0 MGT 598 – Spring 2014-Bahrain

Will the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway Ever See the Light of Day?

Posted on by zeyad598spr14

qatar_bahrain_causeway

The Qatar-Bahrain Causeway is a continuously delayed project in the Arabian Gulf region. The project consists of constructing a 40km (25mi) bridge (claimed to be the longest in the world) between the Qatar and Bahrain.

Plans for the construction of the bridge were first made in 2001. The project was approved for construction in 2005, and a formal agreement between the two GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) members was signed in 2006 to form a company, the Qatar and Bahrain Causeway Foundation, that would manage the project. Everything seemed to be on track for the project when it was revealed that construction would begin in 2008 and construction would last four years.

However, a series of events have dramatically delayed the project. The 2008 financial crisis certainly had a toll on the mega project, causing the estimated cost of the project to rise unexpectedly. In 2009, the initial plan to have the bridge accommodate motor vehicles was changed to include a railway as well. The railway itself is part of a GCC-wide railway project. Delaying one critical project can and will have significant effects on the other. Numerous re-designs to the bridge and escalating costs further delayed construction initiation from 2008 to 2011 and then to 2015, with a plan to complete the causeway shortly before the FIFA World Cup 2022 held in Qatar. Of the two countries, Qatar especially needs to manage all the projects they have at hand before hosting the world’s biggest event. This can be achieved by assigning more resources to all their projects, something not too difficult for the rich gulf state.

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Politics always play a role when a project involves multiple countries. Bahrain and Qatar have had territorial disputes since the nineteenth century. One case is that of Hawar Islands, a series of islands located between the two countries. In 1939, when both countries were under British rule, London ruled that the islands belonged to Bahrain. Qatar tried to appeal the decision multiple times, only for the other GCC countries to intervene. In 2010, a Bahraini fisherman was found roaming Qatari waters, leading the Qatari coast guard to fire at his vessel. This incident reignited the dispute over the islands of Hawar. The bridge, dubbed the “Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Bridge”, ironically, may never see the light of day if these differences are never settled.

All obstacles and issues aside, the bridge will boost the economies of both countries considerably. Currently, a trip between Bahrain and Qatar can take up to five hours, and involves crossing through Saudi Arabia, which can be problematic for non-GCC nationals trying to obtain a Saudi visa. The new journey will be cut down to less than an hour.

If this project is ever completed, it will be one step closer to unifying the Gulf states as one country–a project of its own that’s been frequently discussed.

Do you think the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway will get completed before the 2022 World Cup, if ever? Is bad project management and estimation to be blamed for the delay of the bridge, or are there other factors?

 qatar-bahrain-friendship-causeway-size-chart

Sources:

http://countrystudies.us/persian-gulf-states/44.htm

http://www.qatarvisitor.com/travel/Qatar-Bahrain-bridge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_Bahrain_Causeway

FIFA World cup 2022 Qatar Stadiums’ Project

Posted on by mohamed598spr14

2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is one of the largest and most interesting projects that people around the world are talking about and looking forward to. Approximately, this project will cost around $220 billion (138 Billion Euros). This is actually much more than the previous world cup which took place in South Africa in 2010. The project is divided into many sections mainly are the following; around 100 billion Euros will be spent on building Stadiums and facilities, 31 billion Euros will be spent on transportation infrastructure, 48 billion Euros will be spent on training facilities and hotel accommodations for the teams participating in this event; and another 28 billion Euros will be spent on a new city which is called Lusail and this city will host the opening & ending ceremony of this event plus the top matches in the tournament.

The projected plan is two have a total of 12 stadiums around the country. Most of them which will be built are under construction at the moment, while other are current stadiums which will be redeveloped or revamped to have a larger fan capacity and more advanced technological efficiencies. The following is the list of the major new stadiums which will be built especially for the event:

1)      Doha Port Stadium – is a new stadium planned to be built on Doha port with an estimated capacity of 44,950 individuals. The stadium will be added with Air-conditioning facility along with a full security system in the stadium.

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2)      Education City – this is located in Al Rayyan city, which will be estimated capacity of around 45,350 individuals. Following the World Cup, the stadium will be downsized to 25,000 seats for use by the University hockey team.

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3)      Khalifa International Stadium – is a current stadium which is currently located in Al Rayyan City. It will be renovated completely in order to have an estimated capacity of 68,030 individuals. The stadium will be added with a full security system.

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4)      Lusail City Stadium – The showpiece stadium and venue for the World Cup final, the Lusail Iconic Stadium will be a masterpiece of engineering. The stadium will have a near circular footprint and will be surrounded by a vast moat. The estimated capacity of around 86,250 individuals. The stadium will be added with Air-conditioning facility along with a full security system in the stadium.

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Each of the above stadiums will have the ability to harness the power of sun rays in order to provide a cold and cool environment for the players, fans, referees inside the stadium, this will be done by converting the solar energy of the sun into electricity. Furthermore, once there are no games on the pitch, the solar energy installation will have the ability to export the energy into a power grid. After that, during the matches, the stadiums will be able to draw the energy from that grid.

