Project Management:

A Managerial Approach 4/e

By Jack R. Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel,

Jr.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Presentation prepared by RTBM WebGroup

Project Management
A Managerial Approach

Chapter 1
Projects in Contemporary
Organizations

Projects in Contemporary
Organizations

Project managementis the process and

activity of planning, organizing,
motivating, and controlling - resources,
procedures and protocols to achieve
specific goals in scientific or daily
problems.

Projects in Contemporary
Organizations

Project Management provides an

organization with powerful tools that
improves its ability to plan, implement,
and control its activities and resources.

Technique and practices of project

management belongs to the military,
which faced a series of major tasks that
simply were not achievable by traditional
organizations operating in traditional ways.

Projects in Contemporary
Organizations

The primary challenge of project

management is to achieve project goals
and objectives.

The secondary and more ambitious

challenge is to optimizethe allocationof
necessary inputs and integrate them to
meet pre-defined objectives.

Projects in Contemporary
Organizations

Project Management has emerged

because of the societys demands the
development of new methods of
management

Many forces have fostered the

emergence and expansion of Project
Management

Forces of Project Management

Paramount Forces driving Project Management:
1. The expansion of human knowledge;
2. The growing demand for a broad range of
complex, sophisticated, customized goods and
services;
3. The evolution of worldwide competitive markets
for the production and consumption of goods
and services
All 3 forces combine to mandate the use of
teams to solve the problems.

Forces of Project Management

Implications:
1. Expansion of knowledge allows -------------an
increasing number of academic disciplines in
solving problems associated with the
development, production, and distribution of
goods and services.
2. Satisfying the growing demand for a broad
range of complex, sophisticated, customized
goods and services depends---------- on our
ability to make product design.

Forces of Project Management

Implications:
3. The evolution of worldwide competitive
markets for the production and
consumption of goods and services forces
us ---------to include cultural and
environmental differences in our
managerial decisions about-what, where,
when, and how to produce and distribute
output.

Forces of Project Management

The requisite knowledge does not reside in
any one individual, so, under this
conditions, teams are used for making
decisions and taking action.
High level of coordination and
cooperation between groups of people are
needed.

Projects in Contemporary
Organizations

A project is a temporary effort designed to

produce a unique product, service or
resultwith a defined beginning and end.

The temporary nature of projects stands in

contrast with business as usual (or
operations), which are repetitive, permanent,
or semi-permanent functional activities to
produce products or services.

Objectives of a Project

Think about Pyramids in Egypt, Twin tower in

Malaysia, Tajmahal of Agra.
Jamuna and Padma bridge in Bangladesh
3 Project Objectives (considerations):
Performance
Time
Cost
Expectations of clients is considered fourth
dimension which sometimes tend to increase as
the projects progress, known as scope creep.

Objectives of a Project

There must be a function to coordinate

among these three goals/objectives and a
set of ancillary (process) goals/objectives.

Objectives of a Project

Objectives of a Project

Four dimensions behind project success:

Project efficiency
Impact on the customer
The business impact on the organization, and
Opening new opportunities for the future.
Ancillary dimension include:
Improve the competency of project management
and methods.
Health of the project teams and rest of the
organization
Projects environment such as antipollution
groups, trade unions, competitive firms, etc.

The Project Manager

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
5 years later, over 17,000 members, and
by 1998, it had exploded to over 44,000 members
This exponential growth is indicative of the rapid
growth in the use of projects
Also reflects the importance of PMI as a force in the
development of project management as a profession

Project Management Institute

Recent Changes in Managing

Organizations

The process of managing organizations has been

impacted by three revolutionary changes
1.Accelerating replacement of traditional, hierarchical management by participatory management
2. Currently witnessing the adoption of the
systems approach (sometimes called
systems engineering)
3. Organizations establishing projects as the
preferred way to accomplish the many specific
changes that must be made when the
organization attempts to alter its strategy

The Definition of a Project

A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a

unique product or service.
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
In the broadest sense, a project is a specific, finite
task to be accomplished

Characteristics of a Project
A. Importance:

In the eyes of top management.

