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Management Assignment 1

1. The document discusses key aspects of project management including definitions of projects and milestones. It describes the five major decision making milestones in project management as identifying the problem, generating alternatives, evaluating alternatives, making a decision, and implementing and monitoring the decision. 2. Details are provided on techniques for evaluating alternatives such as SWOT analysis and decision matrices. 3. The five major processes of project time management are outlined as activity definition, activity sequencing, activity estimation and duration, schedule development, and schedule control.

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Suwilanji Moomba
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60 views5 pages

Management Assignment 1

1. The document discusses key aspects of project management including definitions of projects and milestones. It describes the five major decision making milestones in project management as identifying the problem, generating alternatives, evaluating alternatives, making a decision, and implementing and monitoring the decision. 2. Details are provided on techniques for evaluating alternatives such as SWOT analysis and decision matrices. 3. The five major processes of project time management are outlined as activity definition, activity sequencing, activity estimation and duration, schedule development, and schedule control.

Uploaded by

Suwilanji Moomba
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT

ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
MG 531 Assignment 1
Date: 1ST JUNE 2020

NAME: FRANK SUWILANJI MOOMBA


SIN: 15006231
PROGRAM: EEE
a) What is a Project?
A Project is a temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end that is done to create a
unique product, service or result. It is temporary in that it cannot go on indefinitely and
must have a defined purpose. [1]

b) With illustrations explain in details the decision-making milestones in project


management.

A milestone is a marker in a project that signifies a change or stage development. They


are very useful components in project management because they show key events and
map forward movement in your project plan. Milestones act as sign posts through the
course of your project, helping ensure you stay on track. [2]
Project Decision Making is the process whereby the project leader and his/her team
decide upon project strategy, tactics and acceptable actions. Good decisions come from
the use of a logical and rational process, reaching one milestone after the other for goal
accomplishment. The process of Good decision making in project management includes
the following milestones; [3]
1. Identify and state the problem - this is the first and most important step. A
project manager must identify the problem and understand it clearly before
proceeding to seek a solution. If the problem is stated incorrectly or is unclear
then your decisions will be wrong.
2. Identify alternatives and generate all possible solutions – here, the project
leader and team list all possible alternatives. Most times several will be available.
3. Evaluate the alternatives and select the best solution – the alternatives are
analyzed. The project manager can use techniques to rank the alternatives. The
purpose is to have a list that ranks the best alternatives using a set of criteria for
viability. Several techniques used for this exist. These include;
i. SWOT – This method is used during the feasibility study of the project.
the projects alternatives are gauged based on strength, weakness,
opportunity, and threat. [4]

Strengths Weaknesses

Characteristics of an alternative Characteristics of an alternative


which give it advantages over its which make it disadvantageous
competitors relative to competitors

Opportunities Threats
Elements in the projects external Elements in the external
environment that allow it to environment that could endanger
formulate and implement the integrity and profitability of
strategies to increase profitability the alternative
ii. Decision Matrices – this is a series of values in columns and rows that
allows you to visually compare possible project alternatives and solutions
by weighing their variables based on importance. A decision matrix can be
simple or weighted (importance is assigned to all criteria). This is best
used when situations are assessed from a logical point of view with
enough comparable variables to make a weighted analysis. Consider the
example below which shows how one can use a decision matrix to say buy
a car. Here, each criterion is rated on a scale of 1-10 ranging from bad (1)
to good (10). With the alternative having the higher score at the end
proving to be the best choice. [5]

Criteria Car A Car B Car C


Price 6 4 3
Fuel consumption 3 4 2
Reliability 4 4 5
Available space 3 4 5
Engine power 2 4 6
Total 18 20 21

4. Make a Decision – once all the alternatives have been evaluated, the project
manager should select two or more of the high ranked alternatives and test the
solution against them. The manager should then decide on the solution that has
the best chance at solving the problem at hand.
5. Implement the decision and monitor the results – here the manager puts into
place the preferred solution. However, before this is done, good project managers
make a revision of the project plan, schedule, budget and other resources to
ensure that the solution can be implemented. Thereafter, the outcome of the
implemented solution is tracked and monitored. It may take some time for long
term outcomes to become apparent.

c) A project time management consists of five major processes. Identify and explain in
detail each of these processes.

Project time management has five major processes. These are listed and explained in
detail below.

1) Activity Definition
An activity is an element of work that has a duration, cost and resource management. It is
important that the project team and stakeholders promptly identity the activities they must
perform in order to produce results. [1]

2) Activity Sequencing
To sequence something means to arrange its items or tasks to be performed in a logical
order or pattern, following one thing after another in time. Activity sequencing is thus the
identifying and documenting of relationships between project activities and identifying
which ones need to be performed earlier than others. This process brings to surface what
logical relationship the activities share with each other. [1]
There are two methods of Activity Sequencing. These are,

i) Precedence Diagraming Method (PDM) – this involves constructing a project


schedule network diagram that uses boxes or rectangles called nodes, to represent
activities and connect them with arrows that show the logical relationship that exist
between them. It is also called the activity on node (AON)

ii) Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) – in this method, activities are mapped on
arcs and nodes represent events. Here, arrows are also used to represent activities and
connects them at nodes to show their relationship. It is also known as Activity on
arrows (AOA).

3) Activity Estimation Duration


During this process, the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities
with limited resources is estimated. This process is very key and has to be done with high
accuracy. It requires info such as scope of activity, resource types, quantities and
calendars. It helps give an estimate of the total project time and gives a network that can
be analyzed to see a critical path. [1]

4) Schedule Development
this process involves developing the projects schedule. To do this, activity sequences,
durations and resource requirements all have to be analyzed. Once done, it determines the
planned start and finish dates of the project activities and milestones and also provide
estimates to optimize trade-offs between time, cost and resources. [1]

5) Schedule Control
This process involves controlling and managing changes to project schedules. It involves
monitoring the status of the project to update its progress and manage changes to the
schedule time. [1]
REFERENCES

[1] M. Himooonga, “Project Management,” Eng. Manag. (MG 531) Notes, 2019.
Coppperbelt Univ., pp. 1–13.

[2] B. Harned, “How to Use Milestones in Project Management,” 2018.

[3] R. Siles, “What is the Decision Making Process ?,” no. June, 2018.

[4] S. Joshi, “Decision Making Models In Project Management.”

[5] K. F. and M. M. Carlyann Edwards, “What Is a Decision Matrix ? De nition and


Examples,” 2019.

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