PJM440

Module 8: Portfolio Project

Portfolio Project (250 Points)

Important! Read First

Choose one of the following two assignments to complete this week. Do
not do both assignments. Identify your assignment choice in the title
of your submission.

Option #1: Quality Management and Small Cell Infrastructure Design

The Department of Public Works, Engineering Division for the City and
County of Denver in May of 2019 published the Small Cell Infrastructure
Design Guidelines. Communications companies use small cell
infrastructure to improve wireless communication in densely populated
areas. To complete the construction of the infrastructure,
communications companies requested the right to install poles holding
small cell equipment in the public right of way of the City and County
of Denver. For that reason, the Small Cell Infrastructure Design
Guidelines were published and are available at the following website: https://www.denvergov.org/content/dam/denvergov/Portals/705/documents/guidelines/PWES-016.1-Small_Cell_Infrastructure_Design_Guidelines.pdf (Links to an external site.)

While the document provides standards for building small cells in the
Denver city and county public right of way, it offers no quality
management plan. You have been contracted to develop a quality
management plan, and you will report to the Engineering Supervisor, Jon
Reynolds. If Mr. Reynolds is pleased with the quality management plan
your company develops, your firm will likely be hired to project manage
and quality check the portion of the small cell infrastructure build
impacting the public works and public safety for the City and County of
Denver.

Note: While the document at the core of this assignment is an actual
document published by The Department of Public Works, Engineering
Division for the City and County of Denver, the quality management
scenario described is fictional and only for the educational purpose of
showing mastery of the course objectives set forth for this course.

In Module 3, you were asked as a first step, to familiarize yourself
with the Small Cell Infrastructure Design Guidelines. Note that two
contract firms were instrumental in the development of the guidelines:
Clanton & Associates, Inc. and Jacobs Engineering Group. After your
review of the guidelines, you were asked to provide your input to the
following:

• Are the current Small Cell Infrastructure Design Guidelines (SCIDG)
  ones that promote high quality? If yes, how? If no, why not and what
  should change to promote quality? Support your position with specific
  references to the SCIDG or current scholarly documentation.
• What do you interpret to be meant by “quality” from the perspective
  of the public works personnel, communications companies deploying small
  cell infrastructure, the contract companies involved, and the public
  both now and in the future? What support do you have for your position
  with specific references to the SCIDG or current scholarly
  documentation?
• What are the drivers for change, and the barriers to change from the
  perspective of the public works personnel and the public? Are there
  competing drivers for change that may impact quality from the public’s
  perspective? Support your position with specific references to the SCIDG
  or current scholarly documentation.

In Module 8, you are asked to build upon your work from Module 3 and show additional mastery through other course modules.

Provide the following quality management plan in your final portfolio:

1. Provide an opening paragraph which describes the importance of the
   using this case to show your mastery of course objectives, and mapping
   of what is contained in your paper to prove that mastery.
2. Delineate your next section with a header, and in less than one
   page, describe the case of using small cell infrastructure to improve
   wireless communication in densely populated areas, and the role of the
   Department of Public Works, Engineering Division for the City and County
   of Denver in promoting quality.
3. Delineate your next section using headers and sub-headers with your
   work from Module 3. Include any updates that you wish to make as a
   result of learning more about quality management, and input from your
   instructor in Module 3 for the following:
   1. Are the current Small Cell Infrastructure Design Guidelines (SCIDG)
      ones that promote high quality? If yes, how? If no, why not and what
      should change to promote quality? Support your position with specific
      references to the SCIDG or current scholarly documentation.
   2. What do you interpret to be meant by “quality” from the perspective
      of the public works personnel, communications companies deploying small
      cell infrastructure, the contract companies involved, and the public
      both now and in the future? What support do you have for your position
      with specific references to the SCIDG or current scholarly
      documentation?
   3. What are the drivers for change, and the barriers to change from the
      perspective of the public works personnel and the public? Are there
      competing drivers for change that may impact quality from the public’s
      perspective? Support your position with specific references to the SCIDG
      or current scholarly documentation.
4. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss the operational
   issues that must be managed and controlled to support quality including
   partnering and strategic alliances if any are pertinent. How will those
   issues be managed and controlled in your plan? As usual, what support
   do you have for your position with specific references to the SCIDG or
   current scholarly documentation?
5. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss the human
   resource issues that must be managed and controlled to support quality
   including employee empowerment, teamwork, education and training. How
   will those issues be managed and controlled in your plan? As usual, what
   support do you have for your position with specific references to the
   SCIDG or current scholarly documentation?
6. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss customer
   satisfaction and how it will be measured. How will and when will
   measurement happen in your plan? As usual, what support do you have for
   your position with specific references to the SCIDG or current scholarly
   documentation?
7. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss how problems
   will be solved, conflicts resolved, and how decisions will be made. As
   usual, what support do you have for your position with specific
   references to the SCIDG or current scholarly documentation?
8. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss what quality
   tools should be used, when and how, including communications tools,
   process control tools, benchmarking, or other tools as you find
   appropriate. What support do you have for your position with specific
   references to the SCIDG or current scholarly documentation?
9. Finally, conclude with the final section making a recommendation to
   Mr. Reynolds for your plans, and why your company is in the best
   position to lead the quality management effort going forward through
   implementation.

