Discuss about the Operational Implementation of Contextual Factors.
The project management is the deliberate action taken by a team in order to accomplish the specific objective of the business. It is the structured process in which problem is understood thoroughly and accordingly suitable strategies are applied (Turner, 2008). The present essay is based on Latino Engineering which is specialized in designing, developing and manufacturing engineering equipment for different industries. The company is facing several issues; defects in the products, poor design, wrong packaging and non-responsiveness to the customers. For this purpose, project management or continuous improvement plan has been initiated to improve the overall performance of the business. In this regard, an appropriate methodology like Total Quality Management and 5 whys are applied to address the issue. Moreover, critical path method has been used through which problem faced by the firm can be resolved in relatively less time.
According to the case study, Latino Engineering was sold by Dominic; the founder who was specialized in manufacturing engineering equipment. During that time, the business was well-performed and customers were highly happy. However, the performance decline when the company was sold out because customers were not happy and their expectations were not being met. At the same time, design and development of products were poor. Yet, employees were retained to maintain the performance and reputation of the business. In this regard, the need of continuous improvement plan has been assessed for Latino Engineering whereby performance can be improved. At this juncture, the first task of the project management plan is to identify the root cause with the application of suitable techniques.
Total Quality Management (TQM) approach has been applied which is a continuous effort put by the management for increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction (Kerzner, 2013). The current situation of Latino Engineering reflects that customers are not satisfied so the application of TQM model would be effective. The PDCA cycle of TQM is applied where the first step is planning phase (P) wherein project team assesses the entire situation of the Latino Engineering by collecting data from management and employees and customers. With the collected data, it has been found that there is no coordination between management and employees which in result customer dissatisfaction is automatically occurring. Also, the customers feel that their issues are not being addressed and they are not getting the quality product (Murugaiah and et. al., 2010). This was because of poor planning and management at the end of high authority of the Latino Engineering. This indicates that employees should be guided and motivated by the work which is being done. However, earlier Dominic was easily managing everything so most of the projects of the company were awarded too. In this manner, planning phase assists project manager to work on the problems.
The next step is of doing phase (D) where it is decided that employees will be trained on the monthly basis to update their knowledge. Also, management was communicated that there is need to maintain the continuous flow information regarding the quality standards, policies of the business etc (Chen, Li and Shady, 2010). This will be helpful for the workforce to understand the importance of quality aspect. Also, the quality department will be set through all the products and process will be supervised and feedback will be provided to the respective department. For example, wrong design and development of the product will be passed back to the manufacturing department and similarly wrongly packed product. The monthly report will be prepared for each month and each department which will serve as the basis to motivate employee by sowing the assessment of their performance.
The third step of the TQM is (C) checking phase in which evaluation will be done that whether the training program is going fine or not or production department is reducing the number of defects in the product or not (Hung and et. al., 2010). It would be effective in providing the feedback and bringing continuous improvement in the Latino Engineering. The last phase is of action (A) which help to complete the work related to the documentation so as to serve as the evidence that problem has been addressed in the right manner.
Furthermore, 5 whys is another effective technique which is related to Six Sigma DMAIC has been applied in the following manner. It proves clear evidence related to the root cause of the problem through which project can team can work upon the same.
The good planning procedure related to the project management relies on the effective procedural documents (Jung, Jian Wang and Wu, 2009). For this purpose, paperwork will be completed by the project management related to the task to be allocated to the team and deadline for each of them. It would be effective in offering the clear guidelines and unifying the entire project team. The project plan will be implemented with the determination of critical success factors. Here, the success factors are related to the continuous improvement and overall satisfaction. At the same time, Latino Engineering management will also become active with the outcome of the project. Owing to this, it is also considered as the critical success factor which would be effective in building the competitive edge of the business (Sila, 2007).
All the next step will be supported towards the mentioned critical success factors and accordingly the related work will be completed so as to derive valid outcome. The second level is the feasibility determination in which it is assessed that whether the Latino Engineering management can follow a suitable leading style or not, whether a company can conduct a monthly training session or not, whether enough fund is available to set the quality team or not. This will be done in accordance with the current situation of the organization or availability of the resources (Chen, Law and Yang, 2009). It leads to implement the potential strategies on the right time and cater the requirement of all the related stakeholders in the right manner.
