MGMT5220 Exam 1

Client Acceptance

(the fourth constraint that have been recently added) the principle of client acceptance argues that projects are developed with customers or clients in mind, and their purpose is to satisfy customer needs. - Requires project managers and teams to create an atmosphere of openness and communication throughout the development of the project

Weaknesses of Matrix Organization

- Dual hierarchies means two bosses - Requires significant time to be spent negotiating the sharing of critical resources between projects and departments. (Hella time and dedication needed to make this work) - Can be frustrating to workers caught between competing project and functional demands

Strengths of Functional Organization

- Easier budgeting and cost control are possible - Better technical control is possible - It facilitates mass production activities within established specifications - It provides good control over personnel, since each employee has one and only one person to report to - Communication channels are vertical and well established

Weaknesses of Functional Organization

- Easier budgeting and cost control are possible - Better technical control is possible - It facilitates mass production activities within established specifications - It provides good control over personnel, since each employee has one and only one person to report to - Communication channels are vertical and well established

Functional With Project Leaders (Managers)- Weaknesses

- Functional Organizations tend to emphasize the separate functional elements at the expense of the whole organization - Under functional departmentalization there is no group that effectively integrates the various functions of an organizations and monitors them from the "big picture standpoint"

Elements of a Project

- Projects are complex, one-time processes. - Projects are limited by: budget, schedule, and resources. - Projects are developed to resolve a clear goal or set of goals. - Projects are customer focused.

Weaknesses of Project Organization

- Setting up and maintaining teams can be expensive - Potential to project team members to develop loyalty to the project rather than to the overall organization - Difficult to maintain a pooled supply of intellectual capital - Concern among project team members about their future one the project ends

Strengths of Matrix Organization

- Suited to dynamic environments - Emphasizes the dual importance of project management and functional efficiency - Promotes coordination across functional units - Maximizes scarce resources between competing project and functional responsibilities

How Do Cultures Form?

- Technology - Environment - Geographical Location - Reward Systems - Rules and Procedures - Key Organizational Members - Critical Incidents

Strong (project) Matrix

- most of the power shifted to the project manager, She now controls most of the project activities and functions, including the assignments and control of project resources and has key decision making authority.

6 Steps of Managing Stakeholders

1. Assess the Environment 2. Identify the Goals of the Principal Return 3. Assess your own capabilities 4. Define the Problem 5. Develop Solutions 6.Test and Refine the Solution

Key Elements of Organizational Structure

1. Organizational structure designates formal reporting relationships, including the number of levels in the hierarchy and the span of control of managers and supervisors. 2. Organizational structure identifies the grouping together of individuals into departments into the total organization. - How are people departmentalized? - Function - Product - Geography - Project 3. Organizational Structure includes the design of systems to ensure effective communication, coordination, and integration of effort across departments. - making sure people are departmentalized/split into groups in an efficient manner that suits the firm.

Why is project management such a useful training ground for senior executives?

Because it provides a true test of an individual's ability to handle behavioral and technical challenges.

Key Questions: Weather Station Model

What's our progress? How is the project progressing against the original plan? What key milestones have we achieved? How much have we paid for the project so far? How do our earned value projections look? Are there any budget warning signals? What is the status of major project risks? Have we updated our contingency planning as needed?

Suppliers

any group that provides the raw material or other resources the project team needs in order to complete the project

Project Management Maturity Models

are used to allow organizations to benchmark the best practices of successful project management firms. - Recognizes that different organization are at different levels of sophistication in their best practices for managing projects - The key feature of maturity models is that maturity is an ongoing process for companies as they become more skilled in project management.

Business Success

determining whether the project achieved significant commercial success

Preparing for the Future

determining whether the project opened new markets or new product lines or helped to develop new technology

Balanced Matrix

equally distributes authority and resources assignment responsibility between the project manager and the functional department head.

