Sample Program and Portfolio Management Assignment

PROJ6005 Program and Portfolio Management Assignment Sample

Governance and Stakeholder Management

Assignment Brief

Learning Outcomes addressed:

Evaluate the governance process within an existing contemporary project

Aim

Application of program management processes via a case study – Governance and Stakeholder
Management

1. Western Australian Auditor General (OAG). 2018. WA Schools Public Private Partnership Project.
Perth, West Australia: OAG.
Link: https://audit.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/report2018_11-PPP.pdf
o or see the reading list in BB for Assignment 2 

Resources

The following resources are needed in order to complete this assessment, these are available via your Leganto

Reading List in Blackboard:

Bourne, Lynda and Derek H.T Walker. 2005. “Visualizing and mapping stakeholder influence.”
Management Decision 43 (5): 649-60.

Governance and Stakeholder Management

This assignment is based on answering questions in regard to the Case Study assignment help from Assessment 2 (. In answering the assignment, make any necessary but reasonable assumptions.

1. Summarise the Governance problems and suggest solutions (30 marks)

2. Using Borne and Walker’s article, draw a Stakeholder Circle to show the influence and power of all
Stakeholders in this project. Remember to include a legend to clarify each stakeholder. (30 marks)

3. Using your Stakeholder Circle, Identify TWO key stakeholders, analyse their interests, influence and
distance, and suggest and justify how they should be managed. (40 marks)

Format

The assignment must be typed in A4 format in single space typing. Students should use the template provided in the assignment folder. All papers should be numbered. All assignments should be thoroughly checked for typing, spelling and grammatical errors before being submitted.

Word length should be approximately (1000-1500 words)

Points to note:

Submit your assessment via the Turnitin link under the Assessments tab in Blackboard (not through email or in person) by the due date.

Late submissions will be penalised as per the Curtin Late Assessment Policy in the Unit Outline.

All assessments should be referenced correctly (see unit outline for more details) and in accordance Curtin University policy.

All source material MUST be acknowledged and any form of plagiarism will result in the appropriate measures being taken. Do not copy other student’s work or assist by showing your work to others.

Solution

Introduction

The success of a project depends upon numerous factors. Project governance and stakeholder management are two such factors that can lead to the successful project outcomes if properly managed.

The report covers governance and stakeholder management aspects for WA Schools Public Private Partnership (PPP) project. WA Government signed a contract with EduWest in 2015 to design, build, and maintain eight schools. The completion time for the project is in 2047. It is a large-scale project will several stakeholders associated with it (WA, 2018).

Governance Problems and Solutions

It has been two and a half years since the contract between the two parties has been signed. The program is found to be on track. EduWest has been successful in the opening of four primary and first stage of a secondary school. The rest of the project activities are also on track. There are also a few issues identified in the project. The transition to the school operations in 2017 had a few complexities due to the underestimation of the resources by the Department of Education, DoE and EduWest. The lack of effective communication and training is another factors identified with the model. Such issues may further result in conflicts and disputes in the advanced project stages (Muller et al., 2016).

The project includes adequate high-level governance. Also, the work relationship between EduWest and DoE is also up to the mark. However, DoE does not have a well-defined contract management plan. DoE also lacks in the effective audit program to keep a track of the contract and the associated performance.

DoE has also not made it a point to implement adequate tools and processes for contract management. Since, the project is a long-term and large-scale project, constant auditing and performance checks are essential to determine and fill the gaps.

For effective governance, it is recommended for DoE to define a contract management plan. It shall focus on the terms and conditions, audit program and schedule, performance monitoring, and management. DoE must have a detailed audit schedule and it shall then be used to perform the audits to determine the existing gaps and areas of improvement. Training is one of the aspects that must be focussed upon.

Stakeholder Circle

There are several stakeholders involved in the PPP project. Each of the stakeholders involved has varied interest and level of influence in the project. For example, the WA Government and DoE are the stakeholders with high levels of interest, influence, and power to kill a project. The same goes for EduWest.

The Steering Committee and Senior Leadership also has major influence in the project as the decision-making authorities are provided to these stakeholders. The potential customers, such as the students and their parents have limited influence but they have the power to kill the project. The project is a long-term and large-scale project with several vendors and suppliers associated with it. These stakeholders may be from WA or the other remote regions with significant influence. This is because the delay in the supplies can have major impact on the project (Fontana, 2017).

Project team is also a significant project stakeholder with considerable influence in the project as a group.

Key Stakeholders

Department of Education (DoE)

DoE is one of the key stakeholders in the project with high levels of interest, influence, and power on the project. PPP project has provided a novel approach to deliver the school facilities and services. The shift from the existing methods to the new approach has been challenging. The initial project activities have gone well with the design and build of the schools as per the expectations and requirements. The challenges are observed in the transition and maintenance processes. DoE is the stakeholder responsible for the overall handling and management of the project. The stakeholder is accountable for the outcomes of the project and for any of the issues in the project.

