EAC MBA Project Management - Railway GDS Distribution - Westbahn

Railway GDS Distribution
Project Management Coursework
Simon Riha
Cohort 13, Aviation Management
Emirates Aviation College
May 14, 2012

EAC PM Railway GDS Distribution Simon Riha
May 14, 2012 2
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 3
BUSINESS CASE ASSESSMENT 4
PROJECT PLANNING AND SCHEDULING 8
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS) 9
PROJECT ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE 11
NETWORK DIAGRAM AND GANTT CHART 12
PROJECT MONITORING AND CONTROL 15
PROJECT RISK AND REDUCING UNCERTAINTY 20
CONCLUSION 24
REFERENCE LIST 25
APPENDIX 1: A BOSCARD TABLE EXAMPLE 26

May 14, 2012 3
Introduction
This coursework examines development of a strategic project plan for
implementing train connections in the airline Global Distribution Systems (GDS).
Railways in GDS have been a topical topic for past fifteen years, as long as the
industry has been internationalized through liberalization and demand for
interlining between airlines and railways (so-called “rail & fly”). Though some
GDS distribution solutions for railways have been released, they have remained
marginal and have not become any industry standard.
In particular, Westbahn, the first private railway in Austria, has approached
Hahn Air, a German airline specialized in global distribution, to make their trains
saleable in GDS in manner as if their trains were flights.
This work examines the project development process from initial business case
assessment and proceeds through project planning and scheduling, project
monitoring and control to managing risk and reducing uncertainty. When doing
so, the work concentrates on studying procedures helping Hahn Air create such a
project in the existing environment of small and medium enterprises without
any corporate project management structures, such as project management
office, project steering committee, and so forth.
Based on research of available project management sources, this coursework
suggests a few efficient methods and techniques appropriate for this kind of
project and environment in order to facilitate and speed up the project plan
development.

May 14, 2012 4
Business Case Assessment
When thinking of the commercial idea to publish Westbahn rail connections in
airline distribution systems, the first question to be answered is how to kick off
such a business project.
Nicholas & Steyn (2012, pp. 83-162) describes a method for project initiation
and definition as a part of their thorough Project Management Lifecycle
methodology.
In the project conception and definition phase, Nicholas & Steyn recognize Project
Initiation (for example, in the form of a vision statement as in Microsoft Corp.)
followed by Initial Investigation comprising of clarification of a problem,
evaluating possible solutions, interviewing managers and users, collecting initial
data, reviewing existing documentation, and so forth. At this point, they refer to
Project Portfolio Management to decide whether the project qualifies or not.
Next, they proceed to Project Feasibility to conduct a feasibility study, that is, to
identify alternative solutions, to further analyze the points of issue and also to
evaluate a possible environmental impact. They continue to the functional and
non-functional requirement analysis, for instance, by using methods such as
Requirements Breakdown Structure and House of Quality. The outputs of their
project conception and definition phase are detailed documents called Statement
of Work, Scope Statement and Project Master Plan.
Nicholas & Steyn (2012, p. 558) note: “To accommodate projects of different size
and complexity, the methodology can be ‘scalable’.”
Considering the size of the Westbahn project, size of the both companies,
duration, importance and complexity of the project, the project initiation and
definition stage can be scaled down.

