Online System Development Project Management

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Requirement

A report (aprox 4000 words) which must include the following:
-As a part of your project plan identify SMART objectives as well as the key stakeholders relevant to your project. Assumptions should be stated clearly.

identifying the work packages and activities keeping in mind the expected time of completion. You should make sure the individual activities are clearly identified, and that
any dependencies and parallel activities are made clear. You should include Identify the costs associated with your project. You should include staff, equipment, other
resources and consumables together with any fund set aside for contingencies.
Dissect the situation for systems development you see here in terms of the 5 Ps introduced
in the first lecture: Problem, Process; Project; Product; People
Coach Travelling
Online System Project Development

Solution

Introduction

This paper is concerned with the development of the online system for Coach-Travelling Company. The company is into travel and tour in the United Kingdom. It provides small luxury group tour programme in Europe. The number of travellers per group stays at 40 per person. The company provides the opportunity to various travelling packages for the number of travelling destinations in the Britain, Ireland and other parts of the Europe. The present method used by the company is majorly offline. The customers reach the company through newspaper advertisements, leaflets given at the hotels, or when the clients themselves pay the visit to the company with their travel needs. The entire process is based on the word of mouth advertising. The main customers group of the company at present are the individuals who are about to retire or who have retired already and looking for travel opportunities. 
Recently, the company felt the need to extend the way it works and include different way to attract the customers. The company has planned to capture the young generations who are interested in traveling. Moreover, the company wants to become active in attracting the customers than being passive and allow the customers to reach them. Therefore, the company is willing to set up online booking system for the various travel needs. There will be two aspects that will be developed, the first is online booking system and another is mobile application. The current focus is on online booking system and the mobile application is in its nascent stage and is likely to be developed in the future. The chapters ahead in this paper shows various aspects of online booking system and the way entire project will be managed, developed, and implemented.

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SMART Objectives

There are four objectives that have been identified for the development of the online booking system. It is expected that after the implementation of the entire project these objectives will be achieved. There might be multiple objectives within these major objectives that will be seen during the project development.

Objective #1

The first objective is to understand the need of the customers and the staffs who will be using the online booking system. It is important to understand the need of them as the success of the project will depend on how successfully they are able to use the system. The first 10 days will be spent on learning the needs of clients and staffs. The customers and staffs will be affecting the attainment of this objective.

Objective #2

The second objective is to develop a project module that will be used to develop the online booking system for the company. The project planning will be done within the next 15 days after the achievement of the first objective. The use of MS Project will be facilitated for the completion of this objective. The senior management will be affecting the attainment of this objective.

Objective #3

The third objective is to successfully implement the entire project and develop the online booking system. The goal would be to complete the project within the given budget of 70,000 and within the six months of time. The budget and time constraints are likely to play important goal in the project implementation. The project team members will be affecting the attainment of this objective.

Objective #4

The fifth objective is to train the staff members to use the newly developed system. It is important that the staffs learn to use the system as they will be handling the customers. Therefore, understanding of how the entire online system works to help the customer will aid them in successful customer management. The time-period for this objective will be three weeks. The staffs will be affecting the attainment of this objective.

Key Stakeholders

There are various stakeholders who will be impacting and getting impacted by this project. The stakeholders are either internal to the project or are external to the project (Nwecombe, 2003). There are eight project stakeholders associated with this project that has been identified for this project. They are mentioned below:

  1. Project Leader: The project leader is also called as the project manager who handles the entire project activities (Briner et al, 1993). The project leader will be also acting as the liaison officer between the various stakeholders. The project success and failure mostly depends on the way the project leader handles the entire project activity (Cleland, 1986). The project leader is an internal stakeholder to the project. 

  2. Project Team Members: The project team members are the internal stakeholders who will be directly working on the project development and implementation. There will be five to eight individuals who will be working on the project. The failure or success of the project depends on the way the team members work on the project. It is important that the members work in coordination with each other. 

