CT050-3-3-PRMGT-Project Management Page 1 of 7

CT050-3-3-PRMGT-Project Management
Incourse Assignment
Company : Innovative Wellbeing Pte. Ltd. (IW)
Project : Global Supply Chain Management Project (GSCMP)

I. Learning Outcomes

Explain the fundamentals of IT project management processes, lifecycle a typical IT

CLO1 Exam
project into manageable components (C5, PLO2)
Adhere a project management plan using the aims and objectives, deliverables, scope
Group
CLO2 and appropriate standards through tools and techniques within processes of a typical
Assignment
IT project (A4, PLO8)
Practise project management leadership to solve complexity in project using PMBOK Individual
CLO3
standards (A5, PLO9) Assignment

II. The Scenario (A Case Study)

Innovative Wellbeing Pte. Ltd. (IW) is one of the leading nutrition, health and wellness multinational
companies, based in Singapore with its global IT shared services known as Global IT Services (GITS) located
in Malaysia has embarked on a new project to enhance its supply chain operations. The first wave will be
concentrated to South East Asia and the implementation will be deployed by local markets.

At present, markets located throughout South East Asia are using locally developed application to record
supply chain management activities information. The first-level support (L1) is being rendered by local IT and
second level (L2) is supported by the local application vendor. Previously the cost for software support
maintenance was managed locally within each market which has resulted high in IT cost for both capital and
operating expenses. Unfortunately, every market provides similar support framework which has created
duplication among markets within the South East Asia Region due to decentralisation of systems being used.
Thus, by implementing this project, significant contribution such as reduction in capital/operating expenses,
centralized support from GITS, global governance and many more value added are gained. Please refer to
section VII, Table 1 for the list of departments directly and indirectly involves in this project.

Due to the urgency for centralising support and cost reduction, the project was scheduled to be
completed within duration of 6 months from the date of commencement. The project is named as ‘Global
Supply Chain Management Project’ (GSCMP).

This is a critical and complex project which involves various department including subject matter
experts (SME(s)) from GITS. A Project Manager was hurriedly assigned from GITS-PMAC who has a
good working knowledge of the various regional office locations. The current Project Manager portrays
strong ‘global/regional project management’ and ‘technical’ skills. However, he lacks leadership
qualities and interpersonal skills.

In addition to a good project management practices, the following are some of the major critical success factors
(CSF) the Project Manager must comply for the success of the project:-

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a) capable resources would be selected from any of the SME-departments as shown in the organisation
structure provided in section VII, Table 1
b) the current IT infrastructure must support this new system
c) the current system must be replaced in phases by GSCMP.
d) the cutover (transition from the current system to new centralised system) must be in parallel

(Note: Although the major milestones for the project are provided in section VIII, Table 2, Project
Manager is required to expand the detail activities/tasks for respective milestones if necessary.)

As the project progressed, it was meeting its ‘high-level’ milestones for the first two (2) months, and with
four (4) months left, it was now deemed as ‘failing to meet its target dates’, ‘not doing what it was
supposed to do’ and was ‘unreliable’. At this point also a few startling issues surfaced, as follows:

1. the steering committee (which consist of the board of directors, CEO and Senior Managers of the
organisation) do not recall of being presented the project feasibility study by the Project Sponsor or the
Project Manager to them.
2. the project approval was not formally documented.
3. there is no evidence that a proper project management process was followed.
4. the PC and server hardware technical specifications were constantly being changed to suit new or added
requirements.
5. requirements keep coming in from users almost daily where the GITS-ADC Team Lead keeps on accepting
them without hesitation.
6. there was redundancy of work performed as the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) was done separately
by each respective department and the Project Manager did not review and then consolidate those WBSs
into one holistic WBS.
7. most of the team members have been focusing more on their daily operation support rather than tasks being
assigned by the Project Manager or their respective Team Lead.
8. tasks are performed without prioritising other dependent tasks.
9. IT assets acquisition and spending were through PROC Manager with suppliers without going through a
proper tendering process.
10. purchasing of IT assets without a proper tendering process has led to overrun by budget.
11. the testing plan was not developed yet.
12. there was not even a clear designated sponsor (or sponsors) for the project.
13. there was no clear project organisational structure to manage the project.
14. the Project Manager’s authority was constantly overridden by the department head /managers.
15. technical skills were especially lacking in the network and security areas.
16. there were no monitoring reports to review as none were prepared and formally documented.
17. the risks associated with the project, although documented, had no detailed action plans and were not
categorised in terms of impact or severity.
18. the hardware and software delivery were still being negotiated with some potential vendors while there
were only four (4) months to complete the project.