May 14, 2012 5
One of simplified approaches for project initiation and definition is called
BOSCARD. It originated with Cap Gemini consulting company in the 1980s. The
acronym stands for background, objectives, scope, constraints, assumptions,
risks and deliverables, which altogether constitute a usual baseline for project
initiation documents. BOSCARD is practical for providing a complete bottom line
for quick and brief project outlines when still delivering all important project
information to stakeholders, without having to undergo the entire exhaustive
project initiation procedure resulting in a full project initiation document.
(Haughey, n.d.)
An example of the use of the BOSCARD is attached in Appendix 1. It illustrates its
well-arranged structure and brevity while still providing the wide high-level
characteristic of the Westbahn project. Such a BOSCARD can be created, for
instance, by discussing and brainstorming particular BOSCARD sections in a
small group of key managers and engineers at short time. Findings and results of
such a brainstorming sessions are documented in the BOSCARD table.
Focusing on one particular BOSCARD section, that is, in particular, the scope
definition of the Westbahn project, a decision has to be made, which features and
functions to deliver in the project scope and which to leave outside of its scope.
Grundy & Brown (2002) suggest a few useful diagnostic methods providing a
solid framework for strategic analysis and decision-making: Performance Driver
Analysis, Gap Analysis and Fishbone Analysis.
Grundy & Brown postulates that Performance Driver Analysis is useful for
turnaround projects, diagnosing organizational issues and difficulties, and
defining problems to improve business performance. Ansoff (1965)
characterizes Gap Analysis as a classic, strategic planning technique particularly
useful for linking strategy development, business breakthroughs, business plans
and shareholder value creation. Fishbone Analysis (Grundy & Brown, 2002)
provides a method for going beyond an immediate definition of a problem or
opportunity. Chapman (n.d.) states that fishbone diagrams are useful for early

May 14, 2012 6
planning such as organizing factors and identifying hidden factors during
brainstorming.
Based on Chapman, Fishbone Analysis is a fitting technique how to decide on the
project scope. For, the business case assessment of the Westbahn project is an
early project planning stage. The scope analysis requires revealing, identifying
and organizing features and functions, which shall be considered in or out of the
project scope.
Using the fishbone diagram technique, a brainstorming group can start defining
the functional scope by first setting the ultimate functional goal. It may be, for
instance, “passenger resting aboard peacefully” in this particular case. Beginning
from this very end, going backwards, the fishbone diagram can easily portray all
preceding features and functions to consider in the project. Other features and
functions, found less important or redundant, may be excluded from the scope
or, for instance, postponed for later versions.

May 14, 2012 7
Figure 1: Fishbone Diagram1
As previously described, the outputs of the project conception and definition
phase are documents called Statement of Work, Scope Statement and Project
Master Plan in the methodology by Nicholas & Steyn.
In the Westbahn project, BOSCARD obviously covers Statement of Work and
Scope Statement. A pending part, Project Master Plan, is worked out in the next
stage of the project – project planning.
1 A generic fishbone diagram template in MS Excel format was downloaded from
<http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/6179.aspx>

May 14, 2012 8
Project Planning and Scheduling
Nicholas & Steyn (2012, p. 163) state that every project is unique in some way.
Every project thus poses new questions regarding what, how, by whom, in what
order, for how much and by when. They define five questions, which the
planning process has to answer before the work itself can commence:
1. “What?” addresses project objectives, scope and system requirements
(project deliverables, end-items, and other sought results, time, cost
and performance targets).
2. “How?” answers the question on definition of all work activities, tasks
and jobs to achieve objectives and requirements (to deliver end-items
and deliverables, including planning, control and administration
activities).
3. “Who?” specifies project organization – individuals, departments,
managers, who will perform and manage the work including defining
clear responsibilities.
4. “When, in what order?” is addressed by the schedule showing timings,
deadlines and milestones.
5. “How much and when?” is to create a budget and resource plan to fund
and support the project.
6. “How well?” is to specify a method for tracking and controlling project
work.
The first question “what” has been previously answered by means of the
BOSCARD and Fishbone Analysis.
Next three questions, i.e. “how”, “who” and “when/in what order” are going to be
answered in this section of this work. The fifth question “how much/when”, is out
of scope of this paper. The last question “how well” is addressed in the next
section of this coursework devoted to project monitoring and control.

