Week 12: Project Management

Explain the Triple Constraint and its Importance in Project Management

As seen in the image above, the Triple Constraint is the framework for evaluating the competing demands of time, cost and scope. In any project these three constraints are interdependent with a shift in one affecting at least one other. For example, if a team decides to move a project’s finish date forward, the need to hire more staff to do so will increase the costs of the project. Alternatively, the project’s initial scope may also be decreased because of the elimination of several features and functions to ensure it is ready by the new deadline.

In this way, the triple constraint is very important because it sums up the essence of what project management actually is. In simple terms, the discipline of project management is the science of making intelligent tradeoffs between time, cost and scope, and all of these factors combine to make the final product’s quality.

Describe the Two Primary Diagrams Most Frequently Used in Project Planning

The two primary diagrams used most frequently in project planning are the;

• PERT Chart
• Gantt Chart

A PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) Chart is a graphical network model that outlines a project’s tasks and the relationship between them, In this way, the chart defines the dependency of project tasks before the project is completed, with arrows between boxes showing what needs to be done before the next stage can begin. Most importantly, the PERT chart also shows the project’s critical path. This path, often displayed in red, is the path from start to finish that passes through all the tasks that are critical to completing the project in the shortest time possible.



A Gantt Chart is a simple bar chart that depicts the project tasks against a calender, with tasks listed vertically along the y-axis and the project’s time frame horizontally on the x-axis. This type of chart not only represents the project schedule, but also allows managers to compare actual progress against the planned duration.






Identify the Three Primary Areas a Project Manager Must Focus on Managing to Ensure Success

In order to ensure success project managers must focus on the three primary areas of;

• People
• Communication
• Change

The task of managing people is perhaps the most crucial to any project manager’s success, with them being responsible for not only resolving conflicts within the team, but also balancing the needs of the project with the personal and professional needs of the workers, In saying this, the management of communication is also vital. By planning what and how they will communicate as a formal part of the project plan, the project manager can distribute timely, accurate and meaningful information to their team and better facilitate feedback between members. Additionally, successful organisations and people must also be able to anticipate and react to change. In the dynamic world of business, change is a fact of life and so, successful project managers ensure that there is a sufficient change management system in place to document and adapt to changes that may occur during the project.



Outline 2 Reasons Why Projects Fail and Two Reasons Why Projects Succeed

Perhaps one of the most difficult decisions that an organization can make is in regards to which projects they should invest time, energy and resources into. When it comes to project management there are many factors that can determine whether a project to either fails or succeeds.

Two of the main reasons a project will fail revolves around a lack of executive sponsorship and failure to align the project with organisational objectives. Unless a project addresses the business’s strategic objectives it is likely to fail because it won’t have the support of the whole organisation. Similarly, although the Project Management Institute (PMI) defines an executive sponsor as the person or group who provides the project’s financial resources, they must do more than just review invoices and inquire into the status of the project. Unless the executive sponsor demonstrates a clear commitment and accountability to the project themselves, they cannot expect the rest of the team to show the same and the project will fail.

In the opposite way, an executive sponsor can also be one of the reasons a project succeeds. When they champion the project to others, sharing the vision and benefits of the completed job and use their influence to gain and direct essential resources, executive sponsors can help projects succeed. Similarly, good communication is also another reason why projects succeed. When there is clear communication both horizontally and vertically amongst the project manager and group, team members share objectives and are able to work towards common goals.

Week 10: Customer Relations Management & Business Intelligence

What is Your Understanding of CRM?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the management of all aspects of a customer’s relationship with an organisation to increase customer loyalty and retention as well as an organisation’s overall profitability. In other words, CRM allows a business to gain insights into their customers’ shopping and buying behaviours and treat each consumer as a valued individual.

Typically, a CRM system consists of customers contacting the organisation through various means such as call centres, web access, email, faxes and direct sales. The CRM system then tracks every one of these communications and provides access to the information generated across different systems from accounting to marketing. In doing this, CRM provides many benefits to users enabling them to;

• Provide Better Customer Service
• Improve Call Centre Efficiency
• Cross-sell Products More Effectively
• Help Sales Staff Close Deals Faster
• Simplify Marketing and Sales Processes
• Discover New Customers
• Increase Customer Revenues

Compare Operational and Analytical Customer Relationship Management.

