Executive Summary

Berth expansion of Westport Malaysia was a long term planned project which was sponsored by Federal Government of Malaysia. Purpose of this project is to accommodate the demand and requirement to receive bigger fleets to avoid longer stay, delays and traffic congestion. Therefore, expansion of Container Terminal 7 & 8 which consists of 04 berths starting from number 18, 19, 20 and 21 will be a successful plan since it involves a minimum risk.

The report defines the project as a multi facet hi tech project along with the identification of the sponsor of the project. It describes that various elements of the business case and mentions the importance of each element in terms of the decision making for the management. It also emphasis on the benefit cost analysis and criticises the evaluation procedure and necessary up gradation of the benefit cost elements. It also describes the risk and shows that it forms an important part in evaluation during the formulation of a business case. The reports analysis the feasibility for the business case and highlights, that for the success of the project it is essential to form a business case which is viable with the project study; and necessary factors that are essential for the success of the project. This is also important to get the approval and necessary commitment from the management in order to get the necessary resources for the project. Although there requires some addition to the business case that will help to improve in the future. Finally it is recommended that risk evaluation shall be done by an expert and the external environment analysis must be carried out in order to understand deeply the impact on the project and in formulation of business case.

1. INTRODUCTION
Structure of this report is to understand that while initiating the project, Westports Malaysia which in nature complex; a critical study including all elements business case were important to influence, contributes and lead to a result or outcome goals successfully.

As mentioned in the Project Management Book of Knowledge, the report defines the project terms of the texts and is strongly illuminates the involvement of Federal Government along with their functions and accountability; therefore it will be emphasized on the business case and its critical analysis to ensure the project benefits and risk related with the project and translate the essential solution for it to refrain chaotic circumstances. Finally the report will accentuate the procedure required for the approval of the project along with the dedication of the management.

At the end a conclusion is inferred from the analysis and following suggestions are advised based on the conclusion.

2. Project Background
Westports Port Project Development is executed on an island known as Pulau Indah, West Malaysia which was a fishing area previously. It is the Malaysias major container transshipment hub gateway, incorporated in 1994 and involves in transporting cargoes, vessel operations, warehouse services, cargo storage, vessel bunkering services and others. Currently Westports Malaysia handles vessels length overall of up to 367 meters with a draft limitation of 16.5 meters. Westports Malaysia designed it for as a long term planned project and was sponsored by the Federal Government under Ministry of Transport on a Container Terminal Expansion which consist of three container berths for mega container vessels. This project commenced in April 2011 and expected to complete by end 2014 with a cost of MYR460 million.

3. Business Case Analysis

3.1 Project Definition: Authors have described project as a structural unit that solves a unique and complex task (Ahuja & Thiruvengadam, 2004) which still validates the definition of project for Westports Malaysia, therefore it creates a precise classification for this project. As described in PMBOK (2004) a project is an earnest attempt taken to have an additional service which grasps Westports Malaysia in term of defining it as a project as Westports Malaysia was tenured for 04 years telling the specific time of the project. Furthermore the common structural characteristic is the key to accommodate the difference among work responsibility and process of work settlement. In addition to that, it also associates to the nature of Westports Malaysia which can be compared with the prominent aspects which argued by Weiss & Wysocki (1992) and Stretton (1983). Therefore the typification of the project can also be categorized as a high

development and complex project based on the project management scope.

3.2 Sponsor: This project is solely funded by Federal Government; therefore involvement of other parties will not be discussed, therefore the sponsor can be specifically defined by their actions and communications allows in or maintains the integrity and momentum of the project and commitment throughout the organization (Herroelen, 2005). Hence, a sponsor is the owner of the project that shows Federal Government of Malaysia which was resembled by Simon, (1963).

3.3 Business Case: The business case for Westports Malaysia was selected by the Project Management Team by contracting local professional contractors with more than 20 year experience in this field to ensure this whole project will be carried out without any obstructions. Below is the content of business case (Refer Table 3.1)

Table3.1: Content of Business Case Number 1 2 3 4 5 Important Contents of Business Case Case Introduction and Overview Case Assumptions and Methods Projected Business Results Sensitivity and Risk Analysis Conclusions and Recommendations

Above table information shows the important features to be taken into consideration while initiating the business case which might associate to all relevant facts of the project (Suchman, 1995). However lacking of key areas were essentially required a bigger attention from the Federal Government, apart from this it was not indicated or told the implementation strategy that should have included the high level work plan, personnel roles and responsibilities, deliverables milestones and other related issue which are equally important for berth expansion as quoted by McMahon, (2005). As this project was on state interest, it should have considered the important aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility which can been added as a support to overcome the problem to understand the importance of the project that wouldnt have lead to a delay due to the resistance of these people. This would have allowed having advantages such as cost and risk reduction, gaining competitive advantage, allowing developing reputation and legitimacy and support to seek win-win situations through synergistic value creation (Porter and Kramer, 2006).

The business study should not be ended at this stage but should go on in upgrading by passing through the series of stages in form and functional activity through which an organism passes between successive recurrences of a specified primary which told by Bucero (2005).

