MRDP503

Project Planning and

Implementation
Masters in Regional Development and Planning 2010/11
Faculty of Graduate Studies
University of Colombo
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

About Pradeep Randiwela

Senior Lecturer in Marketing
Winner of Best Professor in Marketing Award 2010 [CMO
Asia]
Former Dean Faculty of Management and Finance (20022005)
Former Head Dept. of Commerce
More than 24 years experience in both industry and
academia including the World Bank, ILO, Oxford and
Cambridge.
Visiting Faculty MBA (Moratuwa), MBS/MSC / PGDBM/
EDM/(Colombo), MBA (Peradeniya), MBA (Rajarata) and
MBA (Wayamba)

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored
by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your
religious book.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers
and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for
many generations.
But offer observations and analysis, when you find that anything
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one
and all, then accept it and live up to it.
-BuddhaPradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is

not enough; we must do."
Johann Goethe (1749-1832)
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at
twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning
stays young.
Henry Ford (18631947)
Founder of the Ford Motor Company

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

What made you

decide to read for this
MASTER degree?
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

Evaluation
Course Assignments (Group/Individual)
Final Examination
Attendance

40%
50%
10%

Course Text:
Meredith, J. K., and Mantel, Jr. S. J., Project
Management: A Managerial Approach, 6th
Ed.,(2006), Wiley India.
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

Overview

Project Management Growth Factors

Project Aspects
Project Criteria
Project Life Cycle
Project Management Profession

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

Project Management Emergence

Explosion in human knowledge
Mass customization of products and services
Expansion of global markets

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

Forces Of Project Management

Forces driving Project Management:
1. exponential expansion of human knowledge
2. growing demand for a broad range of complex,
sophisticated, customized goods and services
3. evolution of worldwide competitive markets for the
production and consumption of goods and services

Team-based problem solving v. individual

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

The Professionalism of Project

Management

Complexity of problems facing the project manager

Growth in number of project oriented organizations
The Project Management Institute (PMI) was established in
1969
By 1990 it had 7,500 members
1995, over 17,000 members
1998--exploded to over 44,000 members
This exponential growth is indicative of the rapid growth in the
use of projects
Importance of PMI as a force in the development of project
management as a profession
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

Organizational Imperatives

Traditional hierarchical management declining

Consensual management increasing
Increasing reliance on systems engineering
Projects integral to organizational strategy

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

The Definition of a Project

Must make a distinction between terms:
Program - an exceptionally large, long-range
objective that is broken down into a set of projects
Task - set of activities comprising a project
Work Packages - division of tasks
Work Units - division of work packages
A specific, finite task to be accomplished
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

Project Management
A Working Definition
Project:
A problem with a known solution scheduled for
completionunique and non-routine activities

Project Management:
The science and art of solving the problem
within predetermined time and resource
parameters
Shouldering just enough risk to escape with
your career intact!!!
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

Characteristics of a Project

Have a supported purpose/importance

Performance specifications (form, fit, function)
Known (bounded) solution
Have a life cycle with finite due date
Interdependencies
Uniqueness
Resource requirements and tradeoffs
Stakeholder Conflict

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

Quasi-Projects and Fuzzy Goals

Tasks without Specific Targets
No Who, What, When, Where, How Much

Implied Performance, Cost, Time Constraints

Projects to Determine Project Scope
Warning: If these Become Projects, Expect
Delays, Cost Overruns, Dissatisfied
Customers
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

Objectives of a Project
Project Objectives:
Performance
Time
Cost

Expectations of clients inherent part of the

project specifications

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

Objectives of a Project
3 Project Objectives:

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

Why Project Management?

Companies have experienced:

Better customer relations

Shorter overall delivery times
Lower costs and higher profit margins
Higher quality and reliability
Higher worker morale

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

Why (not) Project Management?

Companies have also experienced some
negatives:
Greater organizational complexity
Increased likelihood of organizational policy
violations
Higher costs
More management difficulties
Low personnel utilization
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance

The Project Life Cycle

Stages of a Conventional Project:

Slow beginning
Buildup of size
Peak
Begin a decline
Termination

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

The Project Life Cycle

Projects also exist which do not follow the
conventional project life cycle
Comprised of subunits that have little use as a
stand alone unit, yet become useful when put
together

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

Project Management Life Cycle

Planning

Implementation

Delivery

Level of effort

Definition

1. Goals
2. Specifications
3. Scope
4. Responsibilities
5. Teams

1. WBS
2. Budgets
3. Resources
4. Risks
5. Schedule

1. Status reports
2. Change Orders
3. Quality Audits
4. Contingencies

Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of

Management and Finance

1. Train user
2. Transfer documents
3. Release resources
4. Reassign staff
5. Lessons learned

Proactive Project Life Cycle

High
Level
of
Value
of
Effort

Project Manager Roles and Responsibilities

Change Management System
Closed-Loop Planning-Monitor-Control System
Project Evaluation (Audit) Process

Low
Define
Scope
Tradeoffs

Plan

Implement

Delivery

WBS/OBS/Schedule Resource (Re)allocation Learn Curve

Detailed Budget
Cost Containment
Final Report
Pradeep Randiwela - Faculty of
Management and Finance