Both Operational and Analytical Customer Relationship Management are the 2 main components of any CRM strategy. Despite this, they also have significant differences. While Operational CRM supports traditional types of transactional processing for day-to-day front office operations or systems that deal directly with customers, Analytical CRM does the opposite. Instead, its focus revolves around supporting back-office operations and strategic management, and includes all systems that don’t deal directly with the organisation’s customers. In this way, the primary difference between Operational and Analytical CRM can be summarised in the level of customer interaction it involves.

Describe and Differentiate the CRM Technologies used by Marketing Departments and Sales Departments

Although both use Operational CRM, the technologies used by Marketing and Sales departments are significantly different.  As modern business continues to develop, the primary goal of marketing has shifted so that it is now focused on trying to sell one customer as many products as possible. To support this objective, the CRM technologies used within this department allow them to gather and analyse customer information to deploy successful marketing campaigns.

In comparison, the CRM technologies used in the Sales Department are more focused on management. In this way, the two main aims for CRM in a sales department is to;

• Manage and organise customer account information that needs to be tracked
• Get customer information out of the heads of sales representatives and onto paper

With these goals in mind, CRM technologies suited to the Sales Department such as ‘Sales Force Automation’, automatically track the steps of the sales process, allowing management to focus on other things such as increasing customer satisfaction, building customer relationships and improving product sales.

How could a Sales Department use Operational CRM Technologies?

There are 3 main Operational CRM technologies that a sales department could use;

Sales Management systems such as “Sales Force Automation” automate each phase of the sales process. In this way, by using this type of system and its features such as calendars, alarm reminders and document generation, sales representatives can coordinate and manage their accounts. Additionally, this operational CRM technology can also be used by a sales department to analyse the organisation’s sales cycle and calculate how each individual sales representative is performing during the sales process.

Contact Management CRM systems are those technologies which help departments maintain customer contact information and identify prospective customers for future sales. With features such as organisational charts, detailed customer notes, and supplemental sale information, departments can use these technologies to help foster better customer relationships and maximise efficiency within the sales process. An example of a company who has done this is 3M, whose implementation of a contact management CRM system has allowed them to;

• Cut the time taken to familiarise sales professionals with new territories by 33%
• Increase management’s visibility of the sales process
• Decrease the time taken to qualify leads and assign sales opportunities by 40%

In comparison, Opportunity Management CRM systems focus on gaining new customers rather than retaining old ones. In this way, a sales department can use these CRM technologies to target sales opportunities by finding new customers of companies for future sales and gaining their loyalty by;

• Getting their attention
• Valuing their time
• Over-Delivering
• Frequently Contacting
• Generating a trustworthy mailing list
• Following Up

Describe Business Intelligence and its Value to Businesses

Business Intelligence (BI) is the applications and technologies that are used to gather, provide access to and analyse data and information to support decision-making efforts. In this way, BI is very valuable to businesses because similar to countries in war, an organisation in a competitive industry can only succeed if they have full knowledge of their own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of their opponents. Similarly, a certain school of thought draws parallels between the challenges faced within business and those of war as describes in Sun Tzu’s famous work, ‘The Art of War’. These central components of competitive business strategy that BI helps a business achieve are;

• The collection of information
• Discerning the patterns and meaning within this information
• Responding to the resultant information

Explain the Problem Associated with Business Intelligence. Describe the Solution to this Business Problem

The main problem associated with BI revolves around the decision-making capabilities of the managers and employees of an organisation. In every business, employees must make hundreds of decisions each day, and while these decisions can sometimes be based on fact, they are most often based on experience, accumulated knowledge and rule of thumb. This can often pose problems in that these skills can take years to develop, and even if an employee does acquire them they can still make errors in judgement.

For this reason, the solution to this problem lies in equipping organisational staff with BI systems and tools so that they can make effective decisions and shorten latency times. When used effectively, these systems can not only improve the quality of business decisions, but also help employees and management create an agile and intelligent enterprise where data is;

• Reliable
• Consistent
• Understandable
• Easily Manipulated

What are Two Possible Outcomes a Company Could Get from Using Data Mining?

