Option #1- Final (Write as if you are a project manager) (attached all milestones for project) The goal of the Portfolio Project is to develop a project plan to successfully execute a project. The fol

Option #1- Final (Write as if you are a project manager) (attached all milestones for project) The goal of the Portfolio Project is to develop a project plan to successfully execute a project. The fol
Running head: MILESTONE 0 Portfolio Milestone: Courier Service Proposal Fallon Urquhart Course Number (PJM580) – Capstone- Project Management Colorado State University – Global Campus Dr. Douglass Smith October 11, 2020 Courier Service Proposal Creating a project plan and ensuring its implementation is a challenging task. Efficient management and implementation play an important role, without, the project might fail and end up creating losses for the project. Liberty Travel’s project of creating a courier service division has to pass through different stages to ensure its success. The service will help the company in increasing the company’s profitability and market share. All the sections of project management are crucial in the success of this project. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the rules for cost and performance management, earned value management, schedule forecast, cost estimates, budget, and procurement. Cost and Performance Management It is important for Liberty Travel to ensure that it promotes cost-effectiveness and effectiveness and effective performance management. The first section in cost planning is identifying and setting the units of measurement that will form a standard part of measuring different financial aspects of the project. The unites of measurement will apply to the budgeting process since the budget will rely on the units of measurement of materials (Hartley, 2020). However, the units of measurements will differ from region to region and Liberty Travel will have to ascertain that the units of measurements reflect the true values of the materials. The second section of cost management is the rules for measuring performance. This part is an integral part of other sections of the project. One crucial thing in this section is the Earned Value Management (EVM). This technique is used to take account of the performance of the cost of any project. It is crucial to assess the cost structure and performance of the courier service cost to ensure that it remains within the budget of the company. Another part of cost management is the percent completion. In this project, the company will analyze the cost of competing in various stages of the project (Hartley, 2020). For example, it will analyze the cost when the project is yet to start, when it is half-way complete, and when it is 100% complete. Earned Value Management The earned value management systems will enable the project manager to answer different questions that relate to the project. The questions include where the team has been, where they lie currently, and where they are heading. EVM has three data sources namely the budget value of work, the real value of tasks completed, and the earned value of the physical tasks that have been accomplished (De Marco, 2013). The earned value of the project measures the worthiness of the tasks that have been accomplished. It will measure the value of work that would have been accomplished when the project is half-way complete and wen it is fully accomplished (De Marco, 2013). The team will always have to find the totals of the budget for the tasks that would have been accomplished at every stage. The team will also take into account the actual costs (AC) which Liberty Travel will incur at every stage of the project. The actual cost will always be compared with the planned value (PV) to identify the variations in the cost estimates and make necessary adjustments. Schedule Forecasts The schedule forecast for this project depends on the predicted events and conditions based on the data knowledge available when the project is scheduled. From previous milestones of the project, the critical path of the project was evaluated to be 89 days. However, it can be given an allowance of 31 days so it can be completed after 4 months. Each of the activities will have to take place as earlier scheduled. It will be crucial for the project’s team to measure the progress of the project to identify different lags or issues that might affect the forecast schedule. Monitoring and controlling activities will ensure that various corrections are made to the areas that will not take place as planned (Hartley, 2020). Cost Estimates of a Project The total approximated for the project to accomplish all its deliverables is $30 million. The team undertaking the project will ensure that they estimate the costs for every activity appropriately. The project consists of seven activities that will carry different costs. The team will ensure all the materials required by every activity are within the limits of their estimated cost (Hartley, 2020). The company will always purchase products for various activities after undertaking thorough procurement activities. Liberty Travel will always give tenders to vendors with the most convenient bid and who can supply the materials promptly without derailing the project. However, the team will only ensure that the costs stay within the limits of Liberty Travel and does not interfere with the profits of the company. Since the company approximates that the cost will be roughly $30 million, the actual cost should be level or below this mark to ensure that the company is not constrained. The team will have to eliminate different defects before it starts the project. It will assist in minimizing the cost of quality which will translate to cost reduction and potentially raise the profit levels (Hartley, 2020). In this case, the team will carry