Project Management Capstone: Integrating Previous Knowledge Into A Final Essay.

You will be responsible for bridging theory and practice while undertaking a substantial body of work above and beyond their normal academic and/or employment duties. The culminating deliverable for this subject is this final assignment in which the student demonstrates how the ‘Project Management Capstone’ subject has allowed them to integrate knowledge gained from previous study into their capstone project.

Students will use their fortnightly logs as a starting point to drive the development of a final report. The objective of the report is to detail the specific theories and frameworks from their previous studies that were tested and validated in undertaking the project. Students will also document their lessons learned and how the capstone project experience benefits them professionally.Students should produce a professional report including an executive summary, introduction and conclusion and be prepared to cite several academic references.

Overview of the Project Management Capstone Course

The final report is prepared for the project that included the establishment of the Star Lash Studio in Sydney. The company will be a beauty promoting company and it will offer a number of beauty services and products to the customers. There will also be luxury services that will be provided to the customers. There is another shop called Lash Studio that is already implemented and is running successfully in Sydney. There are high standards that are set up by the existing company. It was crucial that the high standards were achieved and the value generation was not compromised in the process. There were a number of processes that were followed to achieve the same and the utilization of the project management concepts was one of the major activities that were involved.

The use of the PMBoK guidelines and concepts were done in order to make sure that the establishment of the new business could be effectively done.

Benchmarking 

Benchmarking is the process that includes the comparison of the specific practices and products with the other organizations that are already set up so that the determination of the best practices may be done. There are a number of areas that are present in the business organization and there are a lot many processes that are attached with these business areas. Benchmarking was done for the new business venture by comparing the planning values in the areas, such as quality control, cost control, risk management, and change control to determine the best practices.

The existing Lash Studio has been successful in Sydney because the organization has been able to meet the needs and expectations of the customers. The services and products that are offered by the organization are of unmatched quality. The quality management and control can be observed in the internal processes followed by the organization as well. The quality is reflected from the bottom to the top to make sure that the end results and services are free from any of the gaps in the quality levels. There are several models that have been defined to assess the overall quality and the success of the organization processes. CMMI has come up with a model that includes the five different maturity levels. The use of the Benchmarking tool and model is done to compare the quality of the existing and the new business in order to determine the best possible level that may be attained.

Establishing Star Lash Studio in Sydney

CMMI Model (Dadhich, 2012)

There are five maturity levels included in the model on the basis of the maturity of the organizations in terms of the streamlining of its processes, procedures, and business areas. The existing organization is current at the maturity level as 4. This is because Lash Studio makes good use of the data sets that are available with the organization. For example, the customer data and market data is processed and utilized correctly so that the data-driven operations can be conducted. This has a role to play in the decision-making processes conducted by the organization as well. The organization has been able to target and meet the expectations and requirements of the stakeholder groups with such an approach. The CMMI level that is targeted by the new business venture is 4 or above. Since, it is a new venture; it will not be possible to directly achieve the highest level possible. It will be a gradual growth and the organization shall target achieving the CMMI maturity level 5 after 12 months of its inception.

The industry best practice that is obtained in this area is the CMMI maturity level as 5 and that will be targeted by the new business venture in long term.

There will be a number of tasks and activities that will be conducted in the setting up of the new business venture. The cost control and management will be one of the significant activities that will be involved and it shall be ensured that the management of the costs is done properly for avoiding the associated risks, such as cost overrun.

The budget that has been estimated for the new business venture is stated in the table below.

The different cost elements are shown in the table with the total budget estimated to be $21,250. The Lash Blossom Studio that is already set up has a different scheme and technique in terms of pricing and budget. The existing business venture follows the high pricing and high budget strategy.

 
However, the benchmarking is done to determine the ideal pricing and budget that shall be set up. In order to achieve the intended revenues and returns and keep the customer base improved, the pricing that shall be followed is the medium pricing. Also, the budget shall be set as low budget with the tolerance limit of 5%. The tracking and review of the budget shall also be done regularly so that the issues of variance and non-adherence are avoided. The target shall be to achieve the cost variance level as neutral (Rose, 2013).

