Project Management Essays (Examples)

Project Management Plan of a New estaurant

This project management plan is majorly concerned primarily with the first two steps which are defining the project; the project objective is broken down into a series of manageable steps called tasks and designing the project process; this work is performed by the project manager and is presented in the GANTT chart where the tasks are displayed in more detail (Hamilton, 2004). Besides, for this project, the stakeholders will actually deliver the project. The final step of developing the project management process is a continual reappraisal of the way in which tasks are planned for and implemented; this is an ongoing process that begins once the first task is underway.

Assumptions

In this project management plan, there are certain choices that had to be made regarding the parameters to which this project subject. These include the assumption that the general working hours are;…

Project Management in a Legal Context

Project management is increasingly becoming a popular and preferred way of contending with inter-organizational ventures that are out of the ordinary. hen the functions of a project require the involvement of specialized personnel and skill sets which may not be readily represented from within the company to the fullest extent demanded, it may be appropriate to organize a project team. This might be comprised of current employees and temporary hires with specialized and pertinent skills. In either event, project management requires a competent and strong project leader.

This is especially true in the current case scenario, which finds Good Circuit Company (GCC) defending itself against a legal claim for Breach of Contract on behalf of the Tuffy Cleaning Company. Because Good Circuit Company is not a legal entity and because the company is relatively modest in size, we do not keep a large and…

Project Management

February J. 2014

A project is a temporary group of activity designed to produce unique products and services or results. Typically, a project has a defined beginning and end and therefore having defined scope and resources. (Pierre, 2012). A project also has a specific set of operations to accomplish a singular goal. Examples of projects are as follows:

Development of software to improve business process,

Construction of bridge or building,

Expansion of sales to specific geographical areas.

Major goal of executing projects is to achieve a strategic plan. However, many projects have been met with failures because of lack of integration of effective project management model in the project lifecycle.

Project management model is critical for the success of a project. Project management is the application of skills, tools, knowledge and techniques to project activities to meet stakeholders' requirements and expectations. Typically, understanding a project management tool is…

Yet upon closer inspection these two ideas are connected by the reality that strategy must be implemented; a task achieved by project managers throughout the value chain. Likewise, the human capital of the project managers must be accounted for by management in creation of a strategy framework. The BSC connects these elements by:

Providing the discipline to ensure that the formulated strategy has specific objectives for shareholders and customers, an explicit customer value proposition, the critical internal processes for creating and delivering the value proposition, and aligned human resources, information technology, and organization culture. (Lagace, M. February 2, 2004. PP. 2).

eferences

Balanced Scorecard Institute. (N.D.). Balanced Scorecard Basics. Balanced Scorecard

Institute. PP. 1. etrieved March 9, 2012 from http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCesources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspx

Duke University.edu. Fuqua School of Business. (N.D.). Strategy Development. Duke University.edu. Fuqua School of Business. PP.1. etrieved March 9, 2012 from http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~moorman/GeneralMills/Section2/Section2.htm

Guerrera, F. (March 12, 2009). Welch Condemns Share…

The defining of individualized scaffolding or customized learning programs must be in the context of a curriculum broad enough to encompass the roles of project manager, business analyst and contract manager however if it is to be effective, as is shown in the DMH program (Damare, 2008). By having a unified curriculum, the weakest areas of project management can quickly to dealt with an improved as well. This specific area of best practices looks to accelerate and internalize the learning necessary for project managers to better understand user analysis for example (Little, 2011). The curriculum structure must be agile enough to take into account the specific learning needs of project managers, business analysts and contract managers yet rigid enough to ensure that user analysis and user requirements are well-understood and strengthened (Holzle, 2010). This doesn't have to be a dichotomy but can instead be complimentary and supported with effective individualized…

Change management is very critical in project management and must be covered in this set of three articles.

#2: The rest of the students are not interested in academic careers, however, you feel it is important that they receive a theoretical knowledge of the subject matter. What five essential theoretical lessons would you share with your students that you feel are the most important in assuring professional success as a project manager?

The five most important lessons I'd stress to students begin with defining a strong business case for their projects, followed by concentrating on creating effective change management strategies. I'd also focus on no matter how much technology you rely on, project management fundamentals must still be well understood to get the most out of them. I'd also concentrate on making sure students realized that project management is as much about skills as it is about continually striving to…

Project Management

Any project, no matter what the outcome is supposed to be, has to be properly managed from outset to completion to make sure that the outcome is the one desired. Without some type of plan, a project can easily become so overburdened with cost and time overruns that it is better just to abandon it and move on. The problem is though that project management often requires a large amount of very complex steps which have to be coordinated in a specific order. To do this the manager has to understand the tools that are at his or her disposal, and they have to understand how to use those tools. The steps required are not inviolate, but it is wise to understand the different phases of project management and make sure that they are all given the proper care. Following is a research paper which looks at the…

Project Management

Emerging markets continue to be a promising area for many of America's most beloved companies such as Coca-Cola, Apple and more. This bodes well for project managers in the digital age as the expand operations overseas. However, as these companies become more global, the risk associated with their operation becomes more important. Understanding gender, ethnic and cultural differences can have a profound impact on the overall success of a project manager within the digital age. Our economies are becoming more global with each passing year. Currently, we are in the midst of a global recession, not a domestic recession. This is a testament to the magnitude and extent to which our U.S. operations reach other nations. This phenomenon reaches even into the global work environment as talent within specific nations is becoming more desirable. This talent is often placed in the charge of a project manager who rarely,…

