ISY2004 Information Systems Project Management

7 Pages / 1,560 Words Published On: 08-03-2021

Question:

Case Study – Time Inc.

You work for Time Inc., an International firm with software centres in 15 countries. Recently the Steering Committee decided to implement Time Sheets in all the software centres. The Committee is keen to understand how time is utilised across the various projects in the different software centres. The Committee’s main interest in doing this is to capture metrics like Resource Optimisation, Cost of Quality including Cost of Poor Quality and thus embed Project Management Excellence within the organisation. Time Inc. is considering the purchase of a Time Sheet System that works with an Enterprise Project Management System that will give them visibility into projects across the software centres. Anurag Mehta is the Global head of all the software centres. All 15 Managing Directors from the various software centres report to him. You are a project manager and your task is to recommend a Time Sheet system that will meet the needs of all the software centres. You will report directly to the CIO, John Clinton, who reports to Anurag Mehta. Your first task is to work with the Managing Directors and request for the nomination of a Project Champion from each software centre. The CIO has briefed you that your tasks include the following:

Hire a consultant to assist with identifying a suitable Time Sheet System. Recruit the project team of internal and external staff.

Work with Project Management Champions from various software centres to understand the Software Project Management processes and metrics used.

Trial a short list of Time Sheet systems with input from the Project Management Champions about their major pain points. Gain agreement with major Stakeholders on the preferred Time Sheet system.

Negotiate with the Vendor, with the assistance of the Purchasing Department and procure the licenses.

Implement the chosen Time Sheet system, and measure the Return on Investment (ROI) and degree of customer satisfaction. Train users and IT maintenance staff across the software centres.

Transition the system from special projects to production.

Identify further projects necessary to continue implementation of the program of Project Management Excellence.

The budget for the project is $2,500,000, and the goals are to gain project approval, determine the best solution, implement the solution, monitor performance and ensure benefits realisation.

The project manager will act as the liaison between internal and external stakeholders. The project is expected to be completed within 8 months. CIO, John Clinton is very keen to get this project off the ground as quickly as possible. As a result, he is happy to put in a word for the nominations from the software centres. This is the first step in getting buy-in from the software centres. The Project Management Champions will then form their centre specific teams with your help. You will report to the Steering Committee on a monthly basis on the progress of the project and discuss road blocks/issues if any.

Task:

You need to develop the Initial Project Plan which should include the following:

Project charter, including a detailed Scope Statement, Out of scope, Goal, Objectives, a draft project “Work Breakdown Structure” (WBS) or

Task List, that must also show dependencies Stakeholder Register

Stakeholder Management Strategy

Answer:

Project charter

This report depicts the importance of developing project management strategies for the nominated organization Time Inc. This is an International firm which operates their software centers in around 15 countries all over the world. The steering committee of the organization is willing to implement a time sheet in all the software centers. Project charter including project goal, objectives, scope statement, and stakeholder register with stakeholder management strategies are developed.

Goal

The goal of the project is to implement time sheet in all software center those are operated by the company. This is the responsibility of the project steering committee to design the outline of the time sheet. In order to meet the project objectives a consultant should be hired who will assist the development of the time sheet system. A project team must be recruited for the internal and external staffs associated. In order to manage the software project processes professionals must be consulted. It is expected that, with the help of this approach a positive ROI will be obtained 5 years later than the implementation.

Objectives

To implement a time sheet for all the software companies that are operated all over 15 countries by Time Inc.
To define the way through which the time is being managed by the company
To consult with professionals to design the system in such a way so that it can satisfy the consumers

Scope statement

The scope of the project is to develop a Time sheet system to understand the way how the time is being utilized by all the software centers. The developers are much focused on developing a more constructive system rather than a defensive one. All the members associated to the project team will be treated similarly and concerns from the individuals are needed for successfully implementing the system. The demand of the consumers should be considered while developing the time sheet system for all the operating companies.

Out of scope

The graphics of the website theme was not tested individually. In addition to this, the set of technical risks due to which the project can be negatively impacted are also not defined by the project head. Apart from this, no accurate promotional activities are planned by the business analyst for promoting the time sheet system developed for the Time Inc.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) with dependencies

