Business Analysis Project For Dairy Farm Group: Objectives And Scope

Project management overview

This report depicts the necessity of implementing strategic Management Information System (MIS) in the “Dairy Farm Group of Companies” for increasing the overall revenue structure (Lee et al. 2015). Due to lack of strategic alignment the company was facing major challenges and basically in order to combat that situation the company is willing to implement and advanced Information System for the overall organizational improvement.

The scope of the project including its objectives and constraints are also elaborated in this report. Apart from the project constraints the project overview the report also demonstrates the statement of project. In order to complete the project proper time scheduling and cost estimation is required to be done and for this implementation the whole project should be divided into small segments (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra 2013). If all the employees play exact role then only the project will be executed appropriately.

The project statement includes the overall professional representation of the project. The statement for the project is given below:

1. Project manager name:
2. Required change category:
3. Proposed change:
4. Expected outcome:
5. Effects of the undertaken changes:
6. Contingency planning for change:
7. Existing situation:
8. Whether the system is accepted or not (Y/N):

In order to execute the project successfully, proper selection of project team members are required to be done by the executives of Dairy Farm Group of Companies. The members of the project team are as follows:

1. Project manager
2. Finance manager
3. System analyst
4. Business analyst
5. Quality analyzer
6. Application programmer
7. Information system expert
8. Executive system associate

In order to complete the project successfully and to reduce the work burden from every individual the project manager is required to divide the work load equally among the project team members. It will help the project manager to complete the project, within allotted time phase. The RACI matrix for re-implementing the MIS for Dairy Farm Group of Companies is as follows:

