Assignment Task PROJ 6006 Case Study Ecological Wastewater Solutions Pty Ltd Background Ecological Wastewater Solutions Pty Ltd (EWS) commenced business in 2006 as the initiative of brothers Simeon and Luke Webster. EWS delivers an environment-friendly wastewater management system, treating sewage effluent to advanced secondary levels certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF)

Subject Code: PROJ 6006 Internal Code: 1AIFED

Assignment Task: PROJ 6006 Case Study Ecological Wastewater Solutions Pty Ltd Background: Ecological Wastewater Solutions Pty Ltd (EWS) commenced business in 2006 as the initiative of brothers Simeon and Luke Webster. EWS delivers an environment-friendly wastewater management system, treating sewage effluent to advanced secondary levels certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). The advantage of EWS systems is that it has no mechanical parts involved, no electricity needed for gravity fed systems and no chemicals added, the system is low cost with no or little maintenance. EWS is currently servicing domestic, communal and commercial systems to clients across the Australian and Asia-Pacific region. With the global industry’s (wastewater management) governing bodies, installers and consumers alike, realising the benefits of EWS as a great solution to an industry-wide challenge, the prospects for global expansion are immense and eminent. Rather than limit the company with a small-minded approach, EWS wants to expand into these new and challenging markets, which will require consolidation and reconstitution of the current operations in a way that will appease differing international regularity bodies and markets. Simply put, EWS is involved in a growing and expanding process that will take on new markets, countries and opportunities. The systems components are manufactured in China where EWS has entered a joint venture with a Chinese manufacturing organization. After production, the system components are then transported to warehouses in the Australasian and Pacific countries that EWS currently operates in, ready for distribution and installation for local clients. The Opportunity Wastewater management in the West African nations is a regional problem, magnified by cost factors of installation, ongoing maintenance and the complexity of current systems on the market. With the ability to supply a simplistic and cost-effective wastewater management technique, EWS can take advantage of this extensive market opportunity through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in these countries. Although headquarters are in Melbourne Australia, each Asian Pacific country also has its own sales, administration and installation offices and teams. EWS operations currently have a financial turnover of 25 million dollars per annum with 250 full-time staff members. The Objectives: Objective 1 – Organisational Structure In order to expand into these new markets EWS will need to restructure their internal organisational operations including ensuring that the current Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and technological systems have the capacity to implement such expansion on a major scale. This will need specific staff skillsets from across many of the locations they currently operate. Additionally, the project will require the assessment and update of the current organisational framework, policies, procedures and processes. The accounting, invoicing and administrations of the new organizational structure has to accommodate the expanded need to monitor and cater for exchange rates, bills of shipping, importing and exporting documentation across the new FDI nations. Objective 2 – Supply Chain – Sustainability Furthermore, new supply chains systems will need to be investigated and procured, including the processes of procuring such as, tendering, negotiating and implementing contracts with transportation companies. In line with EWS mandate for environmental operations management wants to ensure that the current, and future, manufacturing and shipping processes are consistent with their objective of corporate, social and environmental responsibility. The company’s goal is to persuade stakeholders, partners, and critics that its growth strategy includes plans for long-term sustainability. The team knows that delivering social responsibility and focusing on sustainability will deliver shareholder and strategic benefits. Although the system itself is considered very environmentally friendly, there is a concern with regard to the actual manufacturing, the EWS team is looking closely at environmental factors, such as pollutants, manufacturing materials, and safety, as well as energy usage. Therefore, EWS leadership team is interested in learning about alternative materials, with an eye on both the environment and the safety of employees using those products in the manufacturing process. In addition, shipping the system components around the world will use gas and oil, releasing pollutants into the environment, so management also desires to include environmental consultants on utilising alternative fuels and procedures for transportation and shipping processes. Objective 3 – Legalities From a legal perspective there are several factors that must be researched for compliance with the target nations legal systems, policies and regulations. For example, each countries laws on foreign direct investment (FDI), importing and operations is different and must be comprehended. Furthermore, the wastewater management industry is highly regulated, if not by the country itself then by international law. These legal factors must be clearly understood and complied with. Alongside this is the cultural aspects of the target countries, including local labour expectations, management style and health and safety practices. Over the course of the (estimated 18 month) international project/projects, marketing is a vital component of which EWS leadership wants to take advantage of social media networking in its marketing strategy. Pre-Project Research The leadership team also examined what other organisations had done in similar projects to avoid loss of revenue during their projects. From the research, the team identified three potential risks that could occur during this project of upgrading the IT systems and processes:

Loss of business due to an inability to process orders in a timely fashion Loss of credibility because of a lack of quality in the shipping process Loss of sales as competitors took advantage of any downtime
While strategizing these changes on an organisation wide scale EWS must consider the disruption to employees and ongoing operations. Current projects must run seamlessly to ensure no disruption to clients, and that targets are still met across the business. Consequently, the leadership team wants to monitor employee satisfaction to ensure minimal disruption and maintain employee satisfaction and continuous motivation of the upcoming expansion. Employee feedback will form part of this monitoring It is important to EWS portfolio management to focus on a continued level of the efficient delivery of quality products and services. This means you must consider each of the following elements:

Any constant and continued improvement to processes of order, billing, and shipping efficiencies;Any changes that may occur due to the current multiple projects; andNew initiatives that may be created by the current multiple projects.
Project Human Resource Plan: The EWS leadership team recognizes the need to establish a number of project teams in order to achieve the above goals. You and your group are responsible for developing a Project Human Resource Plan that will develop a formal plan for developing, staffing, managing and assessing the teams that will, in turn, manage the projects aimed at addressing the goals. The plan will include the following:

A publish organisational chart for the project teams: Which of the functional roles will be represented on each of these project teams?A staffing/recruitment plan: What strategies and approaches will you use to bring the appropriate individuals onto these project teams?A team building plan: What strategies and approaches will you use to effectively build a team that will work together in a project management approach to achieve each of the goals?A staff management plan: What strategies and approaches will you use to manage the project teams?A communications plan: What strategies and approaches will you use to effectively manage communications among (and, if necessary between) each project team? Assume some stakeholders are remote.An assessment plan: What strategies and approaches will be used to assess the effectiveness of each project team?An improvement plan: Describe the improvement plan proposed to address any shortcomings in the performance of the project teams.
Project Teams: The projects that address the above goals require management of the complexity of various project teams distributed among multiple backgrounds, experiences, and even time zones. These individuals are located in Australia, China, Japan, and Vietnam and include representatives from the EWS Information Technology, Human Resources, Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Finance, and Legal departments. EWS’ external stakeholders include their existing and potential customers, suppliers, and investors.