Submission:

• Write a paper addressing the case of The Department of Public Works,
  Engineering Division for the City and County of Denver regarding the
  Small Cell Infrastructure Design Guidelines and quality management. Your
  paper should be 8-10 pages in length, not including the required title
  and references pages and any appendix if required. For more information
  see “How do I do an Appendix in APA style?” (Links to an external site.)
• Support the paper with a minimum of six current (published in the
  most recent five years) scholarly sources from the CSU-Global Library.
  This is in addition to any course textbooks, lecture material you decide
  to use, or the case itself. Of course, you may always exceed the
  minimum number of sources.
• Format the paper according to the CSU-Global Guide to Writing & APA (Links to an external site.).
• Be clear, concise, and focused.

Tip: Cases may be addressed in 6 steps:

1. Read the assignment and questions provided to get an idea of the
   important course concepts to be covered. There is plenty of material in a
   case that may be immaterial to the course learning objectives. (For
   example, a case may have significant information on utility pole design
   issues, but the assignment questions relate to quality management. In
   that case, do not spend time on utility pole design unless relevant to
   quality management. Use your time searching the case, researching and
   reporting on quality management.)
2. Read and take notes on the entire case. Read every figure and table to thoroughly understand them.
3. Determine who are the key players; what are the key issues; what is the problem to be solved?
4. Do the research and analyze any data. Use the CSU Global library to
   research the key issues and problems. Find current academic information
   on those topics.
5. Make your decisions relative to the important course concepts, and
   document the defense of your position by melding the scholarly research
   and examples from the case. Remember, no opinions; only facts.
6. Finalize your portfolio by checking all assignment questions are
   fully answered, rubric items are met, and the document follows CSU
   Global Guide to Writing and APA requirements.

Option #2: Total quality management and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Federal Retirements

The Government Accounting Office (GAO), Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) in May of 2019 published the Federal Retirement: OPM
Actions Needed to Improve Application Processing Times. OPM has a goal
of processing most retirement application in 60 days, but for several
years has not met that standard. The GAO OPM for that reason, studied
the process for federal retirement processing to determine root causes
of delays, and to determine what strategies should be employed to remedy
the situation. The results of that study are available at the following
website: https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/699120.pdf (Links to an external site.)

While the document provides root cause analysis and recommends six
opportunities for improvements, it offers no quality management plan.
You have been contracted to develop a quality management plan, and you
will report to the Comptroller General of the United States, the
director of the Government Accountability Office. The GAO is a
legislative branch agency established by Congress in 1921 to ensure the
fiscal and managerial accountability of the federal government. If your
quality management plan is acceptable, the Comptroller General of the
United States will support your company for project managing the
implementation of funded improvements. This could be a long and
lucrative contract for your company.

Note: While the document at the core of this assignment is an actual
document published by The Government Accounting Office, the quality
management scenario described is fictional and only for the educational
purpose of showing mastery of the course objectives set forth for this
course.

In Module 3, you were asked as a first step, to familiarize yourself
with the Federal Retirement: OPM Actions Needed to Improve Application
Processing Times document, hereafter called the GAO report. After your
review of the guidelines, you were asked to provide your input to the
following:

• Is the current Federal Retirement: OPM Actions Needed to Improve
  Application Processing Times document one that promotes high quality? If
  yes, how? If no, why not and what should change to promote quality?
  Support your position with specific references to the GAO report or
  current scholarly documentation.
• What do you interpret to be meant by “quality” from the perspective
  of the GAO OPM, retirees, Congressional leaders, and the public both now
  and in the future? What support do you have for your position with
  specific references to the SCIDG or current scholarly documentation?
• What are the drivers for change, and the barriers to change from the
  perspective of the GAO OPM, retirees, Congressional leaders, and the
  public? Are there competing drivers for change that may impact quality
  from the public’s perspective? Support your position with specific
  references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation.

