Winsome Manufacturing Company produces plastic storage containers and sells them to the home consumer through home sales events. At the company's quarterly meeting, the head of marketing described a new product to be introduced in the first quarter of the next fiscal year, approximately 9 months from now.
The product will be a room-sized plastic storage unit suitable to the outside of the home; it is similar to a competitor's product but will have significantly more features. This product will open new markets for the sales channel, lay the foundation for add-on products, and generate new revenues. Management has only seen preliminary sketches of the potential product but are very excited by the new product.
The project will require participation from the design, production, purchasing, shipping, sales, and marketing departments. Winsome Manufacturing owns a line of suitable injection molds, so all manufacturing will be done in-house. The project manager for this project has not yet been selected, but that decision is expected to be made in the next week.
A preliminary project initiation meeting will result in the identification of the project sponsor, selection of a project manager, and creation of the project charter. A manager in the production department who knows you are taking a college project management course asks you to prepare a brief report to help him prepare for the meeting by answering the following questions:
Who are the project stakeholders? How will they be involved in the project?
Who should be the project sponsor? Why?
From which department should the project manager come? Why?
What skills and experience are likely needed by the project manager for each phase in the project life cycle, and how do they differ
between the various phases?
What type of communication plan will likely be needed during the project?
What information should be shared with the project stakeholders?
What is the mechanism that could be used for each type of information?
What is the frequency with which information should be shared?
What should be done if project communications are not proving to be effective?
What technology could be used for project communications?
At what point could communication about the project become an ethical or legal issue?
What information should be included in the following elements of the project charter:
What is the problem the project proposes to address?
What business opportunity might project completion create?
What is the business case for undertaking the project?
What is the financial impact of the project?
What are the expected results of the project?
What value will the project add?
What are risks that might be involved with undertaking the project?
What is the potential impact to the company if the project is not undertaken?
Grading Criteria
Deliverable requirements addressed; understanding of material and writer's message and intent are clear. 35%
Scholarly research which supports writer's position properly acknowledged and cited direct quotations may not exceed 10% of the word count of the body of the assignment deliverable (excluded title page, abstract or table of contents if used, tables, exhibits, appendices, and reference page(s).
Inclusion of plagiarized content will not be tolerated and may result in adverse academic consequences. 20%
Critical thinking: Position is well-justified; logical flow; examples provided where appropriate. 20%
Structure: Includes introduction and conclusion; proper paragraph format; reads as a polished academic paper or professional
presentation, as appropriate for the required assignment deliverable. 10%
Mechanical: No spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors. 10%
APA: Deliverable is cited properly according to the APA Publication Manual (6th ed.) 5%