MG2008 Project, operations and supply chain management

Order Description

Assessment criteria:

Wordcount 2000 words +/-10%

• The text demonstrates a clear understanding and application of various areas of project management theory and practice.

• Appropriate software is correctly used to analyse and interpret various aspects of the case and produce suitable documents and reports.

• The content of the work is relevant to the task set and addresses the key points using thorough analysis; all arguments are supported with appropriate theory or models and evidence together with valid discussion in order to reach logical conclusions.

• The writing is coherent and articulate with logical structure and appropriate format, good English, standard spelling and grammar and an academic style.

• All sources are accurately cited in the text and appropriately listed in the bibliography, using the Harvard style.

Case Study Scenario
(Based on Maylor (2010) p151)

You are a project manager for a mobile phone company and have been given the task of leading the development and launch of a new handset. Your position as market leader is under serious and imminent threat from the strong competition.
This will be a challenging project. The time-to-market is short, the new product is technically complex and there are a number of highly influential stakeholder groups with differing priorities whom you will have to manage very carefully.
Marketing have outlined some strong design concepts based on consumer research; the Design team still have some major issues to resolve, with very limited funding; the Finance team are expecting strong profitability and high volume before year end; the Sales team are enthusiastic but not confident that the technical solutions will be completed soon enough …
The design team includes electronic engineers, software engineers and mechanical engineers plus the manufacturing engineers who will make sure the final design is suitable for large scale manufacture.

Suppliers need to be involved at the outset so that all components, materials, packaging and marketing materials are available to the specification, quantities and timescales required. Some parts have long lead times but cannot be ordered until the full design is finalized. Several different prototypes need to be developed and tested prior to the pre-go-live review.

Task 1 (30%)
Compare and contrast the key features of an Agile methodology compared to a more traditional approach to project management. Highlight the key areas where the approaches differ and explain which one would be most suitable in this case and why.

Task 2 (30%)
Assess the importance of effective and efficient project management practices throughout the project lifecycle, including the impact of poor performance and an explanation of how particular groups of stakeholders with different levels of interest and influence should be managed

Task 3 (10%)
Produce a Project plan for the extended lifecycle of the new product launch using MS Project including a network diagram with critical path and a resource diagram.

Task 4 (30%)
Explain the importance of a robust approach to risk management and contingency planning in relation to the project, highlighting some of the key issues of concern and outlining how they might be handled.

All sources must be fully cited and referenced using Harvard Style format

see the Attached is the MS Project plan