Project Management

Individual Report Introduction

 

The present consultancy report is aimed at analyzing the case of eMeDe, which is a Coventry based company. The company produces medical research equipment and the company performs more like a laboratory than a manufacturing unit. The company is aimed at growth and expansion by transforming itself into a research and development company. In this regard the company has developed plans to develop a wearable blood pressure monitor, and which would consist of an ECG and arrhythmia alert function. This product would be a major breakthrough in the field and would enable the company gain competitive advantage as there are no similar products in the market.   Therefore, this endeavor for transformation would necessitate well developed project management methodologies which would need to be followed. The present consultancy report shall include a detailed account of the project management methods and make recommendations by considering the key deliverables of the project. The theories of project management and tools and techniques shall also be evaluated in this case. The various aspects associated with project management in UK shall be highlighted in this regard and the best possible method shall be highlighted for the given business case. 

Analysis of Customer and Context 

The business case discusses the future vision for the eMeDe, which is a high tech engineering company which is based in Coventry, UK. Dr. Julie Andrews leads the company and the company specializes in producing equipment  which are important for medical research. eMeDe is to be transformed into a research and development company equipped with the latest technological advents and provide support to the healthcare professionals. The company is aimed expanding operations in the field of well being and healthcare, engineering, medical robotics, information technology, and electronics. The vision for the project in question pertains to developing a wearable, compact and innovative heart monitor. This has an ECG and arrhythmia detector and the same is connected to the smart phones of the patients. The application which is used in the smart phone is capable of sending alerts to up to 3 contacts in case any irregularities are observed in the heart rate.

 
This is an innovative approach towards prevention of fatalities due to heart problems. This product is being launched with a vision to make a difference for the heart patient, as the incidence of heart diseases has increased considerably. This would essentially be an important product which would cater to the increasing needs for monitoring heart patients. The mobile application makes it possible for the company to efficiently detect the issues in the heart rhythm and notify in case there are challenges. Therefore, this would be a novel solution for the heart patients and their families who can now feel safer, and more protected. In addition, eMeDe requires transformation from a mere medical workshop to a high-tech research and development unit. Therefore, it is important to develop an integrated strategic framework which would facilitate project design and delivery. Due consideration to the ISO standards would be important in this regard as the senior management of the case companies stipulated adherence to the same. 

PMM Literature Review 

Charvat, (2003) highlights the requirement of project management methodology in projects of various sizes, and the same depends on the size of the company considerably. The author further explains the need to ensure that the methodology chosen for the project is correct as this would make it possible to reduce costs, avoiding mistakes, meeting defined project schedules, avoiding excess documentation, and effectively identify and rectify any errors. This is especially so in case of product development and many project managers are often faced with limited time and resources. Incorrect project management methodology would therefore include issues and challenges such as schedule and cost slippage.
There are various methodologies for project management which shall be highlighted in the present case. Following this, the project management methodology which would be best suited to address the business case shall be recommended (Burke, 2013). In present day practice some of the common project management methodologies include Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Lean, Waterfall, Six Sigma, PMBoK, and PRINCE 2 (Wells, 2012). These are some of the important methodologies which are used and in the present business environment and four of these, namely Agile, Six Sigma, PMBoK and PRINCE2 methodologies shall be traced from the available literature. Out of these one shall be chosen and used for evaluation of the business case. 

⦁    Agile   

Agile is one of the most important project management methodologies in the modern context, and has wide applications in a variety of areas. The projects which may be iterative or incremental in nature are best managed by using Agile methodology. The various stages of the agile methodology have been depicted in the below figure:

Figure 1: Agile methodology 

The methodology is based on some core values, and these include priority of individuals and interaction over the tools and processes. The methodology further focuses on working software rather than involving comprehensive documentation. Again the methodology focuses on customer collaboration than, contract negotiation (Nicholas & Steyn, 2017). Agile methodology also involves responding to change over following a defined plan. There are some key components associated with agile project management and these include sprints, stand up meetings, agile board and backlogs (Špundak, 2014). Sprints may be defined as short iterations which take between one and three weeks to complete and the work is performed as determined during the sprint planning meeting. Stand-up meetings are also called as daily Scrum meetings. Further an agile board allows tracking of the progress of the entire project (Cervone, 2011). 

 ⦁    Six Sigma 

This is a method of project management which is more related to the manufacturing sector and was developed by the engineers at Motorola in the year 1986. Six Sigma is also a method of ensuring quality as this method helps reduce the number of errors in a process (Tenera & Pinto, 2014). This involves an identification of the elements which are not working in a process and removing the same from the process. Quality measurements methods are used in this case are generally statistical or empirical. There are two broad methodologies which are used by Six Sigma, and these include DMAIC and DMADV. Among these two, DMAIC is generally used for improving the business processes and DMADV are used for developing new products, processes and services. Six Sigma as a methodology has been depicted below in the diagrammatic representation: