Project Initiation Plan For Longtau Technology: CRM Implementation And Change Management

Project Purpose

This is a project initiation plan for an organization named Longtau technology. The organization has been rapidly expanding their business processes but recently they have been facing operational issues while dealing with the consumers. Therefore, in order to resolve the operational issues in the United Kingdom department, the management has decided to take up a change management initiative. This change management program will consist of implementing CRM into the United Kingdom operations department and develop a new customer service department for handling these issues.

Longtau technology is one of the Chinese organizations that manufactures, supports and designs network equipments for computers.  After capturing considerable market share in China, they have expanded their business in Europe. The organization has been selling more than 10,000 business units annually across Europe to business consumers and consists of 40 distributors in their network.  They provide support to the business consumers but recently there have been complaints that consumers have been lost between the call center and sales department. Thus, a new project has been initiated for dealing with this issue, which consists of the implementation of CRM as measure of change management.

The project scope statement defines all the essential information required for executing a particular project. The project statement will consist of factors such as requirements, expectations and features of the consumers in a given project.  This project will highlight the initiative and processes required for implementation of change management through CRM (customer relationship management) implementation. The project scope is divided further into parts, which are described in detail in the later part of the report.

The project objective for implementing change management by implementation of CRM (customer relationship management) are defined as follows:

• Evaluation of the existing network systems for identifying the changes required
• Identification of change management strategies for improvement in organizational business model
• To develop document for CRM implementation
• To integrate the developed  CRM software into the business model
• Development of new customer service department for handling consumer grievances
• To slowly adapt to the changes in the organizational business model for better efficiency in operations

Project requirement will consist of all the important processes for successfully executing the processes.  Requirements provide a clear view of the implementation process. In this project, the requirements of the project are as follows:

• Identification of the change management initiatives
• Re structuring of the processes within the business model
• Technical requirement
• Analysis of the CRM phase
• Adaptation of the CRM phase

Constraints are the limitations and restriction which a project manager has to deal with while successful execution of the processes. The time span of the project is high so the employees will have to managed thoroughly by providing proper guidance. The new system developed should be compatible to the initial software used in the organization. The purchases of the products will have to be made in accordance to the allocated budget in the project. The managing director will go through weekly reports for understanding overall allocation of resources.

Project Description

The project should identify assumptions, which will be considered during the execution of the project.

• This undertaken project has full support from the sponsors, the internal stakeholders and all the departments in the organization.
• The objective and purpose of developing and executing this project should be communicated throughout all the departments.
• The addition requirements for successful completion of the project will be provided by the headquarters in China.

  The projects are developed to serve a specific purpose and are mainly focused on fulfilling the needs and wants of the consumers. The success of the project will be determined the various tangible and the intangible outcomes which should be achieved for achieving success of the project. Therefore, simply it can be defined as the input to a particular process can be defined as deliverables. Generally, project deliverables consist of information, plan, documents, software, equipment and money. The project deliverables for bringing about change management by implementing CRM are as follows:

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
Project Initiation Plan	322 days	Thu 2/1/18	Fri 4/26/19
Change management	26 days	Thu 2/1/18	Thu 3/8/18
Re-engineering of Business Process	28 days	Fri 3/9/18	Tue 4/17/18
Technical requirement	35 days	Wed 4/18/18	Tue 6/5/18
CRM phase analysis	33 days	Wed 6/6/18	Fri 7/20/18
Realization of CRM phase	180 days	Mon 8/20/18	Fri 4/26/19

Milestone

A simplified definition of project milestone is that they are the tasks having zero duration but signifies completion of a crucial component in the project. The sequence of events signifies completion of different phases of the project is known as milestone. Milestone does not have any impact on the time span of the project and will only define completion of stages in the project. The milestones in this project are as follows:

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
Change management document developed	0 days	Thu 3/8/18	Thu 3/8/18
business processes re-engineered	0 days	Tue 4/17/18	Tue 4/17/18
Technical requirements Derived	0 days	Tue 6/5/18	Tue 6/5/18
CRM milestone	0 days	Fri 8/17/18	Fri 8/17/18
phase rollout for CRM	0 days	Fri 4/26/19	Fri 4/26/19
phase concept for CRM	20 days	Mon 7/23/18	Fri 8/17/18

The table consists of the overall schedule of the project and defines each of the tasks in the project. Each of the phases in the project have a significant importance as each phase will contribute to the overall success of the project. The change management phase identifies the different changes required for better organizational model. The first task will identify the different changes required in the organization for providing the consumers with better experience. After the identification of the change management requirement an official document, have to be developed that will define the activities necessary for achieving the goals of the stakeholders.  The developed document has to deployed so that it can be approved and the other processes can be commenced.  This will end the first phase and the first milestone is reached which is the development of the change management document.

