This report discusses the principals of project management, including successful and failed project examples. It explores the importance of managing skills and leadership skills in project execution.
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Running head: PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Name of the Student Name of the University Author Note
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1 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Table of Contents Introduction:..........................................................................................................................................2 Part A:....................................................................................................................................................3 Description of successful project:......................................................................................................3 Description of failed project:.............................................................................................................3 Reason for project failure:.................................................................................................................3 Part B:....................................................................................................................................................5 Project scope:....................................................................................................................................5 Project budget:..................................................................................................................................7 Project schedule:...............................................................................................................................8 Project triple constraints:..................................................................................................................8 Part C:....................................................................................................................................................8 Relation between project management and project leadership:......................................................8 Importance of managing skills:......................................................................................................8 Concept of leadership skills:..........................................................................................................9 Conclusion:..........................................................................................................................................11 References:..........................................................................................................................................13
2 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Introduction: In this report, a successful project has been described along with the project that has failed miserably. Analysing these two projects shows that in the first project that has become successful there wasagreat amount of planning and execution involved. however in the second project, which was not successful, there wasalack of strategic planning and execution.The report has analysed the importance of project planning and execution of that plan in accordance with project management principles. In order to explain this particular concept of project planning and execution two projects has been identified in this report one is construction of Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver and another is expansion of trend Corporation in Canadian market. The first project is a successful one while second project is an example of a file project. Both of this project has been analysed in detailed to identify the application of Project Management concept of project planning and execution. This report has analysed concept of project budget and schedule along with theoretical description of this to concept according to PMbok knowledge guide. Explanation have also been provided to describe application of these concepts in actual projects for this purpose a project of online shopping website design has been considered. Concept of triple constraint in project management has also been described and for this purpose, a construction project has been considered to apply this theoretical knowledge into project management execution. The concept of project management and leadership skills is described as well and the relation between these two is provided. In order to demonstrate the application of this concept construction project is considered in this report. The overall Summary has been provided in the conclusion of the report for providing a brief and comprehensive overview of the entire content for providing clarity on the assignment.
3 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Part A: Description of successful project: The project that is considered in this report is the construction of Port Mann Bridge, Vancouver, B.C. it is the widest bridge in the world and the second longest bridge in North America. The bridge was opened in 2012 for the public. It has become one of the largest construction projects that have been successfully completed in the history of Vancouver and America. it was such a complex project that there was always a chance for the project to become less successful. However, successful Project Planning along with strategic project execution has made this project successful one and shows that no matter how complex a project is if it is properly planned and executed, there is always scope for ensuring success in the project execution. Description of failed project: In this context, a famous project will be analysed that failed miserably. The expansion of targets brand in Canadian market is a multi-billion-dollar project that was a complete disaster from the project management point of view. Target Corporation is the second largest retailer in the United States and only after the retail giant Walmart specialising in discount retailing as demand for discount retailing in Canada was so high that target decided to expand their operations in Canada apart from USA market where there is a dominant player in this segment. Reason for project failure: In order to enter into the Canadian market and set the retail, target Corporation made a deal with Zellers and acquired 189 leases which help them in establishing 189 brand new shops across Canada it is threatened the competitors in this process 2 with becoming number 1 trailer in the Canadian market with discount retailing.
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4 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Therefore, it might seems that it is a great strategic move from target Corporation. It willnotonlyhelpthemtoenterintotheCanadianmarketbutalsooutperformthe competitors. Hence, it will help them establishing themselves as the leading brand in Canada. However, the project was not that successful as estimated. There was already a great demand in the market for discount retailing and hence the Canadian swear waiting for the arrival of target Corporation in Canada. The reason why people are so excited about this new brand in Canada is best value for money forever products. Hence, they will be able to save a huge amount in the shopping and those financial resources will help increasing their savings. Now as target Corporation started offerings through their retail stores, it was seen that the price they decided for their products was not that low that people expect. In fact, in some cases it was slightly higher than price offered in other retail stores that was already in Canada. so people didn't want to invest in products offered by target as they are still very new in market hence they continued purchasing their products from retail stores that were already familiar to them. Apart from price, Target Corporation did not consider other issues. In order to ensure successful performance in retail markets supply chain is extremely important and quality in supply chain is something the company should not ignore. However, this was not the case with this project as supply chain acquired by target Corporation various performance related issues and as a result supply was not efficient. There was mismatch between product supply and product demand. As a result, people are frustrated with target retail stores. The prices of products were not that low as estimated and product is not available when needed. Even the product was not as per quality that should have been and all of these issues made it clear that the project is not going to be successful. However even with these issues there was no significant strategic movement and strategic planning made by target Corporation.
