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Kathy Shwalbe Chapter 4 Summary
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- University Of Pretoria (UP)
Chapter 4 Summary of KATHY SCHWALBE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECT MANAGEMENT 8e
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CHAPTER 4: PROJECT INTEGRATION MANAGEMENTWHAT IS PROJECT INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT?
Project integration management involves coordinating all of the other project
management knowledge areas throughout a project’s life cycle.
According to the PMBO K® Guide, Fifth Edition, six main processes are involved in project
integration management:
1. Developing the project charter involves working with stakeholders to create the
document that formally authorizes a project—the charter.
2. Developing the project management plan involves coordinating all planning
efforts to create a consistent, coherent document—the project management plan.
3. Directing and managing project work involves carrying out the project
management plan by performing the activities included in it. The outputs of this
process are deliverables, work performance information, change requests, project
management plan updates, and project documents updates.
4. Monitoring and controlling project work involves overseeing activities to meet the
performance objectives of the project. The outputs of this process are change
requests, project management plan updates, and project documents updates.
5. Performing integrated change control involves identifying, evaluating, and
managing changes throughout the project life cycle. The outputs of this process
include change request status updates, project management plan updates, and
project documents updates.
6. Closing the project or phase involves finalizing all activities to formally close the
project or phase. Outputs of this process include final product, service, or result
transition and organizational process assets updates.
Someone must take responsibility for coordinating all of the people, plans, and work required
to complete a project. Someone must focus on the big picture of the project and steer the
project team toward successful completion. Someone must make the final decisions when
conflicts occur among project goals or people. Someone must communicate key project
information to top management. These responsibilities belong to the project manager,
whose chief means for accomplishing all these tasks is project integration management.
Project integration management includes interface management, which involves identifying
and managing the points of interaction between various elements of a project. The primary
tools for interface management are communication and relationships. Project integration
management must occur within the context of the entire organization, not just within a
particular project. The project manager must integrate the work of the project with the
ongoing operations of the organization.
Following a standard process for managing projects can help prevent some of the typical
problems new and experienced project managers face, including communicating with and
managing stakeholders. Before organizations begin projects, however, they should go through
a formal process to decide what projects to pursue.
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROJECT SELECTION
Successful leaders look at the big picture or strategic plan of the organization to determine what
types of projects will provide the most value.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning involves determining long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and
weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment,
predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services. Strategic planning
provides important information to help organizations identify and then select potential projects.
Identifying Potential Projects
The first step in project management is deciding what projects to do in the first place. Therefore,
project initiation starts with identifying potential projects, using realistic methods to select which
, projects to work on, and then formalizing their initiation by issuing some sort of project charter. In
addition to using a SWOT analysis, organizations often follow a detailed process for project selection.
Aligning IT with Business Strategy
An organization must develop a strategy for using IT to define how it will support the organization’s
objectives. This IT strategy must align with the organization’s strategic plans.
METHODS FOR SELECTING PROJECTS
Selecting projects is not an exact science, and many methods exist for selecting projects. Five
common techniques are:
Focusing on broad organizational needs
Categorizing IT projects
Performing net present value or other financial analyses
Using a weighted scoring model
Implementing a balanced scorecard
Focusing on broad organizational needs
Top managers must focus on meeting their organizations’ many needs when deciding what projects
to undertake, when to undertake them, and to what level. Projects that address broad
organizational needs are much more likely to be successful because they will be important
to the organization.
Categorizing IT projects
Another method for selecting projects is based on various categorizations, such as the project’s
impetus, time window, and general priority. The impetus for a project is often to respond to a
problem, an opportunity, or a directive. Organizations select projects for any of these reasons.
Problems are undesirable situations that prevent an organization from achieving its goals.
Opportunities are chances to improve the organization.
Directives are new requirements imposed by management, government, or some external
influence.
Performing net present value or other financial analyses
Three primary methods for projecting the financial value of projects include net present value
analysis, return on investment, and payback analysis. Because project managers often deal with
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