Question 1:
(a) Devised project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.
IPK College has been required to do a charity events on encourage cancer patient which is placed at Bukit Mertajam. The aim held this charity events is send blessing and giving courage for fighting against the cancer to support the cancer patients. The charity that was held by IPK College addressed hair donation. As the name, the donors are cutting their long hair and send to wig factory and braided wig by the professional. After completed braided wig, more of the wig will transfer to hospital and as a gift for the patients with baldness due to chemotherapy. This can generate more confidence to the patients.
The objective of this charity event is promote more people to participate charity events. Most of the people repute the donations activity commonly are blood donation and organ donation. Before the hair donation started, the blood donation was restricted three months once. At the same time. Blood donors required no tattoo recently, reject the donors which have heart disease, diabetes, women who menstruation just finish and etcetera. In additional, organ donation is donated when the donor passed away. It difficult to gather the blood source and organ source.
After that, it was an opportunity for teaching teenagers the impact of participate in charity event. All faiths have mentioned that people must unite and encourage each other to defeat demons. Parents can take this opportunity to protect teenagers fall into self- decline and realize how they luckily than the cancer patients and learning thanksgiving.
Other objective of this charity events is letting people’s understanding of cancer patient’s feelings through the charity event. Cancer patients are facing physical and psychological morbid when hair lush peoples are trouble which colour they want to put on their hairs. It waste money and hair damage.
After that, this charity events should be started at October until the end at December. The project management must to follow step by step the key stages of project management such as initiation, plan and design, executing, controlling and monitor and closing and it will application their experience, skill, planning to achieve their company’s objective. IPK College will start the expanding food court at Bukit Mertajam from 1st March 2017 until 1st June 2017.
(b) Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk and resources.
The project management plan of IPK College is that the scope of the charity event from 3000 square feet to 6000 square feet. During implementation the hair donation, there will incurred some expenses such as the costs in transport, tools such like scissors, rubber band and boxes. The cost of rent the hall and other overhead cost. The budget that have been done by IPK College is that the rental and other overhead is RM10,000, tools expenses is RM8,000, transport RM4,000, flyer, labour costs and other cost are RM7,000; so the total cost incurred will be RM29,000 in held the hair donation.
The time of expanding the food court is within 3 months which is from 1st March 2017 to 1st June 2017 within these 3 months, the events should be done completely. To increase the donors for hair donation, IPK College also selected the hall which have a lot of facilities such as air conditioner, washroom and parking lots. Donors may enjoy their rest during waiting time and it will convenience for the donors.
The project manager should have good communication skill to communicate with all the related parties. For example, in holding the events, project manager need to tell the donors about the plan and the requirement of donors to ensure them go forward with the plan. Besides that, the project manager also needs to communicate with internal parties such as finance department, director and etc. For example, he or she needs to discuss with the finance department about the budget they need in this project. The risk that will be faced by IPK College is in the period on holding the events exactly encounters with emergency such like scepticism. For the resources, project manager will order the tools from the suppliers. Before ordering of tools, project manager will concern on the purchase price and quality of the tools, so the comparison between those suppliers will be made. IPK College will hired hairdresser to help donors cut their hairs and give suitable hair style. It also encourage volunteer hairdresser participant this event for reduce the labour cost.
(c) Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide timeframes and stages for completion.
Gantt Chart:
YEAR 2017
Project
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Stage 1 Initiation
Planning & Design
Stage 2 Executing
Monitoring & controlling
Stage 3 Closing
Date Week Date Week Date Week
1.3.2017 – 5.3.2017 1 3.4.2017 – 9.4.2017 6 8.5.2017 – 14.5.2017 11
6.3.2017 – 12.3.2017 2 10.4.2017 – 16.4.2017 7 15.5.2017 – 21.5.2017 12
13.3.2017 – 19.3.2017 3 17.4.2017 – 23.4.2017 8 22.5.2017 – 28.5.2017 13
20.3.2017 – 26.3.2017 4 24.4.2017 – 30.4.2017 9 29.5.2017 – 31.5.2017 14
27.3.2017 – 2.4.2017 5 1.5.2017 – 7.5.2017 10
The first stage in the project management of IPK College is initiation, planning and design. In this stage, the initiation process complete from week 1 until week 3 while the planning and design process will carry on in the week 3, week 4 and 5. During the initiation process, IPK College will ensure that charity events can be realistically being completed. Then, IPK College will do a planning with doing some research or survey to getting more useful information so that they able to plan it properly. From the information getting, IPK College can know how many participate will join in the charity event.