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Back to the questions “how” and “who”, a prevalent method for answering them
in project management is so-called Work Breakdown Structure.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Nicholas & Steyn (2012, pp. 169-177) recognize Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS) as the optimal method for exactly specifying all tasks and jobs the project
team must do. WBS answers the second question “how” and the third question
“who”.
WBS process starts with defining the main end-item or deliverable of the project
on the top, which is understood as a certain system. This system can be further
subdivided into subsystems and further smaller components. Thus, the project
outcome or deliverable can be divided into final parts – so called “work
packages”, which simplify scheduling, budgeting and assigning responsibilities.
Nicholas and Steyn recommend that work packages shall be well define in terms
of clearness, comprehensiveness, resource requirements, time, costs,
responsibility, outcomes, inputs, quality and risk. Only if the most of these
properties are satisfactorily worked out for each WBS box, such a box can be
considered as well defined and becomes a work package.
WBS may also be used to answer “who”, since each work package can be exactly
assigned someone’s responsibility. WBS can be integrated into the project
organization to clearly assign which team or department is in charge of each
particular work package. This can be documented by so called Responsibility
Matrix attached to WBS.
WBS can be constructed either from product or functional perspective,
depending what the end-item or deliverable of the project is. Nicholas and Steyn
further advise to constantly ask questions “What else is needed?” and “What’s
next?” when creating WBS.

May 14, 2012 10
Nicholas and Steyn (2012, p. 173) also recommend that WBS may include work
packages related to project management itself, such as schedules, plans, budget,
risks and so forth.
Applying WBS in the Westbahn project, it is created by repeatedly answering the
question what all is needed for the principal deliverable, that is, to make
Westbahn saleable in the airline GDS. Since distribution is rather a process and
function than any product or end-item, this particular WBS approaches the
deliverables primarily from the functional perspective. As recommended by
Nicholas & Steyn, Westbahn WBS includes work packages related to pending
project management issues. Finally, each work package is assigned to a
particular worker, team or department to define and assign responsibilities.
Figure 2: Work Breakdown Structure
The advantage of WBS method is that it provides a complete structured high-
level overview of all the elements, tasks and jobs to deliver the end-item or
deliverables expected from the project. Another advantage is a possibility to

May 14, 2012 11
clearly assign each box to a department, a team or an individual person to
accurately assign responsibilities.
The downside of WBS is that it does not show any workflow, that is, which work
package is to be executed at what time and which work package has to be
accomplished before another can be processed. WBS does not provide any
information on times and scheduling either.
After discussing project organization to better answer the question “who”, WBS
is to be enhanced by other planning and scheduling methods to further work out
the project plan for the Westbahn GDS distribution.
Project Organization Structure
Nicholas & Steyn (2012) name two project organization structures: Pure Project
Organizations (PPO) and Matrix Organizations.
PPO is a separate entity created especially for the project. A project manager
heads the PPO with full authority over people and resources required for the
project. On the contrary, a project conducted in Matrix Organization structure
draws human resources and technical expertise from the existing functional
division of the company. Project workers remain in their functional departments.
They are assigned to certain projects on a temporary basis.
Matrix organization is selected, for the Westbahn project is relatively small. Its
duration is estimated only 2-3 months. Last but not least, Hahn Air is per se a
functionally organized company.
Matrix organization’s main advantage for the Westbahn project is that the
project manager can involve suitable project members from the existing
functional organization without taking them out of their original departments.

May 14, 2012 12
Workers can thus continue working on other tasks related to their functional
departments or other projects.
Project manager has to just cope with one principal disadvantage, that is, each
worker has more than one manager. Nicholas & Steyn (2012, pp. 476-477) point
out that this situation tends to lead to confusion and conflicts. They stipulate that
every company establishes clear priorities in this respect. As a rule of thumb,
Peters & Waterman (n.d., pp. 307-308) mention an example of Boeing, a long-
term successful user of matrix organization, setting workers’ priorities day-to-
day: workers operate either in a project team or in a functional area. They have
to put their priority on whichever area they are in.
Boeing’s rule of thumb is concluded to be appropriate for the Westbahn project
organization at Hahn Air. Workers assigned for the project work primarily on the
project, secondarily in their departments until the project is accomplished.
After discussing the question “who” in more depth, the next question “when, in
what order” can be addressed.
Network Diagram and Gantt Chart
Project Management offers two standard tools for planning and scheduling
projects beyond WBS: Network Diagram and Gantt chart. These techniques help
answer the fourth question, that is “when, in what order”.
Network Diagram is a flow chart depicting the sequence of tasks and activities in
which they are to be completed and their mutual sequential relationships. The
chart shows events and milestones, as well as preceding and succeeding
activities related to a certain activity. Activities can be identified that may run in
parallel with others to save time. Network diagrams can also be detailed by
calculating activities’ duration, early times and late times. This is a part of so-
called Critical Path Analysis helping determine which activities, their durations