Weak (functional) Matrix

functional departments maintain control of their resources and are responsible for managing their components of the project. The project manager's role is to coordinate the activities of the functional departments, typically as an administrator (She'll prepare schedules, update project status and serve as the link between the departments with their different deliverables, but she has no direct authority to control resources.)

Intervenor Groups

group external to the project that posses power to effectively intervene and disrupt the project's development

Relevant Dimensions of Success (4)

it's not enough to evaluate a project in terms of its immediate success, we must also evaluate it in terms of its commercial success as well as its potential for generating new business and opportunities. CHALLNEGES THE TIPLE CONTRAINT METHOD!! 1. Project Efficiency- meeting budget and schedule expectations 2. Impact on Customer- meeting technical specifications, addressing customer needs, and creating a project that satisfies the clients' needs. 3. Business Success- determining whether the project achieved significant commercial success 4. Preparing for the Future- determining whether the project opened new markets or new product lines or helped to develop new technology

Resource Pool

maintain and provide a cadre of trained and skilled project professionals as they are needed. ( a clearing house for continually upgrading the skills of the firm's project manager)

Performance

measuring that performance is important bb! That means determining whether the finished product operates according to specifications. (Referred to as conducting a quality check

Project Efficiency

meeting budget and schedule expectations

Impact on Customer

meeting technical specifications, addressing customer needs, and creating a project that satisfies the clients' needs.

Networking Between Projects

methods are employed to ensure clear lines of communication between projects within the parent organization

Process

ongoing day-to- day activities in which an organization engages while producing goods or service. - Use existing systems, properties, and capabilities in a continuous fairly repetitive manner.

Stakeholder

person or organization (e.g., customer, sponsor, performing organization, of the public) that is actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by execution or completion of the project. A stakeholder may also exert influence over the project and its deliverables.

Control Practices

processes exist for the systematic determination of project status

Time

projects are constrained by a specific amount of time in which they must be completed. Projects are not continued indefinitely. The project should come in on or before its established schedule.

Budget

projects have to come in on budget in order to use resources as efficiently as possible

Coaching, Auditing, and Evaluating

selection procedures for determining which projects the organization should pursue.

2. Planning

stage in which all detailed specifications, schematics, schedules, and other plans are developed. - Work Packages (the individual pieces of the project) are broken down, individual assignments made, and the process for completion clearly delineated.

Project Life Cycle

stages in a projects development - Life cycles help develop the plans for carrying out the project

Portfolio Management

strategic integration of a firm's complete portfolio of projects

Personnel Development

systematic methods for improving the skills for project management personnel

Weather Station

the PMO is used as a tracking and monitoring device - In this approach, the assumption is often one in which top management, feeling nervous about committing money to a wide range of projects, wants weather station to keep an eyes on the status of the projects without directly attempting to influence of control them (only reports results to top management)

3. Execution

the actual "work" of the project is performed, the system developed, or the product created and fabricated. - Bulk of project team work is performed.

Project Management

the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to projects activities to meet the project requirements. - Requires preparation, knowledge, training, and commitment to basic principles. - Blend technical and behavioral challenges

1. Conceptualization

the development of the initial goal and technical specifications for a project - The scope of work, necessary resources (people, money, physical plant) are determined during this time - Stakeholders sign on at this time!!

Structural Support

the organization has created a structure that supports the practice of project management

Strategic Management (Zantinga!)

the science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives.

Strategic Management

the science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross- functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve it objectives

Clients

they are mostly concerned with receiving the project form the team as quickly as possible because they don't want to lose money. - Cost and client needs are two of the reasons why many customers seek the right to make suggestions and suggest alterations for the project

Competitors

they can be important because they are affected by the successful implementation of the project

Control Tower

this model treats project management as a business skill to be protected and supported - Unlike the Weather Station Model, this model directly works with and supports the activities of the project manager and team. - Four Functions Performed: - Establishes standards for managing projects - Consults on how to follow these standards - Enforces the standards Improves the standards

Implementing Strategy Through Project

For successful project management, the organizational setting matters- its culture, its structure, and its strategy each play an integral part, and together they create the environment in which a project will flourish or flounder.

