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Susans Consulting Company (SCC) – Problem Overview

Susans Consulting Company (SCC) has been in business for ten years and has experienced a significant turnover in the project management group, which has prompted senior leadership to investigate. 

A preliminary review by senior leadership has determined that Project Managers are frustrated with the amount of required project management documentation, which has impacted their ability to manage projects successfully. 

A recent review of the project management process has determined that SCC has spent between 30-40% of its total project budget on projects’ overhead costs to include project management costs. A review of industry standards is between 5-15% higher than most companies. In addition, senior leaders found that projects are being delivered between 25% and 50% over budget and late 95% of the time.

Note: Project Management overhead includes the PM’s time managing the project, attending meetings, and developing the required documentation.   

SCC Request: SCC has reached out to your team because you are experts in defining project management processes and delivering projects on time. The SCC request includes the following:

• The development of a new project management process which at a minimum should include the following:
  • The ability to track issues, risks, changes
  • The ability to view project activities consists of a view of what has been completed and what activities the team is working on over the next reporting period
  • The company must have a view into total life cycle project costs to include what has been spent to date, baseline budget, any changes to the budget, remaining budget, and cost of the project at completion
• In addition, to the new process request, SCC has a new project they need to complete by the end of the year with a limited budget and no project management staff.  

Assignment

• Identify a project manager – this individual is responsible for the team assignment ensuring that team members are completing their assigned work on time.
• I will act as the sponsor both for the project and for the methodology build-out.  Any questions should be directed to me.

The group assignment has two parts

Part 1: Build a Methodology

• Identify and descript the methodology to be used by the company.  Both a narrative and pictorial representation is required.
• Identify and describe the deliverables which must be completed for each project by the project team.
• Identify and describe the process the Project Management Office should use when reviewing changes to the methodology, this should include cadence for the process reviews.
• Identify the prioritization technique the project manager will use to prioritize work delivered in the process.  Look at options like PV, IRR, NPV, Pay Back Period
• Identify and describe any risks you see with the new process and mitigation strategies.
• Identify and describe the optimum organizational structure for your methodology. 
• Identify and describe the life cycle costing model for your methodology

Part 2: Project Description

In addition to building a methodology, SCC has hired you to complete a high-profile project using your new methodology. 

• Project Description: Develop algorithm(s) to monitor user activity on the internet, the algorithms should work on the following applications used by the business today.
  • Application A
  • Application B
  • Application C
  • Application X
  • Application Y
  • Application Z
• Project Costs:

Given the critical nature of the project, the company has provided the following information in terms of cost for each application.

• Year 0 is the projected cost the company has estimated for the build of the component.  This includes a 15% overhead cost for project management work
• Year 1-Year 5 is the amount of revenue the company has estimated for the product
• The Acceptable Rate of Return for all projects with the company is 10%
• Part 2A: Project Requirements

Your paper should include the following information: 

• Project scope statement
• Using the methodology outlined above, describe each phase of the project and its deliverables
• Using your defined project management process outlined above, describe the life cycle model for this project
• Create a WBS for the project.  Remember your WBS is a deliverable base, so there should be a section of your WBS which outlines our project management deliverables
• Using your defined prioritization process, prioritize each application.
• Using the defined organizational structure, create a pictorial and narrative description of the organizational structure for the project.
• Identify at least ten potential stakeholders for your project. 
• Identify at least five risks to include both threats and opportunities associated with the project.  For each risk, please include the following information:
  • Category
  • Impact
  • Probability
  • Description of the risk
  • Mitigation Strategy

Paper Requirements:

• The paper should be between 15-20 pages and should include:
  • Title Page
  • Reference Page
  • Table of Content
• Your paper should include APA format (Times New Roman, font size 12, double-spaced, proper grammar, and reference list)
• Your paper should utilize at least one outside scholarly or professional source related to project management
• Your paper should include an Abstract, Introduction, and Conclusion

PowerPoint Presentation:

• Create a PowerPoint presentation that outlines the key points of the document.  This document should be at least eight (8) slides. 
• Each team member is responsible for presenting one or more sections:
• Slide deck should include the following:
  1. Title Slide with each participant’s name included
  2. Overview of the Methodology to include required deliverables
  3. Organizational structure.
  4. Prioritization method used and the prioritization of the work
  5. Project Scope Statement
  6. WBS for project
  7. Risks identified
  8. Things you have learned from this assignment