NAME : VIJAYALAKSHMI
SUBJECT: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
SUBJECT CODE: MB0033
ROLL NO: 520849823
MBA II SEMISTER ASSIGNMENT SET
I&II
MBOO33 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT
SET – 1
SOLVED ASSIGNMENT
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Q 1: What are the various characteristics of a project? What
is the importance of each characteristic? Give examples.
Answer:
It is well known to all that the organizations continue to grow year by
year. As there is a need to grow it becomes necessary for a growing
organization to resort to proper growth plan. The plan needs to be
properly prepared. It is possible to prepare proper plans only if the
manager has sufficient knowledge of the various process of the
project envisage for growth. The manager has to work on the various
life cycle stages and apply necessary planning tools to come out with
a proper growth plan of the company. The various techniques of
identifying the project items, work break down structure of the
project , task duration, estimation etc are to be done meticulously.
Characteristics
Any project may be considered to have the following characteristics:
a) Resource requirement - During the course of executing the
project, it is seen that the resource requirement increases from
start to an intermediate stage of the project. It further increases
at rapid rate and becomes constant while the project is during
its 80 to 95% progress stage. Thereafter the resources
requirement decreases to zero i.e when the project comes to a
finish.
b) Funds - The requirement of funds for the completes execution
of the project also follows the same trend as that of the
resources. The two are more or less proportional.
c) Probability of completion - The probability of completing the
project can be estimated based upon the normal distribution
curve. In the initial stage of the project the probability of
completing the project is low though not zero. It gradually
increases and as the project approaches finish the probability of
completing the project tends to become 100%.
d) Risk - The risks involved in the project affecting its completion
time is high at the initial stages and low at the later stages of
the project.
e) Design changes - The project during the course of its progress
may be subjected to changes because of some external factors.
The influence of such external factors on the project may result
in changes in the design f the project though not very often. It
is observed that such changes if any are normally high during
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the initial stages of the project and decreases as the project
approaches finish.
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Q 2: State the principles of Deming’s Philosophy relevant to
Project Management. Explain how each one is applicable in
management?
Answer:
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Dr. Deming's teachings and philosophy can be seen through the
results they produced when they were adopted by the Japanese, as
the following example shows: Ford Motor Company was
simultaneously manufacturing a car model with transmissions made
in Japan and the United States. Soon after the car model was on the
market, Ford customers were requesting the model with Japanese
transmission over the USA-made transmission, and they were willing
to wait for the Japanese model. As both transmissions were made to
the same specifications, Ford engineers could not understand the
customer preference for the model with Japanese transmission. It
delivered smoother performance with a lower defect rate. Finally,
Ford engineers decided to take apart the two different transmissions.
The American-made car parts were all within specified tolerance
levels. On the other hand, the Japanese car parts had much closer
tolerances than the USA-made parts - i.e. if a part was supposed to be
one foot long, plus or minus 1/8 of an inch - then the Japanese parts
were within 1/16 of an inch. This made the Japanese cars run more
smoothly and customers experienced fewer problems.
Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14
Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future
brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs.
Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but
by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure
future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved products
and services. "Long-term commitment to new learning and new
philosophy is required of any management that seeks transformation.
The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect quick
results, are doomed to disappointment."
Deming philosophy synopsis
The philosophy of W. Edwards Deming has been summarized as
follows:
"Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught that by adopting appropriate
principles of management, organizations can increase quality and
simultaneously reduce costs (by reducing waste, rework, staff
attrition and litigation while increasing customer loyalty). The key is
to practice continual improvement and think of manufacturing as a
system, not as bits and pieces."
In the 1970s, Dr. Deming's philosophy was summarized by some of
his Japanese proponents with the following 'a'-versus-'b' comparison:
(a) When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, defined
by the following ratio,
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quality tends to increase and costs fall over time.
(b) However, when people and organizations focus primarily on costs,
costs tend to rise and quality declines over time.
Deming offered fourteen key principles for management for
transforming business effectiveness.
1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product
and service, with the aim to become competitive and stay in
business, and to provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age.
