Assignment 2: Project Motorcycles

You are a project manager for a medium-sized
manufacturer of motorcycle cruisers. The engines in motorcycle cruisers, like
the ones you manufacture, are usually categorized by size rather than the
number of cylinders. In the past, your company has successfully manufactured
and marketed the best-selling of these fuel-efficient cruisers that occupy the
middleweight class. The rather nebulous middleweight class comprises
motorcycles broadly ranging in engine size from 500 cubic centimeters, or cc,
to 1000 cc. 

Executives at your company are now interested in motorcycles with larger motors
and would eventually like to produce motorcycles in the nebulous middleweight
class comprises motorcycles, specifically designed to excel at covering long
distances with motors larger than 1100 cc. The proposed target market for these
larger motorcycles consists of males between the ages of 35 and 60 in global
markets. Price points for the larger motorcycles cover income ranges from
$55,000 to $100,000. Management has decided that your company will meet the
objectives stated herein within the next five (5) years. During the proposed
changeover, the company will continue to manufacture the middleweight cruisers to
serve its existing clientele.

  • Write a six to eight
    (6-8) page paper in which you:

  • Select one (1) of the
    types of project organization that would suit the development of the larger
    touring class motorcycles. Outline the process steps that your company would
    take in order to develop the motorcycle. Provide a rationale for the response.

  • Recommend one (1)
    strategy to the senior executives that the organization might use to balance
    short- and long-term needs. Specify the crucial resources that you would need
    as a project manager to run the existing business interests at the same time
    that the business changes to the production of touring class motorcycles.

  • Suggest the project
    management leadership style that is most conducive to overseeing the operation
    of the business growth plan.

  • Recommend at least
    three (3) risk mitigation strategies to address project plan details that might
    be forgotten or overlooked. Justify the selection.

  • Use at least three (3)
    quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as
    academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting
requirements:

  • Be typed, double
    spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all
    sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format.
    Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

  • Include a cover page
    containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s
    name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are
    not included in the required assignment page length.

  • The specific course
    learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

  • Design an
    organizational structure, staff a project office, and establish a
    communications system to effectively manage projects.

  • Analyze the role of
    executive management in the life of a project.

  • Apply the project
    manager’s critical skills, in terms of project leadership, team building, time
    management, conflict management, and effective communication with executive
    sponsors, peers, team members, and project clients.

  • Use technology and
    information resources to research issues in project management.

  • Write clearly and
    concisely about project management using proper writing mechanics.