B. Performance: It must have a purpose which is a
one-time activity with a well defined set of end
results.
C. Have a life cycle: beginning, build up a size, peak,
begin a decline, and finally must be terminated.
D. Interdependencies: carried out simultaneously by
their parent organization (with functional
department) and functional department of project.
E. Uniqueness: no two projects are precisely alike.
F. Conflict: four parties-at-interest stake-holders
(client, parent org., project team, and the public).

The Project Life Cycle

Stages of a Conventional Project (slow-rapid-slow):

1. Slow beginning:
The project is born and a manager is
selected,
a project team and initial resources are
assembled, and
a work program is organized.
2. Buildup of size:
Work gets under way and momentum
quickly builds.

The Project Life Cycle

Stages of a Conventional Project (slow-rapidslow) :

3. Peak:
Progress is made faster
4. Begin a decline
Progress is made in slower path and
continue until end in in sight.
5. Termination

The Project Life Cycle [Fig 1.3]

Chapter 1-13

The Project Effort [Fig 1.4]

Time distribution of project effort is

characterized by slow-rapid-slow

Chapter 1-14

The Project Life Cycle

Some projects do not follow the

conventional project life cycle.
Some projects end not with a bang but a
whimper,
Some projects are comprised of subunits
that have little use as a stand alone unit,
yet become useful when put together

The Project Curves

Return on input (depending on time and

resources)
Decreasing returns to scale
Diminishing marginal return
Increasing marginal return

The Project Life Cycle

Unlike the more conventional life cycle,

continued inputs of effort at the end of the
project produce significant gains in returns

The Project Life Cycle

It is essential for the Project Manager to

understand the characteristics of the life
cycle curve for his project

The distinction between the two life cycles

plays a critical role in the development of
budgets and schedules for the project

Risk During the Project Life

Cycle

Risk during project life cycle

With most projects there is some
uncertainty about the ability to meet
project goals
Uncertainty of outcome is greatest at the
start of a project
Uncertainty decreases as the project
moves toward completion

Risk During Life Cycle [Fig 1.6]

Risk During Project Life Cycle

In any event,
the more progress made on the project,
the

less uncertainty there is about

achieving the final goal.

Risk During Project Life Cycle

[Fig 1.7]

Uncertainty decreases as the project

moves toward completion

Project Management in Practice

Demolishing San Franciscos Bridges

Safely

The Central Freeway Viaduct in San

Francisco Suffered major structural damage
during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.
It had to be demolished safely.
The task was complicated bi-level, multispan bridge passed within six feet of heavily
populated buildings ran in the vicinity of
both overhead and underground utilities,
and crossed both commercial and
residential areas with strict vibration and
sound level restrictions.

Project Management in Practice

Demolishing San Franciscos Bridges

Safely

Challenge:
Managing the demolition while ensuring
the safety of both the on-going
population and existing facilities .
The primary tools for conducting such a
delicate, but dangerous operation were
detailed planning and through
communications with the related parties.

Project Management in Practice

Demolishing San Franciscos Bridges

Safely

Demolishing plan was required:

A code of safe practice describing personal
protective equipment for the workers and
maintenance plan for the equipment:
A dust control plan
Work-hour schedule
Noise-level monitoring
Load determinations and structural
analyses.

Project Management in Practice

Demolishing San Franciscos Bridges

Safely

Demolishing was accomplished using a

breaker on the upper deck of the bridge and
a pulverize on the lower deck.
First the roadway slab was demolished
Girders were pulverized and all the
debris pushed down to the ground
Cap, columns, and restrainers were
demolished
This process continue until the entire
distance were demolished.

Project Management in Practice

Demolishing San Franciscos Bridges

Safely

Constant monitoring was conducted for noise,

vibration, safety, and procedures throughout
the project.
Continuous communication was made with
utility companies and others concerned with
a particular segment being demolished.
The entire viaduct was demolished with no
major accidents or injuries.