Running head: PROJECT CHARTER 2

PROJECT CHARTER 2

PROJECT CHARTER

November 28, 2019

User Acceptance Criteria

The management and owners of the company will accept a project that falls within their financial capacity and is achievable within their desired timeframe. Assessment of all project stakeholders is essential to meet the minimum project requirements. Three parameters below will be used to assess project success.

a. Process success-evaluation of all processes and procedures undertaken.

b. Stakeholder’s success-evaluation of all stakeholders and their success in completing the project.

c. Expected outcome- evaluation of the achieved project objectives. Completion and launch of the new coffee store.

High-Level Project Assumptions

Some of the assumptions made in this project are stated below.

a. The project will be completed on time as anticipated.

b. The economy will remain stable for the entire year.

c. The local community will provide labor services.

d. Demand for coffee and doughnuts will be high in the region.

e. The majority of visitors at the museum are coffee consumers.

f. Competition is not very high in the region.

g. The project will not require capital injection for up to one year after completion.

High-Level Project Constraints

Some of the constraints in executing the project are as follows;

a. A short time-frame may affect the quality of the project.

b. The project management team is new to this kind of duty.

c. Financial constraints may limit the work to be done.

d. Legal regulations that must be met in the Milwaukee region.

e. Insufficient labor services in the region may affect the project.

f. Prevailing economic conditions may affect the costs associated with the project.

g. The contractual processes may take longer than anticipated.

h. Some materials required for the project are rare to find in Milwaukee.

Exclusions and Boundaries

Some of the items that are not relevant to be included in the project include;

0. Specific days that work shall be in progress.

0. Contractors’ relationship with subcontractors.

0. Occupational health and safety regulations at the premises.

0. Survey and architectural services before starting the project.

0. Renovation specification for the premises.

0. Minimal or maximum number of workers in the project.

0. Salaries for each person involved in the project.

Major Risks

Some of the risk factors associated with executing the project include;

a. A change in the project management team.

b. Lack of extra finances when need arises.

c. Poor communication among stakeholders.

d. Legal issues causing delays in project completion.

e. Accidents in the process of project execution.

f. A change of objectives and priorities by the company management.

g. Identification of tasks that had not been planned for in the project.

Work Breakdown Structure

Project: ACH’s Milwaukee WI Expansion Project

· 1.0 Project’s Scope Management

· 2.0 Structural work at the new premises

· 2.1 Teardown existing structures

· 2.2 Renovating the building

· 2.3 Installing necessary structures to suit a coffee shop business

· 3.0 Power connections

· 3.1 Remove existing power cables

· 3.1.1 Install new power cables and appliances

· 3.1.2 Install power sockets and switches for computers

· 3.2 Install decorative wiring and lighting circuits

· 3.3 Test the power systems installed.

· 4.0 Painting the renovated shop.

· 5.0 Furnishing the shop.

· 6.0 Running checks and fixing errors

· 6.1 Handing over to management. (Launch)

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

Project Core Team

a. Developing the project plan and proposal.

b. Engaging project sponsors and company management.

c. Documentation of all documents generated for the project.

d. Conducting project evaluation and assessment.

e. Supervising the project until its completion.

f. Coordinating contractors and involved in the project.

g. Facilitating resource allocation for the project.

Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

a. Interior design experts will be required to assist in furnishing the new shop.

b. IT experts will be required to install the latest software that is consistent with the digital era of sales and marketing.

c. Financial experts would be very beneficial to the project. Their expertise could be applied to reduce the project’s cost.

Question 1  

What are the key types of stock typically issued by publicly traded organizations? If you were to invest $10,000 of your own funds, which type would you choose, why? Your response should be in your own words.

Question 2

 Identify and explain the key elements that impact the time value of money. Your response should be in your own words.

Question 3  Outline the key elements of the Efficient Markey Theory and identify which, if any, you feel most accurately depicts how our market behaves. Your response should be in your own words.

Question 4

 Identify two key liquidity ratios, explain how they are calculated, and discuss what each ratio can tell about an organization s performance. Your response should be in your own words.

Question 5

 Explain the three types of premiums and the role they play bond rates. Your response should be in your own words.

Question 6

 What role does the time value of money play in determining the issue price of a bond? Your response should be in your own words.

Question 7

What  are junk bonds and would you recommend investing in them? Defend your answer. Your response should be in your own words.

Question 8

 What is trend analysis and what information can it tell you about an organization that looking at the $$ s on the financial statements alone cannot provide? Your response should be in your own words.

Question 9  Identify one liquidity, one solvency, and one profitability ratio, explain how they are calculated, and discuss what each ratio can tell about an organization s performance. Your response should be in your own words. Question 10 What are the key arguments of those who feel the Efficient Market Theory is invalid? Your response should be in your own words.

At the next meeting, you and the team had a very productive discussion on your findings related to the identification of all of the project activities that must happen to start and finish your project. You even took a step further in working with your team members to estimate resources and cost for each of the activities. Everyone feels that it is time to present your findings to Sam and Gloria and provide them with a baseline estimate of how long this project will most likely cost in terms of time and dollars. 

"Thanks for educating us on the schedule development planning," says Jerry to you. "We have some great information here, but I think it is too much detail to present to Sam and Gloria."

"I agree," says Melissa. "Does anyone have any ideas on how best to present this information?"

"We should go ahead and plug this information into a project schedule that both Sam and Gloria know and will appreciate. We ought to establish a project baseline at this time. We should define the tasks, start and finish dates, durations, predecessors (sequence of activities), resource names, and possibly cost," says Sara.

"The project schedule should account for all of the activities that must happen. It must not be less than 30–50 activities and subactivities," you say.

