Question

The Woolong Company produces high-end vacuum cleaners and sells them to consumers online. They are designing a new product, and you have been hired as the project manager to oversee it.

Discuss the tools and techniques you should you use to identify the project stakeholders.

Describe potential risks associated with this project, and explain what risk management processes can be utilized.

Share other important components that a project manager should consider as this project continues into the execution phase.

Answer 1

Stakeholder of a firm

Generally a person who has an interest to the firm and makes a direct or indirect relationship with the firm actively is known as stakeholder. Whatever be the gain or loss of the firm it impacts the interest of the stakeholder.

As an example Woolong Company is likely to produce new type of vacuum cleaner. It means those customers who are the regular user of the product of this company are eager for the introduction of the new product as they hope it will be of great use for the cleaning purpose. Moreover, it will also cater some other features which will make the product more user friendly. It means these stakeholders are positively influenced by such information. On the other hand the competitor of this Company may suspect that the introduction of the new product of this rival company may decrease the present sale. So it is the negative impact upon the competitor also known as stakeholder of Woolong Comapany.

Tool and technique to identify the project stakeholder

a) Analysis of stakeholder

     To analyse the key participant of the project is very important and it is to be done by making the analysis of needs and problems of the probable customers. Therefore, relationship with customers is an important factor as it enables a project manager to understand the characteristics of the customers, their interest and what kind of feature they are looking for in respect of a product. Secondly, to identify those factors which provoke the customers and which factors bring confliction into the mind of the customers. Thirdly, at what level they become interested to participate in the project program.

Influence

It refers to assess the level of influence of the customers over the project and for such assessment it is required by the project manager to assess first the influential customers who may come as a great help in any crisis situation which stop to introduce the new project in the market. In order to do such assessment the project manager should now the requirements of these influential customers and then he can assess the level of support he may get form these influential stakeholders. Moreover, if there is any specific demand of these stakeholders about the new products or about the project of the Company or any specific doubt, if being arisen in the mind of the stakeholders that should be comprehended in depth so that to understand what actually is going on with them. It enables the project manager to overcome his own doubts about the expectation of the stakeholders.

Clarification of the success of the project

It refers to input the values of the firm among the customers and input those valuable information of the project which may create a supportive state of mind of the stakeholders as they may comprehend about the project’s success at the end level. It brings an unity among the different level of stakeholders possessing different types of expectations from the Company but when the project manager is able to ensure them what awaits at the end of the project it means what level of success is waiting for them is the key to make such common expectation into the mind of the stakeholders and they will .put their support until the outcome of the project

   

Involvement

To attract the participation of the stakeholders some sorts of program schedule are required to be organised as it may grow the interest of the stakeholders to get involved with the project. Therefore, it also enables the project manager to develop relationship with the customers.

Passing Information

It is required to keep the stakeholders updated about the latest development of the project. Use the effective communication tools to pass the necessary information. Announcing a program of meeting with the stakeholders to make them know the development of the project and having some useful discussion with them.

Potential risk associated with the project and what risk management process can be utilised

The following risks are associated with the project. These are:

• Product portfolio risk

A product portfolio refers the collection in respect of the product as well as services rendered by the Company in the market.

Due to the boom in the technological advancement and its effective application to produce more customer friendly product and bring more collection in favour of the firm may keep the pace upward over the time. However, risk is also associated in such issues as such developed state might not be favourable for the staff members who are not so efficient and able to deal such developed product portfolio.

• Technical Risk

Introduction of a new technology in the production process may lead to bring a great expectation among management as they comprehend that the firm may lead the market by introducing more developed product. However, if the proper assessment is not done before introducing such new technology in such a situation the outcome of such introduction may be flop moreover, the existing market get hampered the volume of sales may decrease.

• Talent Risk

It refers the risk to choose the right employee for the project with exact number of employees required for the project having adequate skill to execute the work in a given time period. Here evaluating the manpower cost is an important factor otherwise the firm may lose the invested money for choosing the right quality of manpower.

Utilisation of risk management process in respect of talent risk

Some processing sought to be done before selection of the right type of manpower in the project. It is better to do the processing work on a big volume of staff members as it is more cost effective before selecting the right batch of employees. Such selection procedure yields economies of scale. At the beginning of the selection of the required talent it is a vast process to screen them under the given requirement of the firm. So large number of employees may participate in the selection program where preliminary selection can be done. Here the implication of the cost is large number of employees create bigger holding costs and for that reason the transaction cost of the firm gets declined. However, it is required to strike a balance between these two costs. After making the proper balance in the two costs when the things get settled and right employees are chosen and a small batch is created it improves the level of efficiency in higher degree which can be justified to the cost incurred by the firm to create such pool of efficient employees for the project.

Share other important components that a project manager should consider as this project continues into the execution phase.

Other important components are:

High wastage rate

It involves the unsatisfactory part form the research and development team when the outcome of the new project produces unsatisfactory result and the product being introduced in the market fails to expectation of the customer which badly affect the sales volume of the firm.

It means the resources involved in the project and the strategy taken by the R&D team become unsuccessful.

Low mortality rate of sales volume

Another aspect of risk component is that when resources used in the project becomes appropriate and the application of the resources find the expected number of customers but still by looking at the turnover of the firm the management is not sure whether the new product will capture the substantial part of the market in the future so when the management seeks to discontinue such product with some doubt about its return in the future it creates risk.