| Course | WMBA 6620 Practices in Project Management |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 2 |
| Paper type | Project charter |
| Length | About 670 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration (MBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for WMBA 6620 Week 2
Project Charter: Line 2 at Harvest Lane Bakery, a Second Sandwich Bread Line Producing 4,500 Loaves an Hour at 85 Percent Equipment Effectiveness by March 31, 2028, for $7.4 Million
Student Name
Walden University
WMBA 6620: Practices in Project Management
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Project Charter: Line 2 at Harvest Lane Bakery, a Second Sandwich Bread Line Producing 4,500 Loaves an Hour at 85 Percent Equipment Effectiveness by March 31, 2028, for $7.4 Million
Project Title and Authorization
Project: Line 2 installation and startup. Organization: Harvest Lane Bakery, a composite wholesale bakery in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that supplies sandwich bread and buns to three regional grocery chains. Sponsor: Vice President of Operations. Project manager: Plant Engineering Manager. Charter date: October 12, 2026.
This charter authorizes the project manager to plan the project, commit the approved budget within the limits below and assign plant staff to project work with their supervisors' agreement.
Purpose
Line 1 runs about 22 hours a day, six days a week, at roughly 96 percent of its practical capacity. In the past twelve months the bakery declined about $9 million of private-label bread orders it could not produce. The project will add a second automated sandwich bread line in the unused north bay of the existing plant. Success means Line 2 producing 4,500 loaves an hour at an overall equipment effectiveness of at least 85 percent, averaged over the four weeks ending March 31, 2028, with no food safety nonconformance in its first customer audit.
Scope Boundary
In scope: renovation of the north bay; a mixer, divider, proofer, tunnel oven, cooling spiral and slicer-bagger; gas and electrical service upgrades; food safety validation of the new line; hiring and training of 24 line operators and two maintenance technicians.
Out of scope: new product development, since Line 2 will run existing recipes; changes to Line 1; changes to the distribution fleet or warehouse; changes to the bakery's enterprise resource planning system beyond adding the new line's codes.
Milestones
Table 1
Summary Milestones
| Milestone | Target date | |
|---|---|
| Charter approved | October 30, 2026 | |
| Equipment purchase orders placed | December 15, 2026 | |
| North bay renovation complete | June 30, 2027 | |
| Oven and major equipment delivered | August 31, 2027 | |
| Installation and utility connections complete | November 30, 2027 | |
| Commissioning and food safety validation complete | January 31, 2028 | |
| First commercial production | February 14, 2028 | |
| Performance target met | March 31, 2028 | |
Dates are targets for planning; the baseline schedule will be set in the scope and schedule documents.
Budget
Approved budget: $7.4 million, including a contingency of $600,000 held by the sponsor. The estimate is a preliminary order-of-magnitude figure based on two vendor budgetary quotes and the bakery's 2019 Line 1 refurbishment, expected to fall within 10 percent either way once quotes are firm. Large projects routinely exceed budgets set this early (Flyvbjerg, 2014), so the charter asks for a firm estimate at the end of the scope phase, before the oven order is placed.
Key Stakeholders
The plant manager, who will run Line 2 after handover; the food safety and quality manager, who must approve validation; the maintenance supervisor; the bakery workers' union local, whose agreement governs new shift patterns; the three grocery customers' quality auditors; the oven vendor; and the gas utility, which must upgrade the service line. Zwikael and Meredith (2018) distinguish the project owner, funder and manager, among other roles; here the Vice President of Operations is both owner and funder, and the plant manager is the principal user.
High-Level Risks
Oven lead time, currently quoted at 34 weeks, is the largest schedule risk. The gas utility's service upgrade has no committed date. Hiring 24 operators in a tight local labor market may delay startup. Each will be assessed in the risk register.
Authority and Approval
The project manager may approve spending up to $50,000 per item within the budget and may reassign tasks within the team. Changes to scope, milestones after June 30, 2027, or total cost require the sponsor's approval through change control. In the PMBOK Guide's terms, a charter is what officially brings a project into being and lets its manager commit company resources to it (Project Management Institute, 2021); this one takes effect once the sponsor and the plant manager sign it.
Signatures: Vice President of Operations; Plant Manager; Plant Engineering Manager.
References
Flyvbjerg, B. (2014). What you should know about megaprojects and why: An overview. Project Management Journal, 45(2), 6-19. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj.21409
Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.).
