project management report final updated

8/3/2019 Project Management Report Final Updated

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Project ManagementReportFaculty of Business and Law

2011


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Faculty of Business and Law

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction to task 1 .................................................................................................................. 3

1.1. The Network Diagram ........................................................................................................ 3

1.2. Determining the timing of activities and the total float ........................................................ 4

1.3. Determination of project duration and its critical path ......................................................... 5

1.4. Determining the earliest finish date of the given project ...................................................... 5

1.5. Effect of delayed activities in the project duration............................................................... 5

1.5.1. Delay in activity B by 2 days ...................................................................................... 5

1.5.2. Delay in activity P by 2 days....................................................................................... 5

1.5.3. Delay in activity O by 1 day........................................................................................ 5

1.6. Limitations of network diagrams ........................................................................................ 5

2. Introduction to task 2 ................................................................................................................. 6

2.1. Project management process.................................................................................................. 6

2.1.1. Step I: Concept and Initiation...................................................................................... 7

2.1.2. Step II: Design and Development................................................................................ 9

2.1.3. Step III: Implementation ........................................................................................... 10

2.1.4. Step IV: Commission / Termination .......................................................................... 11

2.2. Problems concerned with project management ...................................................................... 11

2.2.1. Leadership problems ...................................................................................................... 11

2.2.2. Administration problems ............................................................................................ 13

2.2.3. Control problems ............................................................................................................ 13

Bibliography.................................................................................................................................... 15


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1. Introduction to task1

Juron Ltd. is a leading merchandiser in the sports market and is well known for supplying

quality products including training shoes, t-shirts, tennis racquets and soccer balls.

The company has received a fresh order of supplying a new range of soccer boots to the

sector.

1.1.The Network DiagramThe Network Diagram as per table 1

Figure 1.1 Source: Author (2011)


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1.2.Determining the timing of activities and the total floatThe timing of an activity can be judged through understanding the status of completion of the

preceding activity. For example in the above activity chart, B succeeds A (Aronson, 2008).

Therefore (A) (B).

This indicates that activity B can be initiated only once activity A finishes. So A is critical for

B. Thus the timing for B would start after the completion of A and all such other activities

critical for starting activity B. Here, we have taken only activity A to be the critical activity

for B. However in real life scenarios there are numerous activities to be undertaken and

completed before the next specified activity begins. Therefore the timing for such activity

starts only once all preceding activities have been taken up and completed (Aronson, 2008).

Total float is the time of delay that can be allowed in a specific activity after its earliest start

date so as to not let this delay affect the project duration. This means that even if the specified

activity starts after earliest start + total float days the projects still finishes on time (Gupta,

2008).

Mathematically,

Total float = Early start Late finish


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1.3. Determination of project duration and its critical pathThe duration of the project can be determined by calculating the early finish time of the last

activity. The last day of the project determines project completion and the number of days

taken to reach there since the beginning is the duration of the project (Harold, 2009).

Critical path is such a chain of activities, which if delayed, would affect the duration of the

project. The critical activities of the above scenario include the following chain in the same

sequence:

In other words the shortest duration of the project is called the critical path and thus the total

float of all activities that is, of the entire path equals zero (Heerkens, 2007).

1.4.Determining the earliest finish date of the given projectEarliest finish of the project = Earliest start of the last activity + duration of the last activity

(Kerzner, 2009).

If the project starts on the 16th

ofJanuary, it finishes on the 82nd

day of its start. Considering a

five day working week, its finishes on the 12th

of May.

1.5.Effect of delayed activities in the project duration1.5.1. Delay in activity B by 2 daysIf activity B is delayed by 2 days the, it would not affect the duration of the project because it

has a float of 4 days, which means even if it get delayed by 4 days, it would not affect the

timely completion of the project.

1.5.2. Delay in activity P by 2 daysSince activity P is a critical activity the project will get delayed by 2 days.

1.5.3. Delay in activity O by 1 daySince activity O is a critical activity the project will get delayed by 1 day.

1.6.Limitations of network diagrams


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a) There could be potentially hundreds of thousands of activities involved in projectsthat need to be measured do determine the criticality of the project duration. Network

diagrams lack that scalability required to design such activity chart.

b) If done without usage of software, the diagrams can go haywire- requiring largeamount of time, energy and other resources in the process.

c) Once out of control and unruly, these diagrams become useless until redone all overagain, utilising all the energy once again only to realise it may be required to be re-

done (Walker, 2010).

2. Introduction to task 2J

imaga Ltd, started in 2005, is a SME involved in the business of specialisation in the designand supply of promotional brochures and serve mainly the local authorities, other SMEs, and

sometimes by large global organisations.

The stated problem

Jimaga Ltd, is undergoing an expansion strategy of opening of a new office building which

will target at and respond to business from large global organisations.

The project is to be completed at the given time and within the given budget

2.1. Project management process

The task involves managing the entire project of opening the new building ofJimaga Ltd. The entire

task is broken down into four basic phases of project management (Lock, 2007). These include:

Step I: Concept or initiation

Concept or initiation, where the project starts off by the managers doing the feasibility study

of the need that the project will fulfil. This step will look into the budget provided for the

opening of the new building and the timeline that has been decided.