Project Management for an Experienced Entrepreneur: The Benefits of Specialized Expertise

As an experienced entrepreneur with several successful projects already underway or completed, there is no real need to tell you how important it is to know -- or to consult and work with people who know -- the specifics of a particular process, product, or industry when engaging in a new venture. Knowledge might not translate directly to power in the way the old adage suggests, but it is an essential component in business success, to be sure. Flexibility, learning and thinking on one's feet, and allowing ideas and conclusions to change in response to new information are also quite important, of course, but these things are all aided by a solid foundational knowledge in areas and elements of interest. As I will attempt to show you here, this is true not only in the realm of specific industries,…

Project Management

Your company planning construct a nuclear power plant Oregon.

What is a project life cycle, and how does it support project success? Ensure you define the basic stages of a project life cycle and the primary activities that take place.

According to Bin and Heiser (2004)

project life cycle refers to the stages a project goes through from the beginning till it is completed. The project life cycle will indicate how a project will be controlled, planned, and monitored. To ensure that a specific project does progress as required, there is need to have a project life cycle that will model the different phases that the project will go through. The phases make it easy for a project manager to establish exactly where the project has reached, and to identify how long the project will take at each particular phase. Without a project life cycle, one would not…

Project Management

AT&T is a leader in communication technology that connects people all over the world. Just as their customers and business depend on them and their services to remain connected, AT&T depends on the internal resources they have particularly project and program managers so that they can remain as the best service providers. Huawei is a Chinese Telecom giant that deals with products such as fixed-line communications, optical transmission, mobile communications, data communications as well as mobile terminals and handsets. Huawei technologies saw the need for the inclusion of project management for the tools and techniques so that it ensures the strategies proved effective, efficient and profitable. This paper looks at AT&T and Huawei and the steps they took when it came to the improvement of their portfolio management process within the corporation.

First, current situation within the two organizations when it comes to project management can be examined…

Project Management Organizational Structures

A project is a variety of jobs that relate and point towards a critical solution. For a project to function successfully, money, time, resources, and personnel is required. Project management often dictates control of resources together with planning the intended project and designating resources in areas where they are needed. Before the start of a project, the management decides upon which organizational structure will be effected to see the running of the project. The three basic organizational structures for project management include pure, matrix and functional project. Every organization should evaluate these three organizational structures and decide on one which best suits them. The organization is set for the success journey after identifying the organizational structure (Daft, 2011).

The three organizational structures have merits and demerits in project structuring. Project managers have the mandate and the authority of closing, controlling, executing, planning and initiating the project.…

Introduction
A project that I plan on doing in the future is one that focuses on transitioning our marketing to social media. The company wants to promote its brand and become more familiar to consumers because right now it is not gaining much traction in traditional marketing approaches. The company has thus decided to try to focus more on social media as a marketing approach. The project will be to develop a social media marketing campaign that would allow the company develop its brand and gain traction among the target consumer population. The 7 basic steps that will need to be followed for this project to succeed are:
1. Compose the team.
2. Define the mission that the team must embrace.
3. Establish the expectations and goals that the team will be accountable for.
4. Structure and plan the activities that will provide the pathway to the goals and allow…

Project Management
(a) How can effective project management help your department?
Effective project management can be of significant help to the department. First of all, project management can help the department in controlling spending and enhancing project results. Sticking to project management approaches and strategies facilitates the reduction of risks, cost-cutting and enhanced success rates. Effective project management can stop the department from spending money on projects that bring about failure (Mir and Pinnington, 2014). Secondly, project management can help the department in attaining competitive advantage. Executing project management in the department helps in the creation of a strategic value chain on its rivals. Having the ability to deliver projects in a timely manner and within the budget will help the department in getting more tasks and handling more responsibility (Mir and Pinnington, 2014). Project management will be also be helpful to the department in terms of having measurable outcomes.…

1. INTRODUCTION

This project plan is for a hypothetical struggling hospital in the NY Metropolitan area. The hospital is on the verge of bankruptcy but is the only pediatric hospital in the area. It also boasts of some of the most innovative researchers and physicians in the country. The walls are peeling, some of the equipment is outdated, and staff morale is low. As the consultant project manager, I intend to focus on identifying and replacing the outdated equipment, raising the required funds using appropriate strategies.

1.1 Purpose of Project Management Plan

The purpose of the Hospital Equipment Upgrade (HEU) PMP is to identify all outdated equipment in the target hospital, develop a plan of how this equipment will be replaced, and identify the source of the funds required for this purpose.