All of the above is just one part of the project which is the stadiums. Imagining the amount of time, money, effort, studies, plans, and analysis that the project management team in charge of this project will have to put in. Will they be able to achieve 11 new/revamped stadiums, a whole new city “Lusail”, new training & accommodation facilities, a railway to the neighbouring countries to make an easier transportation, and finally having a successful event in terms of security & safety? It will all depend on a very effective implementation plan, a strong risk assessment and the efficiency & productivity of the people in order to execute this project. On the other hand, given the time period that this project must be completed in, (FIFA) Federal International Football Association’s rules & regulations on maintaining the quality must be met, so project managers will have an unpredictable pressure of maintain this quality throughout the project execution and be ready for unexpected FIFA delegates visits to assess the situation. It is interesting to witness the progress of this project in the coming years!

 

Sources:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2010/dec/02/world-cup-2022-qatar-stadiums-pictures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/qatar2022/

 

BBK- Project Plan & Strategy

Posted on by ahmed598spr14

BBK Project:

BBK (Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait) is one of the premier regional financial services enterprise in providing superior products and services of highly quality through innovation, technology and lifelong client relationships. The bank has expanded in its overseas presence in more locations in which it chooses to operate in order to satisfy the diversified needs of clients. Their project and strategy is to gain a competitive advantage by implementing new projects in the Kingdom and abroad. New projects are opening new Financial Malls across the country, acquire and acquisition of business opportunities arises, and therefore be the leading Bank in Bahrain.

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Bank Plans:

The bank have planned to increase its operation abroad through opening it subsidiary company CrediMax in Kuwait market to better support and expand in its credit card services. While their branch in UAE is an investment branch that does not have a commercial banking services; which it differs in Kuwait and India where they have a full commercial bank with all its benefits and activities.

Financial Statements:

The format of the income statement is in multistep form. The increase in gross profit and net income shows that the bank is growing and it is in the right path within becoming the financial leaders in Bahrain market. The bank is in progress and it shows in its financial statements that the bank is growing and will expand in the future to reach its maximum potential and to benefit from its financial services.

The management may decide to keep a high gross margin from sales and increase sales and the amount of gross margin by increasing operating expenses. You can see that BBK have invested a lot in advertising, by building a new hospital in Muharraq city in the Bank’s name or by the posters on the Highway and commercials in TV.

Even though this shows that most of the banks financing is by creditors, but in a commercial bank as BBK its finance must be from loans, deposits and customer accounts for the bank to operate. But this shows that the creditors are interested in the bank as it pays its creditors with interest. The more debt the bank is the more profit it must earn to ensure the payment of interest to creditors. BBK strong Interest Coverage Ratio of 1.5 shows that it was in no danger of being unable to make interest payments. As the market price is 5 times earnings, investors are paying a high price in relationship to earnings. They do so in the expectations that this bank will continue to be successful. High PE ratios should be interpreted cautiously because low earnings can produce an artificially high PE ratio.

As this is a bank and not company, it does not have most of the liquidity ratios and some other related to inventory and sales ratios.

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I personally choose this topic due to their strong project management team that is being reflected in the growth of the country. I work in a competitor Bank, but these facts should be taken into consideration and highly appraise the project management team in BBK.   As we studied this course that project management has several benefits to any organization as per the following: a) better efficiency in delivering services b) improved customer satisfaction c) enhanced effectiveness in delivering services d) improved growth and development internally within the organization e) gain competitive advantage f) better flexibility g) increased risk assessment h) increase in quality and quantity.

It would be interesting to see how the coming years will benefit BBK and maybe by this strategy and plan be the leading Financial Institute in the Kingdom.

 

http://www.bbkonline.com

http://www.bbkonline.com.kw

http://www.bbkindia.com/

Field Project – Group 4 – Plastic Recycling for Charity (Project Audit)

Posted on by nour598spr14

Our project was about recycling plastic for charity. We worked with Bahrain Association for Parents and Friends of the Disabled as this project was already initiated and ran by the Association to use the revenue to buy a wheelchair for a child in need. Our main objectives were to raise awareness about this project and encourage people to make long-term commitment to contribute.

The other objective was to help collecting as many as we can to generate target revenue of BD 140.000 (USD 372.00), which is two tons of plastic. The recycle factory wich the association has a deal with is paying BD 70.000 (USD 186.00) per each ton of plastic.

We set out with two main objectives for our project, including:

1-     To create and / or increase awareness about Bahrain Association for Parents and Friends of the Disabled activities towards securing 21 wheelchairs for those in need.

2-     To collect as much plastic as possible to sell and recycle in order to provide the monetary proceeds to the Association for buying the wheelchairs and donating them.

Our best estimate for the collection of plastic was three tons, which is equivalent to BD 210.000 (USD 558.00). However, our most likely estimate was to collect two tons, which is equivalent to BD 140.000 (USD 372.00).

