AssignementDescriptionProjectManagement1 x
Lightning Fast Theme Park
Project Management Assignment – Background info :
Lightning Fast is a popular theme park, resort, and zoo which is set in the rural surrounding area of Warwickshire, England. The park covers 380 acres and accumulates over 1 million visitors each year. The park opened in 1975 and since that time, has built some very famous attractions which attract visitors from around the world. The most famous attraction is “Lightning Rod” which is a multi-million pound roller-coaster and the only one in Europe to travel at 150mph, allowing people to twist and turn at 4.3 Gs whilst hanging upside-down.
Lightning Fast has over 100 animals in its 20 acre zoo and also hosts a variety of special events including firework displays throughout the year. The park was founded as a family business and has won several awards including: “UK Attraction of the Year” 2009, “Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award” and a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor in 2014.
In order for Lightning Fast to continue to be successful; numerous project management initiatives are conducted throughout the year. During the course of the module, we will explore various aspects of Project Management at Lightning Fast, and you will carry out various project management activities which will aim to add “value” to the Lightning Fast theme park. You will make judgements on what future project management activities should be undertaken that might enhance Lightning Fast’s efficiency, productivity, financial performance, etc
Lightning Fast is a successful theme park operating in a competitive market and value generating project management is extremely important in order for Lightning Fast to maintain a competitive edge and continue to attract new and previous visitors to the theme park. Throughout the module you will be acting as a senior Project Manager to Lightning Fast and helping them to enhance their competitive offering.
Essay Question:
The board of directors of Lightning Fast have become increasingly concerned about the theme park’s decline in sales and profitability over the last 6 months. The company have hired your services as a project management consultant to undertake detailed analysis of its current business activities and its software systems to enable it to overcome these difficulties and restore the confidence of its key stakeholders.
Include Table of contents. Find a good repartition of titles and subparts that give a good flow to the assignment relating to material requested. Also Include few Tables, Graphs, images…
Harvard referencing academic or business reference or wider reading for each Entry. Include both direct “quotes” as well as paraphrased citations/references
Referenced material: Wysocki, R (2020) Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme (8th Ed). Wiley -> Chapter 7: How to Plan a TPM Project?
Part A (1500 words):
· Analysis of visitors to the theme park has revealed that 90% are UK based whilst only 10% are foreign tourists. Identify 2 projects e.g. a new ride, developing a hotel complex etc. which would make the park more attractive to foreign tourists.
· Justify why these projects are suitable and explain they will create business “value” for Lightning Fast and will allow it to boost its sales and profitability.
· Based upon your findings select of one of the projects you have discussed and explain to the board of directors why they should proceed to develop it with immediate effect.
· Estimate the RBS (Requirements Breakdown Structure) for your selected project.
· Consider the 4 quadrants of the Project Landscape and briefly explain which quadrant your project lies within.
· Explore how the project will allow the company to restore the confidence of its key internal and external stakeholders. Remember to support with reputable wider reading and reference this in full.
· You may wish to undertake PESTLE, Porter’s 5 forces, SWOT and stakeholder analyses to increase your knowledge and understanding of the subject matter being investigated. If this is the case – these supporting materials should be placed in the appendices and referred to within the main body of your report.
Part B (500 words):
Download Project Libre: https://sourceforge.net/projects/projectlibre/
1. Lightning Fast currently uses
Project Libre
to develop, manage and control its projects. However, its project managers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with its facilities. You are required to download this software and enter the precedence table shown below.
2. You are required to briefly appraise Project Libre’s features, advantages and limitations.
3. Identify two alternative project management software systems which could replace Project Libre and evaluate their features, advantages and limitations.
4. Based upon your analysis select one of the “two alternatives” and recommend to the board of directors which one they should buy. Explain the rationale for your choice.
5. Finally, produce a conclusion to critique Part A and Part B.
I gave you most of elements required for Part A and Part B. Please find a way to develop each Part with a good logic flow and finish assignment with relevant Conclusion considering essay question. Thank you.
Please consider material in following lecture notes as well as Chapt. 7 of requested book material.
Lecture Notes
We all now have a better understanding that project management is about creating value for the
client and that there are five project groups. In Units 1 & 2 we also learned how projects can be
classified into four possible quadrants. Our initial module focus will be on traditional project
management.
