Project Management for Japher Motors Information System

ACCC5005

Project Management

Task 2

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List of Figures

Introduction

This report presents the elaborated plan for developing the integrated system for Japher motors. System of operation in Japher motors was old and paper-based. For over 20 years the operations of business such as accounting and booking of the appointments were taking place in registers of the Japher motors. Our team was appointed with a task to make an integrated system that comprises all the processes in the Japher motors within the information system. The development of the integrated system will take place by prototyping and will be developed using various methods of elaborating a project to make the steps clearer and plan the process at each step. Every step involved in the project is crucial for the project can involves proper planning. To ensure the same various tools such as Gantt chart, WBS, CPM and Risk management tools are used to make an elaborate plan for making the implementation of the project successful. For ensuring that the designed system and its modules are working rapid prototyping will be used to check the feasibility of the project. The report also discusses the risks involved and the challenges that can be presented to quality assurance.

Project Plan

When Japher Motors assigned the project to the team, their operations were conducted on paper. These operations include accounting operations, bookings, payments, inventory records. These records are to be maintained manually and are cumbersome to handle. An information system in Japher motors is much needed as it is required to organise the business operation. Making the information system for the Japher motors will require an elaboration on the process of the developing an information system. This is required as implementation of information system is not necessarily an easy process to maintain. Most of the projects land up in the bad areas and aren’t implemented due to bad project management. Few main reasons why these project management processes show bad results are incomplete assessments of requirements, scope change, poor risk assessment, unrealistic expectations, and improper usage of methodology for implementation. These features indicate a lack of effective project management practices (Varajão, Colomo-Palacios, and Silva, 2017). Choosing appropriate method and then following them to effectiveness is necessary for the success of a project. For implementing the information system, it is important to make sure that the all the stages involved in the development of the information systems are understood by the project developers. Information systems have become a significant part of modern businesses. It has become and asset for the organisation and helps in maintaining the required operations. An information system that is efficient system is not only a tool to conduct business operation but it slowly becomes the core aspect of the business. It allows a business to save time, cost, and run efficiently. It is more dependable, credible, and reliable. Different aspects of a business are managed by the information system which includes accounting, booking, payment, and management of inventory. Supply chain is an integral part of a functioning business system. Researches indicate that the adoption of supply chain management system into IT system results in better performance of SMEs. It connects the supplier and the consumer closely. By using the appropriate IT tools, SCM operations can improve and thus make a better value for the business (Budiarto, Prabowo and Herawan, 2017). Similarly, the process of accounting is also an integral part of any business. Accounting system integrated in the information system helps control and monitor the economic activities of the business. Advancement in IT has made it possible to use the advantages of the technology in the information systems to use these accounting systems as strategic standpoint. An efficient accounting system proves to be a tool that makes strategic success of the organization. For implementing an accounting module in the information system, the needs of the business are to be understood properly. Role of accounting managers in the system is necessary for making an accounting information system. As the managers better understand the accounting needs of the business and thus, they can deliver the essential (Alnajjar, 2017). Performance of the accounting is considered as a management initiative as it ensures the timeliness of the information related to the accounting of the business. This information proves crucial for the management to understand the business conditions and then make decisions based on the inputs provided by the information system. It improves the operation, increases the organisational control over them. It is one of the core factors that affect the performance of the organisation (Harash, 2017). The success of project depends deeply on the how the project development is being carried out. Criteria of project success are often defined by the stakeholders and to make sure that they are implemented successfully is the responsibility if project execution team. To define the project success the criteria for project success need to be identified and defined properly. This can be done by measuring the aspects of project against the expectations. Project governance plays an important role in defining the success of a project. Project environment also plays a crucial role in determining whether a project will work efficiently or not (Joslin and Müller, 2016).

For better elaboration of the integrated system project for the Japher motors the steps involved in the development are required to be defined. In this report, three major tools for managing a project are Work breakdown structure, Critical path management, and Gantt chart. A project manager in the project development process is obligated to provide objectives required for the completion of the project. These tools specifically help the project managers in determining the objectives and the steps involved in completing the objectives involved.

