Project Plan Overview Paper

Introduction

Projects are used today as a way of achieving a variety of outcomes in local or international locations for new constructions, new product development, product improvement, process design, process improvement, utility installation, theory and technology development, and many more. Bringing a project to a successful conclusion requires the integration of numerous management functions like controlling, directing, team building, communication and others. It also requires cost and schedule management, technical and risk management, conflict and stakeholder's management, and life cycle management.

Project Description

"Whirlpool Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of over $13 billion, 68,000 employees, and nearly 50 manufacturing and technology research centers around the globe. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Consul and other major brand names to consumers in more than 170 countries." (Source: http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/about/default.asp)

Whirlpool Corporation is into selling of high quality home appliances. They have over 450 sales agents across multiple states. They have decided to implement an on-line sales program for the agents. The new Internet based sales program is expected to increase the sales volume and enhance the profit margin. Moreover it will also help in improving the agent's productivity and thereon customer's satisfaction.

The Problem/Result Statement

The firm is attempting to consolidate and create online sales management system to deliver better value to the customer. The firm has historical records in many disparate databases, as well as in paper files and microfiche. The marketing organization wants to build on past knowledge. As a result, past marketing plans and results from past market research studies are stored in a file cabinet in the marketing department. The company has over 150 major sales agents. Each member of the sales agent maintains his/her own set of customer records using a variety of tools. Some sales team members use paper and pencil, others sales management software such as Act, and others a hybrid. In order to better understand and anticipate customer needs, the firm is evaluating a new integrated online sales management system to accompany the new team selling approach that will be soon rolled out. Thus the purpose of the project is to create an online sales management program to increase the productivity of the sales force and to further delight the consumers.

Mission Justification

The mission of the corporation is to be one of the top players in the home appliances market and also to meet the satisfaction of the stakeholders. If this change is not made then it can be loss for the organization, as its competitors will gain the market share. Thus an update and a change is required to meet the mission of the organization.

High-level scope

"The Scope Section of the Charter describes project objectives, deliverables, customer needs and requirements, and project stakeholders." (Source: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/project_charter.html) Firstly the standards will be laid down then it will be compared with the actual performances. The criteria or indicators of the performance will be both financial and non-financial. Here we can use the concept of Balance scorecard. The balanced scorecard is one of many performance management measurement tools that have become very popular in recent years. The balance scorecard first came to prominence in the early 1990's. Dr Robert Kaplan and Dr David Norton of the Harvard Business School developed this system of performance management measurement.

"Defining the project scope sets the stage for developing a project plan. Project scope is a definition of the end result or mission of your project--a product or service for your client/customer. The primary purpose is to define as clearly as possible the deliverable(s) for the end user and to focus project plans. As fundamental and essential as scope definition appears, it is frequently overlooked by project leaders of well-managed, large corporations." (Gray-Larson, 2005)

Use of the balanced scorecard is a significant performance measurement tool by the project management team. "The balanced scorecard attempts to measure and provide feedback to organizations in order to assist in implementing strategies and objectives." (answers.com, 2006) Note that in the strategic-management model, feedback is critically important. Changes can occur that impact all strategic-management activities. Feedback allows these changes to be identified and adjustments to be made. Feedback in the strategic-management process promotes the creation of a climate for two-way communication and, thus, allows esprit de corps to be achieved in an organization.

Looking at Perspectives

The primary purpose of the scorecard is to help measure the financial perspective of the project. This will help measure reflecting financial performance, for example number of debtors, cash flow or return on investment, Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Several different procedures are available to analyze potential business investments. First, the most important concept of evaluating these investments is the NPV. NPV of a project can be viewed as the difference between an investment's market value and the cost of that investment. It is only a good investment if it makes money for the company, so a positive NPV will be needed. The projects can be ranked from the most positive NPV to the lowest to determine profitability. This quantitative ranking method is the best to use due to its consideration of the time value of money and its more accurate breakdown of value.

NPV is a discounted cash flow technique, which explicitly recognizes the time value of money. It is defined as the difference between the present value of cash inflow and cash outflows. Thus we will use NPV and IRR as the yardstick to measure the success. Some of the other financial objectives that need to be considered are:

 Gain highest market share in its category.

 Total marketing expenses to be no more than 10% of Project cost.

 Advertising budget will be 7% of Project cost.

The marketing department has to understand the marketing programs, and oversee specific set of actions that are involved within. We will track plan-vs-actual results for each program. Status and progress will