COMP9035 ICT Management and Professional Standards

COMP9035 ICT Management and Professional Standards

You are to provide the outline of a project in your technology area. This can be a real project you have worked on, a project that you’re aware of, or an imaginary project for a proposed engineered product in your area.

• Give an introduction for your feasibility assessment.
• Provide a cost estimate of your product / project.
• Based on the cost estimate, perform a project finance plan with budget and costs. Analyze the project revenue and profit projections.
• Do an IP landscape analysis and identify IP risks and opportunities related to yourproject.

Note that exact formatting requirements will not be specified but plenty of good examples can be found though simple searches. 

Solution

Introduction

Our smart pencil company aims to provide its clients one-of-a-kind and novel product experiences. According to the results of the market research that was carried out to develop the business strategy, there is substantial demand for these goods, and it is projected that this demand will continue to expand in the foreseeable future. In the summary of the company's business strategy, it is outlined how the company intends to market its specialised goods and services. Relationships with customers will be centred on the provision of an exceptional level of service to those customers. The creation of product, the advertising of our product, and providing help to the company's existing clientele will be the primary focuses of the company's efforts. The one-of-a-kind products will be the most precious resource, and the merchants and suppliers that offer them will be the most valued business friends because of their ability to market these products. (R. Reynolds, 2017)

We have great hopes that our research will, in the end, pave the way for the development of a portable smart pen system that will be able to discern if a reader's attention has wandered away from the page they are now reading. This would be a significant step forward in the field. Some people who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) already make use of highlighters to assist them in keeping track of what they are reading, and other people who have ADD or ADHD are eager to give highlighters a try so that they, too, can do the same thing. Highlighters can help people with ADD and ADHD keep track of what they are reading. The unique motion patterns of an instrumented pen, which will serve as the primary object of the research, will be the focus of this investigation, and the objective of this study is to determine whether or not it would be feasible to develop a standalone system that is able to recognise these patterns and provide a report on them in real-time. This is done in an effort to gain a better understanding of whether or not a system of this kind is even possible to be constructed; the findings of this study will be explored in further detail later on in this paragraph. When the user's attention is diverted away from the display on the screen, the pen will behave in unexpected ways. When the user's attention is brought away from the screen, the pen behaves in surprising ways. During a normal reading session, one might predict that the pen would perform in a particular way; nevertheless, when the user's focus is moved away from the screen, the pen behaves in unexpected ways. This is occurring as a direct result of the user's attention being drawn away from the display screen. This investigation into the viability of a particular strategy was carried out with the purpose of determining whether or not it is possible to conceptualise a device that satisfies the criteria of being small in size, consuming little power overall, and producing few false positives. The investigation was carried out with the intention of determining whether or not it is possible to conceptualise a device that satisfies these criteria. The purpose of this inquiry was to determine whether or not it is even conceivable to conceive of a device that satisfies the aforementioned requirements. In order to assess whether or not it would be viable to construct a tool that fits the aforementioned criteria, the goal of this study was to conduct an investigation into the practicability of doing such an endeavour. (Green, 2018)

Project Value

Hypothesis of Project

H0: If you need to take vital signs in an emergency room, the digital pen as well as paper technology will give a workable and workflow-friendly interim solution.
H1: Patient contentment with collecting and reviewing vital sign data will rise in tandem with the prevalence of this technology.
H2: Pre-implementation workflow planning process as well as mapping (e.g., preventative steps made to improve usability based on assessment will overcome bad usability features of digital pen) will increase the digital pen's (Yen and Gorman's) usability.
H3: Testing the feasibility of transportable smart pen device that can identify moments of distraction while reading

The estimated cost of the pen would be around 30$.

Principal Target Group

Children and young people who have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD)

Costing

The purpose of cost accounting systems is to quantify, record, and report the price of a product, which in this case refers to the price of a phone that is compatible with the Smart Pencil. Specifically, the goal of cost accounting systems is to report the price of a phone that is compatible with the Smart Pencil. The various frameworks that were used to accomplish these goals each had their own individual set of manufacturing costs that needed to be paid in order to be produced. When all of the fundamentals have been figured out, it will then be possible to conduct an investigation into the potential rate of return on investment. This study will focus on the task order cost system, which, in the not-too-distant future, will be integrated into the Activity-Based Costing technique to improve its effectiveness further. (Jane, 2020)

Cost Estimate

One needs to produce an estimate before one can make an accurate forecast about how much money and other resources will be necessary to accomplish a project within a given time frame and budget. This is what it means to estimate the expenses of the project. The budget for the smart pen is built on top of an estimate of the overall expenses that will be incurred by this project. This estimate takes into consideration the cost of all labour and supplies necessary to complete the project. It is possible that the anticipated costs of a project could be used to assess whether or not the project is feasible; in addition, once the project has been accepted, the estimate will play a part in determining the extent to which the project will be carried out.

