SRM181 - Project Management

Assignment 3

‘Individual Report’

Trimester 3, 22/01/2014

Student No. 214305185

Mikkel Jorgensen

Pages: 12

Words: 2178

(Excludes front-page and reference list)

Table of Contents

Introduction..........................................................................................................................3

Project management history...............................................................................................3

Theoretical approaches........................................................................................................5

PMBOK.................................................................................................................................6

PRINCE................................................................................................................................7

ISO 21500 Project management.........................................................................................9

Conclusion...........................................................................................................................10

Reference.............................................................................................................................11

Introduction

This paper is formed on behalf of my research and the knowledge I have acquired from the

lectures in SRM181 project management. This report will present brief history of project

management, and how project management is used in different aspects and industries.

This report will address the different theories and how and where they have been developed.

Lastly, this paper will discourse the importance of collaboration between organizations who

are using project management. And how the need for standardization within project

management will increase in line with globalization.

Project management history

Project management has existed for thousands of years. All projects, where humans organize

and plan effectively, in order to achieve specific objectives, can loosely be defined as a

project. Some of the major projects that we know can be traced back more than 4000 years,

this includes the Giza pyramids, the Colosseum and the Gothic Cathedrals of Europe. All

these projects were planned and executed in a systematic way, with many similar

characteristics to the projects we see in today (Klopperborg 2012).

All these projects happened without the tools we use today such as the “Grant Chart” witch

was named after its creator Henry Grant in 1917. This was a major milestone within project

management and this development happen nearly 100 years ago and is now appreciated by

project managers around the world(Klopperborg 2012).

Even though project management has been around for thousands of years it was first in 1950

where the terminology “project manager” was named by a US air force general and also

when project management finally emerge as a discipline to be studied and practiced

(Klopperborg 2012, pp.4-5).

It was also around the 1950’s that techniques and theories was developed and even the

foundation to what we today call the internet was created, all this made it easier to plan and

control large scale projects (Project management explained 2011).

Tools and techniques is still to be created or developed, after all project management is used

in all sorts of projects from small scale projects to large worldwide projects, and no matter

what sort of project it is, they all share the same characteristics (Berghout, E. & Berghout

2000). E Every project starts with an idea. For example, an idea could derive from a kid who

wants to build a new dog house for his pet, or a multi-millionaire who wants to expand his or

her empire. The beauty behind project management is that we all have it in us, and we all

have the ability to succeed. However, nowadays 4000 years after the pyramids was

constructed there is countless ways and tools to deal with the issues that project managers

face. The ever present risks of failure and uncertainty means that no one can ever forecast

how a project will turn out when completed. Some examples could be that the cost exceeds

the budget or the time limit exceeds the presumed time-frame. Some projects face the fact

that they never will be completed and will be abandoned by its creator. Failures like these is

seen far too common in all industries, from retail to construction. The purpose of project

management is to forecast and minimize the possible dangers that can happen doing the

project, by planning, organizing and controlling the different activities in the project (Project

management explained 2011).

Theoretical approaches

In the middle of the twentieth century many companies had developed their own rules and

guidelines to deal with project management, this was not a problem in the internal

environment but in the external environment problems piled up and it became clear that

something had to change. When companies had to deal with other organization or suppliers

with a different approach to project management, problems and issues started to happen. This

bad collaboration between company and supplier could for example cause problems

regarding quality, cost, or time of delivery (Conchuir2012, p 9).

Standardization was much needed for companies and organizations to be able to collaborate

on a professional level.

Let us take a look at today’s construction industry, here it is not unlikely that an architect firm

is winning a design competition, which take place on the other side of the world (M.

Mohammadjafari, S.Z.M. Dawal, S. Ahmed and H. Zayandehroodi, 2011). This means that

the architect firm and the project manager in the giving country need to have a general

understanding of the processes it require manage the project (M. Mohammadjafari, S.Z.M.

Dawal, S. Ahmed and H. Zayandehroodi, 2011).

Therefore many theoretical approaches was and has been created in different parts of the

world. This report will focus on some of the first, most known, respected and used theories

(Moore D. R & Hague D.J 1999).

PMBOK

PMBOK stands for “Project Management Body Of Knowledge” and was created by the

Project management institute, PMI® which was establish in 1969 in USA, It is a worldwide

professional organization with over 400.000 members and credential holders, PMI has

published a range of standards related to project management, including the PMBOK®. The

PMBOK was originally released in 1983 as a printed form (Conchuir, D. 2012). The PMBOK

was released as a project management quarterly special report entitled Ethics, Standard and

Accreditation (Conchuir, D. 2012).

Today it is the most known recognizable approach to project management and is used by

project managers around the world (Conchuir, D. 2012).

The PMBOK organizes the project management processes into five stages. The stages follow

the project life cycle and consist of one or more of the 44 processes found in the PMBOK.

The five stages are,

Initiate

Plan

Executing

Controlling

Closing

The 44 processes within the PMBOK insure that all aspects of the project is covered, in this

report I will briefly mention some of the processes in each stage,

Initiate stage: one of the processes is to develop a project charter, the purpose of a project

charter is to understand the reasons for undertaking the project, set up the objectives and the

constraints, and to identify the main stakeholders to the project etc (Conchuir, D. 2012).

Planning stage: the planning stage would have processes regarding schedule, Quality, Cost,

Risk, and Communication etc (Conchuir, D. 2012).

Executing stage: Quality assurance, acquire project teams, Information distribution etc

(Conchuir, D. 2012).

Monitoring: Manage project teams, Performance reporting, Cost control etc (Conchuir, D.

2012).

Closing: Contract closure (Conchuir, D. 2012).

