Susans Consulting Company (SCC) – Problem Overview

Susans Consulting Company (SCC) – Problem Overview

Susans Consulting Company (SCC) – Problem Overview

Susans Consulting Company (SCC) has been in business for ten years and has experienced a significant turnover in the project management group, which has prompted senior leadership to investigate. 

A preliminary review by senior leadership has determined that Project Managers are frustrated with the amount of required project management documentation, which has impacted their ability to manage projects successfully. 

A recent review of the project management process has determined that SCC has spent between 30-40% of its total project budget on projects’ overhead costs to include project management costs. A review of industry standards is between 5-15% higher than most companies. In addition, senior leaders found that projects are being delivered between 25% and 50% over budget and late 95% of the time.

Note: Project Management overhead includes the PM’s time managing the project, attending meetings, and developing the required documentation.   

SCC Request: SCC has reached out to your team because you are experts in defining project management processes and delivering projects on time. The SCC request includes the following:

• The development of a new project management process which at a minimum should include the following:
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  • The ability to track issues, risks, changes
  • The ability to view project activities consists of a view of what has been completed and what activities the team is working on over the next reporting period
  • The company must have a view into total life cycle project costs to include what has been spent to date, baseline budget, any changes to the budget, remaining budget, and cost of the project at completion
• In addition, to the new process request, SCC has a new project they need to complete by the end of the year with a limited budget and no project management staff.  

Assignment

• Identify a project manager – this individual is responsible for the team assignment ensuring that team members are completing their assigned work on time.
• I will act as the sponsor both for the project and for the methodology build-out.  Any questions should be directed to me.

The group assignment has two parts

Part 1: Build a Methodology

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    • Identify and descript the methodology to be used by the company.  Both a narrative and pictorial representation is required.
    • Identify and describe the deliverables which must be completed for each project by the project team.
    • Identify and describe the process the Project Management Office should use when reviewing changes to the methodology, this should include cadence for the process reviews.
    • Identify the prioritization technique the project manager will use to prioritize work delivered in the process.  Look at options like PV, IRR, NPV, Pay Back Period
    • Identify and describe any risks you see with the new process and mitigation strategies.
    • Identify and describe the optimum organizational structure for your methodology. 
    • Identify and describe the life cycle costing model for your methodology

Part 2: Project Description

In addition to building a methodology, SCC has hired you to complete a high-profile project using your new methodology. 

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    • Project Description: Develop algorithm(s) to monitor user activity on the internet, the algorithms should work on the following applications used by the business today.
      • Application A
      • Application B
      • Application C
      • Application X
      • Application Y
      • Application Z
    • Project Costs:

Given the critical nature of the project, the company has provided the following information in terms of cost for each application.

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      • Year 0 is the projected cost the company has estimated for the build of the component.  This includes a 15% overhead cost for project management work
      • Year 1-Year 5 is the amount of revenue the company has estimated for the product
      • The Acceptable Rate of Return for all projects with the company is 10%

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