Step II: Design and development

Design and development, where the plans for implementation of the project will be scheduled

and timelines and costs of each activity involved will be decided.


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Step III: Implementation

The implementation phase, where the project will be implemented as the plan agreed, that is

the building will be thrown opne for official use and the shortcomings and smooth operations

will be looked at

Step IV: Commission or termination

This is the commission or termination phase where the building has opened and is

functioning smoothly and the project will thus close formally.

Diagrammatically the project life cycle can de depicted as per the following figure:

Project life cycle

Figure 1.4 Source: (Meredith, 2008)

2.1.1. Step I: Concept and InitiationThe following steps are to be taken in concept phase:

y Data gathering


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Data gathering is done on the following parameters and the results have been depicted in

the following table:

Data gathering table

Data gathering points Data

Number of employees who will use the building 100

Processes that will be carried out of the building y Salesy Operations

Functionality required from the building y Sales orientedy Operations oriented

The time by which the project needs to be

completed

50 days

The budget or the cost within which the project

is to be completed

8750

Figure 1.5 Source Author (2011)

y Identifying needThe building is to be thrown open for use in 50 days from now and is to be completed

within the budget of 8750.

yEstablishing of goals and objectives, understanding the basic economics, drawingfeasibility of the projects, knowing stakeholders, finding out the required skill set and

identifying and putting together the potential team are the next crucial steps to be

undertaken to carry on the project.

a) The objectives of the project are clearly stated in the need that has beenidentified.

b) The management and the global sales and operations team are the stakeholders ofthe project.

c) The team required to carry on the project includes:1) Cleaners2) Painters3) Electrical fitters4) Other fitters5) Final cleaners


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6) Security surveysd) The feasibility study will be done on basis of the following questions being asked

and the feasibility will depend on the responses:

Project Feasibility Study

Feasibility characteristics Response

How realistic is it to expect that the

project can meet the

stated objectives?

The project is to open the building for

office use, thus realistic

How realistic are the project scope,

budget and time

requirements?

The building is to be thrown open in 50

days in 8750, so realistic

Are sufficient funds available to

complete the project?

Yes the funds are sufficient

Does the organisation have thetechnical expertise to

accomplish the project?

Since it is outsourced to technicians

who are easy to find, so required

technical skills are easily available


y Guestimate resourcesFollowing resources will be required to complete the project

1. Manpower2. Material3. Money

y Identifying alternatives, presenting proposal and obtaining approval for next phase area few more steps to be taken care of in this phase (Taha, 2007).

2.1.2. Step II: Design and Development

y Appoint key team membersAt present the company employs

i) 1 General Manager,ii) 2 Assistant Managers,iii)3 Administration staff,


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iv)5 sales staff, andv) 6 warehouse staff.And the task mentions that the staffing structure would be the mirror structure of the

existing structure.

y Develop scope baseline, Work breakdown structure, budget and activity chartScope Baseline, WBS and Activity Chart


y Conducting studies, assessing risks, confirming justification, presenting project briefand obtaining approval to proceed are some of the other qualitative aspects of the step

that would require to be carried out (Murthy, 2007).

2.1.3. Step III: Implementationy Setup has to take place in the sense that once the development phase is over and the

entire layout of the project has been made, the implementation begins, where the

actual work starts and the laid out activities are carried out in the pre-determined

sequence.

y The team has to be kept motivated throughout the implementation of the project. It isduring the implementation phase that the key personal decide to leave the project in

between. Most plausible reasons of doing so involve dissatisfaction with work, feeling

Activity Nomenclature Dependence Duration Budget

Cleaning A - 10 days 1000

Electrical

fittings

B A 14 days 2500

Other fittings C A 5 days 2750

Set-up D B, C 10 days 500

Final touch

up

E D 4 days 500

Cleaning F F 7 days 1500


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over-burdened, de-motivated due to company policies or else some personal reasons.

Thus, the manager requires people skills here to make things happen fro his team in

every sense of the word.

y Detail technical requirements are set and have to be implemented as per specification.Since technical requirements are critical to functioning of the business, it is utmost

important to take care of the working of these technicalities.

y Procurement of goods and services and direct monitoring when required, will have tobe implemented. Other than that regular forecast and controlling measures will have

to be carried out. Forecast and control involve scope of the project, quality, time and

cost.

y Resolution of problems will also have to be carried out as and when they occur.

2.1.4. Step IV: Commission / Terminationy Finalise product(s)

Now when the building is complete and ready in time to be fully functional, it has to

be reviewed according to the standard of quality which have been set earlier.

y Review and acceptance by the administration and the facilities department of thecompany will have to be done. The officials of facilities survey the entire structure to

understand whether the completed project meets all requirements and is comfortable

enough from operational point of view.

y Documents are prepared for completion of the project and for commissioning of thesame. The building layout and its safety standards are displayed to the facilities

department.

y The reusable resources used in the project are released from the project and updationare made with the internal operations management department.

