Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Unit-01-Basics of Project Management Structure
Unit-01-Basics of Project Management Structure
Management
Unit-01-Basics of Project Management
Structure:
1.1 Introduction
Learning Objectives
1.2 Definition
1.3 Need for Project Management
1.4 Project Management Knowledge Areas and Relationship
1.5 The Project Life Cycle
1.6 The Project Manager
1.7 Knowledge Areas, Process and Connection
1.8 Phases of Project Management Life Cycle
Analysis and evaluation phase
Marketing phase
Design phase
Inspecting, testing and delivery phase
Post completion analysis
1.9 Project Management Processes
Project processes
Process groups
Process groups and knowledge area matrix
Process Interactions
Initiating processes
Planning processes
Executing processes
Controlling processes
Closing processes
Customisation
1.10 Project Failure
1.11 Essentials of Project Management Philosophy
What is a project?
Project parameters for negotiation
How does project management add value ?
1.12 Project Management Principles
1.13 Roles, Responsibilities and Teamwork
The players
Roles and responsibilities of project team
1.14 Summary
1.15 Terminal Questions
1.16 Answers to SAQs and TQs
Answers to Self Assessment Questions
Answers to Terminal Questions
1.1 Introduction
The economy of India has been growing over the last few years. Many industries have come up
in various sectors. The government is always looking for growth of the country. In such a
booming market, a huge amount of money is being invested in various projects. In this
perspective it becomes very important for managers to manage the projects effectively in order to
maximise the returns. Faced with unprecedented growth in business, todays corporate world
needs proper and effective project management. Hence efficient and effective project managers
have become the need of the hour.
More and more companies across the globe are adopting the practices of managing projects and
looking out for skilled managers and practitioners. This has increased the demand for project
managers globally. Hence, we advise you to read and understand the concepts of project
management as discussed in this book.
This book focuses on the development, maintenance, evaluation, promotion and administration
of projects. You will be able to understand the concepts in project management and prepare
yourselves to handle projects since most of the concepts in this book are explained adopting
practical approach. You will also be able to understand the application process in project
management.
In this unit, we would first attempt to explain project management through a preview of globally
recognised best practices. These best practices form a part of managing projects of all sizes and
types in virtually any domain of business. Various sections and sub-sections of this unit would
cover key aspects, definition and basics of project management.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Recall the basics of project management.
Recall the definitions, terminologies and concepts in project management
Recognise the importance of project management in business
Describe the scope of project planning and its phases
Describe the role of project manager
Recognise the reasons for project failure
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
1. The economy of India has been growing over the last few years.
1.2 Definition
Let us look at the definition of some vocabulary that you will often encounter in a project
management discussion.
Project A project is a set of activities which are networked in an order and aimed at achieving
the defined goals for which the project is undertaken. Upon completion of all the activities, the
goals of the project would have been achieved.
Management Management is the technique of understanding the problems and needs and
controlling the use of resources, such as cost, time, manpower, and materials.
Project Management It is an art of controlling the cost, time, manpower, and hardware and
software resources involved in a project.
Project Cycle A project cycle basically consists of the various activities of operations,
resources and the limitations imposed on them.
Process A process is part of the project which consists of simple and routine instructions to
achieve a desired result of any activity of the project. A process is responsible to bring about the
changes in the input fed to the process and to give out desired outputs as a result of the process.
Resource It refers to manpower, machinery, money and materials required in the project.
Scope It refers to the various parameters that affect the project in its planning, formulation
and execution.
Project Cost It is the budgeted expenditure of the project.
Now that you know what a project is can you think of some examples? Here are some that we
could think of.
Examples of a Project
Commissioning a new industrial unit
Constructing a house
Setting up an office
Developing a technology
Launching a new product in the market
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
2. A project cycle basically consists of the various activities of operations and resources and the
limitations imposed on them.
3. Project management is an art of controlling the cost, time, manpower, hardware and software
resources involved in a project.
1.3 Need for Project Management
Project management is necessary because it helps an organisation execute a project successfully
by:
a) Preventing Project Failure: A project requires huge investments which should not go waste.
A loss in any project would have direct or indirect impact on the society. Project management
helps an organisation prevent failures in projects.
b) Controlling Project Scope: Scope of the project activity may undergo a change. Project
management helps an organisation define and control project scope.
c) Improving understanding: Lack of understanding of the project among the participants leads
to failure. Project management helps participants understand the project and its purpose.
d) Managing Risks: A project is vulnerable to various risks. A project is affected if the
technology used is changed during the course of project execution. Similarly changes in
economic conditions may affect a project. Project management is very useful in assessing and
mitigating such risks.
e) Managing Project Problems: Consequences of ignoring project related problems can be very
serious. Project management helps in identification and communication of problem areas.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
4. Project management is necessary because _____ used may change during the course of project
execution.
1.4 Project Management Knowledge Areas and Relationship
Project Management Knowledge Areas refer to various techniques needed to manage projects,
the practical methodologies adopted in formulating a project and managing the resources which
would affect the project completion. Relationship with other management disciplines is essential
for a project to be successful. Supporting disciplines include law, strategic planning, logistics,
human resource management and domain knowledge.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
5. Relationship with other management disciplines is not essential for a project to be successful.
8. Life cycle of a project manager _____ with the development life cycle in the middle.
1.7 Knowledge Areas, Process and Connection
There are nine knowledge areas consisting of integration, scope, time, cost, quality, risk, human
resources, communications, and procurement. These areas group 44 Project Management
Processes. All of the knowledge areas are interrelated and each should be taken care of during
project planning. Figure 1.1 lists the nine knowledge areas.
8. Project Risk Management: Deals with the processes concerned with project risk
management.
9. Project Procurement Management: Deals with processes related to obtaining products and
services needed to complete a project.
In total, there are 44 processes involved in Project Management. These are mapped to one of
nine Project Management Knowledge Areas.
1.8 Phases of Project Management Life Cycle
The various phases in project management life cycle are
Analysis and evaluation
Marketing
Design
Inspecting, testing and delivery
Post completion analysis
Figure 1.2 shows the phases in a sequence.
Based on the inputs received in the form of project feasibility study, preliminary project
evaluation, project proposal and customer interviews, following outputs are produced:
System design specification
Program functional specification
Program design specification
Project plan
1.8.4 Inspecting, Testing and Delivery Phase
During this phase, the project team works under the guidance of the project manager. The project
manager has to ensure that the team working under him implements the project designs
accurately. The project has to be tracked or monitored through its cost, manpower and schedule.
The tasks involved in these phases are:
Managing the customer
Marketing the future work
Performing quality control work
1.8.5 Post Completion Analysis Phase
After delivery or completion of the project, the staff performance has to be evaluated. The tasks
involved in this phase are:
Documenting the lessons learnt from the project
Analysing project feedback
Preparing project execution report
Analysing the problems encountered during the project
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
9. The analysis and evaluation phase starts with receiving a request to analyse the problem from
the Manager.
10. SQC has to be conducted to determine the essential requirements of a project for achieving
the target.
4. Controlling processes: These processes monitor and measure progress and take remedial
action.
5. Closing processes: These processes are meant for formalising acceptance and bringing
project to an orderly end.
Figure 1.4 shows the connection between Process Groups in a Phase.
Project
Management
Integration
Planning
Process
Group
Developing Develop
Project
Project
Charter
Manage-ment
Developing Plan
Preliminary
Project Scope
Statement
Executing
Process
Group
Monitoring
Closing
and
Process
Controlling
Group
Process Group
Direct and
Manage
Project
Execution
Monitor and
Close
Control Project Project
Work
Integrated
Change Control
Project Scope
Management
Scope Planning
Scope
Definition
Scope WBS
Scope
Verification
Scope Control
Project Time
Management
Activity
Definition
Activity
Sequencing
Activity
Resource
Estimating
Activity
Duration
Estimation
Schedule
Develop-ment
Schedule
Control
Project Cost
Management
Cost Estimating
Cost Budgeting
Cost Control
Project Quality
Management
Quality
Planning
Perform
Quality
Assurance
Project Human
Resources
Management
Human
Resources
Planning
Acquire
Manage Project
Project Team Team
Develop
Project Team
Project
Communication
Management
Communications
Planning
Information
Distribution
Project
Procurement
Planning
Plan Purchase
and
Acquisitions
Plan
Contracting
Request
Contract
Contract
Seller
Administra-tion Closure
Responses
Select Sellers
Project Risk
Management
Risk
Management
Planning
Risk Identification
Qualitative Risk
Analysis
Quantitative
Risk Analysis
Risk Response
Planning
Perform Quality
Control
Performance
Reporting
Manage
Stakeholders
Risk Monitoring
and Control
Interactions focus on planning. Planning processes are highly interdependent. If the cost is
unacceptable, scope and time may need to be redefined
1.9.4.3 Executing Processes
Interactions in this group depend on the nature of the work. They are dynamic and dependent on
team innovations.
1.9.4.4 Controlling Processes
The interactions are aimed at measuring project performance [time, cost, quality] and identifying
the variances from the plan. Project plans are updated and corrective action is taken.
1.9.4.5 Closing Processes
The interactions revolve around review of the project, findings and analysis of the project
performance with respect to various processes.
1.9.5 Customisation
At times, project management processes need to be customised based on the requirement of the
product. Find below some examples of customisation:
Large projects may need details A detailed project management plan might be necessary to
indicate every detail in the initial stages.
Smaller projects may need relatively less details - A detailed plan may not be required in the
initial stages.
Process details might change for other reasons Resource identification might be required
for scope definition.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
13. Project management consists of interacting processes namely _____, _____, interactions, and
________ which are organised in groups.
14. Project process is classified into ______ and _______ process.
15. _____ and _____ refer to the mechanism applied on the inputs to create desired outputs.
1.10 Project Failure
Why do projects fail? Let us find out the answer. A project may fail because of one or more of
the following reasons
a. Incidence of project failure :
Projects being initiated at random at all levels
Project objective not in line with business objective
Project management principles not observed
Project manager with no prior experience in the related project
Non- dedicated team
Lack of complete support from clients
b. Factors contributing to project success not emphasised :
Project objective not aligned with business objective
Working beyond the framework of project management methodology
Ineffective and erroneous scoping, planning, estimation, execution, controls and reviews, and
closure
Not having a proactive approach towards project bottlenecks
Failure in communication and managing expectations effectively with clients, team members
and stake holders
c. Overview of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) projects:
Involve information and communications technologies such as the World Wide Web, e-mail,
fibre-optics and satellites
Enable societies to produce, access, adapt and apply information in greater amounts, more
rapidly and at reduced costs
Offer enormous opportunities for enhancing business and economic viability.
d. Other common problems encountered during projects
No prioritisation of project activity from an organisational position
One or more of the stages in the project mishandled
True or False?
18. A project may be stated as a single disciplined team brought together for the project.
19. Scope, cost and schedule are some of the parameters used for project negotiation.
20. Some of the steps of good project management are
Define the project,
Reduce it to a set of manageable tasks and
Obtain appropriate and necessary resources.
1.12 Project Management Principles
There are five dimensions that must be managed on a project. These are
1. Features
2. Quality
3. Cost
4. Schedule
5. Staff
These dimensions are independent of one another. Addition of staff may shorten schedule but
increase the cost. The trade-offs among these five dimensions are not linear. For each project, we
need to decide which dimensions are critical and how to balance the others so as to achieve the
key project objectives. Each of the five dimensions can take one of three roles on any given
project a Driver, a Constraint or a Degree of Freedom.
A driver is a key objective of the project. A constraint is the limiting factor beyond the control of
project team. Any project dimension that is neither a driver nor a constraint becomes a degree of
freedom.
A constraint gives the project team virtually no flexibility. A driver has low flexibility and a
degree of freedom that provides wider latitude to balance that dimension against the other four.
An important aspect of this model is not which of the five dimensions turn out to be drivers or
constraints on any given project, but that the relative priorities of the dimensions be negotiated in
advance by the project team, customers and management.
A graphical way to depict these points is to use a Kiviat diagram. A Kiviat diagram is a graph
which allows us to plot several values (five, in this case) as an irregularly shaped polygon on a
set of normalised axes. The position of each point on its axis indicates the relative degree of
flexibility of that dimension for a particular project. It is plotted on an arbitrary scale of 0 10
(where 0 would indicate completely constrained and 10 would indicate completely flexible).
The Kiviat graph is a useful tool in project management to compare the relative flexibility of the
parameters considered. Figure 1.5 shows a Kiviat graph.
Sponsor: It refers to the individual or group internal or external to the performing organisation
that funds the project.
1.13.2 Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Team
There are a number of projects which an organisation works on. It is not possible for one
individual to manage all the projects. There is a team of managers who manage the projects.
There may be different teams working on different projects. An experienced project manager and
his team may manage more than one project at a time. The project team is responsible for
ensuring that the project upon completion shall deliver the gain in the business for which it is
intended for. The project team has to properly coordinate with each other working on different
aspects of the project. The team members are responsible for the completion of the project as per
the plans of the project.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
24. The players in a project management are the individuals and the organisations.
25. An experienced project manager and his team can manage only one project at a time.
26. The team members are responsible for completion of the project as per the plans of the
project.
1.14 Summary
Now that you have gone through this unit, you should have understood and learnt the
fundamentals of project management, the various definitions, terminologies and concepts in
project management. You must have realised the importance of project management in business
applications and the scope of project planning. Also, you are now familiar with the various
phases involved in project management. This unit has been presented to you so that you can
understand the role of project manager and also the reasons for project failure. You are advised to
go through the following terminal questions and answer them.
1.15 Terminal Questions
1. Define project management, resource, process and project cycle.
2. What is the necessity of project management?
3. Explain the life-cycle of a project.
4. What are the various phases of project management life cycle? Explain.
5. Explain the various interacting processes of project management.
18. False
19. True
20. True
21. Features, quality, schedule
22. Constraint
23. Kiviat diagram
24. True
25. False
26. True
d) Risk: The risks involved in the project affecting its completion time are high at the initial
stages and low at the later stages of the project. Refer to the figure 2.2 for a chart.
e) Design changes: The project during the course of its progress may be subjected to changes
because of some external factors. The influence of such external factors on the project may result
in changes in the design of the project though not very often. It is observed that such changes, if
any, are normally high during the initial stages of the project and decreases as the project
approaches finish. Refer to the figure 2.2 for a chart.
The purpose of project planning and scoping is to first identify the areas of the project work and
the forces affecting the project and then to define the boundaries of the project. In addition, the
scoping has to be explicitly stated on the line of the project objectives. It also has to implicitly
provide directions to the project. The planning and scoping should be such that the project
manager is able to assess every stage of the project and also enabling the assessment of the
quality of the deliverable of the project at every stage.
Fist, let us list the steps involved in project scoping. These steps include:
i) Identifying the various parametric forces relevant to the project and its stages
ii) Enabling the team members to work on tools to keep track of the stages and thereby proceed
in the planned manner
iii) Avoiding areas of problems which may affect the progress of the project
iv) Eliminating the factors responsible for inducing the problems
v) Analysing the financial implications and cost factor at various stages of the project
vi) Understanding and developing the various designs required at various stages of the project
vii) Identifying the key areas to be included in the scope through various meetings, discussion,
and interviews with the clients
viii) Providing a base and track to enable alignment of project with the organisation and its
business objectives
ix) Finding out the dimensions applicable to the project and also the ones not applicable to the
project
x) Listing out all the limitations, boundary values and constraints in the project
xi) Understanding the assumptions made in defining the scope
After completing the project scoping, you can start your project plan. Project planning involves
three processes as shown in the figure 2.3.
Let us now list the steps involved in each process of project planning.
a) The identification process The main steps in the identification process of any project are:
i) Identifying initial requirements
ii) Validating them against the project objective
iii) Identifying the criteria such as quality objectives and quantitative requirements for assessing
the success of both the final product and the process used to create it
iv) Identifying the framework of the solution
v) Preparing a template of the frame work of solution to illustrate the project feasibility
vi) Preparing relevant charts to demonstrate the techniques of executing the project and its
different stages
vii) Preparing a proper project schema of achieving the defined business requirements for the
project
viii) Identifying training requirement
ix) Making a list of the training program necessary for the personnel working on the project
x) Identifying the training needs of the individuals working in various functions responsible in
the project
xi) Preparing a training plan and a training calendar
xii) Assessing the capabilities and skills of all those identified as part of the project organisation
b) The review Process The main steps in the review process of any project are:
i) Establishing a training plan to acquaint the project team members with the methodologies,
technologies and business areas under study
ii) Updating the project schedule to accommodate scheduled training activities
iii) Identifying the needs for review and reviewing the project scope
iv) Reviewing a project with respect to its stages and progress by preparing a plan for the review,
fixing an agenda to review the project progress and keeping the reports ready for discussion
about stage performance
v) Reviewing the project scope, the objective statement, the non conformances in the project
stages and identifying the need to use the project plan
vi) Preparing a proper project plan indicating all the requirements from start to finish of the
project and also at every stage of the project
vii) Preparing a checklist of items to be monitored and controlled during the course of execution
of the project
c) The analysis process The main steps in the analysis process of any project are:
i) Comparing the actual details with that in the plan with reference to project stages.
ii) Measuring various components of the project and its stages frequently to control the project
from deviating and also monitor the performance.
iii) Deciding how the task, the effort and the defects are to be tracked, what tools to be used,
what reporting structure and frequency will be followed at various stages.
iv) Identifying the preventive and corrective steps to be taken in case of any variance
v) Performing root cause analysis for all problems encountered.
If all the above steps are performed, scoping and planning become effective
and the ideal outcome are achieved.
What is root cause analysis?
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a problem solving method aimed at identifying
the root causes of problems or events, as opposed to merely addressing the
immediately obvious symptoms. This can minimise the likelihood of
problem recurrence.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
4. The purpose of project planning and scoping is to first identify the areas of the project work
and identifying the forces affecting the project and then to define the boundaries of the project.
5. Avoiding areas of problems which may affect the progress of the project is the only factor to
be considered for scoping a project.
6. Assessing the capabilities and skills of all those identified as part of the project organisation is
a step in the analysis process.
7. Comparing the actual details with that in the plan with respect to project stages is a task of the
identification process.
2.5 Planning Tools and Estimation
2.5.1 Planning Tools
There are several planning tools which may prove useful for coordinating a project successfully.
In this section we will discuss each of these tools.
2.5.1.1 Project Organisation
A project organisation consists of five process groups namely Initiation, Planning, Execution,
Control and Close. Each process groups requires a set of skills and activities as shown in table
2.1.
Table 2.1: Project organisation
Process
Initiation
Planning
Execution
Control
Close
Project structure consists of development plan, project tracking and oversight. Figure 2.4 shows
the development plan of a typical software project.
is important to document the time commitment and responsibilities to be performed by the team
members.
2.5.1.7 Key resources
Individuals assigned to a key resource role may work towards gathering Business key
resources and Technical key resources. They are project coordinators and team invitees.