Turning our attention now to more advanced project management concepts; this lecturecast
explores project scoping and project scheduling. The lecturecast finishes by exploring some
relevant project management software which will be needed for our mid-module assignment.
The Learning Outcomes of the Lecturecast are to:
• Understand the interconnectivities of managing client expectations and project scoping;
• Establish measurable criteria for project success;
• Understand the importance of project planning;
• Explore Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) from the RBS perspective; and
• Explore Project Management software: Project Libre.
Okay, so what do we mean by managing client expectations?
Managing client expectations is always a challenging task whether relating to a project
management context or not. In project management project managers undertake a “scoping”
process in order to address key client questions: “what will you do” and “how will you know you did
it”? Project scoping can be a difficult task and much will depend on the complexity of the project at
hand.
Project Scoping is very much a two-way process communicating between the project team and the
client. Clients can be other employees or departments which are known as internal stakeholders.
Examples of internal stakeholders are senior management or other departments e.g. the marketing
or the finance department. Internal clients frequently have (but not always) a better understanding
of the project scope and arguably satisfying client’s needs is less problematic given their familiarity
with the organisations context.
The meeting of external client expectations and undertaking the project scoping requirements can
often be more problematic. Specific attention of the client needs to be given in order to understand
the needs of the client in order to deliver client “satisfaction”. Control of the clients expectations
and perceived project scope is often less manageable in external client relationships and this might
influence a project managers ability to deliver client satisfaction.
The scoping process defines all of the tools, templates, and processes needed to undertake the
project and answer the above questions. One important tool is Project Management Software and
as part of the mid-module assignment, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate some basic
functionality using project management software.
We need to think now about measureable success criteria…
Both internal and external clients will require a conversation discussing “wants” versus “needs” of
the specific project in question. This is where the project manager needs to perfect their
communication skills when listening and responding to the client. The Project Scoping Process
helps project managers structure their client conversations. As the project scoping process begins
to mature; a dialogue can be established as to what “value” and “success” criteria looks like. It is
really important for this to be done at the onset of the project so that both the project team and the
client know what the expectations are and if they can be achieved.
Importance of project planning / scheduling
Project scheduling is highly important and often a source of friction and tension between the
project team and the client (internal or external). The planning stage follows on from project
scoping. Given there is often no tangible evidence of project progression from the client’s
perspective; project managers are under high levels of pressure from the client to prematurely
commence the project prior to any through planning being completed.
Time is money. The client’s perception is that the project team is getting funded and from the
client’s initial perspective; no tangible evidence of progress can be observed. The client is naturally
concerned with this. However project managers should resist this pressure to aid a faster
completion time. It is always best to under promise and over deliver. Sadly this advice is often not
followed and can become a source of frustration.
Project Management Software.
The software package selected by the project team will depend on the complexity and budget of
the project. As a general rule, the larger and more complex the project, the more vital the software
package. However, remember these software tools are very much like any other used in business
– they rely on accurate information being inputted into them. Remember “GIGO”, Garbage In
Garbage Out. Scheduling can be a problematic area. The problem lies in getting reliable estimates
for tasks – “how much is completed” and “how long will it take to complete a specific task”.
Accurate data are essential in maintaining the project plan.
There are numerous software packages available to aid with project management and its delivery.
The module adopts Project Libre – an open source free-to-use software package which is as
equally as capable as other popular programs such as Microsoft Project. Project Libre is advocated
by several large enterprises e.g. Accenture; CISCO, IBM and Boeing to name but a few. There are
many project management software packages available (including Microsoft Project) which range
in price and functionality. Project Libre aids project scheduling and helps produce Gantt charts,
PERT charts, and several other visual outputs. The software works across several computer
operating systems including Windows and Mac.
Work Breakdown Structures.
The WBS (work breakdown structure) is a hierarchical description of all work that must be done to
complete the project as defined by the current RBS (requirements breakdown structure). One
major advantage where project planning has already considered the RBS, then the WBS is more
easily developed. The WBS has four uses: a thought-process tool, an architectural-design tool, a
planning tool, and a project-status reporting tool. An example of the WBS for building a house can
be seen on the screen. The WBS identifies all the individual tasks in a visual format.