Project Planning Essays (Examples)

Project Planning: Keys to Success

When planning a project, there are many things to consider. Among those things are the keys to success that have to be carefully addressed so they can provide the most value possible. Without them, it can be very difficult to plan a project effectively. Unfortunately, many people do not understand these keys to success and how simple they can be. Because of this, they miss the keys and end up making their project planning much more difficult than it would be otherwise. That not only slows down the project and costs money, but it can also cause the project to be completely ineffective in the long run. That could go as far as to derail the entire plan and harm the company well into the future. Fortunately, there are a few things that can be done in order to make sure the project planning is…

Project Management Activities

Project Planning

We have to design a schoolhouse that can facilitate 120 people at a time. For this purpose Professional Military Education contact Mr. Thompson to do preliminary research to fulfill the requirements and according to him enough square footage is require to make a complete renovation. The organization I chose is the Professional Military Education Center (EPME). By comparison, this would be considered small company whose purpose is to train enlisted Air Force members to become combat leader and first line managers. I have been working here for about 3 years as the Director of Education. Along with me is the commandant, Chief Murphy, who has been in charge for about 4 years. Next, there are 2 resource advisors, MSgt Copple and TSgt Bolden. Finally, the rest of the staff is made up of 10 instructors, all Tech Sergeants, with various specialties. Everyone is fully qualified…

During the analysis phase, the project's final outcome is usually tested, to see if it meets the original goal. This is also a potentially costly phase, as certain problems may need to be worked out that take longer to solve than originally allotted. Extra time must be planned for, particularly during this phase, to ensure that the project's completion data is not affected.

Because so many variables can affect the success of the project involving time and money, proper planning is critical to ensure that the necessary phases occur with the least delay and cost. Also, for the project to be judged a success it must meet its stated aims, and it is almost impossible to reach a specific goal without a map or plan as to how to accomplish this goal. Perhaps the ultimate answer to this question is -- when do you buy a map on a road…

Venue of the Festival

Park is almost rectangular in plan with a side of 1000 meters by 750 meters and is familiarize with the long sides lying GCC SSE. In what direction is to follows N. To S. For convenience. It is situated at grid reference TQ390772. Park stretches along the slope and at two levels. At the lowest level (closest to the museum, the Queen's House, and behind them, the Thames) lies to the north, after a steep walk up the hill, there is a flat space, which is essentially a closed extension of the plateau Blackheath. Festival Central Square area, which will develop the festival are selected for their willingness to participate, subject to availability of the arts infrastructure of the people working there, the ability of local sources of funding to support creative teams (Pevsner, 2003).

Marketing Techniques

In the musical and entertainment industry, many marketing techniques…

Project Objectives

The program will enable parents to communicate with their child about a crucial health issue -- responsible sexual behavior and HIV / AIDS infection.

The program will bring about awareness to both parent and child, as members of the community, about the prevalence of HIV / AIDS infection and other forms of abuses/illnesses linked with it.

The program will enable participants to internalize the issue through more specific examples/cases, like those illustrated in juvenile literature (read to the participants).

Content Outline & Implementation

Introduction

Conversational interview of participants about responsible sexual behavior & HIV / AIDS prevention

Discussion of Healthy People 2010 statistics and trends about responsible sexual behavior & HIV / AIDS prevention

Summary discussion about the statistical information cited

Case Analysis & Group Discussion

Presentation of a literary work per pair (will be used as the program's series of case studies)

Discussion of participants' interpretation of…

project planning and management analysis of two different projects .We compare and contrast the different approaches that should be adopted by a project manager who is managing the two types of projects that have different requirements as outlined in their charters. The two projects are Highway Expansion Project (HEP) and Next Generation Cell Phone Product (NGP).

