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Voyage Proposal: An Opportunity for Prosperity

Project Managers: Mace Provost,

Baylee Hamilton, and Michelle Maxwell

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Christopher Columbus, Inc.

Project Managers: Mace Provost, Michelle Maxwell, & Baylee Hamilton

Executive Voyage Summary : Through a voyage to Asia, we plan to establish efficient trade routes, increase world trade, spread Christianity, and gather gold and spices to bring back to Spain. Through this successful voyage and by the grace of God, we shall appease King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Our team will include the finest of fellows from across the Spanish land: Comptroller Arturo Bayliner, Admin Assistant Juan de Puca, 3 celebrated captains and navigators, and a competent group of crewmembers. We will start our preparation on January 15th, 1492, and we recommend that the trip executives plan for 489 days from the start of preparation to the return back to Spain. We propose that the executives budget for $2,061,643 in costs, and plan for a return on investment of 15% resulting in $333,00 profit. Risk is present, but can be unavoidable if understood by all crewmembers and the proper preventative measures are taken. Our recommendations for the schedule of events in chronological order is as follows: hire workers/purchase boats, purchase gear and food, purchase insurance, depart on a shakedown voyage, issue any repairs, and then leave for Asia to complete the goals. The following request for proposal provides an in-depth analysis of our project plan for Christopher Columbus Inc.’s voyage through the Atlantic. Voyage Goals: • Explore efficient trade routes to Asia & increase world trade • Spread Christianity • Bring back gold/spices

Project Statement: In this voyage we hope to explore and discover more efficient trade routes in the Asian waters that will additionally allow for an expedition to and through China and the opportunity to spread Christianity. The voyage will provide Spain with a competitive advantage over other countries since Spain will be able to harness the efficiency of the new trade routes and any new discovered territories. Spain will also be able to spread its religion with the rest of Asia. This expedition will cost $2,061,643 and take about 489 days from the planning to arrival back in Spain. Project Justification: In the development of this request for proposal, we have made several assumptions as stated below. We will successfully:

• Travel to Asia without letting any major hardships or catastrophic miss happenings set us back.

• Trade with the locals. • Discover valuables on our own through exploration on new lands.

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• Receive at least a 15% return. • Stock supplies for the return voyage without expense to the King/Queen. • Complete everything in the time we have allocated and in budget with the given cost.

We researched costs of gear and food based on national averages retrieved from the World Wide Webbed. The total cost was based on 3 boats and 106 crewmembers receiving generous provisions in efforts to keep our staff in optimal health. We have made educated purchasing choices and our staff will be carefully considered as explained later. We believe that the land will be full of discovery opportunities that will allow not only our crew, but also the entirety of the nation, to reap the monetary benefits and bring prosperity throughout the land. Our projected ROI is very conservative and is based on trade and scavenging. We will spiritually fulfill the natives we encounter with the truth that will encourage them to pursue Christ’s teachings and accept God’s will. Travel via the Atlantic Ocean will establish trade routes with Asia that will allow Spain to optimize our natural resources, and share them with far off lands less expensively. Recommendations: • Trip executives should plan for 489 days from the start of preparation to the return

back to Spain. • Trip executives should budget for $2,061,643 in costs, and plan for a return on investment

of 15% resulting in $333,00 profit. • Trip executives should plan for risk, but it can be unavoidable if all trip members are

prepared and the proper preventative measures are taken. • Our recommendations for the schedule of events in chronological order is as follows: hire

workers/purchase boats, purchase gear and food, purchase insurance, depart on a shakedown voyage, issue any repairs, and then leave for Asia to complete their goals.

Work Breakdown Structure and Risk Breakdown Structure :3

Please see the excel sheet for the official and complete WBS/RBS. The WBS is organized in chronological order across the top and also within each category moving down. The labels correspond closely with the precedence networks provided below. The tasks included are carefully thought out by the project managers as extremely necessary steps in the success of this voyage. In the RBS, the risk categories are carefully laid out with specific events nested underneath. The project managers researched all possible risks that should be noted before the trip is undertaken so preventive measures can be met and contingency plans can be developed. Precedence Network : 3

Through a path-based analysis, we developed a detailed time schedule and precedence network for the trip to Asia. The total trip will take approx. 473 days seen below (This estimate does not include a PERT analysis). Job hiring can take place at the same time as boat purchasing and gear/food purchasing because they are independent processes. The time allocations are based on heavily researched variables. Please see the excel sheet for a closer look at the precedence networks.    

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The job hiring process will take 21 days, as seen in the path below. Each element of the advertising process (newspaper, duck, and town hall) can take place at the same time since one is not required to occur before the other.