  3. Senior Management: The senior management is the external stakeholders of to the project. The senior management provides the resources that are important for the project success such as time and budget. In this project, the board of directors can be said as the senior management who is the owner of this project. They will be most impacted after the success and failure of this project. 

  4. Project Customer (Staffs): The project customers are those who finally use the developed and implemented system (Kerzner, 2013). The first project customers are the company staffs. The project will impact the way they will conduct their activities. Therefore, they are likely to be more interested in the project development. Regular inputs are expected from them for the project development. 

  5. Project Customer (Client): Another group of project customers are the client (the younger travellers) who are external to the organization and will be using the system to book orders for the various trip packages. It is important that the system builds as per their preferences and the way they use the system.

  6. Resource Managers: The resource managers are the internal stakeholders to the project who will be arranging the resource that are required for the project development. The resource manager for this project will also be managing the budget of the project. The resources such as hardware components and software required for the project development will be provided resource managers. The resource manager will be impacted as the reputation stays at stake if failed to deliver required resources on time. 

  7. Line Managers: The line managers are the individuals who will be handling the activities of the staffs working within the company. The line managers are handling the 80 staffs of the company and the project success is concern to them as the success of their managing the business functions depends on how successfully their respective staffs learn and use the new system.

  8. Project Testers: The project testers are the internal stakeholders who will be testing the developed system and will assess whether the system has been successfully implemented. They will act as the quality managers within the project. The stake is high for the project testers as the failure to successfully assess the project might result into fallen reputation. 

This chapter is concerned with providing detailed descriptions of the problem, process, product, and people associated with the company’s project development. Understanding these aspects is important to ensure that the project implementation takes places successfully. 

  • Problem: The company has observed that it is catering to only one customer segment through its services and they are either retiree or those who are about to retire in few days. The company was doing well with these set of clients for the past few years, but now it has observed that the market is getting competitive and emergence of more travel and tour companies are dividing the customer pie. This is the matter of concern and the company is willing to change the way it conducts its business and target the new set of customers other than the current one. The company has planned to resolve this issue through targeting young customers and implementing online booking system. It will help tech savvy generation to book trips online and also help company staffs create online profile of the customers who book through phone. The company is expecting that the implementation of the new technological aspect to the operational process will fast track the activities and will also ensure effective management, from client to the staffs. 

  • Process: The new process that will be developed will allow the customers to select preferred travel package and book online. Moreover, the customers who are willing to book through book through telephone calls can also do that. The staffs at the company will be receiving those calls and then creating the profile for the new customers on the new online portal. For the existing customers, the staffs will go through various verification processes and then open the existing account and enter the details for the new trip. The purpose is to make the entire operation online for seamless functioning. The customers will have options to provide feedback about the visit and experience through the online system. They can rate the experience on various parameters and write any suggestions or complains they have. The new system will provide conventional check in and check out options related to package selection and purchase. 

  • Project: The project module has been considered for the development of the online booking system for the company. The company will hire project manager from the outside and it will be at the discretion of the project manager to hire number of staff required to complete the project under the given budget. The project deadline given by the management to complete is six months and the budget given is 70,000. The company board of directors expect this project to be complete within this given constraints. The project manager will also be accompanied by project resource manager and project testers. The resource manager will arrange the resources and the testers will see if the project developed by the project manager is doing very well. The project activities will be defined the project manager (it has been shown in the chapter related to Gantt chart). 

  • Product: The product that will be finally developed will be an online booking system that will be used by the staffs and the customers. The online booking system will be accessed through the browsers and the customers will be able to book trips by creating their profiles through the system. The product will help the staffs effectively manage the entire booking slots. The available dates for booking and other modules will be managed automatically. The online system will also provide option to give various offers to the client based on the number of years they took service from the company and the amount they spent on their visits. These parameters will be assessed by the system and offers will be provided that can be availed by the customers on their next trip. The online system will also help the management in getting the instant report of overall availability, payment, trends, and others to get the picture of what is happening at the sales point.