A project can be defined as an attempt to achieve a given objective or aim within a given time. A project cannot be successful without thorough planning. Making a project schedule is the first thing that one should make before undertaking any project. Usually, project planning is disregarded in favor of moving on with work. Nevertheless, many people always fail to comprehend the significance of a project schedule in saving both time and money besides numerous other problems. This paper tries to look at an easy, practical approach to project planning. Once it is…

Charter, Scope Management, Project Planning (Project Management)

PROJECT CHARTER

Sponsor:

Government Agency

Goal Definition and Performance Indicators in Soft Projects: uilding a Competitive Intelligence System

Problem/Opportunity Statement

The rivalry between the different divisions in the tourism organization is very high, which calls for coordination. Nevertheless, this coordination would consume substantial portion of the organization's resources. The concept to utilize was felt, owing to the above challenges, and the organization to produce quality information, and the system would work well to eliminate this challenge. Therefore, the solution was to develop an operational Competitive Intelligence System within a timeframe of two years. In addition, this system should be good in comparison to the already existing CISs in the private sector.

Key Deliverables

The CIS system was meant to meet the needs felt at lower levels (particularly the needs for those in the middle line management)

The main reason for its design, would…

Even a good plan cannot account for all subcontracting-related delays. Intuitively it might seem that a plan of such magnitude could not be completed on time, at least not with so many subcontractors. When in doubt, common sense should 'win out' when allowing for delays.

The only conceivable way for a good baseline plan to have accounted for more contingencies within the project would be to work with all subcontractors involved on the various projects and create a master timeline. Provided the contractors were honest about the real deadlines for their deliverables, the various arms of the project could have been better-coordinated. The time-sensitive nature of the project, designed to take advantage of a critical business opportunity suggests it may have been too ambitious to do the company real financial good, and a more feasible and moderate production line expansion might have better achieved the designed goal.

Better coordination would…

keys success" effective project planning. This a 3 5-page essay. Note articles focuses elements, combinations components planning. When finished, submit essay coursenet

Keys to success for effective project planning

The planning of the project is an essential step in ensuring the final success of the respective project. At the planning stage, projects get mapped in terms of strategic efforts involved, the implementation of the efforts, the results expectations, the necessary resources to be engaged and so on.

The endeavors completed throughout the planning stage of process development are various and would even differ from one group to the other, even from one project to the other. The differences would normally be linked to variances in the projects themselves, such as the nature of the expectations, strategies, size of team handling the project and so on.

Still, aside from the features which create discrepancies in the processes of project planning, fact…

Microsoft Project

Planning

Project planning, scheduling, budgeting, and risk management

One of the most challenging aspects of management is coordinating different components of a project, so the delay of one aspect of the project does not result in a long-term slowdown. Lost time is lost money. Microsoft Project enables efficient coordination between different processes and also enhances the selection of the right projects for the organization in the first place. It provides efficient ways to budget a project, and also allows a manager to engage in efficient human resource allocation with ease. Microsoft Project allows managers to view all work processes in a central location, at the same time. This better enables the organization to see potential overlap of resource use and can also address problems before they spiral out of control. The program can also project resource needs, which allows the organization to determine if a particular project is…

Practicum Project 1: Project Planning Form and Resource AssessmentPersons with specific needs face barriers in receiving certain kids' support based on their societal discrimination, identity, or other relevant factors. These circumstances enforce them to be deprived of rightful services that the state is not providing them and hence remain dispossessed from enjoying their lives to the fullest like other normal citizens of the state. This paper aims to identify such at-risk or vulnerable aggregate within the population of the area where they reside. The demographics of the chose aggregate would be discussed, and disaster preparedness deficits would be identified. The agency resources would be pointed out to help this community, and the emergency management coordinator's contact would be provided. Also, some websites would be cited to address the special needs of this aggregate effectively.Identification of At-Risk Community AggregateThe refugee camps of Texas are selected as the at-risk or vulnerable community…

The strengths of this model are that early iterations of the projects are the least costly and enables the highest risk to be addressed at the least overall cost ensuring upon increase of costs a decrease in risks and secondly that each iteration of the spiral may be custom made to satisfy the needs within the project. Weaknesses in this model are the ambiguous natured milestones, activities performed in parallel are subject to miscommunications and mistaken assumptions and unplanned interdependence is a factor that can create problems.

