PMP Consultants Pty Ltd 31272 PMP Assignment 2

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  •  PMP Consultants Pty Ltd 31272 PMP Assignment 2

    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  1
    UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY
    31272 Project Management and the Professional
    Assignment 2 – Spring 2017
    Marks:  25 marks (25%)
    Submission Components: Hardcopy and softcopy report
    Submission Due:  5pm, Wednesday 18 October 2017 
    Submission To:  Assignment drop-box CB11.05 (hardcopy) / UTSOnline (softcopy)
    Length:  Approximately 9,000 – 10,000 words
    Anticipated Commitment: 16-18 hours per student in group 
    Objectives / Graduate Attributes:  1, 2, 3, 5 / A1, A2, A3, A5, E1, E2, E3
    This is a Group Assignment (4 to 6 Students) with Peer Assessment
    Background

     PMP Consultants Pty Ltd 31272 PMP Assignment 2
    The CEO of PMP Consultants Pty Ltd has been in talks with management of the recently reorganised
    Vista Events Group regarding initiatives to modernise facilities, introduce new methodologies and
    update infrastructure across Vista‟s Australian operations. As stated by the new Managing Director at
    their annual general meeting, Vista intend to adopt a much more proactive, disciplined and project-
    based approach to doing business, “… leaping ahead from passively organising seminars and club-
    tours for visiting speakers and performers to the orchestrating of noisy, extravagant, highly-publicised
    and ever-larger entertainment events”.
    Vista recently won a bid for running a large full-day concert in January 2019 concluding the Festival
    of Sydney. However, as a first-of-its-kind happening they recognise that this will be a challenge to do,
    especially since they don‟t have an existing system or procedures capable of managing the
    complexities of large events. Consequently, PMP Consultants (with their solid reputation for project
    competence) has been invited to assist by preparing a project management briefing paper for the
    Vista Board covering development planning for a new Events Management System (EMS). If the
    anticipated report is clear, detailed and complete, Vista have suggested this could not only form the
    basis for running the Festival concert but potentially lead to a profitable ongoing business
    arrangement for PMP including:
    1. A proposal for the two companies to jointly develop the EMS and associated software. A success
    with this initial venture could prompt a long-term partnership offer for PMP to help Vista fulfil a
    range of other (still confidential) entertainment and sports industry projects. These significant
    joint activities would become a lucrative (and high profile) income stream for PMP over the next
    5 years – plus give a competitive advantage over rival consultancies still unaware of the
    aggressive scale of Vista‟s intended market expansion or richness of their client list.
    2. A highly regarded submission has potential to see the PMP CEO offered a non-executive
    Directorship on the Vista Board of Directors. He regards this potential appointment, if it were to
    happen, as an excellent opportunity for personal networking among the high-status peer group of
    the entertainment and sports industries, opening business/social options not normally available.
    3. Vista‟s parent company, Recreation Amalgamated Holdings (RAH), is considering a „preferred
    supplier‟ arrangement with a proven information technology consultancy. The chosen firm would
    not only provide services to one subsidiary (such as Vista) but act as primary technology
    consultant/advisor to the entire conglomerate. This is an opportunity potentially worth tens of
    millions of dollars for the enterprise selected. Exhibiting superior proficiency in working with
    Vista could make PMP eligible for the appointment.
    Needless to say, professionalism and thoroughness of the project management briefing report is
    important for both the future of PMP Consultants and to its CEO personally.
    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  2
    Tasks
    This assignment is based upon the attached project scenario (see page 6).
    The project briefing paper must be submitted to the PMP CEO (or member of his executive team) by
    the time/date nominated. Failure to meet deadline means your CEO will not be able to deliver it at
    Vista‟s June Board meeting where he has been invited to present. This would be highly embarrassing
    for him – and with possible „career-limiting‟ repercussions for the associated PMP team members!
    The project planning document must contain the following sections (although others can be added):
    Section 1 – Business Overview
     Document introduction, purpose and background;
     Objectives of the Event Management System (EMS) and key success criteria;
     Short discussion of the project‟s Measurable Organisational Value (MOV) and potential benefits;
     Outline of project scope (including specific requirements traceability, identification of out-of-
    scope items and noting of project assumptions and constraints).
