project management and qaulity assurance module 1 8

7/28/2019 Project Management and Qaulity assurance Module 1 8

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Project management

Project management is an organized venture for managing

projects. Project management includes the scientific application of modern techniques in

planning, financing, monitoring, controlling and coordinating the unique activities ofproject in order to produce the desirable outputs within the constraints of time and cost.

Project management consists of the following stages.

1. Project planning

2. Project scheduling

3. Project implementation, controlling and monitoring.

Project characteristics

a) Objectives - Project has a set of objectives which on achieved can be considered

as the completion of the project.

b) Lifecycle - Project has a life cycle consisting of stages like analysis, design and

implementation & commissioning.

c) Definite time limit - Every project has a definite time limit within which it should be

completed.

d) Uniqueness - Every project is unique and no two projects are similar.

e) Teamwork - Coordination among the personals from diverse area of specialization is

needed.

f) Complexity - Activities that contribute to the complexity of the project are technology

survey, choosing the appropriate technology, procuring appropriate machinery and

equipment, hiring the right kind of people, arranging for financial resources, execution of

project in time by proper scheduling.

g) Subcontracting - Some of the activities are entrusted to sub contractors to reduce the

complexity of the project. Greater the complexity, larger will be sub contracting.

h) Risk and uncertainty - All projects suffer from unexpected situations. E.g. Suppose

during the production of an item, the customer choice changes or sudden entry of a strong

competitor.

i) Customer specific nature - It is the duty of any organization to go for projects that are

suited to customer needs.


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j) Change - Changes can occur throughout the lifespan of the project. During the course

of implementation the technology may have improved and it is better to shift to the new

technology.

k) Forecasting - Forecasting the demand of any product that the project is going to

produce is important.

l) Optimality - Since resources are always scarce and are costly, optimum utilization of

resources is a must.

m) All projects have pre-designed control mechanisms in order to ensure completion of

the projects within the time schedule.

Capital Expenditure

Capital Expenditure can also be called as capital investment or capital project. It is shown

as asset in the balance sheet.

Capital expenditure has

1) Long term effects - Consequences of a capital expenditure decisions extend far in to

the future. Current manufacturing activities and basic nature of a firm depends on

the capital expenditure in the past.

2) Irreversibility - If the capital investment is made in the form of equipment, a wrong

investment decision will lead to substantial loss.

3) Substantial outlays - Capital expenditure involves substantial outlays.

4) Measurement problem - It is very difficult to measure exactly the capital expenditure.

5) Uncertainty - Benefits of a capital expenditure decision extend far in to the future.

Since it is very difficult to predict exactly what will happen in the future there is a

great uncertainty.

6) Temporal spread - Some projects take 10-20 years to complete. Such a temporal

spread creates difficulties in estimating the correct capital expenditure.


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Types of Capital expenditure

Physical assets - They are tangible investments like land, buildings, plant, machinery,

vehicles and computers.

Monetary assets - financial claims like deposits, bonds, and equity shares.

Intangible assets - represents outlays on R&D, training, market development etc.

Strategic investment - one that has a significant impact on the direction of the firm. Eg:-

invest in a new product.

Tactical investment - To implement the current strategy more efficiently and more

profitably.

Mandatory investment - pollution control, fire fighting equipment, medical dispensary.

Replacement investment - meant to replace worn out equipment with new equipment.

Expansion investment - meant to increase the capacity to cater to the growing demands.

Diversification investment - aimed at producing new products or services.

R&D investment - meant to develop new products and processes.

Miscellaneous investment - investment on interior decoration, recreational facilities, garden.

Phases of Capital budgeting

It can be divided in to 6 broad phases.

Planning

Analysis

Selection

Financing

Implementation

Review


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Planning

Planning is concerned with the articulation of investment strategy and the generation and

preliminary screening of project proposals. Once a project proposal is identified, a project

analysis is done. A feasibility check is also made to check whether the project isworthwhile.

Analysis

If the project seems to be worthwhile, a detailed analysis of marketing, technical,

financial, economic and ecological aspects is under taken. This phase gathers, prepares,

and summarizes relevant information about various project proposals.

