Case Study: International Business Venture

This case is about starting a new business in a foreign country. It involves research, marketing, finance, technology, and personal ethics. The main purpose of this is to help you practice some of the project management skills you are developing as part of your course.

Part 1: Initiating

Background Scenario:

You and several of your entrepreneurial friends have extensive experience and interests in a foreign country. You have decided to start a project to launch a new business in that country. The main goals of the International Business Venture Project are to prepare a business plan, get financial backing, handle legal issues, and develop marketing materials and other necessary items to open a business by one year from now. One of your success criteria is to recoup your investment costs after two years in business.

Here are some examples of business ideas:

For example, perhaps several of your team members have travel planning experience and want to start a travel excursion company in New Zealand. Your target market will be people over fifty who want to plan group excursions for birthdays, reunions, and other special events. Your company would provide full-service travel, including booking flights, hotels, restaurants, guided tours, and entertainment. Or perhaps your team wants to start a home health care business in Italy. Or you want to start a financial planning firm in Indonesia. Try to pick a business and country that interests you.

Tasks

1. Create a project charter for the New Business Venture Project. Assume the project will take one year to complete and cost at least $100,000 plus $10,000 per team member. Recall that the main project objectives are to prepare a business plan, get financial backing, handle legal issues, and develop marketing materials and other necessary items to open the business by one year from now. Your project team will not get paid for the hours they put into this project, but once the business opens, they

will be compensated. You will incorporate the business and hire a lawyer to help with this and other legal issues. Use the charter template provided on the companion Web site and review the sample in the text.

Part 2: Planning

Tasks

1. Create an initial scope statement for the project. Describe the characteristics and requirements of the main products you will produce as part of the project and list the deliverables you will create. For example, assume that marketing materials include a Web site, brochure, and customer list, as a minimum. Characteristics and requirements might include the Web site being available in several different languages and include e-commerce capabilities. Product-related deliverables would include the Web site, brochure, customer list, business plan, etc. Write at least one sentence describing each deliverable. For example, you might describe the business case product this way: "The business case will be about eight pages long, single-spaced, include an analysis of at least two competitors, and include a 5-year financial analysis. Use the template provided in the text book.

2. Develop a work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project. Break down the work to what you think is an appropriate level and include all of the products you will produce. Use the template provided on the companion Web site, and review the samples in the text. Print the WBS in list form as a Word file. Be sure the WBS is based on the project charter, scope statement, and other relevant information.

3. Create a cost estimate for developing the Web site, brochure, and customer list for your new business. Be sure to describe details of this estimate. For example, will the Web site include selling products or an e-commerce capability? How many brochures will you print? What information do you need to create a customer list? Be sure to include time for planning and incorporating feedback for all items. Assume that all or part of this work is outsourced. Be sure to break down this work in more detail as needed to create the estimate, and separate labor hours from other items. Update your WBS, if needed.

4. Use the WBS you developed above to create a Gantt chart for the project. You can use any software you prefer. Estimate task durations and enter dependencies, as appropriate. Include at least 5 milestones on this one-year project.

5. Create a quality checklist for ensuring that the business is ready to open its doors. Also define at least two quality metrics for the project. Use the template in the text.

6. Create a RACI chart for the main tasks and deliverables for the project. Use the template available in the text.

7. Develop a communications management plan for the project. Use the template available in the text. Create a probability/impact matrix and list of prioritized risks for the project. Include at least 10 risks. Use the templates available on the companion Web site and review the samples in the text. Also be ready to discuss your strategies for addressing key risks.