The Project Management

Context and Processes

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Learning objectives

 Describe the systems view of project mgt and how it applies to SW

projects
 Understand organizations, including the 4 frames, organizational
structure, and organizational culture
 Explain why stakeholder mgt and top mgt commitment are critical
for a project’s success
 Understand the concept of project phase and project life cycle, and
distinguish between project development and product
development 2
A Systems View of Project Management
 A systems approach emerged in the 1950s to describe a more
analytical approach to management and problem solving
 Three parts include:

 Systems philosophy: View things as systems, interacting

components working within an environment to fulfill some purpose
 Systems analysis: problem-solving approach
 Systems management: Address business, technological, and
organizational issues before making changes to systems

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A Systems View of Project Management

 The three-sphere model of systems management deals with

the business, organizational and technological aspects and/or
issues related to the project that should be defined and
considered in order to select and manage projects effectively
and successfully.

 Business:

 A project should supplement or serve as an answer to the

business goals.
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A Systems View of Project Management

 Business Issue:
 What will the project cost the company?
 What would be the impact of the website to the sales of the
magazine?
 What would be the cost of maintaining the whole system for
the website?

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A Systems View of Project Management
 technology:

 The technological sphere shoud state the proper HW and SW issues

to be resolved

 Technological issues:

 What OS, server platform, scripting language and database should

be used?
 Does our current network setup allow employees to develop this

project,or do we need an upgrades?

 What will be the server and desktop specifications?
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A Systems View of Project Management

 Organization:

 As for the organizational aspect, matters involving the stakeholders

should be taken into full considerationThe

 Organizational Issues:

 Do we have the existing manpower to develop the project?

 What is the higher management support required?

 Do we have infrastructure to complete the project?

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A Systems View of Project Management

 If the project manager would be able to point out as early as

possible the aforementioned issues and integrate it to the
project it would definitely aid in determining if an organization
should invest and produce the project.

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Three Sphere Model for Systems Management

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Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

 A project life cycle is a collection of project phases

 Project phases vary by project or industry, but some general
phases include
 concept

 development

 implementation

 support

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Phases of the Project Life Cycle

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Product Life Cycles

 Products also have life cycles

 The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a
framework for describing the phases involved in developing
and maintaining information systems
 Typical SDLC phases include planning, analysis, design,
implementation, and support

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Sample SDLC Models
 Waterfall model: has well-defined, linear stages of
systems development and support
 Spiral model: shows that software is developed using an
iterative or spiral approach rather than a linear approach
 Incremental release model: provides for progressive
development of operational software
 RAD model: used to produce systems quickly without
sacrificing quality
 Prototyping model: used for developing prototypes to
clarify user requirements
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Spiral Model of Software Development (Boehm,
1988)

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Distinguishing Project Life Cycles and Product Life
Cycles

 The project life cycle applies to all projects, regardless of the

products being produced
 Product life cycle models vary considerably based on the
nature of the product
 Most large IT products are developed as a series of projects
 Project management is done in all of the product life cycle
phases

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Why Have Project Phases and Management Reviews?
 A project should successfully pass through each of the
project phases in order to continue on to the next
 Management reviews (also called phase exits or kill
points) should occur after each phase to evaluate the
project’s progress, likely success, and continued
compatibility with organizational goals

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Understanding Organizations

Structural frame: Human resources frame:

Focuses on roles and Focuses on providing
responsibilities, harmony between needs of
coordination and control. the organization and needs
Organization charts help of people.
define this frame.

Political frame: Symbolic frame: Focuses

Assumes organizations on symbols and meanings
are coalitions composed related to events. Culture
of varied individuals and is important.
interest groups. Conflict
and power are key issues.
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 Many Organizations Focus on the Structural
Frame
 Most people understand what organizational charts are
 Many new managers try to change organizational structure
when other changes are needed
 3 basic organization structures
 functional

 project

 matrix

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Functional, Project, and Matrix
Organizational Structures

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 Organizational Structure Influences on Projects
Organization Type Matrix
Project Functional Weak Matrix Balanced Strong Matrix Projectized
Characteristics Matrix
Project Manager's Little or Limited Low to Moderate High to
Authority None Moderate To High Almost Total
Percent of Performing
Organization's Virtually 0-25% 15-60% 50-95% 85-100%
Personnel Assigned Full- None
time to Project Work
Project Manager's Role Part-time Part-time Full-time Full-time Full-time
Common Title for Project Project Project Project Project
Project Manager's Role Coordinator/ Coordinator/ Manager/ Manager/ Manager/
Project Leader Project Leader Project Officer Program Manager Program Manager
Project Management
Administrative Staff Part-time Part-time Part-time Full-time Full-time

PMBOK Guide, 2000, p. 19

The organizational structure influences the project manager’s
authority, but remember to address the human resources, 20
political and symbolic frames, too.
What Helps Projects Succeed?
According to the Standish Group’s report CHAOS 2001: A
Recipe for Success, the following items help IT projects
succeed, in order of importance:
 Executive support
 User involvement
 Experienced project manager
 Clear business objectives
 Minimized scope
 Standard software infrastructure
 Firm basic requirements
 Formal methodology
 Reliable estimates
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Need for Top Management Commitment

 Several studies cite top management commitment as one of

the key factors associated with project success
 People in top management positions are key stakeholders in
projects
 A very important factor in helping project managers
successfully lead projects is the level of commitment and
support they receive from top management
 Without top management commitment, many projects will fail
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 How Top Management can help project
managers

 Providing adequate resources

 Approving unique project needs in a timely manner
 Getting cooperation from other parts of the organization
 Mentoring and coaching

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 Need for Organizational Commitment to
Information Technology (IT)
 If the organization has a negative attitude toward IT, it
will be difficult for an IT project to succeed
 Having a Chief Information Officer (CIO) at a high level in
the organization helps IT projects
 Assigning non-IT people to IT projects also encourage
more commitment

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Need for Organizational Standards

 Standards and guidelines help project managers be more

effective
 Senior management can encourage
 the use of standard forms and software for project management

 the development and use of guidelines for writing project plans or

providing status information

 the creation of a project management office or center of excellence

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Reading Assignment

 Most Significant Characteristics of Effective and

Ineffective Project Managers

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