Market analysis is concerned with:

1. Consumption trends in the past & present consumption level

2. Production possibilities and constraints

3. Imports & exports

4. Structure of competition

5. Cost structure

6. Consumer behavior, preferences & requirements

7. Distribution channels and marketing policies in use

8. Administrative, technical and legal constraints

Technical analysis

1. Check whether the preliminary tests and studies have been

conducted

2. Check whether the availability of inputs has been established

3. Check whether the production process chosen is suitable

4. Check whether provision has been made for treatment of effluents

5. Check whether the selected scale of operation is optimal

Financial analysis checks whether project is financially viable. It deals with:

1. Investment outlay and cost of project

2. Means of financing

3. Cost of capital

4. Projected profitability


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5. Cash flows of the project

Economic analysis checks how the cost & benefit of the project is going to affect the

society. It deals with:

1. Impact of the project on the distribution of income in the society

2. Impact of the project on the level of savings & investment in the society

3. Contribution of the project towards self sufficiency, employment

Ecological analysis: - Deals with environmental issues

1. Check the damage caused by the project to the environment

2. Cost of restoration measures required to reduce the damage

Selection

Project is selected based on the following

Payback period:-Defined as the length of time required to recover the original investment

through cash flows earned.

Accounting rate of return (Also known as the average rate of return):-

ARR=Profit after tax/Book value of investment (recorded value of investment)

Profit after tax is the average annual post tax benefit over the life of the project.

Criterion Accept Reject

Payback period PBPtarget period

Accounting rate of return ARR>target rate ARR0 NPVcost of capital IRR1 BCR


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Net present value:-

NPV = (Present value of all cash inflows over the life of the project) (Present value of

cash out flow)Present value of future cash flows is arrived at by discounting the future

cash inflows at an interest rate equal to the cost of capital.

NPV= CF1 CF2 CFn

+ . _ CF0

(1+r)1 (1+r)2 (1+r)n

Where CF1, CF2,..are the future cash flows occurring at the end of first year, second

year etc.

n = life of the project.

r = discount rate (cost of capital).

CF0 =Present cash outflow.

NPV = 0 indicates that present cash outflow and present value of future cash inflows are

equal.

NPV1 indicates that the present value of future cash inflow is more than the present

cash outflow.

Internal rate of return (IRR):-IRR is the rate of discount which would equate the presentvalue of cash outflows to the present value of cash inflows.

Benefit cost ratio (BCR):- Present value of cash inflows/Present value of cash outflows.

If BCR >1 it indicates that the benefits from the project are in excess of the cost incurred

towards the project.

Financing

After selecting a project financial arrangements have to be made. Sources of finance are

1) Equity shares

2) Debt (consists of term loans and debenture.)


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Implementation

Stage Activity

Project & engineering

design

Site probing, preparation of plant designs, selection of specific

machines and equipment.

Negotiations and

contracting

Legal contracts with respect to project financing, contracts for

acquisition of technology, construction of buildings E.g.tendors.

Construction Site preparation, construction of buildings, installation of machinery.

Training Training of engineers, technicians.

Plant commissioning Start up of the plant.

Review

Performance review should be made periodically to compare actual performance with

projected performance.

Project model

A project is viewed as a conversion or transformation of some form of input in to an

output under a set of constraints and utilizing a set of mechanisms to make the project

happen.

Constraints

Input Output

Mechanisms

Inputs

Project


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Inputs refers to the want or need to start a project. For many organizations, this need will

be encapsulated into a brief document describing the nature of the work to be undertaken.

For the project manager, there will be both explicitly stated requirements (original needs)

and those that emerge during the course of the project due to the customers changing

needs or perceptions (emergent needs).

Constraints

The main constraints are time, cost and quality. All projects by definition have a time

constraint. In practice, it is often found to be the most challenging to meet. Cost

constraint refers to the value and timing of financial resources required to carry out the

project work. Quality constraint indicates the standards by which both the product and theprocess will be judged. In addition to these three, the following constraints can prove

limiting on the project:

1. Legal - this may not be explicitly stated but there will be legal constraints.

2. Ethical a major area of many organizations today, particularly those where the ethics

of their organizational policies has been questioned in the past.

