Understanding Project Management

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 OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
1.Understand why project management is becoming such a powerful
and popular practice in business.
2.Recognize the basic properties of projects, including their
definition.
3.Understand why effective project management is such a challenge.
4.Understand and explain the project life cycle, its stages, and the
activities that typically occur at each stage in the project.
5.Understand the concept of project “success,” including various
definitions of success, as well as the alternative models of success.
6.Recognize how mastery of the discipline of project management
enhances critical employability skills for university graduates.

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Outline

1.What is a Project?
2.General Project Characteristics
3.Why are Projects important?
4.Project Life Cycles
5.Determinants of Project success
6.Project Management Process

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 What is a Project?
Projects are distinct from other organizational processes

A process refers to ongoing, day-to-day activities in which an organization engages to

produce goods or services. Processes use existing systems, properties, and capabilities in a
continuous, fairly repetitive manner.

A project is a unique venture with a beginning and end, conducted by people to meet
established goals within parameters of cost, schedule, and quality (Buchanan & Boddy, 1992).

Projects [are] goal-oriented, involve the coordinated undertaking of interrelated activities, are
of finite duration, and are all, to a degree, unique (Frame, 1995).

A project is organized work toward a predefined goal or objective that requires resources and
effort, a unique venture having a budget and schedule (Field & Keller, 1998).

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 What is a Project??

A project can be considered to be any series of A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to

activities and tasks that: create a unique product, service, or result.
- Have a specific objective to be completed within (PMBOK, 2017)
certain specifications •The temporary nature of projects indicates that a project has a
definite beginning and end.
- Have defined start and end dates •The end is reached when the project’s objectives have been
achieved or when the project is terminated because its
- Have funding limits (if applicable) objectives will not or cannot be met, or when the need for the
project no longer exists.
- Consume human and nonhuman resources (i.e.,
money, people, equipment)
- Are multifunctional (i.e., cut across several
functional lines) (Kerzner, 2003).

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 Elements of Project

Elements of projects, as identified Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:
by these set of definitions: 1. Developing a new product, service, or result;

1. Projects are complex, one-time 2. Effecting a change in the structure, processes,

staffing, or style of an organization;
processes
3. Developing or acquiring a new or modified
2. Projects are limited by budget, information system (hardware or software);
schedule, and resources 4. Conducting a research effort whose outcome will be
aptly recorded;
3. Projects are developed to resolve
a clear goal or set of goals. 5. Constructing a building, industrial plant, or
infrastructure; or Implementing, improving, or
4. Projects are customer-focused enhancing existing business processes and procedures.

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 Characteristics of Projects
The principal outcomes of a
Projects are building blocks in the project are the satisfaction of
Projects are ad hoc endeavors with
design and execution of customer requirements within the
a clear life cycle
organizational strategies. constraints of technical, cost, and
schedule objectives.

The traditional management Projects are responsible for the

Project management entails
functions of planning, organizing, newest and most improved
crossing functional and
motivation, directing, and control products, services, and
organizational boundaries.
apply to project management. organizational processes.

Projects are terminated upon

successful completion of
Projects provide a philosophy and
performance objectives—or earlier
strategy for the management of
in their life cycle, if results no
change.
longer promise an operational or
strategic advantage.

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Differences between Organizational Process and Project

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 Project Management
Project management is
Project management is the accomplished through the
application of knowledge, skills, appropriate application and
tools, and techniques to project integration of project
activities to meet the project management processes, which
requirements. are categorized into five Process
Groups.

Initiating Planning Monitoring Controlling Closing

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 What is project management?

2. Addressing the various 3. Setting up, maintaining, and

needs, concerns, and carrying out communications
1. Identifying requirements; expectations of the among stakeholders that are
stakeholders in planning and active, effective, and
executing the project; collaborative in nature;

5. Balancing the competing project constraints,

which include, but are not limited to
4. Managing stakeholders - Scope,
towards meeting project - Quality,

requirements and creating - Schedule,

- Budget,
project deliverables; - Resources, and
- Risks.

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 Why are projects important?
1. Shortened product life cycles.

2.Narrow product launch windows

3.Increasingly complex and technical products.

4. Global markets

5. An economic period marked by low inflation.

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Project life cycles

A project life cycle is the

series of phases that a
project passes through
from its initiation to its
closure (stages in a
project’s development).

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 Four Distinct Phases of Project Life
Cycles

Execution (Carrying out the Termination (Closing the

Conceptualization (Starting Panning (Organizing and project)
the Project) preparing) project work)
- occurs when the completed
- development of the initial project is transferred to the
goal and technical - the actual “work” of the
- detailed specifications, project is performed, the customer, its resources
specifications for a project. schematics, schedules, and system developed, or the - reassigned, and the project
- The scope of the work is other plans are developed. product created and formally closed out.
determined, - The individual pieces of the fabricated.
- As specific sub-activities are
- necessary resources (people, project, often called work It is during the execution completed,
money, physical plant) packages, are broken down, phase that the bulk of project
identified, and team labor is performed. - the project shrinks in scope
individual assignments made,
- important organizational and project costs (in man hours) costs decline rapidly.
contributors or stakeholders the process for completion ramp up rapidly during this
signed on. clearly delineated. stage.

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 Project Life Cycle
•Develop Initial goal
•Identify Scope
Conceptualization • Resources (People, money, etc.
•Identify project Stakeholders

•Create a workflow Document

•Develop work packages
•Gather Resources
Planning
•Estimate Budget

•Brief Team Members

•Monitor Quality of work
Execution •Manage Budget

• Analyze project and team Results

Termination • Document project Closure
• Account for used and unused budget

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 Five components that may Change over
the course of Project Life Cycle
The project life cycle is useful means of visualizing the activities required and challenges to be faced
during the life of a project. Project may change over the course of its life cycle:

1. Client interest: The level of enthusiasm or concern expressed by the project’s intended
customer. clients can be either internal to the organization or external.

2. Project stake: The amount of corporate investment in the project. The longer the life of the
project, the greater the investment.

3. Resources: The commitment of financial, human, and technical resources over the life of the
project.

4. Creativity: The degree of innovation required by the project, especially during certain
development phases.

5. Creativity: The degree of innovation required by the project, especially during certain
development phases.

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Project Life Cycles and Their Effects

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Determinants of Project Success

A definition of project success must take into

consideration the elements that define the very
nature of a project:
1. Time (schedule adherence)
2. Budget
3. Performance (functionality/quality)
4. customer satisfaction

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The New Quadruple Constraint

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 Project Management Processes
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to
meet the project requirements.
This application of knowledge requires the effective management of the project management processes.

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 Project management processes
These processes ensure the effective flow of the project throughout its life
cycle.

Initiating Process: Planning Process: Executing Process: Monitoring and Controlling

Process: Closing Process:
perform to define a new require to establish the perform to complete
scope of the project, refine require to track, review, and perform to finalize all
project or a new phase the work defined in regulate the progress and
the objectives, and define activities across all
of an existing project by the course of action the project performance of the project;
obtaining authorization identify any areas in which Process Groups to
required to attain the management plan to
to start the project or changes to the plan are formally close the
objectives that the project satisfy the project required; and initiate the
phase. was undertaken to achieve. project or phase.
specifications corresponding changes.

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