Assignment Overview:For this assignment, you will be assessing a proposed change to the scope of the project, proposing an overview of a change management process, drafting a change request form, and discussing how the change will be communicated to the stakeholders inclusive of the sponsor.Learning Connection:This assignment is directly linked to the following key learning outcomes from the course syllabus:· Discuss critical success factors· Introduce leading vs. lagging indicators· Discuss why the Integrated Change Control process is so critical· Discuss risk and issue escalation process to project sponsors and stakeholdersIn addition to these key learning outcomes, you will also have the opportunity to evidence the following skills through completing this assignment:Critical thinkingProblem solvingQuantitative analysisProfessional writingAssignment Instructions:For this assignment, you will be assessing a requested change to the scope, preparing a change request form, and utilizing your stakeholder analysis, to determine how the information should be disseminated. Please be sure to start this assignment early to allow for sufficient time. Below are the assignment guidelines and files.Assignment Files:To complete this assignment, you will use the following file:1.Continuation Week Five Case Study document which is attached above. This is a continuation of the case study introduced in Week Two. Guide to FilesThe Case Study file attached here and the original case study document from Week Two can be leveraged for this assignment. This will provide you some context to the evaluation you will be using and allow you to make some reasonable assumptions about the context of the changes to the project.Using the information gathered from the original case study, and the new information provided, write a 4 – 5 page paper using the following structure:Report / Executive Summary – Summarize the finding of the impact of the change briefly (1 or 2 paragraphs); this should include the finding of your report, as well as, your recommendations to your sponsor regarding the implementation of the change. It should be concise and direct.Current Status of Project — In this section, you want to provide details regarding the current status. Which indicators from the case study are you leveraging to describe the current status?Identify any leading vs. the lagging indicators in your analysis. Provide an overview of the change process you will follow to incorporate the change including the approval process. Will there be a change control board? Will the PM review prior to submission for approval? Does the sponsor need to approve your change request form? Consider including a flow chart and a summary explaining the flow chart.Recommendations – Based on your analysis of the change, tell us what areas of the project are of concern. Is cost or time a concern in these areas? Does the scope need be considered? What are some possible solutions for cost and schedule related impacts of the change that might be applicable?Please insert a draft change request form in your submitted assignment completed with the relevant information that your sponsor will need to approve the change.Here are some general guidelines for formatting:Use section headers so that it is clear what the sections of the report areMake good use of tables and/or charts to report the dataBe concrete; reference the case study and specifics regarding performanceInclude page numbersAll Assignment files are due by 11:59 pm, xx/xx, 2018Remember completion of an assignment does not guarantee an ‘A’. Please refer to the attached grading rubric as a guide to how the assignment will be assessed.
111pjm6000_casestudy_2018.pdf
continuation_week_5_case_study_2_.pdf
2222pjm6000_wk5_changereport_gradingrubric.pdf
Unformatted Attachment Preview
PJM Case Study
Case Study Background:
Ms. Deidre Jackson, the CEO of Acme Company, was recently given a report published by the Project
Management Institute called the Pulse of the Profession. 1 In the report, she learned a startling statistic.
PMI® reported that when projects are poorly managed, approximately $122 million is wasted for every
$1 billion spent (12.2%). Now, her company’s annual expense for projects is much smaller
(approximately $3 million expected in the next 12 months), but if she could experience even a partial
amount of that savings, she could reinvest those savings in future growth.
In order to accomplish this, she believes that she needs to adopt a more formal or mature approach to
managing projects, and she needs to professionalize the project management teams and, specifically, the
project managers. She has a colleague, Xin Xue, from a previous company who was the internal project
management expert in the company who she believes might be able to help, so she gives her a call to get
her take.
Ms. Jackson just finished a long conference call with Ms. Xue, and she now has a better idea of what this
might take in terms of effort and resources to move forward. In short, in Ms. Xue’s opinion, there is a way
to experience the savings that Ms. Jackson hopes for, but it will take some time and investment, so she
thinks they should move forward with maturing their team and management approach, but, as noted, it
will take an investment, so Ms. Jackson needs to be certain that the savings will deliver sufficient
business value. In short, is there a solid, defensible business case for such a project?
