SMU Assignment

PM

0013
Question 1:
Write short notes on:
Need for human resources management
Financial resources
Challenges in developing a project team
Project team members

Answer:
Need for human resources management:
The need for human resource management can be classified as:

Acquiring the project team: Human resource management helps in acquiring human
resources for working on a project.
Human Resource Planning: Proper planning of human resources is needed to identify
and document project roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships.
Managing the project team: Human resource management also helps in managing
the project team by monitoring the performance of team members, motivating
team members, providing feedback, resolving conflicts and coordinating
changes.
Developing the project team: Human resource management helps not only in
gaining right personnel for a project, but also in building individual and group
skills in order to enhance the overall project performance.
Financial resources:
Finance is the lifeblood of any project. Financial resources refer to the money or
fund that a business or project requires in the forms of cash, loan. The elements of a
project for which financial resources are required are mentioned below:
Working capital.
Land and site development.
Technical knowhow and engineering fees.
Buildings and civil works.
Preliminary and capital issue expenses.
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SMU Assignment

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A project manager needs to consider the direct and indirect costs while planning the
financial resources.
Challenges in developing a project team:
When a team of diverse personalities is formed, it brings challenges such as
communication gap and relationship problems Therefore, a project manager identify
the challenges and resolve them efficiently before they start disturbing the project.
The challenges faced are:
Dissimilar interests.
Type of organization.
Poor work environment.
Diversity.
Poor communication.
Lack of guidance.
Role clarity.
Lack of competitive skills.
Conflict.
Project team members:
The backbone of a project team is its members, their roles and responsibilities are:
A team is required to complete a project. A project team comprises of various
members that perform under the direction of a project manager, team leader or
any senior member of the organization.
A project requires multiple activities to be performed. It cannot be handled by
one person.
A project team may comprise of various personnel from different geographic
locations.
The number of members in a team may vary from project-to-project.
A project manager should be aware of the skills and expertise of team members
and position them accordingly at different stages of project life cycle.
It is the responsibility of the project manager or the team leader to build
harmonious relationship between team members across various locations.

Question 2:
What are the stages in a conflict process?

Answer:
Conflict is not an event its an ongoing process that gives rise to various
opportunities and threats in a project team. It is described below:

SMU Assignment

PM

0013

Potential opposition or incompatibility stage:

In this stage, some conditions such as difference of opinions that may give rise to a
conflict are created. It is the first stage that creates opportunities and scope for
conflict.
Cognition and personalization stage:
It is the stage where the conditions of potential opposition or incompatibility stage
negatively affect a person and leads to a conflict. This stage deals with two types of
conflict:
Felt conflict: It is the conflict that is arises due to the emotional differences
between two or more individuals or teams. The emotional differences can be
experienced because of tension, anxiety, hostility, or frustration.
Perceived conflict: It is the awareness by one or more parties about the
existence of conditions that create opportunities for conflict to arise.
Intentions stage:
People often try to judge the intention of others in order to know how to respond to
others behavior. Intentions refer to decisions for acting or behaving in a certain
way. This leads to conflict as many times a person associates the other person with
wrong intentions.
Behavior stage:
It is the stage when conflict becomes visible. This stage exhibits characteristics,
such as actions, reactions, remarks, and statements made by conflicting parties.
Outcome stage:
It is the stage when the result of the conflict is visible. If it plays a functional role,
the outcome is increase in team performance and if it plays a negative role, the
outcome is the decrease in performance.

Question 3:
Write short notes on
Role of a project manager
Productivity measurement method
Importance of leadership in project management
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SMU Assignment

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Goal setting theory

Answer:
Productivity measurement method:
This method calculates the productivity or work rate of different employees for
estimating the future needs of the workforce for a particular task. Normally, sales
rate is used as a forecaster in estimating the manpower need. The ratio of
employees to the sales provides a labor productivity ratio that is denoted as sales
per employee.
Role of a project manager:
The efforts and roles of project managers play a key role in the success of projects.
Depending upon the exigency of the project, the role of a project manager may vary
from time-to-time. The key roles are shown below:

Convener: Project manager addresses the issues of team members and

endeavors to manage the conflicts among them.
Communicator: Project manager conveys all the information regarding project
guidelines, policies, responsibilities to the team members.
Facilitator: Project manager focuses on ensuring judicious use of the resources
required for a project.
Importance of leadership:
For successful execution of tasks, it is important to have a leader who is able to
strategies, plan and lead the collective efforts of the team. A project comprises of
various tasks and activities that need to be performed by different people using
different resources at different times in the project lifecycle. The functions of a
leader that make leadership an indispensable part of project management is:
Promote innovativeness.
Delegate authority to subordinates.
Ensure that the right tools and training are provided to the team.
Build and sustain the effective organizational culture.
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SMU Assignment