The "Staged-Delivery" Lifecycle Model

The deliverables in this model are covered in the early stages of the project. In this form of the lifecycle the design is "broken into deliverable stages for detailed design, coding, testing and deployment." The strengths in this model is that it can put useful functionality into the hands of customers earlier than were the project delivered by the…

Motivation factors are those that tend to increase motivation when satisfied. Lewis cites company policy as a major hygiene factor; many employees feel oppressed by company policies and are less productive, or even intentionally counterproductive as a result. Most people have at some point had to deal with a company policy that was arbitrary and annoying. It is indeed a major de-motivational factor, but Lewis may be overestimating the ability of the project manager to influence it; the sort of company that puts arbitrary policies in place is also likely to be unresponsive to requests to change them, regardless of how well-reasoned they are.

Lewis concludes with an example project plan: his plan to develop this book, and a class to accompany it. His plan uses the planning techniques described in the book, and includes a number of charts and diagrams. To provide support. The example plan provides a good…

"

There are several benefits that a global consumer electronic firm could derive from inter-project learning.

First, inter-project learning allows firm to enhance project completeness. Prencipe, & Tell (2001) argue that inter-project learning allows firms to execute a project in a best method. In the present competitive market environment, project is the key to the dynamic competitive capabilities. Typically, accumulation of knowledge builds project competencies, which could enhances market performances of a global consumer electronic firm. Experience has revealed that project-based firm has been able to record high profit in the market environment. ( Brady, and Davies, 2004).Through inter-project learning, a global consumer electronic firm will be able to better estimate the project costs and this will enhance ability to deliver the project with success. Moreover, the inter-project learning will enable the company to estimate the project risks efficiently. By better evaluating the project risks, the project manager will be…

Program Management

Projects Compared - Belbin analysis

In order to find a way through which the success of teams could be predicted Dr. Meredith Belbin, a management psychologists, worked in collaboration with Henley Management College in the early 1970s. Business simulations were used in running some experiments for the research by Dr. Meredith Belbin. Participants were divided according to different psychological types such as if they are introvert or extrovert etc. It was his hope to find a team mix that is perfect. In 5 years' times he was able to establish the fact that in particular types of projects specific clusters or patterns can be made use of in order to predict the success of a team (Bennett, 2001). There is often a preference found in the minds of the individuals regarding these clusters. It was also established by him that it can never happen that one team can…

The project manager should at all times be present to monitor and ensure that it's the correct mixing of materials being done, it's the right quality of material being used, and it's the right amount of time being given to the treatment process in the different construction phases. In the event that this is not observed, and the building is erected, there's a high probability that the building will deteriorate at an early stage before its lifespan or even collapse as witnessed almost daily Zwikael and Ahn, 2011()

As a construction is ongoing, a major contribution to its success is the relationship between the different stakeholders. This includes the architect, the engineer, the owner, the contactor and the workers. In order to smoothly run the project and limit malice and incorporation, there should be a union and set goals and objectives between all these parties so as to ensure everyone…

Project Management and the Transformation System

In this research paper, the author discussed he concept of project management employing in a construction firm. The author described briefly, the mission of construction organization, i.e. its product and services, intended markets, and how the product or service is distinct from those offered by competitors. The author also analyzed the scope of integration of project management concepts such as; Project Planning, Portfolio, Life Cycle, Team Management, Scheduling and Controlling the Project. Firms can benefit by integrating project management concepts to overcome the issues like team management, planning and managing. A project is considered winning if it completes on time, goes on to follows a pre-set schedule, remain within the provided budget, and finally its customers are pleased. For successful completion and for the satisfaction of costumers, it should have a specific time frame and must achieve the prior set targets by deploying resources…

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…

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 scope is also made flexible to adapt to any incoming changes that may impact the company in near future.