Present Situation:
Ms. Jackson emailed you the Pulse of the Profession report over the weekend, and you are now sitting in
her office at 9:00 am on Monday morning. She wants you to develop a business case for implementing a
training program that will lead to maturing the organization’s project management practices. Based on her
work over the weekend to see where some monies may be available for the unexpected project and her
conversation with Ms. Xue, she provides you with the following information:
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•
•
•
•
1
The company expects to spend approximately $3,000,000 on project related work over the next
12 months (year 1) and $3,500,000 over the following 12 months (year 2).
Based on her conversations with Ms. Xue, she believes the cost of training and implementing a
more mature model will be approximately $175,000 as an initial investment
Conservatively, she believes that the company will experience a savings of 3 percent in the first
year and 4.5 percent in the second year
Although the company will experience these savings for many more years in her opinion, she
wants to show that the company will receive a sufficient savings within the first 2 years to justify
this investment within the business case
On most investments, the company would expect to see a return of 11½ – 12 percent (internal rate
of return), and the cost of money (discount rate) is 6 percent.
Including in assigned reading for Week 1.
Ms. Jackson has to prepare a business case to share with her Board of Directors at the next quarterly
board meeting. There are seven board members including the Chairman, Vice Chair, Secretary, and
members of the Compliance Committee, The Chairman of the Board, Lou Jackson, is typically resistant
to investing money in these types of initiatives so it is important that the business case is well defined.
Ms. Jackson is considering having Jaitan Darshana, her internal PM who has a long tenure with the
organization, assist her with the preparation of the business case but she is concerned that Jaitan may be
resistant to the idea.
Business Case Assignment Instructions & Considerations
You have been tasked by Ms. Jackson with drafting a business case for this potential initiative, and she
has provided you with a template to use (see template attached to assignment instructions). She provides
you with the following comments related to each section of the template, but she tells you that you will
need to sharpen and expand on the ideas that she has provided. She expects your final draft to be ready to
take to the company’s Board of Directors for review and approval by week’s end.
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•
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•
•
Background and Business Problem
o She believes this has been covered in the contents of your initial conversation, where she
provided you with background information (see above case study material)
Strategic Case
o She states that this is strategically tied to the company’s goal of becoming more project
oriented, as they believe this will allow for more efficient and effective work, leading to
the company being able to grow in a more scalable manner.
Project Overview
o In addition to what she has stated above, if the business case is approved, then she
believes the basic project would be an 8 – 10 week training program for all project
managers and team members that would train them in the adoption of a more mature
project management model, and it would include some mentorships by the trainer. She
believes this would cost a total of $175,000.
Expected Benefits
o The expected benefits would be increased efficiencies and effectiveness, as noted above.
Financial Considerations
o She has provided you with the investment amount to provide financial support for the
investment
Risks
o She has asked you to look at primarily risks associated with the overall initiative, not
necessarily those focused on the training aspect of the project. The CEO is concerned
about potential disruptions to current projects that are already in flight.
Timeline
o Based on her conversations with Ms. Xue, she believes the project execution could begin
within 60 – 90 days, depending on the path chosen for moving forward
Recommendations and Next Steps
o She has asked you to consider all the relevant data you have collected and put into the
business case, and then provide a succinctly stated and well-supported recommendation
and concrete next steps if the proposal is accepted
General Case Considerations for Business Case:
o
It is expected that you will need to make reasonable assumptions in completing the
business case, so rely on the case study as guide. This is similar to how projects are
conceived in the real world. We have a basic set of factors, and then we must make
reasonable assumptions as we progress forward.
Case Study Continued – Week Five
You have been performing in the role of project manager in support of Ms. Jackson’s vision of creating a
strong and talented project management professional team leading to stronger project execution. Ms.
Jackson has just called you into her office with a few updates:
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ACME has been revisiting their strategy and decided that product development will become a
heavy focus for the organization over the next three years. Due to this product development
focus, she wants to also implement an Agile training program which will specifically focus on
Scrum techniques. Ms. Jackson has asked for you to add it to the scope of the current training
program which was approved when you submitted the business case. She is not familiar with
change management principles so you will have to create a change form and high level change
process that the team will follow. Ms. Jackson is willing to give you an additional $15,000 in
budgeted funds but would like this completed in the same timeframe as the initial project
request. The $15,000 is her budget estimate but may not be based upon what the actual costs
may be. According to your research, adding Agile may cost an additional $20,000 and have to be
done subsequent to the initial training program which has already been scheduled.
•
In addition, upon a recent review of your risk register with your team, a risk that was identified
as high impact is seemingly turning into an issue. This risk was related to the potential turnover
in training personnel. You have just learned that your top trainer may be leaving the project for
a new opportunity.