Western management must awaken to the challenge, must
learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate
the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into
the product in the first place.
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag.
Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for
any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and
service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus
constantly decrease cost.
6. Institute training on the job.
7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help
people and machines and gadgets to do a better job.
Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as
supervision of production workers.
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the
company.
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research,
design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee
problems of production and in use that may be encountered
with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work
force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity.
Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the
bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to
the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
11. a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor.
Substitute leadership.
b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management
by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute workmanship.
12. a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to
pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be
changed from sheer numbers to quality.
b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in
engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means,
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inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of
management by objective.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-
improvement.
14. Put everyone in the company to work to accomplish the
transformation. The transformation is everyone's work.
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Q 3: Explain the concept of concurrency in High Technology
Development.
Answer:
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Concurrency in High Technology Development
As the application of technology has become critical for the survival
of organisation it has become imperative for organizations to initiate
measures for the development of high technology to be ahead of
competition. No doubt, there are many specialized Research and
Development firms which offer their expertise to their clients’
problems. However, their services are available to the competitors
and many technologies developed by the company’s own research
personnel cannot be shared with outsiders. So the strategy would be
utilize the services of external resource to the extent they are
suitable for our purpose, but with a strong base of R and D of our
own. This will really differentiate the best companies from other
ordinary ones. The following give some guidelines in the form of rules
which would help organisation to be strong in this area.
Building concurrency into every activity is essential to reduce the
development cycle time and to counter the technology obsolescence.
Many of the tasks that are normally done in a serial fashion can be
done in parallel by synchronizing the flow of information. The
practices of the concurrent engineering where the design of the
product and all its associated processes are carried out
simultaneously based on team work and participation. Would not only
help in reducing the development cycle time, but also improves the
product functionality with regard to requirements. Concurrency can
be accomplished in many ways both for product development as well
as technology transfer, user evaluation and production.
Example - Tactical Aircraft: Concurrency in Development and
Production of F-22
Aircraft Should Be Reduced (Letter Report, 04/19/95, GAO/NSIAD-95-
59).
Because the F-22 fighter plane is not urgently needed and the
Defense Department (DOD) has discovered engine and software
problems with the aircraft, GAO urges that the F-22 be thoroughly
tested before large numbers of these expensive aircraft are acquired.
Concurrency between the development and production phases of F-
22 means that independent testing of high-tech features of the
aircraft will not be completed before the Air Force makes a significant
commitment to producing the F-22. Among other things, the F-22
boast an advanced architecture for the integrated avionics system, a
propulsion system that will allow cruising a supersonic speeds without
the afterburners that current fighters needs, and low observable
technologies. The military has already disclosed engine and stealth
ness problems, and the potential for avionics and software problems
underscore the need to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities before
committing to production.
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Q 4: Explain in detail the project management review
process. What are the various post review activates?
Answer:
Project Management Review Process
There is mutual benefit for corporate and major information systems
project teams and many of the programs as a result of the
information exchange generated by the Project Management
Reviews. Throughout the project lifecycle, project staff should
collaborate and communicate with staff responsible for capital
planning, information architecture, standards, information security,
safety, configuration management, risk management, quality
management and assurance. The information exchange may address
status, issued, process, requests, requirements, approvals, and
assistance in the areas of project plans, schedule, budget, functional
content, scope, staffing, infrastructure and operations.
Corporate and major information systems are reviewed from their
inception to retirement, i.e., throughout the Capital Planning and
Investment Control (CPIC) phases of Identification, Selection, Control,
and Evaluation.
The Project Management Review Process includes the following steps:
• Identification of projects that will participate in the Reviews
• Development and adherence to a quarterly reporting schedule
• Compilation of standard project management data into a
presentation data
• Collection of detailed project files that support the information
reported during the project Management Reviews and may be
requested for inspection during a formal audit
• Participation in the Review meetings with any required follow-
up activities
Post Review Activities
Once the Project Management Review has been conducted, follow up
with program/project managers on any issues or concerns requiring
attention, the status of open items from the review, and CIO reporting
actions, e.g., reports to the CIO Council. The CIO may also
recommend quality assurance analysis be conducted.
