PART 1 : MANAGING THE CONTEXT
Chapter 1: Modern project management
An overview of PM
What is a project?
• Project Defined
• A complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resources,
and performance specifications designed to meet ‘customer’ needs.
• Major Characteristics of a Project
• Has an established objective.
• Has a defined life span with a beginning and an end.
• Requires across-organizational participation.
• Involves doing something never been done before.
• Has specific time, cost, and performance requirements.
,Program versus project
• Program Defined
• A series of coordinated, related, multiple projects that continue over an
extended time and are intended to achieve a goal.
• A higher-level group of projects targeted at a common goal.
• Examples:
• Project: completion of a required project management course.
• Program: completion of all courses required for a business major or
masters
Comparison of routine work with projects: examples
Routine, Repetitive Work
• Taking class notes
• Daily entering sales receipts into the accounting ledger
• Responding to a supply-chain request
• Practicing scales on the piano
• Routine manufacture of an Apple iPod
• Attaching tags on a manufactured product
Projects
• Writing a term/bachelor/master paper
• Setting up a sales kiosk for a professional accounting meeting
• Developing a supply-chain information system
• Writing a new piano piece
• Designing an iPod that is approximately 2 X 4 inches, interfaces with PC, and
stores 10,000 songs
• Wire-tag projects for GE and Wal-Mart
Project Life Cycle (PLC)
,The challenges of project management
• The Project Manager (also plans, decides, organizes, leads and controls…)
• Manages temporary, non-repetitive activities and frequently acts
independently of the formal organization.
• Marshals resources for the project.
• Is linked directly to the customer interface.
• Provides direction, coordination, and integration to the project team.
• Is responsible for performance and success of the project.
• Must induce the right people at the right time to address the right issues and
make the right decisions.
The importance of project management
• Factors leading to the increased use of project management:
• Compression of the product lifecycle (ex. project teams to shorten “time to
market”)
• Knowledge explosion
• Tripple bottom line (planet, people, profit)
• Corporate downsizing
• Increased customer focus
• Small projects represent big problems
Research observation: managing project portfolios by senior management is difficult,
prioritizing of projects within portfolios is often missing
and measuring inefficiencies is largely absent.
Benefits of an Integrative Approach to Project Management
• Integration (or centralization) of project management provides senior management
with:
• An overview of all project management activities
• A big picture of how organizational resources are used
• A risk assessment of their portfolio of projects
• A rough metric of the firm’s improvement in managing projects relative to
others in the industry
• Linkages of senior management with actual project execution management
Integrated Project Management Systems
• Problems resulting from the use of piecemeal/ad hoc project management systems:
• Do not tie together and with the overall strategy of the firm.
• Fail to prioritize selection of projects by their importance of their contribution
to the firm’s strategy.
• Are not integrated throughout the project lifecycle.
• Do not match project planning and controls with organizational culture, to
make appropriate adjustments in support of project endeavors.
, Major Functions of Portfolio Management
• Oversee project selection.
• Monitor aggregate resource levels and skills.
• Encourage use of best practices.
• Balance projects in the portfolio in order to represent a risk level appropriate to the
organization.
• Improve communication among all stakeholders.
• Create a total organization perspective that goes beyond silo thinking.
• Improve overall management of projects over time.
The YING-YANG of Project Management
Example Work breakdown structure (WBS)
Voordelen van het kopen van samenvattingen bij Stuvia op een rij:
√ Verzekerd van kwaliteit door reviews
Stuvia-klanten hebben meer dan 700.000 samenvattingen beoordeeld. Zo weet je zeker dat je de beste documenten koopt!
Snel en makkelijk kopen
Je betaalt supersnel en eenmalig met iDeal, Bancontact of creditcard voor de samenvatting. Zonder lidmaatschap.
Focus op de essentie
Samenvattingen worden geschreven voor en door anderen. Daarom zijn de samenvattingen altijd betrouwbaar en actueel. Zo kom je snel tot de kern!
Veelgestelde vragen
Wat krijg ik als ik dit document koop?
Je krijgt een PDF, die direct beschikbaar is na je aankoop. Het gekochte document is altijd, overal en oneindig toegankelijk via je profiel.
Tevredenheidsgarantie: hoe werkt dat?
Onze tevredenheidsgarantie zorgt ervoor dat je altijd een studiedocument vindt dat goed bij je past. Je vult een formulier in en onze klantenservice regelt de rest.
Van wie koop ik deze samenvatting?
Stuvia is een marktplaats, je koop dit document dus niet van ons, maar van verkoper stijndamoiseaux. Stuvia faciliteert de betaling aan de verkoper.
Zit ik meteen vast aan een abonnement?
Nee, je koopt alleen deze samenvatting voor €5,09. Je zit daarna nergens aan vast.
