Project Management- Motor Point

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 2

Project Management- Motor Point

Initiation

Due to the high rate of competition in business, more techniques and skills need to be

applied in order to move a step further in regards to the company expansion. A business has no

limits no matter its size. It should keep on expanding and stakeholders in business need to

identify their strengths and weaknesses (Blake, 2016 p.46). Therefore, stakeholders should be

committed and ready to identify any supportive factor than can be applied to bear more fruits.

The process of initiation depends on the nature of the business. The factors that suit it better need

to be applied. However, to adhere to that, any formulation of development will always be

compromised. It’s the duty of managers and financial analysts to understand what a business

does best and what it is capable of doing in the future if several adjustments were to be done (Liu

et al, 2009 p.202). Therefore, the objectives should be attainable within the proposed time and

with the available resources and personnel.

In this case, Motor Point is the main focal point of the study. It has been a small business

renting cars in my area but it has grown tremendously over the last five years. Not because that

this company does not experience competition, but the company and its stakeholders have been

committed to serve the public with passion. With the desire to be more successful in business,

the company plans to open four additional branches in the next year. What shows that the

business is expanding? Ideally, the number of employees has been increasing from 25 to 100

within a span of five years. This is a clear indication that the demand has been high and there is

increase in the number of customers. To maintain and attract more customers and recognition,

more branches have to be set up in different parts of the country to ensure it meets the market

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 3

demand (Zhu et al, 2006 p.1559). To incorporate better services and setting of the desired

branches, cost estimation has to be done to deduce a rough manuscript of the time and resources

required to accomplish the desired plan.

Resource costing is a typical move towards the cost estimation. The resources need to be

analyzed together with their cost. In this case, there is need to have structures. These are meant to

be offices, garages and parking grounds. To expand the business, we need to have an additional

of 40 cars and there is also need to increase the number of employees to a rough estimation of

160 employees. 40 employees in each of the new branches and maybe more could be added later

when the business the operation is successful. To attain this, a sum of about $ 950, 000 is

required for accomplishment of the initial stages of the project. A span of 6-8 months is required

to accumulate and save enough funds.

Also to ensure that the business commences in a high level of technology, an addition of

$100,000- $200, 000 is required to facilitate online website and computers. This can be done

through the advertisement of PM motors in different platforms and also delivery of internet aided

services to the customers. This may entail online services like booking of cars or in case of any

query. The above stated cost is covers a wide range of tasks. The company needs to perform

initial tasks before the project is brought into practice. It has to acquire the recommended number

of employees and train them accordingly to fit in the job structure (Liu et al, 2009 p.207). Tax

payment should also be considered and therefore the final cost for the project will be roughly $

1.3 million. This is not a small amount of budget but can be made possible through extensive

saving and application for loans to supplement the cost.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 4

Planning

Analysis of Communication

To ensure realization of this project, a lot has to be done to attain a good flow of the

recommended steps. This begins with the steps and duties assigned to each employee. Every

individual has to perform his or her part as expected to realize maximum results. Employees

should learn to be self-driven and to perform tasks without being pushed. Passion and love for

the job is the most important aspect in ensuring that Motor Point maintains high ethical

standards. Understanding and cooperation is very important among all members of staff. With

cooperation, definitely all tasks will be effectively accomplished leading to better results (Blake,

2016 p.48). Above all, communication is essential between members of staff or between the

company and its customers.

Communication is the key factor in any business (Kerzner, 2013, p.91). There must be a

clear channel of passing information between the business holder and customers to facilitate

understanding and feedback. Customers have to request for what suits them well. On the other

side, the service provider or the company has to take into consideration the likes and dislikes of

the customers and respond to them appropriately. Many businesses are affected by the inability

to pass information to their customers. With this type of technology, communication has to be

more digitalized for easy delivery.

Motor points understand the importance of clear channels of communication with

customers. Through the several consultations and analysis done, the manager should be able to

realize the need to adjust the nature of communication to improve the flow of information in the

organization (Heagney, 2016 p. 136). Due to the fact that customers are the most important party

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 5

in a business, they have to be given what they consider quality and satisfactory services. The

branches to be established are so many in such a way that analog methods of communication

cannot be able to serve the increasing number of customers. A customer should not waste a lot of

time trying to reach the company for them to book a car. Booking has to be done online to avoid

congestions and delay in the offices.