  • People: The people within the project will be working towards the development of the project and will ensure that the project completes successfully. There are various modules that are to be completed and the feedback from the customers, clients, and the board of directors will be taken to ensure that the team members deliver what is required. It is expected that the people on the project will be working in coordination till the project completes and will not leave in the middle the project process. The expectation is that the board of directors will be giving enough support to conduct the project efficiently and effectively. The project manager or the project leader will be the key person handling the project as it will be responsibility of the project manager to complete the project on time and deliver the final product.

Rich Picture - Root Definition and CATWOE

The development of the root definition is an important aspect when designing the soft systems methodology. The root definition is concerned with thoroughly describing the system and stating the activities that take place within the organization. There are three aspects in the root definition, namely, what the system does and how it does. The third and also important aspect understands why behind the working of the system. The best way to formulate the root definition is to use the CATWOE analysis method. CATWOE is a mnemonic and it refers to Customers, Actors, Transformation, Weltanschauung (World View), Owners, and Environment (Bergvall-Kåreborn, 2004). The customers refer to those who will be using the system. The actors are those who will carry out the process. The Transformation refers to the process that changes the input into the output. Weltanschaung refers to why the system is being developed and its ultimate purpose. The owners are those who paid for the system. The environmental concerns includes the likely impact on external parties and reciprocal impacts. 

Client

The clients of the system are the company staffs, board of directors, and customers. They will be using the system on regular basis. The staffs will be handling the customers through the system and providing assistance to them on the various trip packages. Moreover, the staffs will be using the system to advertise to the clients about the new offers company has on various tour packages. The board of the directors or the management of the company will be using the system to assess the current situation of the company based on the reports that will be generated by the system. At present the board of directors are facing challenge in extending the sale of tour package due the increased competition in the market which is likely to be resolved through the implementation of the new system. There is likely to be different reactions from the clients of the new system. The success of the system will help the management successfully strategize their next move to attract more customers (particularly young generation). The customers will be able to successfully interact with the company through the new system and easily know about the new offers on the go. The reactions of the staffs might be negative as they will not prefer to change the way they are working as they have to spend time on learning new thing and there is fear of job loss if they fail to adjust to the new system. 

Actors

There are two types of actors involved in the new system. First is the project manager and the team who will be developing the new system for the use and the second is the staffs who will be carrying out the activities further. The company is hiring the project manager who will perform the development and the impact on the project manager will be positive as it is an opportunity to earn, learn and show credibility and experience. The reaction of the staffs (anyone assigned in the project development by the company on the demand of the project manager) can be two ways, either they will like contributing or react negatively. 

Transformation

The new system will collect customer data and convert them into useful information for everybody within the organization. The internal process of transformation of the input will be facilitated by the system on its own and no major intervention is required. The input in the system will be from customers and the staffs working within the company. The inputs are customer personal information related to payment and the trip they want to enjoy. The source for inputs is these two only. The inputs will be converted into various outputs as suitable. The generation of payment confirmation, trip confirmation, report for the management, update to the staffs and customers are some of the outputs that can be witnessed. The steps associated with the inputs and outputs are short while the rest of the process will be facilitated by the system itself. The internal mechanism of the system will be designed as such that minimum external intervention will be required.

World View (Weltanschauung)

This refers to the bigger picture related to the system development. The system will be facilitating effective client handling and management. The new online booking system is expected to resolve the issue of targeting the new found target customers and help the company increase its client base in the market while staying ahead of the competitors. The company is facing challenge due to the mushrooming of similar companies in this sector and it is important that the company evolve itself to gain the advantage of the experience it has garnered in the past few years. It is expected that the new online booking system will have wider impact on the customer handling process, and management of other operational activities within the company. The operational procedures that used to be mostly manual, lengthy and time consuming are expected to become efficient after the successful implementation of this new system.

