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Operations Management

Lesson 5Project Management

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What you will learn in this unit: Project Life Cycle Project Planning Tools The Roles of Project Managers Key Success Factors

What is a project?A project is a set of activities, which has a defined start point and a defined end state, that pursues a defined goal and that uses a defined set of resources.

Project management is the process of managing the activities within a project by planning the work, executing it and coordinating the contribution of the staff and organizations who have an interest in the project.

An AIDS information campaignDesigning an aircraftConstructing petronas twin towerInstalling a new information system

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Project Management Applications

What is a project? Any endeavor with objectives With multiple activities With defined precedent relationships With a specific time period for completion

Examples? A major event like a wedding Any construction project Designing a political campaign

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Five Project Life Cycle Phases

Conception: identify the need Feasibility analysis or study:

costs benefits, and risks Planning: who, how long, what to

do? Execution: doing the project Termination: ending the project

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Network Planning Techniques

Program Evaluation & Review Technique (PERT): Developed to manage the Polaris missile project Many tasks pushed the boundaries of science &

engineering (tasks’ duration = probabilistic)

Critical Path Method (CPM): Developed to coordinate maintenance projects in

the chemical industry A complex undertaking, but individual tasks are

routine (tasks’ duration = deterministic)

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Both PERT and CPM

Graphically display the precedence relationships & sequence of activities

Estimate the project’s duration Identify critical activities that cannot be

delayed without delaying the project Estimate the amount of slack associated

with non-critical activities

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Some Network Definitions All activities on the critical path have zero slack Slack defines how long non-critical activities can

be delayed without delaying the project Slack = the activity’s late finish minus its early

finish (or its late start minus its early start) Earliest Start (ES) = the earliest finish of the

immediately preceding activity Earliest Finish (EF) = is the ES plus the activity time Latest Start (LS) and Latest Finish (LF) depend on

whether or not the activity is on the critical path

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Gantt Chart is used for project scheduling; it involves multiple dimensions in assisting for planning. It’s a simple and visual oriented

planning method.

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Breakfast in bed project Purpose – to make breakfast in bed End result – breakfast in bed of boiled

egg, toast & orange juice Success criteria – minimum staff

resources & time; high quality (egg freshly boiled, toast warm etc.)

Scope – project starts in kitchen at 6am and finishes in bedroom; needs one operator and normal equipment

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A work breakdown structure

O b ta inju ice

o b ta ing la ss

p ro d u ce g la sso f o ra n g e ju ice

O b ta ine gg

O b ta inw a te r

p ro d u ceb o iled e gg

o b ta ine g g cup

P ro du ce bo iled e ggin e gg cup

o b ta in b re ad

P ro d u ceto a st

o b ta inb u tte r

P ro du ce b u tte redto a st

O b ta in p la tesa n d cu tle ry

O b ta in tray

A rra n getra y

S e rve b re ak fa s t in b edT yp e tit le h e re

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Breakfast in bed project

Task ID Activity

Effort (Operatve mnutes)

Duration (Mins)

a Butter toast 1 1b Pour orange juice 1 1c Boil egg 0 4d Slice bread 1 1e Fill pan with water 1 1f Bring water to boil 0 3g Toast bread 0 2h Take tray to bedroom 1 1I Fetch tray etc 1 1

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Breakfast in bed project

Task ID Activity Predecessorsa Butter toast d,gb Pour orange juice -c Boil egg e,fd Slice bread -e Fill pan with water -f Bring water to boil eg Toast bread dh Take tray to bedroom a,b,c,d,e,f,g,II Fetch tray etc -

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Network diagrams

An Activitya

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Activity duration

Activity reference

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Network diagramsAn event

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Event number

Latest event timeEarliest event time

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Project Slack

If there is a difference between the earliest and latest event time this is known as the slack on that event

If the earliest and latest event time are equal, this event lies on the critical path

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Gantt ChartsActivities requiring operator time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Orange

Bread Butter

Water Bedroom

Tray

Operators required

4321

Toast

Boil eggBoil water

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Gantt ChartsActivities requiring operator time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Orange

Bread Butter

Water Bedroom

Tray

Operators required

4321

Boil water Boil egg

Toast

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Gantt ChartsActivities requiring operator time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Orange

Bread Butter

Water Bedroom

Tray

Operators required

4321

Toast

Boil water Boil egg

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Successful Project managementThe following factors are particularly important:         Clearly defined goals         Competent project manager         Top-management support         Competent project members         Sufficient resource allocation         Adequate communications channels         Control mechanisms         Feedback capabilities         Responsiveness to client         Trouble shooting mechanisms         Project staff continuity