Data Mining is the process of analysing data to extract information not offered by the raw data alone. In order to perform this process, data mining tools are used which utilise a variety of algorithmic techniques to find patterns and relationships in large volumes of information and infer rules from them that can predict future behaviour and assist decision-making. In this way, data mining has several possible capabilities and outcomes. Two of these outcomes are Cluster Analysis and Statistical Analysis.

Cluster Analysis divides information sets into mutually exclusive groups that are as close together as possible to one another and the different groups are as far apart as possible. In this way, Cluster Analysis is extremely effective to segment customer information for CRM systems and help organisations identify customers with similar demographics, lifestyle behaviours and buying patterns.

Statistical Analysis performs such functions as information correlations, distributions, calculations and variance analysis. In this way, this outcome of data mining supplies knowledge workers with a large range of powerful statistics and capabilities, allowing them to build statistical models, examine the model’s assumptions and validity, and compare and contrast the various models to determine the best one for the particular business issue.

Week 9: Operations Management and Supply Chain Management

Define the Term Operations Management

Operations Management (OM) is simply the management of systems or processes that convert or transform resources into goods and services. Essentially, it is responsible for managing the core processes used to manufacture goods and produce services, and as explained by the MIT Sloan School of Management, ranges across a business's strategic, tactical and operational levels.

Explain operations management’s role in business

OM has many roles in business including that of;

• Forecasting
• Capacity Planning
• Scheduling
• Managing Inventories
• Assuring Quality
• Motivating and Training Employees
• Locating Facilities

Describe the Correlation Between Operations Management and Information Technology

A strong relationship exists between both operations management and information technology, with IT exerting a significant influence over OM decisions. One of the greatest benefits IT gives to OM is its ability to assist in the operational decision-making process. With the many possible alternatives that often exist and the varying impact each of these can have on company revenue and expenses, it is often critical that managers are able to make informed decisions.

It is in this way that IT in the form of Decision Support Systems and Executive Information Systems can provide an organisation with sound forecasting tools in the way of What-If Analysis, Sensitivity Analysis, Drill-down and Consolidation. By doing this, IT assists OM by providing managers with strong information that helps them make good decisions by answering the questions of;

Explain Supply Chain Management and Its Role in a Business

Supply Chain Management is the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximise its effectiveness and profitability. In this way, the role of Supply Chain Management is essentially that of an enabler. When it is utilised in an effective and efficient manner it allows an organisation to;

• Decrease the Power of Buyers
• Increase its own Supplier Power
• Increase Switching Costs to Reduce the Threat of Substitute Products or Services
• Create Entry Barriers that Reduce the Threat of Substitute Products or Services
• Increase Efficiencies while Seeking a Competitive Advantage through Cost Leadership

List and Describe the Five Components of a Typical Supply Chain

As seen in the diagram above, the 5 main components of a typical supply chain are;

• Plan
• Source
• Make
• Deliver
• Return



Define the Relationship between Information Technology and the Supply Chain

  

 

As companies and the corporate environment as a whole continue to evolve, the idea of virtually seamless information links within and between organisations has become an essential element of integrated supply chains. It is in this way that the role of information technology has become increasingly valuable to the supply chain.

Essentially, the primary role of IT within the supply chain is to create integration and information linkages between both functions within a firm and between firms. This allows smooth and synchronised flow of information across the chain and also integrates planning, decision-making processes, business operating processes and information sharing for business performance management.

It is in this way, that Information Technology has made it possible to bring the idea of true supply chain integration to life. This can be seen in Adaptec Inc’s use of supply chain integration software over the internet to synchronise their planning.

Week 8: Databases and Data Warehouses

List, Describe and Provide an Example of Each of the Five  Characteristics of High Quality Information

As we progress into what is often called the 'Information Age', the gap between what is considered to be low quality and high quality information is becoming of greater significance. This is particularly true in business where information or poor information can cost an organisation time, money and even reputation.

