Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.

: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (1) of (11)

Lecture No. (6)

Project Management Concept
Content:
1. Introduction
2. Definition of “Project”
3. Program, Project, Task, and Work package
4. Characteristics of “Project”
5. Types of Projects
6. Project Objectives
7. Projects versus Operations
8. Definition of Project Management
9. The Project Life Cycle
9.1. Definition
9.2. Conventional Project Life Cycle
9.3. Project Life Cycle Characteristics
9.4. Other Types of Project life Cycle
9.5. Risk During the Life Cycle
10. Project Management Group of Processes
10.1. Definition
10.2. Categorizations
10.3. Project Management Process Groups
10.4. Common Project Management Process Interactions
10.5. Project Management Knowledge Areas

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (2) of (11)

1. Introduction
 Main forces in driving the acceptance of project and other forms of management:
o The exponential growth of human knowledge
o The growing demand for a broad range of complex goods and services
o Increased worldwide competition
 All of these contribute to the need for organizations to do more and to do it faster
 Project management is one way to do more faster
 All 3 forces combine to mandate the use of teams to solve problems that used to be solvable by individuals.
 Projects tend to be large
o Projects are getting larger over time
o The more we can do, the more we try to do
 Project Management Also Getting Smaller
o More people are seeing the advantages of project management techniques
o The tools are become cheaper
o The techniques are becoming more widely taught and written about

2. Definition of “Project”
 The PMI has defined a project as :
o A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
“PMP 5th edition”

3. Program, Project, Task, and Work package

 In discussions of project management, it is sometimes useful to make a distinction between terms such as
project, program, task, and work packages.
 Program refer to an exceptionally large, long range objective that is broken down into a set of projects.
 These projects are divided further into tasks, which are, in turn, split into work packages that are
themselves composed of work units.

4. Characteristics of “Project”
 There are, however, some attributes that characterize projects:
o Importance
 must be important enough in the eyes of senior management to justify setting up a special
organizational unit outside the routine structure of the organization
o Performance
 A project is usually a one-time activity with a well-defined set of desired end results.
o Life cycle with a finite due date
 Like organic entities, projects have life cycles. From a slow beginning they progress to a
buildup of size, then peak, begin a decline, and finally must be terminated by some due date.
o Interdependencies
 Projects often interact with other projects being carried out simultaneously by their
organization.
o Uniqueness
 Though the desired end results may have been achieved elsewhere, they are at least unique
to this organization.
o Resources
 Projects have limited budgets, both for personnel as well as other resources.
o Conflict
 More than most managers, the PM lives in a world characterized by conflict. Projects
compete with functional departments for resources and personnel

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (3) of (11)

5. Types of Projects
 A project can create:
o A product that can be either a component of another item, an enhancement of an item, or an end
item in itself;
o A service or a capability to perform a service (e.g., a business function that supports production or
distribution);
o An improvement in the existing product or service lines (e.g., A Six Sigma project undertaken to
reduce defects); or
o A result, such as an outcome or document (e.g., a research project that develops knowledge that can
be used to determine whether a trend exists or a new process will benefit society).
 Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:
o Developing a new product, service, or result;
o Effecting a change in the structure, processes, staffing, or style of an organization;
o Developing or acquiring a new or modified information system (hardware or software);
o Conducting a research effort whose outcome will be aptly recorded;
o Constructing a building, industrial plant, or infrastructure; or
o Implementing, improving, or enhancing existing business processes and procedures.

6. Project Objectives
 Project Objectives:
o Performance (scope)
o Time
o Cost
 Expectations of clients inherent part of the project specifications
 The primary task of the
 project manager is to manage these trade-offs.

Figure 1.1: Direct Project Goals

 Project success has four dimensions:
1. project efficiency,
2. impact on the customer,
3. the business impact on the organization,
4. opening new opportunities for the future.

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (4) of (11)

7. Projects versus Operations

 Projects are temporary in nature and have definitive start dates and definitive end dates.
o The project is completed when its goals and objectives are accomplished to the satisfaction of the
stakeholders
 Operations are ongoing and repetitive.
o They involve work that is continuous without an ending date, and you often repeat the same
processes and produce the same results.
 These two types of work shared number of characteristics:
o Performed by individuals,
o Limited by constrains, including resources constrains,
o Planned, execute, monitor and controlled, and
o Performed to achieved organizational objectives or strategic plan.
 Depending on the nature of the project, the deliverables may modify or contribute to the existing operations
work, Examples of these types of projects can include, but are not limited to:
o Developing a new product or service that is added to an organization’s product line to be marketed
and sold,
o Installing products or services that will require ongoing support,
o Internal projects that will affect the structure, staffing levels, or culture of an organization, or
o Developing, acquiring, or enhancing an operational department’s information system.