out effective planning, train all the staff and outside teams that will take part in this project, and review to promote quality. Budget The proposed budget for the project is $30 million. Therefore, all the activities that will take place must be within this limit. The management reserve for this project is 10%. The management reserve that will take account of any unknowns is $3 million. At this point, the total cost will be $33 million. The company will set up a purchase ledger (payables) control account to summarize all the entries and balances of all the suppliers’ accounts in the purchase ledger. The totals in this control account will show the value of money that the company will owe to the suppliers at any given time (Hermarij, 2017). The team approximates the contingency reserve to be 3% of the total cost of the budget of the project. In this case, it will be $900,000. This reserve will be used to manage the identified uncertainties in the project. The total funding requirement of the project will take into account all the activities and their sub-activities (Hermarij, 2017). In the case of this project, the funding requirement will be primarily the expenditures on capital and other things. Procurement As earlier identified, the company will deal with suppliers who have passed through the procurement process. The company will invite all the shortlisted bidders to its conference to discuss their bidding activities and learn the requirements of the process (Fleming, 2019). After presenting their bids, the company will set up a temporary team that will evaluate the proposals of all the bidders to identify the ones that will be capable of helping Liberty Travel to move through this process. The company will select the most appropriate channels to ensure that people learn about its courier services and convince them to use the service over the other competitors. The company will use billboards, television channels, radio channels, and social media to create awareness of this product. Since the services will be offered in the new stores of the company, it will only have to partner with capable transporters to help in transporting parcels from one region to another. The agreements will be based on the performance of the firms and the company will reserve the right to cancel a contract at any time if the transporters break the legal terms of the agreements. Conclusion This section of the project forms a crucial part of the entire portfolio project milestone. Liberty Travel has to ensure that all its activities take place appropriately to enable it to accomplish the project of opening a courier service division. This section provided crucial information concerning cost analysis, schedule forecasts, budgeting, and procurement activities. Each of these aspects play an important role in the success of the courier service division project. References De Marco, A., & Narbaev, T. (2013). Earned value‐based performance monitoring of facility construction projects. Journal of Facilities Management. Fleming, Q. W. (2019, January). Project procurement management: contracting, subcontracting, teaming. Project Management Institute. Hartley, S. (2020). Project Management: A practical guide to planning and managing projects. Routledge. Hermarij, J. (2013). Better Practices of Project Management based on IPMA competences. Van Haren.
Option #1- Final (Write as if you are a project manager) (attached all milestones for project) The goal of the Portfolio Project is to develop a project plan to successfully execute a project. The fol
Running head: MILESTONE 0 Portfolio Milestone: Courier Service Proposal Fallon Urquhart Course Number (PJM580) – Capstone- Project Management Colorado State University – Global Campus Dr. Douglass Smith October 4, 2020 Courier Service Proposal Project management is a challenging task and the project management teams must always be ready to experience various uncertainties when the project is underway. In its project of starting a courier service, Liberty Travel can experience different risks and various changes that they will need to make in order to enhance the success of the project. Therefore, strategies will need to be put in place to ensure the team is prepared to tackle unexpected changes efficiently. They will also have to procure different items for the success of the project and ensure that the stakeholders observe high levels of ethics when undertaking their activities. The purpose of this part of the project is to analyze change requests, procurement documents, ethics, and references that will be used in the final portfolio project. Change Requests Project teams should always ensure that the activities they undertake undergo quality management processes. In project management, a change request is very sensitive since inevitable things take place that require the project teams to make different modifications. In this project, Liberty Travel can encounter such things that require it to make various changes. It is critical to manage these modifications when executing the projects preventive actions, defect repairs, and corrective actions (Hartley, 2020). In this project of offering courier services in North American countries, Liberty Travel will take into consideration these modifications in case of changes occurrences. Corrective Action Throughout the courier service project, Liberty Travel will find performance issues that will require corrective action before they become a risk. Finding the root cause of the error will allow the project manager to take the proper action. During this project the delay in the completion of tasks such as retrieval of laws and regulations, as well as permits for the location being built. First it is important to find the reason why the permits have not been obtained, for this case it could be the difficulty of reaching