Budget and time line

Budget planning is an organizational need and includes planning and considering how to confront future potential risks and opportunities by establishing an efficient system of control, a detector of variances between project’s objectives and performance. Budgets are considered to be the core element of an efficient control process and consequently vital part for project success. (Davila 2007.) “As a forward looking set of numbers, budgets project future financial performance with enables evaluating the financial viability of a chosen strategy” (Wallace 2010.) Often the process of budgeting is formalized by preparing the budget and monitoring performance against original forecast. In the project situation planning is based on the cost structure and identified as predictions of the costs associated with a particular project. Those costs include labour, materials and other related expenses. The project budget as the general budget is broken down into specific task budget assigned to each. (Wikipedia 2010.)

For the successful project implementation it is essentially important to monitor the budget and do the cost control. The costs and resources need to be checked weekly and booked to the project and cross referenced with the project plan.

Budget

Expenses not considered directly related. Opportunity cost is the cost of any activity that may unexpectedly appear such as travelling and costs of printing the materials will be covered by HAAGA-HELIA UAS.

Cost of the work

Assuming that our group will act as a separate consulting company, the cost of work will be as followed:

- The daily rate of each group member is 500 EUR/day

- For any study requirements, the cost of the work will be based on separate agreements

- Travel costs will be charged separately according to Finnish law travel rules

Terms of payment:

- First payment EUR 500 for each group member, 14 days net upon signing the Management Consulting Agreement

- Invoicing once per month including the cumulated travelling costs, 14 days net

Prices are based on current Pöyry consulting group prices.

Timetable

Time management is a critically important for any successful project research organization. In order to prepare the project schedule the main activities have to be identified, duration and resources required and the order. Each of the elements has a direct bearing on the schedule. In the creation process of the project time schedule we use event chain method, which is focused on identifying and managing events that affect project schedule. Event chain allow for easy modelling of uncertainties and evaluation of risks in the project schedule as well as for successful accomplishment of the project (Davila 2007.)

Time table for the Leadership research plan can be found as the attachment 1. In the attachments we place the event chain, underline critical events and visualize it with timetable. Important check points for the successful research are 1) creation of a valid and concise research plan 2) creation of the questionnaire with reflection to our variables 3) collecting the data 4) data analysis based on the results 5) creation of a useful tool kit for students’ further usage in the projects.

Risks

In the project risk assessment is an integral part of the research plan, studying the probability, the impact, and the effect of every known risk on the project, as well as the corrective action to take should that risk occur. (Wikipedia 2009.) The main outcome of this research is to produce relevant information for future usage. In formal research strict control is required in order to produce relevant information. Being relevant means the probability is high that the research results reflect what is happening now or might happen in the future. There are risks which we can meet during the research. (Ball 2008.)

First one and initial risk is misunderstanding of the objectives and desired outcome. The researcher was not given clear instructions of the objectives and desired outcome of the research was not explained, which may lead to wrong information flow from the beginning. Misinformation can result in improper method to carry out the research.

Research validity and reliability is important issue in this particular research. Responded groups and individuals may not have enough experience and knowledge required for reliability of the outcomes. (Businesslink.com 2010.) Creation a tool kit for future usage in the projects is responsible and challenging task, relaying only on student’s responds is not professional. For complication of productive and effective tool kit we need to analyses theory and existing researches as well as quantitate part of the research.

Work in the international group is always a challenge, possibility of bad coordination and communication problems are likely to accrue. In order to handle this challenge we need to overcome language barrier and create professional and productive atmosphere.

Building a good questionnaire is one of the challenges. Questionnaire must be brief and concise, not too long but curt enough in order to get desired information. The form to question the customer might be hard to encourage them to give the respondents the answers. If so, it is not easy to define the feedback from the market and necessary data in order to follow the next step. Major problems with questionnaires is incorrect data, designing quality questionnaires and on avoiding common errors.

Possible mistakes may take place in the phase of data processing and calculation phase. While analyzing the data collected, the researches may experience some errors that that lead to the wrong final results, which can affect analysis phase of research. (Barnesandnoble.com 2011.)

Consequently, once the risks are identified, you can decide whether to accept, transfer, reduce or eliminate them. Different ways should be taken into consideration. Good risk and challenges assessment can improve the quality and outcome of the market research.

Bibliography

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Quoted: 21.02.2012

Ball, David J. (2007) Public Safety and Risk Assessment: Improving Decision Making, 20-80. Quoted 9.03.2012

Bowling, A. 2012. Mode of questionnaire administration can have serious effects on data quality URL: http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/3/281.full Quoted: 8.03.2012

Business dictionary 2011. Questionnaire URL:http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/questionnaire.html Quoted: 8.03.2012

BusinessLink.com Managing risks URL http://www.businesslink.gov.uk Quoted 03.03.2012

Carroll, Dr. Susan 2012 Dissertation-statistics.com URL http://www.dissertation-statistics.com/population-sample.html Quoted 09.03.2012

Chris Farmer. 2010. squidoo.com. Article in: 20 Key Elements for Leadership Skills. URL: http://www.squidoo.com/20-Key-Elements-For-Leadership-Skills Quoted: 12.03.2012

