Business and Marketing Assignment on Project Governance (Essay Sample)

Problem identification and literature review on Gated Community:
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Introduction:
ABC is a construction company that is developing “Gated Community” in New South Wales, Australia. The company is making houses in a walled perimeter so that the security concerns can be taken care of. There are houses, gym, swimming pool, club house and various other amenities available in the Gated community center. However efforts are made in to identify problems and critical analyze the literature review related and relevant to the subject.
Problem identification:
The problem identification for “Gated community” project includes the followings.
* Strategic decisions taken by the high level may not consider ground level issues.
The first problem with the project includes the strategic decisions taken by the high level may not consider ground level issues. That is the problems at the grass root level may not reach the high level management leading to development of inefficiencies in the project completion.
* Strategy offering finance facility may create debt conditions.
The second problem with the project includes the strategy offering finance facility may create debt conditions. That is the company is freely offering finance facility to every person interested of becoming part of the Gated community. However care not taken in selecting people for this project who may not be capable enough of repaying their debts.
* Delay in project completion caused by ineffective project governance.
The third problem with the project is the delay in completion caused by ineffective project governance. The project may face delays due to the ineffective governance arising out of low communication between the high level management with the project manager and project team. This may result in halting the process of information exchange leading to delay and adding to inefficiencies in the final output.
* Project Governance in redefining the market.
The fourth problem with the project is the inefficient project governance which is observed through delay in decision making and slow communication with the project manager and project team. These delays may hamper the completion of the project in time.
Review of literature:
* Strategic Planning:
Strategic planning is actually concerned with defining the project strategy which includes allocation of available resource, decision making and other processes involved to achieve desired target outcome in the stipulated time frame. The process of strategic planning therefore helps in deciding the future course of action that is required to be followed. The strategic planning process has to pass through the followings.
Step 1: Gathering facts:
At the first stage efforts are made to gather inputs from different stakeholders of the company. Along with that the customer’s analysis is made to add vital information to the process. The competitor analysis, industry analysis is also taken into consideration to review the existing facts.
Step 2: SWOT analysis:
At the second stage, the SWOT analysis is made through which the external analysis is made by identifying opportunities and threats on side. On the other side, the internal analysis is made by recognizing inner strength and weaknesses.
Step 3: Review inputs:
At the third stage, the review of inputs is made which are gathered through stakeholder analysis, customer analysis and SWOT analysis. The review process therefore helps in making vital comparison of various facts and retrieving the most desired information from the inputs.
Step 4: Strategic matrix:
At the fourth stage, strategic matrix is prepared by defining the strategies to address the various SWOT combinations and other information outcome. This way various strategies that could be applied to the business process are identified at this stage.
Step 5: Defining strategies:
At the fifth stage, the strategies are defined so that the most appropriate course of action can be followed. Therefore the objectives of the business are recognized so that the key strategies can be formulated for the accomplishment of particular business objective. Also short and long term goals are identified so that the operational plan can be selected according to the needs of the business.
Step 6: Review and adjust:
At the sixth and last stage the final review and adjustments are made in the strategic plans consideration all the stakeholders interests. The review of the defined strategies is made and comparison is mad with the goals and plans that are required to be fulfilled within the stipulated time frame.
By following the above steps the “Gated Community” concept could be developed such that it meets the desired outcome and gains after completion.
Critics are however of the view that the strategies made by the high level management may not respond to the issues and problems raised at the execution level. Therefore it is required that the high level management should include the representatives of the executive levels in the decision making process so that the matters of high concerns affecting the lower level execution could be brought under consideration. Also critics are taking into consideration the strategy for financing offered by ABC Company to the people. That is the project will get finance facility of up to 70% from banks. However this facility may lead to attract debt raising situation for the company as the slowdown in the economy may affect the ability of the investor’s to fulfill the pre-requisites. The strategy to finance therefore needs to be reviewed so that only the financially capable people could apply for the facility offered by the company. This can be done by careful review of the background of the investor’s to find out their soundness with the company norms and conditions. Hence the careful review and application of the finance facility could save from any kind of debt condition that may rise.
* Project governance:
Project governance is a vital part of any project in which the responsibilities related to the project are laid on the organization arrangements so that the final outcome achieved can meet the organization objectives. This way the stakeholders of the project are given the ability to manage their interest in the project. It also provides a forum that could help in issue resolution. This way any form of conflict or interests is taken care of through effective project governance. Thus a set of policies, functions, processes, procedures and responsibilities are defined and developed through project governance so that the management and controls can be applied to the project in an effective manner. The various phases followed in the project governance include the followings.
Phase 1: Approval
Project Governance initiates after the approval of the project. That is the project that is finalized for working upon is taken into consideration. This phase is characterized by planning, coordinating and defining scope of the project.
Phase 2: Resource allocation
Resource allocation is the second phase in which the resources are allocated and scheduled such that the project can be started. At this stage the project design is framed so that the delivery of the preset objectives can be made within stipulated time frame.
Phase 3: Controlling
Controlling is the third phase in which project monitoring and quantification is such that the development of the project could achieve desired outcome. This way the management of the project is done in this phase so that the resource allocation applied in the earlier stage could be used for achievement of target goals and objectives.
Phase 4: Reporting
At this stage, the tracking of the project is done and reported to the concerned authorities. This way the phase is characterized by transformation of material into the desired output.
Phase 5: Measuring
At this stage the final report is made which consists of the measured outcome of the project that can be used for comparison with the desired outcome. The measuring phase therefore helps in identifying the level of progress and success accomplished by the project.
These above stated stages help in accomplishing various phases of the project so that the following Project Governance Framework is applied for achievement of target objectives.
Source: https://image.slidesharecdn.com/progovrencedefence-151127101008-lva1-app6891/95/project-governance-9-638.jpg?cb=1448619054
The project governance applied for completion of project of “Gated Community” can help in on time completion of the project and along with the accomplishment of desired goals and objectives. Critics are however of the view that the different phases of Project Governance may alter at any stage. That is, measuring can be applied at regular time intervals to find out the extent of completion of the project. Also reporting can be done much time before the final reporting so that the project outcome can be compared with the deliverables expected from it. Also the Project Governance framework stated above with investment decision group at the top may find difficult to respond to the queries of project manager and project team leading to delay in the whole proj...