WBS	Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors	Resource Names	Cost
0	Project schedule for time sheet system development project	96 days	Wed 8/8/18	Wed 12/19/18			$250,416.00
1	Project initiation phase	20 days	Wed 8/8/18	Tue 9/4/18			$49,944.00
1.1	Developing project goal and objectives	6 days	Wed 8/8/18	Wed 8/15/18		Project manager	$7,200.00
1.2	Identifying project needs	5 days	Thu 8/16/18	Wed 8/22/18	2	system designer	$5,640.00
1.3	Requirements gathering	6 days	Thu 8/23/18	Thu 8/30/18	3	Audit manager, hardware requirements ,other	$21,696.00
1.4	Requirement analysis	3 days	Fri 8/31/18	Tue 9/4/18	4	Business analyst, hardware requirements, other, software requirements	$15,408.00
2	Project planning phase	13 days	Wed 9/5/18	Fri 9/21/18			$28,984.00
2.1	Communication plan	6 days	Wed 9/5/18	Wed 9/12/18	5	Business analyst, other	$16,320.00
2.2	Stakeholder management plan	3 days	Thu 9/13/18	Mon 9/17/18	7	system designer, other	$7,704.00
2.3	Risk management planning	2 days	Tue 9/18/18	Wed 9/19/18	8	Project manager	$2,400.00
2.4	Establishing business strategies	2 days	Thu 9/20/18	Fri 9/21/18	8,9	Business analyst	$2,560.00
3	Project execution phase	23 days	Mon 9/24/18	Wed 10/24/18			$49,952.00
3.1	Designing the prototype for the time sheet system	8 days	Mon 9/24/18	Wed 10/3/18	10	system designer	$9,024.00
3.2	Coding and modeling	6 days	Thu 10/4/18	Thu 10/11/18	12	system developer, hardware requirements	$14,160.00
3.3	System Simulation	8 days	Thu 10/4/18	Mon 10/15/18	12	system analyst, software requirements	$18,368.00
3.4	Final outline of the project	7 days	Tue 10/16/18	Wed 10/24/18	13,14	Project manager	$8,400.00
4	Project testing phase	33 days	Thu 10/25/18	Mon 12/10/18			$114,048.00
4.1	System unit testing	10 days	Thu 10/25/18	Wed 11/7/18	15	system tester, hardware requirements ,software requirements	$34,560.00
4.2	System integrated testing	11 days	Thu 11/8/18	Thu 11/22/18	17	system tester, hardware requirements ,software requirements	$38,016.00
4.3	Acceptance testing	12 days	Fri 11/23/18	Mon 12/10/18	18	system tester, hardware requirements ,software requirements	$41,472.00
5	Closure phase	7 days	Tue 12/11/18	Wed 12/19/18			$7,488.00
5.1	Final submission of the project document	2 days	Tue 12/11/18	Wed 12/12/18	19	Project manager	$2,400.00
5.2	Stakeholder signoff	3 days	Thu 12/13/18	Mon 12/17/18	21	Audit manager	$2,928.00
5.3	Post project maintenance plan	2 days	Tue 12/18/18	Wed 12/19/18	22	system analyst	$2,160.00

Project approach

There are different project management approaches and techniques available those are required to be eventually followed by the project head to meet the project requirement and objectives. For the time sheet system designing project the approach which is adopted in consists of five different phases such as project initiation, planning, execution, testing and closure. At the initial phase, the business strategy including approaches and team structures should be prepared by defining the project requirements. The visual concepts with detail specifications are also approached. Again the solution will be deployed through launching detail plans, training.

Roles and responsibilities of the project team members

In order to develop the time sheet system for the software operating centers the human resources hired are project manager, system developer, audit manager, system analyst, system tester, and business analyst and system designer. Apart from this, another external stakeholder who plays vital role in the project is the project sponsor. This is the role of the project sponsors to invest proper capital so that they can design the time sheet considering all security concern and other demand of the consumers. The details of the role and responsibilities of the project resources are illustrated in the below section.

Resource Name	Type	Responsibility
Project manager	Work	The project manager is responsible to control and monitor the progress of the project. For tracking the progress a project status report is also designed by the project managers.
Audit manager	Work	To complete the project within estimated budget
system developer	Work	To design the system considering all requirement specification
system tester	Work	To test the details system deliverables of the system
system designer	Work	To design the outline of the time sheet system
Business analyst	Work	To develop specific managerial and operational strategies in such a way so that it can meet the project
system analyst	Work	To analyze the system in details

Stakeholder register

Name of the stakeholders	Impact on project	Influence	Interest
Project manager	High	Positive	To design the project considering all specification details. On the project proper control is also needed.
Audit manager	Medium	Positive	Interested to design the project budget considering all specifications
system developer	High	Positive	To develop a secured and error free system for the consumers
system tester	Medium	Positive	Test the system before its final launch in the software companies operate by Time Inc company.
system designer	High	Positive	Design the outline of the time sheet system for the software companies
Business analyst	High	Positive	The business analyst is interested to establish business strategies in such a way so that maximum business level commercial success can be obtained.
system analyst	High	Positive	To analyze the system after its implementation and execution

Stakeholder management strategy

There are three main factors that are to be considered for the successful delivery of the project and the factors are people, process and technology.

People: The people associated to the project should play allotted job roles within estimated time. The people should also maintain the improved processes and technologies.

Process: In order to conduct the time sheet system implementation project, all step by step processes should be followed by the project executive

Technology: Besides advanced security technology, the stakeholders should utilize required supportive technologies as well. It will help the project manager to meet the project success factors.

References

Binder, J., 2016. Global project management: communication, collaboration and management across borders. Routledge.

Bourne, L., 2016. Stakeholder relationship management: a maturity model for organisational implementation. Routledge.

Cascetta, E., Carteni, A., Pagliara, F. and Montanino, M., 2015. A new look at planning and designing transportation systems: A decision-making model based on cognitive rationality, stakeholder engagement and quantitative methods. Transport policy, 38, pp.27-39.

Davis, K., 2016. A method to measure success dimensions relating to individual stakeholder groups. International Journal of Project Management, 34(3), pp.480-493.

Hall, M., Millo, Y. and Barman, E., 2015. Who and what really counts? Stakeholder prioritization and accounting for social value. Journal of Management Studies, 52(7), pp.907-934.

Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Mok, K.Y., Shen, G.Q. and Yang, J., 2015. Stakeholder management studies in mega construction projects: A review and future directions. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), pp.446-457.

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Wong, C.Y., Wong, C.W. and Boon-Itt, S., 2015. Integrating environmental management into supply chains: a systematic literature review and theoretical framework. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45(1/2), pp.43-68.