In the second stage, the executing process will be carry on which is in the week 5 until week 8. Then, the monitoring and controlling process will conduct from week 8 to the week 12. In this stage, the duration of progressing of these tasks may take a long period in completing of it. Hair donation is totally started in this stage. IPK College will start the event according to what have planned in the previous stage. Project manager will supervise on the rate of progress and monitoring the authority employees to ensure they will not make mistake. Risk control and project test will also be concern and done by IPK College.
The last stage of this project is closing process. In this stage, it will be going on in week 12, week 13 and week 14 and come to this stage, the whole project will be completed. On the other hand, the entire project must be done completely. The information and plan must be updated and it may use for future reference purpose. After all the things have been done, project manager will write a report. In the report, all the process and the things that are related to the hair donation will be stated down.
Work Breakdown Structure:
The work breakdown structure is a chart in which to show out the key of work elements such as task. The work breaks down structure displays the relationship of the task to other task, to the all until the end of the project. It also to show the allocation the task to employees, recognition the resource is needed to the project and time available to complete this project. At first, initiation process will be carry on. In this process, IPK College should do the project description to give the project team know about what the project they plan to carry out. Then, the determination of the project scope and objectives are important, as without an appropriate scope and objectives, the project might fail at the end. The clear and details of the project charter need to be planned and approved before progress to the next process.
In the planning and design process, project manager will form up a project team; all the jobs and tasks will be distributed to the members based on their ability. The jobs and tasks distributed must suitable to that particular team member to ensure he or she can do well in the project. All the jobs and tasks will be clearly explaining to all the members so that they will not be confused on it. After assigned their roles and responsibilities in the project, the project planning and scheduling will be carry on. In project scheduling, there are some important things will jot down such as what the jobs that need to be done first, when to do it, how to manage it, what they need to concern when the project is progressing and etc. Some survey on the project also will be done to ensure it can be complete successfully.
After the planning and design process has been done, executing process will be started. To successful run the event, project manager will start looking for suppliers which can supply the cheapest and high quality tools to IPK College. This may help to prevent of over budget which may causing loss in this project. Then, the project manager will supervise on the team members’ jobs to ensure they usually conducted the project stick to what have been planned. During hair donation, the risk determination and management also will be concern by IPK College to ensure the project can be proceeding smoothly.
The monitoring and controlling process will be done during the progressing of the project. The controlling on project and risk need to be done in order to solve the problem that facing before such problems becoming to a serious issue to IPK College. At this process, the project is almost completed. Then, the closing process will be going on after all the tasks and the construction jobs have been done completely. The project plan need to be updated as during the progressing of the project, there might have some changing which are different to the previous planning. Then, a closing report should be presented by the project manager to the director to report on the things that they done.
(d) Produce a comprehensive project management plan, milestone schedule and project schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project.
Milestone schedule:
The first process will be done in this project is initiation process, IPK College will complete from week 1 until week 3. During the project in this stages, IPK College should do the project description to give the project team know about what the project they plan to carry out. Because, of the job description to ensure that the skills and experience of the specific role should be qualified and to fulfil the need of this project. Then, the determination of the project scope and objectives are important, as without an appropriate scope and objectives, the project might fail at the end. The clear and details of the project charter need to be planned and send it to in charge this project person so, they will make a decision to approve hair donation charity event and to proceeds into next phase.