1. Issues or Concerns Requiring Attention
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The project manager is responsible for raising issues or concerns that
require assistance or guidance to the attention of the CIO. These
items should be communicated whenever they become known, and
not held to the next Project Management Review. The CIO will assign
appropriate OCIO staff available to help resolve open items. The
program / project manager should communicate the status of these
items in each quarterly reviews until the items are resolved / closed.
2. Status of Open Items from Review
The program/project manager is responsible for tracking the open
items from the review and communicating the status in each
quarterly review until the items are closed. The supporting the
scheduling of reviews will coordinate with the program/project
manager after the quarterly reviews to help ensure that new items
have been captured for tracking and action by the program/project
manager.
3. CIO Reports
The staff supporting the CIO Quarterly Reviews will prepare a
summary report after each Project Management Review. The
summary report will include the following information:
i) Summary Status
ii) Open Issues/Items
iii) Status Performance Objectives/Measures
iv) Status of Schedule/Cost
The summary report will be provided to the program/project manager
to gain concurrence on the content. The summary report will be used
by the CIO when reporting status to the CIO Council.
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Q 5: Explain the structure of the documentation systems as
required by supply chain monitoring. What is the significance
of documentation? How does it help a manager?
Answer:
Requirement of Documented systems in Supply Chain
Monitoring (SCMo)
It is possible today to establish a system aligned with an
organizations supply chain. It can be an add-on to existing ERP-
systems. The main objectives are
i) Prevention of stock-out and over supply
ii) Early warnings, elimination of bullwhip effect
iii) Optimized allocation in bottleneck situations due to network-
wide inventory and demand transparency
The main Principles behind is the Integration of supply chain
participants, Exchange of demand and inventory information,
transparency & Visibility of inventories and demands for multilevel
supply chains. It also eliminates time lags in the information flow and
ensures synchronization of demand information. SCMo set up
(Initialization) The main steps for the set up are :
a) Determination of the potentially critical part of the supply network
Criteria:
b) Mapping of Structures a) high shortage risk and effect, long lead
and reaction times, high total inventory cost, frequent engineering
changes.
Main Features – The main features of such system are –
i) Releases and Iterations planning – It is a simple way to create
project plan.
ii) Dashboard – It is a quick project status reporting tool.
iii) To-Do lists – Identify and list the Integrated assignments.
iv) Integrated QA - Bug Tracking, Test Cases management, user story-
to-bugs
Trace-ability, QA stats and charts.
v) Time Tracking - Create more accurate estimates of time.
Significance of Documentation
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It might sometimes be difficult for an organization to straightaway
launch into a Project Management exercise, even if they are well
equipped, particularly if the project is too large – for e.g.,
development of a new product, expansion of capacity, modernization
of facilities, diversification into a totally new business area, getting
into a Joint venture etc. In this case, the core project team itself might
feel the need to have some major inputs before even a tentative plan
could be drawn up. A well-drafted Business Plan would ideally serve
this purpose, provided it is handled systematically & professionally.
• The documentation system is intranet based to provide
immediate access to current, up-to-date process
documentation. The system allows users to navigate through
graphical structures to relevant documentation and processes
which were created with the ARIS-Toolset.
• The content of the process Documentation System includes the
area supply chain management from the Odette supply chain
Management Group. The system includes graphical process
documentation, in the form of process chains, as well as the
entire range of documentation related to the processes.
• The Process Documentation System gives, according to its
objectives, as overview and a detailed view of the relevant
processes for SCMo.
• The entry point in the documentation system is the model
“Process Overview SCMo”. This model is the starting point for
the navigation to other models.
• The vertical navigation is the navigation on different levels. The
horizontal navigation is the navigation on one level.
• Microsoft has a team project management solution that enables
project managers and their teams to collaborate on projects.