The process becomes tedious when people have to queue in order to be served. Now with

this electronic method of booking, all services and feedback can be issued instantly and from

anywhere. A customer can either book a car, cancel an appointment, request to be picked up,

submit complaints or compliments with the new online platform service. On the same point,

internet services enable the staff to tracks the customers as allocated just with the use of GPS

system (Kerzner, 2013, p.91). This is a major achievement as it saves time for travelling to book

a car; hence, the customer will be more interested in the new services introduced. Also, with the

use of technology, various websites can be created to enhance the showcasing of the company

services, culture and its nature in general. For instance, the company can decide to post all

information regarding the type of cars they offer and the cost per each. Customers will be aware

before proceeding for an appointment and this facilitates answering of any queries pertaining to

the terms and conditions of booking. In addition, there could be introduction of several payment

channels like PayPal to avoid direct handling of cash (Zhu et al, 2006 p.1562).

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 6

Work breakdown structure

Planning and breakdown of work structure require specialization and concentration to

avoid messing up other steps. Order has to be followed to avoid skipping or failing to attend on

some parts. Firstly, the managerial staff of Motor Point should identify the most suitable

locations where the branches have to be placed. This is done by checking the level of

competition or the availability of similar investments in the same area (Brown et al, 1991 p.55).

The population of people and their taste should also be considered. The best area to locate such a

business is an area with a large population and areas where people depend on car hire. Simply,

this can be identified through carrying out a minor report to compile data concerning the market

structure and diversity of the population.

Next part is acquiring the required amount of cash to facilitate the commencement of the

project. Without cash, the project plan stagnates and the implementation becomes a problem. The

period for acquiring enough cash is a span of 8 months as per the plan. The total of $1.3 million

can be achieved through savings made and acquiring of loans to be paid later depending on the

interest set. After obtaining the required starting capital, the next step is setting up the required

structures in the areas identified. The structures have to adhere to the recommendation and the

care should be taken to avoid overspending at the initial stages (Blake, 2016 p.58). They should

also put into consideration, the technology status required hence modern and effective

technology is essential. Then the rooms have to be made appealing and favorable for the job,

ensuring security and finally booking and securing of parking grounds.

After construction and setting up of structures, the next step is to order for the cars from

the intended companies. Each must have a maximum of 40 cars made of different designs to

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 7

provide varieties of taste for the customers. When this step is accomplished, then the project is

due to begin and stakeholders will gain the breakthrough of earning productive returns. To mark

the commencement and official opening of the branches, personnel have to be hired through

interviews. This is meant to acquire the most competent and capable people to do the job

(Heagney, 2016 p. 172). The last step is training the hired workforce and introducing them to the

various job specializations. This has to done by the managerial staff depending on how much

they expect from the employees. After training then the project will be ready to begin with the

help of new managers.

Execution

After proper preparations for the project, employees work to their level best to deliver

quality services. In every environment, there must be challenges that are met on the way and they

have to be solved as fast as possible to avoid break down of in the operation in any sector. After

two months of working, everything goes as expected but unfortunately Fernando, the best

financial analyst and advisor of the company is involved in an accident. Since he is the backbone

of the company, the management and stakeholders in general are not willing to lose him despite

the fact that he is admitted for four months. There is no hope for him coming back and this is a

big blow for Motor Point. The financial analyst is not there but now the business has to continue

but; how can this be possible when one of the key employees is not available?

Well, the best can be done to help Fernando get well soon. The spirit of unity and

brotherhood has to be practiced. The rest of the employees can take part towards contributions

for clearing bills. Members of staff should always be ready to support one of their members in

case of an emergency (Brown et al, 1991 p. 52). Yet Fernando has to spend four months in the

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 8

hospital, there is need for substitution. Another person has to be recruited in that post but still

Fernando can maintain follow up and advice the new employee concerning the nature of the

work. This scenario can be taken as a lesson in such a way that there should be several

individuals working in a particular section to avoid being stuck in case one of the members is

held up. It also dictates unity, support and cooperation among employees in an organization.