Initially, we reached our target by collecting the two tons estimated. Subsequently, we exceeded our target and collected three tons in accordance with our best estimate. Therefore, within a period of three weeks which includes planning phase, we were successful in achieves around 100% of our target.

We used different methodologies to approach our objectives. We had contacted all our family members and friends asking them to be part of the project. This was the most successful method which contacting people face-to-face, the second best method was circulating a message (bilingual) Arabic and English through social media to our contacts, we were thrilled with the responses we got. Lots of people approach us informing that they already collecting plastic and they request us to cooperate with them to pick it up. Also some people approach us that they would like to donate the full amount of a wheelchair, which was unexpected.

A few recommendations and words of advice that we would like to offer future teams doing similar projects are as follows:

Lack of space for collecting and storing the plastic was a challenge. At the same time, because plastic is light in weight. It took lots of space without generating much money for donation, our advice in this case to make sure enough space and storage places are available in which to collect the materials chosen.

Another challenge we faced was coordinating with the different venues to provide us with their used plastic waste. The reason for this was the lack of convenient drop and pick up points. We recommend that where needed, proper channels of delivery and transportation are prepared before pursuing a similar project.

A different difficulty that we faced is the limitations in time frame, thus, a smaller objective or more time added would have enhance the results of this project.

Other hindrances to fulfilling the associations ultimate goal of buying wheelchairs for the disable include lack of sufficient publicity for their goals, as well as, limited resource availability in terms of moving and picking up the plastic from various areas around the country. Hence, these points must be thought out and addressed prior to deciding on a similar project.

Finally, the challenge of maintaining long-term commitment by the people is another concern that remains. Continued commitment by people for charitable projects can’t be guaranteed but for such a goal, continued repetition and awareness of the association’s aim in needed.

We learned from this project the following:

1-     Even the best laid plan with details there will be always some deviations that exist that why we need to update the plan and accommodate the changes accordingly.

2-     It’s not easy to plan a project with no prior experience, because there will be unknown variables that will appear during executing the project.

3-     Problem solving in practical, where we faced lots of problems and we came up with solutions.

4-     Communication with others is a main obstacle and its need a special skills where we could learn it during handling this project.

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Project Managers Improving Results with Six Sigma!

Posted on by khalid598spr14

Six sigma is a business improvement philosophy that started as a metric or methodology. Six Sigma drive strategic change in an organization. It is important for operation as it can be used to increase top-line growth and reduce bottom line costs.

For project managers, it make sense to learn about process improving through the application of Six Sigma tools and methods. The disciplines of Six Sigma and Project Management are very similar and complementary.

Following are some similarities between Six Sigma and Project Management:

  • Use of projects as the avenue for improvement.
  • Utilization of established project management techniques to effectively manage a project and project teams.
  • Necessity of actively involved and proactive project sponsors or champions to help ensure project success.
  • Life cycle and phases.
  • Need for a well-trained project facilitator to lead the effort.

In addition to the above Six Sigma add additional dimensions to project management such as:

  • Powerful set of process improvement steps and tools.
  • Statistical and process thinking, to understand and improve results.
  • Understanding of variation, to reduce knee-jerk reactions.
  • Quantitative analysis, to base decisions on facts and data.

Six Sigma projects are tightly linked to customer demands and enterprise strategy. The efficacy of Six Sigma projects is greatly improved by combining project management and process improvement practices.

The Six Sigma uses the DMAIC methodology (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control), which can be applied to any process in any industry. The Six Sigma 5 phases match up well with the established project management phases as shown below.

 

PM Vs DMAIC

 

 

The five phases of Six Sigma are:

  1. Define

This step involves extensive planning and scoping to setup the project correctly. The project manager (champion in Six Sigma world) develop the project charter, which include the project sponsor, team members, objective and business case, including the project start and end date. In this stage the key measures are agreed on and high level process map and detailed project plan is formulated.

  1. Measure

Process decision must be based on accurate data and not guesses or inaccurate data, in this validation of the measurement system and data are done, including the measurement of the GAP analysis. Further probing might be required to insure the measurement systems are sound and accurate.

  1. Analyze

In this stage the data gathered are analyzed using different statistical tools, to look into improvement paths through the key metric. Note that the team didn’t do any change or improvement by this stage, but trying to understand the problem of underlying processes and root causes. This will provide the team a path to follow.

  1. Improve

The improve step verifies and validates recommendations and demonstrates, with data and charts, sustained improvement before final process changes are implemented.

 

  1. Control

After verifying the improvement, the new process is handed over to the process offer, similar to the closure phase of project management, in the DMAIC approach, the team closes down the project and handover to the owner. The essence of control is to provide long-term gains.

 

 

Incorporating the DMAIC of Six Sigma into projects, can help project managers to become more effective and lead them to breakthrough results.

 

 

Sources:

http://www.microsoft.com/project/en/gb/six-sigma.aspx

Lean Six Sigma – Green Belt (GARMCO book)

http://six-sigma-materials.com