May 14, 2012 13
and relationships are critical to keep the project schedule and meet the planned
deadline, whereas other tasks and jobs may be executed at a certain slack.
(Nicholas & Steyn, 2012, pp. 198-210)
Gantt chart is a bar chart drawn to scale with the horizontal axis directly
proportional to time. Particular project tasks are listed one after another. Their
start dates, durations and end dates are shown using bars, whose start date,
duration and end date correspond to the horizontal scale. Gantt chart is a
popular aid favored by senior managers for its visual graphical overview of
project task and schedule. (Flouris & Lock, 2008)
Nicholas & Steyn (2012, p. 197) stress out that project scheduling involves more
than just displaying tasks on Gantt charts. They argue that though Gantt chart is
an excellent tool for communicating project schedules, it is rather limited as a
planning tool. Gantt chart does not explicitly show relationships between
activities. It does not show how activity delays and resource shifts may impact
the overall project. Hence, Nicholas & Steyn (2012, p. 211) recommend: “Gantt
chart should be created only after a network analysis has been done, early and
late dates determined, and issues and constraints surrounding the project
accounted for.”
Based on Nicholas & Steyn, a network diagram is to be prepared in the Westbahn
project before Gantt chart. Individual work packages from WBS are to be
analyzed on their estimated duration and sequential relationships with other
work packages. Furthermore, early and late starts and finishes of every work
package are to be calculated, slacks identified and critical path defined.
Next, Gantt chart is generated listing work packages (some may be further
broken down in more tasks and activities) and showing their starts, finishes and
durations with horizontal bars on the calendar line. Precedence relationships
defined in the network diagram are added onto the chart to display the related
dependencies. Each task is assigned its responsible worker from WBS and other
required resources.

May 14, 2012 14
Figure 3: Gantt chart example
At this stage, the Westbahn project is ready for implementation. The Statement
of Work and Scope Statement in the form of BOSCARD discussed in the previous
chapter has been enhanced by a Master Project Plan created using Work
Breakdown Structure, Network Diagram and Gantt Chart in this chapter.
Project implementation is related to project monitoring and control, which is
addressed in the next section.

May 14, 2012 15
Project Monitoring and Control
After the project is successfully initiated and planned, the actual project
execution can commence. At this stage, Nicholas & Steyn (2012, p. 395) limits a
major function of project management to control the project.
Roman (1980, p. 369) defines the project control process as: “Assessing actual
against planned technical accomplishments, reviewing and verifying the validity
of technical objectives, confirming the continued need for the project, timing it to
coincide with operational requirements, overseeing resource expenditures, and
comparing the anticipated value with the costs incurred.”
Nicholas & Steyn (2012, pp. 389, 396-397) assure that no project plan is ever
complete or perfect despite all efforts invested in planning, scheduling and
budgeting. Reality always differs from plans. Therefore every project needs
project control to move forward, track progress, tackle problems and oversee
costs and deadlines. Besides project control, they define project monitoring, an
accompanying activity, as observing and tracking how well the project is
performing and forecasting how it will eventually perform. Project monitoring
involves collecting data, interpreting it and reporting information.
Nicholas & Steyn (2012, pp. 402-406) give a hint, which project areas to control:
o Scope – to avoid or at least to minimize so-called “scope creep”. Project
scopes tend to grow due to changes and additions as the project goes.
o Quality – to make sure that desired requirements and specifications
are met and to reduce errors in the work process.
o Schedule – to keep project on schedule as planned.
o Procurement – to control external suppliers’ progress.
o Cost – to track difference between budgeted and actual cost accrued.