Benchmarking to Determine Best Practices

There are risks and issues that are associated with every business firm. It is necessary to ensure that the mechanisms are put in place to avoid and control the risks (Domanski, 2016). There are different techniques and strategies that are utilized by the business organizations to deal with the risks. It is necessary that the best possible approach is applied so that the timely detection and resolution of the risks may be done.

The Lash Blossom Studio has been able to make a mark in the market. However, the market is very volatile and there are a number of market risks that are associated with the studio. These could be in terms of the changes in the market scenarios and consumer trends, market inflation rates & risks, and a lot more. There are also new entries that are making their way in the market and the competitor threats exist already. All of these market risks will be associated with the new business venture as well. Lash Blossom Studio follows the policy of predictive risk modelling and handling approach. There are a few drawbacks that are associated with such an approach. For example, the readiness to deal with the unpredicted risks and uncertainties may not be present which may result in significant impact. Also, the process may become static after a certain point of time which may lead to the emergence of new sets of vulnerabilities. The ideal approach for risk management that shall be followed by the new business venture shall be the proactive approach with the stages of risk management as included in the PMBoK guide (Mikes, 2011).

The risks shall be identified first and the use of the different information gathering and information investigation processes shall be done for this purpose. The risks shall then be analysed and the scores of the likelihood and possible impact shall then be determined. The evaluation of the risks shall be performed followed by mapping of the risks to a suitable response technique. The treatment of the risk shall be accordingly done with proper monitoring and control. The residual risk status shall also be obtained after the application of the response strategy so that the risks can be treated accordingly (Kokoshi, 2014).

The risk management and control mechanism shall be proactive and dynamic in nature so that the risks are managed and handled properly.

There can also be a number of changes that can appear in the project and the management of these changes is significant for the project processes. The changes are associated with every business venture whether new or existing. The Lash Blossom Studio follows the change management and control process by using the PMBoK guidelines. The entire process is classified in different stages and there are specific steps that are associated with the change control and management techniques (Fanning, 2014). The new business venture also plans to incorporate the similar approach and the best practices of the industry also suggest the same.

Quality Control and Management

There are different project methods that are defined and PMBoK is one of the most popular and widely used methods. The use of the PMBoK guidelines is done in the setting up of the new business venture to make sure that the effective management and control of the business processes is done.

The PMBoK framework applied in the project included the five of the major process groups that are defined in the guidelines. These include the initiation of the project, planning process group, and execution, control, and closure processes. The guidelines for project management are established under the ten knowledge areas to manage every area of the project. These techniques and theories were applied in the planning of the new business venture so that the determined objectives could be achieved. For example, communications management is one of the significant knowledge areas defined under the PMBoK methods. The use of the knowledge area was done in the project so that the project communications among the resources and the stakeholders could be managed properly. The application of the similar knowledge areas was done in the project to handle the different project functions and mechanism (Al-Freidi, 2015).

