Chapter 1:

Introduction to Project Management

: Understanding motivations and concepts
 Learning Objectives
• Understand the growing need for better project
management, especially for information technology
projects
• Explain what a project is and provide examples of
information technology projects
• Describe what project management is and discuss key
elements of the project management framework
 Learning Objectives
• Discuss how project management relates to other
disciplines
• Understand the history of project management

• Describe the project management profession, including

recent trends in project management research,
certification, and software products
 Project Management Statistics
• The U.S. spends $2.3 trillion on projects every year, an amount
equal to one-quarter of the nation’s gross domestic product.

• The world as a whole spends nearly $10 trillion of its $40.7

trillion gross product on projects of all kinds.

• More than sixteen million people regard project management as

their profession; on average, a project manager earns more than
$82,000 per year.
 More Information
on Project Management
• More than half a million new information technology (IT)
application development projects were initiated during 2001, up
from 300,000 in 2000.

• Famous business authors and consultants are stressing the

importance of project management. As Tom Peters writes in his
book, Reinventing Work: the Project 50, “To win today you
must master the art of the project!”
 Motivation for Studying Information Technology (IT) Project Management

• IT projects have a terrible track record

– A 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS) found that only
16.2% of IT projects were successful and over 31% were
canceled before completion, costing over $81 B in the U.S.
alone

• The need for IT projects keeps increasing

– In 2000, there were 300,000 new IT projects

– In 2001, over 500,000 new IT projects were started

 Advantages of Using Formal Project Management (Importance of IT project
management )

• Better control of financial, physical, and human resources

• Improved customer relations
• Shorter development times
• Lower costs
• Higher quality and increased reliability
• Higher profit margins
• Improved productivity
• Better internal coordination
• Higher worker morale
 What Is a Project?
• A project is “a temporary endeavor
undertaken to accomplish a unique product or
service” (PMBOK® Guide 2000, p. 4)
• Attributes of projects
– unique purpose
– temporary
– require resources, often from various areas
– should have a primary sponsor and/or customer
– involve uncertainty
 Samples of IT Projects
• Northwest Airlines developed a new reservation
system called ResNet (see case study on companion
Web site at www.course.com/mis/schwalbe)
• Many organizations upgrade hardware, software,
and networks via projects
• Organizations develop new software or enhance
existing systems to perform many business
functions
• Note: “IT projects” refers to projects involving
hardware, software, and networks
 The Triple Constraint
• Every project is constrained in different ways by its
– Scope goals: What is the project trying to accomplish?

– Time goals: How long should it take to complete?

– Cost goals: What should it cost?

• It is the project manager’s duty to balance these

three often competing goals
Figure 1-1. The Triple Constraint
of Project Management
 Why the Improvements?
"The reasons for the increase in successful projects
vary. First, the average cost of a project has been
more than cut in half. Better tools have been created
to monitor and control progress and better skilled
project managers with better management
processes are being used. The fact that there are
processes is significant in itself.“*
 What is Project Management?

Project management is “the application

of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities in order
to meet project requirements”
Figure 1-2. Project Management
Framework
 Stakeholder

“A person or group of people who have a

vested interest in the success of an
organization and the environment in which
the organization operates”
 Project Stakeholders
• Stakeholders are the people involved in or
affected by project activities
• Stakeholders include
– the project sponsor and project team
– support staff
– customers
– users
– suppliers
– opponents to the project
 9 Project Management
Knowledge Areas
• Knowledge areas describe the key competencies
that project managers must develop
– 4 core knowledge areas lead to specific project
objectives (scope, time, cost, and quality)
– 4 facilitating knowledge areas are the means through
which the project objectives are achieved (human
resources, communication, risk, and procurement
management)
– 1 knowledge area (project integration management)
affects and is affected by all of the other knowledge
areas
 Project Management Tools and
Techniques
• Project management tools and techniques assist
project managers and their teams in various
aspects of project management
• Some specific ones include
– Project Charter, scope statement, and WBS (scope)
– Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path
analysis, critical chain scheduling (time)
– Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)
 Project Manager Role
• A Good Project Manager
– Takes ownership of the whole project
– Is proactive not reactive
– Adequately plans the project
– Is Authoritative (NOT Authoritarian)
– Is Decisive
– Is a Good Communicator
– Manages by data and facts not uniformed optimism
– Leads by example
– Has sound Judgement
– Is a Motivator
– Is Diplomatic
– Can Delegate
 How Project Management Relates
to Other Disciplines
• Much of the knowledge needed to manage
projects is unique to the discipline of project
management
• Project mangers must also have knowledge and
experience in
– general management
– the application area of the project
 History of Project Management
• Some people argue that building the Egyptian
pyramids was a project, as was building the
Great Wall of China
• Most people consider the Manhattan Project to
be the first project to use “modern” project
management
– This three-year, $2 billion (in 1946 dollars) project
had a separate project manager and a technical
manager
 Sample Gantt Chart

The WBS is on the left, and each task’s start and finish date
are shown on the right using a calendar timescale. Early Gantt
Charts, first used in 1917, were drawn by hand.
 Sample Network Diagram

Each box is a project task from the WBS. Arrows show dependencies
between tasks. The bolded tasks are on the critical path. If any tasks on the
critical path take longer than planned, the whole project will slip
unless something is done. Network diagrams were first used in 1958 on the
Navy Polaris project, before project management software was available.
 Sample Enterprise Project
Management Tool

In recent years, organizations have been taking advantage of software

to help manage their projects throughout the enterprise.
 The Project Management
Profession
• The job of IT Project Manager is in the list of
the top ten most in demand IT skills
• Professional societies like the Project
Management Institute (PMI) have grown
tremendously
• Project management research and
certification programs continue to grow
 Table 1-2. Top Ten Most in
Demand IT Skills
Rank IT Skill/Job Average Annual Salary
1 SQL Database Analyst $80,664
2 Oracle Database Analyst $87,144
3 C/C++ Programmer $95,829
4 Visual Basic Programmer $76,903
5 E-commerce/Java Developer $89,163
6 Windows NT/2000 Expert $80,639
7 Windows/Java Developert $93,785
8 Security Architect $86,881
9 Project Manager $95,719
10 Network Engineer $82,906
Paul Ziv, “The Top 10 IT Skills in Demand,” Global Knowledge Webcast
(www.globalknowledge.com) (11/20/2002).
 Project Management Knowledge
Continues to Grow and Mature
• PMI hosted their first research conference in June
2000 in Paris, France, and the second one in
Seattle in July 2002
• The PMBOK® Guide 2000 is an ANSI standard
• PMI’s certification department earned ISO 9000
certification
• Hundreds of new books, articles, and
presentations related to project management have
been written in recent years
 Project Management Certification
• PMI provides certification as a Project
Management Professional (PMP)
• A PMP has documented sufficient project
experience, agreed to follow a code of ethics,
and passed the PMP exam
• The number of people earning PMP certification
is increasing quickly
• PMI and other organizations are offering new
certification programs
Growth in PMP Certification,
1993-2002
 Ethics in Project Management

• Ethics is an important part of all

professions
• Project managers often face ethical
dilemmas
• In order to earn PMP certification,
applicants must agree to the PMP code of
professional conduct
 You Can Apply Project
Management to Many Areas
• Project management applies to work as well as
personal projects
• Project management applies to many different
disciplines (IT, construction, finance, sports,
event planning, etc.)
• Project management skills can help in everyday
life
Thank you