The Microsoft Project 2002 products in this solution are
Microsoft Project Standard 2002, Microsoft Project Server 2002,
and Microsoft Project Server Client Access License (CAL) 2002.
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Q 6: Write down a brief outline on any assumed project
management plan.
Answer:
Various sections and subsections of this unit would cover as part of
Project Management Plan, the following key aspects:
1. · Project Management Plan – Sample Project
• Project Summary
Project Overview – Consider a firm XYZ as a Stock Broker/
Dealer firm. Any re will have applications supporting the
following components:
• · first, a Brokerage Account Opening application on
XYZ’s Web site that will allow any internet user to
open a brokerage account with XYZ.
• · Second, an account opening and maintenance
application, which is primarily for XYZ’s
representatives to open accounts for the applications
received in paper format.
• Project Scope
i. · To provide an effective, efficient means of amount
maintenance activities
ii. · To allow representatives to provide information
iii. · To provide a complete picture to the client
representatives for account status, valuation, order
status, and trade activity
iv. · To increase the intelligence of the update process
v. To provide an interface that can display required
amount history.
2. · Project’s Value-add to the Customer
This project will allow XYZ to effectively evolve a client account
servicing application besides being an account giving engine.
• Objectives
Strengthen relationship with XYZ by delivered high
quality software on time
Become preferred vendor by developing expensive on
XYZ product and systems.
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• Commitment made to customers
• Assumptions
3. · Assumptions made While Planning
• Intelligent update to business partners will be
incorporated in only the maintenance part of the
application and not in the Account opening engine.
• Qualified people will approve Rational Unified Process
methodology for implementing this project.
• Changes in functional and technical requirements during
the life cycle of the project may have an impact on the
schedule. Any impact on cost or schedule due to these
changes will be intimated to XYZ.
• XYZ reviewers will take seven days to approve a
milestone documents. If no comments are received within
this time period, it will be considered as approved.
4. · Standard Process Followed and Deviation from
standard Process
• Tailoring Notes
Requirement trace ability will be done through the
requisite pro-tool.
Physical data base design may be refined | later
iterations.
• Change request tracking
Changes requested by customer will be logged in change
request and analyzed for impact of project
Major change usually has an effort/delivery-on-time
impact on the project. The customer needs to formally
approve these changes.
5. · Requirement Trace Ability
Requisite tool will be used along with estimated size and
effort. This is the estimation criteria to check everything
is in place.
6. · Automated Estimation Process
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Estimate the total effort wrt each activity and effort for
each phase of a project expressed as of percentage of
man days.
7. · Scheduling and Estimation of Resources
• People
• Hardware, software and Tools
• Training Plan
8. · Quality Plan – Quality Goals
• Project Goals
Prepare a strategy for meeting quality goals indicating
the expected benefits
• Estimation of Defects to be defected
• Reviews
9. · Project Tracking
Prepare the reports to be given to the customer which
indicates –
• Milestone reports & weekly status reports
• Issue requiring clarification
Plus other reports which needs to be given to Business
Managers
10. · Defect Control System Performance Summary
Prepare a list probable defects & defect distribution table
to find out deviation for the same. There were very few
large deviations in the process performance; the actual
performance was close to what is expected. This will give
a chance to improve the poor performance.
11. · System Driver Risk Management
Prepare a table on risk management indicating the type
of risk, actual elapsed time, estimated time, percentage
slippage and reasons for slippage.
12. · Global Delivery Model the Latest Trend in Project
Management
• Standardization
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• Modularization
• Minimum Cutomerization
• Maximum Micro Structure
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MBOO33 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT
SET – 2
SOLVED ASSIGNMENT
Q 1: How can risks cab be prioritized in a project
management? Give any suitable example.
Answer:
Risk Management Risks are those events or conditions that
may occur and whose occurrence has a harmful or negative impact
on a project. Risk management aims to identify the risks and then
take actions to minimize their effect on the project. Risk management
entails additional cost. Hence risk management can be considered
cost effective only if the cost of risk management is considerably less
than the cost incurred if the risk materializes.
Risk prioritization – Risk prioritization focus on the highest risk.
