Impact Of Strategic Objectives On Project Selection And Management Is Crucial For Success. (70 Characters)

Scenario:

The Hewlett-Packard Company (commonly referred to as HP) or shortened to Hewlett-Packard was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

The top management is selecting a candidate as their team leader for a new project. In order to achieve that position you have to discuss how projects support strategic objectives and evaluate both internal and external environmental factors that influence the selection of a project. After this section is done you have to evaluate, examine and explain the elements of a project planning process. At this point, you also think that it is a good idea to theoretically discuss how to implement a project plan and finally you fulfil the last point that the top management is asking and that is to evaluate the outcomes of a project.

The report:

Task 1. Understand the impact of strategic objectives on project selection and management.

1. Discuss how projects support the strategic objectives of an organization

2. Evaluate internal and external environmental factors that influence the selection of a project that supports strategic objectives

Task 2.Understand the elements of a project planning process impact.

1. Evaluate the roles of project stakeholders in planning a project

2. Evaluate ways in which to establish the viability of a project against specified criteria

3. Examine the components and characteristics of a project plan

4. Explain how to prepare a project plan.

Task 3. Understand how to implement the project plan.

1. Discuss the purpose of a project implementation plan

2. Discuss ways in which to gain stakeholder commitment and support for project implementation

3. Explain how to implement a project plan.

Task 4. Understand how to evaluate the outcomes of a project

1. Analyse ways in which the outcomes of a project are evaluated to measure project performance

2. Analyse ways in which to measure project performance against agreed criteria

3. Assess the benefits of sharing the outcomes of a project evaluation, within an organization. 

Task 1: Impact of Strategic Objectives on Project Selection and Management

Hewlett Packard Company (HP) was multinational information technology Company in America. The company is embarking on a new project and for that new team leader is selected. The new project will help the Company to fulfill its strategic objectives. However, it has been observed that the internal and external factors influence the selection of a project. The report aims in examining and explaining the elements of a project planning process so that its impact on the project can be evaluated. It is essential to understand the impact of strategic objectives of an organization in project selection and management method. The report will further discuss the process of implementation of a project plan and the process of evaluating the outcomes of a project.

It is essential to effectively identify the strategic business objectives of an organization as strategic business objectives are vital to the business plan, operation and success of an organization. Proper identification of the strategic objectives of a business helps in business growth as a lasting business can only be built upon proper identification of the strategic intentions of a project. Gathering knowledge about the strategic objectives of a company helps in appropriate project selection. Therefore, it can be said that the strategic objectives of a project has a large impact on project selection and management method.

Since a lasting business can only be built upon the foundation of strategic intentions, it is essential to identify the process by which project supports strategic objectives of an organization. There are mainly six strategic objectives upon which an organization is build. The first strategic objective is to create. A business can only succeed if it offers innovative products. Innovation is a mark of healthy business. It helps in thinking better ways for promoting the existing business solutions. This strategic objective has a large impact on the choice of project of an organization. Innovative projects helps in supporting the business objective of creating innovative products thereby supporting the strategic objectives of an organization.

The next strategic objective of an organization is to maintain. Every organization needs to maintain good quality and condition of the office equipment, machinery and servers so that efficiency of the resources is maintained. Therefore, maintenance of the equipments and machineries is vital for managing the key business relationships. It is essential to keep the customers and board members of an organization satisfied in order to maintain competitive position of the organization. Implementation of a project in an organization generally involves keeping the board members satisfies. This is a way in which project support strategic objectives of an organization.

To retain the business position remains one of the most important strategic objectives of an organization. It is essential for an organization to identify the strongest component of every department of the project. Any project in an organization mainly incorporates identification of the strongest links associated with the project. Thus, implementation of a project in an organization supports the strategic objectives of an organization.

Invest is another significant strategic objective of an organization. Financial health is considered to be one of the most significant needs for any business. The fiscal resources of an organization should be allocated effectively in every department so that effective management of the organization’s financial modules can be achieved. Investment is directly linked with the management of and implementation of a project. A project is successful only if it is able to fetch profits from the investments made.   Thus, the project supports the strategic objectives of the organization and selection of an appropriate project to invest is an essential need for an organization.

Project supporting Strategic Objectives

It is essential to Educate the employees of the organization so that new ideas can be implemented in a project. To educate, is therefore a strategic objective of an organization. With the implementation of innovative projects, it is essential to educate the team members about the need of the project and implementation of the project by following new ideas. Thus, implementation of projects in an organization supports the strategic objectives of an organization.

The sixth strategic objective associated with an organization is to Expand.  Business expansion is an integral part of business growth. A business should always identify newer ways to expand and for that, implementation of newer projects is essential. Thus, it can be said that project supports strategic objectives of an organization.