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF PROJECT CHARTER

Hospitals in the U.S. lose a total of $8.3 billion a year…

Discussion
The five stages of the project management include project initiation, project planning, project execution, project monitoring and control, and project closure. Project integration takes into account making certain that the different components of the projects are coordinated in a proper manner. It includes making compromises amongst competing objectives and alternative in order to guarantee meeting the needs and expectations of the stakeholder (Amado et al., 2011). The focus on the integration of project management will be from a law enforcement point of view and in particular will lay emphasis on the procurement of firearms. Project initiation includes the acknowledgement of the need for firearms within the department, perhaps due to increased crime or the assimilation of new police officers into the workforce. Project planning includes making a determination of the cost of the procurement and whether such expenses can be catered for into the budget of the financial year.…

Now that the project is in the execution process, summarize your project to date.The project is planning a retirement party for an individual who has worked for the company for 30 years. Project execution involves delineating the roles and responsibilities for each member of the team as it relates to the implementation of the retirement party. The project to date also involves resource allocations as it relates to how to the venue, food items, materials, and other object that are required for a successful retirement party. In addition, proper oversight must be given to help mitigate any issues relates to project deliverables for the retirement party (Salapatas, 2000).Describe 34 deliverables produced from the execution of your project.1. Deliverable 1 Completion of a retirement party and the securing of a venue to hold at least 100 people. This deliverable is a primary component of the retirement party. Here, the venue…

The Role of Multiple Project Management
The adage that, “Whenever you want to do something, you have to do something else first” is especially relevant for project management since even straightforward and simple projects typically involve performing several preliminary steps. This also means that larger, complex project usually involve several smaller subprojects, and these must be carefully managed together with other ongoing organizational projects. In sum, multiple project management represents a challenging enterprise, but there are some steps that project managers can take to help facilitate the process. The purpose of this paper is to provide a definition of the best practices and applicable methodologies for multiple project management together with a summary of the research and important findings concerning these requirements in the conclusion.
Review and Discussion
Best practices and applicable methodologies for multiple projects
It is reasonable to suggest that most – if not all – people have…

Project Performance Measurement and ClosureBudgets and time are essential quantitative measures used to assess performance. Measuring performance against budget is not as easy as a qualitative measurement which can be quickly done by actual use or on-site inspection. It is more complex. To facilitate effective project performance measurement, variance and Cost Performance Index are recommended. Therefore, the earned value (EV) is crucial since it provides a realistic performance estimate against a time0phased budget. Hence, many companies and projects use variance analysis differently.Variance analysis shows the variation between the planned and the actual outcome or behavior of a project by establishing the difference between the actual performance and the baseline. Its also essential in maintaining control over a project (Carr, 1993). Three values are involved when using these parameters, namely, the scheduled works planned cost (PV), the completed works actual cost (AC), and the completed works budget cost (EV). Thus, this…

Widget Sales Company ProjectProject ManagerThe project manager oversees the scheduling of tasks and their execution within the stipulated timelines to remain within the budgetary limitations. The activities are scheduled procedurally according to the process of developing a website. Activities that do not have dependencies will be executed simultaneously, while those with a dependency will be executed independently. The table below shows the different project activities schedules.DescriptionStart DateEnd DateDependenciesProject Duration3/1/202112/31/2021Requirements Analysis3/2/20213/31/2021NonePlanning Meetings3/1/20213/14/2021Project RequirementsSitemap and Wireframe Creation3/14/20213/31/2021Project RequirementsDefining Database Tables3/15/20213/31/2021Sitemap and WireframeWeb Architectural Design4/1/20214/15/2021Database tables definedDesign of the User and graphical Interface5/1/20215/31/2021Website Architectural DesignCoding6/1/20217/15/2021Project functional RequirementsTesting7/16/20217/31/2021Created WebsiteWebsite Hosting and Testing8/1/20218/15/2021Created WebsiteLaunching8/16/20218/30/2021Created WebsiteDatabase AnalystThe data scientist will develop the database and define the different variables as well as their restrictions. The data types will be strings, Boolean, dates, integers, floating-point numbers, or arrays (Ma et al., 2016). The variable name, the data type, and restrictions of data captured as follows.Table NameVariableDataTypeRestrictionsEmployeeEmpNameStringNoneEmployeeExpensesAllowedBooleanOnly Yes or…

Introduction
During the implementation of a project, processes for project control along with record keeping come to be vital components to managers and other participants in the entire project process. Imperatively, these components provide the twofold objective of recording the financial transactions that take place in addition to handing managers a sign of the progress and the issues linked with the project. Notably, the issues of project cost control are fittingly encapsulated in a long-standing delineation of a project as any group of ambiguously associated activities that are 90 percent, over budgeted and late (Walker, 2015). The supposition is that the similar cost control approaches will not work efficaciously for all projects. Cost control does not just encompass monitoring costs and recording data but also takes into account the analysis of such data so as to undertake remedial action prior to being too late. The purpose of this paper is…

Abstract
In this article, the problems at FEL are analyzed and assessed from the standpoint of what FEL should do to assign managers to project teams and what efficiencies these criteria create. The problem is that FEL is not very thorough or cautious in its approach. Now it has a problem of the team members not wanting to work together and Gatenby is relying on Jobe to make it all work. This is unlikely to really happen and so if Gatenby cannot get them all to recognize that they are professionals and must now come together as a team in spite of their animosity, then the project is going to fail and some may not reach their personal goals. Tuckman’s five stages of group development may be helpful in solving the problem.
Keywords: Tuckman’s five, team development, working abroad
Questions for Franklin Equipment, Ltd.
Evaluate the criteria FEL uses to…

Project Management

Although desirable, it is quite difficult to start with a dictionary definition of project management, mainly because of the complexity involved in the process, a complexity impossible to cover with a simple two-line definition. Hence, it is probably best to describe the process, underlining thus the main characteristics of project management.

