“A STUDY ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT”

A Mini Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of
the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRAION

OF

BANGALORE UNIVERSITY

SUBMITTED BY

MAHIMA M

Reg. No: P03DB22M015035

G.T INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES AND RESEARCH

Sunkadakatte, Magadi Main Road, Bangalore – 560091

Bangalore University
2024-25
Introduction

Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within
the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at
the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, and budget.
The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet
pre-defined objectives.

The objective of project management is to produce a complete project which complies with the
client's objectives. In many cases, the objective of project management is also to shape or reform
the client's brief to feasibly address the client's objectives. Once the client's objectives are clearly
established, they should influence all decisions made by other people involved in the project – for
example, project managers, designers, contractors, and subcontractors. Ill-defined or too tightly
prescribed project management objectives are detrimental to decision-making.

A project is a temporary and unique endeavor designed to produce a product, service, or result
with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or
staffing) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change
or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or
operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce
products or services. In practice, the management of such distinct production approaches requires
the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies.

Project management types

Project management methods can be applied to any project. It is often tailored to a specific type of
project based on project size, nature, industry or sector. For example, the construction industry,
which focuses on the delivery of things like buildings, roads, and bridges, has developed its own
specialized form of project management that it refers to as construction project management and
in which project managers can become trained and certified. The information technology industry
has also evolved to develop its own form of project management that is referred to as IT project
management and which specializes in the delivery of technical assets and services that are required
to pass through various lifecycle phases such as planning, design, development, testing, and
deployment. Biotechnology project management focuses on the intricacies of biotechnology
research and development. Localization project management includes application of many
standard project management practices to translation works even though many consider this type
of management to be a very different discipline. For example, project managers have a key role in
improving the translation even when they do not speak the language of the translation, because
they know the study objectives well to make informed decisions. Similarly, research study
management can also apply a project manage approach. There is public project management that
covers all public works by the government, which can be carried out by the government agencies
or contracted out to contractors. Another classification of project management is based on the hard
(physical) or soft (non-physical) type.

Common among all the project management types is that they focus on three important goals: time,
quality, and cost. Successful projects are completed on schedule, within budget, and according to
previously agreed quality standards i.e. meeting the Iron Triangle or Triple Constraint in order for
projects to be considered a success or failure.

For each type of project management, project managers develop and utilize repeatable templates
that are specific to the industry they're dealing with. This allows project plans to become very
thorough and highly repeatable, with the specific intent to increase quality, lower delivery costs,
and lower time to deliver project results.

Approaches of project management

A 2017 study suggested that the success of any project depends on how well four key aspects are
aligned with the contextual dynamics affecting the project, these are referred to as the four P's:

Plan: The planning and forecasting activities.

Process: The overall approach to all activities and project governance.

People: Including dynamics of how they collaborate and communicate.

Power: Lines of authority, decision-makers, organograms, policies for implementation and the
like.
There are a number of approaches to organizing and completing project activities, including
phased, lean, iterative, and incremental. There are also several extensions to project planning, for
example, based on outcomes (product-based) or activities (process-based).

Regardless of the methodology employed, careful consideration must be given to the overall
project objectives, timeline, and cost, as well as the roles and responsibilities of all participants
and stakeholders.

Benefits realization management

Benefits realization management (BRM) enhances normal project management techniques

through a focus on outcomes (benefits) of a project rather than products or outputs and then
measuring the degree to which that is happening to keep a project on track. This can help to reduce
the risk of a completed project being a failure by delivering agreed upon requirements (outputs)
i.e. project success but failing to deliver the benefits (outcomes) of those requirements i.e. product
success. Note that good requirements management will ensure these benefits are captured as
requirements of the project and their achievement monitored throughout the project.

In addition, BRM practices aim to ensure the strategic alignment between project outcomes and
business strategies. The effectiveness of these practices is supported by recent research evidencing
BRM practices influencing project success from a strategic perspective across different countries
and industries. These wider effects are called the strategic impact.

An example of delivering a project to requirements might be agreeing to deliver a computer system

that will process staff data and manage payroll, holiday, and staff personnel records in shorter
times with reduced errors. Under BRM, the agreement might be to achieve a specified reduction
in staff hours and errors required to process and maintain staff data after the system installation
when compared without the system.
Critical path method

Critical path method (CPM) is an algorithm for determining the schedule for project activities. It
is the traditional process used for predictive-based project planning. The CPM method evaluates
the sequence of activities, the work effort required, the inter-dependencies, and the resulting float
time per line sequence to determine the required project duration. Thus, by definition, the critical
path is the pathway of tasks on the network diagram that has no extra time available (or very little
extra time)."