3. Environmental the deluge of environmental legislation that has been generated by

governments has changed the role of environmental control from a subsidiary issue to

one which is at the forefront of management thinking in many sectors.

4. Logic the need for certain activities to have been completed before a project can start.

5. Activation actions to show when a project or activity can begin.

6. Indirect effects it is practically impossible for any change to take place in isolation.

There will be ripple effects, which will need to be taken into account at the outset.

Outputs

Output can be described as a satisfied need. This will be usually in the form of :

Converted information e.g. a set of specifications for a new product


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A tangible product e.g. a building

Changed people e.g. through a training project, the participants have received new

knowledge

Mechanisms

The means of mechanisms by which the output is achieved are as follows:

People those involved both directly and indirectly in the project.

Knowledge and expertise brought to the project by the participants and outside

recruited help of both technical specialisms and management processes.

Financial resources

Tools and techniques the methods for organizing the potential work with the

available resources.

Technology the available physical assets that will be performing part or all of

the conversion process.

Phases of project management

Define the project this is the time when it is determined what the project is about, its

reasons for existence and the intentions that it intends to progress. It is a time to explore

the possibilities, find alternatives to the problems presented.

Design the process construct models to show how the needs will be developed,

evaluate these to determine the optimum process for the task and minimise risk.

Define the project

Design the project

process

Deliver the projectDevelop the process


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Deliver the project carry out the project in line with the models or plans generated

above.

Develop the project process improve the products and processes in the light of the

experience gained from the project.

Phase Sub phases Description

Define the project 1) Conceptualization Generate explicit statement of needs.

2) Analysis Identify what has to be provided to meetthose needs is it likely to be feasible?

Design the project process 1) Proposal Show how those needs will be met

through the project activities.

2) Justification Prepare and evaluate financial costs and

benefits from the project.

3) Agreement Point at which go-ahead is agreed byproject sponsor.

Deliver the project 1)Start-up Gather resources, assemble project teams.

2)Execution Carry out defined activities.

3)Completion Time/Money constraint reached or activity series completed.

4)Handover Output of project passed to client/user.

Develop the process 1)Review Identify the outcomes for all stakeholders.

2)Feedback Put in place improvements to procedures,fill gaps in knowledge and document

lessons for the future.


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7-s of project management

Works of a project manager can be categorized in to 7.

1) Strategy Strategy stands for the high level requirements of the project and the means

to achieve them. Strategy is a process. It involves a high level consideration of objectives,

which can be seen as points of principle rather than activity-level details. Success starts

with a rational strategy process, which then guides and informs the decisions made in all

areas of the project. Strategic issues that lead to project failures are

1) Organization lacks coordination.

2) Resource is not available

3) Company doesnt have the capacity to take up the project.

2) Structure It is the organizational arrangement that will be used to carry out the

project. Project team can be dedicated, full time team or one where staffs are borrowed as

and when needed.

3) Systems The methods for work to be designed monitored and controlled. Both

formal and informal systems will need to be designed or at least recognized for key tasks,

including communication and quality assurance.

4) Staff - deals with selection, recruitment and management of those working on the

project.

5) Skills - The managerial and technical tools available to the project manager and the

staff.

6) Style The underlying way of working and inter-relating within the work team or

organization.

7) Stakeholders Individuals and groups who have an interest in the outcome of the

project.

Project Environment

The change in the competitive environment in which the majority of organizations

operate has necessitated a major rethink of the way in which projects are managed. The

effects of the changes on projects and their managers include the following:

Time has become a major source of competitive advantage.


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Human resource management has moved from considering that members of a project

team should be treated as anonymous cogs in the machine to the idea that individual

creativity can be harnessed.

Rates of change in technology and methods have increased.

Organizations are having to become customer focused and exceed rather than just

meet customer requirements.

There is a trend towards integration and openness between customers and suppliers.

Company information that would previously have been closely guarded secrets is

often shared in a move towards partnership rather than adversarial relationships.

The project environment may be summarized by the four Cs.

1) Complexity

2) Completeness

3) Competitiveness

4) Customer focus

The Complexity of projects

The level of complexity of an activity is a function of three features:

Organizational Complexity: the number of people, departments, organizations, countries,

languages, cultures and time zones involved.