5 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT As the supply chain that the retail store acquired was not able to ensure quality in the product supply. The products that were being sold retail stores had significant quality related issues. So people started writing negative reviews about the products they purchased. not only the consumers the media also criticized target Corporation for its product quality issues and not providing products at lower cost that the company said during their retail store setup in Canada which affected the brand image of target Corporation even further in Canada. Therefore, it is justified to say that project of retail stores expansion in Canada and establishing top position in the Canadian market was not successful. Part B: Project scope: Project scope is the detailed statement that describes project activities in details. These activities are considered in the project to complete the execution oftheproject in relationtoproject objectives and project goals defined during project planning and project initiation. An effective project scope stamen include the following components: Justification fortheproject: Provide reason fortheexecution of project like possible benefits for the client Description of product: provide a brief yet clear description of the product designed and delivered in a project. Criteria for acceptance: provide valuation metrics for a product delivered in the project. Deliverables and objectives: describes exact project details, which provide a context for the stakeholders to agree on the project details.
6 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Exclusion: this includesitems that are not considered in the items which are often associated with product details but with more clarifications for the stakeholders and what to expect from the project. Constraints: this includespossible issues of the project that might affecttheexecution of the project. Assumptions:thisincludesassumptionconsideredintheprojectnecessaryfor completing the project. Cost estimation: this providesan estimated cost for the project that might be required to design the required product. Now,these components will be described in details with regard to an online website design project. Component ofthescope statementExamplewithrespecttoanonline shopping website design project Justification for projectThe project once completed will help the client to enhance its retail business as the website will make it easier to connect with consumers throughanonline platform and offersservicesinamuchfasterand efficient way Description of productThe project will design an online shopping website for a retail company Criteria for acceptanceThewebsiteshouldloadproducts catalogue faster, the interface should be well defined and easy to use,thewebsite
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7 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT shouldoffersuperiorperformance irrespective of OS and browser and should be stable while there is traffic load at the website Deliverables and objectivestheprojectwilldeliveranfunctioning websitealong with technicaldocuments and project summary report ExclusionTheprojectdoesnotconsiderissues related to product sell and profit through thewebsite.Onlyfunctionalityand security of the project is consideration of this project ConstraintsDesign of the website has to be completed with specific web technology along with approved budget and project schedule AssumptionsResourcesandfinancialsupportis available throughout the project execution Cost estimationDesigning and deploying the website will require $3000 Project budget: Project budget is an estimation of different cost that is associated with the different tasks of a project. Depending on a project, there is a different kind of tasks that are needs to
8 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT be completed to finish a project. Now the execution of these tasks requires financial resources. Estimation of the resources known as a project budget. Project schedule: When a project defines activities required for covering the project, there should be a predefined duration for completing each of these activities so that the overall project is completed within a set timeline or as demanded by the stakeholders and investors. This detailed outline of the project duration for each activity is known as the project schedule. Project triple constraints: Three important constraints of a project that affects project execution and project success are time, scope and cost known as a triple constraint of a project. Now, these three constraints are not independent, in fact, they are closely related. Issues in managing one constraint effect another and hence proper management of these constraints simultaneously is important for project success. For example, if the scope of a project is not clear, it is not possible to define what are the required features of the project or what are the activities required for completing the project. This delays project execution time, which means the project, is completed according to the project schedule, increasing time for project completion, which means an increase in project cost due to project delay. Hence, to ensure effective project management it is required to ensure proper management of all of these three constraints. Part C: Relation between project management and project leadership: Importance of managing skills: Project management is a complex task to execute as it involves the execution of various project related activities, first, a project need feasible scope statement objectives
9 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT along with a project schedule that is consistent with project deliverables and stakeholder requirements. All of these aspects to have to be managed properly in a project. Defining scheduleandexecuteitproperlyisresponsibilityofaprojectmanager.Without knowledgeable project manager, project is difficult to execute especially when the structure of the project is complex. Sometimes project have limited resources, less time to work on it required to deliver product that fulfils stakeholder requirements the project manager often needs to execute a project with triple constraints that is time, scope and cost. In order to manage project with this constraints project manager must have to have good managing skills. Another important constraint that affects project execution is conflict with stakeholders and investors. Managing conflicts with stakeholders and investors is important for project success and this is where the Managing skill of a project manager is evaluated. A project manager without proper managing skill finds it difficult to ensure smooth project execution. Hence, project manager should have good managing skills. It might seem that successful project manager is all about having effective managing skills, however this is not the case. A manager no doubt need to have good managing skills. In fact, it is one of the essential qualities of a successful project manager. However, a quality project manager is someone who along with good manager skills have leadership skills as well. Concept of leadership skills: Now it might seem that why a project manager needs to have leadership skills if it is all about managing various aspects of project successfully in accordance with project scope and objective. In order to identify that it is important to know that project is not only about managing stakeholders and investors. It is in fact a team effort that ensures that everything in the project is in accordance with the plan and deliver a successful product through the project. Now when team effort is involved in the project it is important to ensure effective team
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10 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT management. Now managing a team is not complete with just managing skills that are important in project management field. Managers have to go beyond traditional project manager roles and they have to become leaders if they want to ensure that the team is engaged with the project. Engaging teams with the project requires that everyone in the team is motivated enough so that they feel that they are actually part of the project, they are not just hired on contractual basis. If essence of personal engagement does not developed within team it is not easy to ensure that everyone in the team is providing his or her best effort for the project. When a team member feels that it is his responsibility to ensure that the project is successful because the project is as much belongs to him or her as it belongs to the project authority, the project becomes successful. Motivating team and building confidence in them is what leader does best. For example in a construction project, various issues make it difficult to ensure proper execution. In fact, there might be instances when it feels that the project is impossible to complete. There might be adverse weather conditions, injuries in the construction site, legal issues, dispute with stakeholders and numerous other issues, which affects confidence of the project team. Now the role of the manager is to communicate with stakeholders, hiring expert teams look after injuries in the construction site and this might involve some other managerial activities.buttheprojectmanagerwithonlymanagingskillisnotabletoestablish communication with project team that requires to motivate them so that this means that it is still possible finishing the project and that is where leadership skills become extremely important. It is not that a project manager should have only leadership skills for managerial skills, both of these are required. This is because one without another is not effective. sometimes managerial skills required in executing technical aspect of project and sometime leadership skills required especially in managing human resources which is not so technical.