The next phase is the re-engineering the business processes. This means that the documents will be used to develop functions for restructuring of the organizational processes. The first task in this phase in conversion of documents into effective functions, the second task will examine the existing processes to identify the changes and compatibility of the processes. The next task is conducting various workshops for confirming the feasibility of the proposed measures.  The next task will map the proposed processes so they can be further fine tuned to optimum process. Completion of this task means that the second milestone is achieved that is engineering of business processes received.

Project Scope Statement

The next phase is the technical requirement phase where the technical details will be formulated and implemented into the business process. The first task in this phase is submission of drafts for CRM implementation. The second task is reviewing the proposed methods for CRM implementation. This task will investigate the document for improving the overall implementation process. The next task will document the extra requirements necessary for developing the effective processes.  The second last task in this phase will consist of clarifying the tasks that will have to be performed in this phase.  Then in the phase, the last task will confirm all the requirements for implementation of CRM into the processes. Completion of this task will ensure that third milestone has been achieved.  

The next phase is the most crucial phase in this project as it consists of analysis of the CRM phase where the various CRM processes will be analyzed and the infrastructural requirement for this implementation will be developed.  Completion of tasks in this phase means the first CRM milestone has been achieved. The last phase deals with the practical implementation of the CRM processes into the organization setting. The first task in this phase is integration of the CRM model into the business model and interfacing the tools for effective development. The next task includes customization of the CRM tool so that it can be used effectively for catering to the needs of the organization. Customization of CRM into the organizational business model takes a considerable amount of time and transition of the organization from the old setting to the new setting will be achieved in the last, which completes the final milestone in the project.

However, all the tasks in this project are critical and the cost of resources cannot be reduced by altering resource allocation. On the hand, if the project time span needs to reduced more resources will have to be allocated. This will increase the overall budget of the project.

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors	Resource Names
Project Initiation Plan	322 days	Thu 2/1/18	Fri 4/26/19
Change management	26 days	Thu 2/1/18	Thu 3/8/18
Identification of changes needed	4 days	Thu 2/1/18	Tue 2/6/18		finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager
Develop document for change management	7 days	Wed 2/7/18	Thu 2/15/18	2	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager
Deploy change management document	15 days	Fri 2/16/18	Thu 3/8/18	3	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager
Change management document developed	0 days	Thu 3/8/18	Thu 3/8/18	4
Re-engineering of Business Process	28 days	Fri 3/9/18	Tue 4/17/18
documenting developed processes into functions	2 days	Mon 4/16/18	Tue 4/17/18	9	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager
Examining current processes	5 days	Fri 3/9/18	Thu 3/15/18	5	finance manager, human resource manager, operation manager, Project Manager
mapping of defined practices to optimum practices	14 days	Fri 3/16/18	Wed 4/4/18	7	finance manager, human resource manager, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager
conduct workshop for confirmation	7 days	Thu 4/5/18	Fri 4/13/18	8	finance manager, human resource manager, operation manager, sales manager
business processes re-engineered	0 days	Tue 4/17/18	Tue 4/17/18	10
Technical requirement	35 days	Wed 4/18/18	Tue 6/5/18
submitting first draft for CRM implementation	3 days	Fri 5/25/18	Tue 5/29/18	15	operation manager, Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer
reviewing the processes for CRM implementation	5 days	Wed 5/30/18	Tue 6/5/18	16	operation manager, Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer
document extra requirement identified into CRM document	6 days	Thu 5/17/18	Thu 5/24/18	14	Software developer
Clarification of the work to be done	15 days	Wed 4/18/18	Tue 5/8/18	11	Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer
Confirming all the requirements	6 days	Wed 5/9/18	Wed 5/16/18	13	Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer
Technical requirements Derived	0 days	Tue 6/5/18	Tue 6/5/18	17
CRM phase analysis	33 days	Wed 6/6/18	Fri 7/20/18
Processes for CRM analysis	15 days	Wed 6/6/18	Tue 6/26/18	18	Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer
Infrastructure for CRM analysis	18 days	Wed 6/27/18	Fri 7/20/18	20	Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer
CRM milestone	0 days	Fri 8/17/18	Fri 8/17/18	28
Realisation of CRM phase	180 days	Mon 8/20/18	Fri 4/26/19
interfaces and integration	75 days	Mon 10/22/18	Fri 2/1/19	24	finance manager, operation manager, system engineer, testing engineer, Project Manager
Customization in accordance to the organizational needs	60 days	Mon 2/4/19	Fri 4/26/19	25	human resource manager, operation manager, system engineer, testing engineer, Project Manager
Adapting CRM into the infrastructure	45 days	Mon 8/20/18	Fri 10/19/18	22	operation manager, system engineer, testing engineer, Project Manager
phase rollout for CRM	0 days	Fri 4/26/19	Fri 4/26/19	26	managing director, operation manager, Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer
phase concept for CRM	20 days	Mon 7/23/18	Fri 8/17/18	21	system engineer