May 14, 2012 16
Roman and Nicholas & Steyn provide sound basic theoretical introduction into
project control and monitoring by clearly defining what these categories are,
which purpose they have and which areas they shall cover. This is insufficient for
the Westbahn project yet, for they have not provided any practical guidance on
how to deploy and carry on monitoring and control in projects.
Singh (n.d., p. 16) describes a simple practical tactic for project monitoring and
control by using the project plan and by organizing regular review meetings. The
project plan can be updated, as well as other documents such as requirements
and functional specifications, in the review meetings, for which he gives the
following tips:
o Have an informal discussion with your key team members before the
meeting.
o Do a detailed project review on your own – carefully review all the
tasks that need to be completed in the next three to six weeks. By
doing so you may identify issues that need to be discussed during the
meeting.
o Now circulate a meeting agenda to all participants.
o If decisions need to be made at the meeting, make sure that the person
with the authority to make the decisions attends the meeting.
o Start a meeting by specifying its objectives.
o Quickly compare the project’s current status with the original project
plan.
o Follow the initially established agenda and avoid straying from it.
o Ensure that the meetings are not too long and make efficient use of the
participants’ time.
o Always end by recapitulating the decisions made, and the next steps.
o Write a meeting report and circulate it within 24 hours of the meeting.
Depending on the situation, you might want to write a detailed report
or just a simple list of decisions that were made, and actions to be
taken.

May 14, 2012 17
Referring to the Westbahn project organization, nature and size of both Hahn Air
and Westbahn companies, this tactic meets this project’s monitoring and control
requirements.
Having an environment of no excessive corporate project management
organization (no project management office, no dedicated project controllers,
only moderate reporting needs, rather relaxed management attitude, preference
of quick and efficient informal meeting, and so forth), project manager (PM)
exercises project monitoring and control following Singh’s method.
PM periodically checks project documents such as BOSCARD, WBS, Network
Diagram and Gantt Chart. PM assesses the actual progress against the plan. PM
consults key project members on this informally to crosscheck and to get true
information. PM organizes periodical quick status meetings with a clear focused
agenda. Thus, the entire team can keep an overview over progress of the entire
project, not just on the particular part the team member is working on. Thanks to
the specified meeting objectives and agenda, the meeting is straightforward and
efficient. Variances between the planned and the actual status are addressed and
discussed. Decisions on corrective actions can be made on spot, since relevant
decision makers are invited to the project review meeting. A short meeting
report addressing only relevant decisions and actions is produced instantly and
circulated within 24 hours to relevant stakeholders.
When performing control function, PM is to watch on scope, quality, schedule,
procurement and cost as advised by Nicholas & Steyn.
PM pays attention at the scope of the Westbahn project as defined in the
BOSCARD to avoid any distractions misleading from the core objectives. In terms
of quality, PM checks on relevance of the project and its objectives for Westbahn
as long as the work progresses, as well as on relevance of the requirements and
specifications originally defined for Westbahn at the beginning of the project. PM
observes the schedule for any time discrepancies and delays. Procurement is

May 14, 2012 18
irrelevant in the Westbahn project, since there are no external suppliers in this
project.
The last category PM is advised to oversee is costs. Singh does not offer any hints
in this respect. Nicholas & Steyn define the cost control as tracking difference
between budgeted and actual cost incurred. They point out that the traditional
notion of cost control is not appropriate for project management.
Traditional cost control simply measures the amount spent with the amount
planned in the budget. Comparing the difference clearly shows, whether the
project runs within the budget or it does not. However, this simple comparison
does not deem any work progress achieved. Thus, the project may be well within
the budgeted cost, but this can be caused by less work performed than planned.
Nicholas & Steyn and several other project management experts (Haughey,
Dwivedi and Woods, among others) agree that Earned Value Management (EVM)
is an appropriate method for these purposes.
EVM is a systematic project management process used to identify variances in
projects based on the comparison of work performed and work planned.
(Dwivedi, n.d.)
EVM works with three principal variables and three variances (Nicholas & Steyn,
2012, pp. 407, 409):
o Planned Value (PV), Actual Cost (AC) and Earned Value (EV)
o Schedule Variance (SV), Time Variance (TV) and Cost Variance (CV)
PM finds out the current status of the project by comparing and interpreting
their values. For example, if EV is less than PV, the project is behind schedule. If
AC is higher than PV, the actual cost incurred so far is higher than the budgeted
cost. TV shows in days or weeks how late the project is behind the original
schedule.