Second process in this project is planning and design, this process will carry on in the week 3 until week 5. After initiation IPK College enter into planning and design, first project manager will form up a project team, all the jobs and tasks will be distributed to the members based on their ability. The jobs and tasks distributed must suitable to that particular team member to ensure he or she can do well in the project. All the jobs and tasks will be clearly explaining to all the members so that they will not be confused on it and they will create more idea to share with project manager, how to direct employees are progressing this project. After assigned their roles and responsibilities in the project, the project planning and scheduling will be carry on. In project scheduling, there are some important things will jot down such as what is the first step of job need to be done, when to do it, how to manage it, what they need to concern when the project is progressing and etc. Lastly, project manager must to make some survey on the project will be done to ensure it can be complete successfully.
Third process in the project is executing, the executing process will be carry on which is in the week 5 until week 8. After the planning is completed, so the executing phase will be started. To expand the food court, there resources should be access in order to rent a hall and prepared the equipment. Project manager will start to find suppliers which can supply the cheapest and high quality tools to IPK College. This may help to prevent of over budget which may causing loss in this project. Then, the project manager will supervise on the team members’ jobs to ensure they usually conducted the project stick to what have been planned. During hair donation, the risk determination and management also will be concern by IPK College to ensure the project or event can be proceeding smoothly.
The fourth process in this project is monitoring and controlling, hair donation charity event in monitoring and controlling process will conduct week 8 until week 12. The monitoring and controlling process will be done during the progressing of the project. The project manager is a main person to controlling on project and risk need to be done in order to solve the problem that facing before such problems becoming to a serious issue to IPK College. This may assist the project are not deviations from the expected result. At this process, the project is almost completed. Then, after all the tasks and jobs have been done completely.
Lastly, the closing process will be done; it will be going on in week 12, week 13 and week 14. The project plan need to be updated as during the progressing of the project, there might have some changing which are different to the previous planning. After that, they will receive the archive for this project to simplify them for future reference. Then, a closing report should be presented by the project manager to the director and project sponsor to report on the things that they done.
Project schedule:
Task Date Duration
1. Initiation
Week 1
1.1 Project Description 1.3.2017 – 2.3.2017
1.2 Project Scope & Objectives 2.3.2017 – 4.3.2017
1.3 Develop Project Charter 5.3.2017- 7.3.2017
Week 1& 2 & 3 & 4 &5
1.4 Project Charter Approved 8.3.2017-11.3.2017
2. Planning and Design
2.1 Team Identification 12.3.2017- 14.3.2017
2.2 Roles & Responsibilities 15.3.2017-19.3.2017
2.3 Project Planning & Scheduling 20.3.2017-28.3.2017
2.4 Project Survey 29.3.2017-30.3.2017
3. Executing
Week 5 & 6
3.1 Access To Resources 1.4.2017 -2.4.2017
3.2 Project Management 3.4.2017 -6.4.2017
3.3 Conduct Project Stick To Plan 7.4.2017-12.4.2017 Week 6 & 7 & 8
3.4 Risk Determination & Risk Management 13.4.2017-23.4.2017
4. Monitoring and Controlling
Week 9
4.1 Project & Risk Control 24.4.2017-30.4.2017
4.2 Project Test & Monitoring 1.5.2017-10.5.2017 Week 10 & 11&12
4.3 Problem Solving 11.5.2017-18.5.2017
5. Closing
Week 12 & 13 & 14
5.1 Update Project Plan 18.5.2017-21.5.2017
5.2 Reporting 22.5.2017-31.5.2017
From the above project schedule, it has clearly defined about what the tasks will be done in that certain period. The expanding food court project will take 3 months to finish the construction which is from the 1st March 2017 until 1st June 2017. The initiation process will complete from week 1 until week 3 in March while the planning and design process will carry on in the week 3 and 5. For the executing process, it will be carrying on in the week 5 to week 8. Then, the monitoring and controlling process will conduct from week 8 to week 12. The last process is closing, it will be going on in week 12 until week 14 of May and come to this stage, the whole project will be completed.
(e) Critically evaluate the project management process and appropriate research methodologies applied.
There are 5 project management process will be done in this project which are initiation, planning and design, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing process. In each of the process, there are different tasks and jobs will be carrying on in a certain period.