2.2. Problems concerned with project management

2.2.1.Leadership problems

a) Key staff leaving the project: In times when key staff leaves the project, it becomesvery difficult to carry on with such critical activities that cannot be carried out without

are expertise and know-how. These types of manpower problems do not have any


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contingency plans for them, since contingency here would means having an expert in

back-up which is additional cost with no output. Also there is all probability that this

resource would never be used (Wysocki, 2011).

b) Motivational levels go down: While the project is at its peak time and all resourceshave been applied to take the project to its full swing, some of the workers and

managers might get over-burdened with the stressful situation of short deadlines and

scare resources, thus affecting their level of motivation of carrying out work any

longer. The managers role here, is that of a mentor, who helps de-motivated staff to

look at the bigger picture and find ways to keep them going. The manager can use the

principle of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs to keep the employees motivated (Pride,

Hughes and Kapoor, 2011).

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Figure 1.9 Source: (Lock, 2007)

c) Information received too late so corrective action takes time: Lets imagine a scenariowhere workers suddenly stop coming to work one day. The information reaches the

project manager and he tries to find out the main problem. Now he comes to know

that the workers have not been working to their fullest capacity since the last 3 days

and have decided to leave the project now since they have been demanding higher

wages and their supervisors have been turning a deaf ear towards them. This is a

classic example of a scenario where the information has reached the manager too late.


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3 days have already passed since the workers have not worked and this is the 4th

day.

In case it takes 2 more days to solve their issues, 6 days are lost in the process. Had

the information reached the manager on the first day itself, it would have been easier

to tackle it and would also have not resulted in lost output (Walker, 2010).

2.2.2. Administration problems

a) Some estimates overlooked: There may be instances were estimates of items havebeen overlooked. This involves especially large projects with lots of fine processes

and materials required which could get missed out at the project cost/budget

estimation level. Although they might seem small at their individual levels, once

added up, they tend to become a substantial amount and could affect the overall

project cost significantly (Daft, 2011).

b) Policies or legislation of implementation change: Internal policies of the managementcould change during the project duration. Other than this external policy and

legislative environment could also change due to which the project could get affected-

delayed or else completely abandoned. These typical scenarios will have to be thought

about and contingency plans will have to be made before-hand so as to cope up with

tem with ease.

c) Cost of materials change thus budget of project gets affected: All materials are not bought together at the onset of a project, but are ordered and bought as and when

required for specific activities. This involves a problem of price change. That is prices

of materials if change, will affect the budget of the project. Therefore, a +-10%

contingency in costs should always be kept so as to swallow the changes in prices

(Dow, 2010).

d) Contingency not available, so project gets affected: When cases arise of nocontingency available, for example lead time of supply of material not taken into

consideration and order arriving 3 days after the material lasted out, affects the

timeline of the project, specially if such errors occur (Meredith, 2008).

2.2.3. Control problems

a) Meeting quality specifications: All along the project, timely delivery and budget arethe more important constraints for the delivery manager. In such cases, quality might

be sacrificed for timely delivery of the project or else in a bid to stay within the


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budgeted costs. These constraints are contrary to the constraint of quality. Now the

challenge before the project manager is to fulfil all constraints (Lock, 2007).

Quality is a qualitative constraint and thus its measurement is tough. The project

manager will have to develop benchmarks against which quality can be judged. Apart

from this, each activity could have different benchmark standard of quality,

depending on its type. The manager will have to take care of all these aspects when

measuring quality (Harold, 2009).

b) Control plans need constant updating and revision in terms of being accurate andrealistic. But this update has to be undertaken only by managers authorised to do so.

Ensuring that progress, expenditure and scope of the performance are all as per the

expectations of the client is the biggest hurdle in completion of the project.

Information regarding these parameters has to be collected electronically, manually,

through meetings and on-site survey (Heerkens, 2007).


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Bibliography

Aronson, J.E. (2008) Operations Research: Methods, Models, And Applications, Texas:

Information Age Pub Inc.

Daft, R.L. (2011) Understanding Management, 7th

edition, Mason: South-Western Cengage

Learning.

Dow, W. (2010)Project Management Communications Bible, John Wiley and Sons:

Chicago.

Gupta, P.K. (2008) Operations Research, New Delhi: S Chand & Company ltd.

Harold, K. (2009)Project management : Case Studies, 3rd

edition, Hoboken: Wiley.

Heerkens, G. (2007)Project management : 24 lessons to help you master any project, New

York: McGraw-Hill.

Kerzner, H. (2009)Project Management A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, andControlling, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Lock, D. (2007)Project Management, Burlington: Ashgate.

Meredith, J.R. (2008)Project management : a managerial approach, 7th

edition, Hoboken,

N.J: John Wiley.

Murthy, R. (2007) Operations Research, New Delhi: New Age International.

Pride, W.M., Hughes, R.J. and Kapoor, J.R. (2011)Business, 11th edition, Mason: South-

Western Cengage Learning.

Taha, H. (2007) Operations Research : An Introduction, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson

Education.

Walker, E. (2010) The Problems with Project Management, Chicago: McGraw Hill Prof.

Wysocki, R.K. (2011)Effective Project Management : Traditional, Agile, Extreme, 6th

edition, Indianapolis: Wiley.