    Section 2 – Specific Project Management Planning and Control Strategies to be Adopted
    (Hint: refer to lecture notes and tutorial workshop activities for guidance)
     Stakeholder management and communication;
     System development approaches for creating the EMS (i.e. Waterfall vs Agile) and respective
    advantages/disadvantages for this project are well discussed and final recommendation made;
     Risk management strategy and planning (including completion of a preliminary risk register);
     Quality management strategy and planning;
     Project monitoring and change control strategy.
    Section 3 – Preliminary Project Management Activities and Estimates
     High-level work breakdown structure (WBS) of the EMS project (approximately 100 tasks);
     Task sequencing using activity-on-node (AON) network dependency diagram (NDD). If needed
    place a high-level summary NDD in the report body with more detailed AON PERT in appendix
    (including a CD or inexpensive USB stick to hold detailed appendices is acceptable);
     Task scheduling on a Gantt chart (must reflect both the WBS and the detailed PERT);
     Identification and discussion of key milestones (should be at least 8 but more are OK);
     Discussion of identified critical path dependencies;
     Best estimate of time duration (with reasoning) needed to complete the project from start to end.
     Validation of project budget using two methods. First, initial „top-down‟ budget ($850,000) must
    be realistically allocated to key project phases/activities/deliverables; second, an additional
    „bottom up‟ estimate must be undertaken for the same tasks. Outcomes of the cross-validation are
    to be discussed and recommendations made (e.g. is the initial budget too high/low? Should a
    formal request for budget increase/decrease be made? Should a contingency fund be established?);
     Human resourcing estimate (i.e. Roles needed? How many people? For how long?).
    Section 4 – Conclusion
     Relevant approvals desired for key project areas;
     Summary of major points;
     Concluding remarks, recommendations and suggested next steps to get the project underway.
    Section 5 – Overall Professionalism and Presentation
     Report looks profession (covered, bound, etc.) – suitable for submission to senior executives;
     Appropriate title page, table of contents, heading and page numbers, grammar, punctuation, etc.;
     Communicates well, concise, good executive summary, good structure and language flow, etc.;
     Satisfactory completion and inclusion of peer assessment forms per instructions on page 3.
    The assignment product is a professional-level Project Briefing Report. PMP is, as yet, only engaged
    to provide this single deliverable. Further arrangements to develop the actual GMS are still pending -
    although PMP hopes to win the contract and a good impression with the initial assessment report will
    be central to that happening!
    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  3
    Assessment
    Report Marking Scheme
    Remember, this is a professional document for senior management and should look and read as such.
    Section 1 + 4  Overview, Conclusion and Recommendations  4 Marks
    Section 2  Planning Approaches and Governance Strategies  8 Marks
    Section 3  Project Activities and Estimates  10 Marks
    Additional  Professionalism of Report and Completed Peer Review Forms  3 Marks
    TOTAL  25 Marks
    Group Work and Peer Assessment Instructions
    The assignment will be undertaken by groups of approximately five students and peer assessment
    forms are required to be submitted along with the report. The whole group is responsible for team
    performance and meeting deliverables. If you have trouble with group organisation or colleagues
    within the group (including members not contributing) it is important you settle these issues early. If
    conflicts persist then arrange to meet with your tutor (ideally as a whole group) as soon as possible.
    Team member contribution should be addressed via the Peer Assessment process. Using the Peer
    Assessment form found at the end of this assignment, allocate a mark from five (5) down to zero (0)
    for each member of the team (including yourself) along with an appropriate comment. Ratings should
    use only whole numbers. A mark of five shows the person is an effective and efficient member of the
    team; zero indicates the person has not contributed to the team effort. If all members of the team have
    contributed appropriately then a mark of five should be given to all.
    You must also indicate on the form whether you prefer to have Peer Assessment applied or not. Peer
    Assessment will apply if 50% or more of the team vote in favour. Each completed form should be
    placed in a separate envelope (one form per envelope per team member), sealed and submitted with
    your assignment. Student name, ID and tutor name should be printed clearly on the envelope front.