2.5.1.8 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
The entire process of a project may be considered to be made up on number of sub process
placed in different stage called the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
A typical example of a WBS of a recruitment process is indicated in figure 2.5:
successor is delayed.
2.5.1.9 Task duration
Identifying lead and lag times helps in working out task duration.
2.5.2 Planning Estimation
2.5.2.1 Purpose of estimation
Estimation is an integral part of project planning. Let us find out why.
2.5.2.2 Estimating tips
Find below some tips to keep in mind when you estimate for a project.
Base estimates on some analytical, quantitative process than on a number pulled out of thin
air. Historical metrics data can help.
Explain your estimating method to the stakeholders and compare with what they want. They
may not really have an estimate; it may be a guess or a goal.
If you cant provide an accurate estimate because there are no written requirements, offer to
provide a more precise estimate after some initial exploration of the project scope and
general user requirements.
Why estimate?
Estimations assist in defining the project functional requirements
It prevents surprises on various fronts such as effort, schedule, cost and end
result
Reasonable estimates (even if not accurate) tend to become a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
Present a range of estimates: best case, most likely case and worst case, with the approximate
probability of meeting each one. Presenting a single estimate at the beginning of a sizable project
sets an expectation that will persist in peoples minds long after the original requirements and
assumptions have drastically changed.
Negotiate for a larger team, fewer features, phased delivery or reduced quality as ways to
achieve an aggressively accelerated schedule. Make sure the stakeholders understand these tradeoffs.
Redo your estimate with some different assumptions of project size, resources or other
factors to see how close you can come to the managers shorter goal. Make sure the assumptions
are clearly communicated to everyone involved in the decision-making.
Make a counter offer in case your estimation does not meet your stakeholders expectation,
showing them what fraction of the systems functionality could realistically be delivered in the
time period expected.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
8. In the control process the progress is ________ and the ______ are managed.
9. The entire process of a project may be considered to be made up on number of sub process
placed in different stage called the ____________.
10. _______ is the amount of time, which a successor task can overlap with its predecessor task,
i.e. the time before the completion of the predecessor at which the successor can start.
2.6 Estimation Approaches and Estimation Tools
2.6.1 Estimation Approaches
There are two types of estimation approaches. Figure 1.3 lists the two approaches. Let us discuss
each of them.
Using either the provided standard definitions or definitions from past projects as much as
possible
Getting the average build effort for simple/medium/complex (S/M/C) programs from the
baseline if a project specific baseline exists
2.6.1.2 Top Down Approach
The top down approach consists of the following steps.
i) Getting the estimate of the total size of the product in function points
ii) Fixing the productivity level for the project using the productivity data from the project
specific capability baseline from the general process capability baseline, or from similar projects
iii) Obtaining the overall effort estimate from the productivity and size estimates
iv) Using effort distribution data from the process capability baselines or similar projects to
estimate the effort for the various phases
v) Refining the estimates taking project specific factors into consideration
2.6.2 Estimation Tools
The various estimation tools that may be used in managing a project are listed in figure 2.7.
its happening as low, medium or high. If necessary, assign probability values in the ranges given
for each rating. For each risk, assess its impact on the project as low, medium, high or very high.
Rank the risk based on the probability. Select the top few risk items for mitigation and tracking.
3. Risk Control: The main task is to identify the actions needed to minimise the risk
consequences, generally called risk mitigation steps. Refer to a list of commonly used risk
mitigation steps for various risks from the previous risk logs maintained by the PM and select a
suitable risk mitigation step. The risk mitigation step must be properly executed by incorporating
them into the project schedule. In addition to monitoring the progress of the planned risk
mitigation steps periodically revisit the risk perception for the entire project. The results of this
review are reported in each milestone analysis report. To prepare this report, make fresh risk
analysis to determine whether the priorities have changed.
MB0049-Unit-03-Project Management
Essentials
Unit-03-Project Management Essentials
Structure:
3.1 Introduction
Learning Objectives
3.2 Characteristics of Project Mindset
3.3 Process Groups
Process interactions
Initiating processes
Planning processes
Executing processes
Controlling processes
Closing processes
3.4 Customisation
3.5 Project Monitoring and Control
Preliminary work
Project progress
Stage control
Resources
Quality control
Schedule quality review
Agenda for quality review
Conduct quality review
Follow up
Review quality control procedures
3.6 Project Process Control
Approvals
Change control
Changing project management process
Tools for changing a process
Project closure
Completion of activities and benefits
Post implementation review
Tools for post implementation review
Final project reporting and documentation
3.7 Summary
3.8 Terminal Questions
3.9 Answers to SAQs and TQs
Answers to self assessment questions
Tools and techniques: It refers to the mechanisms applied on to the inputs to create desired
outputs. There are various standard tools and techniques available for each of the processes.
Organisation may use them or customise one according to their needs.
Outputs: It refers to the documents that are results of the process. These in turn may again act
as an input for next process.
Let us now look at the interactions of each of the process groups.
3.3.1.1 Initiating Processes
Every process is initiated by management group decision which results in the next phase of the
project.
3.3.1.2 Planning Processes
Interactions focus on planning. Planning processes are highly interdependent. Hence this makes
it more important that things are planned properly. If there is an overrun on one parameter, the
entire project may go for a toss. For example, if the cost is unacceptable, scope and time may
need to be redefined.
3.3.1.3 Executing Processes
Interactions in this group depend on the nature of the work. They are dynamic and dependent on
team innovations and responsiveness.
3.3.1.4 Controlling Processes
The interactions are aimed at measuring project performance [time, cost, quality] and identifying
the variances from the plan. Tracking the project performance is a continuous process. In case of
deviation from the planned project, plans are updated and corrective actions are taken.
3.3.1.5 Closing Processes
The interactions revolve around review of the project, findings and analysis of the project
performance with respect to various processes.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
4. Identifying variances from the plan is a part of closing processes.
5. The individual processes are linked by inputs and outputs.
6. Inputs refers to the documents that are results of the process
3.4 Customisation
At times, project management processes need to be customised based on the requirement of the
product. Find below some examples of customisation:
Large projects may need details A detailed project management plan might be necessary to
indicate every detail in the initial stages.
Smaller projects may need relatively less details - A detailed plan may not be required in the
initial stages.
Process details might change for other reasons Resource identification might be required
for scope definition.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
7. Large projects may need details which might indicate every detail in the initial stages.
3.5 Project Monitoring and Control
Any project aimed at delivering a product or a service has to go through phases in a planned
manner in order to meet the requirements. It is very important to measure the performance of the
current status of the project at anytime against its planned version. This helps to tackle any
unexpected deviation in time, efforts and cost. It is possible to work according to the project plan
only by careful and close monitoring of the project progress.
It requires establishing control factors to keep the project on the track of progress. The results of
any stage in a project, depends on the inputs to that stage. It is therefore necessary to control all
the inputs and the corresponding outputs from a stage. This is achieved through devising proper
controls for every stage.
A project manager may use certain standard tools to keep the project on track. The project
manager and the team members should be fully aware of the techniques and methods to rectify
the factors influencing delay of the project and its product. It is important for all stakeholders to
know the impact of the changes in any parameters to the overall project. The various steps
involved in monitoring and controlling a project from start to end are shown in figure 3.4.
follow the quality charts and norms very strictly. It is also important for all the project team
members to know the importance of such quality checks and should have a good visibility into
project performance.
3.5.6 Schedule Quality Review
Conduct quality reviews at regular intervals. It is recommended that quality review be scheduled
at the beginning of the stage and also at the ending of every stage. This helps the project manager
and team members to plan well in advance for any unforeseen deviation.
3.5.7 Agenda for Quality Review
Create and distribute a quality review agenda specifying the objective, products, logistics, roles,
responsibilities and time frame. This increases the effectiveness of the review and also reduces
the time gap.
3.5.8 Conduct Quality Review
Conduct the quality review in a structured and formal manner. Quality review should focus on
product development and its quality factors. Focus on whether it meets the prescribed quality
standard.
3.5.9 Follow Up
Revise the complete quality review product status from In-progress to QR Complete. Follow
up the actions planned in strict manner which ensures conformity to the standards.
3.5.10 Review Quality Control Procedure
Verify that the quality objectives for each product are appropriate and that all participants are
satisfied both with the process and its outcome. This is to ensure that all the stakeholders of the
project are in conformity of control procedures.
8. It is possible to work according to the project plan only by careful _______ of the project
progress.
9. During the _______ the members must keep a track of the project progress and communicate
the same to other related members of the project.
10. ________ is possible if the project members follow the quality charts and norms very strictly.
3.6 Project Progress Control
In this section, we will look at detailed end to end project progress and control steps. This starts
from the approval of the control procedures from the management or the project sponsor to post
closure review analysis of the project. Before diving into project progress control steps, let us
look at some tools and mechanisms to periodically track and monitor performance. Figure 3.5
describes the same.
Re-plan Stage Schedule: Review the tracking Gantt and Cost workbook and identify any
deviation from the baseline. Analyse the cause of the deviation. Refer back to the project control
factors to help determine the appropriate corrective action and adjust the schedule accordingly.
Determine if the stage has exceeded the progress, cost and quality tolerance levels agreed with
the project management team. Review status of open issues and determine any further action
required on these issues. Review the status of any outstanding quality reviews. Review any new
change requests.
Conduct Team Status Review: Conduct a status meeting with the project team. This is
important to bring everyone on the same page of the project progress. Typically, items for
discussion are the planned activities for the current period that are incomplete or overdue,
activities for the next period, new issues identified in the current period, issues closed in the
current period, summary of results of quality reviews, summary of schedule and cost status,
suggested revisions to the plan.
Create Status Reports: The status report provides a record of current achievement and
immediate expectations of the project. The status has to be effectively communicated to all
concerned parties.
Create Flash Reports: Summarise the accomplishments for the month, schedule status,
upcoming tasks for the month and any major issues. Distribute the same to all project team
members and stakeholders.
Project Status Reports: As discussed earlier, the status report provides a record of current
achievements and immediate expectations of the project. This is generated on a regular basis
depending upon the type, requirements and phase of the project. Typically it is generated for a
week. A weekly status report may include:
Accomplishments during the period
Items not completed during the period
Proposed activities for the next period
Any predicted slippage to the stage schedule, along with cause and corrective action
Any predicted cost overrun along with cause and corrective action
Now let us look at the project process control steps.
b) Identify Alternate Solutions: Evaluate the change request and identify several alternative
solutions. Assess the alternatives with respect to the functional scope, schedule, effort and cost.
There are various tools available to access the best option in a given scenario.
methods for tracking the status of configuration items. Identify and define the responsibility and
authority of the CMS.
3.6.5 Project Closure
Any project that is planned properly and executed as per the plan will also close successfully. For
successful completion of a project every aspect of the project should be monitored and
controlled. Such aspects include the resources used, time and efforts invested and the cost
analysis.
3.6.6 Completion of activities and benefits
The closure of a project is followed by its analysis and performance measured against its
scheduled baseline version. However, the closure of a project may result in the following
benefits:
a) It implies that on successful completion of a project, it has not drifted from its intended course
and plans. Otherwise it would have resulted in a change and may also have kick started another
project affecting the main project.
b) The project members are acknowledged for the completion of the project, motivating them to
take up more projects wherein the members would be able to confidently handle and take care of
all the problems based upon their learning from earlier project.
c) It results in setting up of processes for continued development and improvement of the final
product of any project forthcoming.
d) It results in setting up of improved standard process and estimating models for this type of
future projects.
e) It enables resource redeployment.
Moreover, the deliverable at the end of each stage could be:
a) A set of specified outputs for each stage of the project
b) New products or modified existing product
c) Items that may be less easy to distinguish like parameter setup data transfer, staff training
3.6.7 Post Implementation Review
After every stage of a project is implemented, it may so happen that there could be a minor
change or modification which has to be reviewed. This is known as post implementation review.
The review is performed in four parts as depicted in figure 3.9.
a) Final product review: The product obtained after every stage must meet the requirements of
that stage. If it completely meets the stated objectives, then focus on the issues of maintenance of
the processes and product performance. If the final product does not completely meet the
objectives then identify the variations in the product and analyse the variation. Study the factors
responsible for the change and evaluate each one separately.
with the way of reporting and documentation is also explained. In addition to this, you also
learned various tools used for post implementation review and for a change in a process.
3.8 Terminal Questions
1. What are the characteristics of project mindset?
2. What is the need of customisation?
3. Explain the various steps involved in monitoring and controlling a project.
4. How is the project progress controlled?
5. Indicate the processes involved in bringing about a change.
6. What are the tools used for changing a process in a project?
7. Write in detail about the post implementation review of a project.
3.9 Answers to SAQs and TQs
3.9.1 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
1. True
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. False
6. False
7. True
8. Monitoring
9. project progress
10. quality control
11. True
12. False
13. True
14. True
15. False
3.9.2 Answers to Terminal Questions
1. Refer 3.3
2. Refer 3.5
3. Refer 3.6
4. Refer 3.7
5. Refer 3.7.3
6. Refer 3.7.4
7.Refer 3.7.7
Copyright 2009 SMU
Powered by Sikkim Manipal University
.
MB0049-Unit-04-Concepts of Managing
Conflict Quality and IS
Unit-04-Concepts of Managing Conflict Quality and IS
Structure:
4.1 Introduction
Learning Objectives
4.2 Concept of Managing Conflicts, Quality and the IS
Conflict management
Communication requirement and capabilities
Quality management
Project management information system
4.3 Modern Trends in Project Management
4.4 Perception
The project development process cycle
Planning for review
Conducting the review
Taking actions on findings
Implementing continuous improvement
Critical success factors
Results and benefits of the project quality reviews
Macro issues
Knowledge factor (K)
4.5 The Modern Mantra of Project Management
4.6 New Horizons in Project Management Nine Steps
4.7 Summary
4.8 Terminal Questions
4.9 Answers to SAQs and TQs
Answers to self assessment questions
Answers to terminal questions
4.1 Introduction
It is well known that in any management system there is always some conflict. It may result out
of individuals or groups having different opinions. The project gets affected by this conflict. It
could be resolved by proper understanding among the project members. Conflict can also be
resolved by properly communicating the ideas and discussing the issues in detail. There has been
communication. A similar discrepancy exists in technical service project. Meeting frequently will
help customers get the updates on the project progress.
b. Response Profiles The respondents show interest mainly on the information available and
the preference on mode of communication at various levels.
c. Barriers to communication The barriers may be plenty. Suitable plan to avoid the barriers
may be prepared.
d. Behaviour pattern exhibited Executives often communicate decision with little or no
knowledge of the implication of their decisions for the company or the people who have to
implement decisions. They may sometimes fail to communicate effectively leading to sending
out a different message. Managers feel stressed or overstretched in implementing executive
decisions. They may lack enthusiasm for change and fail to collaborate or practice teamwork
with their peers. Employees are left in the dark who feel unheard and unappreciated.
Let us now list some essential characteristics of an effective communication network.
4.2.3 Quality Management
Quality of any product or service is defined as its conformance to the standards or the stated
requirements. Total Quality Management (TQM) represents the entities and their prerequisites
for achieving world class quality. Many use the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
benchmark.
According to this benchmark, quality may be realised by
Adopting a philosophy in line with the objectives of the organisation. The aim should be to
continuously improve the philosophy.
Achieving effectiveness in the organisational performance and fulfilling or exceeding the
community expectations.
Many others use the Six Sigma concept to increase the profits by eliminating variability, defects
and waste that undermine customer loyalty. It may be implemented by understanding the scope
of various metrics going to be used in the project, DMAIS (define, measure, analyse, improve
standardise) methodology and philosophy. The strategy of Six Sigma is to shift, shrink and
stabilise. Company policies and desired quality standards form the basis for an effective quality
control programme. Let us now look at a simple caselet to understand the criticality of a precise
companywide policy.
Upper managers
b. Assisting the team members, stakeholders, managers with necessary information and summary
of the information shared to the higher level managers
c. Assisting the managers in doing what if analyses about project staffing, proposed staffing
changes and total allocation of resources
d. Helping organisational learning by helping the members of the organisation learn about
project management
Usually, the team members, and not the systems administrators of the company, develop a good
PMIS. Organisations tend to allocate such responsibility by rotation among members with a well
designed and structured data entry and analytical format.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
1. It is possible to manage the conflicts by discussing and sharing the problems.
2. Build employee trust in the communications process so that hones feedback becomes a part of
the natural way of working is the only essential characteristic of a communication network.
3. Quality of any product or service is defined as its conformance to the standards or the stated
requirements.
4.3 Modern Trends in Project Management
There are a number of ways a manager can implement a project successfully. As it is important to
monitor and control the project activities throughout various stages, it becomes much more
important to resort to effective and powerful tools to coordinate the activities. Modern trends in
project management have shown a number of ways that can be considered to achieve good
results in any project. Irrespective of whichever way one wants to choose for effective outputs,
the essential methods are as follows:
meticulous planning of all the activities
referring to checklist which could have been creatively designed
adopting quality control measures and standards
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
4. Irrespective of whichever way one wants to coordinate for effective outputs, the essential
processes are the ________ of all the activities, referring to checklist which could have been
creatively designed, adopting quality control measures, standards etc.
4.4 Perception
As per the current trends in project management, the perception is that the job of a manger is to
obtain result. A more result-cum-profit oriented corporate strategy lays greater emphasis on
maximised efficiency of operations. Some of the tools being used currently are shown in figure
4.1:
data connected with the project help reduce risks in the project. Responsibility of information
risk management normally rests with the system administrator a team member or an external
member.
d. Management Assurance Measure It is a task performed by the project leader to convince
management against wavering. At the same time, it aims at preparing team members to counter
any unexpected storms in the project. This is the greatest opportunity for a leader to mature and
go up the ladder as well as an equal opportunity for the member to emerge a leader through
accepting a challenge.
Management may consider measures to identify members who would have managed to face the
unexpected hurdles in the project and overcome them by their creative skills. Some measures
may be adopted to encourage the member. It may be perceived as an opportunity to promote the
member. Many organisations even tend to nominate leaders for different project teams.
e. Quality Certification Quality certification from a leading organisation should be obtained.
Certification will enable the management team to realise the importance of a process and how
effectively projects can be managed smoothly.
f. Strategic Inflection Point A real test for the project leader and the management team is to
accurately predict the exact point of the development process where the team might face a
massive problem. These points may be related to political, geophysical and rarely to time.
4.4.1 Project Development Process Cycle
Every company would be interested to improve their performance over their previous
performance in projects. In order to improve project performance, the company must assure
quality and quality control at every stage of the project throughout the project life cycle. The
various phases which may be considered in the development of the process cycle in any project
are shown in figure 4.2:
Preparing a suitable plan for data analysis after the data has been gathered.
Obtaining necessary commitment from management and team members to participate actively
and take actions on findings.
Ensuring that every project member gives his or her commitment to participate and deliver the
service/product in the project.
Ensuring that review is planned for every stage of the project.
Preparing schedule for each project review.