8. Definition of Project Management

 The PMI has defined a project as
o Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project
activities to meet the project requirements. “PMP 5 th edition”
o “The science and art of solving the problem within predetermined time and resource
parameters”

9. The Project Life Cycle

9.1. Definition
 A project life cycle is:
o The series of phases that a project passes through from its initiation to its closure. “PMBOK® 5 th”
o The phases are generally sequential
 The name and number are determined by
o the management and control needs of the organization or organizations involved in the project,
o the nature of the project itself, and
o its area of application

9.2. Conventional Project Life Cycle

 Most projects go through similar stages on the path from origin to completion.
 We define these stages, shown in Figure 1, as the project’s life cycle.
 The pattern of slow-rapid-slow progress toward the project goal is common.
 Stages of a Conventional Project:
o Slow beginning
o Buildup of size
o Peak
o Begin a decline
o Termination

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (5) of (11)

Figure 1.2: The Project Life Cycle

9.3. Project Life Cycle Characteristics

 Projects vary in size and complexity. All projects can be mapped to the following generic life cycle structure:
o Starting the project,
o Organizing and preparing,
o Carrying out the project work, and
o Closing the project.
 Cost and staffing levels are low at the start, peak as the work is carried out, and drop rapidly as the project
draws to a close. Figure 1.3 illustrates this typical pattern.
 The typical cost and staffing curve above may not apply to all projects. A project may require significant
expenditures to secure needed resources early in its life cycle, for instance, or be fully staffed from a point
very early in its life cycle.

Figure 1.3: Typical Cost and Staffing Levels Across a Generic Project Life Cycle Structure

 Risk and uncertainty (as illustrated in Figure 1.4) are greatest at the start of the project. These factors
decrease over the life of the project as decisions are reached and as deliverables are accepted.

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (6) of (11)

 The ability to influence the final characteristics of the project’s product, without significantly impacting cost,
is highest at the start of the project and decreases as the project progresses towards completion. Figure 3
illustrates the idea that the cost of making changes and correcting errors typically increases substantially as
the project approaches completion

Figure 1.4: impact of variable based on project time

 Normally there is a strong correlation between the life-cycle progress curve of Figure 1 and the effort curve of
Figure 1.3 because effort usually results in corresponding progress (although not always).
– Activity increases as planning is completed and the real work of the project gets underway.
– This rises to a peak and then begins to taper off as the project nears completion,
– Finally, deceasing when evaluation is complete and the project is terminated.
 The ever-present goals of meeting performance, time, and cost are the major considerations throughout the
project’s life cycle.
 It was generally thought that performance took precedence early in the project’s life cycle.
– This is the time when planners focus on finding the specific methods required to meet the project’s
performance goals.
– We refer to these methods as the project’s technology because they require the application of a
science or art.
 Figure 1.2 presents the conventional view of the project life cycle.
– There are, however, many projects that have a life cycle quite different from the S-shaped Figure 1,
conventional wisdom to the contrary.
 There might even be an “inverse S-curve” representing fast progress at first, a slowdown in the middle, and
then speeding up again at the end.
– The life cycle of this process looks like the curve shown in Figure 1.5

Figure 1.5: Another Possible Project Life Cycle

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (7) of (11)

Table 1.1: Differences between Project Life Cycle (Conventional vs Exponential) curves

Project Life Cycle Conventional Curve
the project nears completion, continued inputs of time
or resources result in successively smaller increments
of completion—diminishing marginal returns
percentage of project completion is closely correlated
with cost, or the use of resources.
Project Life Cycle Exponential Curve
these projects near completion, additional inputs
result in successively larger increments of progress—
increasing marginal returns, obviously bounded at
100 percent completion
the expenditure of resources has little correlation
with progress, at least in terms of final benefit

9.4. Other Types of Project life Cycle

 Finally, not only does the shape of the project life-cycle curve fail to conform to a neat, single shape—there
are also several different ways in which a project life cycle can be viewed and understood.
 We might view the project life cycle as a control system, as a mechanism to control quality, as a way of
organizing the management of risk, and as a collection of small projects within larger projects within still
larger projects.
o Each of these views of a project’s life is useful to the project manager.

9.5. Risk During the Life Cycle

 It would be a great source of comfort if one could predict with certainty, at the start of a project, how the
performance, time, and cost goals would be met.
o In a few cases, routine construction projects, for instance, we can generate reasonably accurate
predictions, but often we cannot.
o There may be considerable uncertainty about our ability to meet project goals.
o The crosshatched portion of Figure 1.6 illustrates that uncertainty.
o The uncertainty as seen at the beginning of the project

Figure 1.6: Estimate of the project cost: estimate made at project start
 Figure 1.7 shows how the uncertainty decreases as the project moves toward completion. From project start
time, t0, the band of uncertainty grows until it is quite wide by the estimated end of the project.
 As the project actually develops, the degree of uncertainty about the final outcome is reduced.