When it comes to determining what is ‘High Quality’ information, the five characteristics looked for are;

·         Accuracy

·         Completeness

·         Consistency

·         Uniqueness

·         Timeliness



Define the Relationship Between a Database and a Database Management System

For many businesses, the most effective way to store and access information is through the use of a database. In its most basic form, a Database maintains information about various types of objects, events, people and places. To help with the finding of information, the database is also usually given a schema which is a description of the objects and entries represented within it and the relationship between them. These schemas can take many different forms and result in the creation of a variety of data models such as;

·         Hierarchical Database Model

·         Network Database Model

·         Relational Database Model

Closely related to the database, is the Database Management System (DBMS) used to run it. Where the database itself, is the particular information and data stored and accessed, the DBMS is simply the computer program used to manage and query the database.

Describe the Advantages an Organisation Can Gain by Using a Database

From a business perspective, the use of databases as a means of storing and accessing information offers many advantages. The five most prominent of these benefits are;

·         Increased Flexibility

·         Increased Scalability and Performance

·         Reduced Information Redundancy

·         Increased Information Integrity

·         Increased Information Security

 

Increased Flexibility. Like strong business structures, a good database can handle changes quickly and easily. As well as this, they also provide an organisation with flexibility by allowing each user to access relevant information in whatever way best suits their needs or requirements.

Increased Scalability and Performance. In today’s modern business world many organisations are finding that they must support hundreds or thousands of online users, all who want to access and share information at a high performance level. In this way databases benefit business operations because they can scale to exceptional levels and allow all types of users and programs to perform information-processing and information-searching tasks at a relatively fast speed.

Reduced Information Redundancy. The duplication of information often occurs in an organisation because information is stored in multiple locations making it inconsistent and possibly inaccurate. Fortunately, databases can eliminate information redundancy by recording each piece of information in only one place. In this way, databases have the benefit of saving space, making updates easier to perform and improving information quality.

Increased Information Integrity. Databases help ensure the quality and integrity of its information through the use of integrity constraints. These constraints are defined and built into the database design and the DBMS then ensures that users never violate these ‘rules’.

Increased Information Security. To any business, information is one of their most valuable organisational assets. For this reason, a firm’s information must be protected from unauthorised users and misuse. The extensive security features offered in many databases such as passwords, access levels and access controls help organisations achieve this.

Define the Fundamental Concepts of the Relational Database Model

The relational database model is a type of database that stores information in the form of logically related two-dimensional tables each consisting of rows and columns. The fundamental concepts of this model are;

·         Entities

·         Entity Classes

·         Attributes

·         Keys

·         Relationships

Entities. People Places, things, transactions or events about which information is stored

 

Entity Classes. The collection of similar entities such as Customers, Products or Distributors

 

Attributes. Also known as fields or columns. They are the characteristics or properties of an entity class

 

Keys. Used to manage and organise various entity classes within the database and create logical relationships between them. A Primary Key is a field or group of fields that uniquely identifies a given entity in a table such as Customer or Product ID. A Foreign Key  is a primary key of one table that appears as an attribute in another table and acts to provide a logical relationship between the two

 

Relationship. A link between two tables of a database which is created when a foreign key in one references the primary key of another.

Describe the Benefits of a Data-Driven Website
 

A data-driven website is an interactive website that is kept constantly updated and relevant to the needs of its users and customers through the use of a database. In a data-driven website such as Wikipedia, the customers can enter search criteria into an engine and the database then runs a quick query and displays the relevant information. It is particularly useful when a site offers a great deal of products or services. These types of dynamic websites are most beneficial to businesses that display continually changing information such as press releases, new product information and updated pricing. Although they can be more expensive than more ‘static’ websites the advantages of data-driven sites are extensive and include;

·         Development

·         Content Management

·         Future Expandability

·         Minimising Human Error

·         Cutting Production and Update Costs

·         More Efficient

·         Improved Stability

If You Were a Sales Manager in a Multinational Company, What are Some Reports You Would Want to See?

Within Multinational companies management must maintain awareness of the happenings both within and outside of their regional area. For this reason database reports can be extremely useful in helping determine the organisation’s current and future position. For example, a Sales Manager from one of these companies may want to see reports such as;

·         Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly Budgets

·         Projected Earnings

·         Sales By Region

·         Reported Profits of Competitors

·         Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly Profits

·         Projected Versus Annual Sales

Week 7: Networks and Wireless

Explain the Business Benefits of Using Wireless Technology

The rapid and widespread growth and development of wireless technology, especially in the last few decades, has seen many businesses take advantage of the benefits it offers. With its ability to increase productivity, speed up product delivery and reduce operating costs, the use of wireless technologies has become a necessity for businesses wishing to remain competitive in their industry. By providing universal access to information and applications to its users, wireless technologies have the power to automate business processes as well as facilitate the convenient and timely transfer of information. As the range for wireless networks continues to expand and grow, business employees are given the ability to conduct business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter their physical location.