Resource complexity: the volume of resources involved often assessed through the

budget of the project.

Technical Complexity: the level of innovation involved in the product or the project

process, or novelty of interfaces between different parts of that process or product.

Overall complexity = Organizational complexity * Resource complexity * Technical

complexity.

Project manager

Project manager is a single person who heads the project.

He is the focal point for bringing together all efforts towards a project objective.

He is responsible for people from different functional departments working on the

project.


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He should see that the particular product or services is delivered within the correct time

and cost.

He should have the conflict resolution capability.

Outcomes and rewards are shared among the members of the project team.

Types of project managers

Project Expeditors - They speed up work and they are the communication link to the

general manager. Their purpose is to achieve unity of communication.

Project coordinators - They disburse fund from the budget. They have no authority over

the workers. They deal with upper level executives and they bring unity of control.

Matrix managers - They perform all the management functions like planning, motivating,

directing and controlling the project work. They achieve unity of direction. They control

people located in other departments. Due to this criss-cross nature they are called matrix

managers.

Attributes of a project manager

A project should have the following skills

1) Planning and organizational skills.

2) Personnel management skills.

3) Communicational skills.

4) Change orientation.

5) Ability to solve problems.

6) High energy levels.

7) Ambition for achievement.

8) Ability to take suggestion.

9) Understanding the views of project team members.

10) Ability to develop alternative actions quickly.

11) Knowledge of project management tools.

12) Ability to make self evaluation.

13) Effective time management.

14) Solving issues without postponing them.


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Project board BProject board A Project board C

Project manager A

Board of directors

15) Risk taking ability.

16) Familiarity with the organization.

17) Tolerance for difference of opinion.

18) Knowledge of technology.

19) Conflict resolving capacity.

Forms of project Organization

Forms of project organization means the way in which the human resource is

categorized.

1) Project organization

Employed by the company

Contractors Brought in as needed

At the highest level in the organization there are staff posts senior managers, directors,

administrative staff etc. (called the project board). The next level down is a series of

project managers who have control over one or more projects at a time. Contractors carry

out works such as electrical works etc. Once project is completed, the team is disbanded.

Advantages:- Main company only has to administer the employment of its own staff.

Less labor burden.

Disadvantages:-

Team is temporary.

Less commitment.

Lessons studied during the past projects cant be taken to the future.


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4.2) Functional organization

Research & Marketing Engineering Manufacturing Sales HR

Development

This arrangement prevails in many traditional industries. It leads the functional managers

to build their own empires by creating work for themselves without considering whether it

will help the organization as a whole. This arrangement forms a hierarchical pyramid

Chief executive

Board of directors

Line managers

Supervisors

workers

This traditional form is not suitable because

1) A project requires contribution of efforts from different department

2) No means of integrating people below the top management.

3) No effective communication between departments.

4.3) Line and staff organization

There is a project coordinator who act as a focal point to receive information from

one department and pass that to another department. He can give advice, but not have a

direct control over functional managers. He has very close relationship to the top

management.


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4.4) Divisional organization

A separate division is formed for the project. Project manager heads the division.

He has a direct control over the functional managers. There is more dedication and

commitment.

4.5) Matrix organization

Authority is shared between project manager and the functional managers. The

organization of the matrix follows one of the three models:

1) The Light weight matrix - Project manager chairs meetings of all department

representatives. Responsibility for the success is shared. This is the weakest form of

matrix.

2)Balanced model - Power of project manager and line manger is balanced. Both of them

governing a team member is the drawback of the system.

3) The heavy weight matrix - Departments provide resources on a full time basis to the

project team. On completion they return to their own departments.

Comparison

Functional Light weight Heavy weight Project

Example of

usage

Minor change to

existing productIT system

Major

innovation

projects

Large

construction

projects

Advantages

Quality through

depth of

specialization

Quality

maintained

Speed & quality

improvementSpeed highest

Disadvantages Relatively slowCoordination

expense

Coordination

expense

Expense of

contractors

Issues for

project manager

Integration of

work within

organization

Two bosses

problem

Two bosses

problem

Management of

knowledge


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project management and qaulity assurance module 1 8

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