A single line for management of communication must be established,

Dual management lines make communications more difficult to manage. When team members receive conflicting instructions from project and functional managers, time and effort are wasted clarifying the communication. The team might be unable to react fast enough to meet changing project requirements. (ichman, 2002)

The main communication plan involves the audiences that should be reached and the format used such as for the management, it is advised to chair a meeting twice every week to address about the current situations and also to get feedback and act accordingly. For the finance department, daily feedback (either directly through a representative or indirectly through email) required on the current status of the company's finances and how they are coping with the changes.…

Project schedule and risk management are some of the most important components of project management. These components play a crucial role in project planning, which is a process used to organize various areas of a project such as workloads and management of the project team. Project schedule basically refers to a listing of the activities or tasks, milestones, and deliverables of a project that includes the expected start and finish dates ("Project Scheduling," n.d.). isk management is a process through which a project manager and team predicts risks, estimates impacts of these risks on the project, and describe reactions to these issues. This process usually involves the preparation of a risk management plan or outline in order to accomplish these goals.

Definition of What Needs to be Done:

One of the most important aspects to consider when developing a project schedule is all the work that needs to be completed.…

(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…

Project Management: Case Study in Managing a Complex Shipyard Project in Singapore

Background of Complex Shipyard Construction Project

Company background

Project Overview and Objective

ork Process of Building Construction

Issue Analysis in Shipyard Construction Project Management

Literature Review of Project Management

Issues in Scope Management

Methodology of Scope Management

Lessons Learned from Scope Management

Issues in Cost Management

Methodology of Cost Management

Lessons Learned from Cost Management

Issues in Human Resources

Methodology of HR Management

Lessons Learned from Human Resource Management

Case Study in Managing a Complex Shipyard Construction Project in Singapore

Introduction.

This paper introduces the special features of a completed shipyard project, together with its construction and human resource management processes as well. The organization of the paper provides an introduction to the topic, an overview and background of the In the first part, this project illustrates overview of the complex background of a complex ship-building project as…

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,…

Project Management

Scope Management

Small LAN's Inc. installed a Local Area Network at the new Spring Academy Childcare Center. The project came in a few weeks late becaue of a failure in the planning procees and the overall partner's communications. "In directing the intent of the project, the plan must clearly identify the project objectives, goals, and any special influences or constraints on the project scope." (Stuckenbruck, 100) In order to compete in the twenty first century, Small LAN's Inc. turned in a rather low bid to acquire this work and with today's tighter corporate budgets and reduced resources, Spring Academy Childcare Center accepted.

For this particular project, the project scope consisted of Small LAN's Inc. taking the lead in purchasing all necessary equipment and then professionally installing an entire network over the course of twenty three days. The project had a start date of May 17, 2002. The deadline…

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…

Project Management Concepts

Question 1; the Triple Constraint

The term triple constraint refers to three interdependent factors which will act as constraints on the way projects are completed. The triple constraints, which may also be called the 'project triangle', will be found in all projects, they are the factors of time, cost, and scope. Successful projects are usually defined as those which are delivered at the right time, within the correct budget, and to the specified scope. These different influences converge, to understand their interrelationship each factor may be considered individually, followed by a discussion on the way in which the influence each other.

The time constraint refers to the timescale in which the project should be delivered, meeting the required completion schedule. For a project to be delivered on time it is essential there is effective time management exercised within the projects, ensuring that each stage of the project…

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.…

If so, the project manager has the necessary tools to assess the project's progress and communicate its status and needs to others.

Conclusion:

Useful tools are defined for project management. Prior to initiation, there are tools for ensuring that all parties agree on the goal, the approach, the costs, the personnel, the timetable, and the "deliverables." Yet, only when these are defined and agreed upon can the project planning begin. Furthermore, only when the plans are defined and agreed upon can the project actually commence! It quickly becomes apparent why we speak in terms of project phases. The project management profession has developed tools, techniques, education, certification, publications, and organizations to enhance the collective skill set of its practitioners. The reason is quite clear - there is a tremendous amount of money at risk and too few projects are complete successes. However, the profession continues to self-improve. Gifted individuals bring…

Project

Project No.

Product name

Product status

Inspection result

eviewed by ____ Project Manager

Signed ____ Date

Approved by ____ Sponsor

Signed ____Date

Accepted by ____ Client

Signed ____Date

29 -- QA Audit Form - Purchasing Goods And Services

Activity

esponsibility

Findings

Comments / emarks

( x

Scope of Work determined.

Costs estimated.

Verify whether local supply of required product or service has been checked.

Funds available.

