Chapter-1

Project Management:
A brief overview

Dr. Andualem Ufo Baza

Assistant Professor
Master of Business Administration
International Leadership Institute

Copyright © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved.

17–1
 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
• What is project?
• A project is a unique, transient endeavor,
undertaken to achieve planned objectives, which
could be defined in terms of outputs, outcomes or
benefits.
• A project is usually deemed to be a success if it
achieves the objectives according to their
acceptance criteria, within an agreed timescale and
budget.

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 What is a Project?
• A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to
produce a unique product or service

Characteristics of
Projects Unique
Temporary

• Temporary – it has definitive beginning and end.

• Unique – New undertaking, unfamiliar ground, new or
unfamiliar territory (e.g., location, technology, safety,
stakeholders/people).
 Characteristics of a project

• Major Characteristics of a Project

– Has an established objective.
– Has a defined life span with a beginning and an end.
– Requires across-the-organizational participation.
– Involves doing something never been done before.
– Has specific time, cost, and performance requirements.
•
 Project Roles in National Development
– The role of project in national development are the
followings:
– Development of institutions;
– Infrastructural development;
– Sectorial development( service, industry and agriculture);
– Reduce unemployment;
– Reduce poverty and inequality;
– Facilitate economic growth;
– Improve quality of public services;
– improve quality of education, health and general services.
 Project Roles in Fulfilling Organizational Objectives
• The projects role in fulfilling the organizational objectives is dependent on
having;
– Realistic goal;
– Profitability;
– Marketability and/or market availability;
– Implementation process;
– Customer satisfaction;
– Definite goals;
– Perceived value of the project.
• Factors that causes Project management to fail
– Inadequate basis for project;
– Wrong person as a project manager;
– Top management unsupportiveness;
– Inadequate defined task;
– Lack of project management techiniques;
– Lack of commitment to project;
 What is project Management?

• Project management
– The application of processes, methods, knowledge,
skills and experience to achieve the project objectives.
– Project management is the planning, organizing,
directing, and controlling of company resources for a
relatively short-term objective that has been
established to complete specific goals and objectives.
– Project management is the application of knowledge,
skills, and tools necessary to achieve the project’s
requirements.
The core components of project management are:

• defining the reason why a project is necessary;

• capturing project requirements, specifying quality of the deliverables,
estimating resources and timescales;
• preparing a business case to justify the investment;
• securing corporate agreement and funding;
• developing and implementing a management plan for the project;
• leading and motivating the project delivery team;
• managing the risks, issues and changes on the project;
• monitoring progress against plan;
• managing the project budget;
• maintaining communications with stakeholders and the project
organisation;
• provider management;
• closing the project in a controlled fashion when appropriate.
 What is Programme Management?

• Programme management is the coordinated

management of projects and change management
activities to achieve beneficial change.
• It’s usually in support of organisational change
and the benefits that will accrue from that change.
• Benefits usually defined in the
business case.
 The Core Components of Programme
Management are:
• project coordination: identifying, initiating, accelerating,
decelerating, redefining and terminating projects within the
programme. Managing interdependencies between
projects, and between projects and business-as-usual
activities;
• transformation: taking project outputs and managing
change within business-as-usual so that outputs deliver
outcomes;
• benefits management: defining, quantifying, measuring and
monitoring benefits;
• stakeholder management and communications: ensuring
that relationships are developed and maintained, thus
enabling productive, two-way communication with all key
stakeholders.
PROJECT LIFE CYCLE
 Project Life Cycle
• The knowledge, skills, and tools are usually grouped into
activities or processes.
• There are five process groups. Some of the activities
within these groups include:
1. Project initiation
– Selection of the best project given resource limits
– recognizing the benefits of the project
– Preparation of the documents to sanction the project
– Assigning of the project manager
 Project Life Cycle
2. Project planning
– Definition of the work requirements
– Definition of the quality and quantity of work
– Definition of the resources needed
– Scheduling the activities
– Evaluation of the various risks
3. Project execution
– Negotiating for the project team members
– Directing and managing the work
– working with the team members to help them improve
 Project Life Cycle
4. Project monitoring and control
– Tracking progress
– Comparing actual outcome to predicted outcome
– Analyzing variances and impacts
– Making adjustments
5. Project closure
– verifying that all of the work has been accomplished
– Contractual closure of the contract
– Financial closure of the charge numbers
– Administrative closure of the paperwork
 History of Project Management
• Some people argue that building the Egyptian
pyramids was a project, as was building the
Great Wall of China
• Most people consider the Manhattan Project to
be the first project to use “modern” project
management
• This three-year, $2 billion dollars (in 1946)
project had a separate project manager and a
technical manager.
 LIFE CYCLE OF A
TROUBLED PROJECT
Sydney Opera House

• Budget £2.5M

• Final cost £87M

• Overrun of 3400%
British Library

• Budget £164M

• Final cost £450M

• Overrun of 175%
Scottish Parliament Building

• Budget £40M

• Final cost£430M

• Overrun of 975%
Trans-Alaska Pipeline

• Budget £900M

• Final cost £8,500M

• Overrun of 850%
Saint Vitus’ Cathedral Prague

• Started in 1344

• Finished in 1929

• Duration 600 years !

 Edinburgh Trams Project

Budget £545M
Final cost £776M (Expected to top
£1bn)
Project Roles and Responsibilities