Establishment Cost

Financial Analysis

Return on Investment

When deciding whether or not an investment was successful, the most important factor that is considered is the investment’s return on its initial investment (ROI). The formula for calculating return on investment, also known as ROI, is the amount of profit or loss made on an investment divided by the amount of the initial investment. Return on investment (ROI) can be used in numerous ways in a start-up like ours, to evaluate the success of pricing policies, the value of capital equipment, and the value of inventories. Business buys things like inventory and machinery with the expectation of making a profit. Using the rate of return, a company can determine which of several potential purchases is most likely to increase its bottom-line profit. When deciding whether or not to finance a business, investors will consider the expected return on their investment. Our expected return on investment would 65%. 

Net Present Value

The net present value (NPV) of an investment or other cash flow event can be calculated by first determining the present value of all cash inflows and then determining the present value of all cash outflows. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary to arrive at an accurate result. One of the most typical processes in the process of capital budgeting and investment planning is to compute the net present value (NPV) of a project or investment. This is one of the most important measures to take. 

Should-Cost Analysis

The goal of a should-cost analysis, often known as a cost breakdown assessment, is to determine the specific factors that contribute to the final price of a good or service. Material costs, production expenses, labour costs, profit margin, as well as market variables like demand and competition, are all included in this method. The should-cost analysis of our pen would be done subsequently.  (Kalson, 2019)

Revenue Forecast

When a corporation reports its gross numbers, such as sales or revenue, these figures are referred to as the top line. Other terms for gross numbers include gross margin and gross margin percentage. Because it is included at the very top of an income statement, the top line is typically used to offer information about an organization’s overall revenue or sales. This is due to the fact that it is positioned in such a prominent position. When we talk about “top-line growth,” we’re referring to an increase in a company’s revenue or sales numbers. The bottom line contains the inverse of the top line, which serves as a representation of the top line. (Sebastian, 2021)

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

What is known as a company’s “cost of goods sold” (COGS) is the total of all of the direct expenses incurred in the making of a product or service that is sold to a customer. Importantly, COGS only includes costs that can be directly attributable to generating that income, such as inventory or labour costs. For our company the COGS would be 75,000$

Gross Margin

The percentage of revenue that is left over after deducting the cost of goods sold (COGS) from the total revenue is referred to as the “gross margin,” which is also known as the “gross profit margin” or the “gross margin ratio.” The word “gross margin” is also known as “gross profit margin.” In addition to “gross margin,” other names for this concept include “gross profit margin” and “gross margin.” To put it another way, gross margin is the amount of money that is kept from sales after direct costs have been deducted. This money is referred to as “retained sales revenue.” When a company’s gross margin is high, it has a greater amount of money at its disposal, which it can put toward paying down its debt and covering other expenses, such as taxes.

Economics of One Unit (EOU) Analysis

The phrase “unit economics” refers to a technique used to examine the cost and revenue ratio of a business in reference to its fundamental unit of analysis. It is critical for our smart pencil in the following areas:

Improvements in Product Performance

Our company can learn through unit economics whether or not it is charging too much for the product it's really offering. Whether we are getting a good return on investment from our marketing dollars and look for ways to save money; all the while improving and optimising our product.

Review of the Market's Long-Term Viability

Due to this meticulous planning, unit economics can provide an accurate prediction of the product's future success. New Businesses like ours that are in infancy stage that make best of the situation stand to gain the most.

Profitability Projections

Profitability on a per-unit basis provides a more accurate view of the time frame required to reach that goal. As a result of using unit economics to measure costs down to their smallest possible increment, these projected profit margins can be more reliably estimated.

Finance Plan

Cash Flow Analysis

A cash flow analysis is used to determine working capital, which refers to the funds that are accessible to be used in business operations and to settle transactions. To calculate this, take the total current assets (cash and short-term investments such as notes receivable) and deduct the total current liabilities (liabilities due during the upcoming accounting period). The cash flow analysis for our business can represented in the table below:

Break-even Analysis

The device has a high production run and will be sold for $100 at first, rising to $150 when more advanced features are integrated. According to the present study's assumptions, the first-stage goal is to make a net profit of $40, with the production and other costs totalling $60.