Purchasing documents reviewed prior to issue

Delivered goods inspected

30 -- Team Survey

Issue

Yes

Maybe

No

Suggestion

Team members are respected and trusted

Team efforts are recognised and rewarded

Team members are open about problems

All required information is available

Team members contribute to decision-making

Our team has necessary skills & resources

We are encouraged to take initiative

Individual and team goals are clear

We work well together as a team

Organisational systems support our team

31 - Meeting Action Statement

Meeting…

The reasons for optimization of the project plan are to save time, to save money and to save in over-allocation of human resources to the project. Management of people, processes, and performance is critical in project management success. According to the work entitled: Integrated Project Management Optimization:

"In this case the decision space is confined by the restricted human capacity and the candidate architectural solutions. The well-known limits are the development capacity, the available cost, the required quality, the dependability etc. The real task is to find the optimal scheduling of the work to keep the given time limits, or to realize the optimal allocation of the human capacity to reduce the cost of the project. Our aim is to trace this problem back to combinatorial optimization." (Doban, 2005)

The following illustration demonstrates the different aspects of project management that must be considered by the project manager:

Source: Project Management…

Project Management and Scope Control

Briefly describe the difference between time-constrained project and resource-constrained project with regard to scheduling methods:

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 the totality of work involved in supervising the progress and products of the project, 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…

Project Management

In order to define project management, one must first define what is a project. A project is a temporary activity performed by a group in order to develop a unique service, product, or result. A project is labeled a temporary activity because it has a defined start and end in time. Therefore, a project has a defined scope and resources. This means that a project can only be carried out within a specified time and with the set-aside resources. A project is unique because it is not a something that is carried out on a routine basis within an organization. A project uses a set of operations that are designed to accomplish a particular goal. Therefore, a project team mostly encompasses people who would normally not be working together because they are from different organizations, or geographies. There are different types of projects that range from software for…

The study of physics, optics and biology of the eye contributed to the development of the quadrant and sextant. The Islamic world also created the concept of a library.

The Crusades of the eleventh century brought the learning of the Islamic world to Europe unfortunately this information was acquired by the act of war. The Crusades also increased the flow of trade, bringing new spices, gemstones and foods to Europe. The Crusades marked the beginning of religion as the basis for society. The Pope and the Catholic Church emerged as the leaders of society and religion as the unifying morality.

Rather than a change in politics, a mini-renaissance occurred during Romanesque period. The study of art, science and culture brought about a change in architectural styling and building materials; increased use of rounded arches and barrel vaults emerged at the same time as the use of metal, enamel, ivory, bronze,…

The project manager must effectively utilize all of the communication methods available to them. They must choose the most appropriate method of communication for the workers and for the managers. The more workers and managers hear the messages, in as many sensory modes possible, the more likely the message will be to make an impact on a reduction in accidents on the job.

Language proved to be a problem in Australia's construction industry. Many of the safety programs are conducted in English, although a significant portion of workers in the industry are non-English speakers. Communication proved to be a significant problem in the successful implementation of safety programs. The key factors were the inability to understand government safety regulations and the inability to communicate these standards to the workers (Trajkoevski & Loosemore, 2005). Project managers must be aware of language barriers that may hinder the ability to communicate safety messages…

Project Management

The ten trends that ESI has proposed for this year are:

The ESI has predicted that there would be lofty expectations from the project managers this year. This means that the managers would have to constantly glide to find cost-benefit tradeoff between standardization and customization from projects and decide on what is required and at what cost. The project managers at work would require to clearly and quickly identify the gaps between the expectations of the company and the clients and the shortcomings of the cloud-based platforms.

In 2015, the project managers would require to hire talent rather than expect talent to be developed at work and cut down on outsourcing as much as possible. There would be requirement to align hiring according to company strategies.

