Advanced Project Management

Assessment Brief CASE STUDY

For this assessment you must choose one the following two scenarios:

Scenario 1 - Your own Project and Company

You can select a company and a project you are currently working on, or you have worked on in the past. You should have (or had) a role in the project.

If you choose this scenario, your report should start with a short introduction of no more than 100 words that includes:

A description of the company that you are working for or have worked with.

Your role in the project, e.g., project manager or project assistant etc.

A brief description of the project.
Please Note: You may not select Scenario 1 if you do not meet the above criteria

Scenario 2 - The Hilti Group implements the new cloud-based software Salesforce

In 2018 the Hilti Group (i.e., a multinational company that develops, manufactures and sales professional product for the construction sector), has decided after 20 years to update the IT software used by its marketing and sales employees and migrate from SAP to Salesforce (i.e., a new could-based CRM system). This change requires the migration of all information from the old SAP to the new Salesforce software and re-skilling of all IT, marketing and sales employees. The project is still running and by the time it will be completed, more than 20.000 employees across 23 countries will been involved and/or affected by this transformation. This project currently represents one of the biggest steps in Hilti's digital transformation strategy to date.

Here are some additional resources for background information:

Avi Kahn, member of the board of directors, discusses the project

Company website
Additional independent research is needed to perform this assessment. When information is not available you can make your own assumptions, but you must list your assumptions and what they are based upon.

Your Task
You are a project management consultant and have been tasked by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company of your chosen scenario to provide a 5000-word consultancy report, written in an academic style about the project. The report must cover the following sections:

Project Selection and Portfolio Management
Critically discuss the concept of project screening and selection and then advise the company about which screening module you would recommend they use for selecting projects that are aligned to their strategy (e.g., checklist, simplified scoring, analytical hierarchy, profile). Critically justify your recommendation with the support of academic literature

Critically discuss the concepts and differences between Projects, Programs and Portfolios. Should your chosen scenario be project managed or program managed? Justify your explanation using academic literature.

According to Cooper and Edgett (1997), discuss two of the most common challenges in portfolio management that could impact your chosen scenario,

Please note, for this task, you are required to study the company of your chosen scenario and give them general recommendations on how to select projects and manage a portfolio of projects. You do not need to focus on the specific project presented in the scenario.

The Organisational Context
This part of the report focuses on the specific project presented in your chosen scenario (1 or 2).

Based on the company's strategic goals and directions, critical discuss how your chosen project, is linked to the company's strategy (you can use the TOWS matrix, or any other relevant framework or theoretical model to support your discussion).

Critically discuss the key differences between: Functional, Matrix and Projectised organisational structures. Which structure would you recommend to the CEO that the company adopts to ensure project success? Justify your recommendation with the support of academic literature or/and similar case studies.

Critically discuss two ways how organisational culture can affect the management of your project.

Project Governance
This part of the report focuses on giving advice about the best way to make decisions within the project.
Critically evaluate the three pillars of Project Governance and recommend how they can relate to your project.

Critically analyse the roles, responsibilities and challenges of the key stakeholders in project governance (i.e., project manager, project board and project stakeholders)

Critically evaluate how the Board of Directors could impact your project. Support your evaluation with academic literature or/and similar case studies

Leadership
"During the course of a project, project leaders may need to adapt their style of leadership to suit the team and the work to be done" (APM, 2019). With the aid of a situational leadership model, critically discuss how the leader of your project could adapt their style of leadership to enhance the success of the project

Critically discuss how the role of the project champion can support your project. How does this role differ from that of the project sponsor? Your arguments must be supported by academic literature.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling

To support the delivery of the project of your chosen scenario you are required to:

Critically discuss and compare the advantages and disadvantages of two project management methodologies of your choice (e.g., Agile, Waterfall, Prince2, Praxis). Which method would you recommend to the CEO that the company select for their project. Support you recommendation with academic literature.

Evaluate the differences between critical path and critical chain scheduling techniques. Would you recommend critical chain scheduling for your project and if so, why? Support you recommendation with academic literature.

Managing and Leading Change
Give advice to the CEO about how change management can be incorporated into the project in a structured manner, by using an appropriate change management method. Support your discussion with academic literature.

Critically discuss how you would involve people affected by the project in the change management process and how would you remove the discomfort of change in your project.

Presentation and Structure
The report will use a consistent approach to headings, tables, and graphs. Sources will be correctly cited and there will be a complete set of references in the correct format and in alphabetical order (using Harvard Referencing). There is evidence of extensive independent reading and research. Formatting and presentation is professional throughout.

Additional Information:

Word count: 5000 words includes Sections A to F
Recommended Fonts: Times New Roman or Arial or Calibri (select one font for your complete assignment)
Font Size: 12
Recommended Line Spacing: 1.5