Prioritization requires analyzing the possible effects of the risk event
in case it actually occurs. This approach requires a quantitative
assessment of the risk probability and the risk consequences. For
each risk rate the probability of its happening as low, medium or high.
If necessary, assign probability values in the ranges given for each
rating. For each risk, assess its impact on the project as low, medium,
high or very high. Rank the risk based on the probability. Select the
top few risk items for mitigation and tracking.
Refer to a list of commonly used risk mitigation steps for various risks
from the previous risk logs maintained by the PM and select a
suitable risk mitigation step. The risk mitigation step must be
properly executed by incorporating them into the project schedule. In
addition to monitoring the progress of the planned risk mitigation
steps periodically revisit the risk perception for the entire project. The
results of this review are reported in each milestone analysis report.
To prepare this report, make fresh risk analysis to determine whether
the priorities have changed.
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Q 2: Mention any six charactertics of interpersonal behavior.
What are the types of reviews?
Answer:
Interpersonal Behaviour - In a team the maxim that all members
will do well to remember is “Learn to appreciate the problems of
others, and some others would appreciate yours”. It is therefore
important that in a business environment, particularly in Project
Management, an effort to evolve solutions jointly has great benefits,
both for the teams as well as the organization. The top management
has the responsibility of encouraging such a culture to develop team
work to healthy interpersonal behaviour.
Interpersonal behaviour calls for:
• Projection of a pleasant, but firm personality
• Clarity of expression and communication
• Patience in listening and reacting with empathy
• Documentation and correct recording
• Offer to help
• Call for help whenever necessary
• Seeking information before attempting decisions
• Not waiting for things to go wrong
• Motivation of others through efficiency and meticulousness,
rather than urging and exhibiting dependency
• Putting team goals ahead of individual targets.
The project manager should make it a habit of expressing
appreciation openly for any good work done. Cross Functional Teams
have become a necessity and the synergy they generate would be
lost if interpersonal behaviour is not of high standard. As members
are from different functions, understanding the requirements or
compulsions of others is difficult. This fact should be impressed upon
all the members and requesting them to cooperate is vital.
Reviews Types
The reviews are generally divided into four types which are
conducted at different stages of the project.
1. Initiation Reviews (IR)
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2. Planning and Proposal Reviews (PPR)
3. Procurement Reviews (PR)
4. Quality Assurance Reviews (QAR)
A project review is a process where we capture information from the
team experience and see the variances and deviations from the plan.
These reviews help in increasing productivity and improve
organizational success. The purpose of the reviews can be generally
stated as under. Depending on the manager’s ability they can be
made more meaningful. Performance improvement starts with
commitment to an agreed plan. The reviews are meant to keep the
activities are according to the plan. The purpose of them can be
states as:
• Finding out the feasibility of the project and helping
management team to take a decision based on this initial
Review.
• Checking if all the necessary activities were done before
presenting a customer the proposal or solution
• Checking if all the formal agreements and procedures were
formally accepted and reviewed between the customer and the
project delivery organization.
• Finding out the deviation and allowing elbow room for changes
in the action plan for improvement.
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Q 3: What are main considerations in planning P2M? Give
relevant examples.
Answer:
Consideration in Planning P2M
Some of the considerations for effective programme management are
given below:
Focusing on the various strategic initiatives taken up for multiple
projects and the issues related to benefits and risks.
Bringing about the attention of management to a defined set of
benefits, which are understood immediately, which are managed
throughout the implementation and at completion.
Helping top management to set priorities, choosing options and
allocate resources
Setting up mechanisms to measure and ensure that the projects
making contributions for realizing expected business benefits.
Leading the organization on the path of ‘where it’ an ‘where it wants
to be’
Ensuring that the effects of the programme driven changes are
coordinated, the transitions are successfully managed. The
operations are effective and efficient.
