Stage 5
In the first four stages of this case study, it was established that UMUC Fitness needed to come up with an effective strategy that would take advantage of modern technology and in the process boost the company’s productivity. The proposed solution entailed the shifting of the company to a digital platform through the creation of resourceful website. The major business process targeted by this initiative was the customer support avenue. It was established that the website would create an excellent platform for communicating with the existing as well as potential customers. The incorporation of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform into the website was also deemed necessary so as to provide data and information to be used in the proposed business strategy (Ding and Lin 2010). The above proposals were developed in light of the observed decline of the company in the last few years. To curb this, a generic business strategy, specifically a focus strategy targeting the firm’s technological business area was proposed. The specific process to be improved was the customer support avenue as stated earlier.
Project Management
Given the sensitive nature of the proposed strategy, it is very essential that an effective project management team is assembled to oversee the implementation of the project. The success of the project lies with the implementation of the technological solution which would enable the firm to utilize the focus strategy after the gathering of facts (Ding and Lin 2010). In light of this, the best option would be to hire an independent party. This independent party would comprise of professional website designers and programmers who would develop the proposed website and also incorporate the proposed features. A selected team of project managers from the firm’s IT division would then be charged with overseeing the entire project.
This would be the first phase of the project which would take roughly one month. The next phase would be the collection of relevant info using the website’s CRM which would then be auto analyzed and then used to design the focus strategy and also monitor the market trends. This process is projected to take around two months.
Various resources, both financial and human would be required if the project is to succeed. Budget estimates reveal that the entire project would require about $150, 000 coupled with intensive human labor input from both the management and employees. Among the project deliverables would be increased productivity, reduction of marketing and enhanced company-customer relationship.
System Development Cycle
Conceptual Planning- this is the process where the need to develop the proposed solution (creation of a website) would be established. The viability, costs and viability of the project would be analyzed. The roles of various project managers in the implementation of the project would also be defined Jordan.
Planning and Requirements Definition- This process would involve the collection, the definition and the validation of the various support, functional and training requirements of the technological solution implementation (Jordan 2012).
Design- Here, the established functional, support as well as the training requirements would be translated into preliminary and comprehensive designs. In our case, this would involve tabulated designs of the website. Additionally, decisions would be made on how the website design would meet the established functional requirements. After the viability of this preliminary design is established, a final design would then be developed.
Development and Testing- this is actually the step where the actual website would be erected. The designs in the third step would be used to develop the new website whose functionality would then be validated through a sequence of performance, unit, system and acceptance testing (Jordan 2012). Other components and elements such as the CRM would then be incorporated and similarly tested.
Implementation- In this step, the new system would actually start being used for the reason it was created for. The system would be installed into the production environment, users would be trained, data would be converted and business processes evaluated.
Operations and Maintenance- The new system, in this case the website would become fully functional in this stage. It is critical that the system is checked to ensure its continued functionality. This would involve random or routine software and hardware maintenance checks and upgrades to ensure that they are at par with the technological dynamics so that the website does not become redundant (Zhao 2008).
Disposition- This stage is unlikely to take place but if it does indeed occur, it would involve the systematic termination of the website and all its features.
Managing Change
Change is often resisted in almost all organizations and to curb resistance to the change as well as manage it, several steps need to be taken. These include initiating a preparation for change process through advocacy to the employees as well as the clients, for example by eliminating any potential fears held by the two parties. This would then be followed by a comprehensive change management process involving data gathering, taking corrective action and finally recognition.
Employee Training
Leadership Expectations
The leadership expects the entire project to be run very smoothly. Any potential bottlenecks of the project should be handled efficiently and the leadership should be contacted if the mentioned bottlenecks cannot be handled by the project managers. The final deliverable of the project expected by the management is increased revenue flow.
Defining success
Since the stated purpose of the project was to increase the productivity of UR UMUC Centre, the success of the project will be measured based on a variety of factors that include increased revenue flow, reduced marketing costs, improved customer relations and finally the harmonization of the major business policies using the digital platform.
References
Jordan, J. (2012). Information, Technology, and Innovation: Resources for Growth in a Connected World. New Jersey: Wiley
Ding, W., & Lin, X. (2010). Information architecture: The design and integration of information spaces. San Rafael, Calif.: Morgan & Claypool Publishers.
Zhao, F. (2008). Information technology entrepreneurship and innovation. Hershey PA: Information Science Reference.