This part of the project will define the forecasted budget that is needed for execution of the project. However, this is not the final budget as budget may change depending upon availability of resources and time constraint. The budget table shows cost of allocation of resources through each of the activity.

Task Name	Resource Names	Cost
Project Initiation Plan		$477,048.00
Change management		$84,240.00
Identification of changes needed	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	$12,960.00
Develop document for change management	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	$22,680.00
Deploy change management document	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	$48,600.00
Change management document developed		$0.00
Re-engineering of Business Process		$63,120.00
documenting developed processes into functions	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	$6,480.00
Examining current processes	finance manager, human resource manager, operation manager, Project Manager	$9,600.00
mapping of defined practices to optimum practices	finance manager, human resource manager, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	$34,160.00
conduct workshop for confirmation	finance manager, human resource manager, operation manager, sales manager	$12,880.00
business processes re-engineered		$0.00
Technical requirement		$15,696.00
submitting first draft for CRM implementation	operation manager, Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	$2,592.00
reviewing the processes for CRM implementation	operation manager, Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	$4,320.00
document extra requirement identified into CRM document	Software developer	$720.00
Clarification of the work to be done	Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	$5,760.00
Confirming all the requirements	Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	$2,304.00
Technical requirements Derived		$0.00
CRM phase analysis		$12,672.00
Processes for CRM analysis	Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	$5,760.00
Infrastructure for CRM analysis	Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	$6,912.00
CRM milestone		$0.00
Realization of CRM phase		$298,920.00
interfaces and integration	finance manager, operation manager, system engineer, testing engineer, Project Manager	$133,800.00
Customization in accordance to the organizational needs	human resource manager, operation manager, system engineer, testing engineer, Project Manager	$104,640.00
Adapting CRM into the infrastructure	operation manager, system engineer, testing engineer, Project Manager	$60,480.00
phase rollout for CRM	managing director, operation manager, Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	$0.00
phase concept for CRM	system engineer	$2,400.00

  The resource overview shows the different resources that have been allocated to the project. The first table shows that different, their time span of work and working hours of each of the resources. The second table shows the cost of each of the resources used in the project starting form the cost of managing director to the project manager.

Name	Start	Finish	Remaining Work
managing director	Thu 2/1/18	Fri 4/26/19	224 hrs
finance manager	Thu 2/1/18	Fri 2/1/19	1,032 hrs
operation manager	Thu 2/1/18	Fri 4/26/19	1,936 hrs
human resource manager	Thu 2/1/18	Fri 4/26/19	912 hrs
sales manager	Thu 2/1/18	Tue 4/17/18	392 hrs
system engineer	Wed 4/18/18	Fri 4/26/19	2,096 hrs
testing engineer	Wed 4/18/18	Fri 4/26/19	1,936 hrs
software developer	Wed 4/18/18	Fri 4/26/19	544 hrs
Project Manager	Thu 2/1/18	Fri 4/26/19	1,816 hrs

Project Objectives

Name	Cost	Cost Variance
managing director	$22,400.00	$22,400.00
finance manager	$56,760.00	$56,760.00
operation manager	$116,160.00	$116,160.00
human resource manager	$45,600.00	$45,600.00
sales manager	$25,480.00	$25,480.00
system engineer	$31,440.00	$31,440.00
testing engineer	$34,848.00	$34,848.00
software developer	$8,160.00	$8,160.00
Project Manager	$136,200.00	$136,200.00

Graph: Allocated cost

Risk management is an essential component of project management process as involves the identification, analysis and mitigation of possible risks . Risk analysis is executed to identify the different risk factors and their priority levels so that risk can be categorized and avoided depending upon their priority. Risk priority can be illustrated as the probability of occurrence of a risk factor during the overall time period.