      Groups responding YES to Peer Assessment will have the assignment mark weighted by Peer
    Assessment rating to give an individual mark. This may lead to some team member(s) attaining a
    result less than others and potentially failing this assessment task.
      Groups responding NO to Peer Assessment receive the same mark for all team members.
    Repeating Students
    If you previously attempted 31272 after 1 July 2016 then you may re-use your mark from that time in
    place of undertaking this assignment. If so, you MUST email the subject coordinator with your
    request by 5pm, 8 September 2017. Return confirmation should be kept. Failure to obtain written
    approval by the nominated date means this assignment is to be undertaken normally.
    Submission Requirements
    Assignments are required in BOTH hardcopy and softcopy. Final-version hardcopy must be
    presented to subject drop-box (CB11.05) or your tutor by due time/date nominated and corresponding
    softcopy submitted to Turnitin via the 'Assignments' tab of UTSOnline. Failure to provide a softcopy
    will be deemed an incomplete submission incurring a penalty of up to half of the assessment mark.
    Assignment Return
    Assignments can be collected from the Subject Coordinator after the end-of-term Exam period.
    Expected Standard of the Work
    You are expected to conceptualise the problem or issue, find relevant references for context, facts,
    theory and examples, come up with a point of view and support that point of view with discussion and
    citation where appropriate. Your submitted report should be written as a business document submitted
    to a business audience (and not simply attempting to satisfy an academic course requirement).
    Also, students are reminded of the principles laid down in the "Statement of Good Practice and Ethics
    in Informal Assessment" (in the Faculty Handbook). Unless otherwise stated in a specific handout, all
    assessment tasks in this subject should be your own original work. Any collaboration with another
    student (or group) should be limited to those matters described in "Acceptable Behaviour" section of
    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  4
    the Handbook. Students should pay particular attention to the recognition of "Plagiarism" as described
    in that section of the Handbook. Any infringement by a student will be considered a breach of
    discipline and will be dealt with in accordance with Rules and By-Laws of the University. Penalties
    such as zero marks for assignments or subjects may be imposed.
    Late Penalty
    Overdue assignments will attract a late penalty per the Subject Outline. Any special consideration for
    late submission must be arranged with the Subject Co-ordinator well before the deadline.
    Referencing Standards
    All material derived from other works must be acknowledged and referenced accordingly using the
    Harvard/UTS referencing Style. The following link will help:
    http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/referencing/harvard-uts-referencing-guide
    Additional
    Improve Your Academic and English Language Skills
    HELPS (Higher Education Language and Presentation Support) Service provides assistance with
    English language proficiency and academic language. Students who need to develop their written
    and/or spoken English should make use of the free services offered by HELPS, including academic
    language workshops, vacation intensive courses, drop-in consultations, individual appointments and
    Conversations@UTS (www.ssu.uts.edu.au/helps). However, HELPS will not proof-read assignments!
    HELPS is located in Student Services, on level 3 of building 1 (phone 9514-2327).
    The following links also provide extensive information about the services and support available to
    students within the Faculty:
     Faculty of Engineering and IT intranet MyFEIT
    http://my.feit.uts.edu.au/myfeit
     Faculty Student Guide
    http://my.feit.uts.edu.au/modules/myfeit/downloads/StudentGuide_Online.pdf
    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  5
    31272 SPRING 2017
    PEER ASSESSMENT FOR GROUP WORK
    SAMPLE
    Assignment
    Number
    Assignment 2
    Your Name  Brigitte Bardot
    Tutor Name  Grant Mooney
    Student No.  Group Member Name
    Rating
    (0=low, 5=high)
    Reason for Rating
    11111111  Ben Bolt  4
    Contributed less than others. Missed some
    group meetings and deadlines.
    12222222  Brigitte Bardot  5
    Contributed well to all needed tasks
    13333333  Bob Brown  5
    Contributed well to all needed tasks
    14444444  Betty Blue  4
    Often late on work contributions which
    slowed down other team members.
    15555555  Bugs Bunny  5
    Tends to do work at the last minute but has
    good quality contributions.