From the above discussion, it can be said that the six strategic objectives that are identified have a large impact on the project selection and management method as successful implementation of the project supports the identified strategic objectives of the organization.

The business environmental factors have a large effect on project selection supporting the strategic objectives of an organization. Evaluation of the internal and the external factors through process of PESTEL analysis will help in understanding the factors that influences the selection of a project. The external environmental factors affecting the selection of a project include the political, economic, sociological, technological and legal conditions associated with the project.  The political and economic factors considerably effect the selection of the project. The sociological attitude and the technical aspects of an organization have a high influence on selection and implementation of a project. The legal aspects of an organization further impacts the successful implementation of a project and therefore considering these environmental factors while choosing a project for the organization is essential.

Apart from the external factors, the internal environmental factor that helps in selection of a project is essential to evaluate. The internal environmental factors include strategic risks, innovation and the financials aspects of the organization. HP needs to address both internal and external factors prior to the implementation of the project.

One of the most vital aspects of implementation of a project is project planning. The process of project planning incorporates detailed analysis of the requirements and the specifications of a project. There are a number of elements associated with the project planning process, one of which includes stakeholders of a project. The project planning process is associated with the establishment of viability of a project. After successful project planning, a project plan is developed that helps in easier management of a project. The following paragraphs discuss the role of project stakeholders in project planning along with the components of a project plan.

Stakeholders are the individual that have a high interest in a project or a business. The stakeholders associated with a project or an organization contributes to the growth and success of an organization. Since a stakeholder of a project or an organization is directly benefited from its success, stakeholders play an major role in project planning process.

Internal and External Environmental Factors

In planning stage, the stakeholders take active role in setting up the strategic direction and aim of the project. Stakeholders further provide guidance or advice for strategic management of a project. Thus, the stakeholders of HP have a significant role to play in planning the new project in which the company is working on.

Project viability can be described as the ability of a project to survive in a long run. Viability of a project is related to a number of factors, which include time, cost, manpower and project quality. The first way of establishing the viability of the project is to west up the project cost in appropriate manner. If the value of a project exceeds its cost, the project is not considered viable. Therefore, it is necessary for HP to ensure that the new project that is to be implemented does not exceed the budget of the project. Apart from that, it is necessary for a project to be delivered within the set deadline. A project is not viable if it takes unexpectedly longer time for implementation. HP should therefore ensure implementation of a project on scheduled time.  The efficiency of the manpower of an organization largely affects the viability of a project. Apart from that the project is viable only if the attainable quality is reached. The new project of HP will be viable only if these conditions are met. By following the discussed attributes the viability of the project can be established in a specified area.

Project plan is an important component of a project. A project plan guides the project manager to implement a project according to the specifications. A project plan generally incorporates five key characteristics that are needed to be managed while implementation of a project. These characteristics include scope of a project, resources of a project, time for project implementation, project quality and risks associated with the project. Management of these key project characteristics ensures successful completion of a project. Apart from this, a project management plan is involves certain major components, which include, details about the project, policies and procedures associated with a project, schedule and budget estimate of a project and project timeline plans. It is necessary to incorporate these mandatory components in successful completion of a project. HP needs to understand the importance of the identified characteristics and the project components for successful completion of the new project.

Development or preparation of a project plan involves a planned approach. The first step is to explain the aim, objectives and components of the project to the key stakeholders. After that, it is essential to define the roles and responsibility of the project team followed by development of scope statement of the project. One of the important stages associated with development of project plan includes development of scope baseline along with the schedule and cost baseline of the project. While developing the project plan, it is essential to analyze the project quality and the risks associated with a project. The final step of development of project plan is to communicate the same to the management team of the project and the stakeholders associated with a project.

Task 2: Elements of a Project Planning Process

HP should follow the above discussed steps while implementation of the new project in which the company is working on. Following a planned approach is necessary for development of an appropriate project plan.

Effective implementation of strategic plan ensures achievement of organization’s success. Since successful completion of projects largely depends on the appropriateness of project plan, HP should have an idea of the accurate process of implementation of project plan. In this section of the report, the purpose of a project implementation plan, the process of gaining stakeholder commitment and the process of implementation of project plan will be discussed.

The main purpose of implementation plan of a project is to provide the stakeholders with the confidence that the current project will be accomplished in the set time. A project implementation plan further lists the activities, processes and the major deliverables of the project. The time scale of a project is detailed in the implementation plan so that the stakeholders of a project could gain an idea about the implementation process and the deadline of the project. Thus, the project implementation plan is one of the vital components of project implementation and HP should consider the use of project implementation plan.

It is essential to gain the stakeholder’s commitment for providing better support to project implementation. There are a number of ways in which stakeholder’s commitment and support can be achieved. One of the most important steps of gaining stakeholders commitment is accurate stakeholder identification. Apart from that, it is essential to management the stakeholder’s expectation so that stakeholders’ commitment can be achieved.  The picture below represents the stakeholder’s commitment curve.  