the proper authority that handles the permits. Once this has been figured out, the next step is the corrective action. In this case the corrective action would be to call and schedule an appointment to obtain the permit, verify what information is needed, and then gather the proper documentation for the appointment. Preventative Action For the courier service project, Liberty Travel will need to create a plan to prevent risk that may occur throughout the project. One of these risks could be a lack of resources to assist in the build or successful executive of the project. As this project will require large amounts of resources from different locations, it will be important to have an ample amount available throughout the project. The team will identify the issues that may occur with insufficient flow of resources for building stores in new locations and evaluate their severity in case the risk occurs. As a preventative action for insufficient resources would be to ensure there are more then one source available to obtain throughout the life cycle of the project. In order to achieve the action, it will be important to research what resources are available in each location and where to find and transport others if not available in desired location. Defect Repair Liberty Travel may experience various defects when implementing the service. An example of defects would be some of the stores not meeting the requires of holding and dispatching parcels due to various reasons like such as a breakdown in communication channels and the transport systems. Liberty Travel must be ready to repair this defect to ensure there is real-time communication between the agents in the stations and the clients. Another issue is possible delays in the delivery systems (Hartley, 2020). This defect repair can only be managed by finding what caused the delay and work with the client to get the parcel to the client. Once that has occurred, knowing what caused the delay will allow for the situation to be resolved with future deliveries. Procurement Documents In the project of starting up a courier service division, Liberty Travel will have to procure several things ranging from the basic store equipment to the vehicles that will be transporting the parcels. The following documents will be necessary for the procurement function of Liberty Travel’s project team. Request for Proposal Liberty Travel will send out a request for proposal to potential suppliers by specifying buying requirements and resource needs which will enable the suppliers to clearly understand what the company needs (Kerzner, 2017). The request for proposals will be sent to various suppliers such as office and furniture suppliers, building contractors, motor vehicle sellers, telephone and service dealers, technical dealers, and security companies among others. Request for Quotation (RFQ) The second procurement document that will play a crucial part in the implementation of this project is a formal request for quotation (RFQ). Liberty Travel will send RFQ documents to the suppliers that will include the required service, delivery requirements, quantities, payment terms, and timeline. Once received the suppliers will accept the proposals if the terms are acceptable to their services. In response, the sellers will submit their prices and terms that relate to the RFQ. These RFQ will be received by the project manager and passed to higher management for review and authorized signatures. Request for Information (RFI) Once the company receives the quotations details from the suppliers, Liberty travel will request the supplier for their information in order to enable them to be shortlisted for bidding (Kerzner, 2017). The details that the company will seek are financial statements for ten years, their certifications, past successes, list of their current clients, information on their processes. This document is necessary since it filters out the bidders and selects those capable of handling the project requirements and add them to the shortlist. Other documents that are crucial to this project are the request for bids from suppliers, purchase orders to successful bidders, contract or agreements between the company and suppliers, and lastly, the seller’s proposal to seek for key information from Liberty Travel such as the needs, implementation plan, warranty, and pricing among others. Once these documents are complete, the team will review the information, summarize them, and then send the data to stakeholders to enhance transparency. Reference List The references that will be used to understand project management and the implementation of the courier service project are as followed: Jintana, J., Sopadang, A., & Ramingwong, S. (2020). Matching Consignees/Shippers Recommendation System in Courier Service Using Data Analytics. Applied Sciences, 10(16), 5585. This resource provides information on how to create a system that matches the consignees and shippers to ensure the success of courier services. This source will be applied to provide information on how Liberty Travel can develop a system that matches everyone in the chain of courier services. It will be applied in the execution phase of this project. Karcz, J., & Ślusarczyk, B. (2016). IMPROVEMENTS IN THE QUALITY OF COURIER DELIVERY. International Journal for Quality Research, 10(2). This reference explains the modeling of software that promotes the working of courier services and is dependent on dial a ride. Since Liberty Travel plans to enhance its activities, it can design software that will help it carry out its activities smoothly. This document will be crucial in the planning phase of the project. Hazir, Ö. (2019). A Review of Analytical Models, Approaches and Decision Support Tools in Project Monitoring and Control. Defense AR Journal, 26(1), 84-88. This peer-reviewed article examines