MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MBA SEMESTER 2

MB0049 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Assignment Set 1

Name: Mahavadi Dhanshyam Venkatram Suryanarayan Roll No: 511110147 Centre Code: 846 City: Angul

Q1] List and explain the traits of a professional manager. Ans] The following traits enable a manager to be effective in his functioning. Endowed with these it will be easy to be effective. The top management will look for these in a person who they want to employ for project management: a. Leadership: These managers lead by exhibiting the characteristics of leadership. They know what they should do, know why they are doing it, know how to do it and have the courage and will to do it. They have the power of taking along with them others. b. People Relationships: Any leader without followers cannot be successful. They have excellent human relationship skills. The manager builds up his team based on the core values of sincerity, objectivity and dedication. He ensures that his subordinates get opportunities for growth based on performance. He makes them a part of the decision making process, thus ensuring cooperation and commitment during implementation. He delegates freely and supports them. c. Integrity: Highest levels of trust, fairness and honesty are expected while dealing with people both within an outside the organisation. This includes the customers, shareholders, dealers, employees, the government and society at large. They ensure that functioning is clean. Their transactions will be transparent. Ethics is something they practice diligently. d. Quality: The quality philosophy should not cover only the product quality, but every process that has gone into making it. Economy of words when instructions are given, acknowledging compliance, arriving on time, remembering the promises and above all a keen eye for details and patience to make others know what they want are components of quality. e. Customer Orientation: It is now recognized that every organized two sets of customers. Internal customers are people in the organisation employees, directors, team members any person who needs your services, whose needs of demands you satisfy. External customers clients and all members of society we come in contact in connection with our business. They need our solutions for their problems. So, the managers thinking about any problem is what can I do for him and all actions will be in that direction. f. Innovation and Creativity: Professional managers think beyond the obvious. They exhibit a keenness to go behind a problem and attempt to find the root cause of the problem. They will draw from their experience from diverse fields, seek further information and consider all possible alternatives and come out with some new and unique solution. This happens when they have open minds. A saying goes the human mind is like a parachute, it is useful only when it is open. Such a work culture is very conducive for problem solving which is the aim of all creativity. Their persistence will reward them. Such actions observed by their team members enthuse them and a spirit of adventure will bring about better solutions faster. g. Performance Management: The professional manager not only ensures that his performance is at peak all times, but motivates his entire team to do it. This comes by appreciation and encouragement. If there any shortfalls he arranges for training them so that their performance improves. Thus the team members know that they are expected to perform, that they get help to do so and their effort is recognized. This is the simple path of performance management. The following seven step model will be useful: 1. Objectives/Performance standards are set. 2. These are communicated to the employees. 3. Review/monitor the above.

4. Check actual performance Vs. Standards set. 5. Identify gaps. 6. Jointly decide on corrective action, if needed. 7. Reset objectives for next period

Q2] Describe in brief the various aspects of programme management. Ans] Some of the considerations for effective programme management are given below: 1. Focusing on the various strategic initiatives taken up for multiple projects and the issues related to benefits and risks. 2. Bringing about the attention of management to a defined set of benefits, which are understood immediately, which are managed throughout the implementation and at completion. 3. Helping top management to set priorities, choosing options and allocate resources, 4. Setting up mechanisms to measure and ensure that the projects making contributions for realizing expected business benefits. 5. Leading the organisation on the path of where it is and where it wants to be. 6. Ensuring that the effects of the programme driven changes are coordinated, the transitions are successfully managed and the operations are effective and efficient. Process of P2M: The objectives sought to be achieved and the methods which are adopted and the activities that are going to be undertaken i.e. the process include the following steps : Preparing and maintaining a set of activities and the workflow that is to be followed and identifying business areas responsible for different stages in the above 1. Making sure that the priorities that the above generate are relevant and the projects are run on the basis of their impact on the business as a whole 2. Structuring the programme so that the responsibilities and roles at both programme and project level are acceptable to both the top management and managers 3. Planning the various points of review between various phases of the projects. The process has to incorporate all the important aspects which are to be addressed during implementation and management of the projects. It is important to identify all factors and incorporate resources men, materials, technology and time so that their provision can be planned. Managing the Programme When we consider the portfolio of projects as a programme, the main considerations will be on resources, risks associated with the programme, quality of the projects at every stage of the execution as meeting the requirements of the client as per the contract and monitoring the change processes that get enmeshed during implementation. The specifics concerning the above are listed below: i) Evaluating the risks associated with the programme the planned changes to the business operations ii) Ensuring that the processes to ensure quality are sufficient and purposes are fully met iii) Keeping track of the changes and developments external to the project environment and studying their impact on the programme; iv) Making sure that the personnel in business affected by the above are informed and trained so that the projects are smoothly

v)

Ensuring that the support services like human resources and IT are able to adopt to the changes that take place in the projects and business operations as a whole.