Project Control Tasks

Control Plan

Quality Control Plan

The goal of quality management is to minimize or eliminate production flaws. A corporation can then make items that meet the needs of its customers. As a result, it is crucial that all workers in a company are aware of the significance of preserving product quality throughout the manufacturing procedure.
If the organization has successfully used quality management processes and tools during production, then its products should meet or exceed client expectations. Because of this, the corporation has been able to maintain its dominant position in the market. Sales are up, and customer satisfaction is through the roof, thanks to the Company’s high-quality products.

FMEA

Smart pencil’s new Engineering FMEA app streamlines the engineering documentation process. The app’s primary function is instructional, as it promotes the use of methodical reasoning when solving engineering challenges. Besides reporting FMEA findings, delivering preliminary data for last-minute meetings, choosing a team, and monitoring corrective activities, it can be utilized for a variety of other applications as well. At the time of initial setup, people will have access to a tutorial and a sample FMEA (Dayle, 2021)

Capabilities for Reporting:

- The whole report’s content is modifiable via the options buttons.
- Furthermore, there are report buttons tailored to each section.
- A photo that can be changed before work begins.
- A board for directing a group.
- Design or procedure FMEA table. Scale descriptors for severity, occurrence, and detection adapt automatically according to the type of FMEA record being edited. The FMEA for the design and the process can be analyzed in a single table.

Supply Chain Analysis

Make-buy Analysis

The subject of whether to “Make” or “Buy” as a model for conducting corporate operations has been brought up for various businesses, particularly those working in the information technology industry. This question has led to the discussion of whether to “Make” or “Buy” as a model. In this regard, the Company is the subject of the same criticisms that were mentioned earlier. 

The Company must decide how it would best adopt a recruitment plan and how it will put that plan into effect in terms of assessing the attributes necessary of possible employees and how they would integrate into the business model that is still in place at the Company. The Company must also decide how it will assess the necessary attributes of possible employees and how they will integrate into the business model that is still in place at the Company. To put it another way, the Company needs to decide how it will determine the necessary traits of potential employees and how those individuals will fit into the business model that is still in place at the Company. Because the execution of this critical business activity will have a significant effect not only on the existing operations but also on the performance of the Company in the future, a significant amount of foresight and planning should be put into it.

Intellectual Property

Risks

In light of the increasing number of patents, businesses need to be prepared for the possibility of experiencing obstacles. Intellectual property (IP) carries the dangers of:

- Risk of availability: While it’s important for a business to share its knowledge, it’s also crucial that all of that knowledge be secure from any unauthorized use. (Morrison, 2016)

- Due to the complexity of IP rights, understanding their legal ramifications is crucial to minimizing the risk of noncompliance.

- When it comes to intellectual property, a company’s brand could be one of its most valuable assets. Maintaining a positive public perception of the firm and its products is crucial.

- The risk of unauthorized access to resources (either data or applications) is known as “access risk.” Limiting access to trade secrets is guaranteed by the inherent danger of doing so.

- The value of a company’s intellectual property and its use must be monitored and understood.

Risk Register

There is a connection between risk management and project, and one of the tools used in both is a risk register. It is used to keep tabs on any problems that could derail a project or perhaps an organization's goals and is sometimes required to meet regulatory compliance.

Opportunities

For companies to successfully commercialize their intellectual property holdings and make money off of them, they need to design intellectual property (IP) strategies. The administration of intellectual property is the initial phase of the process of developing an all-encompassing IP strategy. Managing intellectual property, the administrative responsibilities associated with intellectual property involve the creation of intellectual property assets as well as other aspects of the process. Through the use of filings, prosecution, and maintenance, it transforms the discoveries that were created in the laboratory or the design studio into works of art that are protected legally. These works of art can then be sold.

After that comes the management of an organization’s intellectual property. This process includes the management of portfolios, the integration of intellectual property into business strategy, and the enhancement of the value of the intellectual property. Any IP strategy that is worth its salt will take into consideration the long-term goals of the Company in addition to the short-term earnings and losses of the business. This is because long-term goals are more challenging to change than short-term ones. (Shelly, 2019)

It is necessary that intellectual property be secured in the same manner as is the case with physical assets, given that it frequently takes the form of sensitive information. This is the case because intellectual property is a sort of intangible property. It is feasible to make use of it to improve revenue streams that are already in place, which can lead to an increase in earnings while simultaneously reducing exposure to risk. The plan for any successful company’s expansion and productivity almost always includes the creation of intellectual property along with other types of intangible assets. This is because the creation of intellectual property is typically a vital component of intangible asset development. Although these assets provide support for the Company’s primary economic asset, the firm may also employ additional monetization strategies in order to gain more money. This is despite the fact that these assets are economic assets. These tactics might include things like:

