Ch 10 discussion For any of the projects you have discussed in earlier chapters, provide a brief overview to remind everyone of the project. After the overview, describe the project manager and critique his/her effectiveness as a leader. Additionally, describe what changes you would suggest to their leadership style. Ch 11 discussion For any of the projects you have discussed in earlier chapters, provide a brief overview to remind everyone of the project. After the overview, describe the project team that worked on the project. Critique how they functioned as a team. Ch 12 discussion Describe a situation where you had to engage in negotiations. It could be a business situation or a personal situation. Was the outcome what you expected? What changes would you make based on your readings from this chapter? 1 Chapter 7, 8, and 9 Discussions Name: Course: Institution: Professor: Date: 2 Chapter 7 For any of the projects you have discussed in earlier chapters, provide a brief overview to remind everyone of the project. After the overview, describe the major risks for the project. For each risk, describe a contingency plan. For the project discussed in the previous chapter, the company involved is Zippo, which makes gas lighters. The company's products have gained popularity globally for their ability to stay lit even in harsh weather. Besides, the gaslighters have an adequate fuel delivery rate and an excellent windscreen design that ensures they can light in harsh weather. The project was designed to overcome the challenge of building product catalogs and enhance organizational efficiency for the company to scale globally. While the new automated system for Zippo would make it easier to store materials and products for easier access, the project has various risks. First, it would make it difficult for the company to keep their data updated and correct on the various marketplaces and e-shops, thus increasing the challenge of mapping product information (Gladchenko, 2019). This risk can be curtailed by hiring a social media team to take the responsibility of updating the company’s product catalogs on social media accounts. The second risk would be the challenge with adjusting product catalogs to different marketplaces due to the multiple market specifications (Gladchenko, 2019). The contingency plan to mitigate this risk would be to have a team with diversified abilities in the different marketplaces to ensure the product catalogs are regularly updated on the multiple marketplaces. Lastly, these risks can be mitigated by ensuring a smooth transition to the new automated system and ensuring the company’s products are launched on time. Overall, this would help the company have a swift transition and gain customer loyalty. 3 References Gladchenko, A. (2019, 08 28). WHY DO RETAILERS NEED ECOMMERCE PRODUCT CATALOG MANAGEMENT TOOLS? Retrieved 09 07, 2021, from Gepard: https://gepard.io/resources/automated-catalog-management 4 Chapter 8 For the Chapter 5 discussion, you developed time and cost estimates for a project. Provide a brief overview to remind everyone of the project. After the overview, develop a list of the major resources (mainly labor and equipment) to be used on the project. Develop a resource schedule and describe any potential resource constraint problems. Describe how these problems might be addressed. The project addressed in this case concerns Zippo, a gaslighter manufacturing company. The company wanted to develop an automated system to simplify product catalogs from traditional paper documents. In this light, the project aimed to enhance organization efficiency overall and facilitate the company to scale globally. The project is both resource- and laborintensive because it will require both for successful completion. The human resources needed for the project will include personnel from the three key departments, the sales department, the IT department, and the R&D department. Personnel from these departments will have to be trained and oriented on the needs of the project. Equipment needed for the project will include computers, software, communication systems, stable Internet, and storage devices. The following resource schedule will help the company organize and structure its employees to complete the assigned tasks based on availability and capability. Resource Importanc e Personnel Require d Amount 10 Computers 6 Crucial Crucial Allocated Work Packages Develop the new automated system Assist in system development Duration Cost Require d 6 months $200,00 0 Level of Risk 6 months Low &9000 Low 5 Software 1 Crucial Communicatio n systems 1 Crucial Internet 1 Crucial Storage devices 6 Crucial Assist in system development Facilitate flawless communicatio n between teams Provide a smooth workflow Facilitate storage of data and information 6 months $200 per month Low 6 months $100 per month Mediu m 6 months $100 per month Mediu m 6 months $3000 Low Some potential resource constraint problems include stand-alone software systems that could slow the project down, thus draining employee productivity and causing a time lag inaccurate data performance. This can be mitigated by consolidating and integrating project resource management software to consolidate information across multiple departments. Another constraint would be poor communication between employees and the departments leading to problems in resource planning (Hydra, n.d.). Therefore, this can be addressed by enhancing interdepartmental communication. References Hydra. (n.d.). 5 Common Resource Planning Problems and How to Solve Them. Retrieved 09 07, 2021, from Hydra: https://www.hydra.cloud/en/resources/blog/131-5-common-resourceplanning-problems-and-how-to-solve-them 6 Chapter 9 For the Chapter 5 discussion, you developed time and cost estimates for a project. Provide a brief overview to remind everyone of the project. After the overview, describe how the duration of the project might be reduced. For the duration reduction methods, you describe, analyze the cost and potential risks. As a reminder for this discussion, the selected project involves Zippo Corporation, which manufactures gas lighters for commercial sale. The project at Zippo was meant to combat the challenge of manual entry of product catalogs. The company's goal is to increase organizational efficiency and enhance global scalability. Therefore, it was estimated that the entire project could be completed in 6 months to cover all the crucial aspects highlighted for the project. However, the project's duration can be reduced to three months to pull closer to the achievement dates. This time reduction can be done in various ways. The first one is fast-tracking schedule compression, which helps shorten an already developed schedule for the project without changing the project's scope and program. This technique would help reduce the project's risks and ensure the project team takes advantage of various opportunities. However, this technique would require an increase in the resources for the project and increase the project’s costs because it will entail a re-planning of the project (AcqNotes, 2021). Another duration reduction method would be shortening lag time between tasks, especially those on the critical path. The advantage of this technique is that it would not have increased costs or additional resource requirements on the project. Besides, the risk is low by shortening lag time between tasks. However, the only challenge with using this method would be the dependency on other groups like stakeholders who have to approve various documents and procedures (Biafore, 2011). 7 References AcqNotes. (2021, 06 15). Schedule Compression. Retrieved 09 07, 2021, from AcqNotes: https://acqnotes.com/acqnote/tasks/schedule-compression Biafore, B. (2011). Successful Project Management: Applying Best Practices, Proven Methods, and Real-World Techniques with Microsoft Project. Pearson Education.
 