Owner

The real owners of the online booking system are the board of directors. They are willing to change the way the company is working and are expected to support in the development and implementation processes of the new system. They are likely to be supportive to the development of the new process this system will facilitate. The reason behind their support is their awareness about what is happening in the market and how this new system will help the company resolve the issue the company is likely to face in the days to come. The board of directors are motivated towards the development and implementation of the new system and their help is expected to be positive. 

Environment

The idea is to develop an online booking system that will facilitate the effective operation of the various activities within the organization such as client handing and management, and others. However, there are certain constrains that are expected to impact the successful implementation of the system. The lack of experience of the organization is likely to impact the project development. Moreover, the inability of the team members formed from the external individuals is likely to pose challenge to the work culture within the organization. This might delay the project development. Moreover, the changing external environment regarding customer taste and preferences might impact the new system. It is likely that the system that is being developed might not be liked by the customers for whom it is being developed. These issues can be mitigated if certain aspects are considered. The selection of only those members who will fit the organizational culture should be preferred by the project manager. The lack of experience of the company in the online system should be managed by open assistance and support from the project manager. Moreover, the continuous feedback mechanisms with the customers for whom the system is being developed can ensure that the system is developed as required and not away from reality.

System Requirements

This chapter is concerned with describing the functional and non-functional requirements of the new system that is being developed by the project team. The requirements are:

  1. The system should be able to display various holiday packages to the customer visiting the site.

  2. The customers should be able to browse and search the available trips.

  3. The customers should get 15% discount when booking through online. 

  4. There should be option to select any trip either WeeklyTrips or FamiltyTrips. 

  5. There should be option to customization of trips based on personal choice and preferences.

  6. Customers should be able to create online profile and Staffs can do the same on behalf of customers who make telephonic calls.

  7. Staffs can have the options to verify the existing customers and log into their profile.

  8. Accessibility of all trips should be with staffs so that they can inform customers correctly of available dates, package, price, and other things.

  9. Shopping basket and check out functions should be there for customers who want to place online orders.

  10. Option for seat preference should be there: window seats, adjoining seats, or aisle seats.

  11. Check out option for the customers who want bill settlement through profile

  12. Option for order cancellation or amendments should be there for staffs and customers

  13. Automatic availability test by system for seats, holiday package, and card details (connection to VisaCheck).

  14. System should send automated offers based on customers previous track record.

  15. Staffs can send emails to client and reply to queries. 

  16. Manager can enter cost for each trip individually. 

  17. Option for advance scheduling (three weeks in advance) for manager

  18. Automatic update customer preference if change in coach occurs with automated generation of new tickets for each customer.

  19. Customers can give feedback through the system.

Additional Functionalities

There is some additional functionality that has been identified for the online booking system as discussed in the next section. Moreover, as the new system will be accompanied by the mobile application. Therefore, the functionality for the mobile app has been discussed also.

Additional Functionalities of Online System

The additional functionality for the online system should be to send the SMS to the phones of the customers about the trip updates. This will ensure that even if the customers do not have access to the internet at a point in time, then they should be able to get the confirmation of the booking and the amount they paid to the trip. 

Additional Functionalities of Future Mobile App

The mobile app is not in the process of development, though most of the functionality will be pulled from the online booking system. One of the additional functionality that should be in the mobile app is the notification feature. This will help the company in giving advertisements at intervals and offers. 

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References

  • Bergvall-Kåreborn, B., Mirijamdotter, A. and Basden, A., 2004. Basic principles of SSM modeling: an examination of CATWOE from a soft perspective. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 17(2), pp.55-73.

  • Briner, W., Geddes, M. and Hastings, C., 1993. Project leadership. Gower Publishing Company, Limited.

  • Cleland, D.I., 1986. Project stakeholder management (pp. 275-301). John Wiley & Sons, Inc..

  • Kerzner, H.R., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

  • Newcombe, R., 2003. From client to project stakeholders: a stakeholder mapping approach. Construction Management and Economics, 21(8), pp.841-848.


 

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