Assignment 2: Project Motorcycles You are a project manager for a medium-sized manufacturer of motorcycle cruisers. The engines in motorcycle cruisers, like the ones you manufacture, are usually categorized by size rather than the number of cylinders. In the past, your company has successfully manufactured and marketed the best-selling of these fuel-efficient cruisers that occupy the middleweight class. The rather nebulous middleweight class comprises motorcycles broadly ranging in engine size from 500 cubic centimeters, or cc, to 1000 cc. Executives at your company are now interested in motorcycles with larger motors and would eventually like to produce motorcycles in the touring class, specifically designed to excel at covering long distances with motors larger than 1100 cc. The proposed target market for these larger motorcycles consists of males between the ages of 35 and 60 in global markets. Price points for the larger motorcycles cover income ranges from $55,000 to $100,000. Management has decided that your company will meet the objectives stated herein within the next five (5) years. During the proposed changeover, the company will continue to manufacture the middleweight cruisers to serve its existing clientele. Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you: 1.Select one (1) of the types of project organization that would suit the development of the larger touring class motorcycles. Outline the process steps that your company would take in order to develop the motorcycle. Provide a rationale for the response. 2.Recommend one (1) strategy to the senior executives that the organization might use to balance short- and long-term needs. Specify the crucial resources that you would need as a project manager to run the existing business interests at the same time that the business changes to the production of touring class motorcycles. 3.Suggest the project management leadership style that is most conducive to overseeing the operation of the business growth plan. 4.Recommend at least three (3) risk mitigation strategies to address project plan details that might be forgotten or overlooked. Justify the selection.5.Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: •Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. •Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: •Design an organizational structure, staff a project office, and establish a communications system to effectively manage projects. •Analyze the role of executive management in the life of a project. •Apply the project manager’s critical skills, in terms of project leadership, team building, time management, conflict management, and effective communication with executive sponsors, peers, team members, and project clients. •Use technology and information resources to research issues in project management. •Write clearly and concisely about project management using proper writing mechanics. Click here to view the grading rubric for this assignment.
- Proposing and having approved your project topic. (2 references) (Week 1)
- Researching two publicly traded companies, and comparing and contrasting their methods of handling a significant change in their organizations. Analyze and write about images of change in those organizations. (4 new references) (Week 2)
- Diagnosing the change in those companies and their barriers and resistors. (4 new references) (Week 4)
- Analyzing and creating applications for a change project communication based on the change in one of your researched companies. (2 new references) (Week 6)
- Utilize multiple references using online research, Keller Graduate School of Management’s live or online libraries, perhaps your public library for print resources, and any other primary or secondary research source you feel would be appropriate for this project. You will complete an annotated bibliography at the end of the term of strong references to support your findings. At least 12 total references used in the project. (All term – bibliography due Week 7).
Do not use Wikipedia as a reference source. If you find useful information from Wikipedia, triangulate your research and find other, more credible source(s) which provide the same (or better) information, and then utilize the information from that more credible source in your paper and reference page/bibliography. Your project will have five separate parts, due throughout the term. It will incorporate the learning of the course as we go through – and hopefully will cement the process for you. At the end of the term, your final exam will contain 4 randomly selected Change Management questions based on YOUR Course Project companies and research findings as related to the course content, as well as other questions (multiple choice and essay) which are not specifically related to your project (but are related to Change Management course content!). Thus, the initial “topic selection†where you pick the companies you will research throughout the term is critical for you to ensure you are interested enough in the material that it will keep you engaged throughout the term. Here are some examples:
Example:Â Both Ford and GM experienced serious issues during the pre, during and post TARP period causing them to restructure and change how they do business. Each of them reacted to these pressures differently. A paper comparing and contrasting the way both companies reacted to this pressure would be very interesting and easy to set up in an organized fashion. Further, utilizing the images grid, you can discuss how they did handle these pressures (using which image) and how a different style of leader (image) might have handled it differently.
Example:Â Both HP and Home Depot have had issues with selecting a new CEO for their company. Reviewing the last 10 years of CEO history, a paper comparing and contrasting the pressures involved, and how they impacted the overall productivity of the companies would be sustainable throughout the term.
Example:Â Review any two companies in the airline industry, their entrance into (and possibly their completion of) bankruptcy, and how they handled the changes through management as a result. (i.e. United Airlines and American Airlines)
Example:Â Review any two companies who have recently been through some part of Merger and Acquisition change and how they handled the culture changes.
Example:Â Review any two companies who have had industry changes and how they have reacted either successfully, or unsuccessfully and how their reactions perhaps resulted in their success or failure. (i.e. Yahoo vs. IBM)
These are simply illustrative – you can do research and find any of many companies and topics of change which could work for this paper – and you are encouraged to do so. If you have questions or need more ideas, please ask your Professor for help!