Projects and their relationship to strategy

Projects have often been called the STEPPING STONES to corporate strategies - The firm's strategic development is a driving force behind project development

Differences between Process and Project

Repeat process or product New Process or product Several Objectives One Objective Ongoing One-shot limited life People are Homogenous More homogenous Well-established systems in place to integrate efforts Systems must be created to integrate efforts Greater certainty of performance, cost, schedule Greater uncertainty, cost, schedule Part of Organization Outside of line organization Bastions of Established Practice Violates Established Practice Supports Status Quo Upsets Status Quo

Types of Maturity Models

SPIDER WEB Center for Business Practices Kerzner's Project Management Maturity Model ESI International Project Framework SEI's Capability Maturity Model Integration

Disadvantages of a Project Management Office

- "Places all the eggs in one basket" - Can become another layer of the hierarchy/bureaucracy - Very controlling and can be seen as the "process police" - May be a bottleneck for communication flow across the organization

Strengths of Project Organization

- Assigns authority solely to the project manager - Leads to improved communication across the organization and among functional groups - Promotes effective ad speedy decision making - Promotes the creation of the cadres of project management experts - Encourages rapid response to market opportunities

Functional With Project Leaders (Managers)- Strengths

- Clear responsibility over the project - Project Lead and functional manager. - Better Focus: Full Time Project Leader - Better Technical Control is Possible

External Stakeholders

- Clients - Competitors - Suppliers - Environmental, Political, Consumer, and other intervenor groups

Skills you'll need as a new grad to be employed as a project manager in the PM field.

- Communication - Critical Thinking - Collaboration - Knowledge Application and Analysis - Business Ethics and Social Responsibility - Information Technology Application and Computing Skills - Data Literacy

Internal Stakeholders

- a vital component in any stakeholder analysis, and their impact is usually felt in a relatively positive way. - Top Management- - Accounting - Other Functional Managers - Project Team Members

5 Components of Project in Reference to the Life Cycle

1. Client Interest- the level of enthusiasm or concern expressed by the projects intended customer. Clients can be either internal or external to the organization 2. Projects Stakes- the amount of corporate investment in the project. The longer the life of the project, the greater the investment. 3. Resources- the commitment of financial, human, and technical resources over the life of the project. 4. Creativity- the degree of innovation required by the project during certain development phases. 5. Uncertainty - the degree of risk associated with the project. Riskiness here reflects the number of unknowns, including technical challenges that have yet to be identified, let alone addressed.

4 Phases of the Project Life Cycle

1. Conceptualization 2. Planning 3. Execution 4. Termination

Elements of Strategic Management

1. Developing Vision Statements and Mission Statements- vision and mission statements establish a sense of what the organization hopes to accomplish or what top managers hope it will become at some point in the future - Vision Statement- where the organization wants to be in the future - Mission Statement- explains the companies reason for existence and supports the vision 2. Formulating, Implementing, and Evaluating- projects, as the key ingredients in strategy implementation play a crucial role in the basic process model of strategic management. 3. Making Cross-functional Decisions- a critical feature of project management experts from various functional groups come together into a team of diverse personalities and backgrounds 4. Achieving Objectives-???

Project Stakeholder Management Cycle

1. Identify Stakeholders 2. Gather Information on Stakeholders 3. Identify Stakeholder's Mission 4. Determine Stakeholder Strengths and Weaknesses 5. Identify Stakeholder Strategy 6. Predict Stakeholder Behavior 7. Implement Stakeholder Management Strategy

8 Standards Used in the Spider Web Maturity Model

1. Project Scheduling 2. Personnel Development 3. Structural Support 4. Portfolio Management 5. Coaching, Auditing, and Evaluating 6. Control Practices 7. Project Stakeholder Management 8. Networking Between Projects

