Project Management

Project Management

Question 1
1. Divisional Finance staff:
Divisional Finance staff comes under the resistor quadrant as they are not happy
with this new project which is clearly mentioned.
Appropriate actions for them to actively participating in the project:
a. Most of the finance staff are fed up with queries asked about their submitted
data not by one, but by up to four teams within head office. This should not
be happening. There should be an understanding within the four teams in the
head office and appropriate decisions should be made between them that
which team should ask the queries about the data submitted by the finance
staff, which indirectly will not give any trouble for the finance team like
answering the same queries again and again.
2. HQ Finance staff:
HQ finance staff comes under the compromiser quadrant because it is said that
there would be no job losses especially in the HQ Finance staff.
Appropriate actions for HQ finance staff actively participating in the project:
a. HQ finance staff can be enthusiased by showing the project prototype and by
explaining them how the project will work and bring profit to the
organization. However there will be one negative impact if the project
prototype is shown to them, they will get the idea of the project.
3. I.T team:
I.T teams may also come under resistor quadrant because morale in the I.T team is
very low and are seriously understaffed.
a. The I.T team is mostly likely to give no attention to the project as they have
many priorities. To make them actively participate in the project a word must be
spread in the whole organization that the I.T team will only be focusing on the
project as their first priority. To make this more effective an agreement should be
Project Management

made between the various division staff that the I.T team will only focus on the
project.

Question 2
According to me, I dont think that it is a sensible approach by saying to the staff
that there would be no job losses in the company. Because what if we realize that
we need to cut numbers in various divisions later in the project? Later, at some
time the staff would also realize that at they will lose their jobs. This will create a
huge tension among them which could lead to the failure of the project.
Solution to this would be like arranging an interview or test to qualify for the
project for the staff so that later there would be no worries of job losses among the
staff.

Question 3
Project
Manager

24 Months

x4

Business
Analyst

x1

8 Months

16 Months

Programmers

x6

x2

24 Months

6 Months

x3

System Tester

3 Months
x1

Manual
Writer

12 Months

User
Acceptance
Testers

x2

3
Month

Project Management

Question 4
As the project is underfunded by 1 million pound which is a huge difference, I
would explain the Deep Blue Seaways with my companys renowned finance
wizard product, a system that processes all financial information. With help of my
previous experience I would explain every information in detail that the project is
underfunded and how? And demand them for 1 million pound or I would ask them
to reduce the scope of the project. I would also tell them to hire some staff that
would be helpful for the project, but it would have its own negative impact that the
newly hired staff would need a training which could lead to time consuming.

Question 5
The five critical risks and actions to minimize their impaction are as follows:
1. I.T Team
This is one of the biggest risk in the project as the I.T teams are seriously
understaffed and the team morale is very low. This could prove very disadvantage
to the project and could lead it to the failure.
Agreements should be made within the companys various divisions that I.T team
will mainly focus on project. This would help the I.T team to build their confidence
and morale.
2. The project is underfunded
It is clearly seen that the project is underfunded by 1 million. It is also a critical
risk and if appropriate actions are not taken the project would lead nowhere.
To overcome this problem full project finance information should be explained to
the sponsors of the project. It should be clearly explained to them that why is the
project underfunded. After explaining we can request to increase the amount which
is required to complete the project or we can also ask to reduce the scope of the
project.
3. No job losses

Project Management

Initially this decision would not prove to be a risk but, later in the project a
situation may develop where people will have to leave their job as they do not have
the skills required for the project. This will create a tension among the employers
that they might lose their job and give no interest in the project.
Firstly, it should be announced that there would be job losses. Interviews and test
should be arranged before starting the project. This will help in eliminating the
unskilled employee and more importantly help in removing the fear of job losses
between the employers.
4. Suggesting the best practice between the four divisions to use their data
formats.
From previous experience it is clear that finance heads in all the divisions are not
cooperative. So choosing ones data format would indirectly increase more
disputes between the divisions. This is a worrying factor.
This problem should be bought under the eyes of the directors of the Deep Blue
Seaways. And it should be explained properly why data format of a specific
division was chosen in present of all the divisions.

Question 6
According to me the project mostly aligns to the second objective which is to
introduce new services that generate additional 20% revenues within the next 18
months.
The aim of the project is to replace Deep Blue Seaways outdated finance systems
with our companys renowned finance wizard product. The software that processes
all the financial information and gives infinite management information reports
which have proved to be very helpful for the existing user companies. This
certainly means that the Deep Blue Seaways is clearly focusing on introducing new
services with their outdated finance systems which will help them to increase their
revenues by 20% within the next 18 months.

Project Management

Question 7
As per the scenario Deep Blue Seaways seems to be a ticket selling company for
travelling and their system would be related to the ticket selling software.
Issues with linking up new systems would be that there would a problem of data
format. Data format of the new system will not matchup with the one with the
Deep Blue Seaways.

Project Management