Harrison Implementation Plan

Harrison-Keyes is faced with the dilemma of successfully completing a project within 30 days, that has been stripped of a large part of its budget and with poor planning and reporting. The new e-book venture has been a challenging undertaking and has lacked dedicated leadership and direction. This project was initially identified as being worthwhile and a source of profit. The team and I must use the premise of project management to put the project back on track.

In order for Harrison-Keyes to bridge the gap between the present and the future and fall in-line with the stated end-state goals, they must make changes in the processes and the direction in which the project has historically taken. The project plan must be re-evaluated with a more detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and a Scope of Work (SOW). This will require more time but is an important step towards restarting the project. Next, the new budget must be aligned with the new scope of work. This would involve creating a new project baseline that is set in stone. Any changes to the project baseline will set off a red flag and notify the stakeholders to take action. Continuing the project will require continued support from the CEO and the Board of Directors. They may at some point decide it best to kill the project instead of spending any more time and money on it. Last, they'll need to have a contingency plan in place. This plan will need to include backup strategies and funding for issues related to contingency reserves and management reserve funds if and when it is needed.

The optimal solution would be to combine a compensation plan and purchasing new software to integrate the information system with hiring an outside firm to help with digitizing the e-book. Hiring outside firm will bring the knowledge and skills necessary to digitize the e-book. Doing so will help reduce the amount of time needed to train the employees in digitizing. Digitizing e-books is very important, however the company is facing timing constraints, and therefore outsourcing would be the first step in helping reduce the project duration. Developing a compensation plan will help the employees understand the importance of the strategy and at the same time reward the employees for aligning with the strategy. According to Gray and Larson (2006), implementation requires allocation of resources, formal and informal organization that complements and supports strategy and projects, planning and control systems must be in place, motivating project contributors will be a major factor for achieving project success. The next step would be to purchase software to integrate the information system. Integrating the information system will allow the organization to review the correctly schedule resources, and identifies costs and project risks in clear, graphical formats. In turn, Harrison-Keyes can properly analyze the risk and plan accordingly. The optimal solution mention above will help achieve