During the initiation process, IPK College will first descript the project and determining with the project scope and objectives. This is important as after understanding about the scope and objectives, IPK College just can conduct the project successfully with achieving of it. In planning and design process, the project manager will first distribute the jobs and tasks to the team members. All the jobs and tasks will be clearly defined to them in order to ensure they will not feel confusing on it. The project manager will discuss with the team members to do a project planning and scheduling. Then, for the executing process, the resources will be accessed before the event start. The project manager will guide the members to ensure they do their jobs stick to what has been planned. The risk determination and management will also be considered in this process. During the monitoring and controlling process, the risk control will be done before it becomes serious issues for IPK College. All the problems that faced will solve properly too. Lastly, the closing process will carry on. The report should prepare by the project manager after the whole project has been completely done.
Qualitative Research:
Qualitative research is a social science research that collects and uses non-numerical data to explain meaning from these data and to help people understand social life by studying the target population or place. In sociology, qualitative research usually focuses on the micro level of social interaction that makes up everyday life. The methods of qualitative research include observation, interviews, action research, focus groups and oral history.
In observation, the researchers may study people's daily lives without involvement or intervention. This type of research is often an unknown study, so people have to make public in no reasonable privacy expectations. There have various types of observational methods such as controlled, natural and participant observations. In addition to the above categories, the observations can be public or undisclosed. In the general observation, researchers are relatively cheap and have little resources. However, this research method will be very time-consuming and vertically. Besides that, the interview which defined as a qualitative research technique that involves in-depth personal interviews with a small number of interviewees to explore their perception of a particular idea, plan or situation. It can be categories into 3 different form which are structure, semi-structure and unstructured interview.
The oral history is the collection and study of historical information using tape recordings of interviews with people having personal knowledge of past events. These interviews will be conducted with those who participated in or observed past events, and their memory of those events were preserved as auditory records of future generations. All these data are usually kept in archives or libraries. The knowledge provided is unique because it shares an implicit perspective, the respondent's thoughts, opinions, and understandings.
An action research is either proceeds to solve the problems at hand, either by working together with others in the team or as part of a ‘community of practice’ to improve their approach to problem solving so that it can be progressively resolved. The purpose of an action research strategy is to address a specific issue and to develop guidelines for best practices. Action research involves the active involvement of change, often through existing organizations while conducting research.
A focus group is a collection of planning workshops attended by meticulously in selecting the people to guide consumers' perceptions of a particular topic or area of interest in a non-threatening and accepted environment. In a focus group, one researcher participates in a small group of participants' conversations aimed at producing data relevant to the research question. There may have 5 to 15 participants involving in a focus group. Focus group is a purposeful group. It is unlike the interviews which often conducted in the presence of individuals, the focus group approach allows group members to interact with each other in discussions and thoughts and perspectives.
Quantitative Research:
Quantitative methods emphasize objective measures as well as observation, interview, rating scales, questionnaires and survey research. It focuses on collecting the data which is countable or expressed in numerical values.
In observation, the researchers may study people's daily lives without involvement or intervention. This type of research is often an unknown study, so people have to make public in no reasonable privacy expectations. There have various types of observational methods such as controlled, natural and participant observations. In addition to the above categories, the observations can be public or undisclosed. In the general observation, researchers are relatively cheap and have little resources. However, this research method will be very time-consuming and vertically. Besides that, the interview which defined as a qualitative research technique that involves in-depth personal interviews with a small number of interviewees to explore their perception of a particular idea, plan or situation. It can be categories into 3 different form which are structure, semi-structure and unstructured interview.
Then, the rating scale is a set of categories designed to extract quantitative or qualitative attribute information. It is a method that requires the evaluator to assign a value, sometimes a number, to a nominal object as a measure of some nominal attribute. For questionnaires, it is a research tool that contains a series of questions to collect the respondent's information. Although the questionnaire is usually designed for statistical analysis of responses, this is not always the case.
Survey research is one of the most important measurement areas in applied social research. It is a method of sociological investigation that use information based on questions or statistical surveys that gather information about how people think and act. For example, applying research to a business environment may involve how the mass media can effectively help shape and transform public opinion. The broad area of investigation includes any measurement procedures that involve interviewing respondents. A "survey" can be any form of brief pen and paper feedback, in-depth one-on-one in-depth interviews.