Q3] Compare the following: a. Traditional vs. Projectised Organisation b. Re-engineering Vs. E-engineering Ans] a. Comparision between Traditional and projectised organisations:

Sr. No. Traditional organisations 1 They have the formal organisation structure, with departments, functions, sections having a hierarchy of managers and their assistants. 2 All of the managers function on a continuous basis catering to a series of requirements issued by the planning department. 3 An assembly of various units of their production forms a products and a variety of such products make up the business of the company. 4 No particular member or a department or a team is responsible for the completion of any particular product. Their creativity and innovation is in particular respect of their jobs. 5 Most of the members do not get exposed to other areas of operations in the organisation. They become specialists and insular.

Projectised organisations They have teams comprising members who are responsible for completing one entire deliverable product. The teams will have all the resources required to finish the jobs. They have a time schedule within which all the elements of the projects have to be completed. There is greater accountability among team members and everyone is responsible for the delivery. It is found that a sense of ownership of the project motivates team members to be creative, cooperative among them to achieve high productivity.

b. Comparision between Re-engineering & E-engineering:

Sr. No. Re-engineering 1 This is a process by which managers redesign a bundle of tasks into roles and so that organizational effectiveness is achieved 2 Dramatic improvements in critical measures of performance, like cost, quality and service are expected. 3 The main focus is on the radical rethink about the business processes adopted. 4

E-engineering This is a process in which companies make use of all kinds of information systems to make the functions effective. New information systems are installed for conducting all business processes in the organisation The main focus is to enable better communication and interactions between the employees A business process may be any activity like It involves the use of intranet and internet inventory control, product design, orders solutions for regular activities online

processing and delivery systems The users of the results of the process effect This is done by specialized teams the change

Q4] List out the macro issues in project management and explain each. Ans] The following are the macro issues in project management: a) Evolving Key Success Factors (KSF) Upfront: In order to provide complete stability to fulfillment of goals, one needs to constantly evaluate from time to time, the consideration of what will constitute the success of completing a project and assessing its success before completion. The KSF should be evolved based on a basic consensus document (BCD). KSF will also provide an input to effective exit strategy (EES). Exit here does not mean exit from the project but from any of the drilled down elemental activities which may prove to be hurdles rather than contributors. Broad level of KSF should be available at the conceptual stage and should be firmed up and detailed out during the planning stage. The easiest way would be for the team to evaluate each step for chances of success on a scale of ten. KSF should be available to the management duly approved by the project manager before execution and control stages. KSF rides above normal consideration of time and cost at the levels encompassing client expectation and management perception time and cost come into play as subservient to these major goals. b) Empowerment Title (ET) ET reflects the relative importance of members of the organization at three levels: i) Team members empowered to work within limits of their respective allocated responsibilities the major change from bureaucratic systems is an expectation from these members to innovate and contribute to time and cost. ii) Group leaders are empowered additionally to act independently towards client expectation and are also vested with some limited financial powers. iii) Managers are empowered further to act independently but to maintain a scientific balance among time, cost, expectation and perception, apart from being a virtual advisor to the top management. c) Partnering Decision Making (PDM): PDM is a substitute to monitoring and control. A senior with a better decision making process will work closely with the project managers as well as members to plan what best can be done to manage the future better from past experience. The key here is the active participation of members in the decision making process. The ownership is distributed among all irrespective of levels the term equally should be a\voided here since ownership is not quantifiable. The right feeling of ownership is important. This step is most difficult since junior members have to respond and resist to being pushed through sheer innovation and performance this is how future leaders would emerge. The PDM process is made scientific through: i) Earned value management system (EVMS) ii) Budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS) iii) Budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) iv) Actual cost of work performed(ACWP)

d) Management By Exception (MBE) No news is good news. If a member wants help he or she locates a source and proposed to the manager only if such help is not accessible for free. Similarly, a member should believe that a team leaders silence is a sign of approval and should not provoke comments through excessive seeking of opinions. In short leave people alone and let situation perform the demanding act. The bend limit of MBE can be evolved depending on the sensitivity of the nature and size of the project. MBE provides and facilitates better implementation of effectiveness of empowerment titles .MBE is more important since organizations are moving toward multi-skilled functioning even at junior most levels.