11 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT this include communication with team members, building team confidence, providing vision for project execution and taking responsibilities when project is facing various issues along with technical and financial difficulties. For example in a software development project if a project manager assure that financial issues in the project will be dissolved while showing leadership skills but the manager does not know how to actually manage those financial constraints the leadership does not have any value. It just means that it is just a false assurance without any proper plan and vision for which managing skills required. Conclusion: The project often fails, even more oftenthanthey become successful it is not just a small project that fails, even large projects worth billion dollars also have failed miserably due to lack of proper planning. now if it is properly analysed it is easy to identify that the project failed due to inability to meet consumer expectation through product offerings and successful project execution is about meeting stakeholder expectations including consumers without which the project is not assumed to be successful. In case of this project, there are also lack of situational awareness in analysing the market and the consumer demand. Quality issues in the supply chain was another respect the target Corporation should have improved as consumers are not willing to pay for something that has quality issues. In addition to that, there was no proper project management plan including effective risk management plan, which made it difficult for the organisation to achieve target on the project, and as a result, the project incurred a loss of 7 billion US dollar making it a complete disaster and an example of a failed project.It indicates that a project even with huge budget might fail if there is not proper planning for managing the project. So no matter what is the type of project, in which field it is being executed, what the budget is allocated for the project, if the planning of the project is not proper if execution is not in accordance with the plan, the project is scheduled to be failure. Hence, planning and execution is important aspect of
12 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT successful project management andit isapplicable for any kind of project.From the analysis of managing skills and leadership skills,it is easy to identify that both of these skills are closely related to each other hence project manager with both managing and leadership skills required for ensuring success in a project.
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13 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT References: Adafin, J., Rotimi, J.O. and Wilkinson, S., 2016. Risk impact assessments in project budget development: Architects’ perspectives. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 12(3), pp.189-204. Al-Rubaiei, Q.H.S., Nifa, F.A.A. and Musa, S., 2018, September. Project scope management through multiple perspectives: A critical review of concepts. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2016, No. 1, p. 020025). AIP Publishing. Aronson, Z.H., 2016. Personal style, culture and performance outcomes in projects: what is the role of project leader individual differences?. International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems, 5(2), pp.99-121. Chandrasekaran, A., Linderman, K. and Schroeder, R., 2015. The role of project and organizational context in managing high‐tech R&D projects. Production and Operations Management, 24(4), pp.560-586. de Carvalho, M.M., Patah, L.A. and de Souza Bido, D., 2015. Project management and its effects on project success: Cross-country and cross-industry comparisons. International Journal of Project Management, 33(7), pp.1509-1522. Fleming, Q.W. and Koppelman, J.M., 2016, December. Earned value project management. Project Management Institute. Gilal, A.R., Jaafar, J., Omar, M., Basri, S. and Waqas, A., 2016. A rule-based model for software development team composition: Team leader role with personality types and gender classification. Information and Software Technology, 74, pp.105-113.
14 PRINCIPALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Harvard BusinessReview. (2019). Why Target’sCanadianExpansion Failed. [online] Availableat:https://hbr.org/2015/01/why-targets-canadian-expansion-failed[Accessed4 May 2019]. Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom. Milosevic, D.Z. and Martinelli, R.J., 2016. Project management toolbox: tools and techniques for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons. Pheng, L.S.,2018. ProjectScopeManagement.InProjectManagementfortheBuilt Environment (pp. 63-77). Springer, Singapore. Russell, J., Pferdehirt, W. and Nelson, J., 2018. Project Initiation, Scope, and Structure. Technical Project Management in Living and Geometric Order. Sanghera, P., 2019. Planning Project and Scope. In PMP® in Depth (pp. 115-153). Apress, Berkeley, CA. Sanghera, P., 2019. Project Scope Management. In CAPM® in Depth (pp. 135-171). Apress, Berkeley, CA. Serrador, P. and Turner, R., 2015. The relationship between project success and project efficiency. Project Management Journal, 46(1), pp.30-39. Tabassi, A.A., Roufechaei, K.M., Ramli, M., Bakar, A.H.A., Ismail, R. and Pakir, A.H.K., 2016. Leadership competences of sustainable construction project managers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 124, pp.339-349.