Project Management Theories and Practices

This assignment delves into various theoretical frameworks and practical applications within the field of project management. It explores concepts like earned value analysis, sustainability in construction projects, and the evolution of project management methodologies. The document also examines the role of project management offices and addresses challenges posed by 'unknowable unknowns' in project execution.

Operation and Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Implementation of operations management principles in organisation.................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2 Continuity in improvement plan based on review and analysis............................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Stages of PLC with business case, project plan and work breakdown structure...................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
P4 Review and critique effectiveness of the PLC with theories, concept and model.................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Operational management is an essential tool that helps to manage organisational activities
in effective manner. Through this a firm perform several activities to manufacture a specific
products and services for their customers. It is basically used to designing and controlling
production process for effective and appropriate outcomes. Operation management also involves
utilization of different resources and products in firm (Antonio and Ramos, 2012). This process
also includes several administration elements in order to getting higher growth and desired
outcomes easily. In this process, project management also play a most important role for
planning, executing, implementing, monitoring and controlling various activities for
organisational goals or objectives. This project report is based on XYZ company which
manufacture and sell home appliances to their customers. This report represent operational
management principle and various improvement plan for organisational context. At last, it
represent different stage of the PLC as well as its effectiveness for project management plan.
TASK 1
P1 Implementation of operations management principles in organisation
According to Beringer, Jonas and Kock, (2013) Operational management is an
organisational process that helps to build various objectives and goals for firm. This approach
includes particular procedure to analyse each business activity to make effective and proper
strategy according to them. This process is basically using to utilize all resources and raw
material to convert then into finished goods easily. Operation management is work with a
specific working approach such as planning, organising, implementing, observance and
controlling several activities to make desirable changes in firm easily. Through this, XYZ can
easily make effective changes in their organisation to getting appropriate outcomes easily. In this
process, manager and leader of firm also play a most important to manage business activities
easily.
Operation Management Principles:
These principles are introduce by Randall Schaeffer who is an operational management
professional. This is basically explained into 10 different principles such as -
 Reality- Operational management is a specific process which is basically used to
analysing different problems that create issues in business activities. This process is not
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focus on tool and techniques because it helps to provide own solution through various
working approach.
 Organisation – Operational management is a specific term in which all business
activities are organise in suitable and logical manner to getting effective and desirable
outcomes. According to Blomquist, (2010) all business factors require assure and regular
formation to attain organisational objectives easily.
 Fundamental – For XYZ, it is require to maintain their records and data in appropriate
manner to manage organisational activities in effective manner. This process requires
new methods and technique to manage business data easily. This process help to provide
different opportunities to achieve target goals and objectives.
 Accountability – In a business organisation, various departments provides their services
in appropriate manner. In it, accountability is manager is determine to create firm's
objectives and goal while as leader is works to provide direction and guideline to their
employees. In it, different department is responsible for various services and
organisational activities as well.
 Variance – It is basically use to encourage and manage organisational activities to get
effective sources easily. It is basically use to reduce estimate cost to provide different
opportunities to enhance working approaches easily. As per this process, if things are
managed in then they will helping to provide creative and innovative sources.
 Causality – According to Brauers and Zavadskas, (2010) organisation needs to manage
their problems and issues in proper manner because through this organisation can easily
get favourable or appropriate solution easily. If problems are not been solved or issues
are not detected at a time then they can appear continuously.
 Managed passion – For a business organisation, it is require to manage their employees
skills and working approach effectively to getting desired objectives easily. For XYZ, it
is necessary to motivate their workers toward their working approaches. In this process
manager play a most important role to provide appropriate training to their employees to
enhance their skills easily.
 Humility – Manager should have to manage their limitations and needs to face different
challenges to adopt different opportunities easily. They do not have to feel shy to learn
different thinks from others.
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 Success - For a business organisation, it is require to set their objectives and goals in
effective manner to getting desired success easily. At this element, organisation needs to
consider customers choice and interest. Through this they needs to make effective
strategy to provide them higher satisfaction for organisational success.
 Change – For XYZ, it is require to make effective changes in their business procedure.
These changes always provide different opportunities to getting long term benefits easily.
SIX SIGMA
This process basically used to manage quality of organisation's product. Six sigma
approach is basically used to make appropriate improvement to reduce defects in processing and
services (Fernández and Rodríguez, 2010). It was developed by Motorola in they year of 1986.