A company's strategic perspective may, perhaps, be amply resumed to two strategic concepts around which everything else revolves: objectives and projects. Any company will start building its analysis around a series of drivers and objectives that the company may have for the next few years. These objectives need to be only a couple, because we may assume that if the company had 15 objectives for the next years, its resources will be too split and it will not be bale to fulfill any of them efficiently.

Once the company has defined its list of goals, it needs…

.....project management approach is increasingly becoming popular in today's workplace. Organisations are ever more recognising the benefits of accomplishing tasks and activities as projects -- better task coordination, quicker task execution, and so on (Larson et al., 2013). The author's organisation, a renewable energy firm with operations in Australia and beyond, has particularly been shifting to the project management approach in recent years. The organisation is currently interested in acquiring or merging with a suitable rival to improve its market share and competitive advantage. The merger or acquisition process is often not an easy undertaking. It requires proper planning and execution. With the application of project management concepts, however, the process can be easier. This report analyses the relevance of various project management concepts to the merger or acquisition process. Attention is particularly paid to the project environment, project definition, time and cost estimation, project plan, risk management, resource scheduling,…

Project Management

Supporting Activity Project Characteristics

• What are some of the characteristics that differentiate projects from other functions carried out in the daily operations of an organization? List some examples of work considered to be a project and work not considered to be a project.

The main trait and attribute that differentiates projects and non-projects is the duration of the event in question. Events that are ongoing in perpetuity are not projects. Projects, instead, are tasks/jobs (or collections of the same) that has a definite start point and end point as well as a budgetary estimate and a depicting/listing of the resources needed for the project. The project is planned, commence and then evaluated whereas operations tasks are normal daily tasks that do not generally halt unless there is a business need or reason for it (PMBOK, 2013).

For example, work tasks like checking email or answering customer phone…

Project Management

Elements of Business: Project Management

Postings to the Discussion Board

The Critical Path of PET charts

Successful realization of business goals of any organization, there has to be an efficient project management in control. Most performing organizations bare witness of how the good managerial functions and change has brought to them. The critical path will always entail the sequencing of duties and events, to ensure that a project is not delayed. The critical paths of most projects are designed in search a manner that the delay or acceleration of the entire project is determined by one activity. Once one activity is altered, it leads to the entire change of project timeline. The process of creating the critical path in most cases requires activity sequencing (Sawyer, 2009).

Prioritizing the correction of existing projects

In cases where the project has steps that follow a certain sequence, a certain task must…

Project Management

Project Libra: To Terminate or Not to Terminate

Visit www.itweek.co.uk/News/11329438 to see the string of news stories related to Project Libra. Identify some of the sources of the problems the project faces.

Project Libra exemplifies several attributes of failed projects the most notable of which is the breakdown in project team, Fujitsu Services (ICL) system integrator and enterprise software vendors. Most evident of a filed project management structure is the ballooning size of payments made during the project with literally nothing to show for it.

These are the most significant lessons learned from the failure of Project Libra. First, the British government should have had a series of measurable goals and objectives in place first and required monthly updates on project status and delays. This would have drastically reduced the confusion over just what the status of the project was, as is evident from background readings on this…

Project Management

IT Project Management Questions

Outsourcing -- Big Savings, Big Risks

Social Software for Project Management

Social Software can provide a number of opportunities for managing projects. What are some challenges or issues that should be considered before a project team implements a blog or a wiki?

Jonathon Edwards, an analyst with the Yankee Group, states that "Some people clutch to their corporate email boxes as if they were cigarettes. They're hopelessly addicted. We're all so accustomed to it. You can't change the way people work overnight." Blogs and wikis have a number of advantages over email. As a project manager, how could you reduce your project's team's resistance to rely less on email and embrace the use of social software?

Global Technology Solutions

Question One -- What role does quality play in the IT project Methodology?

How does verification/validation and change control support quality in an IT project?…

Project Management

For the tax preparation software, the status would be yellow. Everything appears to be moving forward properly at this time and there have not been any reasons to get behind or to have overtime on the project. However, there is more to the issue than just what is taking place at the moment. There are concerns that may present themselves in the future, and in order to plan for these properly it is necessary to focus on what could occur based on these concerns. There are two risks that are the most important to consider. These are that it is hurricane season in Florida, where three of the developers are located, and that the one person who decided to take early retirement (and is leaving in a week) is the only person who knows how to work with the IS to get approval for the final product. All…

Project Management

How well the client's value was understood.

