Introduction
Honicker Corporation is a famous,
well-organized and one of the best manufacturers of dashboards for trucks and
automobiles. The services of this company were initially limited to the United
States; however, with time, Honicker Corporation managed to manufacture
dashboards and other similar goods for its global customers (Gustafsson, 2000).
In the past, Honicker Corporation was plagued with odd and ultraconservative leadership
that kept it from stepping toward a progressive and bright future, but nothing
could stop the company from achieving success. Today, it has been successfully
selling its products in over 200 countries worldwide. In 2009, Honicker
Corporation acquired four big companies, Delta, Gamma, Beta and Alpha and a
number of local firms. The process of project selection assesses each project’s
idea and selects the highly prioritized project. Honicker identifies the viable
projects that can be undertaken by various teams. For instance, in 2009, the
company selected four companies; Alpha, Beta, Gamma, as well as Delta to
manufacture dashboards in specific geographical areas in the world. It is
necessary for Honicker to identify the complex projects to be undertaken
although it is a time-consuming process. The project selection process is based
on the benefits as well as the feasibility of the project. While the benefits
are the reasons for undertaking the project, feasibility is a measure of the
project achieving its objectives. Project selection is vital to maximizing the
use of limited available resources such as funds and labor.
An Overview of the Simulation Scenario
The simulation of Honicker Corporation is
based on the geographical locations of its existing and newly acquired
companies, as well as its reputation worldwide (Robinson, 2005). There were two commonalities among these
companies: they serviced mainly in their own geographical area, and senior
management knew their geographical culture and held good reputation with their
stakeholders. A simulation is the imitation of the company in the real-world
process, and it represents the major features of Honicker Corporation, such as
the functions and behavior of selected abstract systems or physical processes.
The company uses simulation in different contexts of technology in order to
ensure its satisfactory performance, testing, and training of employees, and
optimizing great results. It is also used to show the real world effects of
varying courses of action and alternative options. The key issues Honicker
Corporation came across in this regard are the acquisition of new companies,
the validity of source data, and the final results. In order to deal with these
issues, Honicker Corporation opted for a variety of protocols and procedures
that are meant to verify the current simulation model and validate the ongoing
research in the field of technology.
The Intent of the Simulation Scenario
The purpose of this simulation scenario is to
help Honicker Corporation take the right decisions regarding what kinds of
dashboards should be introduced to the customers and how to improve the overall
performance of the management team (Browne et al. 2016). Another intention is
to apply necessary corporate changes to its current business model so that the
company can achieve the desired results and can defeat its competitors in a
short time. Alpha, Gamma, Delta, and Beta are the four main acquired companies
of Honicker Corporation so far, and it is believed that all of them can
contribute to its success to an extent. The process of project selection
assesses each project’s idea and selects the highly prioritized project.
Honicker identifies the viable projects that can be undertaken by various
teams. For instance, in 2009, the company selected four companies; Alpha, Beta,
Gamma, as well as Delta to manufacture dashboards in specific geographical
areas in the world. It is necessary for Honicker to identify the complex
projects to be undertaken although it is a time-consuming process. The project
selection process is based on the benefits as well as the feasibility of the
project. While the benefits are the reasons for undertaking the project,
feasibility is a measure of the project achieving its objectives. Project
selection is vital to maximizing the use of limited available resources such as
funds and labor.
