Management Programme

ASSIGNMENT

FIRST SEMESTER

2013

MS - 52: Project Management

School of Management Studies

INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

MAIDAN GARHI, NEW DELHI – 110 068

MS-52

ASSIGNMENT

Course Code : MS - 52

Course Title : Project Management

Assignment Code : MS-52/TMA/SEM - I /2013

Coverage : All Blocks

Note : Attempt all the questions and submit this assignment on or before 30th April, 2013 to

the coordinator of your study center.

1) a) Distinguish between Project and Production Management.

b) Discuss the critical success factor in Project Management.

2) Discuss the various methods for economic analysis of the project. Also explain the drawback of

the traditional methods.

3) What is an ideal resource profile and how does it get influenced by practical considerations of

project execution?

4) Elaborate the concept of “Earned value of the Budget” in PERT/Cost System.

5) Explain the importance of “Project Review” in the context of Control of a project.

6) Draw a Project Network for the following activities.

Activity : A B C D E F G H I J K

Predecessor : - - - A A B B D, E C G,I F, H, J

Time (Days): 6 3 8 20 18 9 8 7 2 14 10

Calculate the project completion time and Floats and this project.

Q1) a) Distinguish between Project and Production Management.

b) Discuss the critical success factor in Project Management

Ans:a) Distinguish between Project and Production Management.

Difference between product management and project management.

Despite the similar names, there are big differences between product management and project

management. Confusing them is common, even among those experienced in product

development.

Project managers are responsible for the successful delivery of a project — a one-time

endeavor with a goal, scope, deadline, budget, and other constraints. A project manager will

work to align resources, manage issues and risks, and basically coordinate all of the various

elements necessary to complete the project. As they relate to products, projects can be

undertaken to build a product, to add new features to a product, or create new versions or

extensions of a product. When the project is complete, the project manager will usually move

move to a new project, which may be related to a different product.

Product managers are responsible for the overall and ongoing success of a product. Once the

project to build the product is complete and the project manager has moved on, the product

manager remains to manage the product through the entire lifecycle. Other projects related to

the product may be initiated, with the product manager being the one constant stream

throughout, defining the project goals and guiding the team to accomplish the business

objectives that have been defined.

One challenge of the two roles is that they can appear to be at odds with each other. A product

manager may want to add a lot of features to meet observed customer needs, but the project

manager may want to keep scope as small as possible so that the project is delivered on time

and under budget. Traditional definitions (and probably those above, too) often mischaracterize

the project manager as singularly focused on getting the project finished on time and under

budget without any concern as to whether it meets the market or customer needs.

Good product managers and good project managers are able to create a balance of these

conflicts. Good project managers know that the true success of a project is not whether it is on

time and within budget, but whether it meets the defined goals and objectives. Good product

managers know that all the features in the world will not matter if the project is continually

delayed and never makes it to market or if it is too over budget to be completed.

Especially for web-based and technology products, the confusion between project and product

management is common and potentially harmful to organizations who do not acknowledge the

distinction.

There are some important points to keep in mind related to project management and product

management:

• Just like every product needs a product manager, every project needs a project manager.

• Just because product managers think they can manage their own projects does not mean

they should.

• The skills, talents, and traits involved in project management are very different from

those involved in product management.

• Just like it is hard to find one single person who can fill the product management role

and the product marketing role, it is hard to find one person who can be successful at

both the product management and the project management role.

• Project management is not a stepping stone to product management, nor vice versa.

• Good project managers are just as valuable as good product managers.

• Finding a good project manager to manage your projects will help you be an even better

product manager.

• The less time product managers spend on project management, the more time they will

be able to spend on product management.

• To avoid conflicts between product management and project management, product

managers, project managers, and project teams should all agree on shared goals and

objectives as much as possible.

b) Discuss the critical success factor in Project Management

Ans: As project managers we all look for that secret recipe which will make our projects

successful. What are the few key items that we need to be aware and take care of proactively.

We look for those elusive Critical Success Factors that can be managed to create an

atmosphere conducive for the success of the project. There are scores of lists on the web and

dozens of books on this topic but CHAOS success factors (the Standish Group, 2009) stands

out among all of them distinctively.

The CHAOS reports (2009) lists the following Success Factors

1. User Involvement

2. Executive Support

3. Clear Business Objectives

4. Emotional Maturity

5. Optimization

6. Agile Process

7. Project Management Expertise

8. Skilled Resources

9. Execution

10. Tools and Infrastructure.

It is interesting to note that this recent list of Success Factors from the Standish Group is quite

different is many ways from their 1995 report.

The CHAOS reports (1995) had the following Success Factors:

1. User Involvement

2. Executive Management Support

3. Clear Statement of Requirements

4. Proper Planning

5. Realistic Expectations

6. Small Project Milestones

7. Competent Staff

8. Ownership

9. Clear Vision and Objectives

10. Hard working Focused Staff.

While some remained the same, some are no longer in the top ten (clear statement of

requirements, realistic expectations, ownership, hard-working focused staff). At the same time

new factors have moved into the top ten (emotional maturity, optimization, Agile process,

project management expertise, execution, tools and infrastructure).

The identification of Project Management Expertise as a Critical Success Factor responsible

for influencing the final outcome of a project is definitely positive news for project

management discipline to continue receiving attention and executive sponsorship.

Also the mention of “Execution” is important since time and again it has been shown that well

laid plans are of no use if they cannot be executed well. So the focus on Execution is of utmost

importance.

Project Managers need to keep this list in mind during the various phases of the project and

translate it into specific and actionable items for their own projects based on the relevance and

importance of each of the success factor.