• The current forecast of the project indicates that your cost estimate may have been too low.
Current projections now indicate that beginning in week four of the project, you may be
exceeding your budget by $10,000 per week. You believe the budget overrun is due to higher
than expected salaries and unplanned vacation time.
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Other key indicators:
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Your last staffing report shows very little project team attrition or turnover.
Early surveys from participants in the training show a high degree of satisfaction.
Changes such as these are not uncommon in the project management profession. Determining
whether the request constitutes a change in scope, schedule, and budget is an integral component of
project management.
Using your business case, project charter and stakeholder analysis, determine how this new
information will impact your project. What type of change process will you be recommended be
implemented?
Week 5 Assignment: Performance Report
Grading Rubric
Topical
Content &
Focus (65%)
Failing
Below
Average
Average
Above Average
Superior
0 – 60 (F
range)
70 – 79 (C
range)
80 – 89 (B
range)
90 – 93 (Arange)
94 – 100 (A range)
Performance
Report does
not include the
assessment of
the change, a
change form
and/or does
not includes
accurate data
from the Case
Study
Continuation
worksheet.
The
appropriate
material, as
outlined in the
assignment
guidelines is
not covered in
the
performance
report, and the
Case Study
Continuation
metrics may
or may not be
accurate and
accurately
interpreted
and explained.
Performance
Report
includes a
change form
but does not
include an
assessment of
the change,
includes
minimal
accurate data
from the Case
Study
Continuation
worksheet.
Most of the
appropriate
material, as
outlined in the
assignment
guidelines is
covered in the
performance
report, and the
Case Study
Continuation
metrics are
accurate and
accurately
interpreted
Performance
Report
includes the
change form,
and a
cursory
recommenda
tion of the
impact using
data from
the Case
Study
Continuation
worksheet.
All the
appropriate
material, as
outlined in
the
assignment
guidelines is
covered in
the
performance
report, and
the Case
Study
Continuation
metrics
accurately
interpreted
Assignment
meets the
expectations of
‘Average’
column, but
shows a higher
degree of
understanding of
in the
Assignment meets the
expectations of ‘Above
Average’ column, but
shows a stronger
integration with the
details of the case
study and provides
concrete and realistic
recommendations that
are appropriately
defined and defended
given the details and
constraints of the case
study.
interconnectedness
between the
various changes,
their attributes,
and integrates
information
from the case
study in a
detailed manner
depicting the
impact of the
change.
and
explained.
and
explained.
Submission
reflects little
to no
applicable
personal
competencies
Submission
reflects a
minimal
applicable
personal
competencies
Submission
reflects both
applicable
personal
competencie
s in an
acceptable
manner
Submission
strongly reflects
applicable
personal
competencies
integrated
throughout the
assignment
Submission reflects an
excellent use of
applicable personal
competencies
integrated throughout
the paper in a way that
synthesizes the
personal competencies
Grammar
(10%)
Writing
contains
numerous
errors in
spelling,
grammar,
sentence
structure, etc.
that interfere
with
comprehensio
n. The reader
is unable to
understand
some of the
intended
meaning.
Frequent
errors in
spelling,
grammar,
sentence
structure,
and/or other
writing
conventions
that distract
the reader.
Minimal
errors in
spelling,
grammar,
sentence
structure
and/or other
writing
conventions
but the
reader is
able to
understand
what the
writer
meant.
All work
grammatically
correct with rare
misspellings.
All work
grammatically correct
with rare misspellings.
Formatting
(10%)
Multiple
errors in
formatting and
document is
not formatted
in a manner
A few errors
in formatting
and
presentation
of material is
mostly well
Rare errors
in formatting
and
formatting is
consistent
through the
Virtually no
errors in
formatting and
makes good use
of tables
appropriately.
Virtually no errors in
formatting and makes
good use of tables
appropriately.
Personal
Competencies
(15%)
•
•
•
•
Critical
thinking
Professiona
l Writing
Quantitativ
e analysis
Problem
Solving
NOTE: Gross
failure to
provide
PROPER
citations and
references –
particularly
with regard to
direct quotes –
will result in
sanctions as
outlined in the
academic
honesty policy.
consistent
with the
guidelines
provided.
done, but
either lacks
professional
formatting or
clarity.
submission
and in
alignment
with the
guidelines
by being
presented in
a clear and
professional
format.
…
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