May 14, 2012 19
PM’s job at project control is to have completed projects within assigned time
scale and budget. PM must not control only cost and budget without controlling
work and performance achieved. EVM reputation as a project control function
has increased over years now being a popular tool among project managers for
successful project delivery. EVM integrates both schedule and cost control into
measuring project performance. (Woods, 2012)
Woods names several advantages to introduce EVM in project management
process, such as better visibility how the project is doing, better control over
project’s performance, possibility to easily determine the future status of the
project, decrease in project risk, prevention of scope creep, and so forth. Woods
names some disadvantages, too. EVM may lead to overly paying attention to time
and cost savings rather than the quality of the project. Woods thinks that the
biggest issue is regular maintenance of the information necessary for producing
the calculations. Time and effort must be invested into maintaining both planned
and actual time and cost in the project planning software.
Wilkens (1999) lists five simple steps how to set up EVM:
1. Divide the project into manageable portions using WBS.
2. Develop activities to be scheduled.
3. Allocate resources and related costs for each activity.
4. Schedule activities over time.
5. Reconfirm the plan is acceptable by analyzing data.
Wilkens advises the following 4 steps for using EVM:
1. Update the schedule by reporting activity progress.
2. Enter actual costs on activities.
3. Execute EVM calculations, produce reports and charts.
4. Analyze the data and write narrative report.

May 14, 2012 20
Wilkens states one more useful tip: “For labor-intensive efforts, work hours are
often considered adequate.” In other words, if the project predominantly
comprises of work, EVM may be excessive.
The Westbahn project is labor-intensive. Looking at the resources planned in
WBS and Gantt chart, there are no materials, supplies or other inputs than work.
Thus, though EVM is a usual method for project control, it is concluded
unnecessary for this project.
Instead, following Wilkens, controlling working hours provides sufficient control
over project costs in this particular case. This will save project management
capacity otherwise devoted to maintaining EVM in terms of Wilkens’s steps 2-4.
Concluding project monitoring and control, the project management techniques
depicted above reduce diversions from the project plan and impose necessary
corrective actions. However, remembering that reality always differs from plans,
certain risk and uncertainty still remain in the project. Therefore, next section
discusses how to cope with them.

May 14, 2012 21
Project Risk and Reducing Uncertainty
Grundy & Brown (2002) argue that inexperienced project managers usually
underestimate project definition, careful planning and control. Managers spend
less time analyzing and preparing, which results in longer and more problematic
implementation caused by surprises, unexpected events, troubles, looking for
their solutions and resolving them. Grundy & Brown suggest the ideal time
versus actual time as follows:
Actual Time Ideal Time
Definition and diagnosis 2% 20%
Strategy and planning 10% 20%
Implementation 80% 40%
Control and learning 8% 20%
Wrona (Your Risk Management Process: A Practical and Effective Approach, n.d.)
elaborates further: “Some experts have said that a strong risk management
process can decrease problems on a project by as much as 80 or 90 percent. In
combination with solid project management practices, … , a good risk
management process is critical in cutting down on surprises, or unexpected
project risks. Such a process can also help with problem resolution when
changes occur, because now those changes are anticipated and actions have
already been reviews and approved, avoiding knee jerk reactions.”
This is a clear argument for incorporating risk management along with all
previously described methods and techniques into the Westbahn project plan.
In her practical and effective approach, Wrona defines project risks as unknown
events embodying threats. She encourages companies to identify more than just
some 5-10 project risks that are usually identified on fairly typical multi-month
projects. The more project risks are identified as early as possible, the more