The project provided the opportunity to learn and understand the different aspects and areas under project management. Benchmarking was a new concept that was used in the project and it provided with the details of the best practices that could be followed. The specific techniques for benchmarking could be acquired in the process. There are also several other project management concepts acquired through the case. There are risks that are associated with every business firm. For example, the Lash Blossom Studio had market risks associated with it and the same would be present for the new business venture that is being planned and to be established. The existing organization pursues the strategy of prescient risk demonstrating and controlling approach. There are a couple of downsides that are related with such a methodology. For instance, the availability to manage the unpredicted risks and vulnerabilities may not be available which may bring about huge effect. Likewise, the procedure may end up static after a specific purpose of time which may prompt the rise of new arrangements of vulnerabilities (Pojasek, 2013). The perfect methodology for risk management that shall be trailed by the new business adventure shall be the proactive methodology with the phases of risk management as incorporated into the PMBoK control. The risks shall be distinguished first and the utilization of the diverse data social event and data examination procedures shall be accomplished for this reason. The risks at that point shall be broken down and the scores of the probability and conceivable effect at that point shall be resolved. The assessment of the risks shall be performed by mapping of the risks to a reasonable response procedure. The treatment of the risk shall be likewise finished with appropriate observing and control. The remaining risk status shall likewise be acquired after the use of the response system with the goal that the risks can be dealt with as needs be. The risk management and control instrument shall be proactive and dynamic in nature with the goal that the risks are managed and took care of appropriately. There can likewise be various changes that can show up in the project and the management of these changes is huge for the project resources and the management. The changes are related with each business adventure whether new or existing. The Lash Blossom Studio pursues the change management and control process by utilizing the PMBoK rules. The whole procedure is ordered in various stages and there are explicit advances that are related with the change control and management strategies. The new business adventure additionally plans to fuse the comparable methodology and the prescribed procedures of the business likewise propose the equivalent. The PMBoK structure shall be applied in the project that covers the five of the significant process groups as characterized in the rules. The rules for project management are set up under the ten knowledge areas to deal with each region of the project. These procedures and hypotheses shall be applied in the arranging of the new business adventure with the goal that the decided destinations could be accomplished. Communications management is one of the huge learning territories characterized under the PMBoK techniques. The utilization of the information region will be done in the project with the goal that the project communications among the assets and the partners could be managed appropriately. The use of the comparative learning zones shall be done in the project to deal with the distinctive project capacities and component.

Cost Control and Management

There are a number of benefits that can be achieved from the project. The project management concepts and techniques that have been acquired in the project will be utilized in the future projects that will be taken up at the professional level. In every project, it is certain that there will be some risks or changes that may occur. The understanding on the risk management and change control techniques will allow the better handling of such occurrences. It is also desired by every project and the organization to attain the highest levels of quality. The learnings in the project on the quality management and control will provide the opportunity to implement the techniques in the projects to enhance the quality. The understanding of the PMBoK concepts has provided the ability to determine the significance of the project communication processes as well. Communication is necessary and it is the key for every successful project. The utilization of the communication tools and mechanisms will be useful in understanding the perspective of all the resources and the stakeholders.

Conclusion

The new business venture that is to be set up is compared with the existing Lash Studio. There are some of the positive and negative aspects determined about the existing studio that provide the ability to set up the new venture as per the best practices and guidelines available. There are different project management concepts and theories that are applied in the process. Project management plays a crucial role in the entire planning and execution activities and it is necessary that the utilization and application of the same is correctly done. There are project management concepts that have been applied in the new business venture and the use of the PMBoK concepts is done in the same. The PMBoK methods provide the ability to manage all of the project and business areas in an effective manner. It also provides the changes to predict and calculate the risks and changes in advance so that the adequate strategies can be applied to deal with the same. The different areas under project management shall be applied so that the project goals and objectives are achieved.

References

Al-Freidi, S. S. (2015). A Unified Project Management Methodology (UPMM) based on PMBOK and PRINCE2 protocols: foundations, principles, structures and benefits of the integrated approach. International Journal of Business Policy and Strategy Management, 2(1), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.21742/ijbpsm.2015.2.03

Dadhich, R. (2012). Integrating CMMI Maturity Level-3 In Traditional Software Development Process. International Journal of Software Engineering & Applications, 3(1), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.5121/ijsea.2012.3102

Domanski, J. (2016). Risk Categories and Risk Management Processes in Nonprofit Organizations. Foundations of Management, 8(1), 227–242. https://doi.org/10.1515/fman-2016-0018

Fanning, F. E. (2014). Adapting PMBoK Guidance to Public Sector Projects. Organization, Technology and Management in Construction: An International Journal, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.5592/otmcj.2014.3.3

Kokoshi, R. (2014). Risk Management and Internal Audit in Not for Profit Organizations. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2727611

Mikes, A. (2011). From counting risk to making risk count: Boundary-work in risk management. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 36(4–5), 226–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2011.03.002

Pojasek, R. B. (2013). Organizations and Their Contexts: Where Risk Management Meets Sustainability Performance. Environmental Quality Management, 22(3), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.21338

Rose, K. H. (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)-Fifth Edition. Project Management Journal, 44(3), e1–e1. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj.21345