Q5] Describe the various steps in risk management listed below:

a. Risk Identification b. Risk Analysis c. Risk Management Planning d. Risk Review Ans] a. Risk Identification: Risk identification occurs at each stage of the project life cycle. To

identify risks, we must first define risk. Risks are potential problems, ones that are not guaranteed to occur. When people begin performing risk identification they often start by listing known problems. Known problems are not risks. During risk identification, one might notice some known problems. If so, just move them to a problem list and concentrate on future potential problems. As projects evolve through project development so too does the risk profile. Project knowledge and understanding keep growing, hence previously identified risks may change and new risks identified throughout the life of the project. There are various tools and techniques available for risk identification. 1. The best and most common methodology for risk identification is done using a brainstorming session. The brainstorm typically takes 15-30 minutes. We have to be sure to invite anyone who can help the team think of risks. Invite the project team, customer, people who have been on similar projects, and experts in the subject area of the project. Involving all stakeholders is very important. 2. Limit the group size to nine people. In the brainstorming session, participants discuss out potential problems that they think could harm the project. New ideas are generated based on the items on the brainstorm list. A project manager can also use the process to refer to a database of risk obtained from past. Here, prior experience and learning from past project plays a very important role. The information obtained from such databases can help the project manager to evaluate and assess the nature of the risk and its impact on the project. Also to a great extent the judgment of the project manager based upon his past experience comes very handy in dealing with risks.

3. Another important method is to generate alternative solution or methodology to deal with risk. Generate solution by means of group review meetings or a brainstorm session. However, consider the following points during a brainstorm session: Selection of weak areas in a project, such as unknown technology being used or to be used Things those are critical or extremely important to the effort, such as the timely delivery of a vendors database software, creation of translators, or a user interface that meets the customers needs Things that have caused problems in the past, such as loss of key staff, missed deadlines, or error-prone software Some examples of risks that may be identified in such sessions are: We may not have the requirements right The technology is untested Key people may leave The server wont restart in situation X People might resist the change Any potential problem, or critical project feature, is a good candidate for the risk list. 4. Once we have created a list, work with the group to clarity each item. Also ensure that duplicate items are removed. The output of this step should include: Name of the risk Detailed description of risk event Risk Trigger Risk Type Potential Response Comments, if any
b. Risk Analysis:

1. The first step in risk analysis is to make each risk item more specific. Risks such as, Lack of management buy-in, and people might leave, are a little ambiguous. In these cases the group might decide to split the risk into smaller specific risks, such as, manager decides that the project is not beneficial, Database expert might leave, and Webmaster might get pulled off the project. 2. The next step is to set priorities and determine where to focus risk mitigation efforts. Some of the identified risks are unlikely to occur, and others might not be serious enough to worry about. Paretos law applies here. 3. During the analysis, discuss with the team members each risk item to understand how devastating it would be if it did occur, and how likely it is to occur. This way we can gauge the probability of occurrence and the impact created. We can form a matrix based on the likeliness of occurrence and the impact created as shown in table 11.2. For example, if we had a risk of a key person leaving, we might decide that it would have a large impact on the project, but that it is not very likely.

Table: Risk Analysis 4. In the process, we make the group agree on how likely it thinks each risk item is to occur, using a simple scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely). The group then rates how serious the impact would be if the risk did occur, using a simple scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is little impact and 10 is very large). To use this numbering scheme, first pick out the items that rate 1 and 10, respectively. Then rate the other items relative to these boundaries. 5. To determine the priority of each risk item, calculate the product of the two values, likelihood and impact. This priority scheme helps push the big risks to the top of the list, and the small risks to the bottom. It is a usual practice to analyse risk either by sensitivity analysis or by probabilistic analysis. This is shown in figure 11.5.