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III. Assignment Requirements

As the project is failing and needs to be recovered, you should start by looking into a proper project
management practices with the appropriate processes, tools and techniques.

Besides, the steering committee decided to replace the current Project Manager. As a group of five (5)
members in this group assignment, assuming they have appointed one of you to be the new Project
Manager, and now you are to look at all the 18 issues above (section II) and resolve them using the ten
(10) project management knowledge areas:

1. Project Integration Management

2. Project Scope Management
3. Project Time Management
4. Project Cost Management
5. Project Quality Management
6. Project Human Resource Management
7. Project Communication Management
8. Project Risk Management
9. Project Procurement Management
10. Project Stakeholder Management

Your team should aim to make your report interesting and engaging, without losing sight of the fact that the
organisation is seeking a professional approach to the problems. All analysis should thoroughly illustrate and
document the pressing need to recover a failing project. Avoid theoretical discussions. Apply the theories to
solve the problems.

Assumptions can be made to assist in ascertaining the solutions, but they must not impair the decision made
on the scope and delivery of the project.

IV. Assignment Instructions

As part of a team (maximum of five (5) individuals per group), a single report must be submitted to senior
management. The report should be a formally written document, the contents of which should not exceed 6,000
words (1,000 – group total and 1,000 x 5 – individual), excluding abstracts, tables, appendices, etc. An
electronic copy should also be submitted with the report.

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V. Assessment Details

1. A GROUP based report of 1000 words – 50% (SUBMISSION – WEEK 6)

This is the part of the report that details your project management awareness of how project management
practices with the appropriate processes, tools and techniques, once introduced, will be able to manage
the project well.

The main contents should cover a detailed group discussion on processes, tools and techniques as
follows:
a) Comparative Analysis
 PMBOK
 PRINCE2
 AGILE
b) Project Charter
 BOSCARD
 Milestones
c) Stakeholder Register
d) Project Kick-off
 Meeting Agenda

Breakdown of marks:
a) Aligning Projects Process Groups with Business Strategies – 25%
Comparative Analysis – Establishing the appropriateness level of different project management
standards
Project Charter – Connecting the ideas to the case study therefore fulfilling business needs and
objective
b) Initiating Projects – 25%
Project Kick-off – Meeting agenda required and a brief explanation of how this is crucial to initiate
projects
Stakeholder Register – Provides an extensive list with all possible stakeholders and their roles while
relating to their significance in the project kick-off meeting

2. An INDIVIDUAL based report of 1,000 words each – 50% (SUBMISSION – WEEK 12)
A detailed discussion on processes, tools and techniques by each member of the group on the mapped
issues segregated amongst each team member as follows:
a) Appropriate mapping of issues to the solutions identified
b) Relation to the case study is crucial according to the project lifecycle

Breakdown of marks:
a) PMBOK Standards – 25%
Proposed tools are according to PM standards and explaining the reliability of the solutions proposed
b) Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling and Closing Projects – 25%
Solutions provided from identified issues are covered accordingly within these processes and to
ensure more than one process is covered

This assignment is worth 40% (20% - Individual & 20% - Group) of the final grade. Assignment will be
handed-out by Week 2 and to be handed-in by Week 6 & Week 12.

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VI. Assignment Assessment Criteria

The criteria below detail the areas, which will be taken into account when the assignment is marked:

1. Distinction assignments exhibit comprehensive research with detailed evidence.

 High level of analysis performed, exceptional and thorough knowledge and understanding displayed
with regard to application. This includes analysis and evaluation of facts followed by results of
evaluation.
 Documentation presented in a professional manner, following proper sequencing and flow. Displayed
evidence of critical appraisal.
2. Credit assignments demonstrate adequate research conducted with fair detail of evidence presented.
 Moderate level of understanding, analysis and knowledge displayed.
 Some level of relevance included in terms of application.
 Moderate level of analysis and evaluation of facts followed by results comparison. Good level of
documentation presented.
 Some level of reflection was evident in the documentation.
 Moderate level of critical appraisal.
3. Pass assignments show low level research conducted.
 Some evidence of research displayed.
 Basic level of understanding and knowledge analysis displayed.
 Satisfactory level of documentation.
 No evaluation and analysis of facts, no results comparison performed Satisfactory or low level of
reflection displayed.
 No level of critical appraisal demonstrated.
4. You are expected to clearly state any assumptions you make, and support statements and theories by
referencing to appropriate sources.