The third step of the plan is proposing the operation management business case study wherein approval is taken from the managerial staff with regard to the resources availability. The management will be communicated about the plan and effects of the same (Hasson, 2010). This structured procedure is helpful in reducing the impact of the negative on the performance of the business. However, management is communicated that motivation of employees is necessary for both monetary and non-monetary manner (Pulley and et. al., 2012). This is because it is the fact that satisfied employees tend to meet the expectations of customers in a better manner. After this, implementation roadmap will be prepared where employees of the company will be actually training and procedures and practices related to manufacturing process and packaging will be communicated.
They will be guided that who customers should be treated and how quickly response should be provided. Not only this but the overall benefits derived from the project will be communicated to employees and management (Françoise, Bourgault and Pellerin, 2009). For example, the profitability of the business is increased when it meets the expectations of customers which in turn growth and development of workforce can also be ensured. Therefore, project management plan on several factors at a time so as to create its competitive edge in the marketplace with the increased rate of return (Stevenson and Hojati, 2007). However, the major focus is laid on the quality of the products and services for which manufacturing department is provided with the guideline. They will have to take care while giving the input as it should be matched as per the expectations of the customers.
The proposed plan will be able to address the issues which are being faced by the customers because the right quality will be delivered. Furthermore, continuous improvement will be done by offering new knowledge to employees in the weekly meetings or training. At this juncture, employees will be motivated to share their innovative ideas for the betterment of the business (Grol and et. al., 2007). This idea can be related to customer follow-up, quality check and expansion of the business. It proves to be effective in motivating employees and retaining them for longer time span. Moreover, the project plan will help in reducing the defect in the product to a great extent. It leads to create its reputation in the marketplace and raise the market share of the business. However, the certain level of issues is faced in every project that can be resolved by preparing the contingency plan (Kerzner, 2017).
The issues in the project management plan can be related to lack of resources and the poor understanding of the management or poorly skilled employees. For this purpose, resources requirement is the crucial aspect of the project which will be considered by the manager. Here, the manager will line up all the project activities and the time, as well as financial resources required for the same, will be decided. Basically, three types of resources such as financial, human and physical are required (Christenson and Walker, 2004). The present project is based on the continuous improvement where some physical resources such as training hall, accessories; laptop etc are required so that quality standards can be communicated among respective staff members. This proves to be effective in implementing the project in the right and in the desired manner. On the other hand, human resources consist of the skilled and proficient project team that can easily accomplish the allotted task (White and Fortune, 2002). Apart from this, financial resources are needed in several other activities. Therefore, resources requirement is crucial in implementing the projects in a successful manner.
The continuous improvement plan is important for the business to ensure that issues do not occur in the future and smooth flow of the operation is maintained for the long time span (Harrison and Lock, 2004). The current continuous improvement plan has been prepared with the use of MS project and techniques; Critical Path Method and Gantt chart. These techniques play important role in completing the project in a relatively less time. The activity table is presented in the appendix section which provides a review of varied activities covered under the continuous plan. It shows that first of all overall internal situation of Latino Engineering will be assessed and it has been found that rest everything is same except the management. This is because an earlier company was well performed with the current employees but the management as Dominic but after selling the business there is the drastic decline in the quality. Owing to this, other actions are taken accordingly such as monthly training of staff, performance evaluation, setting quality department and analyzing the customer feedback along with providing the prompt reply. Furthermore, Gantt chart is reflecting a graphical review of the overall project activities that when a particular activity will start and finish (Baker, Murphy and Fisher, 2008). The start and finish time help project manager to decide the deadline for all employees and influence them to meet the same. However, it might also be possible to reduce the requirement of resources in case a particular activity can be completed by the entire team in the less time. Owing to this, graphical presentation of the activities associated with the project is displayed with the help of Gantt chart.
A network diagram is also showing the critical path of the project which is the longest path of the project which requires relatively less time in completing the entire project (Meredith and Mantel Jr, 2011). This is because two or more than two activities are completed at the same time in order to accomplish the purpose. The diagram itself is showing that 1+2+3+4+5+7+9+11+12+13=37 days are required for the continuous improvement plan. However, previous with the application of critical path method, duration of the project was 59 days. It indicates that activity 8,10,6 are completed simultaneously along with other mentioned activities. It proves to be effective in saving the resources and time which can be utilized somewhere else to improve the performance of the business.