 Describe the Business Benefits Associated with VoIP

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a system that uses TCP/IP technology to transmit voice calls over internet technology. Offering a fixed fee for calling within the country of origin and a low per-minute charge for international calls, VoIP offers business the benefits of significant cost savings, productivity gains and service enhancement.

 As one of the most popular options of VoIP, Skype also offers a variety of other benefits to business. With its extensive features such as free calling to other members, call forwarding, conference calling and file sharing capabilities just to name a few, many companies such as RipCurl are taking advantage of the benefits Skype offers in company communication.



Compare LANs and WANs

 The two main types of networks that make up the internet are known as Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs). LANs connect computers that reside in a single geographic location on the premises of the company that operates it. In comparison, a WAN connects computers at different geographic sites. Essentially, the internet is made up of a bunch of LANs interconnected by WANs, and as seen in the table below, both network types have a variety of key differences.

 

For a more detailed comparison of LANs and WANs click here

Describe RFID and How it Can Be Used to Help Make a Supply Chain More Effective

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that uses active or passive tags in the form of chips or smart labels that can store unique identifiers and relay this information to electronic readers. Combining tiny chips with antenna, when placed on an item these tags automatically radios its location to RFID readers on shop shelves, checkout counters, loading bay doors and shopping carts. In this way, RFID technology helps to make the supply chain more effective by automatically and continuously taking inventory. As well as providing more current and accurate information to the supply chain, RFID also has the ability to reduce costs by requiring fewer staff and making the business processes more transparent and efficient.

What is One New Emerging Technology That Could Change a Specific Industry

Currently, the emerging technology of RFID is heavily used in inventory tracking, but it also has relevant applications in other areas such as the sporting industry. For example, in many major sporting events worldwide, RFID transponders are being used as timing systems. This works by attaching a chip to the athlete’s shoes, bicycle or other apparel. In this way, timing can begin and end with a great deal of accuracy, with the timer stopping when the person crosses the finishing mat and signals a nearby antenna. In doing this, RFID technology is changing the nature of the whole industry, reducing the controversy of such events as close finishes between competitors.

Week 6: Enterprise Architectures

What is Information Architecture and What is Information Infrastructure and How Do They Differ and How Do They Relate to Each Other?

As society begins to turn more and more to technology in order to do business, information architecture and infrastructure will remain at the heart of most common companies’ operating capabilities. In its simplest form, Information Architecture identifies and determines where and how important information, such as customer records and financial statements are maintained and secured. In this way, this form of architecture focuses on the three areas of;

·         Backup and Recovery

·         Disaster Recovery

·         Information Security

In comparison, Information Infrastructure refers to the hardware, software and telecommunication equipment that, when combined, provides the underlying foundation to support the organisation’s goals. Unlike Information Architecture where the focus is on the security of the data itself, solid infrastructure relies on its performance to deliver and hold these records. Therefore, following this reasoning, the five primary characteristics of a good Information Infrastructure are;

·         Flexibility

·         Scalability

·         Reliability

·         Availability

·         Performance

 

In this way, despite their differences, both Information Architecture and Infrastructure are shown to work hand-in-hand to help companies reach their goals. Where Information Architecture provides set guidelines regarding the handling and maintenance of data, without a solid infrastructure that provides the hardware and software needed to support these plans, the business’ best intention will most likely fail. The fact is, that the future of any organisation is greatly dependent on its ability to meet its partners and customers expectations and terms at their pace, at any time of the day and in any location. This is why strong and flexible infrastructure is crucial for any business.