the issues, techniques, and various analytical models concerning the control systems of projects. The paper analyzed various control tools that enable project managers to regulate their projects under different environmental conditions. This resource will be used to analyze various techniques that will be used to control and monitor the project. It will be applied in the project monitoring and control phase. Ding, R. (2016). Key project management based on effective project thinking. Springer- Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. This resource provides information on how it is easy to initiate projects and implement them but when it comes to closure, there are always issues. The scholar provides various instances on how the closure of various usually create different issues. This resource will be applied in the project closure phase by applying key information on how organizations should go through the closure stage. Joslin, R., & Müller, R. (2016). The relationship between project governance and project success. International journal of project management, 34(4), 613-626. The paper explains different things that are critical to the success of projects. All the stakeholders should concentrate and contribute to ensure their success. This resource will be applied to explain how the governance of various parties in a project is critical to the success of various projects. The resource will be used in different stages of the project since it contains details that are crucial in understanding most parts of project management. Project Management Ethics During project management, it is vital for project managers to ensure that their teams maintain high levels of ethical concerns. Ethics entail making the best possible decisions regarding resources, people, and environment as a whole (Galvão, 2017). The following list provides ethics guidance that the stakeholders of the project should hold. All the stakeholders should not have any form of conflict of interest when carrying out their mandate on the project. Every team should be responsible and accountable for their activities. In this case, the team leaders should ensure that all the members remain upright and adhere to the standards of operations. There should be high levels of health and safety standards in all the areas of execution of the project. Conclusion This section of the project examined different key details that relate to the management of the courier services project by Liberty Travel. The key information that this paper provided is the change requests since the project might entail uncertainties. The paper also analyzed different documents that will be used in procurement activities. It is mandatory for the project’s teams to adhere to high levels of ethical concerns. References Galvão, G. D. A., Abadia, L. G., Parizzotto, L., Pião, R. D. C. S., & de Carvalho, M. M. (2017, December). Compliance and ethics for project management governance. In ECMLG 2017 13th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance: ECMLG 2017 (p. 115). Academic Conferences and publishing limited. Hartley, S. (2020). Project Management: A practical guide to planning and managing projects. Routledge. Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Option #1- Final (Write as if you are a project manager) (attached all milestones for project) The goal of the Portfolio Project is to develop a project plan to successfully execute a project. The fol
Running head: MILESTONE 0 Portfolio Milestone: Courier Service Proposal Fallon Urquhart Course Number (PJM580) – Capstone- Project Management Colorado State University – Global Campus Dr. Douglass Smith October 11, 2020 Courier Service Proposal The success of any project management team depends on the efforts they put in place to ensure they follow all the stages appropriately. The project management team of Liberty Travel will have to put in plenty of effort to make sure the project goes on smoothly. The project of starting up a courier service division that will assist the company in achieving its primary objectives of gaining a large market share and enhancing its international presence. This section of the project will focus on various subsections such as the work breakdown structure, activity list, and the project schedule network diagram. Work Breakdown Structure The work breakdown structure of this project contains crucial steps that range from the building of stores to placing orders on parcel shipping. For the new service division to become operational, Liberty Travel should ensure that it does all work efficiently and ensure that all the systems are in place to promote the success of this project (Burghate, 2018). The project consists of different processes that are crucial to its success (see Appendix A). The first important process is building and renting of offices. Liberty Travel will need to ensure that all its offices have uniform colors and appearance that will be unique to this company, and differ from other current courier companies. All the offices will be designed with secure shelves to store the parcels of the customers. These offices will also be designed with adequate and suitable furniture that will better assist the employees through their daily tasks. Another crucial activity in this project is the setting up of an appropriate communication system. One of the most important features of a courier company is efficient communication by all stakeholders. The communication network that the project team will develop will take into consideration all the security measures and efficiency in the flow of information. Another section that will play a big role is the employment of staff who have experience and skills in offering courier services. The team will involve the Human Resource Department of Liberty Travel to come up with appropriate strategies