Ch 10 discussion

For any of the projects you have discussed in earlier chapters, provide a brief overview to remind everyone of the project. After the overview, describe the project manager and critique his/her effectiveness as a leader. Additionally, describe what changes you would suggest to their leadership style.

The project addressed in this case is the planned development of an automated system to simplify product catalogues from traditional paper documents at Zippo, a gaslighter manufacturing company. The scope of the project involves enhancing the overall organizational efficiency and facilitating the global scaling of the company. This particular project development manager seems to be dragging the project implementation behind due to his lack of effective project management skills (Magano et al., 2020). The project manager has failed to inspire a shared vision among the project team because he failed to articulate the project's goals, mission, and overall objectives. The project manager also lacks effective communication skills, thus derailing the clarification of the project stakeholders' responsibilities, feedback, performance, goals, and expectations (Magano et al., 2020). The project manager lacks the integrity required to steer this project with honesty, consistency, set of values, and compliance to the relevant legislation and regulations guiding the implementation of the project

            To become a successful project manager in this particular scenario, the project manager requires transformative leadership skills to set the tone for the project implementation and provide a shared vision for the project team members. Transformational leadership skills will enable the project manager to manage the project with curiosity, a positive attitude of putting the interests of the project stakeholders first, approaching the project implementation with simplicity, and always being charismatic (Zuo et al., 2018). The project manager should also be tolerant of risks and allow each project team member to contribute to the successful implementation of the project. The project manager will also need good decision-making skills, effectively delegate duties based on the skills, competence, knowledge, and experience of the project team members and effectively organize the project team members to work towards a common purpose (Hodges, 2021). The project manager also requires effective problem-solving skills and proficiency in guiding the other project teams in implementing the project.

References

Hodges, D. Z. (2021). Consider the crucial skills for effective project management. Recruiting & Retaining Adult Learners, 23(9), 8-8.

Zuo, J., Zhao, X., Nguyen, Q. B. M., Ma, T., & Gao, S. (2018). Soft skills of construction project management professionals and project success factors: A structural equation model. Engineering, Construction, and Architectural Management.

Magano, J., Silva, C., Figueiredo, C., Vitória, A., Nogueira, T., & Pimenta Dinis, M. A. (2020). Generation Z: Fitting Project Management Soft Skills Competencies—A Mixed-Method Approach. Education Sciences, 10(7), 187.

Ch 11 discussion

For any of the projects you have discussed in earlier chapters, provide a brief overview to remind everyone of the project. After the overview, describe the project team that worked on the project. Critique how they functioned as a team.

