Winsome Manufacturing Company produces plastic storage containers and sells
them to the home consumer through home sales events. At the company’s quarterly
meeting, the head of marketing described a new product to be introduced in the
first quarter of the next fiscal year, approximately 9 months from now. The
product will be a room-sized plastic storage unit suitable to the outside of
the home; it is similar to a competitor’s product but will have significantly
more features. This product will open new markets for the sales channel, lay
the foundation for add-on products, and generate new revenues. Management has
only seen preliminary sketches of the potential product but are very excited by
the new product.
The project will require participation from the design, production,
purchasing, shipping, sales, and marketing departments. Winsome Manufacturing
owns a line of suitable injection molds, so all manufacturing will be done
in-house. The project manager for this project has not yet been selected, but
that decision is expected to be made in the next week.
A preliminary project initiation meeting will result in the identification
of the project sponsor, selection of a project manager, and creation of the
project charter. A manager in the production department who knows you are
taking a college project management course asks you to prepare a brief report
to help him prepare for the meeting by answering the following questions:
·
Who are the project stakeholders? How will they be
involved in the project?
·
Who should be the project sponsor? Why?
·
From which department should the project manager
come? Why?
·
What skills and experience are likely needed by the
project manager for each phase in the project life cycle, and how do they
differ between the various phases?
·
What type of communication plan will likely be
needed during the project?
o
What information should be shared with the project
stakeholders?
o
What is the mechanism that could be used for each
type of information?
o
What is the frequency with which information should
be shared?
o
What should be done if project communications are
not proving to be effective?
o
What technology could be used for project
communications?
o
At what point could communication about the project
become an ethical or legal issue?
·
What information should be included in the
following elements of the project charter:
o
What is the problem the project proposes to
address?
o
What business opportunity might project completion
create?
o
What is the business case for undertaking the
project?
o
What is the financial impact of the project?
o
What are the expected results of the project?
o
What value will the project add?
o
What are risks that might be involved with
undertaking the project?
o
What is the potential impact to the company if the
project is not undertaken?
Present your findings as a Word document of 4–5 pages (not including title
and reference pages) formatted in APA style.
