Business flexibility
Business flexibility: The Unit 5 project assignment asked you to recommend how to influence your client, a large European holding company, which had acquired chains of do-it-yourself (DIY) stores in Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. You had achieved a good measure of success in setting up the teams to succeed and in getting the project back on track. Now, however, your client has delivered a project shock. Instead of just merging the retail chains in the five countries onto one IT application platform which would serve their mutual needs, the decision has been made to sell off these chains in order for the holding company to concentrate on a few core businesses and competencies. As such, the new, merged suite of applications
will need to appeal to multiple potential buyers and therefore be designed with maximum flexibility and suitability for interface/integration into as the as yet unknown IT systems used by the eventual buyer of these chains.
Project Requirements
Using MS Word, compose a minimum 3 page single-spaced paper in which you respond to the following three questions:
Identify and explain in detail at least two implications of this project shock in regard to its effect on the project team members and the design of the new IT system.
Identify and explain at least two actions the consulting team should take to make sure the project progresses to a successful conclusion.
Create a RACI chart depicting who in the client’s organization should be involved. You may find it helpful to consider the different types of client involved. At a minimum, the chart should include: the stakeholder executive from the holding company; the IT Directors from Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, and
Spain; the corresponding Store Operations Directors from the five countries; and you, the trusted consultant.
……………………Answer preview…………………….
IT consultants usually face events in which unexpected occurrences go against the planned measures. Planning should not only focus on the defining solutions to rectify the occurrences but also building business flexibility that will ensure adequate response to the unexpected events. In this scenario, a holding company based in Europe had acquired chains of stores in England, France, Italy, Belgium and Spain. After setting up teams to ensure that the project is back on track, the management of the company provides the shock that it will sell all the chains in order to concentrate on one branch………………………
APA
1730 words