General Characteristics of a Project

1. Projects are ad hoc (done for a specific reason) endeavors with a clear life cycle. 2. Projects are building blocks in the design and execution of organizational strategies. 3. Projects are responsible for the newest and most improved products, services, and organizational processes. (Projects are tools for innovation!!) 4. Projects Provide Philosophy and Strategy for the management of change. 5. Project Management entails crossing functional and organizational boundaries. 6. The traditional management functions of planning, organizing, motivation, directing, and control apply to project management. 7. The principal outcomes of a project are the satisfaction of customer requirements within the constraints of technical, cost, and schedule objectives. 8. Projects are terminated upon successful completion of the performance. - A project has breakthrough aspects, rather than incremental change!!

Reasons why Projects and Project managers can be crucial in helping an organization achieve its strategic goals (5) :

1. Shortened Product Life Cycles 2. Narrow Product Launch Windows- project managers help make sure that companies don't miss the windows for a new product to launch 3. Increasingly Complex and Technical Products- companies need a way to maintain the ever changing processes needed to introduce new technically complex projects. 4. Global Markets- using project management, successful organizations of the future will recognize and learn to rapidly exploit the prospects offered by a global business environment 5. An Economic Period Marked by Low inflation- project manager brought in to increase profits in times of low inflation that limits a businesses ability to increase profits through simply raising prices for their goods or services.

Elements that Define Project Success (4)

1. Time 2. Budget 3. Performance 4. Client Acceptance

Functional Siloing

Tendency for employees to become fixated on their concerns and work assignments to the exclusion of the needs of other departments ( when similar people in a work group are unwilling or unable to consider alternative point of views)

Project Scheduling

The organization has tools and techniques for creating project schedules (e.g. Microsoft Project)

Organizational Culture

The unwritten rules of behavior, or norms that are used to shape and guide behavior, is shared by some subset of organization members and is taught to all new members of the company.

Project Management Office

a centralized unit within an organization or department that oversees or improves the management of projects - seen as the center for excellence in project management in many organizations, existing as a separate organizational entity Resource Center For: - Project Repository (Support) - Center for Excellence - Technical Details - Expertise

Project Stakeholder Management

a means exists to identify all those significantly affecting or being affected by the project

Atkinson Model

a recent model that argues against the Triple Constraint Principle. According to this model, all groups that are affected by a project (stakeholders) should have a hand in accessing its success.

Project

a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.

TOWS (Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, Strengths) Matrix

a useful way to see the links between projects and an organization's strategic choices. Refers to the challenges companies face in both their internal environment (within the organization) and their external environment (outside the company). Once companies determines the appropriate strategies to pursue, they can identify and undertake project choices that support the TOWS matrix

External Environment

all forces or groups outside the organizations that have the potential to affect the organization

Heavyweight Project Organization

belief that organizations can sometimes gain tremendous benefits from creating a fully dedicated project organization. Completely project based where the project manager runs the show. Market opportunities now lie with the project team rather than higher level bureaucracies within the company. The new focus on the external customer becomes the driving force for operations instead of other competing demands.

Matrix Organization

companies are structured by creating a dual hierarchy in which functions and projects have equal prominence.

Project Organization

companies are structured by grouping people into project teams on temporary assignments. ( group set up with their exclusive focus aimed at running projects)

Functional Organization

companies are structured by grouping people performing similar activities into departments. (MOST COMMON)

Project Stakeholder Analysis

consists of formulating strategies to identify the impact of stakeholders on the project and if necessary, manage it for positive results. - a useful tool for demonstrating some of the seemingly irresolvable conflicts that occur through the planned creation and introduction of any project.

Triple Constraint Principle

took the first 3 elements of project success into account, it focused on internal factors instead of external factors like clients.

Core Truth of Project Management

we should not overestimate the benefits gained from project management while underestimating the commitment required to make a project work.

4. Termination

when the completed project is transferred to the customer, its resources reassigned, and the project formally closed out.