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (8) of (11)

Figure 1.7: Estimate of the project cost: estimate made at time t0, t1, and t2
 It is common to make new forecasts about project performance, time, and cost either at fixed intervals in the
life of the project or when specific technological milestones are reached.
 In any event, the more progress made on the project, the less uncertainty there is about achieving the final
goal.
 Dealing with the uncertainty surrounding relationship between time and cost is a major responsibility of the
PM

10. Project Management Group of Processes

 Project management is accomplished through the appropriate application and integration of logically
grouped project management processes, which are categorized into five Process Groups. These five Process
Groups are:
o Initiating,
o Planning,
o Executing,
o Monitoring and Controlling, and
o Closing.
 Managing a project typically includes, but is not limited to:
o Identifying requirements;
o Addressing the various needs, concerns, and expectations of the stakeholders in planning and
executing the project;
o Setting up, maintaining, and carrying out communications among stakeholders that are active,
effective, and collaborative in nature;
o Managing stakeholders towards meeting project requirements and creating project deliverables;
o Balancing the competing project constraints, which include, but are not limited to:
 Scope,
 Quality,
 Schedule,
 Budget,
 Resources, and
 Risks.
10.1. Definition
 A process is a set of interrelated actions and activities performed to create a pre-specified product, service, or
result. “PMPBOK® 5th”
 Each process is characterized by its inputs, the tools and techniques that can be applied, and the resulting
outputs. “PMPBOK® 5th”

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (9) of (11)

10.2. Categorizations
 The project processes are performed by the project team with stakeholder interaction and generally fall into
one of two major categories:
i. Project management processes.
ii. Product-oriented processes.
i. Project management processes.
o These processes ensure the effective flow of the project throughout its life cycle. These processes
encompass the tools and techniques involved in applying the skills and capabilities described in the
Knowledge Areas
ii. Product-oriented processes.
o These processes specify and create the project’s product.
o Product oriented processes vary by application area as well as the phase of the product life cycle.
o The scope of the project cannot be defined without some basic understanding of how to create the
specified product.
10.3. Project Management Process Groups
 Project management processes are grouped into five categories known as Project Management Process
Groups (or Process Groups): (Figure 1.8)
i. Initiating group of processes
ii. Planning group of processes
iii. Executing group of processes
iv. Monitor and Control group of processes
v. Closing group of processes
i. Initiating group of processes
o Those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by
obtaining authorization to start the project or phase
ii. Planning group of processes
o Those processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the objectives, and define the
course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve.
iii. Executing group of processes
o Those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy
the project specifications.
iv. Monitor and Control group of processes
o Those processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the
project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding
changes.
v. Closing group of processes
o Those processes performed to finalize all activities across all Process Groups to formally close the
project or phase.

Figure 1.9: Project Management Process Groups

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (10) of (11)

10.4. Common Project Management Process Interactions

 The project management processes are presented as discrete elements with well-defined interfaces.
 However, in practice they overlap and interact in ways that are not completely detailed in this document.
 The application of the project management processes is iterative, and many processes are repeated during
the project.
 The integrative nature of project management requires the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group to
interact with the other Process Groups, as shown in Figure 1.9.
 Figure 1.10 illustrates how the Process Groups interact and shows the level of overlap at various times.
 If the project is divided into phases, the Process Groups interact within each phase.
 The output of one process generally becomes an input to another process or is a deliverable of the project,
subproject, or project phase.

Figure 1.10: Process Groups Interact in a Phase or Project

10.5. Project Management Knowledge Areas

 The 47 project management processes identified in the PMBOK® Guide are further grouped into ten
separate Knowledge Areas.
 A Knowledge Area represents a complete set of concepts, terms, and activities that make up a professional
field, project management field, or area of specialization.
 These ten Knowledge Areas are used on most projects most of the time.
 The Knowledge Areas are:
i. Project Integration Management,
ii. Project Scope Management,
iii. Project Time Management,
iv. Project Cost Management,
v. Project Quality Management,
vi. Project Human Resource Management,
vii. Project Communications Management,
viii. Project Risk Management,
ix. Project Procurement Management and
x. Project Stakeholder Management.

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Subject: Engineering Management Lecture No.: (6)
Lecture Title: Project Management Concept Page: (11) of (11)

Table: 1.2 Project Management Process Group and Knowledge Area Mapping

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