The PMBOK® Guide Standards or Practices
Applicable to this Simulation Scenario
Just like other companies, a sustainable and
robust project management foundation is the key to success for Honicker
Corporation. Some of the main standards or practices that can be applied to
this simulation scenario are Project Quality Management, Project Resource
Management, Project Communications Management, and Project Risk Management. The
Project Quality Management is a method of determining the quality policies,
responsibilities and objectives of Honicker Corporation (Aziz, 2015). The
Project Resource Management is the process of organizing, managing and leading
the project team of the company in this particular simulation scenario, as well
as in other similar scenarios. The Project Communications Management is a way
of ensuring appropriate and prompt planning, creation, storage, management,
monitoring, distribution and marketing of the company products. The Project
Risk Management is a way to conduct risk management plans, identifying and
controlling the simulation quality, and ensuring that problems are avoided in
the future. The tasks involved in this process include project planning such as
the costs and deadlines involved and the project process. Apart from
structuring, project organization includes both configuration and organization
of the project process. The project organization is comprised of project
leadership, project team, and project board to manage the whole project,
implement the actual project, and make decisions respectively. After the new
management came on board in 2009, they decided to acquire companies around the
world to supply their products instead of expanding by building manufacturing
facilities in various countries. The senior management of the four companies
selected; Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta were required to implement the strategies
of the corporate. Although the Enterprise Project Management model of Honicker
worked well, the majority of the divisions experienced the challenge of having
the same level of project management maturity. Although Alpha had an EPM
system, the Beta Company was on the verge of learning how to use one. A project
schedule communicates the work that needs to be performed and the resources
required to perform the work at a given timeframe. All the work associated with
delivering the project on time reflects on the project schedule. Honicker uses
a project management software to track the project schedules and budgets. The
Work Breakdown Structure forms the building block of Honicker’s scheduled
start. Project estimating is crucial in project management. It involves
estimating the project’s costs, resources as well as duration. Estimating a
project can be a daunting task regardless of the project’s size or budget.
Project monitoring and control involves overseeing the project’s activities to
ensure the project is within the scope. The actual performance is then compared
to the planned performance and corrective action taken. Monitoring and
controlling process are carried out throughout the project’s lifecycle. Risk
management involves the identification, analysis, as well as responding to risk
factors in the course of the project’s lifecycle. Risk management involves the
control of future events. For instance, Honicker requires the development of a
contingency plan if the employees are not sure of the schedule.
Lessons Learned Based on the What-If
Assessments
I have learned a number of lessons from this
simulation project. First of all, I have learned that it is essential for a
company like Honicker Corporation to pay attention to providing its customers
with the desired quality dashboards, and at the same time, it will have to keep
the prices to a minimum. Secondly, I have learned that acquiring more and more
companies could benefit Honicker Corporation only when it creates a
sustainable, peaceful and friendly environment for employees. In addition, they
should be given salary increments, and weekly and monthly bonuses based on
their good performance, as well as should be provided with awards and prizes so
that they continue giving their best to the brand. I have scored average in
this simulation, and the results indicate that Honicker Corporation can
strengthen its business model in a lot of ways.
How Can the Simulation Experience Help
Advance My Career as a Project Manager?
As a project manager, I will have to
undertake a variety of simulation projects and may have to work under pressure
most often. What matters the most is how efficiently I accomplish my tasks and
what the percentage of satisfaction of my customers is. Through this simulation
project of Honicker Corporation, I have learned that it is the responsibility
of the project manager to oversee the main operations of a company and to
ensure its success at every stage and every level.
Conclusion
Conclusively, Honicker Corporation can
achieve a lot more success if the company trains its employees and encourages
them to work harder in the coming months. In addition, the company may have to
revise its series of dashboards and replace the old versions with latest and
better ones.
References
Aziz, E. E. (2015). Project closing: The
small process group with big impact. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress
2015. EMEA, London, England. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Retrieved from https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/importance-of-closing-process-group-9949
Browne, W., Dreitlein, S., My, H., Manzoni,
J., & Mere, A. (2016). Two key success factors for global project team
leadership: Communications and human resource management. Journal of
Information Technology & Economic Development, 7(2), 40-48.
Project Management Institute (PMI). (2016,
Sep). Improving capability with project management certifications: Telstra’s
story. PMI Publications. Retrieved from
https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/case-study/telstra-casestudy.pdf
Robinson, S. (2005).
Distributed Simulation and Simulation Practice. Simulation, 81(1),
5-13. doi:10.1177/0037549705052327
Gustafsson, L. (2000). Poisson
Simulation—A Method for Generating Stochastic Variations in Continuous System
Simulation. Simulation, 74(5), 264-274.
doi:10.1177/003754970007400501