In Module 8, you are asked to build upon your work from Module 3 and show additional mastery through other course modules.

Provide the following quality management plan in your final portfolio:

1. Provide an opening paragraph which describes the importance of the
   using this case to show your mastery of course objectives, and mapping
   of what is contained in your paper to prove that mastery.
2. Delineate your next section with a header, and in less than one
   page, describe the current situation with federal retirement processing,
   the recommendations from the GAO study, and the role of the GAO OPM in
   promoting quality.
3. Delineate your next section using headers and sub-headers with your
   work from Module 3. Include any updates that you wish to make as a
   result of learning more about quality management, and input from your
   instructor in Module 3 for the following:
   1. Is the current Federal Retirement: OPM Actions Needed to Improve
      Application Processing Times document one that promotes high quality? If
      yes, how? If no, why not and what should change to promote quality?
      Support your position with specific references to the GAO report or
      current scholarly documentation.
   2. What do you interpret to be meant by “quality” from the perspective
      of the GAO OPM, retirees, Congressional leaders, and the public both now
      and in the future? What support do you have for your position with
      specific references to the SCIDG or current scholarly documentation?
   3. What are the drivers for change, and the barriers to change from the
      perspective of the GAO OPM, retirees, Congressional leaders, and the
      public? Are there competing drivers for change that may impact quality
      from the public’s perspective? Support your position with specific
      references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation.
4. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss the operational
   issues that must be managed and controlled to support quality including
   partnering and strategic alliances if any are pertinent. How will those
   issues be managed and controlled in your plan? As usual, what support
   do you have for your position with specific references to the GAO report
   or current scholarly documentation?
5. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss the human
   resource issues that must be managed and controlled to support quality
   including employee empowerment, teamwork, education and training. How
   will those issues be managed and controlled in your plan? As usual, what
   support do you have for your position with specific references to the
   GAO report or current scholarly documentation?
6. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss customer
   satisfaction and how it will be measured. How will and when will
   measurement happen in your plan? As usual, what support do you have for
   your position with specific references to the GAO report or current
   scholarly documentation?
7. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss how problems
   will be solved, conflicts resolved, and how decisions will be made
   especially any interagency issues, or legislative issues that may arise.
   As usual, what support do you have for your position with specific
   references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation?
8. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss what quality
   tools should be used, when and how, including communications tools,
   process control tools, benchmarking, or other tools as you find
   appropriate. What support do you have for your position with specific
   references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation?
9. Finally, conclude with the final section making a recommendation to
   the Comptroller General of the United States for your plans, and why
   your company is in the best position to lead the quality management
   effort going forward through implementation.

Submission:

• Write a paper addressing the case of federal employee retirement
  processing regarding the GAO OPM report and quality management. Your
  paper should be 8-10 pages in length, not including the required title
  and references pages and any appendix if required. For more information
  see “How do I do an Appendix in APA style?” (Links to an external site.)
• Support the paper with a minimum of six current (published in the
  most recent five years) scholarly sources from the CSU-Global Library.
  This is in addition to any course textbooks, lecture material you decide
  to use, or the case itself. Of course, you may always exceed the
  minimum number of sources.
• Format the paper according to the CSU-Global Guide to Writing & APA (Links to an external site.).
• Be clear, concise, and focused.

Tip: Cases may be addressed in 6 steps:

1. Read the assignment and questions provided to get an idea of the
   important course concepts to be covered. There is plenty of material in a
   case that may be immaterial to the course learning objectives. (For
   example, a case may have significant information on staff
   acknowledgements, but the assignment questions relate to quality
   management. In that case, do not spend time on those acknowledgements
   unless relevant to quality management. Use your time searching the case,
   researching and reporting on quality management.)
2. Read and take notes on the entire case. Read every figure and table to thoroughly understand them.
3. Determine who are the key players; what are the key issues; what is the problem to be solved?
4. Do the research and analyze any data. Use the CSU Global library to
   research the key issues and problems. Find current academic information
   on those topics.
5. Make your decisions relative to the important course concepts, and
   document the defense of your position by melding the scholarly research
   and examples from the case. Remember, no opinions; only facts.
6. Finalize your portfolio by checking all assignment questions are
   fully answered, rubric items are met, and the document follows CSU
   Global Guide to Writing and APA requirements.