for getting the best employees to work in the new division (Fahmy, 2019). Lastly, the team will involve information technology professionals to create an integrative and interactive website that can support any form of customer communication and activities such as placement for parcel deliveries, tracking, and acknowledgment of receipt of parcels from the stores. Activity List, Attributes, and Milestone The success of this project depends on the successful completion of various activities. Some of these activities include starting the courier service, the project appraisal, and identifying locations. Attributes for this project include project team allocating budget to specific resources, beginning the building, and completing the communication system (Jovanovic, 2019). Milestones for this project involve clarifying the tasks that have been completed such as locations identified, equipment obtained, as well as the communication networks being set up (see Appendix B). Precedence Diagram Appendix C will show the developed Precedence Diagram. The arrows in this diagram shows that one task depends on the other. The arrows will show the dependency between the preceding and the next activities. For instance, the identification of locations can take place at the same time as the project appraisal. At the same time, viable locations are only realized when the team has fully appraised the project. The creation of a website can only occur when the team has developed a communication network. However, the team cannot develop a communication network before completing the building operations (Isaac, 2016). Recruitment can take place when the team has accomplished setting up the offices and identified the gaps in role-playing. The letters provided the critical path that the team should follow to ensure the success of the project. From the diagram, the project will take a minimum of four months to accomplish. Since it only involves a service, operations will commence immediately once all the operations are accomplished. However, some activities such as evaluation and creation of a website might take place in shorter periods than specified while others like recruitment and building might take longer due to technicalities involved. As such, the project can be given an extra two months for accomplishment. Project Schedule The project schedule network diagram with logical order in which the activities of this project must be done to arrive at the last phrase which is the commencement of operations. The table in Appendix D shows the programs of the project, along with the project network. The critical path is the activity that will take the longest time to complete (Fahmy, 2019). The longest possible time for the completion of the entire project is 89 days, which defines its critical path (Fahmy, 2019). Liberty Travel’s project critical path is as followed: Activity 1- Activity 2- Activity 3- Activity 4- Activity 7 Conclusion This paper discussed different stages of the portfolio project milestones. The project of creating a new division will take the project management team of Liberty Travel time as they have to carry out a variety of project activities that range from project appraisal to the implementation of the project and commencement of delivering service. This part of the project examined the work breakdown structure, activities and attributes, along with the critical path for the project. References Burghate, M. (2018). Work breakdown structure: Simplifying project management. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 3(2). Fahmy, A., Hassan, T., Bassioni, H., & McCaffer, R. (2019). Dynamic scheduling model for the construction industry. Built Environment Project and Asset Management. Jovanovic, M., Moreno Perez, J., Lalic, B., & Todorovic, V. (2019). Use of cost analysis, estimation and risk management in making project management decisions in construction projects. Project management review, 2010, vol. 13, num. 3, p. 4-9. Isaac, S., & Hajdu, M. (2016). The possibilities for better project tracking based on the new developments of the Precedence Diagramming Method. Procedia Engineering, 164, 75-81. Appendix A Appendix B Activity Attribute Milestone Starting a courier service division The primary activity of the project is starting up a courier service division which will complement the other activities of the company Commencement of operations in the new division Project appraisal Before the approval of the project, the project management team should carry out its evaluation to determine whether it would be viable or not. Project approved. Identification of feasible locations to build stores. The team will have to identify the regions that will be suitable for setting up the offices in different towns by valuing key factors like security and accessibility. All suitable locations identified. Purchase of all utilities and equipment. Since the project team evaluated the project earlier on, they would spend the money allocated for budget to purchase everything that will be required in future activities. All the necessary equipment and materials have been bought. Commencement of building work The team will commence building activities which will include fixing of shelves, furniture, and electricity cables, and painting activities. All offices have been neatly set up and have all required equipment. Setting up of communication network Communication system involves installing internet, connecting the computers, interconnecting the offices virtually, and securing all the computers and the network systems. All communication networks are set and well-secured. Creation of interactive website After everything has been set, the team will develop an interactive website that will have key features that are required in the courier business such as customer service contacts, ordering, tracking, and acknowledgment among others. All necessary windows have been integrated in the website. Employment of staff members Since this is a new division, the company will have to recruit skilled and experienced people to promote its success. All the staff have been employed and assigned to respective offices/locations in North America. Commencement of work Once all the activities have been carried out, the company will start off its courier service activities First bunches of parcels delivered and acknowledged by the customers. Appendix C Appendix D Activity number Activity name Duration in days Predecessor Successor Project Appraisal activity 7 2,5 Identification of location 14 -, 1 Buying of necessary materials Building and setting up of offices 30 5, 7 Setting up of communication system and network 14 1, 4 Creation of website 14 Recruitment and deployment 30 4, 6