WBS	Task Name	Project manager	System analyst	Business analyst	Quality analyzer	Application programmer	Information system expert	Executive system associate
1	Schedule development for Dairy firm group and companies	I	R	R	R	R	R	I
1.1	Project initiation phase	I	R/A	C	C	R/A	C	I
1.1.1	Requirement gathering	I	R	I	R	I	R	I
1.1.2	Loophole analysis	I	R	R	R	R	R	I
1.1.3	Current situation analysis	I	R/A	R/A	R/A	R/A	C	I
1.1.4	Analysis of the requirement of the consumers of Dairy Farm Group of Companies	R/A	R/A	R/A	R/A	R/A	R/A	I
1.1.5	Analyzing the currently used information for the development of the Information system	I	R/A	R/A	R/A	R/A	R/A	I
1.1.6	Meeting with the stakeholders	C	C	C	C	–	R	–
1.2	Phase 1: For project documentation	–	–	–	–	–	R	–
1.2.1	Developing project scope statement	–	–	–	–	–	R	–
1.2.2	Evaluation of the functional requirement of the MIS system	C	I	C	I	I	R	C
1.2.3	Evaluation of the non-functional requirement of MIS system	C	C	C	I	I	R	R/A
1.2.4	Analyzing the documents needed to implement the MIS system	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
1.2.5	Documentation submission to the project manager	R/A	C	R/A	C	R/A	R	C
1.2.6	Proposal acceptance by the project manager	R	I	R	I	R	R	I
1.2.7	Acceptance of the required changes	I	I	–	I	–	R	I
1.2.8	Project time scheduling	R	–	R	–	–	R	–
1.2.9	Project budget estimation	–	I	I	I	I	R	I
1.2.10	Specification of the financial and time requirement of the project	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
1.2.11	Time and budget approval by the project management authority	R	R	I	–	–	–	–
1.2.12	Proposal approved by the project management authority of Dairy Farm Group of Companies	R	R	R	R	R	R	C
1.3	Phase 2:Team management	I	R	R	R	C	–	C
1.3.1	Decision making	I	R	R	R	C	–	C
1.3.1.1	Selection of project leader	I	I	R	I	C	R	I
1.3.1.2	Selection of project team members	I	A	R	A	R	A	R
1.3.1.3	Identifying project mission, vision and goal	A	A	R	A	R	R	A
1.3.1.4	Identification of team rules and regulation	C	A	C	C	A	C	A
1.3.1.5	Team member’s skills and knowledge identification	–	–	R	–	–	R	–
1.3.2	Decision on training	R	C	R	C	R	C	R/A
1.3.2.1	Source gathering for the MIS implementation	R	R/A	C	R	C	R	C
1.3.2.2	Identification of roles of the project team members	C	C	R	C	R	C	R
1.3.2.3	Training program development	I	R	C	R	C	R	C
1.4	Phase 3 : MIS system development	I	I	I	C	I	R	R
1.4.1	Approval for the system requirement	R	A	R	A	R	R	A
1.4.1.1	Prototype design	I	A	A	A	A	A	A
1.4.1.2	Development of project blueprint	R	I	R	I	R	R	I
1.4.1.3	Checking for the project blueprint	–	R	–	R	R	–	–
1.4.1.4	Feedback gathering for the required changes	I	R	R	I	I	I	R
1.4.1.5	Development of optional changes required for developing the system	–	–	–	–	R	–	–
1.4.1.6	Design approval by the management	–	–	–	R	R	R	–
1.4.2	Development of the information system	R/I	–	–	–	–	–	–
1.4.2.1	Final design implementation	I	A	C	R	C	R	I
1.4.2.2	Coding for the decision making approaches	I	I	I	R	R	R	I
1.4.2.3	System unit testing	R/A	I	I	I	C	C	C
1.4.2.4	System integrated testing	I	R/A	–	–	–	–	C
1.4.2.5	System installation	I	R	–	R	C	–	R
1.4.2.6	MIS implementation process	I	–	–	–	C	C	R
1.4.2.7	Preparation of the contingency planning	I	–	–	I	R	R	R
1.5	Phase 4: Developing training for the employees	R	C	C	R/A	R	R	R
1.5.1	User manual management illustration	R/A	–	–	–	R/A	–	R/A
1.5.2	Storage of relevant training materials	R/A		–	–	–	–	–
1.5.3	Conduction of the training program	I	–	–	–	–	–	–
1.6	Phase 5: project closure phase	R	I	I	R	I	R	I
1.6.1	Review of the post implementation	R	R	I	R	I	R	I
1.6.2	Stakeholder’s signoff
1.6.3	Documentation of the resource requirements	R/A	I	C	I	C	I	C
1.6.4	Budget evaluation	R/A	R	I	R	I		I
1.6.5	Project completion	R/A	–	–	–	–	–	–
1.4.2.4	System integrated testing	–	–	R	–	–	–	–
1.4.2.5	System installation	I	–	–	–	–	–	–
1.4.2.6	MIS implementation process	I	R	C	R	C	C	R
1.4.2.7	Preparation of the contingency planning	I	C R	C	R	R	R	C
1.5	Phase 4: Developing training for the employees	I	C	I	C	I	I	I
1.5.1	User manual management illustration	I	–	R	–	R-	–	R
1.5.2	Storage of relevant training materials	I	R	R	R	R	R	R
1.5.3	Conduction of the training program	I	C	C		C	C	C
1.6	Phase 5: project closure phase	I	R/A	R/A	R/A	R/A	C	C
1.6.1	Review of the post implementation	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
1.6.2	Stakeholder’s signoff	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1.6.3	Documentation of the resource requirements	I	I	I	I	I	I	I
1.6.4	Budget evaluation	R/A	R	R	R	C	R	C
1.6.5	Project completion	I	C	R	C	C	C	R
1.5.3	Conduction of the training program	I	R	R	–	R	R	–
1.6	Phase 5: project closure phase	I	–	–	–	–	–	–
1.6.1	Review of the post implementation	I	R/A	R/A	R	R	R	R/A
1.6.4	Budget evaluation	I	R/A	–	–	R/A	–	R/A
1.6.5	Project completion	I	R	R	R	R	R	R

