Winsome Manufacturing

Winsome Manufacturing Company

I am the manager of a firm that produces plastic storage containers for sale at home events. We will be introducing a new multiple container system to which will require minimal storage space in ones home. This product thus opens a sales channel market, allowing for additional add on products and to generate new revenues. The product is scheduled to be introduced in nine months during the first quarter of the new fiscal year. The new project requires participation from all departments to which includes design, production, purchasing, shipping, sales, and marketing departments. Since the company of Winsome Manufacturing owns its own line of injection molds, the manufacturing can be done in-house (PMI, 2004).

The managers from each of the departments along with the company official have been invited to a preliminary project initiation, to which will help determine the project sponsor, project charter and project manager. To prepare for the meeting and any potential questions that may be asked I have determined that I should research areas of interest that will be most important for the meeting and will help me be on key and ahead of the game. A few of the questions I find most valuable in knowing are that of: Who are the project stakeholders? How will they be involved in the project? Who is the project sponsor? From which department should the project manager come? The projects expected results? As well as what is the project charter? What value will it add? What problem will it solve, and what are the ramifications for not doing it (PMI, 2004)?

The project stakeholders are those that are involved in the project or those to which may be affected by the projects execution or completion. The stakeholders can be either individuals or organizations. The stakeholders have the ability to influence the projects objective as well as outcomes throughout the project as well as prior to it. There is a large variety of responsibility and authority that stockholders have when participating in a project. This of course can change throughout the course of the project by either going up or down, depending on the phase the project is in (PMI, 2004).

There responsibility and authority can range from full project sponsorship to that of occasional contributions. The occasional contributions can be providing aspects such as doing surveys where as the full sponsorship to which can be financial and political support. The stakeholders can have different effects on a project whether it is a positive or negative one. Those that are derived to benefit from a successful project outcome are known as the positive stakeholders. Where as those that derive a negative outcome from the projects success are negative stakeholders. The positive stake holders have their best interests in helping ensure that the project is successful, and the negative stakeholders are best interested in impeding the projects progress, and requiring extensive reviews (PMI, 2004).

The key stakeholders that participate in the project are that of the project manager, customer or user, performing organization, team members of the project, management teams, sponsor, influencers, and PMO. Though the key stakeholders we can determine the project sponsor, to which is the key financial sponsor of the project whether it be in cash or kind. The sponsor in our instances is that of the Winsome Manufacturing Company, for they are producing the new product line and will be the one paying for the product as well as benefiting from the selling. In determining from which department the project manager should come, I find that it should be that of the production department. Since the design has already been developed the PM would be needed in the following phases of the project. To which the project manager would be most beneficial in the production department through the marketing department. But in other types of projects I find that it would depend on the project type and the departments involved in the project (PMI, 2004).

The expected results of any project are differed from the positive and negative stakeholders. But as derived from the companies design for the new product, it is expected that the project will be successful and introduced in the time frame pre determined. In looking that there is already a competitive product out to that of the project, the company is expecting that with the new features, and adds on possibilities it will as well bring a positive outcome for the project (PMI, 2004).

The project charter is a formally authorizing