This is a expensive method which is basically uses by large level industries. This is a suitable
term for all business organisation. It is includes different kind of ideas that helps to manage
organisational activities in proper manner to reduce wastage from the firm. This procedure is
based on customers demand for a specific product that requires quick manufacturing. So for this
XYZ needs to manage their business activities in effective manner to reduce wastages and
manage quality of products in appropriate manner.
 Define – This is refers to a specific term in which organisation make specific strategy to
accomplish their customer's demand easily.
 Measure – This is measure through analysis of existing and current process to make
appropriate strategy for future objectives.
 Analyse – It is based on analysis of different problems and issues to make effective
changes according to them.
 Improve – After analysing each and every term, it is require to make proper
improvement to attain organisational objectives easily.
 Control – This is last step of procedure in which organisation needs to make effective
control on their business activities to reduce conflicts and barriers easily.
Lean principle
Lean is a effective process which is used to create values for customers by the uses of
few resources. For XYZ, it is require to focuses on customers values to implement effective
sources in their business procedure (Fleming and Koppelman, 2016). Main objective of this
theory is to build perfect values of customers in an firm to getting higher success easily. For this,
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XYZ needs to produce quality products and services to provide higher satisfaction to their
customers. This process help to reduce wastage in organisation and improve or build values in
corrective manner.
 Define Value – This process is basically use to define values of customer in organisation.
This is a most important aspect of firm that help to analyse organisational objectives
easily.
 Map Value Stream – This process, is basically based on organisational activities from
purchasing raw material to convert them into finished goods easily. It is helps to build
values of an organisation in target market.
 Create Flow – This process make effective strategy for organisation to work smoothly
and reduce hurdle easily. These flow help to create values for firm in frontof targert
customers (Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2012).
 Establish Pull – This factor follow just in time methodology to provide services to
customers at a specific time or according to their demand. It is basically uses for
expensive inventory or goods.
 Pursue Perfection - In a business organisation, it is require to manage things with
perfection to reduce barriers and issues easily.
TASK 2
P2 Continuity in improvement plan based on review and analysis
Continuous improvement is a specific process in which organisation make specific
changes in their business activities according to customers demand and market trends. This
process help to build effective relation between organisational and customers to provide them
higher satisfaction easily.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Improvement Current position Target Time frame
Quality This organisation is
supposed to launch
their new product in
market. For this, they
have decide to launch
XYZ is a well known
organisation which manufacture
and sell home appliances to their
customers. They are basically
deals in home appliances but
This is a new
product product of
organisation and it
will takes a specific
time period to
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52 inches television as
well as stadium
screens also. For this
they are manage
quality of products in
appropriate manner to
provide higher
satisfaction to their
customers (Lenfle and
Loch, 2010).
now its main is to introduce 58
Inches large screen television in
market. Through this, they wants
to build their new image and
goodwill in market to provide
new technological products to
their customers. Their main
objective is to grab various
opportunities from target market
and provide quality services in
market according to customer's
expectation.
manufacturing and
designing it.
Packaging This is a most
important factor that
helps to capture
customers eyes toward
organisational
products and services.
For this they needs to
make attractive
packaging of products
to build its own values
in market and help to
getting competitive
advantages easily.
This process of organisation is
based on different and existing
competitors in market. Through
this process organisation can
easily grab customer attention
toward this packaging and
organisational products easily.
This process require a specific
strategy of make desirable
changes according to customers
demand and their style and need.
This process require
approx. 4-5 months
to make marketing
analysis and garb
different changes in
packaging activities
easily (Mir and
Pinnington, 2014).
Designing This organisation is
basically launch their
products according to
customer's demand
and their need. Now
This organisation is basically
represent different type of
products in marker through a
specific strategy to make their
own market position between
This process will
taking approx. 10-
12 months to design
a specific product
with new and
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they wants to launch
new product in market,
so for this they design
some unique feature in
their products to grab
competitive
advantages easily.
Design of product
should have to unique
and effective
according to customers
requirement.
competitive firms. For their new
product, their new objectives is
to make proper sell of this in
target market (Pemsel and
Wiewiora, 2013).
creative feature in
marker. This
process takes a
specific time to
build technical
support in products
easily.
Effective strategies for implementation of continuous improvement plan
 Good employee employer relationship- For a business organisation, it is require to make
effective relation in their organisation to build proper understanding in their working
approaches easily.