ESI claims that the project managers would be required to get more agile on the job and hybrid project teams would need…

Project management is an important component in the success of projects undertaken by modern business organizations or enterprises. Organizations embark on project management initiatives to help promote the success and effectiveness of their various projects. However, organizations across the globe face substantial project failure rates, which are often costly since they waste millions of dollars in the process. Given the likelihood of project failures, organizations undertake several measures to help enhance the success of their projects. Despite these efforts, project failure is still a reality that many organizations worldwide have to struggle with. This paper examines three reasons why a project can fail and discusses solutions that can be utilized by organizations to eliminate the problem and turn the project or initiative into a successful venture.
Reasons for Project Failure
Pinto & Mantel (1990) states existing literature on project management has different definitions and unique examples of the concept of…

Astra Zeneca

Project Proposal to Streamline Operational Processes

The pharmaceutical industry in general is undergoing extreme amounts of external pressures. Not only has the economic environment since the global recession been less than ideal, but there are increasing regulatory pressures and healthcare reforms that are also expected to dramatically change the environment in which AstraZeneca operates. It is in this environment that the organization must streamline its operations so that it can be more lean and flexible when adapting to the new landscape that will emerge in the near future.

This project proposal outlines a project portfolio management program that can be implemented to ensure the organization can eliminate any unneeded waste in its operations. This portfolio will be implemented across many divisions and will require a schedule of one year. Each division will have an individual project that is tailored to a scope that suites there individual department's needs.…

In this regard, Khodakarami et al. report that, "Critical path method is very simple and provides very useful and fundamental information about a project and its activities schedule. However, because of its single-point estimate assumption, it is too simplistic to be used in complex projects" (p. 41). The authors' extensive use of acronyms, though, makes it difficult to understanding some of their more esoteric descriptions of the integration of critical path methods into Bayesian networks notwithstanding their use of illustrative graphics in support of their assertions. Despite this constraint, the authors describe several aspects of their innovative approach that can contribute to project management in several ways, including the following.

Project Integration Management

Project integration management involves the processes required for overall project coordination (Kendrick, 2003). The methodology developed by Khodakarami et al. allows for the development of various "what-if" scenarios that can model the effects of different processes at…

Health and Safety in Construction Industry

The construction industry is by far the most dangerous one as it takes more lives every year and results in many short- and long-term minor or severe injuries. The UK government regulatory bodies have been playing a significant role in ensuring that proper health and safety procedures are followed. Throughout the last four decades, its role has been impeccable in decreasing fatalities in the construction industry, although the excessive rules and regulations, frequent changes, bureaucratic structure and lack of project management and risk management techniques have dented its efficiency in protecting small construction companies and contractors, resulting in a compensation and claim culture engulfed with individual profiteers such as insurance companies, lawyers and health and safety consultants. These excessive regulations have pushed constructors to adopt some illegal practices in order to decrease cost and probability of claims from injured workers. The risk management and…

Role of Project Manager in Different Projects

The project manager plays an instrumental role in ensuring project success. It could actually be argued that the project manager is the most important person in any project management environment (Meredith and Mantel, 2011). Essentially, the project manager carries the overall responsibility for ensuring the project is successfully planned, designed, executed, monitored, controlled, and closed (Thomsett, 2010; Young, 2013). Whereas the role of the project manager tends to be similar in virtually all projects, there could be some differences from one type of project to another (Winch, 2010; Project Management Institute [PMI], 2013). This essay critically evaluates the role of the project manager in three contrasting types of projects.

As per the conventional project management methodology, the role of the project manager stretches across four major functions: planning (laying out a plan for achieving the overall objective of the project); execution (implementing the…

The value of this case study is demonstrative. It demonstrates how contingency planning can be used, but it says nothing of the results.

A quasi-experimental design was used by Chermack & Kim (2008) to explore the effect of scenario planning on decision-making styles. It was found hat participants in scenario planning have a tendency to make a mental shift towards intuitive-based decision-making styles after their participation in the scenario planning process. This study used a limited sample from a single company. However, the study demonstrates that this might be an area of interest for future studies. It examined the effect of the scenario planning process on individuals, rather than on the firm as a whole. This study was unique in its approach to scenario planning. A majority of the studies found in this literature review approached scenario planning from the standpoint of the entire organization and its affects on the…

Natural Soup Project

PROJECT STATUS REPORT

Currently the Natural Soap Project is roughly halfway through its planning phase. Thus far it has already experienced some losses of technical resources which has caused delays as well as anxieties. This analysis will provide a project status update.

