Gantt Chart and Network Diagram
Gantt chart
The picture below shows the Gantt chart of Store relocation project of Hamptons:
There are 14 major tasks to be completed for successful project outcomes, where, four initial major tasks are further divided into sub tasks to lead the project in flow. The first major task of initial research is divided into three sub tasks include problem identification, search for location and feasibility research. The project management decided to allocate two weeks to complete this task. The second major task of planning is directly connected with initial research task; it means that planning cannot be started until the initial research is completed.
The planning stage is further divided into sub tasks include outline the proposed scheme, investigation by Project boards, detailed investigation and scheme approval. Furthermore, the third major task of detailed designing is linked with planning stage. The designing stage is divided into two sub tasks of detailed planning and layout of store and identifying cost and requirement according to the outline designed. The next task is capital evaluation project approval. The approval of design as well funds required is dependent on design stage as the approval is not possible until the design is completed.
All tasks in the Gantt chart are interconnected with each other. It is important to complete one task to start working on the other task such as the promotions through media are not possible until and unless the flooring, temperature, staffing and parking are incomplete. All these activities are needed to be completed to achieve the following design of the new store:
Critical Tasks and Non Critical Tasks
It is important to understand the critical tasks and non critical tasks in the work flow of the project. The critical tasks are those tasks that must be completed on time for the successful project completion; however, the non critical tasks do not impact on the overall success of the project. A task is considered as critical when its delay impacts on the other tasks of the project (Leach, 2014).
The work network flow of tasks below shows both critical and non critical tasks in the project of store relocation:
The red highlighted tasks are critical in the work flow and blue highlighted tasks are non critical. The Critical tasks include task 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 20 and 25 tasks, while non critical tasks include 3, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23 and 24. The critical tasks in the project are needed to be dealt more effectively as the delay in any of these tasks will result in delay of the other tasks and in general, the whole project will be delayed. Therefore, the project team is needed to complete these tasks on time or earlier to complete the project on time.
Network Diagram
The tasks 6 (outline of the proposed scheme) above is connected with task 7 in the image below and task 10 (Detailed Design Stage) is connected with 11 (Detailed Plans and layouts) below as well as task 13 (Capital Evaluation Project) and task 15 (Approval of Design). Furthermore, task 13 and task 15 is also linked with task 1 (initial research).
Critical Path
The red lines in the network diagram are showing critical path. The critical path is the connection of the critical tasks. The critical path shows the dependency of one task on the other task (Leach, 2014). The red lines are the timeline of critical tasks that makes the critical path in the workflow. However, the blue lines are the timeline for non critical tasks and makes non critical path.
Business Case Management Report
Introduction
Before going to introduce the project and its management in hands, it is important to understand the term project and project management in the context of the given case. A project is an enterprise either individual or mutual and it is planned properly to achieve some specific goals and objectives (Kerzner, 2013). A given case is the project of relocation of stores of Hamptons as it is a mutual enterprise of Hampton’s stakeholders to achieve specific objectives. The major objective of this project is to improve the service quality for the customer satisfaction providing them comfortable and attractive environment. A project management is the process of planning and implementing the methods, processes and systems along with skills and experiences to complete the project in order to achieve objectives (Goodman, 1967; Munns & Bjeirmi, 1996) such as discussed in the case study that project team of relocation of store project research, planned, designed and implemented different methods and systems to complete the project from research and planning to store opening.
Deciding Factors
It is very important for the project management team to consider some significant factors while making decisions for the project completion. As Hamptons is needed to relocate its store, therefore, the project team must consider those factors that must be focused while making decisions for store relocations. From the case study analysis, some major factors are found to be considered in the store relocation decision making.
First of all, the project team is needed to focus on the characteristics of the new location for instance, the company is going to relocate store as the existing store has many issues like area is small, problems in deliveries and managing loading bay.