The boat purchasing process will take 38 days, as seen in the path below. Maintenance and cleaning of the ships can take place at the same time because they are independent processes. The crew is versatile enough to make any repairs necessary once the sails are made, so outside contractors will not have to be hired.

The gear/food purchasing process will take 6.5 days, as seen in the path below. Preparing the budget and the purchasing schedule should occur simultaneously to get the optimal outcome, and the food can be loaded into the ships at the same time the crew is preparing for the animals since one does not affect the other.

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The insurance acquiring process will take 8 days, as seen in the path below. All elements of the path must be completed in succession, as they are dependent on their preceding element.

The shakedown cruise will take 16 days, as seen in the path below. The captains and navigators should keep an observation journal throughout the entire duration of the sailing, but not through the training (lag 2 days).

The repairs and replenishment after the shakedown cruise should take 21 days, as seen in the path below. Repairing the boat and repurchasing the goods can happen at the same time since they are not dependent on each other.

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Leg 1 of the cruise will take 210 days, as seen in the path below. Throughout the entire voyage, the captains and the navigators should keep a journal. Once they arrive on the land, they should first learn about the land for 10 days. Once that is done, they can begin discovering goods and elements of the land (lag 10). After 10 days of that and 20 days of land time, they should start trading but continuing to discover (lag 20). After 40 days of land time, they should start spreading the good word of God but continuing to trade and discover (lag 40).

The final leg of the trip will take 173.5 days, as seen in the path below. Repairing the boat and replenishing the supplied and food can occur simultaneously since they are independent processes. Project Organizational Structure, Infrastructure and Management System : 3

“A good system appropriately balances the needs of both the parent organization and the project by defining the interface between the project and parent organization in terms of

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authority, allocation of resources, and eventual integration of project outcomes into mainstream operations.”1

We looked to fully incorporate the concept of a well-managed project system throughout the duration of this project. One of the most influenced segments of our plan was the organizational structure of the voyage. A functionally organized structure will be best suited for this project because of country’s political infrastructure and the nature of the voyage. Monarchy runs a long tradition of set hierarchy and responsibilities, and functional organizational structures offer the same guidance. While the King and Queen of course are the parent organization, during the planning and execution of the voyage, the administrative assistant, comptroller, project manager and ship captains will exercise the most authority. Within each ship, there are a few set positions that are necessary to fulfill like the navigator, doctor, cabin boy, and a cook. The reason this adheres to functional structures is that there isn’t much cross over between responsibilities. The rest of the crewmen will be used for the regular, daily duties that are necessary to move along and take care of the ship. Within that crew, there should be a crew lead and an HR representative so that the rest can report to and look to for guidance should the captain need to have his

                                                                                                                 

A  diagrammatic  representation  of  the  voyage’s  organizational  

structure.  

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attention toward something else in addition to conflict resolution as needed. In the two ships with larger crews, there are separate crew leads and HR representatives, however in the smaller ship we felt that a crew lead could serve both duties appropriately.

Along with the functional structure, and because of this extent of this project, we worked to optimize the utilization of our resources, especially the staff through the hiring process. The resource histogram below depicts the distribution of staff we will have on hand throughout the voyage in different time periods to minimize costs while maximizing efforts and maintaining a healthy work environment.

The infrastructure of the project and the management system used will be closely

tied together in this voyage. They incorporate some concepts adopted from constrained optimization models and project selection methods featured in Project Management: The Managerial Process. We’re focused on maximizing our deliverables and overall ROI while working within a fairly constrained environment because so much estimation is involved with it being an exploration-based voyage. Through this, we have devised a strategy that will be used as a general guideline to manage and deal with all types of situations. Below demonstrates the general management system that serves as the basis for decisions and actions. With this framework in mind, it provides a platform to find answers, better approach problems and maintain our values, goals and measures of success. We plan to keep records of our budgets, schedule, and general timeline for deliverables onboard the ships for the crews so that they can always have that for reference. The organizational structure additionally supports the coordination necessary and was developed with this in mind.