As a reminder for this discussion, the project involving automation of systems to combat the challenge of manual entry of product catalogues at Zippo Corporation, which manufactures gas lighters for commercial sale, will increase organizational efficiency and enhance the company’s global scalability. The project team that worked on the project was a diverse team with different skills, experience, knowledge, and training. The successful completion of the project is both resource- and labour-intensive (Zhang & Guo, 2019). The project will require personnel with skills in the fields of sales, Information Technology, and the R&D department.

The project team was not a functional team because it lacked clearly defined goals that each project team member understood. The project teams lacked clearly defined roles that enable them to undertake a specific role and be reasonable and accountable for completing specific tasks and deliverables (Laurent & Leicht, 2019). Another characteristic of this project team is the lack of open and clear communication that allowed them to share knowledge and information through consultation and collaboration (Luki? & Vra?ar, 2018). This project team was also characterized by ineffective decision-making skills that denied them the opportunity to share ideas, review multiple opinions and views from all project team members and come up with the best option out of the many alternatives put on the table.

The project team implementing this project was also dysfunctional because it never provided room for all team members to have balanced participation in all issues, deliberations, planning, implementation, and execution of different tasks. The project team never valued diversity within their project implementation process and had the best skills of conflict management between them (Schoonmaker et al., 2020). With their lack of mutual respect, the project team members did not create a positive atmosphere filled with cooperative relationships and sandwiched with participative leadership.

References

Schoonmaker, M., Gettens, R., & Vallee, G. (2020). Building the entrepreneurial mindset through cross-functional innovation teams. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 3(1), 41-59. Available at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2515127419866429

Luki?, J. M., & Vra?ar, M. M. (2018). Building and nurturing trust among members in virtual project teams. Strategic Management-International Journal of Strategic Management and Decision Support Systems in Strategic Management, 23(3). Available https://www.smjournal.rs/index.php/home/article/download/32/14

Zhang, L., & Guo, H. (2019). Enabling knowledge diversity to benefit cross-functional project teams: Joint roles of knowledge leadership and transactive memory system. Information & Management, 56(8), 103156.

Laurent, J., & Leicht, R. M. (2019). Practices for designing cross-functional teams for integrated project delivery. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 145(3), 05019001.

Ch 12 discussion

Describe a situation where you had to engage in negotiations. It could be a business situation or a personal situation. Was the outcome what you expected? What changes would you make based on your readings from this chapter?

For the project discussed in the previous chapter that was designed to overcome the challenge of building product catalogues and enhance organizational efficiency for the Zippo company to scale globally, it is expected that proper business negotiations will be necessary to make the company's products gain popularity globally to remain lit even in harsh weather. Given that the gaslighters have an excellent windscreen design that ensures they have an adequate fuel delivery rate when light in harsh weather, business negotiation in the company's interest is necessary (Lick, 2019).

One of the times when I negotiated a business deal, I was securing a tender to supply raw materials for the manufacture of interior design materials for a construction company. I used my knowledge in business negotiation to secure a good deal for the company that contracted me to negotiate on their behalf (Chapman et al., 2017). The result of my involvement in the business negotiation was securing a fair price for my company, leading to low-cost manufacturing overheads that resulted in huge profits once the finished goods were sold to the consumers.

Based on my reading of this chapter, I would change my business negotiation approach and apply the effective strategies of business negotiation to achieve a better outcome. I will begin the negotiation by listening to the other party’s point of view and letting them make their offer first before I make my offer. I will review their offer and remain courteous and professional during the negotiation (Raškovi?, 2018). I will also take my time to understand the dynamics of the deal and then come up with my version of the business deal and agreement that I want the other party to sign to. To remain the winner in the negotiation, I will be prepared to walk away if I am dissatisfied with the offer and even play poker if the deal is good. I will avoid negotiating by always conceding while remaining time conscious. I will avoid fixating on the deal and ignore alternatives.

References

Raškovi?, F. (2018). Strategies and tactics of effective business negotiation (Doctoral dissertation, University of Rijeka. Faculty of Economics and Business).

Chapman, E., Miles, E. W., & Maurer, T. (2017). A proposed model for effective negotiation skill development. Journal of Management Development.

Lick, S. H. P. (2019). A comparison of China and Malaysia in international business negotiation. Jurnal The Messenger, 11(1A), 148-156.