    Apply Peer Assessment to this Assignment? (Default is NO): YES / NO
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ALL STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE THE TABLE BELOW FOR EACH TEAM MEMBER
    Allocate only whole marks (no fractions) and place each completed form in a separate sealed envelop
    Assignment
    Number
    Assignment 2
    Your Name 
    Tutor Name 
    Student No.  Group Member Name
    Rating
    (0=low, 5=high)
    Reason for Rating
    Apply Peer Assessment to this Assignment? (Default is NO): YES / NO
    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  6
    CASE STUDY
    Vista Events Group
    Background
    In early 2015, a collection of venture capital investors and small-to-medium sized recreation firms
    examined the possibility of amalgamating to provide an umbrella company for the easy management
    of large-scale health and holiday resorts around Australia. They decided to form Recreation
    Amalgamated Holdings (RAH) - a major publicly listed corporation dedicated to the provision, rollout
    and management of recreation services around the country. From this formation, and numerous
    subsequent acquisitions of other high value firms in its target markets, the parent corporation now has
    five autonomous and substantially-funded divisions: Pacific Resorts Group; Snowy Mountains
    Resorts Group; Family Fitness Group; Southern Golf Group; and Vista Events Group. Although
    strategic directives and annual profit targets are issued by RAH, each division has its own Board of
    Directors, internal operations structure, independent decision making and profit/loss accountability –
    thus, operating as wholly-owned commercial subsidiaries within their individual industry segments.
    Recently, due to the wide-ranging disparity of systems and capability inherited from its mergers and
    acquisitions, RAH has prioritised the development of a suitable integrated infrastructure to administer
    the day-to-day needs of clients and staff and to better monitor and provide services to its chain of
    affiliates. The subsidiary covering its event management activities, Vista Events Group, has been
    given the go-ahead as the first of the five divisions to be modernised. To meet the timeline issued by
    their parent company, Vista feels that design of an appropriate information systems architecture (and
    development of associated tools) should be outsourced to an experienced consulting group with a
    track record of successfully integrating diverse information needs with the latest technological
    advances. Upon selection by the Vista Board, this consulting firm would lead the upgrade program
    under Vista oversight – and potentially across other RAH divisions once the initial 18-month trial
    program with Vista has been deemed successful.
    Currently headquartered in Sydney, Vista also has branch offices located in Melbourne and Brisbane.
    Traditionally, it has operated as a management company for club tours, speaking seminars and small-
    scale entertainments by overseas performers. More recently, it has acquired two rival firms of similar
    size, growing total staff to nearly 100 people - prompting an internal reorganisation and the hiring of a
    new managing director with very aggressive plans for the expanding company.
    During 2017 Vista‟s updated client account and sales structures encouraged them to bid for larger and
    more significant engagements, including Australian tours by international artists and the management
    of large-scale concerts and performance events. In fact, two months ago Vista put in a bid to manage
    an open-air concert scheduled as one of the concluding entertainments for the 2019 Festival of
    Sydney. The Festival is a January-long annual celebration jointly sponsored by Sydney City and the
    NSW State Government, attracting millions of people into Sydney and with events often televised
    across Australia and parts of South-East Asia. Needless to say, it is very high profile. Much to the
    surprise of more experienced rivals (not to mention their RAH parent company who weren‟t
    expecting things to move so quickly), Vista actually won the contract!
    The company is now faced with a serious dilemma. It has people with event management and
    entertainment industry knowledge but insufficient information infrastructure to run a concert that is
    much grander and more extensive than anything they have ever attempted before. To help overcome
    this they have decided to automate as much as possible as quickly as possible – completely replacing
    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  7
    old equipment with a new technology platform and streamlining internal operations. An immediate
    priority within their modernisation program is developing a bespoke software system to integrate
    and coordinate the various activities needed to run a significant concert or similar event. This is
    urgent. Existing packages they have reviewed have been found unsuited to their needs and Vista
    simply cannot afford to have the Festival concert fail - their reputation and future business is now
    riding upon orchestrating a successful event!