Other than the location characteristics, the project team is also required to focus on the cost of the new site. The cost is one of the important concerns in the field of business and all businesses make efforts to reduce the cost as much as possible (Phillips, Chang & Buzzell, 1983). Therefore, the project team must consider the cost of the new site, although, the company locates itself on the premium locations. Another factor is important to be employed in the decision for store relocation. It is the profile of the customers on the new location. The customers in new location must have the characteristics of the targeted market of Hamptons.
Major Obstacles
One of the major problems the team had to deal with was the role and contribution of different stakeholders. The project team must ensure the effective relationship and initiative with project stakeholders; otherwise, the project could be failed badly. Another obstacle the team needed to manage was the communication between the project team members as wells the project team with other stakeholders. The lack of communication can impact on the overall success of the project and it can results in the conflicts among the stakeholders and project. As many teams, internal departments and external companies involved in the project, therefore, the lack of communication and coordination among these contributors could impact on the success of project.
The communication helps the team and team members to understand the status of the project as well the changes needed in the plan to make the project successful. The team was also required to design and plan the project to get approval from project board and project committee. In case of disapproval, the project could be delayed or failed or the team might be required to have more time for new design and plan.
Discussion & evaluation
There are many limitations and assumptions made in the project of Store relocation of Hamptons (Ulrich, 2003). No project is exempt of the rule to have some limitation anyhow; however, it is the role and responsibility of the project team to deal with those limitations. The limitations of store relocation project include the following:
Lack of risk management plan: The first major limitation of the project was that the project team had not plan for managing risks that can be raised at any stage of the project such as delays, high cost, team inefficiency, conflicts among stakeholders, problems from external forces etc. If these risks could be raised at any stage during the project life, the whole project would be impacted in terms of its success.
Lack of change management plan: in case of failure of the existing plan at any stage of the project life cycle, the project team had not alternate plan to complete the project successfully. The change management plan is very important for the successful project to deal with the failure, problems and difficulties of the existing plan. For suppose, if the project team would not be successful to attract customers at new location, what changes and control process it would use to deal with challenge.
Most of the tasks are subsequent: another major limitation of the project was the highly aligned and connected tasks and activities of the project. The project was not able to conduct the next task until the previous task is incomplete. The project team worked on each task one by one except few of the tasks. Therefore, the delay in any of these tasks could impact on the overall progress of the project and the whole project could be delayed.
New Location Problems: The new location of Foodfare is a place of competition from the local stores and companies.
Other than the limitations, there are some assumptions made about the project by the project management team of store relocation of Hamptons in Greatford. These assumptions are as follows:
The project team assumed that the store relocation would be completed in the decided time and planned funds.
It has also assumed that the current problems in the company and its stores would be sought out with the store relocation.
The new location would help to significantly increase the turnover of the company.
The large car parking at new location is ideal for the shoppers of food.
Conclusions
The paper discusses the project given in the case study to relocate the stores of Hamptons in Greatford. In the case analysis, it is found that the company Hamptons is needed to consider some major strategies and plan to deal with the project risks of store relocation as the failure of the project could make the company to face high cost and loss. The company must have change management plan to employ changes in the store design, location and other factors in case of not meeting the scope and objectives with the existing plan. There could be many risks raised throughout the project, therefore, for the successful project management, the team must have risks management strategies to deal with delays, high cost and expenses, plans to attract customers etc.
References
Goodman, R. A. (1967). Ambiguous authority definition in project management. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 395-407.
Kerzner, H. R. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Leach, L. P. (2014). Critical chain project management. Artech House.
Meredith, J. R., & Mantel Jr, S. J. (2011). Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Munns, A. K., & Bjeirmi, B. F. (1996). The role of project management in achieving project success. International journal of project management, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 81-87.
Phillips, L. W., Chang, D. R., & Buzzell, R. D. (1983). Product quality, cost position and business performance: A test of some key hypotheses. The Journal of Marketing, pp. 26-43.
Ulrich, K. T. (2003). Product design and development. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