WBS	Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
1	Schedule development for Dairy firm group and companies	161 days	Fri 4/28/17	Fri 12/8/17
1.1	Project initiation phase	44 days	Fri 4/28/17	Wed 6/28/17
1.1.1	Requirement gathering	30 days	Fri 4/28/17	Thu 6/8/17
1.1.2	Loophole analysis	2 days	Fri 6/9/17	Mon 6/12/17
1.1.3	Current situation analysis	4 days	Tue 6/13/17	Fri 6/16/17
1.1.4	Analysis of the requirement of the consumers of Dairy Farm Group of Companies	2 days	Mon 6/19/17	Tue 6/20/17
1.1.5	Analyzing the currently used information for the development of the Information system	3 days	Wed 6/21/17	Fri 6/23/17
1.1.6	Meeting with the stakeholders	3 days	Mon 6/26/17	Wed 6/28/17
1.2	Phase 1: For project documentation	12 days	Thu 6/29/17	Fri 7/14/17
1.2.1	Developing project scope statement	1 day	Thu 6/29/17	Thu 6/29/17
1.2.2	Evaluation of the functional requirement of the MIS system	1 day	Fri 6/30/17	Fri 6/30/17
1.2.3	Evaluation of the non-functional requirement of MIS system	1 day	Mon 7/3/17	Mon 7/3/17
1.2.4	Analyzing the documents needed to implement the MIS system	1 day	Tue 7/4/17	Tue 7/4/17
1.2.5	Documentation submission to the project manager	1 day	Wed 7/5/17	Wed 7/5/17
1.2.6	Proposal acceptance by the project manager	1 day	Thu 7/6/17	Thu 7/6/17
1.2.7	Acceptance of the required changes	1 day	Fri 7/7/17	Fri 7/7/17
1.2.8	Project time scheduling	1 day	Mon 7/10/17	Mon 7/10/17
1.2.9	Project budget estimation	1 day	Tue 7/11/17	Tue 7/11/17
1.2.10	Specification of the financial and time requirement of the project	1 day	Wed 7/12/17	Wed 7/12/17
1.2.11	Time and budget approval by the project management authority	1 day	Thu 7/13/17	Thu 7/13/17
1.2.12	Proposal approved by the project management authority of Dairy Farm Group of Companies	1 day	Fri 7/14/17	Fri 7/14/17
1.3	Phase 2:Team management	35 days	Tue 7/11/17	Mon 8/28/17
1.3.1	Decision making	16 days	Tue 7/11/17	Tue 8/1/17
1.3.1.1	Selection of project leader	5 days	Mon 7/17/17	Fri 7/21/17
1.3.1.2	Selection of project team members	3 days	Mon 7/24/17	Wed 7/26/17
1.3.1.3	Identifying project mission, vision and goal	4 days	Thu 7/27/17	Tue 8/1/17
1.3.1.4	Identification of team rules and regulation	2 days	Tue 7/11/17	Wed 7/12/17
1.3.1.5	Team member’s skills and knowledge identification	3 days	Thu 7/13/17	Mon 7/17/17
1.3.2	Decision on training	30 days	Tue 7/18/17	Mon 8/28/17
1.3.2.1	Source gathering for the MIS implementation	10 days	Tue 7/18/17	Mon 7/31/17
1.3.2.2	Identification of roles of the project team members	10 days	Tue 8/1/17	Mon 8/14/17
1.3.2.3	Training program development	10 days	Tue 8/15/17	Mon 8/28/17
1.4	Phase 3 : MIS system development	29 days	Tue 8/29/17	Fri 10/6/17
1.4.1	Approval for the system requirement	14 days	Tue 8/29/17	Fri 9/15/17
1.4.1.1	Prototype design	9 days	Tue 8/29/17	Fri 9/8/17
1.4.1.2	Development of project blueprint	1 day	Mon 9/11/17	Mon 9/11/17
1.4.1.3	Checking for the project blueprint	1 day	Tue 9/12/17	Tue 9/12/17
1.4.1.4	Feedback gathering for the required changes	1 day	Wed 9/13/17	Wed 9/13/17
1.4.1.5	Development of optional changes required for developing the system	1 day	Wed 9/13/17	Wed 9/13/17
1.4.1.6	Design approval by the management	2 days	Thu 9/14/17	Fri 9/15/17
1.4.2	Development of the information system	15 days	Mon 9/18/17	Fri 10/6/17
1.4.2.1	Final design implementation	2 days	Mon 9/18/17	Tue 9/19/17
1.4.2.2	Coding for the decision making approaches	3 days	Wed 9/20/17	Fri 9/22/17
1.4.2.3	System unit testing	3 days	Mon 9/25/17	Wed 9/27/17
1.4.2.4	System integrated testing	2 days	Thu 9/28/17	Fri 9/29/17
1.4.2.5	System installation	2 days	Mon 10/2/17	Tue 10/3/17
1.4.2.6	MIS implementation process	2 days	Wed 10/4/17	Thu 10/5/17
1.4.2.7	Preparation of the contingency planning	1 day	Fri 10/6/17	Fri 10/6/17
1.5	Phase 4: Developing training for the employees	30 days	Mon 10/9/17	Fri 11/17/17
1.5.1	User manual management illustration	10 days	Mon 10/9/17	Fri 10/20/17
1.5.2	Storage of relevant training materials	10 days	Mon 10/23/17	Fri 11/3/17
1.5.3	Conduction of the training program	10 days	Mon 11/6/17	Fri 11/17/17
1.6	Phase 5: project closure phase	15 days	Mon 11/20/17	Fri 12/8/17
1.6.1	Review of the post implementation	3 days	Mon 11/20/17	Wed 11/22/17
1.6.2	Stakeholder’s signoff	1 day	Thu 11/23/17	Thu 11/23/17
1.6.3	Documentation of the resource requirements	5 days	Fri 11/24/17	Thu 11/30/17
1.6.4	Budget evaluation	2 days	Fri 12/1/17	Mon 12/4/17
1.6.5	Project completion	4 days	Tue 12/5/17	Fri 12/8/17