Normally the client's values are not understood well or possibly at all. This often results in many delays or modifications because if the values are not understood then the quality is unlikely to meet the end-users expectations. There are many ways to try to mitigate these risks in a project during the planning phase. However, there are often a wide variety of different stakeholders that may have different expectations for the project. Therefore, it is important to incorporate as many viewpoints as possible to get something of a comprehensive account of the stakeholder's values. Furthermore, in many cases stakeholders do not realize what their own values and expectations for a project actually are. Thus it is important for a project manager to try to tease out as much critical information from the stakeholders as possible so that they know how to…

(Braunschweig; Day, 150)

Most of the current generation of project managers expects the project management tools to furnish them with almost real-time knowledge in order to facilitate their decision-making. Some of these tools like DOFF, "Field of the Future," "Smart Fields," Microsoft's "Oilfield Connectivity" and i-Fields are currently being examined by exploration and production oil companies. Some of these tools have the capability of generating information from apparently incongruent data and helping managers take important decisions based on them. (Oilfield Connectivity - Capturing the Value of the Digital Era)

There is substantial amount of risk in oil exploration and production since the concerned target is located many thousands of feet under the ground. There are a number of factors that can cause uncertainties and risks in these fields which may include the weather, people, geology, safety, and availability of tools and equipment. Agility is an important requirement in the oil…

Project Management

Project Information, History, Intent, and Life Cycle

Gray and Larson, (2008) define project as "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result." (p 5). Essential feature of a project is that it has a defined beginning and end often subject to time or fund constraint to achieve stakeholder's goals and objectives. Gray and Larson (2008) differentiate between project and program. "A program is a group of related projects designed to accomplish a common goal over an extended period of time." (Gray and Larson, 2008 p 6). Major goal of any project is to satisfy customers' objectives, and features of a project are they:

have established objectives.

Have a life span definitely a start and the end.

Usually involve several professionals and departments.

Have specific costs, time and performance requirements.

However, a project is different from program where workers are performing repetitive operations daily within…

PINCE2 is used in both the public and the private sector. It is mainly used in the UK by the government, but the method is successfully applied internationally also. PINCE2 is useful because it focuses on business justification, it supports a well established organization structure for the project management team, it provides a product-based planning approach.

The method also focuses on segmenting the project into several stages that can be easier managed and controlled. Users find this method to be quite flexible. This means that the method can be applied to different levels of the project.

PINCE2 offers two qualification levels: PINCE2 Foundation, and PINCE2 Practitioner. But the advantages of PINCE2 go further than that, including: increased control of resources, the ability required for managing business and project risk with increased efficiency.

The main customers of PINCE2 are: individuals that need to gain project management skills, individuals looking for more…

The use of Gantt charts for enabling interprocess integration and knowledge management in the A&D industry is a best practice for also managing process-intensive projects (Singh, Keil, Kasi, 2009). These include the development of new computer systems and advanced technologies where the project needs to capture the knowledge to fulfill its objectives. Project management's core set of tools therefore needs to be focused on how to augment and strengthen project performance while also capturing process and product knowledge critical to its success (Besner, Hobbs, 2006). The combining of Gantt charts, progress reports, change requests and the use of kick-off meetings to set objectives is critical in this regard.

ecommendations to Project Managers Using the Product Launch Activity Plan

The pro-forma Product Launch Activity Plan shown in Table 1 of the Appendix is designed to provide project managers with a framework to define a Gantt chart to manage the new product…

The author offers detailed information concerning what might be expected by the company as they endeavor to complete a contract. The author also explains the risks associated with certain contracts.

Performance assessment is another important issue that arises in the book. Kerzner asserts that the performance of workers should be assessed for several reasons. One of the primary reasons for assessment is to determine both the mistakes and the successes experienced by a team when working on a project. These experiences can be used to assist management teams in the future. Additionally assessment can be used to offer team members incentives. These incentives will provide the team members with the motivation needed to excel in the future. It is important that organization also establish for workers a system in which what is expected of them is evident. Some projects fail simply because people do not understand what is expected of…

Project Management

The part one of this project discusses several challenges that can affect the success of a project. Ineffective project management and inefficient project planning are part of the top challenges of project implementation, which consequently lead to project failures if these challenges are not effectively managed. In the contemporary project environment, one of the major challenges facing project implementation is the project's risks, typically, every project carries risks and bigger projects carry more risks than smaller projects. Understanding the strategy to manage the project risks is very crucial in delivering a project that meets stakeholder's goals and objectives (PMIS, 2013). isks are uncertain events that can cause negative effects to a project. However, it is the responsibility of the project manager to identify potential risks before the project starts, the risks such as change in project requirement or equipment malfunction can be identified before the project start, however,…

" (Lavell & Martinelli, 2008) Mark Kozak-Holland emphasized that the most critical aspect of the Great Escape project was risk management. The work of building the tunnels was extremely dangerous -- danger of collapse of the sandy soil and bad air in the tunnels. The airmen had to place a high probability on the Germans discovering the plot owing to the traces of the excavated soil and nosy guards. The cost of failure would be catastrophic -- this was a "do it or die" proposition. (Kozak-Holland, 2008)

eferences

Garg, am (2008), Delivering Multiple Sites and Time Zones Projects: A Case Study in the Telecom Industry, PM World Today, Vol. X, Issue XI, etrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.pmforum.org/library/cases/2008/PDFs/Garg-11-08.pdf

Kozak-Holland, Mark (2008) Project Lessons from the Great Escape Case Study -- Part 1 etrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.maxwiderman.com/guests/great-escape/intro.htm

Kozak-Holland, Mark (2008) Project Lessons from the Great Escape Case Study --…

Usually, this may happen when the client changes some of his initial requirements and part of the modules need to be changed. In these cases, the resource allocation mechanism is a fundamental instrument of the organizing function.