Describe How an Organisation Can Implement a Solid Information Architecture

In order to implement a solid information architecture, an organisation  must focus on the three primary areas of;

·         Backup and Recovery

·         Disaster Recovery

·         Information Security

 

Backup and Recovery. In order to create any solid information architecture it is important to create a suitable back-up and recovery plan in order to minimise the damage of a system crash. In this way, all important information should be regularly backed up so that an exact copy is stored away if needed. Then, in the event of a system crash or failure, the organisation will be able to recover much more efficiently and quickly get the system back up and running.

Disaster Recovery. As seen in the work of such firms as Continuity Planners Australia, Disaster Recovery is of crucial importance to every business. In order to implement solid information architecture, a disaster recovery plan must be put in place, outlining the process of recovering information and IT systems in the event of a catastrophe. In doing this, the organisation should plan ahead and ensure that the architecture facilitates the location of backup information, and supports the use of a hot or cold site in the event of the main building being destroyed.

Information Security. When large amounts of confidential and private organisational information is stored using technology, breaches of security can be catastrophic. For this reason, solid information architecture should provide for strict management of user access and the regular installation of up-to-date antivirus software and patches. One of the biggest security risks to data protection is often the use of multiple passwords and usernames, especially when it causes employees to  write them down in order to keep track of all their login details. To counter this, password management strategies such as Single Sign On (SSO) can be incorporated into the organisation’s architecture so that only one set of credentials is needed per employee.

List and Describe the Five Requirement Characteristics of Infrastructure Architecture

As seen in the image above, Infrastructure architecture is made up of 5 main characteristics;

Flexibility. Systems must be flexible enough to meet all types of business changes without having to redesign all its systems

Scalability. An effective system is able to adapt to increased demands. If an organisation grows faster than anticipated it might experience significant degradations. For this reason, trying to anticipate future demands is the key to building scalable systems.

Reliability. An organisation’s systems should function correctly and provide accurate information. If it fails to do so, the inaccurate data could result in information corruption.

Availability. The characteristic that addresses when systems can be accessed by users. All organisations should ultimately aim towards ‘High Availability’, where the system is continuously operational for a desirably long length of time.

Performance. All effective systems should be able to be measured to determine how quickly they perform a certain process or transaction. Low performance capacity can have a devastatingly negative impact on a business, and so organisations should conduct capacity planning to help determine future IT infrastructure requirements.

Describe the Business Value in Deploying a Service Oriented Architecture

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a business driven approach that supports the integrating of a business as linked, repeatable tasks or services. In this way, SOA brings value to the business, encouraging innovation by ensuring that IT systems can adapt quickly, easily and economically to support rapidly changing business needs.

The fact is that in today’s business IT environment, enterprise architectures flow across operating systems, applications, system software and application infrastructure. For this reason, when applications become redundant it is not always possible to build a new architecture from scratch. It is in this way that SOA is particularly valuable. To be successful, all organisations must be able to quickly and efficiently respond to changes.  By allowing organisations to plug in new services or upgrade existing ones in a granular fashion, SOA ensures this requirement can be achieved. In doing this, it enables the business to address any new business requirements and provides the option to make the services consumable across different channels.

What is an Event?

An ‘Event’ is an electronic message indicating that something has happened. In many ways it is the eyes and ears of the business expressed in technology, detecting threats and opportunities, and alerting those who can act on the information.



What is a Service?

A service is a set of related commands that can be re-used to fulfil certain objectives such as ‘credit check’ and ‘process payment’.  In this way, it is more like a software product than a coding project, and must both appeal to a broad audience and be reusable if it is to have any kind of significant impact on company productivity.



What Emerging Technologies can Companies use to Increase Performance and Utilise their Infrastructure More Effectively? In order to keep business systems up and running, today’s organisations must continuously monitor the emergence of new technologies that can be used to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively. Two of these technologies are;

·         Virtualisation

·         Grid Computing

Virtualisation is a framework for dividing the resources of a computer into multiple execution environments. It is a way of increasing physical resources to maximise the investment in hardware and consolidate and reduce hardware infrastructure.

 
Grid Computing is an aggregation of geographically dispersed computing, storage and network resources, coordinated to deliver improved performance, higher quality of service, better utilisation and easier access to data. In this way, it enables the virtualisation of distributed computing and data resources such as processing, network bandwidth and storage capacity to create a single system image where users and applications are granted seamless access to vast IT capabilities.