4.4.1.2 Conducting the Review
In this phase, the review is conducted as a planned in the preceding phase. The review leader is
the project manager. The steps to conduct the review include:
Preparing an agenda before the review. The agenda should be well structured in terms of time
and content.
Making necessary arrangements to gather inputs for the review.
Incorporating points, which are external to the project. These external points have to be well
structured to be reviewed.
Documenting key points of the meeting. A reporter should be designated for this job.
Formulating an automated checklist for the session. Make use of flipcharts to collect data from
participants.
4.4.1.3 Taking actions on findings
In this phase, a project team takes actions on the findings of the review meeting. The steps to
follow in this phase include:
Determining the points which are critical to the project and its performance.
Having brain storming sessions to discuss critical points.
Making a list of all such items discussed and items suggested.
Grouping the data into categories and then prioritise, either by group discussion or voting.
Identifying action items
Assigning the task to a project member or a team.
Setting expectations of scope, investment, time, for each item and send a copy to the team
Following up all the actions.
Placing review reports in the project documents file, in the quality/productivity departments and
in the library.
Making reports available to managers of the life process for similar projects.
4.4.1.4 Do continuous improvement
Continual improvement is one of the management mantras. Every organisation wants to improve
continuously. It is not possible to achieve improvement unless sufficient measures are adopted to
calculate improvement. The steps to ensure continuous improvement include:
Encouraging the quality managers to look for quality themes that emerge from review meetings.
The quality managers should highlight trends and de-escalate chronic problems.
Acting on recommendations from previous projects as reviews are a continuous check process
in the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle of a quality management cycle.
Capturing project data to check do a retrospective analysis of the progress and improvement.
Doing periodic project reviews that will trigger mid-project corrections.
Conducting immediate and informal retrospective analysis after solving unexpected obstacles
Understanding any impact on the remainder of the project.
Recognising people for extra efforts and noteworthy contributions.
Being open to attend reviews for other projects.
Learning from similar ventures, warranty failures, customer surveys and experiences of other
divisions and companies.
Being a part of continuous organisational learning program that includes experimentation,
evaluation and documentation with easy access and retrieval.
4.4.1.5 Critical Success Factors
It is necessary that a company identifies critical factors in a project. These factors may slacken
the project if not focused. Some of these success factors are discussed below.
Routine tasks may be assigned to lower level team members as this may relieve the project team
from wasting their skill set on routine matters.
In terms of project delivery, the project office can relieve project managers of tasks, like filling
forms and templates, getting these forms signed off, mailing, receiving and checking items.
The project office can also help the project manager in the project scope definition, project kickoff preparation and planning tasks, through mentoring and coaching services.
Regarding project quality reviews, the project management office adds value providing
processes, tools and project management experience but any quality review process can be
implemented by the team without sponsorship from the management level.
These are the combining strengths that make the project manager move forward and achieve the
project success. It is necessary to identify all the critical success factors. One of the critical
success factors for the project quality review process implementation is to convince and sell the
benefits to the management team of the organisation. The team should exhibit better control of
their project portfolio and then demonstrate better control about business profitability.
4.4.1.6 Results and Benefits of the Project Quality Reviews
The main benefits of the project quality review are that project status is formally visible to the
whole organisation. It creates awareness and room for improvement. Through reviewing, in a
detailed manner, we can have a clear idea about the lack of knowledge mistakes, errors,
deviations, and their reasons.
The project quality reviews help the project manager to make the necessary adjustments and take
the actions needed to finish the project on time, scope and budget.
The entire project team including the project manager, the customer and the sponsor benefit from
project quality reviews.
Who benefits and how
Can build a disciplined and controlled team.
Project manager
Can anticipate results and potential problems
of the customer.
Sponsor
Management
a. Evolving Key Success Factors (KSF) Upfront: In order to provide complete stability to
fulfilment of goals, a project manager needs to constantly evaluate the key success factors from
time to time. While doing so, he needs to keep the following aspects of KSFs in mind:
The KSF should be evolved based on a basic consensus document (BCD).
KSF will also provide an input to effective exit strategy (EES). Exit here does not mean exit
from the project but from any of the drilled down elemental activities which may prove to be
hurdles rather than contributors.
Broad level of KSF should be available at the conceptual stage and should be firmed up and
detailed out during the planning stage. The easiest way would be for the team to evaluate each
step for chances of success on a scale of ten.
KSF should be available to the management duly approved by the project manager before
execution and control stages.
KSF rides above normal consideration of time and cost at the levels encompassing client
expectation and management perception time and cost come into play as subservient to these
major goals.
b. Empowerment Title (ET): ET reflects the relative importance of members of the organisation
at three levels:
i) Team members are empowered to work within limits of their respective allocated
responsibilities. The major change from bureaucratic systems is an expectation from these
members to innovate and contribute to time and cost.
ii) Group leaders are empowered additionally to act independently towards client expectation and
are also vested with some limited financial powers.
iii) Managers are empowered further to act independently but to maintain a scientific balance
among time, cost, expectation and perception, apart from being a virtual advisor to the top
management.
c. Partnering Decision Making (PDM): PDM is a substitute to monitoring and control. A
senior with a better decision making process will work closely with the project managers as well
as members to plan what best can be done to manage the future better from past experience. The
key here is the active participation of members in the decision making process. The ownership is
distributed among all irrespective of levels the term equally should be avoided here since
ownership is not quantifiable. The right feeling of ownership is important.
This step is most difficult since junior members have to respond and resist being pushed through
sheer innovation and performance this is how future leaders would emerge. The PDM process
is made scientific through:
MB0049-Unit-05-Project Performance
through PMO and HR
Unit-05-Project Performance through PMO and HR
Structure:
5.1 Introduction
Learning Objectives
5.2 Project Management Office (PMO)
5.3 Improvement of Performance
Reviews and their purpose
Environment and strategy
Internal project management strategy
External project management strategy
Case Study
5.4 Project Manager Teams
5.5 Professional Responsibility
5.6 Human Resource Management
Strategy of the organisation should be the navigator for the project. Project manager also needs
to be attuned to the cultural, organisational and social environments surrounding the project.
Understanding this environment includes identifying the project stakeholders and their ability to
affect its successful outcome. This leads to the possibility of influencing this environment in a
positive way, for the better reception of the change which the project is designed to introduce.
The project manager will do well to get commitments from all members of the team. All gaps
must be filled soon. Chaos creates gaps all through the project and the strategy will be to fill
them as and when they arise.
Therefore, it is essential that the project manager and his or her project team are comfortable
with, and sympathetic towards, their cultural, organisational and social surroundings. Setting
priority across departments is of utmost importance. POR Plan of Record should be prepared
for the process and tools used in the projects. This record helps in allocation of resources.
Another important factor of strategy is prevention of loss of information along with effective
retention. It has been found to be useful to have CFTs Cross Functional Teams for each project
who will be in charge of each project. The strategies to improve the performance can be split into
internal and external project management strategies. They are as below:
5.3.2.1 Internal Project Management Strategies
Projects fail for many internal reasons, some of them technical, some of them managerial.
However, even the technical failures can often be traced back to a failure on the part of the
projects executive management to recognise and deal with these inherent managerial risks. The
project manager has a vital role to play in achieving project success and should therefore insist
on the following:
Executive Support: The executive must clearly demonstrate support for the project
management concept by active sponsorship and control.
Competence: The project manager and his team members must be competent. Other functional
personnel assigned to the project must also be competent.
Project Team: The project manager should have a say in the assembly of his project team,
which will help him to obtain their personal commitment, support and required quality of
service.
Management Information Systems: Effective project management information and control
systems must be in place.
5.3.2.2 External Project Management Strategies
On some projects, events external to the project sometimes come as a surprise to the project
manager and his team and are therefore seen as obstacles to progress. However, as noted earlier,
projects generally exist only because of that external environment and so it is essential for the
project team to recognise that they must also be responsive to it.
Clearly, the environment will not be the same for every project. In fact, it is likely to be
determined principally by three considerations, namely:
The product or service resulting from the project
The technology and the manner of its application, and
Its physical location
To identify potential difficulties stemming from the projects stakeholders, to assess their
probability of occurrence, and to try to head them off in advance, the project team must learn to
interact frequently with those individuals and institutions which constitute the most important
elements of the projects external environment. Together with the projects sponsors, owners and
users, these people constitute the projects direct and indirect stakeholders. Strategies for
managing external environment can be as below:
Developing a Sound Stakeholder Environment
Stakeholder Groupings
Project Public Relations
Now let us look at a caselet to understand the importance of managing the environment.
5. By their very nature projects are very orderly. State whether this statement is TRUE/FALSE
5.4 Project Manager Teams
Just as higher manager teams act together and ask for what is best for the company, Project
Manager Teams are formed for the various projects. They act as a group to ensure that all
projects are completed. In this way they will learn to use finite resources. It is better to make the
team responsible for implementing the strategy.
A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key
project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives,
building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects cost, time,
and quality.
A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact
needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to adapt to
the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the
nominated representatives is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and
above all, client satisfaction, can be realised.
The project manger is the overall leader of the project and is responsible for the delivery of the
project and with managing the aspirations of team members along with maintaining a healthy
work environment. He is responsible for the team dynamics and promoting team work. Figure
5.3 describes the qualities that one should look for in a project manager.
High Coalition and Team Building Skills: This concerns both the external and internal team
members. Customers, their representatives, suppliers, inspectors are all from the outside who are
interested in the progress of the project. Building up relationships and balancing competing
requirements is a necessary characteristic of a project manager.
Client/Customer Orientation: Customer expectations and problems are continually changing
and the better the project manager understands the problems of the customer, the better he will be
able to solve them. Having a customer focus is essential to achieve customer delight. The final
measure of success of the project is satisfaction of the customer. This not just helps is gaining
repeat contracts but also increasing the credibility of the project team and firm.
Business Orientation: The project manager should understand the business of the organisation
he works for. He should know the way things are looked at by the top management and align his
thoughts and conduct, so as not to be in confusion or conflict with them. In addition to these soft
skills he should also have a good knowledge of the domain. He should have his senses tuned to
grasp business opportunities that crop up during the implementation.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
6. The final measure of success of the project is ____________ of the ___________.
7. The Project Manager should understand the ___________ of the _____________ he works
for.
True or False?
8. During implementation there will be doubts about the correctness of decisions.
5.5 Professional Responsibility
With increasing competition, organisations have to finds new ways of customer retention and
adopt innovative measures to increase their customer base. However, one common requirement
is productivity improvement.
Professional responsibility is very much expected by customers. They want to ensure that the
project managers and executives take the baseline responsibility and follow all the codes of
conduct. Managerial and executive productivity are measured with respect to zero defects and
overall team performance. Installing Development Methodologies and Quality Systems is the
responsibility of managers.
Another area of Professional Responsibility for managers is reduction in process cycle time. This
is defined as the total time taken to complete an entire single process. It is also termed as turn
around time. A few examples of high cycle time activities are:
a) Procurement Time: This is for outsourced software and hardware. There are multiple factors
which go into a procurement process. Activities like identification of the requirements, their
details, verification and authorisation, inputs from the company, the start of the activities by the
vendors are all parts of this process. Due to extreme dependencies on various parties,
procurement cycle has a high turnaround time
b) Processing Time: This refers to the time lag which goes into and between each of the
processes mentioned above.
c) Order Confirmation Time: This refers to the time taken by the company as well as the
vendors to take a final call on a particular discussion.
Besides, there are many opportunities for laxness to enter. The common factors for all these are
absence of details, lack of awareness and absence of checks and balances. The project manager
should set up systems that will take care of these.
In addition to these, a few more areas where managerial productivity are taken into reckoning
are:
a) Creativity
b) Lateral thinking
c) Quality Circles
d) New Product Introduction Lead time
e) Managing Change
f) Implementing Total Quality Management (TQM)
g) Empowerment of junior level executives
You will notice that none of these factors are directly connected with the implementation. But,
when these are undertaken the effectiveness of every member improves bringing about all round
development. Hence, a great amount of emphasis is given on professional responsibilities across
organisations.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
9. Installing _______ and ____________ is the responsibility of managers.
5.6 Human Resource Management
As we know, people are an important part of a projects success. The projects are resource
constrained. The management of the human resources on a project has a major impact on the
projects success or failure.
However, the project manager must also be sensitive to the unique needs of the project
environment and as to how this general knowledge is applied in a different way than in the
operational environment of the ongoing enterprise.
The temporary nature of projects means that personal and organisational relationships generally
will also be temporary and, quite often, new. Staff-related project management processes must
address these transient relationships.
Both the nature and number of people involved in a project change as the project moves
through its life cycle. For example, initially there will be limited number of staff in the project
and as it moves along more staff will be inducted into the project. Staff management processes
must recognise and address these changing needs.
Human resource management activities are often split between project management and other
managers within the performing organisation. The scope of responsibility of the project manager
may lie somewhere between:
An extended responsibility, including the selection of sourcing organisations, obtaining staff
and performance assessment.
A limited responsibility focused on coordination with the permanent roles outside the project
such as the functional manager, the resource deployment manager and/or the people development
manager.
All the parties must understand and carefully adhere to the division of responsibilities that is in
force. All the processes here must be carefully interpreted based on the actual distribution of
responsibilities between the project manager and the other roles.
Now let us consider human resource management (HRM) from two different perspectives of the
project itself Operations Projects and IT Projects.
Operations Projects: Some of the main features of the operations project are described below.
The inputs are physical
Suppliers are many
Quality, testing, quantity measured at supplier/contractors place
Different projects are spread far and wide
Monitoring, control and audit have to be done continuously
Productivity at the junior level can be assumed and controlled only if all other supporting
elements of business are well balanced. Higher productivity cannot be expected if they are not
motivated enough. The ways in which you can boost their productivity is given below. They can
be motivated through:
a) Sufficient content of development activities. The work should be interesting and challenging
enough. It should bring a sense of satisfaction and achievement.
b) Favourable working condition. Productivity decreases if the environment is not supportive.
The environmental conditions should make one feel comfortable to stay at the workplace
c) Proper delegation of activities. It is important to have a clear line of authority and balanced
delegation of work.
d) Timely reward and recognition. Acknowledging a good task or work always boost morale of
the resource.
e) Adequate availability of resources. If adequate resources are not present, it would lead to
frustration and finally loss of focus and commitment.
f) Properly planned system of quality control and process control. If the process is not
supportive and flexible, even the best efforts will not be enough to get tolerable quality.
g) Adequate maintenance support for hardware and software. These ensure that no work
gets held up on this account efficiencies bring in productivity and time lag decreases it.
As far as productivity as well as quality is concerned, especially where projects are concerned, it
is good to follow Demings philosophy, which states create conditions for performance, do not
use rhetoric, pay him well and give the pride of working.
5.7.1 Assessment of Personnel Productivity
As discussed earlier, as personnel productivity is critical to success of any project, it is very
important to measure it so that it can be monitored and improved. There are many standard tools
and templates available to assess the productivity. However, the methodology may be customised
depending upon situations.
Unlike productivity on shop floors, Personnel Productivity can be considered on a collective
basis. The following can be used as guide lines to make assessments:
a) Time for development of a new product
b) Index of financial cycles
c) Time for finding and proving a solution to serious customer complaints
Hence it is very important for teams to build that synergy to achieve the team advantage. The
secret of team work advantage lies in the following:
a) Clear understanding of the organisational goals, objectives and norms.
b) Open communication among team members.
c) Creation of balance among team members by having a high sense of ownership.
d) Recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the members.
e) Close-knit relationship for performance enhancement.
f) Accepting the leadership qualities of one or two members and offering unconditional support
to them.
g) Encouragement of constructive evaluation of each members contribution with a view to
resolve problems.
h) Willingness to accept differences of opinion, but capacity to make concessions with the team
in mind.
i) Taking initiative and giving it all to complete challenging jobs.
Teams are not built in a day. Owing to circumstances and opportunities, managements put
together a group of people, who they have decided will be able to take up a job or project and
complete it. Since different skills at different levels are needed along with knowledge of different
kinds, a hierarchy is created. As jobs get done, each of them would have evaluated the others.
Factors of congruence and dissonance will make some adhere and some depart. Wherever
necessary, training programmes have to be conducted. Each organisation has to find path it has to
take. Top managements commitment and competent managers should guide the teams.
5.10 Summary
You have now understood the necessity and relevance of the performance of the project team
members. You are now familiar with the effects of performance on the team members of the
PMO. The ways of PMOs functioning and their roles in improving performance have also been
explained in this unit. You have understood how teams function for the success of the project and
how the interpersonal behaviour affects the project and its progress. You also learnt the art of
human resource management and its importance in project management. We have also discussed
team work and the traits of a successful team.
5.11 Terminal Questions
1. Mention any six characteristics of interpersonal behaviour.
2. What are the four types of Reviews?
3. State any three principles of Demings Philosophy relevant to Project Management
4. Mention the important traits of leader.
5. Why are Cross Functional Teams necessary for Project Teams?
6. How are IT Projects different from those of Operations?
7. Which are the components of Cycle Time?
8. What are the characteristics of a successful team?
9. Providing adequate resources is key to productivity Comment
5.12 Answers to SAQs and TQs
5.12.1 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
1. Coordinating body
2. Documentation and authorisations
3. Process and Tools
4. Review
5. False
6. Satisfaction, customer
7. Business, organisation
8. True
9. Development Methodologies and Quality Systems
10. True
True or False?
1. A Project generally satisfies the need for something which will be useful only for a short time.
6.2 Project Development Process Cycle
Conflict Management
The basic characteristic of a project is that it is set of non-repetitive activities which create a
unique product or service. The activities utilise a variety of resources. Systematic acquisition and
deployment in a relatively short span of time is the essential process of a project.
Development of a project starts with the acceptance of the proposal by the customer in all
respects technical and commercial. The marketing people first take agreement of the details
and the time schedules for various stages from the project manager and then give their
commitment to the customer.
Let us now have a look at the stages in the project development process. Figure 6.1 lists the
stages in a sequential manner.
All these questions and many more need to be settled at this stage itself. This will enable a
project manager to identify the persons responsible for different activities and fix the sequence of
operations.
Preparing a comprehensive PERT Chart
A number of activities make a project. Due to technological necessities, some activities can be
performed only after some others have been completed. Some activities are independent of some
other set of activities.
Different activities have different duration for their completion. Some projects are big and a
number of clearly distinguishable stages or milestones are identified. Since some activities run
concurrently, there are possibilities that one set of activities end up early and have to wait for
some other activities to proceed further. This means that there are more paths from the beginning
to the end, and one of them takes more time than the others. We call that critical path. A PERT
chart helps us to follow the critical path. Let us become familiar with the PERT chart.
PERT stands for Program (or Project) Evaluation and Review Technique. It is a popular project
management model designed to analyse and represent the tasks involved in completing a given
project. It also helps in identifying the minimum time required for completing the total project.
A PERT chart is a graphic representation of a projects schedule, showing the sequence of tasks.