The historical development of operations management

Operations in some form has been around as long as human endeavor itself but, in manufacturing
at least, it has changed dramatically over time, and there are three major phases - craft
manufacturing, mass production and the modern period. Let's look at each of these briefly in turn.
Operations in some form has been around as long as human endeavor itself but, in manufacturing
at least, it has changed dramatically over time, and there are three major phases - craft
manufacturing, mass production and the modern period. Let's look at each of these briefly in turn.

Critical chain project management

Critical chain project management (CCPM) is an application of the theory of constraints (TOC) to
planning and managing projects and is designed to deal with the uncertainties inherent in managing
projects, while taking into consideration the limited availability of resources (physical, human
skills, as well as management & support capacity) needed to execute projects.

The goal is to increase the flow of projects in an organization (throughput). Applying the first three
of the five focusing steps of TOC, the system constraint for all projects, as well as the resources,
are identified. To exploit the constraint, tasks on the critical chain are given priority over all other
activities.
Project lifecycle

There are five phases to a project lifecycle: known as process groups. Each process group
represents a series of inter-related processes to manage the work through a series of distinct steps
to be completed. This type of project approach is often referred to as "traditional" or "waterfall".
The five process groups are:

Typical development phases of an engineering project

1.Initiating

2.Planning

3.Executing

4.Monitoring and Controlling

5.Closing

Some industries may use variations of these project stages and rename them to better suit the
organization. For example, when working on a brick-and-mortar design and construction, projects
will typically progress through stages like pre-planning, conceptual design, schematic design,
design development, construction drawings (or contract documents), and construction
administration.

While the phased approach works well for small, well-defined projects, it often results in challenge
or failure on larger projects, or those that are more complex or have more ambiguities, issues, and
risks - see the parodying 'six phases of a big project'.

Process groups

Traditionally (depending on what project management methodology is being used), project

management includes a number of elements: four to five project management process groups, and
a control system. Regardless of the methodology or terminology used, the same basic project
management processes or stages of development will be used. Major process groups generally
include:

Initiation, Planning, Production or execution, Monitoring and controlling, Closing

In project environments with a significant exploratory element (e.g., research and development),
these stages may be supplemented with decision points (go/no go decisions) at which the project's
continuation is debated and decided. An example is the Phase–gate model.

Initiating

The initiating processes determine the nature and scope of the project. If this stage is not performed
well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business' needs. The key project
controls needed here are an understanding of the business environment and making sure that all
necessary controls are incorporated into the project. Any deficiencies should be reported, and a
recommendation should be made to fix them.

The initiating stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas. These areas can
be recorded in a series of documents called Project Initiation documents. Project Initiation
documents are a series of planned documents used to create an order for the duration of the project.
These tend to include:

• Project proposal (idea behind project, overall goal, duration).

• Project scope (project direction and track).

• Product breakdown structure (PBS) (a hierarchy of deliverables/outcomes and components

thereof).

• Work breakdown structure (WBS) (a hierarchy of the work to be done, down to daily tasks).

• Responsibility assignment matrix (RACI - Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed)

(roles and responsibilities aligned to deliverables / outcomes).
• Tentative project schedule (milestones, important dates, deadlines).

• Analysis of business needs and requirements against measurable goals.

• Review of the current operations.

• Financial analysis of the costs and benefits, including a budget.

• Stakeholder analysis, including users and support personnel for the project.

• Project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedules.

• SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the business.

Planning

After the initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of detail (see an example of
a flowchart).[37] The main purpose is to plan time, cost, and resources adequately to estimate the
work needed and to effectively manage risk during project execution. As with the Initiation process
group, a failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the project's chances of successfully
accomplishing its goals.

Project planning generally consists of

• Determining the project management methodology to follow (e.g. whether the plan will be
defined wholly upfront, iteratively, or in rolling waves).

• Developing the scope statement.

• Selecting the planning team.

• Identifying deliverables and creating the product and work breakdown structures.
• Identifying the activities needed to complete those deliverables and networking the activities in
their logical sequence.

• Estimating the resource requirements for the activities.

• Estimating time and cost for activities.

• Developing the schedule.

• Developing the budget.

• Risk planning.

• Developing quality assurance measures.

• Gaining formal approval to begin work.

Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management, identifying
roles and responsibilities, determining what to purchase for the project, and holding a kick-off
meeting are also generally advisable.

For new product development projects, conceptual design of the operation of the final product may
be performed concurrent with the project planning activities and may help to inform the planning
team when identifying deliverables and planning activities.

Executing

While executing we must know what are the planned terms that need to be executed. The
execution/implementation phase ensures that the project management plan's deliverables are
executed accordingly. This phase involves proper allocation, coordination, and management of
human resources and any other resources such as materials and budgets. The output of this phase
is the project deliverables.
Project documentation

Documenting everything within a project is key to being successful. To maintain budget, scope,
effectiveness and pace a project must have physical documents pertaining to each specific task.
With correct documentation, it is easy to see whether or not a project's requirement has been met.
To go along with that, documentation provides information regarding what has already been
completed for that project. Documentation throughout a project provides a paper trail for anyone
who needs to go back and reference the work in the past. In most cases, documentation is the most
successful way to monitor and control the specific phases of a project. With the correct
documentation, a project's success can be tracked and observed as the project goes on. If performed
correctly documentation can be the backbone of a project's success.

Monitoring and controlling

Monitoring and controlling consist of those processes performed to observe project execution so
that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken,
when necessary, to control the execution of the project. The key benefit is that project performance
is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan.

•Monitoring and controlling include:

•Measuring the ongoing project activities ('where we are');

•Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, scope, etc.) against the project management plan
and the project performance baseline (where we should be);

•Identifying corrective actions to address issues and risks properly (How can we get on track
again);

•Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes
are implemented.
Two main mechanisms support monitoring and controlling in projects. On the one hand, contracts
offer a set of rules and incentives often supported by potential penalties and sanctions. On the
other hand, scholars in business and management have paid attention to the role of integrators (also
called project barons) to achieve a project's objectives. In turn, recent research in project
management has questioned the type of interplay between contracts and integrators. Some have
argued that these two monitoring mechanisms operate as substitutes as one type of organization
would decrease the advantages of using the other one.

In multi-phase projects, the monitoring and control process also provides feedback between project
phases, to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliance with the
project management plan.

Project maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes:

•Continuing support of end-users

•Correction of errors

•Updates to the product over time

Over the course of any construction project, the work scope may change. Change is a normal and
expected part of the construction process. Changes can be the result of necessary design
modifications, differing site conditions, material availability, contractor-requested changes, value
engineering, and impacts from third parties to name a few. Beyond executing the change in the
field, the change normally needs to be documented to show what was constructed. This is referred
to as change management. Hence, the owner usually requires a final record to show all changes or,
more specifically, any change that modifies the tangible portions of the finished work. The record
is made on the contract documents – usually, but not necessarily limited to, the design drawings.
The product of this effort is what the industry terms as-built drawings, or more simply, "as built."
The requirement for providing them is a norm in construction contracts. Construction document
management is a highly important task undertaken with the aid of an online or desktop software
system or maintained through physical documentation. The increasing legality pertaining to the
construction industry's maintenance of correct documentation has caused an increase in the need
for document management systems.

When changes are introduced to the project, the viability of the project must be re-assessed. It is
important not to lose sight of the initial goals and targets of the projects. When the changes
accumulate, the forecasted result may not justify the original proposed investment in the project.
Successful project management identifies these components, and tracks and monitors progress, so
as to stay within time and budget frames already outlined at the commencement of the project.
Exact methods were suggested to identify the most informative monitoring points along the project
life cycle regarding its progress and expected duration.

Closing

Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof. Administrative
activities include the archiving of the files and documenting lessons learned.

This phase consists of:

•Contract closure: Complete and settle each contract (including the resolution of any open items)
and close each contract applicable to the project or project phase.

•Project close: Finalize all activities across all the process groups to formally close the project or
a project phase.

Also included in this phase is the post implementation review. This is a vital phase of the project
for the project team to learn from experiences and apply to future projects. Normally a post
implementation review consists of looking at things that went well and analyzing things that went
badly on the project to come up with lessons learned.
Characteristics of projects

There are five important characteristics of a project:

(i) It should always have specific start and end dates.

(ii) They are performed and completed by a group of people.

(iii) The output is the delivery of a unique product or service.

(iv) They are temporary in nature.

(v) It is progressively elaborated.

Project complexity

Complexity and its nature play an important role in the area of project management. Despite having
a number of debates on this subject matter, studies suggest a lack of definition and reasonable
understanding of complexity in relation to the management of complex projects.

