Reference no: EM133932948 , Length: 2000 Words
Managing Project Changes & Gold Plating
Assessment - Practical Report
Learning Outcome 1: Discuss the effects of change on individuals, teams, and organisations.
Learning Outcome 2: Understand what gold plating is in the context of project management and the various reasons why it occurs.
Learning Outcome 3: Demonstrate capacity to rank and prioritise changes requests.
Assessment Description In this project, you will work individually. Your task is to evaluate, compare, and critically analyse the "Toyota Case" presented on page 4 of this guide. You are expected to approach the case as a consultant, providing a thorough analysis and well-supported solutions.
How Toyota create their change committee to achieve strategic advantages?
Why is it necessary for project teams training in order to be productive?
What are some of the barriers that Toyota faced? How would you overcome some of these barriers?
List some reasons why a project manager may need to negotiate for the change to be approved.
Will Toyota turn its recall into an opportunity for increased participation for its international manufacturers? Will decentralization and increased transparency occur? What does your critical analysis about those points?
Process, structure, and content:
The process of the project is the development a critical thinking report for Kimble College organisation. Students are advised to conduct an audition in this organisation. You will analyse the company and make recommendations including the strengths and weaknesses that were revealed.
The structure of the project is a 2000-word report, the contents of which are detailed below. It is the report that requires submitting as the finished piece of work. It is the report that will be marked. Ad hoc work in whatever form will not be marked if submitted.
The wordcount is 2000 words ± 10%. The wordcount does not include the executive summary, the table of contents, the list of references or any appendices. However, please note that appendices should be used for supplementary information only: they will NOT be
considered for marking. Get top-notch online assignment help.
The report content will comprise of the following sections:
Title page: this must contain the title of the report (e.g. ‘Project Plan for Acme Airlines'),
names and student number, unit name, unit number and date of submission.
Table of contents (TOC): ideally, but not necessarily, constructed using the hyperlink functions in Word. Lists of figures and tables are not required.
Executive summary: an executive summary provides an overview of the ENTIRE report. It is NOT an introduction section. It is NOT a background section. The purpose of an executive summary is to provide an understanding of the project plan without having to read the complete report. Ideally, half to on page in length (but no longer), the executive summary will contain a summary sentence or two on each section of the report, reporting on process, content and outcomes. Do not use headings or titles in the executive summary; it should be written in essay narrative format and read seamlessly.
Introduction: the introduction informs the reader of the aims and methods the student will use in the project. It also defines the scope of the project (what is included and what is not). Whilst it may mention the chosen organisation by name, the introduction DOES NOT talk in detail about the chosen organisation or its industry.
Background and project situation: a background and project situation section inform that reader of the context to the project. Here the organisation and its industry are described.
Information about the organisation's past and present project performance is presented along with any notes about major milestones in its project history. It is easy to ‘go overboard' with this section and consume much wordcount; one page is all that's needed to set the scene for your project plan project.
Moreover, in this and other sections, too many students often over-rely on company websites. Most times, these websites present an organisation's promotions (advertising) or opinions masquerading as facts. Because of the convenience and profusion of this type of information, it is too easy for students to ignore the authoritative sources of data that can be reached through AIH library databases: however, the use of AIH library databases is the way to higher marks!
While use the above questions to analyse the case study (page 1), you should integrate the SWOT analysis by mapping out as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The SWOT analysis forms the basis for project objectives and strategies.
Conclusions: through logical reasoning, this section should summarise how the project objectives and subsequent strategies offer feasible, suitable and acceptable solutions to the project issues generated by the analysis.
List of references: this should be formatted in Harvard style.
Research expectation:
The submission needs to be supported with information by credible sources.
Credible sources should be varied and include, but not limited to, the Textbook, Government reports, Industry reports, Newspaper articles, Books, and Journal articles.
Use the EBSCO Databases accessed through the Library and Learning Support page on Moodle to find journal articles, case studies and more to help you prepare your assessment. Speak with the library assistants or email ([email protected]) if you require further assistance.