MILESTONE CHART

Work

Duration

Start

Finish

% Work Complete

Project Planning

112 hrs

Wed 10/7/15

Mon 10/26/15

Technical Team

112 hrs

Wed 10/7/15

Mon 10/26/15

Requirements

hrs

Wed 11/11/15

Manufacture Soap

hrs

Thu 11/12/15

Mon 12/14/15

Testing

hrs

Deployment

hrs

Wed 12/16/15

Wed 12/16/15

SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE

SUMMARY OF RISKS AND ISSUES

Highlights of Risks

Anxiety among members of the technical team

Competition could potentially launch 3 months earlier

Placed other projects at risk due to borrowed assets

Highlights of Issues

Loss of two key technical resources

day delay

DISCUSSION

Risk is defined as an event that has a probability of occurring, and could have…

Project Management, Sustainability and Whole Lifecycle Thinking

ITT Project Management - Sustainability and Whole Lifecycle Thinking

Although the sustainability movement has been advocated predominately in response to the irresponsible expansion of inefficient infrastructure by industrialized nations, with the United States and Japan now making significant efforts to embrace "green" growth practices, a growing movement has emerged that promoting sustainability throughout developing nations presents the most productive path. Even as the most modernized nations continue to update their consumption patterns to better suit the technological age, seeking efficiency and effectiveness that is sustainable for the foreseeable future, rising powers like China, India, and Brazil are expanding their spheres of influence at the expense of the natural environment. To address the threats posed by developing nations repeating the mistakes of prior generations, mistakes which run the gamut from China's reckless damming of its nation's natural waterways to India's inability to address its…

Project Management

Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital was founded in 1982 and has since then offered medical services to the public. The health care organization is located in central Washington DC and has been one of the renowned hospitals in the region. However, in the past six months, the health care organization has experienced a great influx of critical and acute patients needing medical treatment. The chief of general surgery has since then presented a project to be executed with the purpose of expanding the ICU unit of the hospital to cater to more patients. The main objective of the project is to increase the space of the ICU unit in order to cater to more patients. Another objective is also to procure advanced technology that will facilitate the nurses and doctors in the treatment of acute and critical patients. Once completed, Project Grey will have an insurmountable impact on Grey…

From such goal, problems can be avoided within the process of building the house. Moreover, with the help of the process of identifying the needs first before going into the process of house construction, the course of building the house can be properly managed.

In general, within the main goal of developing a good project management practice is the goal of identifying the important procedures that must be considered to complete the main goal. Following are some of the important subordinate objectives.

To have the skill and practice of identifying important requirements for a project

To have the skill and practice of organizing a project plan before starting the process of project development.

To have the skill and practice of following a systematic process of project development.

Schedule and WS

uilding a Home

Description:

Implementing a good project management in planning and building a home.

Input: Identified requirements for building…

" (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 --…

Project isk Management

isks associated with projects successful completion

A project is an undertaking of human beings towards satisfying world needs. Projects are endeavors with a defined beginning and an end. Projects suffer from scope, time, cost and quality constraints. It is necessary for project managers to manage the risk of developing weak scope. Scope of a project incorporates the objectives of a project, the target population, the output and impact of that endeavor. Therefore, managers of project need to do a problem analysis, stakeholder analysis, environment analysis to know if the project is sustainable (Cleland & King, 1988). On the risk of time, managers need skills on time management. Management of projects requires one to be well versed in developing schedules. Time management involves developing systems that has a specific time of completion and start time.

Scheduling of projects includes hiring of individuals for the accomplishment of projects. There…

Project Management

The project selected for this study is the opening of a new restaurant in New York City. This restaurant will be named: "Home Grown." It will be fashioned after the restaurant-creation in the television program "Fifteen" in the U.K. Food Network, a cable television channel has decided to open the restaurant by hiring fifteen trainees. The trainees will be taught all the requisite skills to chefs. Along with that they will also be able to assess the related needs of the restaurant industry. Jamie Oliver, the mastermind behind "Fifteen" in the U.K. has been selected to head this project along with his sous-chef who would be monitor the daily operations in NY City. The restaurant is to open on Christmas Eve, 2004 and it is hoped that it will be a success. Food Network has a budget of ten million dollars earmarked for this project. Any profits from…

The Code also allows for one accessory building, a storage shed, fences, walls, and landscape screens. These screens are not to exceed seven feet in height. They should also be adjacent to the rear and side property lines. At the front, they should not exceed three feet in height. Private swimming pools are also subject to Code specifications.