PRINCE

PRINCE became known in the year of 1989, Prince stands for ‘Projects In Controlled

Environments’ The Prince method is used in the public domain, and the method is registered

as a trademark by the British Cabinet Office. In 2010, The British Cabinet Office took over

the best practice management functions from the OGC, (Office of government commence)

PRINCE was originally developed within the IT development industry but was quickly

known to be effective in other domains too. So in 1996 PRINCE was revised to apply to

projects in general. This developed method became known as PRINCE2, This new method is

based on four pillars witch lay the foundation of the framework (Conchuir 2012, pp. 10- 11).

The four pillars consist of: Principles, Themes, Processes and Tailoring (PRINCE2® Project

management explained 2011).

Principles

Good practice which must be applied to any process, this is to ensure that the project has a

good business case. How to ensure a good business case? Make a cost benefit analysis, and

identify the possible risks within the project. Look on past projects and learn from

experience, Identify the stakeholders and the roles within the project, all key-player must

know of their responsibility, every individual contribution is vital to the success of the

project. And last divide the project into stages and follow a stage plan, evaluate each stage so

the projects can be manages by exception. Tailoring (PRINCE2® Project management

explained 2011).

Themes

Aspects that must be considered throughout the project, themes such as, business case themes

focus on the Cost benefit of the project, Organization themes is to develop the line of

authority, who take which decisions, Quality themes is to establish specifications of quality

of the different components needed in the project, and Plan themes, plan theme focus on the

time of delivery of components,

Processes

which ‘detail step-wise progression throughout the project lifecycle, this allows the manager

to get the right information at the right time to make the right decisions,

Tailoring

The level of detail applied should be suit the project context, this is to recognize that every

project is unique and to set the parameters to the size of the project (PRINCE2® Project

management explained 2011)

ISO 21500 Project management

As the world grow smaller and smaller, globalization is more and more usual in all kinds of

companies and organizations. Therefore a new need developed. Project managers around the

world need standardization to be able to collaborate, across land boarders.

The International Standard Organization for Standardization started the development of the

ISO 21 500 project management guidelines in 2007. Project management guidelines had to be

the core of project management that is relevant to everybody. All countries mirror

committees had the opportunity to bring in relevant sources of project management as input

for the guideline. The participants proposed the standards according to the theories mentioned

above such as PMBOK, PRINCE etc.

A new international standard for project management was born. The ISO 21500 provides

high level descriptions of concepts and processes that are known to from a good practise

within project management. New as well as experienced project managers will be able to use

the guidelines. This will improve project success and achieve better global business results

(ISO 2012).

Some of the benefits of ISO 21500 include:

Transfer of knowledge between projects and organizations is improved

Facilitating efficient tendering processes through the use of consistent project

management

Enable flexibility of project management employees and their ability to work on

international projects

Provide universal guidelines, principles and processes to project management

Conclusion

The foregoing theories all apply to the project management body of knowledge which we

know is: Time, Cost, Quality, Procurement, Human resources, Communications, Scope and

integration. They also they share some general characteristics. Some of the characteristics

among the theories is for example:

The process of project management should take place before, the project starts to take form,

It is important that the project manager follow the project all the way to the finished outcome

of the project. The best project outcome comes from a project that is well planned before

start. It is also known to be easiest and less cost damaging to change plan in the beginning of

the project. The project manager must aim to satisfy as many stakeholders of the project as

possible, this includes the sponsor, buyer, supplier or others involved in the project (Lock, D

2007, p 3). Project management is about shrinking the troubling uncertainties and getting the

work in each project under control (Woodward, J.F, 1997, p).

However as the pace of globalization continues to increase, new challenges and opportunities

will arise for project managers around the world. While globalization has brought immense

benefits to the achievement of projects it has also brought the need for systemization and

standardization of project management. Globalization require that people across the boarders

lean to collaborate and use the same guidelines, principles and processes to make the

achievement of projects better and more efficient (Gasiorowski E, D, 2012). This is properly

why theories have evolved the way they have, but in the end it all comes down to the size of

the project the project manager is managing.

Reference

Baker, K. & Baker, S., 2000. The complete idiot’s guide to project management, United

states: Indianapolis, IN : Alpha Books, c2000

Berghout, E. & Berghout, E., Leading issues in ICT Evaluation, United kingdom: academic

Publishing International Ltd.

Conchuir, D,. 2012 Overview of the PMBOK® Guide: Paving the way for PMP® Certification,

Germany: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & CO. K.

Gasiorowski E, D, 2012 New ISO standard on project management. ISO , Received the

1/02/15 <http://www.iso.org/iso/news.htm?refid=Ref1662>

Kloppenborg, T., 2012. Contemporary Project Management: Organize, Plan, Perform, United

States: South Western Cengage Learning

Lock, D ‘The Essentials of Project Management’ 2007 third edition, Gower publishing,

England

M. Mohammadjafari, S.Z.M. Dawal, S. Ahmed and H. Zayandehroodi, 2011. ‘Toward a

Theoretical Concept of E-Collaboration through Project Management in SMEs for Reducing

Time and Cost in New Product’: A Review. Journal of Applied Sciences, 11: 174-182. DOI: <

10.3923/jas.2011.174.182>

Moore D. R & Hague D.J 1999 ‘Building Management Techniques An introduction through a

systems approach’published by Pearson Education Limited, England

Norman, E, S, Brotherton S, A & Fried, R, T, 2011‘Work Breakdown Structures : The

Foundation for Project Management Excellence’ Publisher John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved 23

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Woodward J, F ‘Construction project management’ 1997 Published by Thomas Telford

publishing, London