It also shows the tasks that can be performed parallely, and the critical path of tasks which has
direct impact on the project schedule. The tasks in the critical path must be completed as per
schedule in order for the project to meet its completion deadline. The chart can be constructed
with a variety of attributes, such as:
earliest and latest start dates for each task
earliest and latest finish dates for each task
slack time between tasks
Table 6.1 to displays some terms associated with a PERT chart.
Table 6.1: PERT terminology
Terminology
Explanation
Event/Milestone
Activity
Optimistic time
Pessimistic time
Float
Critical Path
Lead time
Lag time
Slack
Figure 6.1 shows a PERT chart for a seven-month project with five milestones (10 50) and six
activities (A F).
While making the first draft of a PERT chart, number the events sequentially in 10s (10, 20,
30). This allows you to insert additional events later. These events are also known as
milestones.
Two consecutive events in a PERT chart are linked by activities. You will represent these
activities as arrows.
You need to present the events in a logical sequence. No activity can commence until its
immediately preceding event is completed.
Represent critical path as red arrows.
In PERT, we take into consideration the fact that the time allocated for all the activities might not
be determinable. So, we give three time estimates optimistic, most likely and pessimistic.
Giving weightage of four to the most likely period, we try to find the variance of the project.
As some activities get completed earlier, there are opportunities to utilise the resources allocated
to them for the critical activities to hasten the project. These are done on a continuous basis as
the project is under progress. Since actual times taken for the activities are changing, reviewing
helps us to meet the deadline by resource smoothing. A chart is prepared and stubs of different
colours are used to indicate the progress of all activities, so that corrections can be effected.
Now let us look at the steps to construct a PERT chart for a project.
How to construct a PERT Chart
1. Identify all tasks or project components. Have a brainstorming session
to capture all tasks needed to complete the project. Document the tasks on
small note cards.
2. Identify the first task that must be completed. Keep the appropriate
card at the extreme left of the working surface.
3. Identify any other tasks that can be started simultaneously with the
first task. Line up these tasks either above or below the first task on the
working surface.
4. Identify the next task that must be completed. Select a task that must
wait until one of the tasks identified in steps 2 and 3 is completed. Place the
appropriate card to the right of the card showing the preceding task.
5. Identify any other tasks that can be started simultaneously with the
task identified in step 4. Place these tasks either above or below the said
task on the working surface.
6. Continue this process until all component tasks are sequenced.
7. Identify task durations. As a team, agree on the approximate amount of
time needed for completing each task. Document this duration time on the
appropriate task cards. Note the duration time as the elapsed time for the
task, not the actual number of hours spent doing the work.
8. Construct the PERT chart. Number each task, draw connecting arrows,
and mention duration, anticipated start date, and anticipated end date for
each task.
9. Determine the critical path. The projects critical path includes the tasks
that must be completed on time to prevent delays in project completion.
Critical paths are typically displayed in red.
Forming groups and teams
The next stage in the development of the project is to identify persons who will undertake the
various tasks. These tasks may include procurement of materials, maintaining equipments,
stocking of spares, and so on. Some of these tasks are to be shared between teams. However,
most of the teams formed are focused on the jobs assigned to them.
Forming and developing teams, which contribute their best to the project, is a challenging task. A
project manager should ensure that the knowledge and skills of the members of a team
complement those of others.
Project teams in the IT, R & D, Innovation fields where knowledge base is very high need to
build an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect. This goes a long way in improving
efficiency. Opportunities should be created for them to spend time together outside working
hours. If for some reason, any member does not want to stay in a team; his or her desire should
be addressed at the earliest.
The latest trends in HR are to find new ways to make employees feel comfortable and important
so that they stay and work better. A number of professional consultants offer training
programmes for the managers in this area.
Forming a core group consisting of members chosen from as many teams as possible.
After identifying the team, a project manager needs to form a core group of members. They
usually will be senior members in the teams. Their responsibilities will include:
One of the major problems with data undergoing a lot of processing is the corruption that may
occur and the consequent effect on the decision making process. The project manager should
take the assistance of a system administrator and run checks as frequently as possible. A few
members of the team will also be associated to reduce the risk.
SEI-CMM and ISO Certification
SEI-CMM is mostly for the software projects. This certification helps the customer to have
confidence to get a project executed by a firm. The ability to handle complex software projects is
certified at five levels. The initial three levels correspond to companies which have started doing
business, standardised their processes with repeatable performances with high quality. The latter
levels certify the companys capability of high standard of maturity and optimisation of
processes. This guarantees that the customer is assured of high quality of product and also that
the processes that are delivered the software programmes and applications give the customer
consistent performance.
These certifications are necessary for software projects because there are not many materials or
completed products that can be inspected and supervised or corrected during the course of
development, manufacture or delivery. These are heavily people oriented and their contribution
to the excellence of the product will come only at the end when the product is completely ready.
Now we have P-CMM and CMMI to indicate that certification is carried out with reference to
the people who undertake the project.
ISO certification is concerned with integration. ISO9000 and ISO9000:2000 are certification
standards mostly for firms which produce any of the following:
Drawings
Materials which are purchased
Processes which can be seen, inspected, and corrected
Products which can be measured
These ISO standards certify the procedures that are followed. These standards are often accepted
both by the supplier and the customer.
Self Assessment Questions
6. Principles _____, _____ and _______ are being applied by most companies to derive leverage
by eliminating waste.
6.4 Recent Revolutions in Project Management
The field of Project Management has undergone a sea change in recent years because of various
factors of which the critical ones are listed in figure 6.3.
After going through this unit you have understood the various trends in project management. You
now know how to manage the conflicts in project management. The concepts of Project
Management Information System have also been explained in this unit. The quality aspects of
project management have been explained in simple form so as to enable you to understand the
concept behind quality management in projects. The concept of macro issues and the knowledge
factor are explained with respect to project management. You have been also exposed to the new
horizons in project management.
6.6 Terminal Questions
1. What do you understand by Resource Smoothing?
2. What are the important stages in the process of development of a project?
3. Explain the relevance of Work Breakdown Structure in determining responsibility area.
4. What are the functions of the Core Group in project management?
5. Why team work is very important for implementation of projects?
6. What is the relevance of knowledge management in project management?
6.7 Answers to SAQs and TQs
6.7.1 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
1. False
2. Optimistic, most likely and pessimistic
3. Project overruns
4. Force Field Theory
5. System Administrator
6. TQM, Kaizen, and Lean Manufacturing.
7. False
6.7.2 Answers to Terminal Questions
1. Refer to section 6.3
2. Refer to section 6.3
MB0049-Unit-07-Organisational Issues in
Project Management
Unit-07-Organisational Issues in Project Management
Structure:
7.1 Introduction
Learning objectives
7.2 Organisational change
Types of organisational change
Evolutionary change
Revolutionary change
7.3 Traits of the professional manager
7.4 Bringing about Organisational Change in the Project Management Scenario
7.5 Summary
7.6 Terminal Questions
7.7 Answers to SAQs and TQs
Answers to Self Assessment Questions
This change has been found to promote quality because of the absence of boredom, which may
cause loss of quality.
7.2.1.2 Revolutionary Change
There are four important instruments for revolutionary change Reengineering, E-Engineering,
Restructuring and Innovation. They are shown in figure 7.3
c) Restructuring: This is attempted with change in authority and task relationships of managers.
The move from the functional form or a standard division structure to combine or divide areas of
control and authority to facilitate better coordination and/or workflow can be described as
restructuring. In the process, a few jobs may not be there. Few people may have multi-functional
activities. The main purpose is to reduce bureaucratic costs. This is because of a change in
strategy. Downsizing is also a way of restructuring.
d) Innovation: It is the successful use of skills and resources in such a way that the outcome
effectively meets customers needs. Changes in technology have made computers cheaper, faster
and more user friendly. This has made a thorough change in the skills of employees and
managers.
Every company needs to adopt new methods, find them and to make them relevant in the
changing world. The thrust in every department/function should be to do things better with new
methods. A culture that promotes this thought across the organisation is the best way to benefit
from it. For promotion, suitable people have to be selected, trained, empowered and rewarded. A
thorough change in the way problems are solved is needed.
The Project Manager may have to initiate the change process to increase the effectiveness of his
team. Being a key person and the change agent in the organisation, his actions are always under
scrutiny. If he takes initiative, whenever the opportunity arises, to effect incremental changes, he
will face minimum resistance both by the top management and his team members.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
1. Organisations will have _______, __________, ________ , and most importantly cultures
which define them and make them unique
2. Make changes with the ________in mind and not the ______that result in them.
7.3 Traits of the Professional Manager
The project manager is an important team member who often makes the difference between
project success and failure. You already learned earlier that the first step of successful Project
Management lies in understanding that each project and each team is unique, and should be
handled accordingly.
A project manager should have the skills to unite diverse individuals and have them function as
one cohesive team. It is a wrong notion that a project manager only needs team management
skills. In reality, a project manager needs many more skills.
In addition to the skills mentioned above, there are certain traits (as shown in figure 7.4) that
enable a manager to be effective in his functioning. The top management will look for these in a
person who they want to employ for project management.
build up his team based on the core values of sincerity, objectivity, dedication and ethics
ensure that his subordinates get opportunities for growth based on performance
make his subordinates a part of the decision making process, thus ensuring cooperation and
commitment during implementation
delegate freely and support them
give enough room for expression of thoughts and also make things challenging for team
members
keep aspirations of the team members into considerations
c) Integrity: Highest levels of trust, fairness and honesty are expected while dealing with people
both within and outside the organisation. This includes the customers, shareholders, dealers,
employees, the government and society at large. They ensure that functioning is clean. Their
transactions will be transparent. Ethics is something they practice diligently.
d) Quality: The quality philosophy should not cover only the product quality, but every process
that has gone into making it. Economy of words when instructions are given, acknowledging
compliance, arriving on time, remembering the promises and above all a keen eye for details and
patience to make others know what they want are components of quality.
e) Customer Orientation: It is now recognised that every organisation has two sets of
customers internal customers and external customers. Internal customers are people in the
organisation employees, directors and team members. External customers are clients and all
members of society the company comes in contact in connection with the business.
Both the customers need the companys solutions for their problems. So, the managers thinking
about any problem is what can I do for him and all actions will be in that direction. He should
constantly thrive for customer satisfaction.
f) Innovation and creativity: Professional managers think beyond the obvious. They exhibit a
keenness to go behind a problem and attempt to find the root cause of the problem. They will
draw from their experience from diverse fields, seek further information and consider all possible
alternatives and come out with some new and unique solution. This happens when they have
open minds.
A saying goes the human mind is like a parachute, it is useful only when it is open. Such a
work culture is very conducive for problem solving, which is the aim of all creativity. Their
persistence will reward the entire team. Besides, such actions will be observed by their team
members and will infuse a spirit of adventure and commitment to work creatively and bring
better solutions faster.
g) Performance Management: The professional manager not only ensures that his performance
is at peak all times, but motivates his entire team to perform the same. This comes by
appreciation and encouragement. In case of shortfalls, he arranges training for them so that their
performance improves. Thus the team members know that they are expected to perform, that
they get help to do so and their effort is recognised and rewarded too. This is the simple path of
performance management.
Managers can follow a seven step performance management model as shown in figure 7.5.
6. Jointly decide on corrective action, if needed: There is a possibility that the performance has
exceeded the set standards. But if performance is not good and the reasons and extent have been
identified, the course of action for effecting corrections is decided. Giving extra responsibilities,
training, relocation is considered. Counselling sessions may be conducted.
7. Reset objectives for next period: The targets are revised either upward or downward
depending on the conclusion of the appraisal process.
h) Identification with the organisation: A sense of pride and belonging goes with the
ownership of the job, the project, team members and organisation. This is brought about by the
culture and communication system in the organisation. Information sharing brings in trust and
promotes belongingness. The tendency seen is that most managers strongly identify with their
own departments, units or divisions and they lack a sense of organisation.
In the light of increased competition and ever changing strategies to develop business
orientation, means every manager should be aware of the companys plans, products and
policies. An obvious corollary to this is that the organisations communication policy too should
be conducive to such information sharing.
Today, many organisations are using interventions such as team building, survey feedback, and
other activities, to ensure that employees build up a strong sense of identity and pride in the
organisation they work for.
i) Empowering employees: The professional manager should possess the ability to empower his
employees down the line. Many managers are not even ready to delegate their authority to
subordinates and end up only delegating responsibility.
Empowerment is the process by which employees are encouraged to take decisions pertaining to
their area of work. This leads employees developing a sense of pride in their jobs. But managers
often hesitate to empower their subordinates as they feel insecure and show a sense of
uncertainty. The professional manager practices empowerment and encourages employees to
grow and develop in their positions.
j) Coping with changes: There is a saying The only constant in this world is change. A
professional manager has the ability and capacity to cope with change. He accepts the fact that
change is inevitable and is ready to implement change at the workplace.
To implement change successfully, it is essential that employees are involved in the
implementation of change. Moreover, the positive and negative consequences of change need to
be discussed and understood before implementation. Thus a professional manager has the
attitude to accept change as a way of life and takes it in his stride.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
3. Such a work culture is very conducive for _________ which is the aim of all creativity.
4. To implement change successfully, it is __________ that employees are involved in the
_____________ of change.
True or False?
5. Project managers do not delegate authority, they delegate responsibility.
7.4 Bringing about Organisational Change in the Project Management Scenario
A project is managed by the project manager who is completely in charge of all matters
connected with it. In case of organisations, where multiple projects are handled, restructuring is
almost a continuous. The reason is that resource availability in terms of people and their skills
will be changing. With resource smoothing, many persons will have to be shifted for short
periods.
To accommodate these, many managers create pools of persons with special knowledge, skills
and ability. Number of opportunities for creativity is many in project execution. Every project is
unique. Resources vary, customer demands are different. Thus the change process will have
never stopped to begin.
Now let us look at a model by which you can manage the change. Cummings and Worley
(Organisation Development and Change, 1995) describe a comprehensive, five-phase, general
process for managing change, as shown in figure 7.6.
the employees and make the team members feel that the approach to change will require their
strong input and ongoing involvement.
b) Creating Vision: Project managers must articulate a clear vision. A clear vision describes
what the change effort is striving to achieve. The vision should clearly depict how the
achievement of the vision will improve the organisation. It is very important that team members
believe that the vision is apt and achievable.
c) Developing Political Support: This phase of change management should not be ignored as it
is the phase that often prevents successful change from occurring.
Politics in a team is about power. Project managers must realise that power is important among
members of the team who are striving for livelihood and recognition. Matters of power and
politics are hence critically important to recognise and manage during organisational change
activities.
Since a change initiative often means shifts in power across management levels, functions and
groups, it must have the support of all key power players, for example, senior management, and
others who are recognised as having strong expertise and integrity.
d) Managing Transition: This phase takes place when the organisation strives to make the
actual leap from the current state to the future state. All the action plans towards the change
initiative get implemented in this phase. These plans can include a wide variety of activities
designed to make the change happen in the organisation, for example, creating and modifying
major structures and processes in the organisation. These changes might require continuous
mentoring and training to enforce new policies and procedures. Moreover, ways of effective
change management should continue. These include strong, clear, ongoing communication
about:
the need for the change
the status of the change
the solicitation of team members continuing input to the change effort.
e) Sustaining Momentum: Often, the most difficult phase in managing change is this phase
when leaders work to sustain the momentum of the implementation and adjustment of plans.
Change efforts can encounter a wide variety of roadblocks such as:
Strong resistance from members of the organisation
Sudden departure of a key leader in the organisation
A drastic reduction in sales
Strong, visible, ongoing support from top leadership is critically important to show overall
credibility and accountabilities in the change effort. Those participating in the change effort often
need ongoing support, in the form of provision of resources, along with training and coaching.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False
6. Opportunities for creativity are many in projects.
7. When multiple projects are handled restructuring is rare.
7.5 Summary
In this unit you have learnt about how the organisations are structured. You have learnt the
meaning of Organisational Change and how the process brings about improved effectiveness in
the organisations, especially the need for change in Project Management Scenario. You also
learnt two different types of organisational change.
You have also learnt about the role of a professional manager and how a professional manager
can implement change. Traits of a professional manager have been described in detail with all the
roles and expectations. You are now aware of the skills and qualities required to be an effective
change agent in organisational change. You have also learned the dynamics of an organisation
and the importance of managing all the concerned stakeholders through case studies.
Finally, you have seen a model to implement any change effectively in project management
scenario. The latest developments in the process of organisational change relevant to Project
Management were also covered in this lesson.
7.6 Terminal Questions
1. Define a Flexible Work Team.
2. What is Reengineering?
3. What are the seven steps of performance management?
4. What is empowerment?
5. Explain the difference between TQM and Innovation
6. Describe any five important traits of a Leader
7.7 Answers
7.7.1 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
8.1 Introduction
Learning Objectives
8.2 Project and Programme Management P2M
Process of P2M
Managing the programme
8.3 Projectised organisations
8.4 Guidelines for Development of High Technology
8.5 Technology Substitution
8.6 Summary
8.7 Terminal Questions
8.8 Answers to SAQs amd TQs
Answers to Self Assessment Questions
Answers to Terminal Questions
8.1 Introduction
Todays economic environment presents many challenges for Business and Information
Technology leaders. These challenges require them to consider introduction of significant cost
saving, process efficiency, and delivery effectiveness, while managing an increasingly complex
portfolio of business projects. This is not an easy job at all unless a proper and portfolio
management is in place.
In an industry where over 70% of projects have consistently failed to meet business objectives,
and where it is often difficult to control project budgets and schedules, effective practices in
project, program, and portfolio management are more critical than ever before. Many of the
approaches for mitigating the risk associated with this high rate of project failure are not new.
However these approaches need to be reintroduced in a disciplined and structured operating
process.
An enterprise generally will have many projects running at any point of time. These projects may
be running at different stages with different requirements and are of different nature.
Organisations often fail to recognise the importance of managing a business change programme
as an overall strategic initiative.
Contrast this to the character of a project manager. The project manager will doggedly strive to
deliver a specified overall deliverable for the business. Project managers will focus intensely on
their target, getting involved in the detailed issues. They deliver the goods but rarely step back
to consider the bigger picture.
Some aspects of programme management are similar to the management of projects, albeit
conducted at a higher, more strategic level. For example, a programme manager will address
risks and issues but focusing on impacts for the overall initiative and the best interests of the
organisation as a whole. A project manager performing the same tasks would, in contrast, address
risks and issues to delivering the specific defined deliverables of the concerned project.