Work breakdown structure

A work breakdown structure is an elaborate decomposition of whole process. These processes are centered around managing and implementing the project. A WBS breaks down the whole process of project development into internal processes or sub-processes of each process in the project. This breakdown structure progresses the project towards the required deliverables of that project. A WBS may be associated with various aspects of the project. WBS is not necessarily project-oriented but it is according to the process of developing that project. For making an efficient WBS it is necessary to break the project into its constituent processes. The necessity of WBS structure comes into play in decomposing the project. In this project, there are 4 phases in which the project is divided. Planning, Developing, Implementing, and maintenance. These processes are classified as substages of the project development process. These substages are then further divided into the activities required to achieve them.

Figure 1: Work breakdown structure for Japher Motors information system

(Source: Author)

These stages are further divided into phases that define the sub-phases of the project implementation. A feasible work breakdown structure helps in providing a solid basis for forecasting management. It makes the activities of the project more manageable to be delivered. It also makes the cost estimation very easy. The allocation of resources for the activities also becomes easy to manage according to the activities in the project implementation process (Zecheru and Olaru, 2016).

Critical path method

The method of CPM is a technique that is used for planning and controlling the project which utilises the network. The network of activities comprises of all the possible ways of reaching the project completion. CPM creates a differentiation between planning and scheduling of the project. Planning of the project determines the activities that are required to be accomplished. Scheduling of the project determines the schedule for every stage or activity in the project that can be attributed to the completion of the project.

For the project of Japher Motors, following critical path is determined.

Figure 2: Critical path for the Japher Motors Information system

(Source: Author)

An efficient critical path drives a project to completion by using the resources and time available in an efficient manner. It paves the way for completion of the project by determining the most important tasks associated with the project. After making a critical path for completion of the project it helps in saving the time and also reduces the timeline of the project. The dependencies of the project also become visible and clear. After a critical path is made then the critical activities in the project are determined. It helps in keeping an eye on the project progress.

Gantt chart

A Gantt chart is a visual aid that renders a clear overview of the project requirements and it is used to provide effective communication of the project. It constitutes the start and finishes dates, project task, and costs. It also includes the allocation of the resources for the planned activities. In an elaborate Gantt chart, the timeline, cost, and project stages are realised. It makes the costs of the project and the valuable stages of the project more visible for the project management team. It is a tool for production control that uses horizontal bar charts, it is a graphical illustration of the project that facilitates the planning, coordinating, and tracking specific activities of the project (Trojanowska and Dostatni, 2017).

Figure 3: Gantt chart for information system development

(Source: Author)

Risk management

A crucial aspect that determines the development of the project and its successful uninterrupted completion is proper risk management. For a project to run smoothly a project must run without hindrances created by the risks that may occur while the project development. Development of software by the firms is one of the most risk-prone process in the businesses. The risks can cause the requirements and scope of the project to change midway in the project. From the point of view of software development, the risks management is a crucial area that needs to be managed efficiently (Valério, da Silva and Neves, 2020). The management of risks should be done effectively to make an essential improvement in project completion process. Failure to do so might result in disruption in process of risk management and as well as complete failure of the project. Risk management and project success are closely related aspects of a project (Teklemariam and Mnkandla, 2017).

Figure 4 Risk management paradigm

(Source: Bhujang and Suma, 2018)

Figure 5: Classification of risks

(Source: Bhujang and Suma, 2018)

These identified risks in the project need to be prioritised according to their likelihood and the consequences it can have on the outcomes of the project.

	Impact
	Acceptable	Tolerable	Unacceptable	Intolerable
	(Little or no effect)	(Felt but not critical)	(Serious impact)	(Disastrous result)
Improbable
Possible
Probable

The assessment of risk is done by various risk assessments of the recognised risks in the development of the project. For obtaining a risk list that can impact the process it is important to rank them according to the probability of occurrences. For making a project successful it is required to make a project free of risks. Risk assessment matrix is used in the project to find out the risks that can impact the project. Among the list of risks that are recognised it is understood that the probabilities of their occurrences are properly defined. For developing a risk matrix, it is important to recognise all the risks that are likely to happen. Then the risk that is recognised is arranged in the risk matrix that show the probability of risk. It is also compared with the degree of their impacts. These impacts are required to be assessed carefully and then based on the assessment these risks can create the acceptability of the risks are determined. On the cross section of the risk occurrence and the acceptability, these risks are placed. This presents with a full-fledged graphical representation of the risks that are recognised. Benefits of the risk matrix for the project are

• It prioritises the risks according to the level of their severity

• The possible consequences of the risks then can be neutralised

• With minimum efforts the risks are identified and communicated

• Presents with a visual representation of the risks.