Dávila, G. Foster and J. R. M. Hand. (2007). “Management Control System Adoption”, 20-32. Quoted 28.02.2012

Dillman, Don A. 1995. Toward a theory of self-administered questionnaire design

Experiment-resource.com 2012 Defining a research URL http://www.experiment-resources.com/defining-a-research-problem.html Quoted 09.03.2012

Experiment-resources 2009. Comparing Quantitative and Qualitative Research URL: http://www.experiment-resources.com/quantitative-and-qualitative-research.html Quoted: 1.03.2012

Experiment-resources 2009. Ethics in Research URL:http://www.experiment-resources.com/ethics-in-research.html Quoted: 4.03.2012

Experiment-resources 2009. Research Design URL: http://www.experiment-resources.com/research-designs.html Quoted: 1.03.2012

Experiment-resources 2009. Survey Research Design URL: http://www.experiment-resources.com/survey-research-design.html Quoted: 1.03.2012

Gilbert, N 2001. The importance of pilot studies URL:http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU35.html Quoted: 2.03.2012

Jenkins, C. R. & Dillman, D.A. 1995. Towards a theory of self-administered Questionnaire design, 3-5 URL:http://census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/sm95-06.pdf Quoted: 8.03.2012

Jones, C. 2011. Advantages & Disadvantages of Qualitative & Quantitative Research URL: http://www.ehow.com/info_8091178_advantages-disadvantages-qualitative-quantitative-research.html Quoted: 1.03.2012

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Koch, J. C. 2012 Marketing research: Reference for business: Article in Reference for Business URL http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Mar-No/Marketing-Research.html#b Quoted 09.03.2012

Madden, P. 2010. Self-Administered vs. Interviewer-Administered Surveys URL: http://patrickmadden.net/2010/07/02/self-administered-vs-interviewer-administered-surveys/ Quoted: 8.03.2012

Marketing research and information systems, Chapter 4: Questionnaire Design URL http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/public-safety-and-risk-assessment-david-ball/1101006143 Quoted 03.03.2012

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Attachments

Attachment 1. Leadership project schedule

Leadership Project/Designing a tool kit for productive leadership guidance in the projects
Week 6	Project Planning*
Project Planning - Theoretical approach and research methods
Week 7	Self-study Strategic Leadership, Leading Change
Project planning- First draft of the research plan
17.02 Discussions with Johanna
Week 8	Winter Holiday – working on second draft, comments from Johanna
Week 9	Project plan – Second draft submission
Week 10	Completing research plan / Making questionnaires and question for interviews
Week 11	Completing the survey and giving it out
	Presentation of research plan and feedback
Week 12	Intensive week
Quantitative Data Collection
Week 13	Analysis of results
Quantitative and Qualitative Data collection
Week 14	Quantitative and Qualitative Data collection
Week 15	Data analysis
Week 16	Data analysis
Week 17	Developing Tool Kit for Team Leadership – Consultations
Week 18	Finalizing the report - Deadline 04.05.2012 at 16:00
Week 19	Final presentations 11.05.2012
Week 20	Evaluation and Feedback
Finalizing individual leadership self-assessment

Attachment 2 Questionnaire

1. What is your study group?

()TOBBA ()POBBA

2. Gender

() Female ()Male

3. Nationality

()Asia ()Western Europe ()East Europe ()Africa ()America

4. How many projects have you done?

a- 1-3 Projects

b- 4-6 Projects

c- 7 or more

5. Are you satisfied with your team leader?

	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
Goal-settings	()	()	()	()	()
Communication	()	()	()	()	()
Decision-making	()	()	()	()	()
Responsibilities	()	()	()	()	()
Listening skill	()	()	()	()	()
Engagement	()	()	()	()	()
Trust-building	()	()	()	()	()
Other, please specify ________	()	()	()	()	()

6. How do you feel with the leadership of teachers­?

	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
The instruction from teachers is sufficient	()	()	()	()	()
The feedback from teachers is constructive and helpful	()	()	()	()	()
It is easy to communicate with teachers	()	()	()	()	()
The lectures are designed to meet my expectation	()	()	()	()	()
Other, please specify ________	()	()	()	()	()

7. What is the significant role in the project?

a- Leader

b- Project coordinator

c- Supervisor

d- Other, please specify ________

8. How do you think about the power-sharing within a team?

Very Weak	Weak	Moderate	Strong	Very Strong
()	()	()	()	()

9. Have you ever experienced in team conflicts?

a- No

b- If yes, please specify _______

10. What kind of support do you expect to get from your leader?

a- Guidance

b- Communication

c- Motivation

d- Problem-solving

e- Other, please specify _______

11. What is your ideal leadership style?

a- I would like to have a leader who tell me what to do and fully control the decision-making (Autocratic)

b- I would like to work with a leader that considers team members’ opinions in decision-making (Democratic)

c- I would like to have equal right to my leader in decision-making (Delegative)

12. How do you grade the leadership satisfaction in projects?

Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
()	()	()	()	()

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