There cannot be one single list of top 10 success factors for all projects since projects by

definition are unique. But the CHAOS reports definitely provide a good reference point to start

identifying what are the top 10 critical success factors for your project.

Q2)Discuss the various methods for economic analysis of the project. Also explain the drawback

of the traditional methods.

Q3)What is an ideal resource profile and how does it get influenced by practical considerations of

project execution?

Ans: IDEAL RESOURCES PROFILE

Project Schedules are initially prepared on the simplifying assumption that human

resources will be available as and when required. It is seldom possible to acquire and

release resources in any desired amount even if we are willing to pay the expenses

involved in frequent changes in levels of engagement viz., cost of hiring, training,

unemployment wages etc. It is, therefore, advisable to maintain stable employment

and utilize human resources at a more constant rate.

The ideal profile of resource utilization is as shown below:

Since engagement and release of manpower has to be in concrete steps, the profile

may be modified as shown:

In projects extending over longer duration, there may be two or more stable levels of

engagement of as in Figure:

Q4)Elaborate the concept of “Earned value of the Budget” in PERT/Cost System.

Ans: Earned Value Management

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a systematic project management process used to indicate

variances in projects in an objective manner, based on the evaluation of the work performed compared

to the work planned. When properly applied to a project, EVM provides and early warning indication

of project performance issues.

EVM uses principles of Earned Value (EV), which is a project management tool used to measure

project performance. EV is essentially an approach for project managers to monitor the project plan,

actual work, and work completed to verify if the project is performing as expected.

In simple terms EV compares the actual project performance to the planned performance with respect to

budget and schedule at any point in time during the project.

Why Use Earned Value?

Earned Value can be a valuable project management tool, but the utility of it must be understood for it

to be used correctly. EV indentifies the variances in a project and informs a project manager on what is

occurring in a project, but does not identify the "source" or "cause" for the variance, nor does it address

the required action necessary for the "correction" of the variance.

Earned Value provides an objective assessment of project performance and once introduced can

provided a common understanding and perspective among project mangers regarding the metrics of

project performance.

The other major benefit to using EV is the ability to evaluate the performance of a project at any point

during the project's life cycle, not just at the completion of a project. How many times have you come

to the end of a project and learned that the project performance did not meet expectations? By the end

of the project it is too late to take any corrective action. Earned Value allows project managers to

evaluate and monitor their project through out the project life cycle, which will allow for better project

control.

Key Components to Earned Value

There are three key components to EV that are used when evaluating projects for EVM.

• Project Budget - The budget has two values that are used for EV, which are;

o Budgeted Cost of Work Schedule (BCWS) - BCWS is the baseline cost up to the current date.

o Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) - ACWP are the actual cost required to complete all or

some portion of the tasks to the current date.

o Project Schedule - The project schedule has two values that are used for EV, which are;

Scheduled Time for Work Performed (STWP)♣

♣ Actual Time of Work Performed (ATWP)

o Value of Work Performed - This is the value earned (reported percent complete) by the work

performed and is referred to as the Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP).

Earned Value Graph

The final outcome of an EV analysis is a three line graph showing cost over time for a project, which

helps visualizes the key values used in EV. The three lines indicated are the BCWS, ACWP, and

BCWP as described above. From reading the graph you can determine project variances .

Looking at the data date the project is behind where it should be as indicated by the variance between

BCWP and BCWS, and the project is over budget as indicated by the variance between the ACWP and

BCWS.

Responding to Earned Value

Earned Value is great, but they are not more than performance indicators and don't tell the whole story,

make decisions, or take action on a project, so that is where the project manager must intervene and

regain control over the project. The project manager should not only question cost and schedule

overruns, but should also question cost and schedule underruns as identified below.

Cost / Budget Variances

• A positive variance indicates that the project is ahead of schedule or under budget. Positive variances

might enable you to reallocate money and resources from tasks or projects with positive variances to

tasks or projects with negative variances.

• A negative variance indicates that the project is behind schedule or over budget and you need to take

action. If a task or project has a negative CV, you might have to increase your budget or accept reduced

profit margins.

Q5)Explain the importance of “Project Review” in the context of Control of a project.

Ans: IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT REVIEW

The entire aspect of `control' is covered by the concept of project review which must

be carried out from time to time as the project journeys forward during

implementation. Project review meetings are necessary to convince key personnel

that orderly progress is being made on the project. These meetings are held at various

levels as below:

a)Project Team review meetings usually chaired by the project manager.

b)Top management review meeting where project manager reports the status or the

project and highlights problem areas and how the same are being resolved.

c)Customer Review meetings wherein prime focus is to report the status of the

project to the customer or to the end-user, highlighting problem areas and mode

of resolving them. The approach should be to involve them and welcome their

help and input in resolving problems and expediting implementation.

Keeping everyone on the project informed prevents surprises and shocks and builds

up involvement and commitment. This paves a reliable way to secure support from

all quarters when any unforeseen situations arise and require concerted and co-

operative effort around to retrieve the project and put it back on the rails.

Project review meetings are like the practice sessions of a football team. They

improve understanding, enhance team spirit and inculcate understanding among

project personnel. These also remove gags and overlaps, reduce friction and resolve

conflicts with or without external intervention.

Project review meetings set the tone, tenor, speed and momentum of project

execution and should be designed to achieve specific tasks. Calling review meetings

for the sake of it should be avoided at all costs.

Q6)Draw a Project Network for the following activities.

Activity : A B C D E F G H I J K

Predecessor : - - - A A B B D, E C G,I F, H, J

Time (Days): 6 3 8 20 18 9 8 7 2 14 10

Calculate the project completion time and Floats and this project.

Ans:

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