Quality Assurance Issues

A project can only be considered completed if it completes the quality standards determined. The issues of quality may arise after a module is completed. Rapid prototype development technique ensures that the issues related with the quality of the project can be detected beforehand and resolved before they get out of hand. Assurance of quality is faced by several challenges that are led by different aspects of the project. Key issues that are faced t ensure quality are discussed in the section below

Figure 6: Quality assurance challenges

(Source: Hossain, 2018)

These challenges can be broadly categorised into requirement challenges, perspective challenges and general challenges.

Requirement challenges arise due to bad practices in collection of the requirements, incomplete description of the requirements, lack of time in development process of the requirement collection and failure to collect the requirements at the right time. Elicitation and validation of the requirements is also crucial. Failure to do so may fail of project success. Collection period of requirements is also crucial. Due to failure in completing the requirements within the time further development is sufficiently hampered.

Stakeholder perspective challenges can be present throughout the process of development of the project. Different stakeholders present different sets of challenges for the project. From the point of view of the programmer or developer, they are more urgent and dedicated in finishing the coding part of the project. This can lead them into ignoring the quality aspects of the project. From the point of view of the company, the hurriedness to meet the deadlines may lead to compromise with the quality of the project. From the side of customer, cost of the project is the most crucial aspect of the project. A lot of times in a project a client is willingly ready to compromise with the quality of the project to reduce the cost. Form the side of the vendor the that supplies services from the side of the third party, hurriedness in implementation of the project may also result in the quality deterioration.

Conclusion

This report was able to present a structured plan for implementation of the integrated system for Japher Motors. It elaborates on the planning that went under developing the project for the Japher motors. For making the project possible it is important to plan the project using appropriate tools. In this project, tools such as Gantt Chart, Critical Path method, and work breakdown structure for elaborating the steps involved in the development of the information system. An assessment of risks that may arise while the development of the project is also done by using techniques of risk management and making the preparations according to the probable risks. A risk matrix is determined in the report that gives the prioritisation of the recognised risks. It emphasises on the importance of recognising the risks. The challenges that can be presented for the quality assurance of the projects are also discussed. Various aspects in a project that can contribute to the challenges in the quality are identified.

References

Alnajjar, M.I., 2017. Impact of accounting information system on organizational performance: A study of SMEs in the UAE. Global Review Of Accounting And Finance, 8(2), pp.20-38.

Bhujang, R.K. and Suma, V., 2018. A Comprehensive Solution for Risk Management in software development projects. International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications, 17(1-2), pp.153-175.

Budiarto, D.S., Prabowo, M.A. and Herawan, T., 2017. An integrated information system to support supply chain management & performance in SMEs. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management (JIEM), 10(2), pp.373-387.

Harash, E., 2017. Accounting performance of SMEs and effect of accounting information system: a conceptual model. Global Journal of Management and Business Research.

Hossain, S., 2018. Challenges Of Software Quality Assurance And Testing Md. Shahadat. Int. J. Softw. Eng. Comput. Syst., 4(1), pp.133-144.

Joslin, R. and Müller, R., 2016. The impact of project methodologies on project success in different project environments. International journal of managing projects in business.

Teklemariam, M.A. and Mnkandla, E., 2017. Software project risk management practice in Ethiopia. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 79(1), pp.1-14.

Trojanowska, J. and Dostatni, E., 2017. Application of the theory of constraints for project management. Management and production engineering review, 8.

Valério, K.G.O., da Silva, C.E.S. and Neves, S.M., 2020. Risk Management in Software Development Projects: Systematic Review of the State of the Art Literature. International Journal of Open Source Software and Processes (IJOSSP), 11(1), pp.1-22.

Varajão, J., Colomo-Palacios, R. and Silva, H., 2017. ISO 21500: 2012 and PMBoK 5 processes in information systems project management. Computer Standards & Interfaces, 50, pp.216-222.

Zecheru, V. and Olaru, B.G., 2016. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in Project Management. Review of International Comparative Management/Revista de Management Comparat International, 17(1).