introduction to project management academic essay assignment -

Project Management Your Name Date

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 3

Project Management Basics .......................................................................................................................... 3

Value of Project Management ...................................................................................................................... 4

General Approach: ................................................................................................................................ 4

Tangible (Quantitative) Benefits of PM ........................................................................................................ 4

Intangible (Qualitative) Benefits of PM ........................................................................................................ 5

PROBLEMS WITH JP INDUSTRIES: ................................................................................................................. 6

THREE AREAS TO DEMONSTRATE ................................................................................................................. 7

Resources (People, equipment, material) .................................................................................................... 7

People ........................................................................................................................................... 7

Equipment ..................................................................................................................................... 7

Material ......................................................................................................................................... 8

Time (Task durations, dependencies, critical path) ...................................................................................... 8

Tasks .............................................................................................................................................. 8

Schedule ........................................................................................................................................ 8

Critical Path ................................................................................................................................... 9

Money (Costs, contingencies, profit) ............................................................................................................ 9

Costs .............................................................................................................................................. 9

Contingencies ................................................................................................................................ 9

Profit ........................................................................................................................................... 10

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................... 11

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 12



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INTRODUCTION

Project management; the leadership role which plans, budgets, co-ordinates, monitors and

controls the operational contributions of property professionals, and others, in a project involving

the development of land in accordance with a client's objectives in terms of quality, cost and

time.

Project management in the modern sense began in the early 1960s, although it has its roots much

further back in the latter years of the 19th century. The need for project management was driven

by businesses that realized the benefits of organizing work around projects and the critical need

to communicate and co-ordinate work across departments and professions. Project management

is a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish a specific objective, for example,

constructing a building or implementing a major new computer system.

Project Management Basics

Project Initiation

Project Planning

Project Execution

Project Monitoring and Controlling

Closing the Project

Further it includes the management of project plan and operating reular controls to ensure

the proper implementation of project plan.



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Value of Project Management

General Approach:

Project management is precisely what the name implies: It's a tactic for managing projects by

combining strategy, goals, and nuts-and-bolts processes into a cohesive whole. Project

management as a management discipline underpins much economic activity. In industries as

diverse as construction, software and aerospace etc projects drive business. For an organisation,

it is effective project management that translates politicians' promises of new roads, schools and

hospitals into gleaming new constructions that improve everyday life. A good Project

Management System will base project management principles on accepted, industry standard

methodologies. The larger the project and the more complex it is, the more there is a need for a

formal, standard, structured process. You may be able to manage a project of two people and 200

hours in your head. However, you cannot manage a project of five people and 1000 effort hours

the same way. A project of ten people with 5000 effort hours needs more formal management

and a project of 20 people and 20,000 hours needs even more.

Tangible (Quantitative) Benefits of PM

Saving Time and Money:

Project Management was developed to save time on a project by planning it out and

considering all relevant factors which may affect its outcome. The benefits are proven - it saves

time and money, and generates a more successful outcome.

Time saving

Cost saving

Achieving an agreed outcome



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Better efficiency in delivering services: Project management provides a “roadmap” that is

easily followed and leads to project completion. Once you know where to avoid the bumps and

pots holes it stands to reason that you’re going to be working smarter and not harder and longer.

Greater standing and competitive edge: This is not only a good benefit of project management

within the workplace but outside of it as well; word travels fast and there is nothing like superior

performance to secure your place in the marketplace.

Increase in Quality: Goes hand-in-hand with enhanced effectiveness

Intangible (Qualitative) Benefits of PM

Projects delivered successfully

Proven planning and agreement will enable you to achieve agreed objectives

You will have goal clarity and measurement

Your resources will coordinated

Your risks will be identified and managed

Improved/increased/enhanced customer satisfaction: Whenever you get a project done on

time and under budget, the client walks away happy. And a happy client is one you’ll see again.

Smart project management provides the tools that enable this client/manager relationship to

continue.

Enhanced effectiveness in delivering services: The same project management strategies that

allowed you to successfully complete one project will serve you many times over.

Improved growth and development within your team: Positive results not only command

respect but more often than not inspire your team to continue to look for ways to perform more



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efficiently.

Opportunities to expand your services: A by-product of greater standing. Great performance

leads to more opportunities to succeed.

Better Flexibility: Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of project management is that it allows

for flexibility. Sure project management allows you to map out the strategy you want to take see

your project completed. But the beauty of such organization is that if you discover a smarter

direction to take, you can take it. For many small-to-midsize companies, this alone is worth the

price of admission.

Increased risk assessment: When all the players are lined up and your strategy is in place

potential risks will jump out and slap you in the face. And that’s the way it should be. Project

management provides a red flag at the right time: before you start working on project

completion.

Increase in Quantity: Often the result of better efficiency, a simple reminder regarding the

benefits of project management.

PROBLEMS WITH JP INDUSTRIES:

No standard approach

In JP industries there is no standardized approach for managing the projects. Its

lack results the other problems.

Each office has its own system

Each office in JP industries has developed their own rules and management

practices. That is not very good measures at all.

Projects are delivered late or over budget.



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JP industry has also facing the problem of completion of projects late or out of

time and not only this but also they absorb more cost than estimated costs. which

then results in a loss to the organisation.