The directing and control functions of management somehow are connected when it comes to project management. The reason for this is that the directing function provides the necessary supervision for the tasks to be performed, while the control functions ensures the necessary feedback system, which evaluates the performance results and feeds this back into the directing phase for changes.

In the software industry, the directing and control functions of project management are not only operated from within the organization, but also in relation with the clients, who are usually the entities that provide the best feedback as to the capacity of the application to match exactly their requirements. While the quality assurance and…

Q2. The chance of risk events occurring and their respective costs increasingly change over the project life cycle. What is the significance of this phenomenon to a project manager?

Managing risk throughout a projects' duration is one of the most challenging and complex series of tasks a project manager will need to contend with on a project-by-project basis. As the deadline for a project nears, the costs of risks both from a delay standpoint in addition to a complete re-definition of the project itself become potentially very costly. Given how critical risk management is in managing projects and keeping them on schedule, it is surprising how many it projects specifically don't rely on risk management approaches and strategies to mitigate the potential impact to projects. Risk management, at all phases of a project, is in fact insurance against unforeseen events that could significantly delay or even discontinue the project altogether.…

Therefore, it is recommended to thoroughly evaluate the company's culture in order to determine how the company in case usually influences the project management culture. Based on this evaluation, project managers can develop successful strategies (Sharma, 2010).

The approach of companies towards training programs is an important factor that must be taken into consideration. Some companies prefer to rely on the experience and knowledge of their project managers. However, this does not suffice in order to develop successful projects. It is also necessary to invest in training programs for these project managers, because this improves their skills and determines the success of the projects they are involved in. Therefore, it is important to include this in the company's culture.

2. The steps in project management are represented by: definition, planning, execution, and delivery. The definition step consists in determining the objectives, specifications, tasks, teams, and responsibilities of the project. The…

Project Management Accreditation

Project Management

A project is a temporary group endeavor, with an agreed beginning and duration time frame, organized to produce a unique product, service or result. (PMI 2011) A distinguishing characteristic of a project is that it is progressively detailed as the project is better understood by the people working on it. Another characteristic of a project is that it is not a routine operation, although a project may be assembled for the purpose of establishing the procedures that ultimately become routines. Owing to the temporary nature of projects, managers, team members and specialists are assembled for a stated period of time; they often have never worked together before as most of the team members are drawn from regular operating units. Examples of projects are software development, the construction of a building or bridge, a disaster relief effort, or a drive to expand a sales territory in…

Project Management

Insurance companies enjoy large profit margins in the insurance industry. A reason for these margins would be the project management ability of firm employees to effectively management risk. Project management tools enable managers to effectively manage inherent risk with project implementation and management.

An example of a project management issue at an insurance firm is provided by Pula & Stone (2003), "The authors' research shows that customer relationship management (CM) projects can achieve higher rates of return by work on data quality. Existing and new data need to be integrated and shared, with updates synchronised among many different systems. These systems (including operational, analytical and customer contact applications and databases) were rarely designed to work together and the data they collect and use are not normally collected, structured or quality-assessed for the CM purposes for which they are eventually used." (Pula, Stone, 2003)

The block quote is to…

This focus on the key success steps associated with a project is an effective way to concentrate on the most critical problems, rather than focus on every possible potential problem. In addition, while some would say that it is better to prepare for the worst and think of every possible problem, this in itself can be a waste of resources and can reduce the amount of focus on the most important potential problems.

The next important issue is how to manage identified risk. This process is one that requires careful balance. Most importantly, the resources put into a project need to be balanced effectively. For example, consider a project where a potential major risk is identified, but it only has a 1% chance of occurring. Is it beneficial to invest a large amount of resources to reduce the impact of this risk? In most cases, the answer will be no.…

Project Management for Dummies by Stanley E. Portny

The "Dummies Series" book, Project Management for Dummies, by Stanley E. Portny (iley Publishing, Inc., 2001), is, in my opinion, a relatively easy-to-read (although also somewhat structurally fragmented in places), step-by-step "how-to" book, for either current or prospective project managers, with or without experience. In life, every individual has projects to complete - usually a never-ending series of them, in fact, and often more than one project to complete simultaneously. One's projects may be personal or professional; voluntary or required. They may be for our selves alone; for friends or family; for churches, clubs, or communities; special events; or for colleagues; companies, or employers.

As the author concurs, in his "Introduction" to the text:

Projects have been around since ancient times. Noah built the ark, Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona

Lisa, Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine -- all projects. .…

Project Management

In Discussions week, project portfolio management selecting projects. Explain meaning statement. The books suppose additional resources: Kerzner, H. (2010) Project management practices: achieving global excellence.