Additionally, there should be close juniors to the senior financial analysts so that in the cases of

unexpected such as the Fernando’s adversity, there could be acting personnel in this position.

Hence, the normal operation of the firm continues.

Controlling scenario

In all business environments, there must be problems or compromised factors that hinder

the project from moving forward towards its achievement. Although such problems occur,

measures have to be enhanced to evade such situations. Such problems include poor

communication and understanding among employees, competition, failure to satisfy customers,

negative attitudes and depreciating value of employees due to lack of exposure and challenges.

These are the major challenges that hinder an organization from achieving its goals. As a matter

of fact, I may take this opportunity to advice John on better technique to compromise those

factors. This will lead to a successful completion of the intended plan.

To focus on employee relationship and communication in Motor point, cooperation is

vital to ensure success of the project. Employees are the bedrock of the business and therefore if

there is no harmony, there is no task that can be achieved. As a major problem here, it can be

solved through discussions and negotiations among conflicting members (Brown et al, 1991

p.49). By doing this, employees will have a clear understanding of the importance of unity. This

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 9

can further be initiated by issuing joint tasks to be performed in form of teamwork. To stimulate

the employees, motivating them is a key factor that can be done to certain individuals who attain

the required level of performance.

In addition, it is essential to react to customer complains. Customers may complain due to

failure of some aspects and this should be catered for. Failure to that, customers may end of

seeking for other car hire companies to get the best services. Like in this case, there may be

complains due to the failure of the electronic systems which may affect customers’ schedules.

Necessary adjustments need to be made to keep the customers and ensuring that they are

comfortable with the services offered. Competition is a big threat and Motor Point has to keep

their services on toes by making them better every day. If such cases are not acted upon

immediately, the company may end up facing a stiff competition leading to loss of customers.

Another important issue is maintaining the quality of employee manpower. The core role is to

maintain delivery of efficient and quality services to the customers and public in general. The

solution is provision of regular training to employees in order to keep them updated.

Closing scenario

My project management skills are recognized by the manager. Despite some challenges,

there is at least hope of producing something constructive. One week before the final

presentation, I got a lot of praise from the manager and members of the staff. The project was

able to meet the allocated cost and its implementation and procedures were as expected. There

were just a few deflections but they were solved. The manager appreciated me for being number

one formulator of the project and for offering my services.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 10

The project’s success is determined by the nature of employees and company managerial

staff. For the success of any business, customers should be put first since they are the main

determinants of business growth. Proper location of a business is very vital (Brown et al, 1991

p.43). The success of the four branches is achieved since they are located in strategic positions

with a large population and less competition. Despite some competition challenges, motor point

has survived due the ability to study and respond to it appropriately. It is by offering of advanced

services as compared to the competitors. Managers have to be committed by ensuring that every

section is well catered. Finally there must be a good relationship between members of staff and

also with customers (Heagney, 2016 p. 177). Training is essential to equip employees with skills

on how to relate with one another or how to approach customers.

Apart from accomplishing the intended project, there are many lessons learnt. The first

lesson is the importance of cost planning. It is important to plan for the cost before starting a

project. It helps in proper and fair allocation of funds on different sections depending on the

functionality. Another lesson is that a business can move from nothing to something. Motor

Point developed from a small company to a multi -million companies. All we require is planning

and dedication towards achieving the main goal. Finally proper guidance and planning is

required in development of any business. Leaders should act as role models to control and guide

the rest of the employees towards success.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- MOTOR POINT 11

Bibliography

Blake, A., 2016. Dynamic directors: Aligning board structure for business success. Springer,45-

62.

Brown, J.S. and Duguid, P., 1991. Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward

a unified view of working, learning, and innovation. Organization science, 2(1), pp.40-

57.

Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt

Assn, pp.134-182.

Kerzner, H., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and

controlling. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 89-105.

Liu, C., Li, Q. and Zhao, X., 2009. Challenges and opportunities in collaborative business

process management: Overview of recent advances and introduction to the special

issue. Information Systems Frontiers, 11(3), pp.201-209.

Zhu, K., Kraemer, K.L. and Xu, S., 2006. The process of innovation assimilation by firms in

different countries: a technology diffusion perspective on e-business. Management

science, 52(10), pp.1557-1576.

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