Zwikael, O., & Meredith, J. R. (2018). Who's who in the project zoo? The ten core project roles. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 38(2), 474-492. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-05-2017-0274
What the WMBA 6620 Week 2 instructions ask for
The charter assignment asks students to write the document that formally authorizes a project. Instructors expect one to three pages under fixed headings, reading more like a form than an essay. Purpose should name the business problem and a measurable result with a date. Scope should appear as a boundary statement with the first exclusions visible. A milestone list of five to eight dated entries, a budget with its basis and accuracy, key stakeholders and high-level risks usually follow. The charter closes with the project manager's authority and the signatures that make it effective. Strong charters avoid vague goals and state numbers wherever the case allows. The budget figure should say how it was estimated and how accurate it is likely to be, since early estimates are rarely final. Naming who may approve changes keeps later decisions orderly.
How this WMBA 6620 Week 2 example is built
The charter names the project, sponsor, project manager and date and states the authority it grants. Purpose explains Line 1's utilization and the declined orders, then defines success in output, equipment effectiveness and audit terms. Scope lists six in-scope items and four exclusions. A table gives eight milestones with dates. The budget section states $7.4 million with contingency and its basis, citing Flyvbjerg on early estimates and asking for a firm estimate later. Stakeholders are named with Zwikael and Meredith's role distinctions. Three high-level risks are listed. The close sets spending authority, refers changes to change control, cites the PMBOK Guide on charters and lists signatures. Margin comments flag the form-like structure and the exclusions.
WMBA 6620 Week 2 rubric: what earns full marks
Graders reward a charter with a measurable, dated purpose rather than a general aim. A scope boundary that names exclusions earns credit because it prevents later disputes. Dated milestones and a budget with its basis and accuracy show realism. Identifying stakeholders and their roles, and naming the main risks, demonstrates planning awareness. Clear statements of the project manager's authority and the approval needed for changes show governance. A charter a sponsor could sign as written, with no paragraph that needs a follow-up meeting to interpret, sits at the top of the range. Charters that name the largest risk and its effect on a milestone show the most foresight.
Common WMBA 6620 Week 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Start by writing the business problem in two sentences and the result you will measure, with a date. List what is in scope and, just as carefully, what is not. Choose five to eight milestones that a sponsor would recognize. Give a budget with its basis and how accurate it is. Students often lose marks by stating goals such as improving efficiency, by omitting exclusions or by leaving authority unclear. Another frequent gap is a budget with no explanation. Keep each section short and factual. If you would like a custom sample charter for a project you are planning, send us its purpose and budget.
Get a WMBA 6620 Week 2 example written to your instructions
The charter prompt and its rubric start it, along with any required template the section distributes and the project wherever the assignment names one. A complete charter with milestones, budget, roles and numbered assumptions arrives in 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. Client and vendor names never appear in a draft.
More WMBA 6620 papers and MBA samples
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- WMBA 6620 Week 3: Project Scope Statement
- WMBA 6620 Week 4: Work Breakdown Structure
- WMBA 6620 Week 5: Critical Path Schedule Build
- WMBA 6620 Week 6: Bottom-Up Project Cost Estimate
- WMBA 6620 Week 7: Plan Reconciliation Peer Replies
- WMBA 6620 Week 8: Project Quality Plan
- WMBA 6620 Week 9: Change Control Procedure
- WMBA 6620 Week 10: Earned Value Status Report
- WMBA 6620 Week 11: Project Closeout Report
- WMBA 6623 Week 2: Project Risk Identification Table
- WMBA 6615 Week 2: Culture Artifact Inventory
- WMBA 6627 Week 2: Stakeholder Identification Register
- WMBA 6608 Week 2: Financial Ratio Interpretation Memo
WMBA 6620 Week 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free WMBA 6620 Week 2 sample paper?
Scroll down: the charter for adding a second line at a wholesale bakery is printed in full, with comments in the margin.
What does the project deliver?
A second sandwich bread line producing 4,500 loaves an hour at 85 percent equipment effectiveness.
What is the budget?
$7.4 million, including $600,000 of contingency held by the sponsor.
What is excluded?
New recipes, Line 1 changes, fleet or warehouse changes and most system changes.
What is the largest risk?
The oven's 34-week lead time.