However, the case study shows that project management has a time of 3 months only to improve entire process such as reducing the number of defects from the products and increasing the customer satisfaction. As per the below-mentioned activity table, it has been found that improvement efforts are sustained so that sustainability will be done through making the plan for monthly meeting and reviewing the performance of the employees as per the complaint reduction in each department. For example, in case of production department reduces the number of complaints then it will be the reward. On the other hand, the quality department will be helpful to sustain the improvement because timely feedback will be provided and report of the incidents will be given to the respective team in accordance with the schedule. Therefore, continuous improvement plan determines the growth and development of the employees and support them to accomplish long as well as short-term objectives of the business (Burke, 2013). Apart from this, monthly evaluation of employees’ performance will be done as per the pre-specified criteria so they can focus on the same to determine their success.
Conclusion
The aforementioned essay concludes that continuous improvement plan is successfully implemented in the Latino Engineering, yet the success is based on the continuous motivation of employees. In this regard, leaders of the company must initiate the effective procedure for the motivation of personnel. It can also be concluded that Six Sigma and TQM approach to meet the requirement of the company in a best possible manner because detail evaluation is done for the current situation and accordingly suitable action is taken by the management. Furthermore, critical path method facilitates to save overall time and cost involved in the project.
The management of Latino Engineering is suggested to offer the reward for employees who are complying the set standards and meeting the expectations of customers. Furthermore, customer service department should also be trained in order to update themselves that how queries of customers should be resolved. At the same time, it is also important to follow the customers for the product or equipment they have purchased from the company.
References
Baker, B.N., Murphy, D.C. and Fisher, D., 2008. Factors affecting project success. Project Management Handbook, Second Edition, pp.902-919.
Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.
Chen, C.C., Law, C.C. and Yang, S.C., 2009. Managing ERP implementation failure: a project management perspective. IEEE transactions on engineering management, 56(1), pp.157-170.
Chen, J.C., Li, Y. and Shady, B.D., 2010. From value stream mapping toward a lean/sigma continuous improvement process: an industrial case study. International Journal of Production Research, 48(4), pp.1069-1086.
Christenson, D. and Walker, D.H., 2004. Understanding the role of” vision” in project success. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 32(4), pp.57-73.
Françoise, O., Bourgault, M. and Pellerin, R., 2009. ERP implementation through critical success factors’ management. Business Process Management Journal, 15(3), pp.371-394.
Grol, R.P., Bosch, M.C., Hulscher, M.E., Eccles, M.P. and Wensing, M., 2007. Planning and studying improvement in patient care: the use of theoretical perspectives. The Milbank Quarterly, 85(1), pp.93-138.
Harrison, F.L. and Lock, D., 2004. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Gower Publishing, Ltd..
Hasson, H., 2010. Systematic evaluation of implementation fidelity of complex interventions in health and social care. Implementation Science, 5(1), p.67.
Hung, R.Y.Y., Lien, B.Y.H., Fang, S.C. and McLean, G.N., 2010. Knowledge as a facilitator for enhancing innovation performance through total quality management. Total Quality Management, 21(4), pp.425-438.
Jung, J.Y., Jian Wang, Y. and Wu, S., 2009. Competitive strategy, TQM practice, and continuous improvement of international project management: A contingency study. International Journal of quality & reliability management, 26(2), pp.164-183.
Kerzner, H., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2017. Project Management Methodologies. Project Management Case Studies, pp.1-27.
Meredith, J.R. and Mantel Jr, S.J., 2011. Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Murugaiah, U., Jebaraj Benjamin, S., Srikamaladevi Marathamuthu, M. and Muthaiyah, S., 2010. Scrap loss reduction using the 5-whys analysis. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 27(5), pp.527-540.
Pulley, J.M., Denny, J.C., Peterson, J.F., Bernard, G.R., Vnencak?Jones, C.L., Ramirez, A.H., Delaney, J.T., Bowton, E., Brothers, K., Johnson, K. and Crawford, D.C., 2012. Operational implementation of prospective genotyping for personalized medicine: the design of the Vanderbilt PREDICT project. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 92(1), pp.87-95.
Sila, I., 2007. Examining the effects of contextual factors on TQM and performance through the lens of organizational theories: An empirical study. Journal of Operations management, 25(1), pp.83-109.
Stevenson, W.J. and Hojati, M., 2007. Operations management(Vol. 8). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Turner, J.R., 2008. Handbook of project-based management. McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing.
White, D. and Fortune, J., 2002. Current practice in project management—An empirical study. International journal of project management, 20(1), pp.1-11.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download