Masters in Project Management

[Shane Devries]

Hi,

I have just begun an 8 subject Masters degree down here in Australia at the university of USQ.

I have come from a manufacturing background where I was placed in charge of the integration of a new product we manufacture here (a retaining wall system) into the market in the form of display walls that were kit formed out to our clients and installed by a subcontractor.

Previous attempts of new product integrations into the market were very poorly carried out, no one was placed in overall management of it, no documentation was properly recorded and thus no quality policies came out of them to benchmark against.

I was placed as you can imagine into the position of Project Manager of the latest integration because the management decided it was about time to get things right. They saw me as a very process orientated person who could plan, carry out and control the whole process from beginning to end because of my desire for accuracy and procedure.

Problem was as I stated I had pretty much zero to start with and had to formulate a plan and action it from scratch. I immediately begun by speaking separately with each department involved and gaining a feel for what they did, what they needed, what they focused on and what might cause delays or issues. I came away with some valuable information such as time needed to manufacture the product, cure it, split it and pack it for delivery. This information greatly helped me set up a guideline for establishing an expected eta on delivery to the customer. Knowing that I had to send out this product in kit form to over 50 clients over a 4 week period and have the subcontractor install them by region (location) for ease of travel you can see I had a massive task to carry out as best I could.

While doing all of this I also had to liaise with all stakeholders, establish time lines and coordinate every last detail. Customers demanded this project be carried out perfectly because previous integrations had gone south. On top of that I had to report weekly to management on progress and have my procedures I designed signed off by management, implemented and documented for a new Quality Manual so they could be benchmarked for future similar projects.

This brings me to where I am now, I am studying Quality Control currently and have an assignment on this topic. As I stated I know what I did and how but framing it into an assignment has become difficult for me. I know I will get it done eventually but I would appreciate any advice you might have on how to discuss critically my assignment and which authors might be able to help me with Quality Control in my assignment?

I am using Kerzner, Westland, Lock, PMBOK book, etc but I need information from say, Deming, Juran and Crosby...or anyone else you might offer, yourself included.

Regards
Shane Devries