Option #1- Final (Write as if you are a project manager) (attached all milestones for project) The goal of the Portfolio Project is to develop a project plan to successfully execute a project. The fol
Running head: MILESTONE 0 Portfolio Milestone: Courier Service Proposal Fallon Urquhart Course Number (ORG580) – Capstone- Project Management Colorado State University – Global Campus Dr. Douglas Smith September 27, 2020 Courier Service Proposal Companies tend to undertake projects to achieve a variety of objectives such as improving profitability, acquisitions of newer markets, as well as gaining a larger customer base. Projects can range from the formation of new tangible products or the provisions of new services that can fulfill or satisfy the client or consumer in different ways. One of the services companies in the United States is Liberty Travel. The service projects that the come can undertake is the provision of courier services within North American countries. Ideally, people send large amounts of parcels on a daily basis and it is one field where companies can take the advantage. The purpose of this milestone is to examine the initiation and planning phases of this project and utilize this company for the final portfolio. Project Initiation The first phase of any project is its initiation. The chosen company is Liberty Travel. Currently, Liberty Travel is a retail travel and cruise company whose headquarters is stationed in Montvale, New Jersey. The company has several locations throughout the United States with over two-thousand employees. This company offers retail travel and cruise services, so they already have a solid base for entering different areas. That being said, a new service that could be provided by this company would be a courier service. Clients and consumers are well conversant with the company in the travel and cruise sector. As a result, Liberty Travel would be able to utilize those resources and provide services to transport their parcels across the North American continent reach to Canada. Project Statement of Work Liberty Travel would need to expand its services from the current travel and cruise market in order to achieve the goal of a courier service, creating a larger consumer base. This will require the organization to expand into other related sectors allowing them to continue being a crucial part of all consumers. As a result, the introduction of courier services will help achieving this goal. The company will start by offering services within all states of the United States that it currently services. After introducing the service within these locations, they will then expand to other states and lastly to Canada. Liberty Travel will be able to expand to the other neighboring nations within the following two years, allowing them to offer parcel driver services in major cities and towns. This journey into a new form of service within the country will have expected costs and risks, however, the overall benefit and profit from this type of move will project the company further into the competing business world. Project Charter The vision of the project is to make the company part of the top choices for parcel delivery. Liberty Travel plans to expand their services to all nations of North America within the next two years, giving them a decent timeframe to work with. The main goal of this project is to provide a faster and more affordable parcel delivery services within the countries and states. The major success factors of this project are the acquisition of more customers who transport their parcel to and from several locations within this region. The company will layout a fairly large budget in order to accomplish the project and provide a full-fledged parcel service into their current business. The proposed initial cost for a project of this size would be approximately $30 million. The busines will offer both ground and air delivery options for parcels that require faster delivery over longer distances. Liberty Travel will use its current locations, as well as rent more buildings throughout the United States in order to branch out to all consumers. This project will require the use of current vehicles as well as the purchase of others to transport the parcels. The project team will comprise of currently employees with the knowledge and skill of the organization and resources options to begin this new aspect of the organization. As the project continues and the parcel services grow, the organization will be able to hire enough to staff the new locations and provide the same services throughout these areas. Business Case Over the past few years, there has been a rapid increase in the demand for courier services across the world. Currently, most business offer online shopping and promise their customers delivery within one to two business days. The trend shows that customers have been selecting those vendors who offer the faster delivery option for their goods. The customers