The Code is aimed at the comfort and well-being of residents, in terms of which domestic animals are also taken into account. The Code does not require specific provisions for domestic animals such as dogs or cats, apart from the fact that they are required to remain inside the fenced area of their residence. If livestock were to be held on a property, the provision is one animal per ten thousand squire feet of the lot area. If these animals are held on a property, they are required to be in a…

Project Management Email esponse

Choosing a Project

In order to determine which of the three projects is best, it is important to conduct a feasibility study. That is done to take a careful look at each one of the projects offered and examine what they provide to the company in the future. Of course, it is not possible to know exactly what will happen, and there are only projections and assumptions that can be made with any new product launch or adjustment (Farris et al., 2010). Still, the best way to make these is through studying the feasibility of the different options provided in order to make the best and most educated plan for the future (Farris et al., 2010; Levy, 2002). This study shows that the Palomino project is going to be the recommended option between the three choices available, because it provides the most balance. There are a…

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…

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…

Problems and risks related to contracted a new company relate both to cost, safety measures and legal liability. The primary consideration is cost, as this is the major problem related to the issue mentioned above. The first requirement for the new company would then have to be a cost that is as close as possible to the price to date charged by Walkers Ausgas before the increase. Being a transport company, safety is also of utmost importance. Hence, it has to be ensured that the new company will deliver a service either of similar or higher quality than Walkers Ausgas. Pricing and quality therefore have to be in optimal balance in order to minimize the risk of legal liability.

pecifically then, the risks include the following:

3.1 afety

afety is one of the most important issues at Kingsgrove. Ensuring that proper testing and certification measures are in place minimizes the…

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

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

As developed in the 1950's by the U.S. Navy as a method to manage complex projects; the Program Evaluation and eview Technique (PET) "is a network diagram that visually displays the activities and milestones which are required for project completion" (NETMBA.com. N.D. PP. 1). The assembling of a PET chart requires the compilation of all tasks related to implementing and completing a project, developing activity times and their proper order, and identifying the critical path; the absolute necessity for effective project management.

In terms of creating a timeline, what is meant by the critical path of a PET chart?

The critical path is "the sequence of schedule activities that determines the duration of the project" (Makar, A. September 10, 2009. PP. 1). Whether a project is outlined in days, weeks, or even years the critical path "identifies the total calendar time required for a project" (NETMBA.com. N.D. PP.…

Project Management

Project Schedule

To develop a schedule for a project, we will use the concept of a project network, which shows work activities taken from the work breakdown structure and organized according to the logical flow in time and relationships governing when the work will be performed.

Combining this network of work activities with estimates of the time duration for performing each of the activities, create a schedule for the project work.

When planning a project, one of the key steps is to develop a work breakdown structure for the project. This lets the project team know all the steps necessary to complete the project. Each activity can be broken down into a time estimate and then these can be compiled in an overall project schedule. Some of the activities can be completed at the same time while others will have to be finished before the next activity can…

Project Management

In The Custom Woodworking Company, hereafter known as "Woody's," there were numerous project management problems that appeared from the very beginning, and they only got worse as the product was carried out. The Woody 2000 project was not well conceived, and that was the first problem encountered. When a project is going to begin, it needs to be thoroughly planned out first (Wideman, 2001b). There was little planning that took place with this project, as it was suggested and seemed to snowball from that point. Before Woody knew what was happening, a budget was proposed and there was a meeting with the engineers who were going to add to the building (The Custom Woodworking Company, 2012). Even then, the project started off badly. Originally, the desired plan was to move the company's location to a huge facility where rapid expansion could take place. However, Woody and his wife…