Fig: Quantitative risk analysis Sensitivity Analysis: In sensitivity analysis, a study is done to analyse the changes in the variable values because of a change in one or more of the decision criteria. Probabilistic Analysis: In the probability analysis, the frequency of a particular event occurring is determined, based on which its average weighted average value is calculated. Each outcome of an event resulting in a risk situation in a risk analysis process is expressed as a probability. 6. Risk analysis can be performed by calculating the expected value of each alternative and selecting the best alternative. Now that the group has assigned a priority to each

risk, it is ready to select the items to manage. Some projects select a subset to take action upon, while others choose to work on all of the items.
c. Risk Management Planning: There are two things one can do to manage risk: 1. The first is to take action to reduce (or partially reduce) the likelihood of the risk occurring. For example, some project that work on process improvement make their deadlines earlier and increases their efforts to minimize the likelihood of team members being pulled off the project due to changing organizational priorities. In a software product, a critical feature might be developed first and tested early. 2. Second, we can take action to reduce the impact if the risk does occur. Sometimes this is an action taken prior to the crisis, such as the creation of a simulator to use for testing if the hardware is late. At other times, it is a simple backup plan, such as running a night shift to share hardware. 3. For the potential loss of a key person, for example, we might do two things: Plan to reduce the impact by making sure other people become familiar with that persons work, or reduce the likelihood of attrition by giving the person a raise, or by providing day care. d. Risk Review: We have to review your risks periodically so we can check how well mitigation is progressing. We can also see if the risk priorities need to change, or if new risks have been discovered, we might decide to rerun the complete risk process if significant changes have occurred on the project. Significant changes might include the addition of new features, the changing of the target platform, or a change in project team members. Many people incorporate risk review into other regularly scheduled project reviews.

Q6] ABC Company implements got a very big project and they decided to allot the same to a new project manager, who joined the company recently. In order to execute the project successfully, what are the various phases in which the project lifecycle should be divided.

Ans] The new Project manager of ABC Company should divide the project life cycle in following
phases: a. understanding the scope of the project, b. objectives of the project, c. formulation and planning various activities, d. project execution and e. project monitoring and control the project resources. A project manager is a person who manages the project. The project manager is responsible to carry out all the tasks of a project. Responsibilities of the project manager Budgeting and cost control Scheduling tasks

Allocating resources Tracking project expenditures Ensuring technical quality Manage relations with the customer and company Life cycle of a project manager overlaps with the development life cycle in the middle. Duties of a project manager starts before the development and continue after delivery of the product. The main knowledge areas and processes in project management and their relationships, along with the process groups and its connection is shown in the following figures.

Phases Of Project Management Life Cycle: The various phases in project management life cycle are Analysis and evaluation Marketing Design Inspecting, testing and delivery Post completion analysis Analysis and Evaluation Phase It starts with receiving a request to analyze the problem from the customer. The project manager conducts the analysis of the problem and submits a detailed report to the top management. The report should consist of what the problem is, ways of solving the problem, the objectives to be achieved, and the success rate of achieving the goal. The tasks of this phase are as follows: Specification Requirements Analysis (SRA): It has to be conducted to determine the essential requirements of a project for achieving the target.

Feasibility study: To analyze whether the project is technically, economically and practically feasible to be undertaken. Trade-off analysis: To understand and examine the various alternatives which could be considered Estimation: To estimate the project cost, effort required for the project and functionality of various processes in the project System design: choose a general design that can fulfill the requirements Project evaluation: evaluate the project in terms of expected profit, cost and risks involved Marketing Phase A project proposal is prepared by a group of people including the project manager. This proposal has to contain the strategies adopted to market the product to the customers. Design Phase Inputs received Project feasibility study Preliminary project evaluation Project proposal Customer interviews Outputs produced System design specification Program Functional specification Program design specification Project plan Inspecting, Testing and Delivery Phase During this phase, the project team works under the guidance of the project manager. The project manager has to ensure that the team working under him, implements the project designs accurately. The project has to be tracked or monitored through its cost, manpower and schedule. Managing the customer Marketing the future work Perform quality control work Post Completion Analysis Phase The staff performance has to be evaluated Document the lessons from the project Project feedback analysis Project execution report Analysis of the problems encountered during the project