Professional Business Report & Regular Project Updates to Senior ManagementProgramme BSc (Honours) Oil & Gas Management
Level: Level 6
Awarding Body: Plymouth University
Module Leader Bora Alpar
Format: Professional Business Report & Regular Project Updates to Senior Management.
Presentation: No – weekly activity/issues log
Any special requirements: The business Report should be submitted on the Students’ Portal. Work to be presented in a professional manner and as directed by your lecturer.
Ability to deliver regular weekly updates in a succinct and professional manner and answer any senior management questions (as below) to show ability to manage a professional project on a regular weekly basis as a team.
Therefore being assessed on managing a project as a team and to deliver weekly project updates via use of a action/issues log.
Word Limit: 6,000 words (with 10% plus or minus leeway)
Deadline date for submission: Tuesday 19th April 2016
Learning outcomes to be examined in this assessment (please note that this is NOT the assessment task)
• Critically analyse the component parts of a major oil project.
• Evaluate the time and cost constrained project plan and complete a Critical Path Analysis on the project.
• Analyse the planning process and management of a major oil project.
• Discuss project management constraints of quality, time and cost.

Percentage of marks awarded for module:
• The assignment is worth 100% of your module mark.
Assignment
This project will constitute a phase of your firm’s annual operating plan for generating revenues and competitive advantage.
Task Requirements:
Identify a business issue/problem, or opportunity as below;
Assignment Background
As pressure increases to meet climate targets by nations & corporations, and on the use of fossil fuels, your oil & gas firm has taken a strategic move to reduce the amount of oil they produce for energy use and have turned to gas production, as it is cleaner, via the acquisition of a number of smaller gas firms, making it a “Gas Major”.
Assignment Task:
You have just started working for an oil and/or or gas company, and have joined a project team. To inform the market & customers of its newly acquired status you & your team have been tasked with an international short term project, with a duration of 3 months.
You need to come up with business report detailing the resources needed to produce this project. Other teams have also been asked to put together a report along the same lines and the best one will be selected by senior management before implementation begins.
Your project will be digital one. You are to upgrade the firm’s website, initially in two of its biggest centres, to better communicate with your customers, your new capabilities & also to allow them to conduct business via your digital channels. This should meet the overall business need, of achieving increased sales and competitive advantage.

For this:
In order to create “a well thought-out plan, including defined measures of success”, and to convince your CEO to be “willing to champion the use of digital technologies”.
Source: 18th Annual Global CEO Survey findings. Explore the data at www.pwc.com/ceosurvey

You, as a project group, will need to analyse your organisation’s current situation to establish a need for a specific project in this area that will improve or integrate with your existing operations. It should be a project that will help your company gain competitive advantage with a measurable outcome or improve operations in some way.
As you will be recommending the project the dates must be in the future.
The final report should be presented in the style of a formal report addressing your senior management team. Use business English and write in the third person e.g. “It is recommended that…” not, “I think we should do this…” Ensure your tasks are clearly signposted for the examiner by using good formatting, headings, and titles that relate to the assignment question.
Based on your chosen project you will be required to cover the following points, which will form the sections of your overall Report:

1. Milestone 1 (Week 2)
• Students to form groups of 5 members.
• Teams to convene an initial kick off meeting.
• The purpose of the project – why it’s needed and what will it achieve.
• Appoint Project Manager (PM) – as leader/spokesperson to deliver weekly team updates.
• A brief company background/snapshot – HQ location, operating territories, employees, revenues. (To be included in the appendices)
• A Project Plan: This meeting should produce a project plan to deliver against the milestones set out in the document via an issues/ activity log as a control method.
• Project’s Scope: What’s in , what’s out
• Show use of action/issues log to demonstrate that all work and responsibilities for the group have been set for all tasks.
o Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): week 2 (during the tutorial) – Succinct project progress meeting; use of activity/issues log covering how project is being controlled and delivered; how any issues are being dealt with. All to be included in your appendices.
2. Milestone 2 (week 3)
• High level analysis of:
• Business Environment – Micro and Macro (internal, external factors) – analysis via but not limited to PESTEL analysis &/or Porters 5 Forces.
• Why does a project need robust information/research: Discuss the Information/Research needs of your project – e.g. Primary/Secondary,
• Stakeholder Analysis
• Constraints Analysis (Internal and External).
o Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): As per instructions in Milestone 1.
3. Milestone 3 (week 4)
• Risk – The associated organisational risk in context.
o Sources/categories of risk & risk management,
o Risk Analysis using Force Field Analysis.
o Risk Control/ response/management Programme : – Risk category & type, Assessment/impact of risk on the company, Evaluation of probability, Response to the risk, Contingency planning
• Assess all resource capacity, capability and necessity relative to the proposed project:
o Resource Reviews – 5 Ms of management – Men, Minutes, Machinery, Materials, Money.
o Personnel Requirements – RACI Resource capacity, capability and necessity
o Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): As per instructions in Milestone 1.
4. Week 5: Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): As per instructions in Milestone 1.
5. Milestone 4 (week 6) – Robust cost benefit analysis.
SMART objectives
Cost benefit analysis
o Budgeting/ Type of budget used –
? Develop costing for the project based on identifying (research required – prices should be based on realistic indicative figures) the main components that you will need).
? You will need to set the budget and discuss critically the type of budget used to carry out the project
Costs/Budget for the project
Financial Benefits
Forecast, ROI, Payback, Breakeven
Non financial benefits
o Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): As per instructions in Milestone 1.
6. Week 7: Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): As per instructions in Milestone 1.
7. Milestone 5 (week 8) – Scheduling
Implementation/schedule plan for the project, and communicating with stakeholders (internal and external) using project management techniques of:
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Gantt Chart
• Critical Path
• Project Control
• Methodology
• Communication Plan
o Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): As per instructions in Milestone 1.
.
8. Week 9: Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): As per instructions in Milestone 1.
.
9. Milestone 6 (week 10)

Discuss how the project will be:
• Terminated & Hand over
• Evaluated via Post Implementation review (PIR) and use of appropriate evaluation methodology.
• An overall Conclusion to the business Report.
o Presentation of Activity/Issues Log to Project Sponsor (2 mins max): As per instructions in Milestone 1.
.
All Milestones are a group assignment and so each group is expected to be present at every week’s project update.
Notes:
• Word count will not include material presented weekly.
• No feedback will be given on weekly presentations.
• Individual absence from weekly up-date will not impact others in team who update.