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Guide, train and inspire the subordinates.
Align individual goals of team members with the project.
Develop and maintain the skills of subordinates.
Goal setting theory:
The specific and difficult goals lead to higher performance than easy goals. The
feedback and commitment lead to higher performance and bridges the gap
between the actual and expected performance of individuals. An individual should
have SMART goals that is the goals that are specific (S), measurable (M), attainable
(A), relevant (R) and time-bound (T). The goal setting theory is based on:
Clarity.
Task Complexity.
Feedback.
Commitment.
Challenge.

Question 4:
Explain the modern methods of performance management?

Answer:
Modern methods are amongst the most widely used performance measurement
techniques, which are:

Assessment center:
This method of performance measurement was first applied in the German Army
during 1930s. This method is mostly used by various business and industrial
houses. Each center consists of 6-12 participants from various departments. These
participants spend two or three working days together, away from their job.
Human resource accounting:
This method aims to assess the effectiveness of Human Resource Management
(HRM) activities and tries to value manpower as assets and not as expenses. If the

SMU Assignment

PM

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cost incurred by the organization on employees is less than the contributions they
have made to the organization, then their performance is considered as positive.
Management by Objectives (MBO):
This method follows a unique approach that requires employees to establish
objective for themselves. It is a participative process and involves setting of own
objectives by subordinates in consultation with their superiors.
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS):
This method of performance measurement has dimensions such as, job knowledge,
and interpersonal skills. The BARS are usually in the form of a seven or nine point
vertical scale.
Balanced Scorecard (BSC):
The balanced scorecard retains traditional financial measures. But financial
measures tell the story of past events, an adequate story for industrial age
companies for which investments in long-term capabilities and customer
relationships were not critical for success.
360-Degree appraisal:
This method gained popularity during 1990s. In this process, an employee is
appraised on the basis of feedback from various parties such as customers, clients,
superiors, subordinates, team members, suppliers and self.

Question 5:
Explain various types of collective bargaining.

Answer:
Collective bargaining develops employees responsibility towards the society and
limits exploitation of labor during project operations. It can be of four types as
shown below:

SMU Assignment

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Supportive bargaining:
It considers the interests of both parties and finds a mid-way to control the loss of
both the parties. It is a type of bargaining, where the parties focus on supporting
the benefits of both. Supportive bargaining provides sufficient scope for flexibility,
understanding and cooperation between the parties.
Distributive bargaining:
Its a type of bargaining where both the parties stress on supporting their own
benefits. Distributive bargaining involves less flexibility and understanding between
the parties because it prioritizes the interest of one party over other and leaves no
scope for win-win situation.
Composite bargaining:
It is a type of bargaining where employees/unions bargain to get equity in matters,
such as work norms and policies, salary level, growth opportunities, working
conditions, and health and safety issues.
Productive bargaining:
It is a type of bargaining which focuses on increasing productivity so that, both
employers and employees are benefited from the outcome of negotiation.

Question 6:
What is a Human Resource Information System (HRIS).

Answer:
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SMU Assignment

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A HRIS is a technology-based system that helps an organization in acquiring,
storing, analyzing, manipulating and distributing information related to its
employees in a systematic manner. It aids planning and decision-making. An
organization may run multiple projects simultaneously. For effective management of
human resources and ensure smooth flow of information, it is important for the
organization to manage employee information and data at one place. A sound
Human Resource Information System (HRIS) helps in consolidating such information.
Its functions are:

Input function:
It involves entering the information into HRIS. Input function focuses on the
procedures of data collection and storage of collected data into the system after
codification. After collecting the data, validation tables determine if the data is valid,
lawful and acceptable for further processing by the HRIS.

SMU Assignment

PM

0013
Data maintenance function:
It involves the up gradation of data stored in storage devices. The data input into
the system, is maintained and updated regularly so that it is not outdated. It is
used for future course of action.

Output function:
It involves the information and reports produced by the system.

Advantages of HRIS
Diagnosing problems in data by using diagnostic questionnaires for data
analysis.
Providing easy access to data and thereby, making faster decision.
Disadvantages of HRIS
It impacts the project operations if not functioning properly.
It involves high expenses in terms of finance and human resource
requirements.
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