THREE AREAS TO DEMONSTRATE

There are four basic points of a project like resources, time, money, and most

importantly, scope. All these elements are interrelated. Each must be managed effectively.

1. RESOURCE

2. TIME

3. MONEY

Resources (People, equipment, material)

People

Project employees, vendor staff, subcontract labor

Managing the people resources means having the right people, with the right skills and

the proper tools, in the right quantity at the right time. It also means ensuring that they

know what needs to be done, when, and how. Managing direct employees normally

means managing the senior person in each group of employees assigned to your project.

Remember that these employees also have a line manager to whom they report and from

whom the usually take technical direction.

Equipment

Cranes, trucks, backhoes, other heavy equipment or Development, test, and staging

servers, CD burners or Recording studio, tape decks, mixers, microphones and speakers



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The equipment you have to manage as part of your project depends on the nature of the

project. The project management key for equipment is much like for people resources.

You have to make sure you have the right equipment in the right place at the right time

and that it has the supplies it needs to operate properly.

Material

Concrete, pipe, rebar, insulation or CD blanks, computers, jewel cases, instruction

manuals.

Most of the projects need purchasing the material. For a construction project all the raw

data is to be purchased also some specific machinery may have try be purchased or can

be made available on rent. Managing the vendor staff means to make sure the right

supplies arrive at the right time. Also the right price has its effect on project.

Time (Task durations, dependencies, critical path)

Tasks

Duration, resources, dependencies

A project can be broken into small tasks that combine to a major project. Each task then

is to be assigned a specific duration and the most important is to identify dependencies.

What task is followed by which task? It also includes Time Management

Schedule

Tasks, predecessors, successors

Schedule is a necessity for completion of a task. If you omit the schedule the task may

not be completed in time that would result in loss and delay of project, too. The schedule

may also be affected if tasks are not properly sequenced. A schedule must be made in

order to address all the tasks. There may be many steps like



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Allocate the resources

Determine predecessors and successors

Critical Path

Changeable, often multiple, float

When all tasks have been listed, resourced, and sequenced, you will see that some tasks

have a little flexibility in their required start and finish date. This is called float. Other

tasks have no flexibility, zero float. A line through all the tasks with zero float is called

the critical path. All tasks on this path or parallel paths must be completed on time only

then the project can be completed on time. The more critical path is to manage the

budget.

Money (Costs, contingencies, profit)

Costs

Estimated, actual, variability

A cost is associated with each project, this cost may be of labour hours or purchase price

of material needed for the project. For this purpose an estimated budget is prepared that

take into account all these costs and then totals them. These estimates should be more

accurate else it can result in a loss. After the estimations the project is completed and then

estimated costs are matched to actual costs to find out variances. This could help us to

avoid any unfavorable variances in future. Successful project management is an art and a

science that takes practice.

Contingencies

Weather, suppliers, design allowance

When the estimated cost of an item is uncertain, the project budget often includes design

allowance. This is money that is set aside in the budget "just in case" the actual cost of

the item is wildly different than the estimate. So a project budget is composed of the



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estimated cost, plus the contingency and design allowance, plus any profit. To complete a

project within the estimated budget, you have to meet your project schedule. Don't allow

the project scope to "creep" upward without getting budget and/or schedule adjustments

to match.

Profit

Cost, contingencies, remainder

When project is completed the profit or loss is realized, if there is loss outstanding it

suggests the failure of proper project management. For controlling the losses there should

be long term strategies and a proper check and control over each task that leads to

completion of project.

When you have the project scope clearly identified and associated to the timeline and budget,

you can begin to manage the project resources. These include the people, equipment, and

material needed to complete the project. The resources assigned to project must be effectively

managed.

Quality Management

Procurement Management

Professional Responsibility



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CONCLUSION

It has been concluded that project management has of very much importance for the

organization’s success and growth. Organizations that do not implement the practices of project

management have to suffer a lot in terms of resources, time and money. The same problem was

with JP industries, which harmed the organization. In such a competitive world, organizations

have to do anything that reduces their costs and resources on any given task. Project management

is one of the tools from which one organization could use its resources efficiently and minimize

costs. It has very tangible and intangible benefits, therefore every organization have to think

about it and implement it.



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REFERENCES

Kevin Lonergan (2006), Project Management, available on

http://managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm, accessed at 07/09/09

Chris Thomas (2008), Construction Project Management,

http://www.4pm.com/classes/121ecess.htm, accessed at 06/09/09

F. John Reh (2008), Basic Project Management Outline, available at

http://management.about.com/cs/projectmanagement/a/PM101.htm, reviewed at

09/09/09

Kennesaw (2002), http://www.tenstep.com/open/miscpages/90.6TSPMCertification.html,

accessed at 07/09/09

http://www.brighthub.com/office/projectmanagement/articles/2350.aspx#ixzz0Qi2hZdoi

Gary (2009),The Top Ten Benefits of Project Management , available on

http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/2350.aspx, accessed at

10/09/09

Benefits of Project Management: Keeping IT on Track,

http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=235278, Sandhills Publishing

Pankaj Jalote (2007), Software Project Management in Practice Publisher: Pearson

Education



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