Attention will be paid to:

 Critical evaluation and discussion. Issues will be dealt with deeper and on an analytical plane, based on
good research - with industry examples, data projections and commentaries.
 Balanced researched materials. Appropriate and different sources which must include sufficient
academic research, not just secondary research from URLs
 Proper referencing and citation. Harvard Referencing is a must. Citation must include, apart from the
normal details, the page number from where the issue for discussion has been taken. (Refer to Handbook
for penalty on plagiarism)

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VII. Global IT Services & Local Market Organisation Structure

To indicate the extent of the project resources and team construction, the table below indicates the organisation
structure for IW local market and Global IT Services.

Support Unit SME-Department Abbreviation SME Responsibility

GITS Communication & Network CNN Provides network services for Local IT/Market
Provide governance for IT security for application
GITS IT Security ITSEC
development, software and hardware

Provide develop application and provide

GITS Application Development Center ADC
application Governance and Intellectual Property.
GITS Project Management Centre PMAC Provide Project Managers to manages projects
Global Provide governance for IT operations, which
GITS IT Operations ITO includes supporting local markets and its business
operations.
Center of Excellence – Enterprise
GITS CoE-ERP Provide L2 Support for CoE-ERP
Resources Planning
Center of Excellence – Customer
GITS CoE-CRM Provide L2 Support for CoE-CRM
Relationship Management
Center of Excellence – Supply CoE-Supply
GITS Provide L2 Support for CoE-SCS
Chain Services Chain Services
Market IT Dept IT IT Manager, Executive #1, Executive #1
MKTG Manager, Executive #1, Executive #2,
Market Marketing Dept MKTG
Executive #3, Sales Rep x 30,
FIN Manager, Executive #1, Executive #2,
Local Market Finance Dept FIN
Clerk#1, Cashier #1
Market Human Resources Dept HR HR Manager, Executive #1, Executive #2
Market Communication Affairs COMM COMM Manager
Market Procurement PROC PROC Manager, Officer x2
Table 1: IW Organisation Structure

VIII. List of activity from previous project implementation from other markets

Immediate
No Major Milestones Estimated predecessor
activity
1 Requirements Gathering 33 0
2 Preliminary Approval 19 0
3 Change Request, CR Approval 10 2
4 Business Approval 6 2
5 Functional & Technical Specification Development 12 1
6 Application Development 52 5
7 ADC Testing 7 5
8 IT Regression Testing 5 6,7
9 User Acceptance Test (UAT) 27 7,8
10 System setup (in Production environment) 1 9
Total Project Cost (in USD) $280,000
Table 2: List of Major Milestones

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CT050-3-3-PRMGT-Project Management
Incourse Assignment – Marking Scheme
Explain the fundamentals of IT project management processes, lifecycle a typical
CLO1 Exam
IT project into manageable components (C5, PLO2)
Adhere a project management plan using the aims and objectives, deliverables,
Group
CLO2 scope and appropriate standards through tools and techniques within processes of a
Assignment
typical IT project (A4, PLO8)
Practise project management leadership to solve complexity in project using Individual
CLO3
PMBOK standards (A5, PLO9) Assignment

Comparative Analysis | Project Charter | Stakeholder Register | Project

GROUP (50%) Kick-off
Aligning Fail Marginal Fail Pass Credit Distinction
Projects 0 - 10 11 - 12 13 - 15 16 - 18 19 - 25
Insufficient Average Good
Process Excellent analysis
information Lack of linkage elaboration documentation
Groups with provided and and relation to provided with of the specific
provided in
Business identifying key
only generic the case study processes processes
Strategies processes, tools and
information provided identified identified
(25%) techniques
given accordingly accordingly
Rather poor Average Good
Very poor
elaboration of documentation identification of Excellent
Initiating explanation of
the details shown with details documentation of the
Projects key documents
within each sufficient pertaining to key items required to
(25%) with missing
proposed information initiating initiate a project
elements
document provided projects
INDIVIDUAL (50%) Addresses all mapped issues according to the life cycle of the project
Very clear evidence
Very well
Weak Appropriately of original ideas and
None or proposed
application of structured critical thinking
poorly used of solution with
PMBOK tools/techniques tools/techniques/p shown
tools/techniqu proven methods
Standards /processes rocesses through appropriate
es/processes shown in detail
(25%) with little utilised which used of
which mostly through suitable
descriptive comply to tools/techniques/proc
are empty tools/techniques
detail required standard esses supported by
/processes
justifiable details
Planning, Good analysis
Executing, Merely general
Limited analysis that clearly Excellent analysis
analysis done and
Monitoring done and failed relates to the that is used and
No evidence very little
& or very poor
to relate to
relations to
problems discussion was
Controlling the problems and issues appropriate to
analysis done the
and Closing and issues addressed, and identify the problems
problem/issues
Projects addressed discussion was /issues addressed
addressed
(25%) deep
GRAND TOTAL
(100%)

Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation January 2020