Reference no: EM131313752 , Length:

This assignment should meet the following learning outcomes:

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Project Management Principles including how to define the project.

Evaluate the strategies and understand the constraints necessary when designing the project process.

Be able to deploy the necessary techniques, and use objective decision making to deliver the project within a pre-defined resource base.

Assessment Details:

Individuals to write a report consisting of 2000 words weighted at 100% of the overall module.

Assessment Tasks

1. Discuss the project in the case study.

2. Evaluate the application of the concepts and principles of business- project management, in the case study.

3. Assuming that you are the project manager f Turner and Townsend (T&T), prepare and discuss the following project plan documents for the case study. You can make assumptions in order to develop your answers.
a. Gantt chart
b. Work Breakdown Structure (was)
c. Payback period
d. Quality management plan
e. Communication plan
f. Change management plan
g. Risk management plan

Note: At least 10 references should be given as per the Harvard Referencing System.

The Case Study

University of Exeter Business School, Turner & Townsend

Overview

Turner & Townsend (T&T) was appointed project manager for the construction of the University of Exeter's new business school in December 2007. In January 2011, the building opened on time and budget, providing the university with additional world-class research, teaching, learning and social facilities. The project's key objective was to deliver a building that would enhance the institution's position as an international business school - a state-of-the-art sustainable educational facility with 'wow factor'. A further challenging objective was to maintain student satisfaction during construction. The project management team had to contend with complex decision-making and multiple stakeholders both within and outside the university, and faced numerous unforeseen challenges as the project progressed. However, through their effective teamwork and consultation, the creation of a no-blame culture and the ability to find robust solutions to complicated problems, T&T succeeded in driving the project through the delivery of the impressive new facility.

Objectives

The project team's key objective was to enable the business school to deliver its vision and enhance its position as an international business school through the creation of a state-of-the-art educational facility. The client wanted a building with 'wow factor' that would enhance the student and staff teaching experience while also enabling an increase in student numbers and fee revenue. The business school set a deadline for delivery by January 2011, and further stressed that the team should ensure that student satisfaction was maintained during construction. Finally, the client wanted a sustainable building with low CO2 emissions and would achieve a rating of 'Very Good' from BREEAM as a minimum.

Resources

T&T was appointed by the University of Exeter to manage the construction of its new Business School in December 2007. The budget was £14m. The core delivery team consisted of T&T project management staff, with support from the company's cost management team, plus the client, the University of Exeter, architects HLM, consulting engineers Hoare Lee and civils and structural company Opus International. The contractor was BAM. At the outset T&T defined the project team organisation, routes of communication and how the project would be governed. This was captured in a project execution plan. The project management team then developed a master programme which included sub-programmes for different work streams such as the extensive AV and IT, catering and end-user input. This provided an opportunity for the wider stakeholders to contribute their views and help realise the overall goals of the business school. The estimated total cost of the project is £13 milllion with estimated annual cash flow of £500,000.

Challenges

The key challenges for the project management team included the fact that it needed to satisfy the demands of multiple stakeholders with differing aspirations. It also had to work within tight timescales and manage many complex issues. The project management team worked closely with the client and project team to solve complicated problems and make key decisions in a timely manner. Through effective leadership, influencing and negotiation, T&T was able to produce the decisions that the project required to recover from significant delays and prevent further delays to the programme.

Co-ordination

Because of the complexity of the project and the differing aspirations of stakeholders, good levels of communication were critical. One of the constant challenges for the project, reports T&T, was the requirement for regular, independent and proactive dialogue between the different parties involved in delivery. Without this there would have been significant delay to the delivery of the project and serious disruption caused by coordination problems. The project management team had to constantly encourage and facilitate communication.

To do this, they used both formal and informal methods, none of which were particularly innovative or unusual in themselves, but were applied with relentless effort to ensure that the required levels of communication took place. T&T also took every opportunity to get to know the project team outside the formal project environment, and this good relationship-building work played a vital role lateron, as it enabled the project management team to manage some very difficult situations in an effective way. Conflict was resolved through the application of conflict management techniques and negotiation took place as and when the need arose. This prevented serious disruption to the project and ultimately kept good working relationships amongst the team, thus preventing disputes during some challenging situations. T&T says its strategy was always to create a 'win win' situation, ensuring that compromises could be reached and that the project remained as far as possible on track. Effective management of risk was also fundamental to the success of this project and T&T produced both hard and soft benefits from their proactive risk management strategies.

This three-year, £14m project to construct the University of Exeter's new business school has been hailed as a great success for the university and the city itself. Given the multiple challenges faced on this project - described by T&T as 'what seemed to be a never ending stream of unforeseeable complications', success was far from inevitable. T&T alludes to several situations that could have had disastrous consequences, reporting: "We faced in excess of half a year of delay, at times significantly exceeded budget, dealt with the potential for major conflict, had to ensure that the project was properly resourced at all times and had to redesign the building at an advanced project stage." Nonetheless, T&T managed to overcome these challenges and deliver the project on programme and under budget, while exceeding the quality expectations of the client.