Appropriate communication among the stakeholders of a project is essential to ensure effective management of the stakeholders of a project. It has been observed that stakeholders generally have a high interest in a project. Therefore, it is needed identify the project needs so that the commitment of the stakeholders associated with the project can be achieved.

As discussed earlier, project plan has a significant role to play in management of the outcomes of the project. It is essential for HP to appropriately implement a project plan so that success of a project can be achieved. Implementation of a project plan should follow a planned approach. Prior to the development of the project plan it is essential to discuss the key components of a project with the stakeholders of the project. The implementation of a project plan mainly incorporates identification and analysis of the schedule estimates, cost baselines, scope baseline and resource requirement of the project as these are the most necessary components of a project plan. Therefore, implementation of a project plan incorporates detailed communication of the project needs and specifications so that a project can be implemented in a planned manner. Other necessary steps that are involved in implementation of a project plan include, defining the roles and responsibilities of a project, development of scope statement of a project and risk related to the project. A project plan follows a cyclic model which is represented in the following picture.

Task 3: Project Implementation

HP should consider all these components in implementation of a project plan. It is necessary for the organization to ensure appropriate process review and approval of project plan prior to the implementation of a project. One main characteristics of project plan is ensuring appropriate communication among the involved stakeholders of the project. HP should consider the above discussed steps for appropriate implementation of the project plan.  

Evaluation of the project outcomes is necessary to ensure that the strategic objectives of the project are fulfilled. There are a number of processes that helps in evaluating the outcomes of a project. With project evaluation, the performance of the project can be measured. Certain criteria of the project are set prior to the implementation of a project. During evaluation of a project, the project is tested against the set criteria of the project. Project evaluation is an important consideration of a project as sharing the outcomes of project evaluation is beneficial for an organization.

Project Evaluation is an important need of project closure. The outcomes of the project are needed to be evaluated for measuring the performance of a project. The success of the project is often determined by the fact that whether the project is able to be completed within the set schedule. The project quality and project cost is checked in project evaluation to ensure whether the project could meet the set criteria. As discussed earlier, stakeholder’s of a project play a major role in ensuring project success. Therefore, in the project evaluation phase, the satisfaction of the stakeholders associated with a project is analyzed as well. The performance of a project determines whether the project could be implemented successfully and for that the cost, schedule and the quality of the project is analyzed in project evaluation.

The process of project evaluation deals with systematic objective project assessment, that is ongoing or is in completion stage. The aim of project evaluation is determining the relevance in the level of achievement of the objectives and the aim of a project. There are a number of stages of project evaluation and each phase has unique methods and procedures of implementation of a project. Thus, it is essential for HP to have a detailed understanding of the process of project evaluation and its role in successful project closure.

Prior to the implementation of the project, it is essential to set certain agreed criteria for measuring the performance of a project. Therefore, it is important for HP to understand and analyze the ways in which the project performance can be measured. The framework for project performance management is represented in the following picture-

 

Figure : Representing the framework for Project Performance Management

(Source: Bryde, Broquetas and Volm 2013)

The first way to measure the performance of the project is to check whether the project is able to meet the set objectives. After that, the quality of the project that is delivered is needed to be analyzed as measuring the performance of a project involves quality checking. Followed by that, it is essential to identify whether the project is being implemented within its set time. For appropriate measurement of the project success the evaluation pathway that is represented in the following picture-

Task 4: Project Evaluation

Figure : Representing the Project Evaluation Pathway

(Source: Pheng 2018)

For measuring the performance of the project it is therefore essential to set appropriate outcomes and indicators so that the final deliverable can be reviewed thoroughly.

Sharing the outcomes of project evaluation within an organization or with the stakeholders of an organization has a number of benefits. Sharing of evaluation outcomes helps the project team to identify the major issues and shortfalls in the project, which will help the project team to improve their performance in the subsequent works. Since successful completion of a project is related to the fulfillment of the strategic objectives of an organization, sharing of the project outcomes will help the project team to check whether the desired aims and objectives of the project is fulfilled. Another significant benefit of sharing project evaluation is that it can help in successful project closure. Thus, it can be said that sharing of the project evaluation outcome is important to ensure that the aims of the project has been fulfilled.  HP is working on a new project and therefore it is important for the company to ensure appropriate project evaluation and sharing of the evaluation report with the project team.

Conclusion 

The aim of the report was to discuss certain key characteristics of project management. The reported discusses the impact strategic objectives on project selection and management along with understanding of the characteristics of the project planning process and impact. The process of development of project implementation plan and the importance of project plan is discussed in the report. It is important for HP to understand the concepts of managing a project and project implementation for successful implementation of the new project and for achieving the strategic objectives of the organization.

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