 Proper communication channel- In a organisation, it is require that their employees has
a effective communication skill to communicate with customers and employees easily
through this they can easily understand what their customers want to provide them
quality services and products.
 Proper guidance and direction- In a organisation, it is require that its senior employees,
manager and leaders provide proper direction and guidance to their workforce to achieve
business goals and objectives easily (Ramasesh and Browning, 2014).
TASK 3
P3 Stages of PLC with business case, project plan and work breakdown structure.
Project manager and project team has same goal, which is beneficial for organization. To
carry out a project it have to follow strategies that meets final objective. Every project takes
place to accomplish a task which have to be followed by sequence of steps with a definite time
and cost. A typical project generally follows four iterations namely, conceptualizing, planing,
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implementation, and closure. These steps are followed by a manger while establishing a PLC
framework. The activities are divided into some phases to achieve target. These four stages
derives a path to generate a meaningful product and though it is refers as project life – cycle. Life
– cycle refers to defining a product from beginning to ending state. The four stages are as
follows:
Conceptualizing : Conceptualizing defines as idea to generate a new product. It includes
identifying need of project. It ensures all criteria to scope of a project, that can be a problem in
business case or opportunities. This document contains all problem solving recommendations.
After this it analyse all feasibility and justification. It considers all aspects what kind of
feasibility check it needed, in terms of cost, machinery, accessibility of raw material, etc. it also
need to writing a justification to clarify objectives (Robichaud and Anantatmula, 2010).
After approving solutions, a project will take initiative and a project manager will be appointed
with co-workers who establishes a successful project. For instance, if XYZ company finds a
problem in selling of its product then manager will conduct a research and evaluate its solutions.
Planning : In planning phase, a project managers develops entire strategy to deploy a
final product. In this second stage it needed to identify resources like raw material, labour,
machinery, budget and other sources that are help to fulfil its all needs. It identifies all activities,
interrelated and interdependent, independent tasks which are required to carry a project to end. It
estimates overall cost of purchasing items, labour, equipments and material costs. Budget is
needs to be monitored and controlled for proceeding states.
Project team schedule work and estimate costs, then it identifies risks. Recognizing and
looking for its solutions is known as risk management. Further it will proceed to quality
management, that ensure quality aspects like quality plan, quality targets, assurance and control
measures (Söderlund, 2011).
Implementation : Implementation or execution phase depicts to prepare a report of work
done. It evaluates all circumstances of work done. It is a continuous procedure, through which a
project plan put in motion and entire work performance. Progress is round-the-clock that
needed to monitored and appropriate adjustment have to be made and record manages according
to original plan. That examines difference between actual work and original plan because it have
to fulfil objective. This step covers most significant time. All information about product needed
to report during regular meetings. This information aid to give direction of development that
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meet certain target. In final execution status it emphasize end points including cost, schedule
and quality of product. Once all factors are established to deliver produce things and user
accepted ultimate result, the final state ready to attempt.
Closing Phase : In last closing state refers to completion of project. It delivers end
product to customers to use, handling over all documentations, terminating suppliers contract,
releasing all resources, communicating about project closure to all stakeholders. Finally, evaluate
all leanings during project to recognize how it went through project either good or bad.
Work Breakdown Structure of a New Product
In business breakdown structure to develop a product distributes a task within different
segments of available resources so that they can work independently. There is no interrelated
work between distinctive departments. It assist to progress in systematic way, if some error or
fault occurs in any state that can be solved alone. It will not affect any other part and they can
execute parallelly. WBS is foundation building block of initializing, planning, execution and
closure. It gives a guidance to working of modules. It has a hierarchical decomposition and each
lower level defines increasing level of project. It is decomposed in work packages that supply
internal and external deliverables (Subramanian and Ramanathan, 2012).
Gantt chart : Gantt Chart is a type of chart, which includes schedule on vertical axis
with time interval on horizontal axis. This process is basically use to analysis appropriate time
fro specific task to manage them in exact manner. Through this process, organisation make
effective changes in organisational activities to manage activities and task according to its
preferences.
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TASK 4
P4 Review and critique effectiveness of the PLC with theories, concept and model
To develop any project in any firm project life cycle plays a very important role because
it provides a structured and strategy with defined methodology. Hence, XYZ is a TV
manufacturing firm which adopted an organized and sorted path to produce effective products in
the market. This kind of sorted working allows a firm to deliver best goods and services without
any interruption. Project life cycle helps project manager to relate progresses of each state of
undertaking improvement. It helps to predict risks in every stage of construction. Project life
cycle has benefits to manages various assignments in a way that generates better outcomes.