After gaining a significant insight into programme and project management, let us have a look on
effective programme management. Effective programme management involves:
Focusing on the various strategic initiatives taken up for multiple projects and the issues related
to benefits and risks
Bringing about the attention of management to a defined set of benefits, which are understood
immediately, which are managed throughout the implementation and completion
Helping top management to set priorities, choosing options and allocate resources
Setting up mechanisms to measure and ensure that the projects making contributions for
realising expected business benefits
Ensuring that the effects of the programme driven changes are coordinated, the transitions are
successfully managed. The operations are effective and efficient.
b) Structuring the programme so that the responsibilities and roles at both programme and
project level are acceptable to both the top management and managers
c) Planning the various points of review between various phases of the projects
The process has to incorporate all the important aspects which are to be addressed during
implementation and management of the projects. It is important to identify all factors and
incorporate resources men, materials, technology and time, so that their provision can be
planned.
8.2.2 Managing the Programme
We learned the concept of P2M and the acute need of managing the portfolio of projects as a
programme. When we consider the portfolio of projects as a programme, there are many aspects
of the management that we need to consider closely. The main considerations will be on
resources, risks, quality of the projects at every stage of the execution in terms of meeting the
expectations of the client as per the contract and monitoring the change processes that get
enmeshed during implementation. The specifics concerning the above are explained in figure
8.2:
e) Support Services: We need to ensure that the support services like human resources and IT
are able to adapt to the changes that take place in the projects as well as business operations as a
whole.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
3. The initiatives taken up for multiple_______ and issues related to ___________ constitute
P2M.
4. Two main supporting services for Project Management are ______ and _______.
8.3 Projectised Organisations
Organisations may follow various models depending upon their adopted strategies, the nature of
the industry and various policies governing the same. Projectised organisation is one of the
various models of organisations, which enterprises adopt to run their businesses depending on
the policies they follow, the opportunities they want to exploit and the constraints that the
environment forces on them.
Most organisations follow some sort of projectisation of their activities and business functions.
It can be applied to varied industries, be it manufacturing, development of a product, research,
entering a market, acquiring of another company, training programmes, setting up a new plant,
among many others.
In some situations, organisations find it advantageous to treat a set of activities requiring
resources of different kinds for short periods to reach a particular stage. Organisations call that a
project. Let us now look at the objectives of a typical projectised organisation in order to make
their business model useful:
Accommodate discrete projects as a group in certain organisational units to facilitate monitoring
and controlling performance levels at various stages.
Assign priority of divisional management efforts based on Paretos law backed by statistics or
rules of thumb. This is to ensure prevention of problems or profit growth on the portfolio of
projects at hand. Paretos law, in its generalised form, states that 80% of the objectives (effects)
are achieved with 20% of the means (causes).
Facilitate project resource assignment and subsequent adjustment especially human and
information resources among the various projects. There should be proper sharing of resources
among various projects.
Enumerate, evaluate and implement various procedures of standardisation in the form of tables,
charts, manuals, templates with the abundance of data that get generated across projects.
Analyses of data help in identifying opportunities of making changes in similar projects. This
also enables knowledge reuse in the organisation.
The project management capability can be enhanced with the help of the PMO, by setting
objectives and measuring them with success achieved. Each project can be measured for its
maturity level. Enhancement of the levels of different projects does become a motivational factor
for performance enhancement. This creates a system of internal benchmarking which gets
initiated almost automatically resulting in highly efficient organisation as a whole.
The principles of Project Management can be extended to various traditional operational type
units.
By this time, you can make out the important aspects of a projectised organisation. You may be
inquisitive to know how this model differs from the traditional one. The main differences
between the traditional and project approach are mentioned in table 8.1. Here, we would like to
emphasise that no one approach can be considered the better for all businesses or at all times for
the same business. However, many organisations have found the project approach worth giving a
try to improve productivity.
Table 8.1: Comparison between traditional and projectised organisation
Traditional organisations
They have the formal organisation
structure, with departments, functions,
sections having a hierarchy of
managers and their assistants.
All of the managers function on a
continuous basis catering to a series of
requirements issued by the planning
department.
Projectised organisations
They have teams comprising
members who are responsible for
completing one entire deliverable
product.
The teams will have all the resources
required to finish the jobs.
ever been made for its indigenous development. Hence, the first step in the critical technology
development is a deliberate decision for making the process wholly indigenous.
Time that may elapse before anything tangible is found will be long. The quality of the outcome
has to be proven with a lot of experimentation, which costs money. The clients may suspect that
the best is not being given to them.
Many people, even at higher hierarchical positions want the easy way out import. But
experience has shown that once the process is started, it will be found that certain technologies
are easier to develop than to acquire from outside sources.
The knowledge that gets acquired, experience that is gained and confidence that it endows, make
the organisation self-sufficient. The encouragement that people gain from this makes it
worthwhile.
Rule 2: Always aim one step higher in performance: Usually, high technology development
has a long gestation period. By the time the product is perfected, it might have become obsolete.
This necessitates that the period should be shortened.
The other alternative is to make technology developments futuristic i.e. keep the aim or target
one step beyond what is required. Combination of both will yield better results. Using principles
of concurrent engineering, we can start building components as developed and assembling on ad
hoc basis.
This would be followed by testing them and making changes taking into consideration any new
requirements. Every attempt to make the product contemporary will improve the competitive
advantage.
Rule 3: Focus on Multi-Use Technologies: The focus is on multi-user and multi-role systems.
During the course of development, the customer preferences may undergo a great change, and
the intended application of the technology or the product may no longer exist.
This uncertainty demands that we should aim at multi-user products. The possibility of making
products which can address multi-functions should be considered. All these are to be conducted
on a continuous basis so that obsolescence is avoided.
Rule 4: Spot the competency of divisions and empower them for technology development:
Every division of an organisation has certain inherent strength and is unique in itself. We must
identify and build around this strength to realise maximum contribution. The strength may be
software skills, large trainable power, culture, value system or excellence in academics. It can be
translated into the required competency through innovation management.
Rule 5: Ensure Redundancy for Critical Systems and Technologies: It has been observed that
critical technologies have a tendency of acquiring high uncertainties. Multi-technology routes are
devised so that the target is reached in spite of blocks on any other route.
Even multiple sourcing is deployed to ensure availability without any failure. The redundancy
needs extra resources, but then we cannot allow critical systems to stop for any reason. The
project success within the time slot allotted is worth making sacrifices for.
Rule 6: Focus efforts through Programme / Project / Mission oriented approach: The
traditional way of technology development is carried out without any link to the product
development of activities. The outcome of these activities will be in the form of models,
publications and working prototypes to some designed / assumed specifications.
Such development is not normally bound by any time frame or the cost or the product is not
directly usable for any application. This approach is not suitable for the development of high
technology systems in a resource constrained environment.
Projecting the technology development provides a sense of purpose and direction to the
development efforts and integrates all the efforts towards the common goal. The outcome of such
development efforts will be channelled into useful products.
Rule 7: Build concurrency into every activity: Building concurrency into every activity is
essential to reduce the development cycle time and to counter the technology obsolescence.
Many of the tasks that are normally done in a serial fashion can be done in parallel by
synchronizing the flow of information.
The practices of the concurrent engineering where the design of the product and all its associated
processes are carried out simultaneously are based on team work and participation. This would
not only help in reducing the development cycle time, but also in improving the product
functionality with regards to requirements. Concurrency can be accomplished in many ways both
for product development as well as for technology transfer, user evaluation and production.
Rule 8: Build long term Partnership with all the Stake holders: High technology
development is a dynamic process with large information exchange, teamwork, problems,
failures and successes. It requires long term partnership and commitment from all stakeholders
including the development partners, production partners and customers.
This can be achieved by tailoring suitable management structure and review system such that at
each stage of the project all the stakeholders are involved. Many institutions including R & D
organisations, industries, academia will be useful in these endeavours. It is essential to build
suitable organisational interface with each type of organisation based on their priorities.
Rule 9: Focus on Problem Forecasting and Prevention: The traditional project monitoring and
control approach is based on solving the problems as they arise during the project execution.
In high technology development, projects that involve delays become very costly. At every stage
we need to ascertain that we are moving in the right direction. Failures in the early stages of the
projects are less costly and harmful than at later stages.
Forecasting can be done by trying to analyse all possible situation during planning stage and
trying to answer what if questions and obtain answers. This also empowers the team to plan for
any deviation right from the very beginning. Proper forecasting can act as a base for effective
prevention step. Once the practice starts, it may even become a standard method of starting a
project.
Rule 10: Ensure Continuous and Integrated Performance Measurement: Measurement
means evaluating the achieved outcomes against expected. The process improves the actual
activities which take us towards our goal and also verify whether what we expected was right.
Haphazard or ad hoc measurements are worse than no measurement. When all persons know that
evaluation will be done on a continuous basis, they know that everything they do is going to get
measured. This will surely increase the quality and the performance.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False
8. The traditional way of technology development is carried out with corresponding link to the
product development of activities
9. Failures in the early stages of the projects are less costly and harmful than at later stages.
Fill in the blanks
10. ________ development has a long gestation period.
8.5 Technology Substitution
Technology substitution is based on the fact that several alternate technological routes exist to
create a particular device. These alternate routes are normally hidden behind the commonly
known processes, in different forms. Identification of these hidden technologies will open up
opportunities for technology substitution.
Some of the examples of technology substitution are in the fields of Aerospace, Automobile,
Water storage dams, among others.
Here let us study two examples from the aerospace industry. This is to give you enough insight to
think out of the box and come up with concepts which can change the trend.
In recent years, in aerospace industry, because of the versatility of software programmes which
can be written to simulate a variety of operating conditions, a great amount of work is going on
both in terms of variety and depth. Hence it was essential to look for better substitution. This
resulted in the following.
a) Substitution of experimentation: Tests are conducted to certify the performance parameters
of Aerospace Systems Wind tunnels. In this process, wind is allowed to blow at speed which the
aircraft is expected to fly and simulation is conducted for the aircraft engine, wings, tails and
other parts. Readings are recorded and analysed.
Now with the use of computer systems this costly and lengthy procedure can be substituted by
Computational Fluid Dynamics. The flight testing can be greatly reduced by the use of digital
and hardware in loop simulation. This has resulted in significant savings and reduction in
simulation time.
b) Substitution or enhancement of Hardware with Software: This concept has gained
significant attention and a lot of research in past decade. Complex software is programmed on
hardware for effective functionality.
For example, in the case of an Inertial Navigation System, the Gyro Stabilised Platforms can be
replaced by the strap down systems using On-Board computer and software improving the
accuracy of navigation systems.
In the same way, a wide variety of subsystems for commercial and industrial uses have been
devised. It is well known that many of them find military applications and are made especially
for them. However, these are superior to those used for industrial purposes for obvious reasons.
With some minor improvements they can be used for superior performance, when such
requirement can bear a little higher cost.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
11. With the use of computer systems this costly procedure of Aerospace testing can be
substituted by __________
12. Identification of these hidden technologies will open up opportunities for _________.
8.6 Summary
Now that you have gone through this unit, you would have learnt about projectised organisations
and how they are able to increase competitiveness. More importantly, you learned concept of
Programme Management (P2M) and its importance in todays scenario. You learned the
difference between traditional organisation and projectised organisation.
In the later part of this unit, you have also understood how technology helps in Project and
Programme Management. You saw the pivotal role played by technology in the success of
Project and Programme Management. You are now aware of the process of development of high
technology and the innovations for an enterprise.
Lastly, you also learned that technology is not the end in itself and there is a huge scope of
innovation and substitution. You saw this with an example of Aerodynamics industry.
2. Refer to 8.4
3. Refer to 8.6
4. Refer to 8.5
5. Refer to 8.5
6.Refer to 8.5
Copyright 2009 SMU
Powered by Sikkim Manipal University
.
MB0049-Unit-09-Guide to Systematic
Scientific Project Management
Unit-09-Guide to Systematic Scientific Project Management
Structure:
9.1 Introduction
Learning objectives
9.2 New horizons in project management nine steps
Concept of total economics
9.3 Stages in a project management cycle DMAIS
9.4 The role of effective data management in the success of project management
9.5 Measuring and managing success
9.6 Summary
9.7 Terminal Questions
9.8 Answers to SAQs and TQs
Answers to self assessment questions
The objective of any change initiative is achieved by making incremental changes. Incremental
changes give an opportunity to all stakeholders to accept, implement, and verify the impact of
the changes. After they come in terms with the consequences, they can move further and
consolidate the gains. Incremental improvements are, however, acceptable only when the rate of
change is not excessive.
Status-quo mentality implies that we need to accept the present situations as the best thing.
Accordingly, people with such mentality make no attempt to make the present situations better.
This attitude is the enemy of creativity and innovativeness. Research has shown that the human
mind is always creative. By forcing it to accept what is comfortable; we are deprived of the gift
of nature. We have to look for opportunities for improvement and change which is the principle
of continuous improvement in TQM.
Breaking the status-quo mentality implies that future is not an extension of the present and
therefore it needs to be tamed. Excessive focusing on future may not however be appreciated. A
proper balance is a must.
Step 4 Stepping out of comfortable zone
Seeking comfort in our work area is understandable, but to avoid taking any risk with the jobs to
be performed is not a good practice. Challenges have to be faced, uncertainties have to be tackled
and solutions found. This calls for accepting things as they come even if they are not comfortable
always. This in turn gives opportunities for the project team to build confidence and learn new
things.
Risk aversion is not a good characteristic of a leader. Momentarily, a member might feel more
comfortable to stay in the comfort zone and refrain from risks. However, he or she should
remember that a team leader has emerged by stepping out of the comfort zone. On the other
hand, if a member decides to step out of the comfort zone and be innovative and contribute then
this would amount to emergence of a future leader. Promotions are not time bound any more.
Step 5 Human capital by-passing financial
Investment in Human Resources is by far the most productive. People are the great assets of a
company. That is the reason training and benefits given to the personnel are no longer considered
an expense, but an investment. The returns are long term and they improve with the passage of
time. More importantly, quality becomes achievable only by the efforts and commitment of
personnel. Providing opportunities for excelling in their performance is an important factor for
retaining good employees.
Human capital has thus left financial capital far behind. A member should therefore appreciate
and maintain self realisation of his importance in the organisation. However, to sustain
credibility, the member should remember that his or her value is not related to the level or the
salary but on the quantum of output, again not on the volume of coding but on the value of the
work done to the product. Combining these two concepts of human capital and value, the
concept of return on the time invested has replaced return on investment when it comes to
valuation.
become relevant to consider the challenges one has met and successfully resolved is his working
life. These will indicate the capability of a person to meet difficult situations in future.
The secret formula for a member is to build an inventory of encounters meaningful to his or her
own dream or passion profile.
Step 8 Seeking meaning out of change
You should consider change only when it is necessary or advantageous to meet the challenges
that cannot be overcome using the traditional approach.
You should keep in mind that the outcomes of change are not always beneficial. It should not be
forgotten that before a change is attempted, some pre-requisites have to be met. Then the time,
money and energy expended in bringing about change become meaningful.
Consider the implementation of TQM as an example. Before attempting the process, you should
ensure that the various procedures for assuring quality are being practiced. It should be ensured
that the instruments for assuring quality are being used and calibrated. We should also train the
personnel on how to use them.
You should attempt to implement TQM only when the existing processes are incapable of
assuring zero defects or Six Sigma standards despite employees having every facility and and a
high standard of quality being achieved on a sustainable basis.
The change you seek will have meaning only when the organisational culture, managements
commitment, the processes of procurement and many other factors that Deming states are put in
place.
Finally, a project manager must note that change could be a threat or an opportunity. If change is
resisted, it is essential for the entire team, through extraordinary team effort and brain storming,
to weigh consequences before drafting of a plan to match proposals for changes. The key lies in
extraordinary inter personal skills and communication.
mode of payment
Value goes on getting added along the supply chain. Economies are effected when the
consumption of material, power, movement and time are reduced. Inventory costs money and has
to be kept to the minimum for achieving total economy. All these depend on procedures that have
been scientifically designed and implemented efficiently.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
1. Modern development processes in the field of Project Management are very dynamic and call
for _____ and __________.
2. One of the most dangerous aspects of the thinking process is to ________, _______ and
__________.
3. Value goes on getting added along the ________.
9.3 Stages in a Project Management Cycle DMAIS
Project managers consider the five steps DMAIS as generic for any system of a journey
towards excellence. Figure 9.2 lists the five steps hidden in the acronym DMAIS. DMAIS is
highly relevant in Project Management for the simple reason that each step gives out in detail the
actions to be taken to ensure readiness for the next step. Verification of DMAIS implementation
is possible with checklists which can be prepared and used by employees at all levels. The team
members can be given training to follow them.
Let us consider each of five steps of DMAIS.
c. Tolerances The permitted deviations are made closer, so that the capability of process is
increased
5. Standardize When improvements have become consistent, the methods adopted are
standardised.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
4. Benchmark The _____ achieved by the ____ in the ________.
5. Cause and Effect Diagrams also called __________ Diagrams.
6. Measures to remove the defects found earlier are ______________for improving _____,
_____ and _____.
9.4 The Role of Effective Data Management in the Success of Project Management
Data management consists of conducting activities which facilitate acquiring data, processing it
and distributing it. Acquisition of data is the primary function.
To be useful, data should have three important characteristics timeliness, sufficiency and
relevancy (as shown in figure 9.3). Management of acquisition lies in ensuring that these are
satisfied before they are stored for processing and decisions taken on the analysis.
data from other sources and see how he can use them and take decisions. Many times he will
have to inform and seek sanction from top management.
The management will have to study the impact on the overall organisational goals and strategies
and convey their decisions to the manager for implementation. For example, Bill of Materials is
a very important document in Project Management. It contains details about all materials that go
into the project at various stages and has to be continuously updated as all members of the
project depend upon it for providing materials for their apportioned areas of execution. Since
information is shared by all members, there is an opportunity for utilising some of them when
others do not need them. To ascertain availability at some future point of time, information about
orders placed, backlogs, lead times are important for all the members. A proper MIS will take
care of all these aspects. ERP packages too help in integrating data from all sources and present
them to individual members in the way they require. When all these are done efficiently the
project will have no hold ups an assure success.
Let us now look at some metrics and find out their meanings, measurements and benefits:
ROI
Meaning: It refers to the Return on investment on various investment
proposals.
Measure: You need to measure how long it will take for realising increased
revenue or reduced cost to pay back the project investment.
Benefits: It results in optimisation of performance
Customer Satisfaction
Meaning: It implies meeting clients needs expectations and defined scope.
Measure: You need to measure document needs and expectations in a
clearly defined scope.
Benefits: It removes ambiguity of project acceptance and improves overall
acceptance.
Time and budget to Date
Meaning: It refers to the part of the original budget and schedule that has
elapsed to date as against work accomplished.
Measure: You need to measure hours worked, materials consumed, and
milestones reached.
Benefits: It allows project progress to be measured against original
estimates.
Quality
Meaning: It refers to the metric that will be used to determine acceptability
of the end products.
Measure: The measures vary from project to project. They could be
expressed as a factor of defects, response time, delay in execution, number
of milestones reached within time, and so on.
Benefits: It removes ambiguity about project acceptance, and ensures
clients satisfaction.