In order to gain measurable success after the real time implementation of the project, the project manager must create secure relationship between the project development activities and the structure of Dairy firm and companies (Martinsuo and Killen 2014).  For establishing this alignment the project manager is required to understand certain terms and condition accordingly.

Project vision: In this phase the project manager should understand the vision of the organization. In order to meet the vision the long term management plan is required to be considered.

Project mission: The mission of the company is to deliver quality milk products to the consumers with affordable price range (Mir and Pinnington 2014).

Organizational goal: In this phase the ultimate shared goal of the business firm is required to be set by the project manager.

Strategy development: In order to meet the requirement of the consumers the project manager is needed to develop certain business strategy so that the company will be able to reach the preliminary defied goal (Rahmana et al. 2014).

Phase 1: For project documentation

The diagram above elaborates the strategic execution stack of Dairy firm and companies. It helps the project manager and project executive team to understand the actual relationship among the different components of the project.

• The system is very much sensitive and requires constant control and monitoring. Due to lack of management the current system fails to manage large set of data accurately (Shen et al. 2015).
• The MIS budgeting done by the finance manager is inaccurate thus the finance manager fails to frame the resources properly.
• The quality of the output is totally dependent on the input quality
• Due to lack of system flexibility it fails to make proper system update.

Security is one of the major concerns that are associated to the existing Managing Information System (MIS) used by the business organization (Silvius and Schipper 2014). Due to lack of security in the IS the external attackers can easily hijack information from the server, even without accurate authentication.  

For this particular project triple constraints such as time scheduling, budget and scope have been considered. It has been found that, in order to re-implement the managing information system for Dairy firm and companies, the project that is developing required 8 months and AUD $800,000.

Different tools are there those are used by the Dairy firm and companies, to manage their stakeholders efficiently. In order to win support from others the stakeholder management acts as an important disciplinary tool (Takey and de Carvalho 2015).  The project success can be effectively ensured by the stakeholder analysis and management. In order to shape the project accurately, idea from the important stakeholders are very much helpful. Certain steps are required to be maintained by the project manager to ensure that the proposed stakeholder analysis and management system is very effectives. The steps are as follows:

Step 1: Identification of the stakeholders

Name of the stakeholders	Roles of the stakeholder
Project Manager	Monitoring project progress
Systems Analyst	Analyze both old and new MIS system
Senior Associate	Control the project
Associate	Control the project
Application Programmer	Develop the system by designing and coding
Information System Expert	Verify and validate the MIS
Financial Analyst	Estimate project budget

Based on the roles and responsibilities of the project stakeholders the priorities will be provided (Walker 2015). After analysis it has been found that, the project manager plays the leading role in the project development period.

Conclusion

From the overall discussion it can be concluded that in order to reduce the issues of manual data management approach, Dairy firm and companies has planned to re-implement rather develop their existing Management Information System (MIS). The report elaborated the project objectives, project scope and project goal. Apart from this, the project also elaborated the stakeholder analysis and management and also described the current situation of the system that is the issues. After identifying the issues accurately the project manager will be able to understand the required changes that must be incorporated along with the existing managing information system of Dairy firm and companies. In this report the project schedule, roles and responsibility of the stakeholders are also demonstrated.

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