May 14, 2012 22
potential problems are recognized earlier and the more opportunities are seen
more readily. Wrona recommends that the following 7 steps be embedded into
each project noting that modifications are possible:
1. Every person involved in the project pencils at least 10 potential risk
items.
2. All inputs are collected and piled up onto one single list removing
duplicates.
3. Assessment of probability, impact and detectability of each risk item, for
example, using a scale from 1 to 4 or a subjective term as high, medium,
or low.
4. Project team divided into sub-groups. Each sub-group gets a portion of
the master list. Each sub-group identifies and notes triggers (warning
signs).
5. Same sub-groups continue on identifying possible preventive actions for
the threats and enhancement actions for the opportunities.
6. Creating a contingency plan with actions to take if a trigger or a risk to
occur. It is sufficient to cover only the risks scoring above a certain
threshold determined by the total risk scores.
7. Determination of the owner for each risk on the list.
Wrona advises not to start this risk management process from scratch every
time. It is rather efficient to have a ready-to use list of generic project risks and
triggers. A project team then simply compiles the list by adjusting generic risks
and by adding the project-specific project risks. Risk management process of this
kind shall lead to a Risk Register (Risk Matrix) in the form of a clearly table. Such
a risk register is easy to maintain and review, for example, during periodical
status meetings.
In the end, Wrona points out that identification of triggers and preventive
actions is vital, though too often ignored in practice. In such a case, project teams
may end up in constant reaction mode responding to unexpected events
threatening the project implementation and its deliverables.

May 14, 2012 23
Figure 4: Risk Register example2
Practicality of Wrona’s approach to risk management in project management is
demonstrated by its use in the Westbahn project plan.
Westbahn project team members are encouraged to generate dozens of risk
items in the first step. The second step refines them by cutting duplicates and by
listing particular risks in one single structured list. The third step makes sure
that each risk is assessed on all its attributes, that is, likelihood, impact and
detectability, by assigning the values from 1 to 4. These three attributes are
consolidated in the risk score helping rank the risks in the table. Steps four, five
and six deliver triggers, preventive actions and contingency plans. Step seven
makes sure that each risk item receives a particular risk owner from the project
team. All this results in a single well-arranged risk register table.
Wrona’s approach is concluded appropriate for the Westbahn project. It is
advantageous for its ease, brevity and speed. It can be easily introduced and
followed without much effort. The risk register is complete, short and accessible
to each project team member. It can be easily maintained and kept relevant by
quickly going through as a part of every project status team meeting so that risk
is constantly monitored during the entire project work.
2 A generic risk register template in MS Excel format was downloaded from
<http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com/templates/risk-register.html>

May 14, 2012 24
Conclusion
This coursework has examined the entire project plan development for a project
of a smaller size in the environment of small and medium enterprises of Hahn
Air and Westbahn.
For the business case assessment, the efficient BOSCARD technique was found
instead of preparing any exhausting Statement of Work and Scope Statement.
Fishbone Analysis was identified as an appropriate supporting analytical
technique and its use demonstrated on project scope definition.
Project planning and scheduling was backed up by Work Breakdown Structure,
Network Diagram and Gantt Chart. Project organization was set up by attaching
WBS to Matrix Organization.
In terms of project monitoring and control, Singh’s tactic was found appropriate
for its clarity, simplicity and practicality. This tactic was extended by guidance
from Nicholas & Steyn on five project areas to control – scope, quality, schedule,
procurement and cost. Regarding cost control, Earned Value Management was
scrutinized and concluded excessive for this project. Instead, working hours as a
project cost indicator was found sufficient.
Careful and thorough project definition and diagnosis with strategy and planning
combined with project risk management was concluded to reduce problems and
uncertainty in this project. Moreover, Wrona’s approach to establishing and
maintaining practical risk management was recommended for this project.
In conclusion, theoretical preparation of a project for railway distribution in
airline GDS is successfully accomplished. The selected project management
procedure and techniques will facilitate and accelerate groundwork and
execution of the actual Westbahn project.