3.4 Evaluation of Benefits-Cost-Risk: Benefit Cost Analysis have been defined as narrow financial tool which evaluates the cost and benefits of each viable alternatives (Watson, 1995). The business case included the tangible factors for the analysis along with the qualitative and quantitative factors as stated by Cyert, Richard and James (1963)
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This will help the management to apply the decision rules to ensure the project will be profitable and beneficial with the positive factor as shown in Net Present Value. Thus it can be illustrated that as benefit cost analysis does not contains depreciation allowance, accruals and other non cash attributes which resulted in difference between actual business cash flow and the benefit cost cash flow of the project(Whetten, 1989). The expansion project period was considered as cost (working capital decreased) and/or benefits (working capital increased).Also the changes in the inventory shown in the analysis signaled either cost or benefits but however in actual execution when these were measured they were based on cost and revenue. This created difficulties during the actual execution of the project as the staffs were more adhered to accrual accounting. This should have been transferred to quantifiable benefits as this could have resulted in increase of productivity that would have lead to less over-time and cost over runs. If these were difficult it at least should have summarised in the following format and this would give a clear idea for further decision to management. 3.5 Feasibility of the Solution: Due to world economic crisis expansion of these three berths at Westports Malaysia been postponed until this crisis recover (undisclosed date), tangible risk such as downsizing man power/staff. Although the business case was prepared as per the requirement through various prescribed theories; however it lacked the critical analysis of the alternative solution as the project involved hidden risk such as infringement and other impediments that were not shown during the feasibility study which was later encountered during the implementation phase. It also failed to identify and subsequently indicate the viable solution in case of delays or any force majeure which are one of the important forms of risk analysis (Morris, 2000.). The benefits cost analysis that considered the parameters were highly unstable during the execution of the project that indicated a complete lack of study of the subject area. Also, the analysis was sceptical and misunderstood that whether the resources were gained by or lost to the stakeholders and to whose benefit was the analysis done for. It completely lacked opportunity cost, sunk cost, externalities, and residual values which forms an important factor (Boardman, Vining, & Waters, 1993). Thus a viable option usually includes a do nothing option (status quo) (Barber, 2004). Also it is required to quantify the benefits, forecast the cost, and assess the feasibility of implementing the solution along with identifying the risk and issues associated with each solution.
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3.6 Management Commitment and Approval: When the business case was developed it was passed through management for a final sign off. To get the necessary approval and commitment from the management it is necessary to improve awareness within the senior management (Raz, Barnes, and Dvir, 2003). This was brought through a series of presentations that focused on the key issues of the project, progressive testing and assurance indicating the early outcome of the business, review points, exit options. Later, it was presented to the stakeholders through a series of meeting indicating the deliverables of the project and the end benefits of the project. This helped to reinforce the decision of the stakeholders and management to be committed and feel safe for their investment. This however confined to the strategic decision making attributes of vision and goals of the project to convince their investment as stated by Kloppenborg,. & Opfer,. (2000). However the timeline presented to the management only highlighted the commencement date and finish date indicating the major milestones, but it lacked to superimpose the timeline with the implementation phase which forms the most important aspect to identify the scenario in case of slippage of the project as stated by Cook, (1997).This should have also highlighted the major activities that were required for the efficient running of the project.

3.7: Objectives The present study intends to take these initiatives one step further in conjunction with the design and implementation of berth expansion of Westports Malaysia. The objective if the present study will be to review the effectiveness of initiatives started and participate in design and implementation of the project with a view to evaluating potential environmental impacts, designing remedial measures and precaution steps to ensure they are incorporated during this project.

3.8: Scope of Work The study team will be expected, among other things to undertake the following tasks: Review the environmental strategy built together with any other documents relating to environmental management practices which need to be produced to Federal Government.

 Evaluate how successful the environment strategies built into the above project have been and what amendments, if any, might have helped to make them even more effective. Participate in the study of the berth expansion project and advise potential adverse environmental impact and what might be done to minimize them and under circumstances which might make it desirable discuss remaining impacts, either on this or other major works project, in the context of public inquiry. Participate in preparation of bid documents and advise on what steps need to be taken to ensure that the remedial measures identified or incorporated into plans for implementing the projects. .

4. Conclusion
Westports Malaysia have targeted structural characteristic of the project within the framework of the PMBOK literature. Malaysian Government was the only project sponsor as it can be fully executed the following roles and duties such as finance, lead political charge, owns the final product resources, strategic fit and accountability. Proper elements to analysis business case for this project was prepaid, however it was not completed at premature stage. The results were feasible from the view point of profit and revenue in order to merge the strategic vision and goals. The approval was based on standard procedure, agreement, understanding, proven fulfilment of revenue growth from 2006 till 2009 and some major personnel interest factors for the management to commit.

Westports Malaysia Performance in 2009 Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 Capacity (Million TEUs) 3.67 4.31 4.97 4.45

Abstracted from: Malaysia Logistics Directory 2010

5. Recommendations Although Westports Malaysia business plan is ongoing, following suggestion should be taken into consideration to avoid interruption for future project development. Research on current world crisis, port competitors and surveys should be done before planning berth expansion. Recommend to go as a full entrepot which trades post where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties, often at a profit. Regulation and management of parastatal and other autonomous agencies. Consulted various group of professionals before deciding on expansion of 04 berths. Risk Evaluation must be based on experience and also shall include some trial and error conditions for which an expert Risk Management Consultant shall be appointed.