"Project portfolio management is more than selecting projects"

Managing a project portfolio can be analogized to managing an investment portfolio. While the selection of the component entities of the portfolio are certainly important, it is not enough to merely select good investments -- these 'investments' or projects must be managed. "By optimizing, balancing and continually fine-tuning their portfolios, active investors try to maximize short- and long-term returns and reduce overall risk, thereby achieving larger financial and/or business objectives" (Hays 2011). Similarly, the managers of the project "can identify, evaluate and rank investment opportunities. They can direct resources to the highest-payback projects and cull marginal ones. They can target expenditures more effectively to the most worthwhile initiatives and optimize their performance and execution" (Hays…

Project Management

Like things information technology management, business intelligence typically implemented form a "project" --, a special kind organizational arrangement set specific things a specific period time, opposed a regular ongoing part organizational structure.

Project management: My experience

"To be successful in the field of BI, a project team needs members with an understanding of and appreciation for the information needs of the user community as well as the technologies" (Wu 2005: 1). It is not enough for a project manager to know how the technology works 'for himself.' He or she must know why, how, and if the technology will be useful to others and will have applications in the field. The project manager must truly be someone who can wear two hats: he or she must be fully abreast of developments in the field and thoroughly understand the technology of the project. Yet the manager must also be…

Project Management: The Essentials

The elevance of a Project Charter

A project charter is, in basic terms, a fundamental document that marks the initiation of a project. It outlines details such as the project's objectives and goals, duration, budget, deliverables and scope (Grisham, 2011). The lead project manager prepares the same, and the sponsors, by appending their signature to it, authorize him or her to undertake any activity that appertains to the project (Grisham, 2011). It is clear from this description that a project charter serves as a formal authorization of "the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational activities to project activities" (PMBOK, as cited in Grisham, 2011, p. 164). The absence of a project charter presents a number of risks and problems to the manager. These include high chances of project failure, impediments to authority, unnecessarily long decision-making procedures, difficulty…

Project Management

Integrated project management involves the practice of ensuring that the various elements of the project are effectively and efficiently coordinated. This involves making trade-offs amongst competing objectives and alternatives with the aim of meeting or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations. The project management system plays a critical role in the process of allocating resources to a given project or task. esource allocation involves the development the project plan, determining the various resources required in order to accomplish the project successfully and implement the designed plan. Although this may seem like a relatively simple activity, it is a highly complex task that requires skilled personnel and an effective project management system in practice. This is mainly because the acquisition of resources requires funds, which is a limited resource in itself. In fact, the project management team must be skilled in the use of limited resources. This may include the…

It did not however help to alleviate the confusion of software development. The order from AlphaTech had a much more galvanizing effect on the software aspects of the project, which still was significantly miscalculated as the company reverted to 80-hour work weeks to get the project done. Overall however the project management tools on the Jaguar project did change behaviour over time in that there were greater levels of accountability for performance. As is the case with any new methodologies or approaches to completing work there was also significant resistance to change. This is entirely expected given the fact that many of the engineers had exceptional levels of freedom in the past.

3. What were the unintended consequences of using the project management tools? What lessons should Teradyne take way from the Jaguar project?

The first unintended consequence was the fact that Teradyne just accelerated what they did well and…

Therefore, benchmarking is a critical step for firms wanting to compete globally. Because each marketplace environment differs, companies need to research competitor firms in their industry that are already firmly entrenched in the desired environment. Benchmarking is never done once and then cast aside; benchmarking becomes an ongoing process that enables organizations to gauge their progress and tweak procedures that may improve their performance. Benchmarking usually compares firms to industry leaders, too, because those leaders are the standard by which competing firms hope to achieve or usurp.

3. What problems might arise from empowering employees? What are some of the hurdles that managers must overcome in empowering employees? What can organizations do to address these issues?

Empowering employees helps workers become involved and connected with their work. When individuals feel empowered, their sense of personal responsibility and accountability rises and can lead to increased morale and productivity. However, empowering employees…

Rather, the issue needs to be seen from all angles to truly evaluate the needs and responses to these risks as they are identified.

a. List the potential threats and uncertainties associated with staging the Rock 'n'

Reggae concert using the information contained in this case description.

Threats will include drunken or otherwise inebriated fans, accidental fires (especially from electricity or smoking). Also, acts of God such as weather disasters must be factored in.

b. As noted in the scenario, the capacity of the stadium is 8000. Similar sized concert data were referenced in preparation for that given year in the United States. Deaths should considered to give an adequate barometer for preparation for a worst case scenario (Upton, 2004) .

In an international study that the team used in preparation for this project, 136 hundred and thirty-six victims died in 29 separate incidents that occurred in 20 different countries/territories:…

Project Management

The baggage handling system (BHS) project is in motion. Initially, our company Boeing Airport Equipment Automated Systems, Inc. (BAE) stipulated that no change requests should be accepted. However, it is proving impossible to ignore the influx of change requests from major stakeholders, namely the airlines.

As project manager, I have determined that our policy regarding change requests should itself be changed, from a public relations standpoint. We cannot risk further isolating core stakeholders, for risk that the entire project fall apart later due to technical, design, conceptual, or implementation flaws that might arise. It is my duty as project manager to attend to the change requests, and I believe that BAE could learn a great deal from reading and responding to those requests. We shall do so in a systematic and organized manner.

Challenges

Change requests might interfere with our workflow. "Each requested change and recommended action must…

Project Management

GANTT chart

The GANTT chart presented below is a representation of the work plan for a landscaping assignment. The chart presentation gives a schedule of work targeting completion of a specific project Wysocki, 2009.

