CASE 4: BIOTECH RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PROJECT, PHASE I

This case should be interesting to people in the biotechnology field or any rapidly growing organization. The main purpose of this and other cases presented here, however, is to help you practice some of the project management skills you are developing as part of your course.

Part 1: Project Integration Management

Scenario

Biotech, Inc. is one of the world's fastest growing biotechnology firms. In addition to performing basic research, the company provides several FDA-approved drugs. They have recently expanded into the genetically modified food market and energy market, as well. The company has over 30,000 employees today, having added almost 10,000 people last year alone. They predict that they will continue to grow in the future. They currently are headquartered in California and have offices in six other states and five other countries. They plan to open four additional offices next year. Part of the reason for the company's success has been their strong work culture. The company's founders wanted to focus on using science and innovation to improve people's lives. They believe in hiring highly talented and motivated individuals who can work well on self-managed teams. Due to their rapid growth, the CIO and the VP of human resources have both made this project a priority to help manage the company's workforce. Their current system is not working well for doing basic functions like applicant tracking, new employee orientation, benefits management, employee security, compensation, etc. There are currently several decentralized systems various managers use for managing their people, including software to help assign people to various projects. The main goal of this project is to provide one centralized yet flexible system to more effectively manage all of Biotech, Inc.'s people. Senior managers believe it will take about one year and $1 million for this important project. They also feel it would be best to purchase an existing application and tailor it, as needed.

Tasks

1. Briefly research the biotechnology market, including applications in the medical field, food industry, and fuel/energy areas. Who are some of the key players in this industry? What are some of the largest markets for biotechnology products and services? Write a two to four-page paper (double-spaced) with your findings, citing at least three references.

2. Briefly research systems that help manage human resources. How do large companies use information systems to help manage their resources? Who are some of the popular suppliers of this type of software? What are some of the functions these systems perform? Write a two to four-page paper (double-spaced) with your findings, citing at least three references.

3. The project sponsors, the CIO, David, and the VP of Human Resources, Liz, are not sure who should manage this project. Is it best to put someone in charge with a strong IT background, someone familiar with HR, an internal candidate or an outside expert? Write a one-page job description that would help decide who might be a good candidate for managing this project.

4. Create a weighted scoring model (see the template in Appendix A) that managers could use to help evaluate candidates for the project manager position. Make up at least five criteria for evaluating the project managers, four potential candidates, and scores for the candidates. Print out the spreadsheet including the chart on one page.

5. Although senior management does not want a business case for proceeding with this project, they would like to know what some of the potential financial benefits could be from this project. Write a one- to two-page paper describing several potential financial benefits that could result from providing this system.

6. Prepare a project charter for the Resource Management System Project. Assume the project will take one year to complete and cost about $1,000,000. Use the project charter template provided.

7. Identify five potential opportunities that could result from successfully working on and/or completing this project. Also list five potential negative risks that could occur.

Part 2: Project Scope Management

Scenario

David and Liz formed a search committee to find the best candidate for managing the Resource Management System Project. After reviewing many strong candidates, they decided to hire you to manage this critical project. You worked for a consulting firm and had successfully implemented several human resource systems in large organizations. Since this was a high priority project that should be completed in one year, they felt it was appropriate to go outside the company in this case. They knew they were paying a premium for your contract, but a lot was at stake. David and Liz agreed to be joint project sponsors, and they hand-pickedJoe to be the main internal IT liaison and Andres to be the main HR liaison. They would let the new project manager, you, form the rest of the project team. This project creates a computerized system to analyze individuals for hiring, assigning to projects, etc. It will be heavy in analysis of human resources criteria and requirements. There will be a lot of programming as well so you will need qualified experts in HR and IT who can put the requirements together.

Tasks

1. Document your approach for collecting requirements for the project. Include at least five requirements in a requirements traceability matrix.

2. Develop a scope statement for the project. Use the template provided and the example in Chapter 4 as guides. Be as specific as possible in describing product characteristics and requirements, as well as product deliverables. Assume some of the main functions this system must provide include applicant tracking, new employee orientation, benefits management, employee security, and compensation. The sponsors want the system to be team-based, able to provide awards and assist in making team assignments across the organization. Liz, the VP of HR, would also like this project to consider providing professional development management and tracking, too, so they can make sure their people stay abreast in their fields and continue to develop their skills.

3. Develop a work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project. Break down the work to level 2 or level 3, as appropriate. Use the template and samples in Chapter 4 as guides. Be sure the WBS is based on the project charter, scope statement, and other relevant information.

4. Use the WBS you developed in number 3 above (enter the WBS items in the Task Name column) to create a Gantt chart and network diagram in MS Project 2013 for the project.

5. Develop a strategy for scope validation and change control for this project. Write a 1-2 page paper explaining the strategy.

6. Write a 1-2 page paper describing potential strategies for preventing scope creep or cost increases for software customization.

7. Submit all products and your MSProject file to the Module Dropbox in LearningStudio by the assigned date.

Part 3: Project Time Management

Scenario

One of your duties as project manager is to lead your team in developing and following a schedule. You have only 12 months to complete the project. In addition to preparing a Gantt chart, you should also plan to give everyone a simple milestone report and a calendar to make sure everyone understands the schedule.

Tasks

1. Review the WBS and Gantt chart you created for Tasks 3 and 4 in Part 2 above. Propose three to five additional activities that would help you estimate resources and durations. Add these activities to your WBS and write a one page paper describing the activities and how they would perform their task.

2. Identify at least eight milestones for this project. Write a one-page paper describing each milestone using the SMART criteria. Discuss how determining these milestones might require new activities or tasks to the WBS and Gantt chart. Remember that milestones normally have no duration but signal the end of some activity so you have to have an activity that is completed preceding them.Annotate the milestones you selected as such in your WBS.

3. Check your Gantt chart for the project to ensure that it includes the milestones and dependencies you described in tasks 1-2 and estimate the task durations and enter them and the dependencies as appropriate. Remember that your schedule goal for the project is twelve months.

4. Write a one- to two-page paper describing your "dream team" for this project. What type of people would you want on your team? Make up names, backgrounds, and personality traits for your dream team. Include how you would assign people to each activity from the above tasks. Include a table or matrix listing how many hours each person would work on each task. These resource assignments should make sense given the duration estimates made in Task 3 above. Remember that duration estimates are not the same as effort estimates because duration is based on elapsed time not work time.