LO-1 + LO-2 + LO-3: 5+5+10 = 20

COURSE NAME: BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT

COURSE CODE: IBS4114
SELF STUDY – FALL 2018
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS (Weightage: 15%)

Instructions:

 Read the given Case Study

 Apply your understanding of Project Management concepts to the above case
 Submit HARDCOPY by answering the following after analyzing the case before 17th
November 2018

Answer the following questions:

1. Explain what activities of Project Management do you find in the given case. 5 Marks

2. Analyze the phases of Project Life Cycle for the above case study and identify the
activities of each phase 5 Marks

3. Assume that you are approached as an external consultant by Regal Tours and Travels
management to guide them on how to proceed further by using Project Management
approach. Develop a simulated project for the company by covering the following
aspects for guiding the company. 10 Marks

a. Objectives of the Project

b. Expected Time Lines
c. Strategies for improving Customer Service
d. Limitations of the project
e. Strategies for enhancing Customer Satisfaction
f. Expected cost of the project and its distribution to various activities

CASE STUDY

REGAL TOURS AND TRAVELS

Regal Tours and Travels is an international tour operator based in UAE. The company
is in existence for the past fifteen years and offers several local and international tour
packages to customers in UAE and abroad. During the last financial year, the company
increased its profit by 20% compared to last year’s profit. Mr. Mansour is the CEO of
the company which has 80 employees working in it. The entire management team was
highly excited by looking at the profits of the company. The CEO conducted an annual
board meeting to thank and congratulate all the employees for this outstanding
achievement of the company. He also attributed the profit and the performance of the
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company to the recently introduced Project Management approach in the company.
Mr. Mansour initiated this approach about two years back when he got trained on
Project Management tools and techniques.

The CEO expressed his idea of reinvesting the profit in new projects and expanding the
existing business of the company to new areas and new ventures in tours and travels.
He formed committee of three top level managers to develop a prioritized list of
potential projects and submit the project proposals to him within a month. He
mentioned to the committee that the funds will not be divided equally among the
three new projects. But, depending on the feasibility of the proposals, the funds will
be distributed. If necessary, only one of the newly proposed project may be accepted
and all the funds will be diverted to a single project.

Mr. John, Head of Project Operations of the company is one of the members of the
newly formed committee. He has several ideas for developing new projects. The CEO
advised Mr. John to complete the proposals as early as possible so that the new
projects can be launched immediately. The company found that many other
international tours and travel operators have already launched their new projects just
recently. Therefore, the present project has to be unique and should provide a totally
different experience to the customer. The CEO also informs the committee that the
new project is going to a risky one and its schedule would be very tight. It also needs
lot of new resources. The committee was asked to mobilize some of the resources
from the projects which were already completed last year. Mr. Abdullah is the head of
Customer Service department of the company. He is also part of the new committee
constituted by the CEO. He expressed his opinion that most of the existing tour
packages of the company have become outdated and its becoming tough for the
company to retain loyalty of old customers. Therefore, he is of the opinion that the
employees of the new project should be very smart with good communication skills
and knowledge of tourism.

Mr. Tyler has been working with the company for the past four years as Head of
Planning. During the meeting, he expressed his opinion that the company should
develop a detailed Project Life Cycle for the proposed new project and it should
analyze each phase of the project very critically from all the dimensions. The CEO,
being a project management certified professional, agrees to the views expressed by
Mr. Tyler and suggests the team to develop a PLC for the proposed new project.

Mr. Rasheed, the Manager of Business Strategy, is of the opinion that the company
should develop a simulated project for understanding the whole project from a
macroscopic perspective. The CEO feels that the opinion of Mr. Rasheed is
appropriate. But, the managers who are not part of the committee formed by the CEO
are skeptical about the project management approach as they feel that their company
being in tourism industry, doesn’t require project management approach. Some of
these managers were of the opinion that Project Management approach is only for
manufacturing companies and companies which have tangible products as outcomes.
They all expressed their opinion to the CEO and cautioned him on considering the
project management approach. The CEO differed with them and supported the project
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management approach by providing the outcomes achieved by the company after the
implementation of this approach. He informed the other managers about the
complete chaos in the management of projects prior to the implementation of project
management approach. But, the other managers were not fully convinced of CEO’s
explanation and continued to think that this approach would not yield better
outcomes.

The CEO was in a dilemma inspite of his firm belief about the success which can be
achieved through project management approach. He was worried about the
cooperation and motivation of all the other employees as they were not interested in
project management approach. He decided to take the advice of an external Project
Management Consultant to proceed further. Meanwhile, he asked the newly formed
committee to continue their work of exploring for new projects and submitting the
proposals for implementing the new projects.