Process of P2M
The objectives sought to be achieved and the methods which are
adopted and the activities that are going to be undertaken i.e. the
process include the following steps:
Preparing and maintaining a set of activities and the workflow that is
to be followed and identifying business areas responsible for different
stages in the above;
1. Making sure that the priorities that the above generate are
relevant and the projects are run on the basis of their impact on
the business as a whole;
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2. Structuring the programme so that the responsibilities and roles
– at both programme and project level – are acceptable to both
the top management and managers;
3. Planning the various points of review between various phases
of the projects. The process has to incorporate all the important
aspects which are to be addressed during implementation and
management of the projects. It is important to identify all
factors and incorporate resources – men, materials, technology
and time – so that their provision can be planned.
Managing the Programme
When we consider the portfolio of projects as a programme, the main
considerations will be on resources, risks associated with the
programme, quality of the projects at every stage of the execution as
meeting the requirements of the client as per the contract and
monitoring the change processes that get enmeshed during
implementation. The specifics concerning the above are listed below:
i) Evaluating the risks associated with the programme – the
planned changes to the business operations;
ii) Ensuring that the processes to ensure quality are sufficient
and purposes are fully met;
iii) Keeping track of the changes and developments external to
the project environment and studying their impact on the
programme.
iv) Making sure that the personnel in business affected by the
above are informed and trained so that the projects are
smoothly;
v) Ensuring that the support services like human resources and
IT are able to adopt to the changes that take place in the
projects and business operations as a whole.
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Q 4: What is the significance of reviewing ROI? Explain in
detail.
Answer:
ROI - Return on Investment (ROI) is the calculated benefit that an
organization is projected to receive in return for investing money
(resources) in a project. Within the context of the Review Process, the
investment would be in an information system development or
enhancement project. ROI information is used to assess the status of
the business viability of the project at key checkpoints throughout the
project’s lifecycle.
ROI may include the benefits associated with improved mission
performance, reduced cost, increased quality, speed, or flexibility,
and increased customer and employee satisfaction. ROI should reflect
such risk factors as the project’s technical complexity, the agency’s
management capacity, the likelihood of cost overruns, and the
consequences of under or nonperformance. Where appropriate, ROI
should reflect actual returns observed through pilot projects and
prototypes.
ROI should be quantified in terms of dollars and should include a
calculation of the breakeven point (BEP), which is the date when the
investment begins to generate a positive return. ROI should be
recalculated at every major checkpoint of a project to se if the BEP is
still on schedule, based on project spending and accomplishments to
date. If the project is behind schedule or over budget, the BEP may
move out in time; if the project is ahead of schedule or under budget
the BEP may occur earlier. In either case, the information is important
for decision making based on the value of the investment throughout
the project lifecycle. Any project that has developed a business case
is expected to refresh the ROI at each key project decision point (i.e.,
stage exit) or at least yearly.
Exclusions
If the detailed data collection, calculation of benefits and costs, and
capitalization data from which Return on Investment (ROI) is derived
was not required for a particular project, then it may not be realistic
or practical to require the retrofit calculation of ROI once the project
is added to the Review portfolio. In such a case, it is recommended
that a memorandum of record be developed as a substitute for ROI.
The memorandum should provide a brief history of the program, a
description of the major benefits realized to date with as much
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quantitative data as possible, and a summary of the process used to
identify and select system enhancements.
Some of the major benefits experienced by sites that installed the
information system that would be important to include in the
memorandum are:
a) Decommissioning of mainframe computers
b) Reduction/redirection of labour
c) Elimination of redundant systems
d) Ability to more cost effectively upgrade all sites with one standard
upgrade package.
In each case above, identify the specific site, systems, and labour
involved in determining the cited benefit. Identify any costs or dollar
savings that are known or have been estimated. The memorandum
will be used as tool for responding to any future audit inquiries on
project ROI.
For the Project Management Review, it is recommended that the
project leader replace the text on the ROI document through -
1) a note stating which stage of its cycle the project is in;
(2) A bulleted list of the most important points from the
memorandum of record; and
(3) a copy of the memorandum of record for the Review repository.
