Assignment - The Business Case

Consider a problem or opportunity that you've seen at work or in your personal life that could serve as motivation for a class project. The project that you choose will serve for the rest of the class as your Final Project Plan.

Question 1. The scope of your project should be small, but should require a project manager, project team, resources, a budget of between $10,000 - $200,000, and should be able to be completed within a six-month timeframe.

Question 2. Prepare either (not both) a problem or opportunity statement that includes the components of identity, timing, location, and magnitude.

Question 3. Prepare a fishbone diagram showing the potential causes of your problem or opportunity.

You may choose one of the Fishbone Diagram Templates from the Microsoft Website:

http://office.microsoft.com/en- us/templates/results.aspx?qu=cause+and+effect+diagram+2003&ex=1&av=all or create your own.

Question 4. List three options for solving the problem or fulfilling the opportunity through a project (one option should be to "do nothing").

Question 5. Evaluate your options using one of the methods (financial analysis, list of advantages and disadvantages, or S.W.O.T analysis) as discussed in Chapter 3.

Question 6. Using the results from steps 1-5 as inputs, create a Business Case for your project which includes the following components:

a. Executive Summary
b. Project Drivers (Problem/Opportunity Statement)
c. Underlying Causes
d. Goal
e. Options for Achieving
f. Assessment of Options for Achieving the Goal
g. Conclusion (Findings/Recommendations on moving forward)

Appendix 3A in the textbook provides a sample business case. See the Table of Contents for the correct page number.