PDQ Project Management Approach

The six subsystems that make up the PDQ solution may each require a different project management approach. You will use knowledge from various units of the course and related discussions incorporated that require strategy formation and other decisions in order to find and maintain a best-fit project management approach.

The project is about to commence, and you are conferring with your team members to decide on reporting requirements and frequency. Your first task is to take into account the stakeholders in the project and what their need might be. Make reference to the background statement for input you will need to answer the following questions:

1. Who are the people that you need to hear from to determine whether they are satisfied with your progress on the project?

2. How will you get information from your team and distribute it to other stakeholders for the project?

The entire PDQ project could be viewed as a program consisting of several dependent projects. Once the component parts of the project have been identified through the initial changes, including those introduced by Dee.

3. Construct the “As Is” and the “To Be” business processes for the Order Entry subsystem. You may have to make some assumptions about the “As Is” process, but just state your assumptions and move on.

Following is an example of an Order Entry case for the PDQ that you can use to help you answer the preceding questions.

Basic Flow of Placing an order

• This use case begins when the actor indicates they want to place an order.

• The system requests order information (coupon information)

• The actor provides valid order information

• The actor indicated that the order information is complete

• The system validates the address (additional details)

• The system prices the order

• The system displays the complete order with the price

• The actor confirms the order

• The system assigns the order to the appropriate preparation location

• The system prioritizes the order

• The use case ends when the system prioritizes the store orders.

4. For the Order Entry subsystem, define an early-warning Schedule Performance Index (SPI) tracking metric with trigger values and supporting graphic display.

5. Despite the team’s heroic efforts to keep Order Entry subsystem on schedule, it has fallen behind and used the management reserve, you are now expected to be two days late. The Logistics subsystem can no longer start on schedule, and the contractors are booked to start.

What are you going to do?

6. Suppose you had six independent teams, each working on a different subsystem. Given what you know about this project, how would you structure the project team? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your choice? What are some potential risk, and how would you plan for them?

7. Generate the Resources Breakdown Schedule (RBS) for managing the Inventory Management subsystem and choose an appropriate Project Life Cycle Model (PLCM) you will use. Rank-order the specific models from best-fit to least-fit and state your rationale for the ranking. Select from the Linear, Incremental, Iterative and Adaptive PMLC model. Be specific.

8. Which subsystems would you develop using Agile model? Be specific as to which model you would choose and why. List any advantages and disadvantages that will results from your decision.

9. Generate the RBS for the PDQ factory location software application. Comment on the missing or partially defined functions and features. In generating the RBS consider such questions as these: How many factory locations should there be? Where should they be?  What criteria should be used to evaluate a location? Justify the number of delivery trucks will be needed?

10. What other projects within the PDQ Case study would you recommend should benefit from the PMLC models in the course?