have found it less cost to get their products through a courier service from the seller, saving them extra costs such as travel charges (Bertram, 2018). This shows the demand for courier services have increased, allowing those providers to experience a growth in profits. The advancement in technology allows consumers to get their products directly to their doorsteps, as they communicate with the transporters and sellers through virtual communication. Every online platform or online retailer has various laws and regulations to follow such as anti-fraud measures. This means there are minimal changes of defrauding customers through the use of a courier services. Stakeholder Analysis The new courier service division will have stakeholders who are all beneficial for Liberty Travel. The internal stakeholders are the owners of the business and service teams. On the other side, the external stakeholders are the consumers who will receive their products from the stores, transporters, and authority that will lay out the rules, regulations, and govern the operations of any business within the regions where the stores are located. Each stakeholder is crucial for the success of the project. However, their levels of interest may change with their levels of power in the project. For example, it would be crucial to keep the customer satisfied while the employees handling the project should be managed closely. Stakeholder Register The stakeholder register will help in the identification, assessment, and classification of all the stakeholders of the project. The following chart is an example of what will be used as a stakeholder register: Name: Group/Classification: Role and Responsibility: Dean Smith Key Project Stakeholder President of Liberty Travel: Will review and have final signatures. Fallon Urquhart Project Manager Develop, Execute, Implement new courier service for Liberty Travel Dominique Rey Purchasing Manager Obtain reliable resources for courier service in each location. Jayany Jena AR/AP Specialist Funding for project resources and execution Procuring Documents The primary documents of procurement that the organization will give or take from other stakeholders are the Requests for Proposal (RFP), Requests for Quotations (RFQ), Request for Information (RFI), Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Bid (RFB), Purchase Orders (PO), Contract or Agreement, as well as the Seller Proposal. These documents will vary from supplier to supplier, depending on what is needed from each. The final documentation will be utilized once a supplier has been selected based on price and resource accessibility, awarding the work from Liberty Travel. Project Planning Phase Project planning is the second phase in the creation of a project. In this phase we create the project plan, scope, WBS, estimates for cost and budget, communications and risk. All important aspects to see a success project completion. Project Management Plan The project team will work on the project to ensure that all cities in the selected area have parcel stores that are accessible to the customer. The project will take approximately two years to accomplish at the cost of $30 million. This project will be headed by three project managers who will be responsible for different regions of the United States and boarding countries. Two of the project managers will split the United States region to ensure all stores are ready for parcel deliver and dissemination. After the completion of the project, the company will be able to hire courier service professionals to work at each location. The use of email, virtual conferences, and instant messaging during the project will allow the project to stay on track and help during the project’s execution to enhance traceability. Liberty Travel will utilize all resources necessary in order to create a high standard and highly functional location. Communications will be encouraged among all employees to ensure a smooth flow of information. However, a variety of risks may arise in the process of the project implementation. It will be necessary to detect risks appropriately. Various teams will identify all risk factors, document, and conduct all necessary actions as they occur. Traceability Matrix The traceability matrix of the project will be bi-directional. It will include both forward and backward matrices to manage the project efficiently. It will ascertain that all the requirements are being covered in the project. This matrix will also ensure that every move is traced easily and has accurate or valid cases in the respect to the achievement of this project (see Appendix A). Project Scope Statement There has been an increase in the need for courier services as a result of the increase of online shopping. Courier services are an emerging profitable area that companies can join and see success. Though there are competitors currently in this marketing, the rise in demand would prevent the sense of competition to take place. The project would be accepted if the projected profitability comes to be more then the cost layout. This project will result in the development of different parcel stores and partnerships with other transporters to pick up and drop off the parcels from one store to another. Some of the constraints in this project would be getting capable workers to build and manage the stores, parcels, and cost. Work Breakdown Structure The work breakdown structure will consist of the needed tasks to complete each store. These would be to rent or build the building, test and inspections, legal and commercial documentation, as well as selecting the proper locations (see Appendix B for full structure). Each of these tasks will need to be completed before looking it to hiring employees to manage these sites and continue to the next location. All locations will have a similar format