The time taken for the completion of each task is given by a rectangular that stretches to the time period a scheduled task will take. The case of the landscaping project there are a total of twelve tasks expected to be undertaken in thirty four (34) days towards the completion of the project. The Gantt simply gives a representation of the time -- when an activity will start and when it will end -- it does not concern itself with optimal use of resources Wysocki, 2009()

The first set of mile stones for the landscaping project comprises of four activities that are interrelated and critical for the initiation of the project. These are designing…

It is essential to determine the critical path and shortest and long paths based on the allocated time.

The network diagram for the wedding planning project also provides an understanding about the activities in the sequence they are required to be performed. It is observed that family task is preceded with invitations Lists and on the basis of this activity invitations are posted. The booking of the ceremony is also completed after this activity. On the other hand the wedding activity has two preceding activities including place finalizations and dress selection and rings, which is followed by the floral and decor as well as honeymoon. The finalization of place leads to appointment for ceremony and venue selection, leading towards the final weeding as finish of the activities.

Family

I

nvitations List

edding

Finish

Venue Selection

Appointment

for Ceremony

Finalization of Place

Invitations Postage

Dresses and Rings

Start

Honey Moon

Floral…

Project Management and Scope Control

Every experienced project manager can attest to the constant threat posed by a phenomenon known as scope creep, wherein the prudently planned objectives of a particular project are unwittingly permitted to swell in a seemingly independent fashion. When budgets slowly begin to balloon and an unending stream of employees are added superfluously to a project's staff, the scope of a project, or "all of the work involved in creating the products of the project and the processes used to create them" (Schwalbe, 2011), has experienced scope creep despite the project manager's best intentions. The five-pronged process of project scope management currently advocated by industry experts includes (1) the collection of specific requirements, (2) a precise definition of the project's scope, (3) the creation of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) document, (4) verification of scope via inspection and acceptance of deliverables, and (5) the ongoing effort…

Project Management

Juniper

Low Risk

Project Cost

Profit

Palomino

Medium Risk

Project Cost

Profit

Stargazer

High Risk

Estimated Cost

Profit

All three projects are feasible from a financial standpoint because they all offer a decent return. The breakeven point for all three projects is greater than one year and less than two years. The largest return is to be found on the project with the highest risk associated with it; which is not surprising. Although the risk of completing this project on time is high. The product life is forecasted to be 7 years for this product. Furthermore, the project has already been mostly funded. Although the current expenditures could be considered a sunk cost, it is close to completion.

Not only does this project offer the greatest returns, there are also many other subsidiary benefits. By introducing an innovative product to the market place before the competition, the organization…

Project Management-7

What is the difference between a task dependency and a task constraint?

The difference between a task dependency and a task constraint is apparent in the time. A task dependency connects two tasks by suggesting that one task will start comparative to another task, whereas a task constraint places the connection directly to a time rather than base it off the time when another task begins (Marmel and Muir, 2007).

Give a real-world situation when you might use the following task constraints:

Start No Earlier Than large government tasks take several years to accomplish; will need some amount of the year's budget to accomplish the project. However, it is possible to place this kind of constraint on a venture so that the government will not have to go over that year's budget, but wait to begin other tasks until the beginning of a new fiscal year (Wysocki, 2009).…

Project Management

Determine which project might be implemented and why (e.g. feasibility study or breakeven analysis etc.)

The project which has the potential to provide the greatest return is Stargazer. Using a feasibility study, this will offer the firm with a number of benefits that will help it to increase its bottom line results. This is occurring with the OI rising by 56% in three years. Over seven years, is when the firm will realize an OI of 130.40%. ("Project Management Email," n.d.)

Moreover, it has been going through continuous research and development. This increases the likelihood that it will be completed on time. When this happens, the firm will have fixed costs and can be the first in their industry to introduce it to the marketplace. These variables will have a positive influence on the brand images of the company by demonstrating how they are the leader inside the…

Project Management Techniques:

Signatures Inc. is a company that focuses on manufacturing personalized products like coffee mugs and pens with company logos. The firm generates over $40 million in annual revenues with a workforce of more than 300 workers. Since the company is in the middle of a large multimillion-dollar SCM implementation, it has hired a project management outsourcing company to take charge of its project management efforts. The decision to outsource its project management initiatives is based on the challenges it has experienced in middle of this costly implementation process. Actually, Signatures' implementation of the expensive SCM project has been failing because of three major reasons. The three reasons are the use of traditional waterfall methodology, failure to follow SDLC and skipping the testing phase, and the development of the project plan during the analysis stage, which was never followed or updated by the old project manager. Therefore, the…

Project Management

Review the "Lessons Learned" section of the project risk diagram. Describe how the Lessons Learned activity helps you become a stronger project manager, who else it helps in the project team and also describe how it helps PMO. 200 words

Documenting the lessons learned is one of the most important aspects of the closure phase of the project. It is important to an individual project manager because they can reflect on their performance and find areas for improvement. A project manager, with the assistance of their team and supervisors, can find areas in their management capacity in which they can work on for future improvements. They can also make note of things that went right so that they can recreate those items in the future. For instance, if a change management procedure or a communication medium worked well then the project manager will know to use these in…