May 14, 2012 25
Reference List
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Chapman, A. (n.d.). Project management, tools, process, plans and project planning
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May 14, 2012 26
Appendix 1: A BOSCARD Table Example3
Project Name WESTBAHN Project Sponsor HAHN AIR
Strategic Fit Non-airline content (NAC) Project Manager Ramya Muniandi
Date Raised April 10, 2012 Lead Function Simon Riha
Background
Provide background information that
includes the reasons for creating the
project and mentions the key stakeholders
who will benefit from the project result.
Market situation in GDS:
There are just a few scattered railways. Railway distribution and
systems incompatible with GDS. No simple solution for processing e-
tickets at railway stations and on trains.
Consequence: No provider has come up with any solution yet due to
its marginal significance for railways.
Market demand in GDS:
Significant. Trains faster and more convenient means of
transportation up to 400-500 Kms. Airlines gradually discontinue
short flights. Travel agents ask for railways in GD to combine air-rail.
4 ground carriers have shown their preliminary interest.
Conclusion: An opportunity for Hahn Air to launch a new distribution
solution.
External stakeholders:
• Railways to access GDS for global sales.
• Airlines to interline with railways.
• ravel agents.
Internal stakeholders:
• Hahn Air Systems
• Hahn Air Global Service Desk
Objectives
Describe the project goals and link each of
them with related project objectives
Project goal:
Building a solution for bringing railways and other ground
transportation means into the GDS easily, quickly and at low cost
and making them in GDS user-friendly for both agents and travellers.
Solution shall generate minor (besides the existing core distribution
channels) but still significant sales for railways and Hahn Air.
Demonstrate with Westbahn.
3 A generic BOSCARD table template was downloaded from
<http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/docs/boscard-template.doc>.

May 14, 2012 27
Project objectives:
• Make 3 Westbahn's routings (VIE/SZG, VIE/LNZ, SZG/LNZ)
saleable exactly as flights in GDS
• Check-in and boarding the train shall be simple, seamless and
idiot-proof.
• Standard ticket revenue accounting process and revenue
settlement.
• Solution shall be replicable beyond Westbahn without
substantial modifications.
• Solution shall be scalable towards interlining and code-sharing
with airlines.
Scope
Provide a high-level
description of the
features and functions
that characterise the
product, service, or
result the project is
meant to deliver.
Within Scope
E.g.
• FDL (Flight Data Load)
• ATPCO fare filing (fares & rules)
• E-ticketing
• …
Outside Scope
• Code-sharing with airlines
• E-ticket conversion into PDF
(Developed in future solution versions)
Constraints
Identify the specific constraints or
restrictions that limit or place conditions on
the project, especially those associated
with project scope.
E.g.
• Use the existing system infrastructure only.
• No external suppliers.
Assumptions
Specify all factors that are, for planning
purposes, considered to be true. During
the planning process these assumptions
will be validated.
E.g.
• Westbahn will be distributed under H1 designator.
• …
Risks
Outline the risks identified at the start of
the project. Include a quick assessment of
the significance of each risk and how to
address them.
E.g.
• …
Deliverables
Define the key deliverables that the project
is required to produce in order to achieve
the stated objectives.
E.g.
• …

May 14, 2012 28
Project Resources
People and their time, plus non-people
resource e.g. systems, plant capacity etc.
Ramya Muniandi Project Manager
Vlado Vasilev System Engineer
Unisys Aircore PSS
MS BizTalk Server
Project Approval
Name Role/Job Title Signature/Date
Hans Nolte CEO
Simon Riha EVP Business Development
Mathieu Montmessin Managing Director
Hahn Air Systems GmbH

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