Scenario

We grade Discussion Boards and Individual Projects using three project criteria: Task Requirements, Demonstration and Application of Knowledge, and Academic Writing and Format. We score each project criterion using four performance values: Unsatisfactory, Developing, Effective, and Proficient. Please see the following tables for the details.

This course uses the CTU Professional Learning Model™ (CTU PLM) to teach students with hands-on, industry-related, problem-solving experiences that model the professional environment and encourage achievements that lead to student and employer success. The CTU PLM is founded on the idea that students learn best by working on real-world, professional projects related to their chosen career fields. By working this way, students develop the expertise to apply conceptual knowledge to get effective results. Through professional learning, students experience the complexity of real-world problems and learn to select an appropriate approach to a problem that has more than one solution. This method of learning is called Problem-Based Learning (PBL). PBL assumes that you will master content while solving a meaningful problem in each assignment. 

Throughout the course, you will work with a scenario in which some basic, background information is provided about a company. (This information could apply to any company that provides products or services of this sort in general.) You have a role in the scenario; that is, you are part of the story. The dialogue in each assignment presents the problem that must be solved. It is up to you to respond to the problem and submit a deliverable that will be graded. 

Refer to the following scenario as you progress through the PBL process. 

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Scenario: Amazing Coffee Houses (ACHs)

Company Biography  Amazing Coffee Houses (ACHs) is a small but established company in the coffee industry. It is based in northern Chicago, IL and employs over 100 workers locally in its 10 stores. Its current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board, Sam Ryder, founded the company back in 1994 with his wife, Gloria Ryder. Gloria has served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since it was founded. Both Sam and Gloria graduated from the #1 ranked MBA program in the country and bring a lot of corporate experience to the business. Sam was a Senior Vice President (SVP) in Marketing and Sales at another company for many years before deciding to venture off to start ACHs with his wife. Gloria also worked for that same company and held the position of Finance Director.  The company is known for its own brand of gourmet coffee and low fat donuts, as well as for their own line of stainless steel coffee mugs that are able to keep drinks hot for 12 hours straight. The workforce is comprised mostly of bakers, managers, baristas, greeters, clerks, and cashiers. They also work closely with several large suppliers and distributors in the United States.

Problem

The company has a loyal customer base throughout Chicago and is known for its personalized service and quality food and drinks. Because the economic conditions have greatly improved throughout the United States and the company now has a well-established name and brands, ACHs is looking to expand in markets beyond Chicago. The first market it has made a decision to expand into is 81 miles away, Milwaukee, WI. The company has worked through a local real estate agent and was able to strike a great deal on a 10-year lease in a great location. Management thinks Milwaukee is where the next 10 stores will be opened. However, Sam and Gloria have never operated a multi-state business before and are worried they will fail to accomplish their expansion goal timely. Sam has made it clear to Gloria that one day, his vision is to take ACHs to every city in America. 

Opportunity 

Sam has no project management experience and has decided to hire a project manager to manage the expansion project in Milwaukee, WI. After thorough evaluation and dozens of interviews, they have asked Jim Young, a rising star at the company, to take on the role of project manager to lead a team of five people from different departments to create a project plan for the new site.  Jim Young currently serves as a store manager for the biggest two coffee shops. Prior to this role, he worked as a store supervisor for the company. During his time with the company, he has worked on many of the new shop development projects as a team leader and helped to renovate some of the company’s existing shops. People in his business units speak highly of his leadership and coaching style. Though Jim has worked on project teams and supervised functional departments, he has never acted as the project manager before. He knows there are a lot of moving parts in managing a project. He is worried about his ability to lead a new team of people with whom he has never worked before. He is concerned about his lack of experience and knowledge to manage the entire life cycle of a project from start to finish within budget, quality, time, and scope. In previous projects, he remembers Sam and Gloria having differences in budget, scope, and resource allocation, which caused a lot of confusion among the project team members and vendors. Jim is also concerned that their personal relationship will interfere in this project. You will be working with Jim Young as a project team member with four other professionals in the company. You have only worked at ACHs for 4 years. Prior to your tenure at ACHs, you worked as an associate project manager for a construction company on the West Coast. You have worked on many different projects and are familiar with project management terms, methodologies, tools, and techniques. You earned several certifications relating to project management including a PMP and have an MBA in logistics. Although, you have never worked with Jim Young or anyone else on the new team, you are very excited about the opportunity to make a difference.  Project Background Details Amazing Coffee Houses (ACHs) is a coffee shop that will be located in Milwaukee, WI. We have been able to purchase our own building within the city near Milwaukee’s top tourist attraction site near the Gold Rock Museum. The building is not renovated. Our market analysis of Milwaukee, WI indicated the city is the top city for coffee drinking in WI. Because we’re close to the city’s museum, we plan to become the top destination for local and American and foreign customers who visit Milwaukee each year.  Our customers will have a wide range of coffee flavors to choose from including dark roast to light roast as well as specialty flavors throughout the year. They will also enjoy freshly baked low-fat donuts that aren’t available anywhere in the state. ACHs will hold true to its vision and mission of providing customers with a premier café experience. By creating a new twist for the café experience, ACHs will increase sales by more than $125,000 over the next three years and maintain a gross margin of 70%. The shop is 5,500 square foot of open space. Our plan is to have 2 bathrooms, a coffee bar, and enough tables to seat at least 50 customers. This is a coffee shop that also makes and sells donuts. The renovation must account for all that is needed to get the shop ready for both coffee and donuts.  The project has an initial budget of $650,000. It is now January and Sam and Gloria would like the new location to be up and running no later on July 4th.   Note: The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.