    Vista openly state that they are not information systems project experts. Thus, they have engaged
    PMP Consultants to prepare a Briefing Paper outlining work estimates, resourcing and preliminary
    planning for building a robust Event Management System (EMS) using a typical project management
    disciplines. While it is understood that the organisation actually doing the development work may
    have their own methodology for ensuring successful delivery, Vista hope that this initial Briefing
    Paper will allow their oversight of the process to be an informed one. Although an initial budget of
    $850,000 has been allocated to the EMS project the Vista Managing Director has emphasised that
    money is less important than time – they can always allocate further funds to do the work (if justified)
    but the EMS must be fully developed, tested and implemented prior to the Festival concert scheduled
    for 30 January 2019.
    Objectives for the Proposal
    To provide for the easy running of significant entertainment events by automating management
    processes currently requiring heavy human intervention. At a minimum, this should encompass:
    1. Maximising event attendance;
    2. Ticketing and registration of audience attendees;
    3. Venue management;
    4. Easy management of event suppliers;
    5. Simplified scheduling and management of performances;
    6. Managing the booking of performers;
    7. Managing event budgets;
    8. Managing sponsorships;
    9. Continuous improvement in the operating of future events.
    Initial Scope and Requirements
    Vista has resolved to issue a contract for a new state-of-the-art, automated and integrated Event
    Management System (EMS) to largely replace disparate individual methods currently in use. They
    envisage the new system will allow:
      Targeted marketing of an event. The system should be able to manage and track push-advertising
    over multiple channels including email campaigns and social/online media feeds as well as
    website access. It should also be able to note the schedule and track delivery of paid advertising
    segments on mass-market media such as radio and TV.
      Integrated/online ticketing, registration and payment. Permit individuals to acquire tickets using a
    number of different online payment options including cash, credit card or PayPal account. Tickets
    can be dispatched electronically to an email address for local printing or physically posted to a
    mail box if postage details are provided. Tickets can also be sold at the venue itself. Entry to the
    event is via electronic registration at the venue gate(s).
      Venue management. A detailed site plan of seating, entry/exit locations, stage areas, service areas,
    running of cables, lighting/sound placement, etc. should be able to be easily constructed and made
    available for a venue. This will allow attendees, performers and event management staff
    knowledge of required service facilities, specialised areas and public-permitted versus off-limit
    areas. It will also be useful if management needs to guide emergency services or security to
    specific locales within the venue.
      Event risk management. List of mitigation strategies and action plans in case of emergencies
    (medical, fire, etc.), poor weather, poor audience behaviour, no-show of performers, etc.
    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  8
      Supplier network management. Suppliers for an event should be noted, geographically placed
    within a venue and able to be managed during an event. This includes, food/drink vendors,
    merchandising, emergency services (e.g. medical), janitorial services, security services, etc.
    Specific arrangements, service location assignments and on-call staff details should be recorded
    and tracked.
      Performance management. Performance schedule, location for each act (if more than one stage is
    to be used), set-up time needed, specialised equipment needed, sound/lighting, back-up
    alternatives, etc. should be recorded and tracked for each act booked to appear at an event.
      Artist management. Performer booking details, travel itinerary/arrangements, accommodation
    details, entourage associates, special needs, communication contacts, contract details, appearance
    fee, additional costs, etc. should be recorded and tracked for each performer (or group) scheduled
    to appear at an event.

     PMP Consultants Pty Ltd 31272 PMP Assignment 2
      Event budgeting. Expenditures associated with staging an event including detailed tracking of
    planned versus actual costs, unplanned overheads, management approvals for cost items, expense
    reconciliation against supplier invoices, contingency allocations, etc.
      Sponsor management. Sponsorship arrangements for events should be captured, maintained and
    managed. This will allow for sponsor tracking, venue/grounds corporate advertising, access to
    VIP areas, patron backstage passes and introductions to performers, sponsor special services, etc.
      Data Analytics. A series of reports should be generated covering events summaries, financials
    information, audience numbers, ticketing demographics, etc. These reports should be informative
    and useful in helping measure the degree of event success and/or identify areas needing attention
    for future events of this type.