For instance, the day-to-day operations of a firm might occasionally lead to the creation of extra intangible assets, which can be viewed as an example. Instead of putting these resources in a drawer and forgetting about them, why not put them to better use? A further illustration of this concept is provided by the manner in which the monetization of significant intangible assets may result in a number of diverse revenue streams as opposed to just one single revenue stream. In the past, patents were seen largely as a tool for acquiring the right to exclude or ban the use of a specific product or technique. This view persists today, but patents serve other purposes as well. On the other hand, the value that they possess as intangible assets is consistently growing over time. When discussing intellectual property, the term “placing a monetary value on the creation of intellectual property” refers to “assigning a monetary value to the act of creating intellectual property.” In other words, to “monetize” something implies giving it a monetary worth. (W. R. Jenson, 2018)

Standards

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has developed a series of recommendations known as the WIPO Standards. These suggestions are aimed at international organizations and nations. To be more specific, these recommendations are directed toward the national or regional intellectual property offices of the states and organizations, as well as the International Bureau of the WIPO and any other national or international institution that has an interest in intellectual property documentation and information. Additionally, the WIPO International Bureau is included in this group.

Our company will comply over fifty Standards, Recommendations, and Guidelines have been developed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as a result of efforts to standardize patents, trademarks, and industrial designs within the framework of the international cooperation promoted by WIPO in the field of intellectual property information and documentation. This cooperation has been facilitated by WIPO. Patents, trademarks, and industrial designs are the three different types that fall under this umbrella term. (Johnson, 2020)

The WIPO Standards offer assistance to intellectual property offices in the process of standardizing their use of electronic data processing throughout the entirety of the intellectual property lifecycle, which includes the phases of filing, inspection, publication, awarding, and registering intellectual property rights. The WIPO Standards make it simpler to transmit, exchange, share, and broadcast information (both text and images) connected to intellectual property on a global scale. In addition to this, they facilitate easier access to and retrieval of information pertaining to intellectual property.

Recommendation and Conclusion

From a pedagogical point of view, the most difficult component of this industrial design project is going to be convincing investors that it is necessary to carry out market research before moving on to the process of product design. This is going to be the most demanding aspect of this project. This is going to be the part of the project that presents the greatest challenge. This is going to be the case because gathering data about the market is an essential step that must be completed before moving on to the next stage of product creation. However, once people do understand this concept, there is little use in investing in the development of a new product because there will be no return on the investment. This is something that is more likely to happen to investors who do not have a significant amount of prior experience working in an office setting. It is quite unusual for the marketing department of a company to offer a new entrepreneur all of the information necessary to design a product from the bottom up before the individual even begins employment there.

However, for them to be of aid in the production of that product, it is highly possible that they will be forced to conduct a substantial amount of their very own market research on their own. They are the ones who need to be the ones to take the initiative to carry out this assignment all by themselves. On the other hand, the fact that the aforementioned project in industrial design places such a strong emphasis on market research will make it simpler for prospective designers to communicate with their stakeholders in the marketing department and colleagues in other parts of the organization. Because of this, the project placed a significant emphasis on gathering client feedback.

References

Dayle, R., 2021. Portable computer apparatus for assisting persons with cognitive disabilities. U.S., Patent No. 6225920.

Green, J., 2018. Learning device for attention deficit children. U.S., Patent No. 5288233.

Herron, L., 2017. Portable electronic device for assisting persons with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. U.S., Patent No. 6042383.

Jane, M., 2020. The Invisible Clock. [Online] 
Available at: http://addwarehouse.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/invisible-clock.html
[Accessed 6 October 2022].

Johnson, J., 2020. CDC - ADHD, Data and Statistics - NCBDDD. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Online] 
Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html
[Accessed 6 October 2022].

Kalson, S., 2019. Adaptive Array CFAR Detection. IEEE Trans. Aero. Elec. Sys., XXXI(2), pp. 535-542.

Morrison, A., 2016. On-task learning system and method. U.S., Patent No. 0188860.

R. Reynolds, 2017. System and method for attention training. U.S., Patent No. 0115603.

Sebastian, K., 2021. Gordon Systems, GSI Publications, Gordon Systems and GSI Publications. [Online] 
Available at: http://www.gsi-add.com/attentiontraining.htm
[Accessed 6 October 2022].

Shelly, A., 2019. ADD / ADHD and School: Helping Children with ADHD Succeed at School. [Online] 
Available at: https://Helpguide.org/
[Accessed 6 October 2022].

W. Curry, T. D. a. J. K., 2021. Attention-focusing device and method of use. U.S., Patent No. 6558165.

W. R. Jenson, H. K. R. a. G. R., 2018. The Tough Kid Book: Practical Classroom Management Strategies. 3rd ed. Chicago: Longmont.