and each will follow the work breakdown structure to ensure the similarities, city regulations permitting. Cost Estimates and Budget The cost entails all expenses that will be incurred in order to make each store operational and ensure the process runs smoothly and as planned. In this case, the company will have to carry out cost tradeoffs and consider all risks to ascertain that the process can continue to the execution phase. Liberty Travel can apply make versus buy, sharing of resources, and buy versus lease options. The initial cost outlay of the project is $30 million. It is estimated that the project will start yielding returns shortly after the second year. The average profits that will be gained from year two to year six are $7 million, proving the company would see a positive profit over that period, making the project viable to continue. Communication Management As stated above, the basic forms of communication during the project will be through email, virtual conference, and instant messaging. This will ensure the stakeholders gain access to information faster and provide the necessary feedback as it pertains to the situation. The groups will work together and hold virtual meetings with each team in the different locations to share information on the progress of the project (Bond-Bernard, 2018). They will gain access through the use of their cell phones or computers. It will be necessary for the team to have access to internet allowing them to properly communicate in real-time during the life cycle of the project. Risk Management Various risks will impact the project in a positive or negative way. The most common risks that can impact the project are changes in requirements, estimating time risks, unclear specifications, technical risk, neglecting designs, insufficient resources, and inaccurate budget estimates (Keers, 2018). Liberty Travel will create action plans and risks assessments to probably prepare for these risks and have a quick resolution. Appendix C will show a risk probability and impact matrix, as well as a risk register to properly monitor the risk and response, as well an example of a quantitative risk model. These tools will help in the risk management aspect of the project. Strategies for Risk Mitigation One of the ways to mitigate both forms of risks is to get the right team to undertake the project’s activities. The leaders will need to ensure that the right people are on the team to successfully carry out each task by utilizing the resources efficiently (Keers, 2018). Secondly, the managers should ensure that there are efficient forms of communication throughout the team in each location and potential location. Lastly, the company will need to set up a contingency plan in order to assist with any risks that may occur throughout the project. Conclusion This paper covered the initiation and planning phases for a new courier services for Liberty Travel in North America. Currently the company offers travel and cruise services through out the United States. This project will provide courier services to customers in these current locations as well as expand to new locations due to the increase of online shopping. The initial cost outlay for the project is $30 million which will yield $7 million in profits after the second year. References Bertram, R. F., & Chi, T. (2018). A study of companies’ business responses to fashion e- commerce’s environmental impact. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 11(2), 254-264. Bond-Barnard, T. J., Fletcher, L., & Steyn, H. (2018). Linking trust and collaboration in project teams to project management success. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business. Keers, B. B., & van Fenema, P. C. (2018). Managing risks in public-private partnership formation projects. International Journal of Project Management, 36(6), 861-875. Appendix A Traceability Matrix: Bi-Directional Traceability Appendix B Work Breakdown Structure- Courier Service for Liberty Travel Appendix C Risk Probability and Impact Matrix chart and template: Risk Register for Liberty Travel: ID Date Raised Risk Description Likelihood of Risk Impact if Risk Occurs Severity Owner Action Laws and Regulations Medium Unobtainable resources or prevention of building permits. High Procurement Manager Before building have understanding of the laws and regulations in each location and obtain required permits before start of the build. Timeline of project Low Specific tasks could be delayed or are unobtainable in timeline. Delay could cause issues with permits, start date of services, and resources could be unavailable. Medium Procurement/ Project Manager Speak with procurement manage to get specific and obtainable timeframes for builds and vehicles Unclear Specifications Medium Needed resources, buildings, and vehicles would not be able to support expected level of business High Project Manager Work with stakeholders to establish precise specification. Next, work with contractors and suppliers to ensure these specifications are obtainable Neglected Design Medium Building could be functional but not at quality or level expected Medium Project/ Procurement Manager Work with stakeholders to agree on designs per regulations and safety. Communicate with contractors to ensure these specifications can be met. Insufficient Resources Low Unable to complete buildings, obtain vehicles and higher staff High Procurement Manager Determine amount of resources needed. Also have multiple vendors or suppliers that will be able to provide resources. Inaccurate Budget Medium Not enough funds for completion of project. Also, could end up costing company more than expected or quoted High Project Manager Work with procurement manager on needed resources and costs. Can estimate slightly above amount to ensure the funds are available. Quantitative Risk Model: