Project Assignment

Fundamentals

Option Appraisal, Initiation and Scope

Case Study

KIA is a multidisciplinary engineering contractor offering solutions to the international energy sector. They employ approximately 1500 staff worldwide, with a presence in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas with their main centre of operations being in Aberdeen.

The company was founded thirty years ago and is still largely owned by Vivian Jones. It has grown both organically and through a recent merger (well takeover really) with another consultancy. Vivian is in her early sixties and still has a very hands on approach to the management of the company. She has huge network of contacts and is still the main business winner for the company. She has made it clear that he wants to step back from her pivotal role and leave the company in good shape to run without him.

Due to the challenging economic conditions in the UK energy market the company is seeking to move into different sectors. They have been largely successful in this respect and the company has seen business expand in a number of areas, especially in Africa where they have recently established an office in Ghana.

KIA has a number of ongoing projects which are potentially lucrative in the UK. Ina response to the recent downturn the company has invested in developing a new innovative value design which would result in a significant decrease in maintenance and intervention. There is significant interest in the new development but little capacity to develop this within the organisation.

Despite this success a number of projects have recently run over in terms of budget and schedule. With contracts are becoming more competitive and margins being squeezed this has had a serious impact on profits. The directors are worried will have an adverse effect on the company's reputation.

There is an increasing requirement from the larger operators to require qualified project managers from contractors. Currently most of the MA staff only have limited professional project management qualifications. Training and development has largely been a piecemeal process to comply with legislation or requested by individuals. There is an appraisal and development review process but little happens as a result of it. This is a cause of some concern throughout the company.

Activity

You have recently been hired as a consultant to evaluate the project management capabilities of KIA engineering and identify some a project proposal that will enable the organisation to improve their project management capabilities and effectiveness.

As a group identify 3 potential options which would improve the organisations project management capabilities.

1. Give an outline of each option and develop high level business case for each. You should demonstrate how the option will meet the organisations objectives, the costs, benefits and any risks.

2. For your three options establish a set of criteria to evaluate your project proposals and make a recommendation. You also need to include any assumptions you have made in your proposals

Prepare a 10 minute presentation to outline your findings and recommendation.