABILITY MATRIX

Product Requirement

Deliverable Component

The product should have relevant CIS elements

This would enable the system to collect, store and enable the retrieval of information

Accuracy was required in formulating instructions to the personnel

The system would help in defining options, especially, useful practices, which were not important

Fast and efficient recruitment of end users of this CIS

The system would allow for improvement in job performance

Competitive evaluations were also required to establish the threats and opportunities

Assist the organization achieve a competitive advantage against its competitors

PROJECT WBS

WBS ELEMENT

Volunteers

Collection and evaluation of information

Internal team

Gathering and analyzing data related to the functions of the CIS

Lay the groundwork for the system

Educate other staff concerning the system

External team

Designing the CIS

Provide the final implementation strategy

Provide technical assistance

Project coordinator

Supervise the internal and external teams

Evaluate the progress of the project

Project manager

Head of the project

Top Management

Provide funds, and other needs for the success of the project. Initiate the implementation of the project

Scope Change

Within some weeks, the project had shown some signs for failure. This called for a change in some of the activities; the assumptions made were not practical in the real sense. Most importantly, the main disturbing issue was the unrealistic budgetary requested in order to see to the completion of the project. In addition, the lack of an existing model of the system in the private sector, made it difficult to approximate the funds required for the project, and the organization requested for a scope of change on this issue.

Part II

Describe one specific project-planning problem encountered in this project and how it may have been avoided or better managed.

Under planning

The assumptions, which formed the basis of the project, were unrealistic, the goals were not achievable, and this jeopardized the success of implementing the CIS. Although assumptions form the basis of project planning, the four used in this project were unrealistic, especially when they were to be applied in reality. Therefore, the organization resisted the implementation of the project. Most importantly, the budget was unrealistic, and the information required was detailed, which was not achievable. Owing to this, the management felt that the project was not capable of brining returns, especially when compared to the amount of budget require. This suggests that they would not support the project.

On the other hand, the potential CIS clients, including the internal and external personnel lacked interest. There lacked other organizations, which had successfully integrated the CIS into their organization, meaning that the organization would have a hard time attempting to implement the system for the first time. This was a significant problem suggesting under planning and it had the capacity to affect the success of the overall success of the project. Under planning was evident in the project, and it was apparent that there was not enough research done on the project. Before undertaking a project, there is a need to conduct adequate research on it to ascertain the resources needed for proper implementation (Kezner 2001).

In addition, it was apparent that there was over dependence on the assumptions, which they later recognized as unrealistic. It was likely that the unrealistic budget resulted from overburdening of the project and attempts to get necessary information. Nevertheless, there was a need to adopt a project management plan, which would have helped in the determining the approximate costs retrieved from research (King 2013). Most importantly, it was evident that the initial expectation was that the assumptions would add value to the project, but apparently, the many assumptions overburdened the entire project and added no value. Therefore, it is significant to use achievable assumptions.

Describe one specific example of good project planning in the project

Implementation strategy

After the organization ascertained the risks, which would influence the implementation of the project, they re-structured the objectives in an attempt keep the project going. They used "best practices" to segregate the relevant characteristics to select the CIS from options, which could survive in the organization for long-term. The choice of the CIS followed practices observed in all organizations, which utilized the CIS. In addition, they undertook analysis, reviewed budgets and made appropriate adjustments, and provide support to the initial people involved…