Project complexity is the property of a project which makes it difficult to understand, foresee, and
keep under control its overall behavior, even when given reasonably complete information about
the project system.

The identification of complex projects is specifically important to multi-project engineering

environments.

As it is considered that project complexity and project performance are closely related, it is
important to define and measure the complexity of the project for project management to be
effective.
Complexity can be:

Structural complexity (also known as detail complexity, or complicatedness), i.e. consisting of

many varied interrelated parts. It is typically expressed in terms of size, variety, and
interdependence of project components, and described by technological and organizational factors.

Dynamic complexity refers to phenomena, characteristics, and manifestations such as ambiguity,

uncertainty, propagation, emergence, and chaos. Based on the Cynefin framework, complex
projects can be classified as:

• Simple (or clear, obvious, known) projects, systems, or contexts. These are characterized by
known knowns, stability, and clear cause-and-effect relationships. They can be solved with
standard operating procedures and best practices.

• Complicated: characterized by known unknowns. A complicated system is the sum of its parts.
In principle, it can be deconstructed into smaller simpler components. While difficult, complicated
problems are theoretically solvable with additional resources, specialized expertise, analytical,
reductionist, simplification, decomposition techniques, scenario planning, and following good
practices.

• Complex are characterized by unknown unknowns, and emergence. Patterns could be uncovered,
but they are not obvious. A complex system can be described by Euclid's statement that the whole
is more than the sum of its parts.

• Really complex projects, a.k.a. very complex, or chaotic: characterized by unknowable. No

patterns are discernible in complex projects. Causes and effects are unclear even in retrospect.
Paraphrasing Aristotle, a complex system is different from the sum of its parts.

By applying the discovery in measuring work complexity described in Requisite Organization and
Stratified Systems Theory, Elliott Jaques classifies projects and project work (stages, tasks) into
seven basic levels of project complexity based on such criteria as timespan of discretion and
complexity of a project's output:
• Level 1 Project – improve the direct output of an activity (quantity, quality, time) within a
business process with a targeted completion time up to 3 months.

• Level 2 Project – develop and improve compliance to a business process with a targeted
completion time of 3 months to 1 year.

• Level 3 Project – develop, change, and improve a business process with a targeted completion
time of 1 to 2 years.

• Level 4 Project – develop, change, and improve a functional system with a targeted completion
time of 2 to 5 years.

• Level 5 Project – develop, change, and improve a group of functional systems/business functions
with a targeted completion time of 5 to 10 years.

• Level 6 Project – develop, change, and improve a whole single value chain of a company with
targeted completion time from 10 to 20 years.

• Level 7 Project – develop, change, and improve multiple value chains of a company with target
completion time from 20 to 50 years.

Benefits from measuring Project Complexity are to improve project people feasibility by matching
the level of a project's complexity with an effective targeted completion time, with the respective
capability level of the project manager and of the project members.

Positive, appropriate (requisite), and negative complexity

Similarly with the Law of requisite variety and the law of requisite complexity, project complexity
is sometimes required in order for the project to reach its objectives, and sometimes it has
beneficial outcomes. Based on the effects of complexity, Stefan Morcov proposed its classification
as Positive, Appropriate, or Negative.
• Positive complexity is the complexity that adds value to the project, and whose contribution to
project success outweighs the associated negative consequences.

• Appropriate (or requisite) complexity is the complexity that is needed for the project to reach
its objectives, or whose contribution to project success balances the negative effects, or the cost of
mitigation outweighs negative manifestations.

• Negative complexity is the complexity that hinders project success.

Conclusion

Project management is the primary tool for executing the business plan, installing the businesses
processes, and achieving the strategic ambitions of the entrepreneur. Project management helps to
detail what tasks will be accomplished, who will be involved in completing the tasks, and when
tasks should start and finish. Typically, projects progress in steps or incremental stages: however,
other approaches for rapid, interactive project management are also widely used. Several tools can
be used to manage the project and communicate timing and status, including task diaries, WBSs,
and Gantt charts. Projects fail for many reasons. It is management’s responsibility to determine
whether the inherent risks in the project can be accepted and the project can be launched, or
whether the project be delayed. Project management is not a panacea, but rather a critical tool in
the never-ending process of growth and renewal of the business. It allows the entrepreneur to
minimize and mitigate inherent risks and increase the potential for success of the launch and the
ongoing operations.