Project Charter For Fashion Retail Of The Future At Alexandria’s Fashion

Purpose of the Project Charter

The purpose of this project charter is to develop a primary plan for the proposed project by Alexandria’s Fashion. The charter explores the background of the proposed project and looks to develop project objectives, value statement, schedule, work breakdown structure and others that are essential components of a complete project management plan.

Alexandria’s Fashion, owing to huge success in retail business, decided to open online store in addition to the retail business. Similar to the success of the retail business, the online store was also instant success and for this reason, the online store grew rapidly all over the country. However, as a side effect, the business of the retail stores diminished rapidly and several stores were forced to shut down due to lack of sales. The board of the company now wants to undertake this project to revamp the models of the retail stores in order to gain back the customers as well as the strong market in the country.

The main objectives of the project are listed as follows.

To utilize technology and marketing strategies in order to attract more customers in the retail stores

To revamp the operations at the stores to make them more cost efficient and faster than before

To enhance staff productivity at the stores with the assistance new operational framework and technical updates

To become the benchmark for Australian fashion retail market

As per the requirement set for the project, the main value of the project is reflected on the projection of at least 50% increase in retail sales by the end of April 2022. Furthermore, the project requires opening of 7 new stores that will help them gain back the fashion retail market of the country that it used to have a few years back. The initial project is set to continue till 2022 but the opening of new stores will need time up to 2024 within which, it is expected that Alexandria’s Fashion is expected to gain back the majority of share in the Australian fashion retail market.

The main stakeholders of the project are identified and listed as follows.

Stakeholder Name	Designation	Contact Info
Christian Anderson	Chief Technical Officer / Sponsor	[email protected]
Alexandria Grace	CEO	[email protected]
David Cannon	Flagship Store Manager	[email protected]
Jim Holder	Head of Operations, IT	[email protected]
Andrew Neon	Head, Legal Department	[email protected]
Mark Hector	Head, Logistics	[email protected]
Alan Hart	Marketing Manager	[email protected]
Mitchell Gross	Head, Customer Care	[email protected]

The main success criterion for the project is achieving increasing in the sales of the company. It is expected that after the end of the first phase of the project, the sales at the retail stores of the company will increase by at least 50% by mid-2022. Thus, the project must be able to refurbish the retail stores of the company such that more customers are attracted to come to the retail stores for purchasing fashion items.

Project Background and Objectives

The main constraints of the project are listed as follows.

Budget Constraint – The project will take place for a significantly high period of time and hence, it will require very high amount of investment. Although funds are not problem for the company considering its size and annual revenue, it is to be noted that during the refurbishment of the stores, they will remain non-functional and thus revenue will be cut down for the time during the project.

Time Constraint – Considering a predetermined time period selected for the pilot project, the project might be difficult to complete within such short period of time.

Quality Constraint – Due to rushing in the project for completing within the given time, quality might be a constraint for the project.

The main scope of the project includes refurbishment of the retail stores of the company. The scope incorporates three main changes in the retail stores:

Changes in Technical Setup

Changes in Decor

Changes in Operations

The proposed project scope is reflected in the Gantt chart as shown as follows.

 

Figure 1: Gantt Chart of the Project

(Source: Created by Author)

The work breakdown structure for the project along with the projected durations for each work package as well as the entire project is shown in the following table.

WBS	Task Name	Duration
0	Alexandria’s Fashion Retail Restructuring Project	323 days
1	Meeting, Discussion and Decision Regarding Project	22 days
1.1	Host Staff Meeting for Project Discussion	2 days
1.2	Discuss Ideas Regarding “Fashion Retail of the Future” Initiative	2 days
1.3	Discuss Possible Changes in the Existing Store Infrastructure	2 days
1.4	Discuss Possible New Technical Upgrades for the Stores	3 days
1.5	Discuss Changes in Operational Framework	3 days
1.6	Submit Proposal for Project	10 days
1.7	Get the Proposal Approved	0 days
2	Preparations and Team Structuring for Project	96 days
2.1	Develop Teams for Various Parts of the Project	5 days
2.2	Create Project Charter	15 days
2.3	Determine Project Scope	3 days
2.4	Determine Objectives and Goals of the Project	3 days
2.5	Estimate Overall Budget for the Project	10 days
2.6	Determine Risks	10 days
2.7	Prepare Risk Management Plan	15 days
2.8	Develop Work Requirements for Project Teams	15 days
2.9	Determine Resources Required for the Project	10 days
2.10	Prepare Final Project Plan	10 days
2.11	Validate the Project Plan by CEO	0 days
3	Project Initiation and Resource Procurement	50 days
3.1	Procure Initial Budget from the Sponsor	5 days
3.2	Assign Purchase Requirements to Procurement Department	5 days
3.3	Purchase Technical Equipments	20 days
3.4	Assign Technical Team	10 days
3.5	Set Up Final List of Requirements	5 days
3.6	Assign Store Designer Team	5 days
3.7	Proceed to Project Execution	0 days
4	Project Execution	120 days
4.1	Technical Upgrades	120 days
4.1.1	Replace Existing Technical Set Up	1 mon
4.1.2	Install New Technical Set Up	3 mons
4.1.3	Test the New Set Up	2 mons
4.2	Decorations and Refurbishment	95 days
4.2.1	Clean Up the Stores	15 days
4.2.2	Apply New Decorations	2 mons
4.2.3	Revamp the Internal Models and Design	2 mons
4.3	Operational Changes	55 days
4.3.1	Discuss Possible Changes	10 days
4.3.2	Discuss Implications of the Changes	10 days
4.3.3	Discuss Feasibility of the Changes	10 days
4.3.4	Design New Operational Framework	10 days
4.3.5	Develop Final Operational Plan	15 days
4.4	Project Handover	0 days
5	Closing, Sign Off and Future Planning	35 days
5.1	Develop Plan for Future Extension of Project	15 days
5.2	Review the Current Status of the Project	1 mon
5.3	Sign Off	0 days

The work breakdown structure is further represented in simplified chart view in the following diagram.

 

Figure 2: Work Breakdown Structure of the Project

(Source: Created by Author)

Based on the analysis of the initial plan for the project, the following recommendations can be made for the company.

Budget Control – Since the project requires considerable period of time, it is important to control the budget throughout the course of the project.

Technical Upgrade – The technical upgrades should be done such that it is easier for the customers and the retail managers to resume smooth and efficient operations.

Operational Changes – The operational changes should benefit both the customers and company.

The project charter is approved by the following stakeholders.

Stakeholder Name	Signature
Christian Anderson
Alexandria Grace
David Cannon
Jim Holder
Andrew Neon
Mark Hector
Alan Hart
Mitchell Gross

 

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