Projects in Contemporary Organizations
Introduction
Rapid growth in project management
In the past, most projects were external
– Building a new skyscraper
– New ad campaign
– Launching a rocket
Growth lately is in internal projects
– Developing a new product
– Opening a new branch
– Improving the services provided
Project Management
“The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet
or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project.”
How Project Management Developed
Historical projects
– Tower of Babel
– Egyptian pyramids
– Great Wall of China
The Manhattan Project
Modern credit for the development of project management goes to the military
– Navy’s Polaris program
– NASA’s Apollo space program
– Development of “smart bombs” and “missiles”
Project management has found wide acceptance in industry
It has many applications outside of construction
– Managing legal cases
– Managing new product releases
Project Management Drivers
Expansion of knowledge
Demand for new products
Worldwide markets
Competition
Belief “better living though technology”
Expanding size of projects
Projects Tend to be Large
Projects tend to be large
– The Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel
– Denver International Airport
– Panama Canal expansion project
– Three Gorges Dam, China
Projects are getting larger over time
– Flying: balloons planes jets rockets reusable rockets
The more we can do, the more we try to do
Project Management Also Getting Smaller
More people are seeing the advantages of project management techniques
The tools have become cheaper
The techniques are becoming more widely taught and written about
The Definition of a “Project”
A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result
Modern project management began with the Manhattan Project
In its early days, project management was used mainly for large complex projects
As the tools and techniques were developed, the use of project organization began to
spread
Terminology
Program (group of projects)
Project
Task (subset of work elements)
Work package (sub element of task)
Work unit
Statement of work (SOW): A SOW is a narrative description of products or services to be
supplied under contract.
Contrast Projects and Operations
Projects
Create own charter,
organization, and goals
Catalyst for change
Unique product or service
Heterogeneous teams
Start and end date
Operations- to be listed
Three Project Objectives: The “Triple Constraint”
Time
Cost
Scope
Time, cost, and performance are all related to a project
Ch.1.0 Introduction:
Three Project Objectives
Performance
Cost
Time
Direct Project Goals: Scope, Cost, Time
Major Characteristics of a Project
Three main
– Unique
– One-time occurrence
– Finite duration
Other
– Interdependencies
– Limited resources
– Conflict
Non-projects and Quasi-Projects
Routine tasks are not projects
– Ex: production of weekly reports, delivery of mail, etc
Quasi-projects
– Scope, schedule, and budget are implied
Project Success
Project efficiency
Impact on the customer
Business impact on the organization
Opening new opportunities for the future
Project Manager
Project manager is the key individual on a project
Project manager is like a mini-CEO
Why Project Management?
The main purpose for initiating a project is to accomplish some goal
Project management increases the likelihood of accomplishing that goal
Project management gives us someone (the project manager) to spearhead the project
and to hold accountable for its completion
Plus
Responsive to client and environment
Fast problem resolution
Quick decision making
No sub optimization
Minus
Organizational complexity
Policy violations
Lower personnel utilization
Negative Side to Project Management
Greater organizational complexity
Higher probability organizational policy will be violated
Says managers cannot accomplish the desired outcome
Conflict
Forces Fostering Project Management
Main forces in driving the acceptance of project management:
– Exponential growth of human knowledge
– Growing demand for a broad range of complex goods and services
– Increased worldwide competition
All of these contribute to the need for organizations to do more and to do it faster
Recent Changes in Managing Organizations
Consensual management
Systems approach
Projects are established in order to accomplish set goals
Project Management Organizations
The Project Management Institute, founded in 1969, is the major project management
organization
Grew from 7,500 members in 1990 to over 440,000 in 190 countries by mid-2013
Other organizations
– Association for Project Management
– International Project Management Association
Trends in Project Management
Achieving strategic goals
Achieving routine goals
Improving project effectiveness
Virtual projects
Dynamic and quasi-projects
Ch 1.3 Project Life Cycle:
(% Completion) Vs. (Time)
Slow start
Quick momentum
Slow finish
Ch 1.3: Project Life Cycle:
Time Distribution of Project Effort
Conception
Selection
Planning, scheduling, monitoring, control
Evolution and termination
Ch 1.3: Project Life Cycle:
Increasing Marginal Returns
Return as applied to late stages in PLC
Compare to “standard” PLC showing DECREASING marginal return in late stages of PLC
Risk
Uncertainty about our ability to meet project goals due to various factors in the project
life cycle
Risk During at the Start of the Life Cycle
Risk During the Life Cycle
A Balancing Act-see ppt
A Balanced Project
Expectation and Objective Congruency-see ppt
Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement.
It was introduced by engineers Bill Smith & Mikel J Harry while working at Motorola in
1986.
Jack Welch made it central to his business strategy at General Electric in 1995.
It seeks to improve the quality of the output of a process by identifying and removing the
causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes
It uses a set of quality management methods, mainly empirical, statistical methods, and
creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization who are experts in these
methods.
Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of
steps and has specific value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce
pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits.
The term Six Sigma (capitalized because it was written that way when registered as a
Motorola trademark on December 28, 1993) originated from terminology associated with
statistical modeling of manufacturing processes.
The maturity of a manufacturing process can be described by a sigma rating indicating its
yield or the percentage of defect-free products it creates.
A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of all opportunities to produce some
feature of a part are statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defective features per
million opportunities).
Motorola set a goal of "six sigma" for all of its manufacturing operations, and this goal
became a by-word for the management and engineering practices used to achieve it.
The Structure of this Text
Follows the project life cycle
Some topics stand-alone
Other topics incorporated throughout
Project Management
Part I: Project Initiation
Projects in Contemporary Organizations
Strategic Management and Project Selection
The Project Manager
Managing Conflict and the Art of Negotiation
The Project in the Organizational Structure
Part II: Project Planning
Project Activity and Risk Planning
Budgeting: Estimating Costs and Risks
Scheduling
Resource Allocation
Part III: Project Execution
Monitoring and Information Systems
Project Control
Project Auditing
Project Termination