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40  

60  

80  

100  

120  

Prep  for  52.5  Days  

16  Day  Shakedown  Cruise  

21  Days  Repair  Post  Cruise  

1st  Leg  of  Voyage  

(210  Days)  

2nd  Leg  of  Voyage  (173.5  days)  

#  Of  People  

Voyge  Sections  (Days)  

Voyage  Employee  Resources  

Carpenter  

Gold  Smith  

Regular  Crew  

Surgeon  

Navigator  

Doctor  

Cabin  Boy  

Cook  

HR  Rep  

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Communication Plan :3

Good communication is vital to the success of our voyage. As seen in our organizational structure, there is a hierarchal set-up among our crew. This structure guides communication. For example, if a crewmember has an issue, he should consult either the HR representative or the crew leads based on the situation. This type of communication continues up the ladder of hierarchy. Since the captains do not have the technology to communicate with the project managers back in Spain, they will lead any widespread disputes and their decisions are final. While there is a general strategy in place, we realize that not every situation will flow into set-up. Thus, every crewmember can speak directly with the captain and has valued input, especially if time is a leading factor. There will be a daily meeting while aboard the ship to promote comradery and the focus of the day. Risk Management Strategy & Plan : 3

Please see the excel sheet for the official and complete Risk Management Plan. This document explains the likely risks of the trip, chance of them happening, and how to avoid failures. We researched different incidents that could occur on our trip such and categorized them into: Boat Problems, HR, Health, Foreign Conflict, and Unaccomplished Goals. These

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items can be seen with specific incidents in the Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) on the excel document. We then used the colorful chart above to determine the change of such incidents occurring. These values were chosen based on our own knowledge of ocean voyage. We developed a simulation to provide a variance of the given values and then added the totals of each category to find the chance of 1 or more risk incidents occurring. This percentage was well over 100%. Situations from our risk plan are bound to occur, but they most likely will not be catastrophic. We have developed sound methods to avoid risk from happening, as seen in the excel sheet. We have structured our staff in a very strategic manner so there is a lot of support for when an event occurs. We have also generously planned for sufficient food rations, high-end gear, and the top boats and sails on the market. We have insured our boats and our captains as precautionary measures. With all of the preventative measures in place, our trip should transpire without any major setbacks. If setbacks are to occur, the training, management methodology we have developed and carefully planned organizational structure will support the process in which it is dealt with. Time Estimates : 3

Please see the excel sheet for the official and complete Time Estimates/PERT. As seen in the excel sheet, we assigned a realistic hours-needed value to each characteristic within the WBS. We then calculated worst case, most likely, and best case hours based on defined percentages. After this, we were ready to do a PERT analysis using 16.7% for best case and worst case, and 66.6% for most likely. We multiplied the hours needed by the percentages for best case, worst case, and most likely, and then added the values together for each feature’s characteristics. All the total values per characteristic were added together to get the total PERT hours.

After our PERT analysis, we found a total time cost from PERT to be 488.80 days, or 69.83 weeks. Without PERT, the project would take 473 days, so the analysis of the worst case and best case scenarios increased our time by about 15.8 days. Additionally, with 95% certainty, we can finish the project between 378.12 days and 599.48 days, and with 99.7% certainty that we can finish our project between 279.31 days and 698.28 days. This data assumes that all employees are working at their optimal efficiency and with few extenuating circumstances. Budget : 1 2 4 5

Please see the excel sheet for the official and complete Budget. We researched our food and gear prices through the World Wide Webbed and based on our experiences in sea travel. We looked at 6 boats and chose the safest but most realistic in crew size for the voyage. The sails needed to be replaced, so we included that in our budget as well. All crewmembers and support staff were paid a set daily amount, and the captains were insured. Our total estimate cost of supplies is $714,462, cost of crew is $1,185,811, cost of boats is $142,500, and planning costs are $18,870 for a total estimate of $2,061,643. Cash Flow :

Source:  Project  Management:  The  Managerial  Process,  Third  Edition.  Gray  &  Larson,  McGraw-­‐Hill,  2006.