In subsequent Reviews of the information system, the ROI slide can
be eliminated form the package. There is one notable exception to
this guidance. Any internal use software project in the maintenance
phase of its lifecycle that adds a new site or undertakes an
enhancement or technology refresh that reaches the cost threshold
established by Standard will need to satisfy capitalization
requirements. It requires all agencies to capitalize items acquired or
developed for internal use if the expected service life is two or more
years and its cost meets or exceeds the agency’s threshold for
internal use software. The standard requires capitalization of direct
and indirect costs, including employee salaries and benefits for both
Federal and Contractor employees who materially participate in the
Software project. Program managers are considered to be the source
of cost information for internal use software projects. If capitalization
data is collected for the project in the future, the project would be
expected to calculate and track its ROI.
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Q 5: What is meant by baseline? How is it reviewed?
Answer:
Baseline
The Baseline created can be used to compare the original project
plan with actual events and achievements. This will display the days
required for each task and project phase. For actual operating
instruction please refer the Microsoft Project User Handbook. The
Microsoft Project family of products offers tools to work on a Project
from management point of view. Microsoft Project is designed for
people who manage projects independently and don’t require the
capability to manage resources from a central repository. Microsoft
has a team project management solution that enables project
managers and their teams to collaborate on projects. After creating a
fairly complete final project plan it is a good idea to create a baseline
to compare the original project plan with actual events and
achievements.
Reviewing baseline
This will display the days required for each task and project phase. It
includes -
Tracking Progress
After creating a baseline, if the project has begun, it is necessary to
enter actual dates that tasks are being completed and the resource
utilization used to complete them. Again review different views and
the cost and summary tables before proceeding to the next section.
Return to the Entry view of the Gantt chart before proceeding.
Balancing Workloads
At times people and equipment can become assigned more work than
they can complete in normal working hours. This is called over
allocation. Project can test for this condition and reschedule (or level)
their workload to accommodate completing tasks during a normal
day.
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Monitoring Variance
After a baseline has been established and the project has begun, it is
desirable to determine if tasks are being accomplished on time and
/or if cost over runs are occurring.
Creating Reports
Project has many different built-in reports and has the capability
building custom reports and exporting data to other MS Office
applications for integration into other reporting venues.
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Q 6: Explain in detail GDM and its key features.
Answer:
GDM - The Global Delivery Model (GDM) is adopted by an Industry or
Business such that it has a capability to plan design, deliver and
serve to any Customers or Clients Worldwide with Speed, Accuracy,
Economy and Reliability. The key Features of GDM are ·
Standardization
Modularization
Minimum Customization
Maximum Micro structure
Adoption of a Combination of the Greatest Common Multiple and the
Least Common
Factor of a Large Mass of Microbial Components-
a) Standardization - Ingenious Design and Development of
Components and Features which are like to be accepted by
90% of Worldwide Customers. Global Standards of Design
focusing on highly standardized Methods and Processes of
manufacture or Development. Adopt Plug and socket Concepts
with minimum adaptable joints or Connections.
b) Modularization - Product or Solution split up into smallest
possible individual Identifiable Entities, with limited Individual
Functioning Capability but powerful and robust in Combination
with other Modules.
c) Minimum Customization - Minimum Changes or Modifications
to suit Individual Customers.
d) Maximum micro structuring - Splitting of the Product
Modules further into much smaller entity identifiable more
through characteristics rather than application Features.
Approach through Standardization of these Microbial Entities
even across Multiple Modules. Application of these Microbial
Entities to rest within multiple Projects or Products or even as
add-ons suit belated Customer Needs.
Special Features of GDM
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Some of the special features of GDM are ·
• Cuts across Geographical and Time Zone Barriers
• Unimaginable Speeds of Response and Introduction.
• Common Pool of Microbial Components
• Largely Independent of Skill Sets required at Delivery Stages
• Highly automated Processes
• Quality Assurance as a Concurrent rather than a Control
Process
• Near Shore Development, Manufacture and Delivery for better
Logistics
• Mapping of Economical Zones rather than Geographic Zones
• Continuous Floating virtual Inventory to save Time and Efforts.
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