Estimating Processes and Concepts for Project Management

Project Management
Week 4: Define & Apply Estimating Processes and Concepts to the Project
Reading samples Learning
outcomes of the
unit
Learnings from your weekly study, experience, this and
prior unit readings and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
Mandatory Readings
 Smith Chapters 6;
 Edwards at al.,
Chapter 26 from
Edwards J. D.,
Hermanson R. H.,
Ivancevich S D.
(2010) Accounting
Principles Vol 2:
Managerial
Accounting
The rate of project
failures has gone up in
the recent years and
the common reason
detected in such
failures is poor
budgeting or cost
management. Most of
the projects define the
costs in the initial stage
and these values are
never updated during
the timeline. This shall
not be followed and the
review and upgrades in
the costs shall be done
in the basis of project
variances and tolerance
levels. The project costs
may vary on the basis of
stage and deliveries.
The estimation methods shall be in sync with the stages as initiation, feasibility,
execution, implementation & design, and construction for the construction
projects. The advancement in technology has led to the development of
automated tools that can be used for estimating the costs. These tools eliminate
the possibilities of errors that may be encountered in the manual stages. There
are also tools in place for tracking these costs.
Enshassi, A., Rashid
Abdul Aziz, A., &
El Karriri, A.
(2008).
Investigating the
overhead costs
in construction
projects in
Palestine.
Journal Of
Financial
Management Of
Property And
Construction,
13(1), 35-47.
http://dx.doi.org
/10.1108/13664
380810882066
1 of 5

Project Management
Reading samples Learning
outcomes of the
unit
Learnings from your weekly study, experience, this and
prior unit readings and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
The estimation or
forecasting methods
shall list out all of the
project costs that may
be one-time or
recurring. The financial
and budgeting risks
have declined
probability with the
increased project
maturity.
The large-scale projects ensure that any of the alterations expected in the
advanced stages of the project are predicted in advance and the impact analysis
of such situations is also done. This leads to the elimination of major risks and
severe consequences in the later project stages.
Li, H., Arditi, D., & Wang,
Z. (2013).
Factors That
Affect
Transaction
Costs in
Construction
Projects. Journal
Of Construction
Engineering And
Management,
139(1), 60-68.
http://dx.doi.org
/10.1061/(asce)
co.1943-
7862.0000573
The uncertainties and
the various project risks
Most of the project managers follow the methodology on one-time costs
declaration and assessment. However, it shall be done in every phase of the
Lopez, R., & Love, P.
(2012). Design
2 of 5