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Please see the excel sheet for the official and complete Cash Flow. We used a minimal discount rate for the NPV cash flow analysis since the duration of the voyage is under 2 years, with the bulk of the money being made during the second half of the project. We created a template that allows us to change the discount rate and have all other calculations adjust if necessary. Our estimated breakeven point is around 4.07 on our analysis, which translates to breaking even around the 33rd day of the 40 days spent trading. We used our full budgeted amount to sell to traders, vendors and locals in order to make money. We plan to make a NPV of $333,528. This would mean, with the 10% of any wealth like Christopher Columbus requests, he’d be getting paid for the work he’s done over the span of the 473-day project and then some. After this is taken out, the King and Queen get the remaining $33,00175. Before Christopher Columbus’ royalties are taken, the ROI of the project is 15.43%. When looking at the ROI, it’s important to look at it through our specific, strategized lens. We budgeted very conservatively because we saw that it’d be better to be over-budget and return with extra supplies and rations rather than be under and put the crews in a dangerous position. We also are relying heavily on being able to discover new valuable things for our country in addition to trading at marked up value. Also, this cash flow and ROI analysis cover only a 3rd of one of our goals. Spreading Christianity and discovering new trade routes bring a multitude of wealth that is not as easy to quantify as trading. To be able to have an ROI of 15.41%, we will be bringing with us 5,000 high quality large pearls in which the King and Queen will graciously supply us with once our proposal has been approved. We will use these pearls to trade with the locals of Asia. Being that these types of pearls are not found in Asia, they will not familiar with the exchange rate. We are then going to use this to our advantage and trade these pearls for an abundance of silk and spices. We want to trade these items since once back in Spain, we will be able to sell these items to the elite, and receive an estimated $2,500,000 in return. We also plan to seek donations from local vendors in the hope that with the improved trade route, they will be able to accomplish increased wealth through the new trade routes. Schedule : Day 1-14: Post advertisements in the local newspaper and on the World Wide Webbed. Hold a town hall meeting for the community members to discuss the position and voyage. The town hall meeting can occur sometime between day 1 and day 14, which is the advertising time budget. Inspect the boats on the market & decide which boats to purchase. Order the sails. Day 15: Review the applications that we receive from captains, navigators, and crewmembers. Evaluate each applicant based on the highest standards. Day 16-18: Hold interviews for all applicants who make it through the preliminary round. Interviews should be behavioral and situation based in correspondence with our trip goals and mission statement. Day 19-20: Call back the interviewees that we like the best. Second interviews will be in a group setting. Day 21: Make our final decisions and send acceptance letters to the crew. Day 22-33: Wait for the sails to be built. Day 34: Attach the sails to the boats. Utilize the crewmembers labor.

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Day 35-38: Complete any needed maintenance on the boats. Make sure everything is up to code and to the high standards of Chris. Additionally, clean the boats to prepare for the journey. Day 39-41: Make the shopping list for food and gear. Be generous with rations as to prevent sickness and starvation. Prepare the budget for the purchasing. Some food may need to be purchased closer to the trip (more perishable), so also prepare a purchasing schedule. Readjust the list as necessary once the budget and schedule is prepared. Day 42-43: Comparison shop for the gear and then purchase based on a analysis of cost vs. quality. We are striving for the lowest cost without being too lenient on the quality of the good and gear. Day 44-45: Load the food and gear into the boats and prepare for the live animals. The animals will most likely be held near the galley or by the brig. The food and gear will be stored wherever there is room on the ship. Day 45-46: Estimate insurance costs for the people and boats. Consult with the King and Queen about their ideas on how to insure our crew. Day 46-51: Negotiate the insurance with the insurance company. We want the best insurance for the least about of money. Day 51-53: Purchase the insurance and record in our records. Store the records at the Christopher Columbus Inc. office in Spain. Brief the King and Queen on the insurance policies. Day 53-55: Train the crewmembers on all the boats that we purchased. Make sure the captains, navigators, and crewmembers understand each other�s strengths and weaknesses, and feel comfortable working together. Keep an observation journal the entire time. Day 56-69: Depart on the shakedown cruise. Continue to learn throughout the practice cruise and continue training of the crewmembers. Successfully make it back to the port in Spain. Day 69-70: Evaluate any repairs needed after the shakedown cruise. Record these repairs, so the crew knows what risks to prepare for. Day 71-86: Issue any repairs needed and repurchase used food and gear. Use the same process from the original food and gear purchasing. Day 87-90: Load the new food and gear onto the boat. Prepare for departure by cleaning the coat and finishing up any maintenance needed. Make sure all the crewmembers are in the right state of mind and in good health. Day 90-140: Depart for Asia and sail for the budgeted 150 days. Keep a journal the entire time. Day 141-300: Land in Asia. Learn about the land and the people for roughly 10 days. Once that is complete, discover what the land holds by scavenging and looking for gold and silver. 20 days into land time, start trading with the Asian people but continue discovering what the land holds. At day 40, start diligently spreading the good Christian word. Keep a detailed journal the entire time. Day 300-321: Repair and clean the boats and replenish the supplied and food straight from the land. Try to spend as little money as possible when gathering supplies for the ride back to Spain. Keep a detailed journal the entire time. Day 322-324: Load the goods into the boat, do any last maintenance needs, and prepare for departure. Keep a detailed journal the entire time.

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Day 325-473: Depart the port in Asia and sail back to Spain. Keep a detailed journal the entire time. Report back to the King and Queen. Based on our PERT analysis, the trip could take as much as 488.8 days. This is using an optimistic/pessimistic/most likely analysis of all budgeted-for time values. The schedule is not completely set, but it’s the most educated analysis possible. PERT provides us a good idea of how the time budget might change if there are some hiccups in the journey.

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