DoE has acknowledged that there were gaps in initial management of the project activities, operations, and training. The stakeholder has the responsibility of carrying out effective governance so that the project goals and objectives are attained. DoE is the governing body of the WA Government with high interest in the project due to the positive impacts the project can have on the quality of education in the region. Also, the project involves massive costs and DoE has the responsibility to ensure effective distribution and usage of these costs. The level of influence is also high as DoE can make decisions for the project in terms of approvals, changes, audits, etc. It is directly in contact with EduWest to ascertain effective progress and performance of the project (Holloway, 2017).

DoE has identified the need to develop and implement contract management, performance management, and audit management plans. With these plans and programs, the stakeholder will be able to effectively guide the project teams and also make sure that the risks are prevented or managed well.

EduWest

The contract for the eight schools has been provided by the WA Government to EduWest. The contract between WA Government and EduWest has been signed for $631 Million.

EduWest has major interest in the project due to financial and non-financial returns attached with the project. EduWest will receive the recognition with successful delivery and completion of the project. Also, the returns and revenues generated as part of the project will be high.

The level of influence of EduWest on the project is also significant. This is because EduWest is the primary contractor for the project. The design and construction decisions along with the procurement, internal management, development, and maintenance are taken by the stakeholder group (Greenwood & Mir, 2018).
It is in direct contact with the DoE to discuss the individual schools’ requirements and the changes to be made in the designs or layout. Based on these discussions, the stakeholder group then implements the requirements and the identified changes.

Stakeholder Management Techniques

It is important to effective manage the stakeholders identified for the project.

Communication is one of the key aspects in the project and shall be used to manage DoE, EduWest, and all the other stakeholders associated with the WA PPP project.

The project shall include daily and weekly reporting of the project status to keep a track of the project progress and gaps. This will keep the stakeholders involved with the project and will also make sure that the stakeholders come up with the ideas on the changes and improvements. For example, the transition from the existing model has been a major cause of concern for DoE. The impacts of such issues are relevant on the other project stakeholders. With discussions and brainstorming sessions, it would be possible to identify the plans and strategies to implement.

EduWest must have an internal procedure of daily reporting and the compiled report shall be shared with the DoE. DoE shall then compile the reports and shall share the project status with the steering committee and WA Government (Eskerod et al., 2015).

Training and development is identified as one of the techniques to manage EduWest. EduWest has been successful in completing four primary schools and the first stage of a secondary school. There is a lot of work that is still required to be completed to meet the project goals. DoE shall perform performance and project audits on the work accomplished so far to identify the training needs for EduWest members. The organization and completion of training activities will improve the stakeholder engagement and it will also lead to the positive impacts on the quality of the project activities.

Every stakeholder has a varied interest and influence in the project. For example, the level of interest and influence of DoE is not the same as the project team or the suppliers. Similarly, the area of interest of each of the stakeholders identified is also different from the other. DoE is primarily interested in the compliance rate, project performance, variance, and quality. EduWest, on the other hand is interested in the project costs, requirements, implementation, design, and likewise. It is important to identify the level of interest and influence of the stakeholders along with the area of interest for each of these stakeholders. The power-interest grid will provide an understanding of the management aspects to follow. For example, both DoE and EduWest have high interest and high influence in the project. It is important that the stakeholders are regularly communicated about the project status, changes, and conflicts.

Conclusion

Stakeholder management is one of the key aspects in the project lifecycle. In the WA PPP project, numerous stakeholders are involved and are identified. DoE and EduWest are the two key stakeholders with high levels of interest and influence in the project. It is necessary that the stakeholders are managed with effective communication, reporting, engagement, and training processes. The use of governance and control by the DoE will also assist in the identification of the gaps and areas of improvement. It will be useful in stakeholder and the overall management of the project.
 

References

Eskerod, P., Huemann, M., & Ringhofer, C. (2015). Stakeholder Inclusiveness: Enriching Project Management with General Stakeholder Theory1. Project Management Journal, 46(6), 42–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj.21546

Fontana, E. (2017). Corporate Social Responsibility as Stakeholder Engagement: Firm-NGO Collaboration in Sweden. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(4), 327–338. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1463

Greenwood, M., & Mir, R. (2018). Critical Management Studies and Stakeholder Theory: Possibilities for a Critical Stakeholder Theory. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3234947
Holloway, G. (2017). Stakeholder Management. Xlibris Corp.

Muller, R., Zhai, L., Wang, A., & Shao, J. (2016). A framework for governance of projects: Governmentality, governance structure and projectification. International Journal of Project Management, 34(6), 957–969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.05.002

WA. (2018). WA Schools Public Private Partnership Project. https://audit.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/report2018_11-PPP.pdf