On the same lines we have the following metrics for the project execution:
Schedule Estimate
Cost estimates
Staff productivity
Average time to repair
The top management may determine which of the metrics they would like to use to measure
efficiency, which they can communicate to the client also. Then the project manager will set up
suitable reporting systems and analyse the progress accordingly. Success is the culmination of all
measuring activities which brings satisfaction to all stakeholders. Lessons learnt should be the
guiding factors for future projects.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
9. The metric that will be used to determine acceptability of the end products is ___________.
True or False
10. Periodic reports show clearly indicates the success of the project.
9.6 Summary
In this unit you have been able to identify the nine steps which indicate the latest developments
in Project Management. The concepts to understand key operational and data communication
systems have been explained. You would have learnt how to analyse key data elements for
hierarchy and how to structure an operational model. You have also got an idea on the way
Communication and Systems Management are addressed in modern project management.
9.7 Terminal Questions
1. What factors of internal environment are conducive for a culture of change?
2. What are the components of information flow in any system of operations?
3. State any four metrics and their benefits.
4. Explain the process of data acquisition.
5. What are the main utilities of an ERP package?
6. Explain utility of data management for BOM.
9.8 Answers
ROI
Exclusions
Product status
Issues and risks
10.5 Post-Review activities
Issues or concerns requiring attention
Status of open items from review
CIO reports
10.6 Summary
10.7 Terminal Questions
10.8 Answers to SAQs and TQs
Answers to Self Assessment Questions
Answers to Terminal Questions
10.1 Introduction
We have learned all the aspects of project management in previous chapters and varied processes
related to it. In this unit, these concepts of various processes in project management have been
put together to demonstrate how actually a project management document is outlined with
respect to a typical Project Management Process. The document has been put forth based upon
the experience of several organisations and project managers.
This unit explains Project Management Process through a documentation approach, building the
concepts covered so far. In this unit, we shall focus on actual documentation done for project
management. We will see project management review process guide for Information Systems
followed by process schedule and timeline. We will also see review templates and post review
activities.
As a part of Project Management Process, various sections and subsections of this unit would
cover the following key aspects:
a) Project Management Review Process Guide for Corporate and Major Information Systems
b) Roles and Responsibilities
10.2 Project Management Review Process Guide for Corporate and Major Information
Systems
Project Management Review Process for Corporate and Major Information Systems was
instituted to review all major information systems in development, enhancement, or production
of a product or a service. These reviews provide a forum for bringing together key project
stakeholders to communicate project status, plans, and issues to management and senior
management, for example. Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Finance Officer (CFO).
They are not by their nature intended to be decision-making events, but can serve as a forum for
discussion and issue resolution. This document describes the Project Management Review
Process for the corporate and major information systems with the associated responsibilities,
reporting requirements and tools, resources, and references.
Legislative and regulatory mandates ensure that technology initiatives are implemented at
acceptable costs within reasonable and expected time frames. The team ensures that investments
in information technology are fully justified and aligned with agency missions and business
needs. Agency Chief Information Officers (CIOs) have the responsibility to ensure co-ordination
and tracking of investments.
Throughout the project life-cycle it is important to apply standard project management best
practices, including tracking and reporting, to all projects, regardless of size. For smaller
projects, stages may be combined and deliverables reduced in scope as appropriate. For larger or
more complex projects, additional project planning, tracking, and reporting activity may be
appropriate.
For all projects identified to participate in Project Management Reviews, the standard set of
project management reporting requirements fits into the following five categories:
a) General Project Overview
b) Project Status
c) Product Status
d) Issues and Risks
e) Project Unique Information
10.3.4 Project Files
A substantial amount of project management information that is useful throughout the
information systems life-cycle should be gathered in a central project file maintained by the
project manager. All work products developed during the project life-cycle should be included in
the project file.
The project manager should verify that all pertinent project information and documentation are
placed in the project file on a timely basis. In addition to being useful in responding to routine
and ad-hoc requests for information, a project file is instrumental in case of internal or external
audits.
Information about projects in the review portfolio will be made available for addition to the
Corporate and Major Information System repository. This repository serves as a database or data
warehouse for storing and accessing information. In addition to the Project Management Review
briefing slides, the repository is being used to store other information needed for reporting.
The following list includes some of the documents that should be provided for the projects
participating in the review process:
a) Set of review charts
Electronic templates are used to assist project staff in the preparation of the Project Management
Review briefings First-Time Reviews, Ongoing Reviews, and Samples.
The templates serve as a means of standardising the reporting requirements and enabling a
common set of criteria for evaluating the health and progress of the departments corporate and
major information systems.
Presenters may choose to develop their own set of slides as long as the requested information is
covered.
ROI should reflect such risk factors as the projects technical complexity, the agencys
management capacity, the likelihood of cost overruns, and the consequences of under or nonperformance. Where appropriate, ROI should reflect actual returns observed through pilot
projects and prototypes.
ROI should be quantified in terms of money and should include a calculation of the break-even
point (BEP), which is the time (point in time) when the investment begins to generate a positive
return. ROI should be re-calculated at every major checkpoint of a project to see if the BEP is
still on schedule, based on project spending and accomplishments to date.
If the project is behind schedule or over budget, the BEP may move out in time; if the project is
ahead of schedule or under budget the BEP may occur earlier. In either case, the information is
important for decision-making based on the value of the investment throughout the project lifecycle.
Any project that has developed a business case is expected to refresh the ROI at each key project
decision point (that is, stage exit) or at least yearly.
10.4.9 Exclusions
If the detailed data collection, calculation of benefits and costs, and capitalisation data from
which ROI is derived was not required for a particular project, then it may not be realistic or
practical to require the retrofit calculation of ROI once the project is added to the review
portfolio.
In such a case, it is recommended that a memorandum of record be developed as a substitute for
ROI. The memorandum should provide a brief history of the program, a description of the major
benefits realised to date with as much quantitative data as possible, and a summary of the process
used to identify and select system enhancements.
Some of the major benefits experienced by sites that installed the information system that would
be important to include in the memorandum are:
a) Decommissioning of mainframe computers.
b) Reduction/redirection of labour.
c) Elimination of redundant systems.
d) Ability to effectively upgrade all sites with one standard upgrade package.
In each case above, identify the specific site, systems, and labour involved in determining the
cited benefit. Identify any costs or dollar savings that are known or have been estimated.
The memorandum will be used as tool for responding to any future audit inquiries on project
ROI. For the Project Management Review, it is recommended that the project leader replaces the
text on the ROI document through:
a) A note stating which stage of its-cycle the project is in.
b) A bulleted list of the most important points from the memorandum of record.
c) A copy of the memorandum of record for the review repository.
In subsequent reviews of the information system, the ROI slide can be eliminated from the
package. There is one notable exception to this guidance. Any internal use software project in the
maintenance phase of its life-cycle that adds a new site or undertakes an enhancement or
technology refresh that reaches the cost threshold established by standard will need to satisfy
capitalisation requirements.
It requires all agencies to capitalise items acquired or developed for internal use if the expected
service life is two or more years and its cost meets or exceeds the agencys threshold for internal
use software. The standard requires capitalisation of direct and indirect costs, including
employee salaries and benefits for both federal and contractor employees who materially
participate in the software project.
Program managers are considered to be the source of cost information for internal use software
projects. If capitalisation data is collected for the project in the future, the project would be
expected to calculate and track its ROI.
10.4.10 Product Status
The product status section focuses on the technical approach. This includes system architecture,
project methodology and processes, product quality, and risks and issues. Product measurements
are used in quality assurance processes to project and measure product quality. These include
defect reporting, testing status, and customer satisfaction measurements.
Performance Measures
Performance measurements are used in project management and quality processes to determine
and communicate status and accomplishments measured against specific objectives, schedules,
and milestones. These measurements extend to include delivery of desired products and services
to customers, whether external or internal.
Performance measurement is the ongoing monitoring and reporting of program
accomplishments, particularly progress towards pre-established goals. It is typically conducted
by program or agency management.
Performance measures may address:
9. The templates serve as a means of standardising the reporting requirements and enabling a
common set of criteria for evaluating the health and progress of the departments corporate and
major information systems.
10. The customer is expected to check this list in preparation for the current review, include all
listed items on the slide, and provide the status of each item.
11. The program/project manager is responsible for ensuring that capitalisation costs are captured
for the project.
12. A program may be any activity, project, function, or policy that has an identifiable
manager.
10.5 Post-Review Activities
Once the Project Management Review has been conducted, follow up with program/project
managers on any issues or concerns requiring attention. Also check the status of open items from
the review and CIO reporting actions, for example, reports to the CIO Council. The CIO may
also recommend quality assurance analysis be conducted.
10.5.1 Issues or Concerns Requiring Attention
The project manager is responsible for raising issues or concerns that require assistance or
guidance to the attention of the CIO. These items should be communicated whenever they
become known, and not held for the next Project Management Review.
The CIO will assign appropriate OCIO staff available to help resolve open items. The program /
project manager should communicate the status of these items in each quarterly review until the
items are resolved / closed.
10.5.2 Status of Open Items from Review
The program/project manager is responsible for tracking the open items from the review and
communicating the status in each quarterly review until the items are closed. The scheduling of
reviews will coordinate with the program/project manager after the quarterly reviews to help
ensure that new items have been captured for tracking and action by the program/project
manager.
10.5.3 CIO Reports
The staff supporting the CIO quarterly reviews will prepare a summary report after each Project
Management Review. The summary report will include the following information:
a) Summary Status
b) Open Issues/Items
10.6 Summary
In this unit you have learnt the key elements of a typical project management process and the key
process elements within the industry. You have learnt about the various terminologies and
concepts applicable to practical business processes along with the key Issues in an organisation
and address the same within a comprehensive Process Document.
You have also learnt about the way a typical Project Management Process Document is
developed from a set of building blocks.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks:
13. ________ is responsible for raising issues for concerns that require assistance or guidance to
the attention of the CIO.
14. The staff supporting the CIO Quarterly Reviews will prepare a summary report after each
_____________.
10.7 Terminal Questions
1. Explain in detail the project management review process.
2. What are the various post review activities?
3. What is the significance of reviewing ROI?
10.8 Answers
10.8.1 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
1. True
2. False
3. False
4. Tracking
5. Corporate System Information Architecture
6. First time, Ongoing
7. Project Management Review
8. True
9. True
10. False
11. True
12. False
13. Project Manager
14. Project Management Review
10.8.2 Answers to Terminal Questions
1. Refer 10.3
2. Refer 10.5
3.Refer 10.4.8
Copyright 2009 SMU
Powered by Sikkim Manipal University
.
Learning Objectives
11.2 Planning for Project Surprises Coping with Risk
When to perform risk management?
11.3 Risk Identification
11.4 Risk Analysis
11.5 Risk Management Planning
11.6 Reviewing Risks
11.7 Risk Management Process
11.8 Overview of Risk Management
11.9 Summary
11.10 Terminal Questions
11.11 Answers to SAQs and TQs
Answers to Self Assessment Questions
Answers to Terminal Questions
11.1 Introduction
Risk is an inherent part of any project. You cannot neglect the potential impact of risk in the
project. Risks can be at any stage of the project life cycle and create impact based on it. In simple
words, project risk can be defined as the possibility that something may go wrong, or at least not
turn out as planned. Risks are different for each project, and risks change as a project progresses.
In any project, it is difficult to assess the quantum of risks involved. Therefore careful planning
will result in minimising the risk in a project. The formulation of a project is based on the
estimates of the past data available with the project management team. The data may have been
from the recorded information about past projects executed successfully or from the experience
of the project management team members.
There will be lots of uncertainties and surprises in a project during its execution. It is necessary
to analyse and estimate the project in all respects in order to enable the manager take proper
decision on the project. Project-specific risks could include but are not limited to following
examples:
Mismanagement of resources
Loss of key employees
Questionable vendor availability and skills
Insufficient time
Incorrect estimation of scope
Inadequate project budgets
Funding issues
Cost overruns
Legal liabilities
Credit risks
Accidents and natural disasters
Project risk management is all about the systematic process of identifying, analysing, prioritising
and responding to risk by applying risk management principles and controlling the probability
and/or impact of unfortunate events at the project level. It attempts to maximise the probability
and consequences of positive events and to minimise the probability and consequences of
adverse events. The goal is to prevent or reduce risk in a cost-effective manner without
compromising quality or harming the mission or timeline.
The benefits of proper risk management in projects are huge. Organisations can generate a lot of
profit if they deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that they
minimise the impact of project threats and seize the opportunities that exists.
Proper risk management enables you to deliver the project on time, on budget and with the
quality results ones project sponsor/client demands. In addition to this, other project team
members can be also happy and motivated enough to perform better and better. All this would
essentially boil down to increase in the productivity of team members and in the efficiency and
effectiveness of the resources. In this unit you will learn more about project risk management.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
Define risk in a project
Explain the situation of risks and identify its impact
a) Project Risks: This is the risk pertaining to pure project related parameters and activities.
They may arise from changes in the scope of the project, in the work quantities, and in the
resource requirements. Risk may also originate from estimation error or unexpected
developments in a project.
As you have already studied, project success depends on three major parameters including Cost,
Resources and Timelines. Figure 11.2 shows the interdependency between the three elements. If
any of these elements are altered, the entire project is exposed to risk.
Risk
Unrealistic or incomplete scope definition
Scope statement not agreed to by all stakeholders
Unrealistic or incomplete schedule development
Unrealistic or incomplete activity estimates
Inadequate skills and ability of the project manager
Legal
Personnel
Financial
Funding cuts
Unrealistic or inaccurate cost estimates
Lack of stakeholder consensus
Changes in key stakeholders
Lack of involvement by project sponsor
Organisational
Loss of project sponsor during project
Changes in agency/office leadership
Organisational structure
Poor timing of product releases
Business
Internal
Technical
Performance
Cultural
Quality
Unavailability of technology
Unrealistic performance goals
Immeasurable performance standards
Resistance to change
Cultural barriers or diversity issues
Unrealistic quality objectives
Quality standards unmet
The relationship of risks and their probability across the project life-cycle process is illustrated in
the following figure 11.3. As the figure explains, the probability of the occurrence of the risk is
higher in the initial stage and least in the closing stage. The greater area in pink signifies a
greater probability of occurrence of risk.
Hence, it is important to adapt to these risks and be flexible enough to tackle them. We discussed
about the probability of the risk occurring at various stages of the project life cycle. In the later
section, you will learn about the impact created by these risks at each stage.
After gaining a good understanding of risk along with its occurrence and impact, let us know
focus on how to manage them. The major risk management processes followed widely is
described in figure 11.5.
These steps should be performed at the beginning of a project, at the beginning of major phases
in a project (such as requirements, design, coding, and deployment) and when there are
significant changes (such as feature changes, target platform changes and technology changes).
We will cover each step in detail in the subsequent section of this unit. However, please note that
these steps are generic in nature and you may customise them to cater to individual needs.
be sure to invite anyone who can help the team think of risks. Invite the project team, customer,
people who have been on similar projects, and experts in the subject area of the project.
Involving all stakeholders is very important.
Limit the group size to nine people. In the brainstorming session, participants discuss out
potential problems that they think could harm the project. New ideas are generated based on the
items on the brainstorm list. A project manager can also use the process to refer to a database of
risk obtained from past. Here, prior experience and learning from past project plays a very
important role. The information obtained from such databases can help the project manager to
evaluate and assess the nature of the risk and its impact on the project. Also to a great extent the
judgment of the project manager based upon his past experience comes very handy in dealing
with risks.
Another important method is to generate alternative solution or methodology to deal with risk.
Generate solution by means of group review meetings or a brainstorm session. However,
consider the following points during a brainstorm session:
Selection of weak areas in a project, such as unknown technology being used or to be used
Things those are critical or extremely important to the effort, such as the timely delivery of a
vendors database software, creation of translators, or a user interface that meets the customers
needs
Things that have caused problems in the past, such as loss of key staff, missed deadlines, or
error-prone software
Some examples of risks that may be identified in such sessions are:
We may not have the requirements right
The technology is untested
Key people may leave
The server wont restart in situation X
People might resist the change
Any potential problem, or critical project feature, is a good candidate for the risk list. Once we
have created a list, work with the group to clarity each item. Also ensure that duplicate items are
removed. The output of this step should include:
Name of the risk
Detailed description of risk event
Risk Trigger
Risk Type
Potential Response
Comments, if any
Self Assessment Questions
True or False
1. Risk management is insurance for projects, and can help reduce your costs and efforts when
trouble strikes.
2. Industry risk arises out of changes in labour situation, labour laws, environment law, etc.
3. Risks are potential problems, ones that are guaranteed to occur.
11.4 Risk Analysis
The first step in risk analysis is to make each risk item more specific. Risks such as, Lack of
management buy-in, and people might leave, are a little ambiguous. In these cases the group
might decide to split the risk into smaller specific risks, such as, manager decides that the
project is not beneficial, Database expert might leave, and Webmaster might get pulled off
the project.
The next step is to set priorities and determine where to focus risk mitigation efforts. Some of the
identified risks are unlikely to occur, and others might not be serious enough to worry about.
Paretos law studied earlier applies here.
During the analysis, discuss with the team members each risk item to understand how
devastating it would be if it did occur, and how likely it is to occur. This way you can gauge the
probability of occurrence and the impact created. You can form a matrix based on the likeliness
of occurrence and the impact created as shown in table 11.2. For example, if you had a risk of a
key person leaving, you might decide that it would have a large impact on the project, but that it
is not very likely.
6. In the ______, the frequency of a particular event occurring is determined, based on which it
average weighted average value is calculated.
11.5 Risk Management Planning
After analysing and prioritising, the focus comes on management of the identified risks. In order
to maximise the benefits of project risk management, you must incorporate the project risk
management activities into our project management plan and work activities.
There are two things you can do to manage risk. The first is to take action to reduce (or partially
reduce) the likelihood of the risk occurring. For example, some project that work on process
improvement make their deadlines earlier and increases their efforts to minimise the likelihood
of team members being pulled off the project due to changing organisational priorities. In a
software product, a critical feature might be developed first and tested early.
Second, you can take action to reduce the impact if the risk does occur. Sometimes this is an
action taken prior to the crisis, such as the creation of a simulator to use for testing if the
hardware is late. At other times, it is a simple backup plan, such as running a night shift to share
hardware.
For the potential loss of a key person, for example, you might do two things. You may plan to
reduce the impact by making sure other people become familiar with that persons work, or
reduce the likelihood of attrition by giving the person a raise, or by providing extra benefits.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False:
7. In managing a risk, the first step is to take action to increase the likelihood of the risk
occurring.
8. In managing a risk, the second step is to take action to reduce the impact if the risk does occur.
11.6 Review Risks
After you have implemented response actions, you must track and record their effectiveness and
any changes to the project risk profile. You need to review the risks periodically so that you can
check how well mitigation is progressing. You can also see if the risk priorities need to change,
or if new risks have been discovered. In such case, you might decide to rerun the complete risk
process if significant changes have occurred on the project.