Risk Description	Delay in receiving essential components of CRM	Unexpected External issues
Priority	Medium	Medium
Summery	There are various CRM components required to implement the project. If delivery of one components delay due to issues related to a vendor, there will be unexpected delay in forecasted schedule	One of the most important the project manager will have to be prepared about is expected incident which may affect the execution of project tasks.
Affected Area	It will affect the CRM phase where the development of the CRM model may be delayed Delay in the delivery of the project	This unexpected risk could affect any task and any phase of the project
Mitigation Plan	Developing all the components on their own	This will depend on the possible risk factor identified based on the risk register

Risk	Time delay in approval of the CRM integration and interface document	Failure in customization of the new CRM model	Changes in the requirements
Priority	Medium	High	High
Summery	The delay in approval of the CRM integration and interfacing process will affect the overall time schedule of the project.	This part is very important as customization of the new CRM model according to the organizational needs is the only way of achieving success. The failure in developing a customized software will lead to project failure and loss of funds invested.	The change in the requirement of the deliverables will cause a delay in the remaining process.
Affected Area	Time span of the project	Overall project	Time span
Mitigation Plan	Communication plan will have to be developed which will provide the details of the meetings that will have to conducted for authorizing the process so that work can be proceeded.	The needs of the organization will have to analyzed thoroughly to identify the suitable characteristics of the implementation tool.	The changes should be accepted during the initial two phases which will be have less affect on the time span of the overall project.

Risk	Deployment Issue	Technical issues in developing the software
Priority	Low	Low
Summery	It may happen that the issues are not deployed according to the planned schedule	It may happen that the software engineer has faced technical issues while developed a compatible software for the current system
Affected Area	Time span of Project	Development of the overall project
Mitigation Plan	The deployment issues will have to be handled by informing the person responsible for that phase of the project.	This could be mitigated by providing addition resources, which could include appointing other software engineers in development process.

Communication plan is developed to reduce the possibility of delays in various phases of the project. There should be effective communication between the external and the internal stakeholders of the organization. Moreover, the communication plan will provide better transparency and accountability to the project. The main purpose for developing a communication plan is to schedule activities related to communication among the project internal stakeholders. The communication has been developed based on the activities set into the project schedule. Communication plan facilitates in teamwork and having better chances of avoiding the risk processes within the organization.  The most suitable form of communication tool for documentation processes is email. Weekly meetings have to conducted with the managing director for providing project status report. The project manager will have to conduct weekly meeting with other managers such as operational manager, sales manager, human resource manager and finance manager for discussing about the constraints, cost and effective management of human resources. This helps in better handling of the resources and workforce of the organization.

Meeting	Participant	Purpose	Date
Project initiation discussion	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	To plan the purpose, project deliverables and schedule	January 2018
Meeting before deploying change management document	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	To discuss the changes that will have to implemented and the necessary action that will have to be taken	February 2018
Completion of first milestone	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	To approve the documents so that the next phase can be commenced and discussing the elements to be implemented in the next phase	February 2018
Completion of Second milestone	finance manager, human resource manager, managing director, operation manager, sales manager, Project Manager	To discuss the restructuring of the organizational processes and the loopholes in it	April 2018
Completion of third milestone	operation manager, Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	To discuss the technical requirement in the phase and necessary constraints that could be faced	June 2018
Completion of fourth milestone	finance manager, operation manager, system engineer, testing engineer, Project Manager	To discuss the design that has been developed and identify the demerits of the system so that it can be improved	August  2018
Completion of final stage	managing director, operation manager, Software developer, system engineer, testing engineer	To evaluate the success of the project and identify the overall changes that will have to be implementing for increasing the overall operational efficiency	April 2019

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded from the project that the new CRM implementation process will be able to improve the operational efficiency of the overall process.  The current issue faced by the United Kingdom department of Longtau technology will be resolved by implementing change management. However, the risk factors will have to be taken into account so that any deviation can be avoided.

References

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