 One of the great appeal of product life cycle model is simplicity, de-emphasising
comparative costs and re-emphasizing invention, time of innovation and economic scale.
 Simplicity can be be defines in terms of easy to establish and designing. It covers low
cost in comparison with other models (Turner, 2016). If there is any error occurs that
can be search and debug. If there is need to any replacement, that can handle on the time
of occurrence. Thus, it is economically generates low cost cause it bearable money wise.
 Records can be manage well within document so that performance can be managed on its
behalf by measuring it with actual plan as it evaluates differences between these two. Are
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they working same as planned before or not? If in case they are not same then it turns to
search preferable solutions, which are effect on it.
 Mistakes, errors can minimize that impact on earnings, though more complicated bugs
can be resolved because of self-reliant working area of every division.
 Guiding employees in a accurate direction towards the aim of business that builds a
reputation among stakeholders, will be more profitable.
 For organisation, it is require to manage their products cost in effective manner to grab
various opportunities easily (Subramanian and Ramanathan, 2012).
 Organisation needs to manage their business activities effectively such as purchasing,
inventory control and logistic administration etc..
CONCLUSION
This project report is based on operational and project management process which
include appropriate business activities to getting effective business approaches easily. This is a
important process that used to build specific objectives and goals for an organisation to get future
success easily. This report is based on XYZ organisation which manufacture and sell home
appliances to their customers. Now this organisation wants to introduce new television in market.
So this operational research is based on their new ideas and thoughts to implement them
effectively in market.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Antonio Martins, V. and Ramos Martins, M., 2012. Outsourcing operations in project
management offices: The reality of Brazilian companies. Project management journal.
43(2). pp.68-83.
Beringer, C., Jonas, D. and Kock, A., 2013. Behavior of internal stakeholders in project portfolio
management and its impact on success. International Journal of Project Management.
31(6). pp.830-846.
Blomquist, T. and et. al., 2010. Project‐as‐practice: In search of project management research
that matters. Project Management Journal. 41(1). pp.5-16.
Brauers, W. K. M. and Zavadskas, E. K., 2010. Project management by MULTIMOORA as an
instrument for transition economies. Technological and Economic Development of
Economy. 16(1). pp.5-24.
Fernández-Sánchez, G. and Rodríguez-López, F., 2010. A methodology to identify sustainability
indicators in construction project management—Application to infrastructure projects in
Spain. Ecological Indicators. 10(6). pp.1193-1201.
Fleming, Q. W. and Koppelman, J. M., 2016, December. Earned value project management.
Project Management Institute.
Gunasekaran, A. and Ngai, E. W., 2012. The future of operations management: an outlook and
analysis. International Journal of Production Economics. 135(2). pp.687-701.
Lenfle, S. and Loch, C., 2010. Lost roots: how project management came to emphasize control
over flexibility and novelty. California Management Review. 53(1). pp.32-55.
Mir, F. A. and Pinnington, A. H., 2014. Exploring the value of project management: linking
project management performance and project success. International journal of project
management. 32(2). pp.202-217.
Pemsel, S. and Wiewiora, A., 2013. Project management office a knowledge broker in project-
based organisations. International Journal of Project Management. 31(1). pp.31-42.
Ramasesh, R. V. and Browning, T. R., 2014. A conceptual framework for tackling knowable
unknown unknowns in project management. Journal of Operations Management. 32(4).
pp.190-204.
Robichaud, L. B. and Anantatmula, V. S., 2010. Greening project management practices for
sustainable construction. Journal of Management in Engineering. 27(1). pp.48-57.
Söderlund, J., 2011. Pluralism in project management: navigating the crossroads of
specialization and fragmentation. International Journal of Management Reviews. 13(2).
pp.153-176.
Subramanian, N. and Ramanathan, R., 2012. A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy
Process in operations management. International Journal of Production Economics.
138(2). pp.215-241.
Turner, R., 2016. Gower handbook of project management. Routledge.
Online
Management Theories & Concepts at the Workplace. 2018. [Online]. Available
through:<http://smallbusiness.chron.com/management-theories-concepts-workplace-
17693.html >.
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