Significant changes might include the addition of new features, the changing of the target
platform, or a change in project team members. Many people incorporate risk review into other
regularly scheduled project reviews. In summary, risk management is the planning to potential
problems, and the management of actions taken related to those problems.
Determine the likelihood of the risk item to occur, using a scale of one to ten.
Determine the priority of the risk items through quantitative analysis (impact x
likelihood). Focus on the items with the highest priority.
b) Analyse Risks: Analysis of risk and its impact is very important. There are many models
available. You may customise any of them for the specific needs. Software may be used for the
purpose of analysis.
c) Mitigate Risks: Proper mitigation plan is a must in order to handle the risks arising in the
project. The plan should focus on high priority issues. Select the most important risk issues, such
as the top 2 or 3, or top 20%.
Brainstorm on actions that could be taken to reduce the likelihood of the risk item occurring.
Brainstorm on actions that could be taken to reduce the impact if the risk item does occur. Decide
which actions to pursue. Select a person to be responsible for each action chosen. Document the
information in the risk management plan.
d) Review Risks: Establish how often risks should be reviewed (once a month is typical). Risk
reviews can be incorporated into existing project status and phase reviews. Update the list based
on risk review sessions.
e) Control Risks: It refers to controlling the deviations in a project which may be one of the
reasons to induce a risk element in the project. Controlling the risk ensures that the project is
likely to be completed as per the plans and heading towards the goals set for the project. It is
preferable to work in a structured mode to handle risks in a project. The final goal should be to
complete the project on time and as per the schedule within the given budget and limited
resources with the desirable quality.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks:
9. ________ involves identifying potential problems (risks), analysing those risks, planning to
manage them, and reviewing them.
10. Risk identification can be done using a ______ session.
11.8 Overview of Risk Management
There is a mutual benefit for corporate and major information systems project teams and many of
the programs as a result of the information exchange generated by the Project Management
Reviews. Corporate and major information systems are reviewed from their inception to
retirement, i.e., throughout the Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) phases of
Identification, Selection, Control, and Evaluate. Several of the current and future corporate and
major information systems initiatives have been identified in the Departmental Information
Architecture Program guidance series and in the Corporate Systems Information Architecture
(CSIA) document.
The templates serve as a means of standardising the reporting requirements and enabling a
common set of criteria for evaluating the health and progress of the departments corporate and
major information systems. Presenters may choose to develop their own set of slides as long as
the requested information is covered. Performance measurements are used in project
management and quality processes to determine and communicate status and accomplishments
measured against specific objectives, schedules, and milestones. These measurements extend to
include delivery of desired products and services. As discussed earlier, there are two things you
can do to manage risk. First is to take action to reduce (or partially reduce) the likelihood of the
risk occurring. For example, some projects that work on process improvement make their
deadlines earlier and increase their efforts. Second, you can take action to reduce the impact if
the risk does occur. Sometimes this is an action taken prior to the crisis, such as the creation of a
simulator to use for testing if the hardware is late.
You may decide to rerun the complete risk process if significant changes have occurred on the
project. Significant changes might include the addition of new features, the changing of the
target platform, or a change in project team members. Many people incorporate risk review into
other regularly scheduled project reviews. By now, you understand that risk management is the
integral part of any project management and you cannot neglect it. Besides, this is not a onetime
process but an evolving one and requires continuous attention till the closure of the project.
11.9 Summary
This unit has covered the fundamentals of reviewing a project and also identifying the risks
involved in a project. You learnt the basic structure of risk management in any project. This
includes identification of risks followed by its analysis, its mitigation plan and its monitoring
mechanism.
This unit discussed the steps necessary to manage the risks and focused on the processes needed
to review a risk situation.
You also learnt the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the risk. This is done to prioritise the
various potential risks. You saw two approaches for the same.
11.10 Terminal Questions
1. What are the types of risks involved in a project?
2. What are the typical steps involved in analyzing a risk?
3. Explain the five steps to handle a risk.
11.11 Answers to SAQs and TQs
11.11.1 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
1. True
2. False
3. False
4. Specific
5. Sensitivity Analysis
6. Probability Analysis
7. False
8. True
9. Risk Management
10. Brainstorming
11. False
12. True
11.12.2 Answers to Terminal Questions
1.Refer 11.3
2.Refer 11.5
3.Refer 11.8
Copyright 2009 SMU
Powered by Sikkim Manipal University
.
MB0049-Unit-12-Fundamentals of
Application Software
Unit-12-Fundamentals of Application Software
Structure:
12.1 Introduction
Learning Objectives
12.2 Odette Documentation System Specifications
Introduction to SCMo
Defining the process documentation system
Model, object and symbol specifications
Description of models and objects
Process chain
Model integration and model navigation
Supply chain modelling / mapping assignment symbol
12.3 Methodology and Concepts
Apart from breathing easy, project team members sensed the opportunity to exhibit better
efficiency and a greater level of adherence to schedules when a bulk of their manual processes
were automated to a great extent. They are able to simulate various scenarios and accurately
estimate the parameters like resources consumption, time and cost. Undisputedly, today these
software applications have become an integral part of any project management in all industries.
In this unit, therefore, we would attempt to understand Project Management Application
Software through a cursory look at the features and capabilities of leading software solutions like
MS PROJECT, ODETTE, INNOVATEUR and AGILE. While this just serves to understand the
concepts, you are advised to visit their websites and download demo versions to understand how
they work. This unit will really enhance your understanding and practicality of project
management.
Various sections and subsections of this unit would cover details of the following:
Project Management Application Software
ODETTE
ARIS Web Publisher
Microsoft Project 2002
AGILE Project Management System apart from writing a winning Business Plan
Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Explain the structure of popular Project Management Software Solutions.
Describe key processes within the industry which can be IT-enabled and integrated effectively.
Analyse key features and functions of these software.
Describe how an IT-enabled approach could benefit organisation enhance productivity and
efficiency as part of their Project Management Systems.
12.2 Odette Documentation System Specifications
The ODETTE project was started in June 2000 as part of the IST framework programme 5
financed by the European Commission. The main goal of the project was to develop objectoriented hardware design methodology. This new design methodology was combined with a
class library of basic building blocks and a tool-set that provides synthesis and simulation
support
The prime deliverable of the ODETTE is a system for object-oriented hardware design based on
SystemC(TM) system description language, which provides a migration path from objectoriented system specifications to efficient hardware implementations.
12.2.1 Introduction to Supply Chain Monitoring (SCMo)
The intent of this document is to define the structure of the Documentation System, its content,
the method of content generation and to attain common documentation of all standard processes
of ODETTE.
The documentation is valid for the SCM group of ODETTE. The Documentation System is
intranet based to provide immediate access to current, up-to-date process documentation.
The system allows users to navigate through graphical structures to relevant documentation and
processes which were created with the ARIS-Toolset.There are various advantages of using such
a documentation system. The process documentation system serves the following objectives as
shown in figure 12.1.
Model Type
Function Tree
Function Tree
Process Chain (eEPC)
Function Tree: The entry level of the process documentation structure is the function tree that
shows the hierarchic structure of the process documentations. The function of the Supply Chain
Monitoring (SCMo) documentation contains three levels as shown in figure 12.3.
Edge
Definition
Example
An object that represents a work Operative Processes
package, a process or a sub
process.
Updated SCMoInventory Information
Illustrates logical succession by Alert Workflow
connecting the individual
elements.
Which resources (IT-systems, information, data, organisations) are necessary and to acquire?
A Process Chain contains some elements, which are called objects in the ARIS-Toolset. Some
objects are mandatory like event, function, edge and connectors. The other objects can be added
for a more detailed description.
The following table 12.3 gives the details of the same.
Table 12.3: Objects of process chain
Object
Event
Function
Organisation
Unit Type
Person Type
Application
Process
Interface
Document
Cluster
Connector
(Linking
Operator)
Edge
Definition
Example
A component representing achieved False alert Alert and
state in the process flow. Each process root-causes
starts and ends with an event.
A component representing either
Find root causes
manual or system supported tasks to Define counter
be carried out.
measures
Describes which kind of organisation Logistics
fulfils or contributes to the function.
Describes the person who fulfils or Head of Logistics
contributes to the function.
Describes the kind of IT system that SCMo-Tool
supports a function.
Object linked to another process
representing dependency between
multiple processes.
An information object offering a link Bill of delivery
to descriptive texts corresponding to
the Process.
A cluster is an information object that Production Link
combines different entity types and
describes which information (data) is
needed for a successful fulfilment of
the function or which information is
created by fulfilling the function.
Represents branching in non-linear
processes.
Illustrates the chronological and
logical succession of a process by
connecting the individual elements.
The above mentioned models are connected with one another to create the integrated model in its
entirety.
The entry point in the documentations system is the model Process Overview SCMo. This
model is the starting point for the navigation to other models.
The navigation between models is done via the assignment symbol. The assignment symbol of a
function / process interface indicates that there is a link to another model. The linked / assigned
models can be opened by double-clicking on the assignment symbol.
12.2.7 Supply Chain Modelling / Mapping assignment symbol
This can be classified into two different navigations as shown in figure 12.4.
2. One of the objectives of the process documentation is to allow flexible and quick adaptation in
case of process changes or enhancements and to provide the super-ceded information
immediately.
3. The entry level of the process documentation structure is the function tree that shows the
hierarchic structure of the process documentations.
4. The Process Chain describes a process based on the technological interdependencies.
12.3 Methodology and Concepts
Let us now have a look at various methodologies adopted:
12.3.1 ARIS Web Publisher
The task of the ARIS Web Publisher is to create HTML-pages of the models (Web Publish) that
can be released in the internet /intranet and displayed via the Internet Explorer or web browser.
Let us look at the attributes with respect to Web Publish given in figure 12.5. The following
chapters give support for the navigation in the Web Publish in order to look at the modelled
processes:
Navigation in the Model selection: Folders can be opened by clicking on the +/- symbol.
Models can be opened by clicking on the model name The Web Publish allows the standard
Internet Explorer-functionalities, for e.g., the function key to get back to the previous page.
Model Page: On the model page the Model graphic is displayed. Depending on the size of the
model, scroll bars may be found on the right hand side and at the bottom of the model. With
these scroll bars you can scroll to the parts hidden in the current view of the model.
The graphic of the model can be enlarged or shrunk. To enlarge the model graphic, click the
white background of the model graphic and press the = key. Clicking on an object in the model
graphic you can open the object page with further information concerning that object. Clicking
on the assignment symbol, the assigned model is opened.
Object Page: On the Object page you can find information on the following points:
Object attributes: ARIS offers a variety of different attribute fields. On this page only attribute
fields containing information are displayed. These are, standard attributes of the object such as
name, last change and creator on one hand and on the other hand attributes such as
remark/example or description with detailed information concerning object, in particular
functions.
Object relationships: Information concerning the edges between this particular object and the
ones it is linked to
Object occurrences: A list of the models / processes is considered. Object hierarchies, master
object, variants and feedback are not relevant here.
12.3.2 Master Global Materials Management Operations Guidelines
The following are the objectives of the document:
Produce a common Materials Planning and Logistics evaluation that can be used by all business
partners, both internal and external.
Enable Materials Planning and Logistics continuous improvement plans to be developed and
prioritised, thus enabling time to be spent on those activities that offer the greatest benefit.
Establish the components of Materials Planning and Logistics system for suppliers of goods and
services within the automotive industry.
Drive continuous improvement within the organisation.
Improve delivery performance within the supply organisation.
Prepare basis for benchmarking activities and to identify Best Practice Criteria of materials
planning and logistics processes for driving continuous improvement plans.
i. Internal customer satisfaction objectives related to Materials Planning and Logistics are
identified, measured and communicated within the organisation.
12.3.4 Work Organisation
This is again divided into four different aspects of the organisation structure and planning. This is
described in figure 12.7 and explained below:
iv. A training and development program exists for each employee in the Materials Planning and
Logistics function.
v. Actions are taken to improve employee motivation and empowerment in the Materials
Planning and Logistics function.
12.3.5 Capacity and Production Planning
The following are the factors considered under this section. This is also depicted in figure 12.8.
a) Product Realisation: The organisations Materials Planning and Logistics function shall
formally participate in, and sign off/on, the product Realisation Process.
b) Capacity Planning: The organisation shall perform a comparison of its resources against the
customers long, medium and short-term requirements. A process shall be in place that ensures
prompt communication to the customer of any risk that could affect their operations.
c) Capacity: The organisations capacity planning process has the flexibility to ensure that the
Product Approval Process (PAP) requirements are available in a timely manner to support
customer change-over/launches.
d) Implementation:
i. The organisation implements measures to minimise obsolescence of raw material, Work in
Progress (WIP) and finished goods.
ii. There is a process to ensure the availability of service/spare parts.
i. A process shall exist to plan production requirements and to maintain the parameters of the
production planning system
ii. The production scheduling system supports lean manufacturing (e.g., pull systems)
f) System Integration
i. The customer information shall be processed directly into the organisations planning and
scheduling systems
ii. The organisation sets the timing of the Material Requirements Planning System (MRP)
process to coincide with the receipt of the expected customer requirements
12.3.6 Customer Interface
The attributes of customer interfaced with the system are
Communication:
i. The organisation maintains a process to ensure a co-operative communication based on actual
and adequate information for both the parties.
ii. The organisation shall receive requirements planning and shipping information electronically,
when available from the customer.
iii. The organisation shall have a process to ensure that any potential problems that could impact
the customer operation are communicated as soon as they are identified.
Packaging and Labelling:
i. The organisation shall have a procedure for packaging development, coordinated with the
Product Approval Process.
ii. The organisation manages the container process to ensure that the availability of
returnable/non-returnable containers is adequate to support the material flow requirements.
Shipping:
i. The organisation controls its processes to assure that the physical shipments correspond with
the customer demand
ii. The organisation shall have a process to ensure complete and accurate data content and timely
transmission of all Advanced Shipping Notices (ASN)
iii. The organisation inspects and calibrates all shipment quantity-determination equipment at
planned intervals to an acceptable accuracy level, as defined by the customer.
Transportation:
i. The organisation shall assure the transport of finished goods satisfied customer requirements
(e.g., carrier, mode, special equipment, cost responsibility)
ii. Optimisation of transportation capacity should be considered during the supply chain design
phase
Customer Satisfaction and Feedback: The organisation has a process to assess customer
satisfaction whether or not the customer provides feedback.
12.3.7 Production and Product Control
The following elements and processes are considered in production and product control:
a) Material Identification: There shall be a process/method in place to ensure that all parts are
labelled accurately and identified easily.
b) Inventory Process: The organisation may have one integrated system encompassing both
perpetual inventory and associated financial functions (e.g., one set of books). There are
systems in place to facilitate access to a management of all types of inventory finished goods,
Works-in-Process (WIP), and raw material.
The organisation has various processes in place to optimise the material flow. The organisation
also has a process that ensures that all material records are maintained and accurate. In addition
to this they also have checks on deviations and are appropriately corrected.
c) Inventory Maintenance: The organisation has a process in place to coordinate phased out
inventories (e.g., those affected by engineering changes and programs) with both supplier and
customer.
The organisation has a process to continuously evaluate and optimise inventory buffers. In
addition to this, they have a process to identify and route defective/obsolete material in a timely
manner. This process shall ensure that defective/obsolete material is segregated and disposed off
properly (e.g., reworked or scrapped)
d) Engineering Change Control: The organisation shall manage engineering revision levels
with documented procedures for customer, supplier, and internal changes. The organisation
manages the life cycle of tools to ensure customer requirements are met at all stages of
production.
The organisation shall use a process to obtain written customer authorisation for deviation
whenever the product or process is different from that currently approved through Product
Approval Process (PAP)
e) Traceability: This is an important aspect where regulatory body and/or the customer require
traceability into scheme of things. Usually a system that supports lots and/or serial traceability
shall be in place.
12.3.8 Supplier Interface
Earlier we learned about the customer interface and importance of communication. This section
describes the process for suppliers:
a) Supplier Selection: Materials planning and Logistics criteria is considered when selecting
suppliers or other business partners for new or existing products or services.
b) Materials planning and logistics agreement/instruction: Documented
agreement/instruction shall exist with suppliers and sub contractor/outside processors regarding
Materials Planning and Logistics. This is a legal agreement and plays a pivotal role in case of
any conflicts or disagreement.
c) Communication: A method of communication exists among suppliers, sub-contractors and
logistic providers covering day to day issues and emergency situations. Procedures for data
exchange shall be implemented with Suppliers and Logistics providers.
d) Packaging and Labelling: There is a documented procedure for packaging development.
Packaging management and control is organised in an efficient way.
e) Transportation: Procedures exist regarding management and cost optimisation of inbound
transportation. There are various models which attempt to optimise routes and warehouse and
suppliers location.
f) Material Receipt: Sufficient capacity and appropriate equipment in the material receiving
function is ensured and optimised. A process exists to verify labelling and documentation against
Materials Planning and Logistics requirements for procured parts.
g) Supplier Assessment: Partners (suppliers, sub-contractors and logistics service providers) in
the supply chain are assessed regularly according to a defined procedure and guidelines. These
are revised on continuous basis.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks:
5. The task of the ______ Web Publisher is to create ______-pages of the models that can be
released in the internet /intranet and displayed via the Internet Explorer.
6. On the Object page one can find information on the following points namely _____, ______
and _______.
7. Organisational procedures exist for all functions within Materials ________ and _________.
8. The organisation shall manage engineering revision levels with _________ for customer,
supplier, and internal changes.
12.4 Project Management using Software
The Microsoft Project family of products offers tools to work on a project from management
point of view. Microsoft Project is designed for people who manage projects independently and
dont require the capability to manage resources from a central repository. Microsoft has a team
project management solution that enables project managers and their teams to collaborate on
projects.
After creating a fairly complete final project plan it is a good idea to create a baseline version to
compare the original project plan with actual events and achievements.
The following is the typical process followed for project management through this software as
shown in figure 12.9.
After creating a baseline, if the project has begun, it is necessary to enter actual dates for the
tasks that are being completed and the resource utilisation used to complete them.
Again review different views and the cost and summary tables before proceeding to the next
section. Return to the Entry view of the Gantt chart before proceeding.
12.5 Summary
After going through this unit, you have understood the structure of popular Project Management
Software Solutions. You also gained a significant idea as to how software is structured.
You have understood the key processes within the industry which may be IT-enabled and
integrated effectively. You also learnt how to analyse key features and functions of such
application software. In this unit, a detailed description is provided on different ways an ITenabled approach could benefit organisations and enhance productivity and efficiency as part of
their Project Management Systems.
12.6 Terminal Questions
1. Explain the structure of the documentation systems as required by supply chain monitoring.
2. Explain the three levels of SCMo documentation.
3. What are the objectives of document in global materials management operations?
4. Explain the various customers attributes in the systems interface.
5. What is meant by baseline? How is it reviewed?
12.7 Answers to SAQs and TQs
12.7.1 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. ARIS, HTML
6. Attributes, relationships, occurrences
7. Planning and Logistics
8. Documented procedure
9. True
10. False
11. True
12.7.2 Answers to Terminal Questions
1. Refer 12.3.1
2. Refer 12.3.4
3. Refer 12.4.2
4. Refer 12.4.7
5.Refer 12.5
Copyright 2009 SMU
Powered by Sikkim Manipal University
.
