DATA4600
Business Analytics Project Management
Group Project Simulation: Project Risk Management Methods
Role: Executive of the Company
Student Name:
Student ID:
Introduction
As the executive of FedEx Logistics, my responsibility lies in the vital areas of formulation and sponsoring of the company’s present and future business plans. FedEx is a worldwide organization, which specifically works in the field of logistics and supply chain management and has a well-developed network that helps in transporting goods and all essential resources from one country to another. However, due to the ever-increasing rate of technological growth, there is a need for FedEx to redesign the current operations systems such as tracking of shipments and communication with suppliers as well as merchants. The purpose of this project is to evaluate our existing system and perform an improvement analysis together with rewritable development if it is required to fit future business requirements.
Role Overview
In this project, The final decisions on such matters so that the analytics project and the subsequent redevelopment meet the strategic needs of FedEx. The executive’s role involves management responsibility for the strategic direction of the implementation plan as well as ensuring that institutional support is received to ensure that the plan will be well implemented. The role also involves questioning the team’s plans and analysis and making certain that every aspect of the project is examined comprehensively as well as its alignment with the company’s business strategy (Micán, Fernandes, & Araújo, 2020, p.72).
Project Justification
The current system while existing at FedEx has demonstrated indicators of becoming lifeless and or even ineffective, particularly in the manner in which shipments are tracked not to mention how we communicate with the supplier's merchants. The need for improvement is improving operational performance and finding issues in the current applications, the data is in fragmented silos, real-time shipment tracking takes considerable time, and the existing platforms are incompatible with contemporary analytical tools. With higher demands on logistics again coming closer, it is not only necessary but unavoidable to modernize the current setting to sustain competitive advantage in the market.
The first task of the project will include an analysis of the current system to form a proposal for phase 1 of the project. This phase will feed crucial information about the system in aspects such as shipment tracking accuracy, supplier feedback, and warehousing process. This will enable the separation of the obstacles where adjustments have to be made so that the process or activity runs efficiently (Sobieraj, & Metelski, 2022, p. 1044).
Business Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement
Stakeholder management can therefore be said to be a crucial factor when it comes to the implementation of this particular project. Some of the stakeholders in FedEx include suppliers, merchants, and those within the Firm who depend on the system to be updated and be able to communicate with each other effortlessly. Apart from receiving the inputs it is important that these are incorporated in the development of the new project. Some of the KPIs that will be collected from these stakeholders during the analytical phase of the project shall give an overall picture of the current situation.
Project Management Style
For this project, Scrum and Kanban frameworks will be used in a combined manner to form an optimal solution. Scrum has the flexibility of allowing the team to develop the analytics and platform feature by feature and improvement by improvement. Kanban will be used since it is helpful in the production flow and in making sure that tasks are done as they should be done without overwhelming the workers. It will also enable risk control with great efficiency and facilitate real-time tweaks of risk and project management strategies depending on the progress made (George, 2020, p. 1556).
Risk Management
There is a great risk involved in this project thus it must be effectively managed. Some threats are the inaccuracy of data in the analytical stage, the appearance of additional costs at the redevelopment stage, and organizational employee’s resistance to adopting the new system. They include monitoring and evaluation, feedback from the users and other stakeholders, and predictive tools that will enable the identification of risks at the initial stages of the project.
Conclusion
The attempt to evaluate and further develop FedEx’s logistics system is one of the important milestones in increasing the effectiveness of the company’s work. Being the executive in charge of the company, it is my responsibility to ensure that this is in line with the company’s business activities and concerns, well-funded, and that the team focuses on developing solutions that will record tangible achievements. The proposed analytics project will provide the foundation for a powerful system that will strengthen FedEx's logistic merits and sustain the company’s position in the market.
References
George, C., 2020. The essence of risk identification in project risk management: An overview. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 9(2), pp.1553-1557, <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Crispin-George/publication/339593332_The_Essence_of_Risk_Identification_in_Project_Risk_Management_An_Overview/links/5e5a6b72a6fdccbeba0c8195/The-Essence-of-Risk-Identification-in-Project-Risk-Management-An-Overview.pdf>
Micán, C., Fernandes, G. & Araújo, M., 2020. Project portfolio risk management: a structured literature review with future directions for research. International Journal of information systems and project management, Vol.8, No.3, pp.67-84, <https://revistas.uminho.pt/index.php/ijispm/article/download/3560/3599>
Sobieraj, J. & Metelski, D., 2022. Project Risk in the Context of Construction Schedules—Combined Monte Carlo Simulation and Time at Risk (TaR) Approach: Insights from the Fort Bema Housing Estate Complex. Applied Sciences, 12(3), p.1044, <https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/3/1044/pdf>