    This is by no means an exhaustive list. PMP Consultants should include additional scope items in the
    briefing paper if such are judged useful/essential to the Event Management System‟s (EMS) final
    product. Vista plans on selecting from among a short list of development firms by no later than mid-
    January 2018, leaving approximately 12 months for the winning company to complete this project and
    deliver a working system. All involved understand that this is a tight deadline but it also has some
    very big benefits for both Vista and the partnering consultancy if, together, they are able to pull it off.
    Once the EMS is complete, Vista intends investing a further 12 months undertaking a comprehensive
    modernisation program (this latter series of projects has yet to be scoped or budgets assigned).
    Out of Scope Components (i.e. not to be addressed in your Project Briefing Document)
    While some items might need to be later considered for the actual project when it is commissioned,
    they are not of immediate interest to the Board. Therefore, for the purposes of the Briefing Paper, the
    following items are known to be out of scope:
      Buildings, space and general office fit-out for the EMS Project Office and its staff;
      Administration staffing and support personnel not directly engaged in Project development;
      Back office, financial and other systems not directly related to EMS project development;
      Sourcing of „non-project‟ hardware not directly linked to EMS development/testing (i.e. concert
    hardware will be acquired by separate negotiation direct with equipment vendors);
      Provisions for issues and risk related to legislation, environment, land and governing bodies (e.g.
    Tax Laws, Immigration Laws, Property Development applications, local council permits, etc.);
      Direct management of the 2019 Festival Concert (although recommendations are welcome).
    Additional Notes (some possible project considerations identified)
    At the last monthly meeting of the Vista Board certain items relating to the proposed Briefing Paper
    were discussed. After the meeting, the CEO of PMP Consultants had an informal discussion with the
    Board Secretary and wrote down some bullet points over coffee regarding areas of importance to the
    Board. These notes are made available below although the PMP CEO has not assessed their
    relevance to preparation of the Briefing Paper – they are almost certainly incomplete, may not be
    relevant to immediate project decisions and are not in any set order. However, the PMP CEO has
    provided them to help provoke thought about activities the project plan might include:
    31272 PMP Assignment 2
    © G. Mooney 2017  9
    1.  Sourcing, modifying and installing concert hardware;
    2.  Preparation of a list of potential suppliers needed by a large concert event;
    3.  Finding and fit-out of the EMS project location;
    4.  The Festival Concert venue and start/finish time are yet to be confirmed. At the moment The
    Domain on Sydney Harbour is likely but is by no means finalised as discussion with Sydney City
    are ongoing. Vista would welcome input from PMP regarding locations and times that would
    help assure a good event.
    5.  Day to day project administration including human resources management, organisational health
    and safety compliance, performance reviews, staff leave records, etc.;
    6.  Warranty period for the delivered EMS system (i.e. length of free support once implemented);
    7.  Maintenance contract post-implementation (i.e. support arrangements once free period expires);
    8.  Negotiations with owners of two additional event management firms are currently progressing.
    An agreement-in-principle for sale of both companies to Vista is expected by November 2017.
    This would increase Vista staff to 190 and extend national coverage to Adelaide and Perth.
    9.  Planning, development and integration of:
     VIP member cards for Vista-run events;
     Appropriate fall back procedures to replace or bypass equipment;
     Business continuity and disaster recovery planning for any potentially catastrophic event;
     A mobile phone application (mobile app) to easily check event updates (and possibly
    additional services for VIP members);
     Co-existence with, or replacement of, pre-Vista websites;
     Backup processes for all data captured in relation to the EMS;
     Data mining and modelling software for ongoing system analysis and improvement;
     Robust security and system software to protect the entire operation.
    10. Vista is currently bidding to run an international celebrity golf tournament in late 2019. It would
    be run jointly with the NSW Golf Club and with proceeds going to charity. It would be useful if
    requirements for such an event would be catered for by the proposed Event Management System;
    11. The January 2019 Festival Concert is likely to go after dark into evening. Fireworks are likely.
    12. Complete testing of all components to analyse reliability, ease of use, repair and replacement;
    13. Some events for which that Vista win management contracts are likely to be recurring at least
    annually;
    14. Satisfactory testing of the disaster recovery plan;
    15. The January 2019 Festival Concert is a family-friendly event so children will be attending.

     PMP Consultants Pty Ltd 31272 PMP Assignment 2