MB0049-Unit-13-Support Software A
Supply Chain Monitoring Perspective and
Utility of Software
Unit-13-Support Software A Supply Chain Monitoring Perspective and Utility of
Software
Structure:
13.1 Introduction
Learning Objectives
13.2 Introduction to Supply Chain Monitoring (SCMo)
13.3 Writing a Business Plan
Why create a Business Plan?
Writing a plan
The process
The key to success
How to prepare?
Outline of various sections
13.4 Overview of Process Documentation System
13.5 Support Software
The Arrow Project
Why Arrow?
Why Fedora?
VITAL
PILIN
13.6 Summary
13.7 Terminal Questions
13.8 Answers to SAQs and TQs
Answers to self assessment questions
Answers to terminal questions
13.1 Introduction
The entire inter-company supply network is driven by customer demand. The increased reaction
speed coupled with the flexibility of the supply network offers the necessary benefits. Wherever
applicable, the multi-tier concepts should be enabled. Integrated inter-company processes are
also needed to collect and share relevant data. Information relevant for decision making should
be updated in an appropriate period of time for quick responses. Scenarios can be simulated due
to the global availability of information.
All these lead to effective Supply Chain Monitoring which enables win-win partnership. Supply
Chain Monitoring also helps in finding the root causes rather than cures for the symptoms. In this
unit, we will look at the importance of Supply Chain Monitoring from a project management
perspective.
In addition, we will learn about the application of various support software in project
management. These software support several business processes and improve automation and
employee level productivity.
This unit also touches upon an important aspect of business writing business plans. We will
look at the outline of various sections of a business plan.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Explain the supply chain philosophy in project management
Explain the key processes of inventory
To meet its objectives, SCMo runs on certain principles. The main principles behind SCMo are
shown in figure 13.1
True or False?
1. Prevention of stock-out and over supply is one of the main objectives the SCMo system which
is an add on to existing ERP system.
2. The main principles behind SCMo is the integration of supply chain participants, exchange of
demand and inventory information, transparency and visibility of inventories and demands for
multi-level supply chain.
13.3 Writing a Business Plan
It might sometimes be difficult for an organisation to straightaway launch into a project
management exercise, even if they are well equipped. This holds particularly true if the project is
too large for example, development of a new product, expansion of capacity, modernisation of
facilities, diversification into a totally new business area, getting into a joint venture and so on.
In such cases, the core project team itself might feel the need to have some major inputs before
even a tentative plan could be drawn up. A well-drafted business plan would ideally serve this
purpose, provided it is handled systematically and professionally.
13.3.1 Why create a business plan?
The actual process of planning is documented in a business plan. A business plan is essential
because of several reasons as listed below:
1. It communicates several things including:
Strategic direction
Tactical agreements
Company objectives
Department objectives
Budget requirements
Common agreement & buy-in
2. It consolidates management direction
3. It provides a scope for debate and reaching a finally consensus
4. It works as a guide when speed bumps appear
5. It is a managers professional and personal scorecard
13.3.2 Writing a plan
Writing is something that many people dread. Naturally, writing a plan is not everyones cup of
tea. It is tough because of the following reasons
1. It requires disciplined balance
2. It is visionary, but flexible
3. It needs to be logical
4. It should be financially perfect not only for today, but also for next 3 years and beyond
5. It is formal plan which should be easy to read
6. It requires creativity and at the same time it follows certain rules
13.3.3 The process
Now that you know writing a business plan is not easy, here are some tips that can aid you while
drafting a business plan.
a) Pay attention to the Dos and Donts
b) Be compelling
c) Be brief, focused, and deliberate
d) Focus on sales pitch
3d year by year
Balance sheets for each year
Cash flows for each year
3-4 pieces of paper to list your
Primary assumptions
Primary categories for use of funds
Primary risks other than the normal
Whats your exist strategy
Section 8: The appendices
In this section, you need to provide ony the compelling things such as
Product data sheets for primary products
Any critical publication.
Always remember not to provide resumes or include patents in this
section.
Self Assessment Questions
Fill in the blanks
3. A well-drafted _________ would ideally serve this purpose, provided it is handled
systematically and professionally.
4. Writing a plan is tough because, It requires __________.
13.4 Overview of Process Documentation System
The process documentation system is intranet based to provide immediate access to current, upto-date process documentation. The system allows users to navigate through graphical structures
to relevant documentation and processes which were created with the ARIS-Toolset.
The content of the process documentation system includes the area supply chain management
from the Odette Supply Chain Management Group. The system includes graphical process
documentation, in the form of process chains, as well as the entire range of documentation
related to the processes. The Process Documentation System gives, according to its objectives,
an overview and a detailed view of the relevant processes for SCMo.
The entry point in the documentations system is the model Process Overview SCMo. This
model is the starting point for the navigation to other models. The navigation between models is
done via the assignment symbol. The assignment symbol of a function / process Interface
indicates that there is a link to another model. The linked / assigned models can be opened by
double-clicking on the assignment symbol.
This can be classified into two different navigations as shown in figure 13.4.
1. VITAL Manager
2. VITAL Portal
3. VITAL Access Portal
4. VALET Web Self-Submission Tool
5. Batch Loader Tool
6. Handles Server (CNRI)
7. Google Indexing and Exposure
8. SRU / SRW Support
9. VITAL architecture overview
VITAL is part of creative development of ARROW institutional repositories. VITAL has the
following features:
1. Inclusion of multimedia and creative works produced in Australian universities
2. Limited exposure nationally or internationally
3. Addition of annotation capability
4. Inclusion of datasets and other research output not easily provided in any other publishing
channel
5. Being developed in conjunction with the DART (ARCHER) Project
6. Exploration of the research-teaching nexus tools that will allow value added services for
repositories
7. Integration with or development of new tools that will allow value added services for
repositories (for instance the creation of e-portfolios or CVs of research output of individual
academics)
13.5.5 PILIN Persistent Identifiers and Linking Infrastructure
There has been a growing realisation that sustainable identifier infrastructure is required to deal
with the vast amount of digital assets being produced and stored within universities.
PILIN is a particular challenge for e-research communities where massive amounts of data are
being generated without any means of managing this data over any length of time. The broad
objectives are to:
1. Support adoption and use of persistent identifiers and shared persistent identifier management
services by the project stakeholders
2. Plan for a sustainable, shared identifier management infrastructure that enables persistence of
identifiers and associated services over archival lengths of time
3. Deploy a Worldwide Site Consolidation Solution for Exchange Server 2003 at Microsoft
4. Add Picture
5. Use Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to consolidate more than 70 messaging sites worldwide
into seven physical locations
In this context, let us look at Microsoft Model Enterprises (MME).
Microsoft Model Enterprises (MME)
Objectives
Maximising the number of management tasks performed centrally
Decreasing the number of sites through the consolidation of the smaller
locations into a smaller number of RDCs
Reducing the total number of infrastructure and application servers
Standardising infrastructure and devices worldwide
Solution
Consolidation of 75 tail sites into 6 regional data centers (RDCs) using
local storage area networks (SANs)
Key Focus Areas
Proactive, detailed monitoring and analysis of WAN bandwidth utilisation
and latency
Effective but flexible approach to project planning, scheduling, and crossgroup coordination
Coordination and control of deployment of successive pre-release
Let us look at a sample project to understand project management plan and global delivery
model:
14.2.1 Project Summary
Let us consider a firm XYZ as a stockbroker/ dealer firm. XYZ needs a support software. The
support software will have applications supporting the following components:
First, a brokerage account opening application on XYZs website that will allow any internet
user to open a brokerage account online with XYZ
Second, an account opening and maintenance application, which is primarily for XYZs
representatives to open accounts for the applications received in paper format
This is an intranet application. The application will have features to view account history,
account balance, status, and activity information. This will allow XYZ to effectively evolve to a
client account servicing application besides being an account-opening engine. This is an
enhancement of an existing application.
Based on the above information a project summary is developed. Table 14.1 shows the project
summary of XYZ project.
Table 14.1: Project summary of XYZ project
Project Scope
To provide an effective, efficient means of amount maintenance activities
Objectives
Commitment
made to the
customer
Delivery as per
specifications
Strengthen
relationship with
XYZ by delivering
high quality
On time delivery
software on time
Within budget
Become preferred
vendor by
Warranty period
developing
expensive on XYZ
product and
systems
Assumptions
Added/Modified
/Deleted
Reasons for
Deviations
Iteration based
development is
being done
Conformation to
RUP methodology
Conformance to
RUP methodology
Modified
Conformance to
RUP methodology
Modified
Conformance to
RUP methodology
Modified
Iterative approach is
being used
Modified
Iterative approach is
being used
Conformance to
RUP methodology
Deviation from
RUP
Change request tracking: Changes requested by customer will be logged in change request
form and analyzed for impact on the project. The change request form will be submitted to
customer for approval. Change request that are approved will be attached to the project contract
as agenda. Figure 4.2 shows the summarised the steps in change request tracking.
a.
Estimated build effort The project manager estimates the effort required in man days for each
program or function of the project. This helps in estimating the total build effort.
b. Phase Wise effort estimation Then he estimates the total effort with respect to each activity
and effort for each phase of a project expressed as percentage of man days.
c. Schedule Finally he prepares a list of items as deliverable to the customer and indicates the
date of completion or delivery of the item to the customer. This is specified in the form of a table
indicating various milestone of commitment to the customer.
14.2.5 People (Communication Plan)
The project manager makes a list of the people required for each role in the project along with
the number of members required for each role. The list should consist of skilled and unskilled
people, depending upon the role and experience of the individual. The project manager also
prepares the requirement plan of people as to when and how many of each type would be
required on the project.
He then creates a document showing people who need to be kept informed about the project and
how they will receive the information. The most common mechanism is a weekly/monthly
progress report describing how the project is performing, milestone achieved and work planned
for the next period.
14.2.6 Hardware, Software and Tools
A project manager needs to indicate the hardware and software resources required in the project
at every stage. In this regard he performs the following tasks. He/She:
Prepares plan for procurement of hardware and software depending upon the need at various
stage of the project
Prepares a date wise plan of procurement
Prepares a Tool List that has to be prepared phase wise and activity wise
Specifies the tools to be developed on the project along with the house tools to be developed in
project
14.2.7 Training Plan
Training is a critical success factor for any project. Comprehensive training should be given to
the team members on three domainstechnology, business and process.
Technology
Duration
Waiver criteria
Java Language
7 days
If already trained
3 days
Java Applets
4 hrs
If already trained
Java Swing
4 hrs
If already trained
Persistence Builder
8 Hrs
Mandatory
OOAD
1 day
If already trained
b. Business Domain
Resources working on a project should be trained on business domain to have adequate
understanding of the project. Table 14.6 shows a business domain training plan.
Table 14.6: Business domain training plan
Business Area
Duration
Waiver criteria
If already trained
c. Process Related
Resources should be aware of the process followed during the life cycle of the project and should
be trained. Table 14.6 shows a plan for process training.
Table 14.6: Process training plan
Process Area
Duration
Waiver criteria
Quality system
3 hrs
If already trained
Configuration
management
2 hrs
Group review
4 hrs
If already trained
Defect prevention
4.5 hrs
Mandatory
SPS tool
4.5 hrs
If already trained
RUP methodology
2 hrs
Mandatory
Goals
Value
Org-wide Norms
Quality
5
(acceptance
defect density)
3% or loss of total
estimated number of
defects
6% of estimated
number of
defects
Productivity
3.4% productivity
improvement over
50
57
Schedule
Delivery
on time
10%
Second, the team estimates the number of defects in project life cycle. Table 14.8 shows the
number of defects estimated in life cycle of XYZ project.
Table 14.8: Defects handling plan
Review/Testing
stage
Estimated
% of defects Basis of estimation
number of
to be defected
defects to be
detected
20%
Referenced similar
project estimations
(synergy)
Code review
29
20 %
Referenced similar
project estimations
(synergy)
Unit testing
57
40%
Referenced similar
project estimations
(synergy)
Integration And
25
Regression Testing
17%
Referenced similar
project estimations
(synergy)
Acceptance testing 5
3%
Referenced similar
project estimations
(synergy)
Total estimated
143
number of defects
to be detected
100%
Finally, the project manager prepares a strategy for meeting quality goals indicating the expected
benefits.
14.2.9 Reviews
Reviews are important components of a project development process. The project manager
prepares a table of important review points. The table should contain the review item and the
type of review required for each of the review item. Type of review could be one-person review
or group review.
To get as much as possible out of project review, the following steps should be kept in mind:
Describe a step
List the activities involved in completing a task
List tips and tricks to help you succeed
Identify the tool and methods to assist you in delivering your project review
Figure 14.3 depicts a project review process.
Preparing the project organisation chart as applicable to the project under consideration
Preparing a table that lists the project team members along with their roles and responsibility,
starting date and completion date of the activity
14.2.12 Closure report
At the end, a closure report table is prepared indicating the necessary project phase/entity along
with project code and corresponding status. Project closure report helps in taking the right steps
needed to formally wind-up a project.
The report helps a project manager undertake project closure phase within a project, by
documenting the entire task needed to complete the project and hand over the deliverables to the
customer.
It is critical that a project manager completes the project closure properly. The manner in which
these closure steps are taken will determine the final success of the project.
14.2.13 Summary
After the closure of a project, the project manager prepares a summary of the various
performance parameter used in the project with respect to each of the actual, estimated and
deviated activities. He also furnishes the reasons for deviations, if any.
14.2.14 Risk management
The risk management plan needs to be updated with the type of risk, actual elapsed time,
estimated time, percentage slippage and reasons for slippage. A thorough analysis should take
place.
14.2.15 Schedule
A schedule consists of a list of a projects terminal elements with intended start and finish dates.
The items are often estimated in terms of resources requirement, budget and duration.
A project can be broken down into a number of tasks that have to be performed. To prepare the
project schedule, the project manger has to figure out what the task are, how long they will take,
what resources are required, and in what order they should be done. Each of these elements has a
direct bearing on the schedule.
The schedule prepared should be achievable and appropriate for the business needs. Efforts to
accelerate project schedules will usually increase project risks. Innovative techniques must be
used to achieve orderly schedule compression without creating unacceptable risks and quality
impacts. The project manager prepares a table of effort distribution over life cycle stage of the
project.
14.2.16 Defects
To produce high quality deliverables, the final product should have few defects as possible. A
defect distribution table is prepared to analyse the number of actual defects and estimated
number of defects found in deliverables. A defect distribution table can be prepared as indicated
in table.
Table 14.9: Defects distribution table
Stage
defected
Actual
% of
Estimated
number of total
number of
defects
defects defects
found
% of total
estimated
defects
%
deviation
Reg. and
design
review
11
10
29
20
-62
Code review 58
50
29
20
100
Unit testing 15
13
57
40
-73
Integration 29
and system
testing
25
25
17
16
Acceptance 3
of testing
-40
Total
100
145
100
-20
116
2. Defect prevention can be substantial in reducing the defect injection rate. In terms of effort
also, defect prevention pays off handsomely; by putting in a few hours of effort, up to 5 10
3. If a change request has a major impact, discussion with the customer using a detailed impact
analysis can be very helpful in setting the right expectations as well as doing a proper cost
benefit analysis.
4. The defects removal efficiencies code reviews and unit testing are very low. Processes for
both, and implementation of these processes, need to be reviewed to improve these numbers. In
this project, system/integration testing compensated for the poor performance of reviews and unit
testing. However, for larger projects, this may not be possible and poor performance reviews and
unit testing can have adverse effects on quality.
Self Assessment Questions
True or False?
1. Changes requested by customer will be logged in change request.
2. In estimating the phase wise effort, the total effort with respect to each activity and effort for
each phase of a project expressed as percentage of production.
3. If a change request has a major impact, discussion with the customer using a detailed impact
analysis can be very helpful in setting the right expectations and doing a proper cost benefit
analysis.
14.3 Global Delivery Model
The term Global Delivery Model is typically associated with companies engaged in IT consulting
and services delivery business. These companies adopt GDM since they execute a technology
project using a team that is distributed globally. While the commonly understood meaning of the
term implies globally distributed resources, the term itself has acquired a broader definition. It is
one of the latest trends in project management.
14.3.1 What is GDM?
The Global Delivery Model (GDM) enables an industry or business to plan, design and deliver
products and services to any customer worldwide with speed, accuracy, economy and reliability.
GDM enables its customer to leverage varied locations across the globe that provides optimised
value for every component of delivery. The key features of GDM are shown in figure 14.4.
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. False
14.6.2 Answers to Terminal Questions
1. Refer to section 14.3
2. Refer to section 14.4
Copyright 2009 SMU
Powered by Sikkim Manipal University
.
After gaining the fundamental knowledge of project management, it is important for you to
attempt converting your study into a practical mode. This unit provides you with an opportunity
to convert concepts into practical project working models. In this unit, therefore, you will
understand a few case studies related to project management. You will also attempt some
practical exercises for putting these structured concepts into standardised formats and analyse
them. For this purpose, a few practical examples have been provided with generic input data,
typical of such projects.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Analyse a case
Apply the concepts learned in previous units into structured Project Management Documents.
Analyse key options to freeze on acceptable key project management practices.
Describe the way an interface between Project Data and a complex IT integrated PM System
can be developed.
15.2 Practical Case Study No. 1
Table 15.1: Development of an ERP system for a Pharmaceutical Company in XYZ country
Modules available
document
Against completion of phase I
Against completion of phase II
Against completion of add-ons
At the time of handing over
Penalty
General
35%
20%
10%
10%
5% for every month of delay
1) Third party software budget limit is
10,000 US $
2) Any additional software expenditure
is to be borne by the vendor
3) Cost of travel to be borne by the
vendor but free guest house accommodation, transport and boarding will
be provided
4) System Administrator and Data
Administrator will be provided by the
company
Commercial
Terms
First Phase
Second Phase
Third Phase
Fourth Phase
To be developed
Basic Problem
Present Status
500,000 US $
6 months
800,000 US$
1. Eugene F. Brigham and Michael C. Earnhardt, Finance Management, 12th Edition, Cengage
Learning, 2007.
2. Prof. Prasanna Chandra, Finance Management, 7th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Education
Private Ltd.
3. Khan and Jain, Basic Financial Management, 2nd Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Education Private
Ltd., 2005.
4. I. M. Pandey, Financial Management, 9th Edition, Vikas Publishing House New Delhi, 2005.
5. Shashi.K. Gupta and Neeti Gupta, Financial Management, Kalyani Publishers, 2005.
6. Dr. M. K. Rastogi, Financial Management (a planning and control approach), USP, 2010.
Copyright 2009 SMU
Powered by Sikkim Manipal University
.