Project Management 1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
1

Table of Contents
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1. Constructing the network diagram..........................................................................................3
2. Evaluating different possible action to be taken by project manager for avoiding exceeding
current length of critical path......................................................................................................5
3. Critical discussion on importance of ‘Project quality management’ in project to be
successful....................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

MAIN BODY
1. Constructing the network diagram
Task
Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors Early
Start
Early
Finish
Late
Start
Late
Finish
Total
Slack
Auto
Scheduled
External
specifications 8 days Fri
9/18/20
Tue
9/29/20
Fri
9/18/20
Tue
9/29/20
Fri
9/18/20
Tue
9/29/20
0
days
Auto
Scheduled
Review
Design
Features
2 days Wed
9/30/20
Thu
10/1/20 1 Wed
9/30/20
Thu
10/1/20
Wed
9/30/20
Thu
10/1/20
0
days
Auto
Scheduled
Document
new features 3 days Wed
9/30/20
Fri
10/2/20 1 Wed
9/30/20
Fri
10/2/20
Fri
12/18/20
Tue
12/22/20
57
days
Auto
Scheduled
Write
Software 60 days Wed
9/30/20
Tue
12/22/20 1 Wed
9/30/20
Tue
12/22/20
Wed
10/14/20
Tue
1/5/21
10
days
Auto
Scheduled
Program and
test 60 days Fri
10/2/20
Thu
12/24/20 2 Fri
10/2/20
Thu
12/24/20
Fri
10/2/20
Thu
12/24/20
0
days
Auto
Scheduled
Edit and
publish notes 2 days Mon
10/5/20
Tue
10/6/20 3 Mon
10/5/20
Tue
10/6/20
Wed
12/23/20
Thu
12/24/20
57
days
Auto
Scheduled
Review
Manual 2 days Wed
12/23/20
Thu
12/24/20 4 Wed
12/23/20
Thu
12/24/20
Wed
1/6/21
Thu
1/7/21
10
days
Auto
Scheduled Alpha site 20 days Fri
12/25/20
Thu
1/21/21 5,6 Fri
12/25/20
Thu
1/21/21
Fri
12/25/20
Thu
1/21/21
0
days
Auto
Scheduled Print Manual 10 days Fri
12/25/20
Thu
1/7/21 7 Fri
12/25/20
Thu
1/7/21
Fri
1/8/21
Thu
1/21/21
10
days
Auto
Scheduled Beta site 10 days Fri
1/22/21
Thu
2/4/21 8,9 Fri
1/22/21
Thu
2/4/21
Fri
1/22/21
Thu
2/4/21
0
days
Auto
Scheduled Manufacture 12 days Fri
2/5/21
Mon
2/22/21 10 Fri
2/5/21
Mon
2/22/21
Fri
2/5/21
Mon
2/22/21
0
days
Auto
Scheduled
Release and
ship 3 days Tue
2/23/21
Thu
2/25/21 11 Tue
2/23/21
Thu
2/25/21
Tue
2/23/21
Thu
2/25/21
0
days

a) Earliest start (ES)
Covered in above table
b) Earliest finish (EF)
Covered in above table
c) Latest start (LS)
Covered in above table
d) Latest finish (LF)
Covered in above table
e) Slack/ float
Covered in above table
f) Critical path and its analysis

The critical path method is a tool under project management which assist the project
manager in identifying the critical activities and with help of those activity complete the task
before time (Digehsara, Rezazadeh and Soleimani, 2018). The critical path is the longest
sequence of activities within a project that need to be completed on time before or by the due
date. Any activity over the critical path is delayed then the whole project will be delayed and will
lead to delay in whole business project. The CPM is used in order to find the least amount of
time which is undertaken in order to complete the whole of the project.
For the current project of ‘Color Printer Driver Software Project’ the critical path is
highlighted in red. This critical path includes the activities 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12 is the critical
path activities. This suggest that if the project manager will timely start and finish all these
activities then the project will be completed on time. Further this CPM also depicts the
dependencies of the different activities in the completion of the whole project. In addition to this
the CPM also predicts the less important activities which can be ignored at time of the
completion of the project.
Thus it can be seen that the longest duration of activities has been selected for the current
project of ‘Color Printer Driver Software Project’. The reason behind the selection of the longest
path is that this includes all the critical activities which are necessary for the implementation of
the project. Further the activities within the critical path are having zero float and this suggest
that any delay in any of the activity will result in the delay in the whole of the project.
g) Receiving bonus or penalty
If the project will be completed before the estimated deadline, then the team will get the
bonus and if the project will get delayed then they will have to pay the penalty for the project.
Hence if the project will take up the path of all activities then the duration of the completing the
project will be 192 days. On the other side the time duration of the activities undertaken in the
critical path are 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12 and total time taken for completing this critical path is
115 days. Hence, the project team is allowed to have a bonus of €100.
2. Evaluating different possible action to be taken by project manager for avoiding exceeding
current length of critical path
In the present case the scenario is given that it assumed that there is delay in the activity
T06 by three days. But this will not have any of the impact over the critical path length because
of the reason that this activity is not included in the critical path. Hence, if the activity T06 is

delayed by 3 days then also this will not affect the critical path and the working of the project.
But then also the project manager has to take measures and step to avoid exceeding of the current
length of the critical path. The first and foremost thing to be undertaken by the project manager
is that they must ensure that all the limited resources of the project are being allocated in the
optimal manner. The major reason underlying this fact is that the resources for the project are
very limited and it is the duty of the project manager to optimally use the limited resources. In
addition to this another major step for project manager to take is to make the use of the latest
technology and tools. The reason behind this fact is that when the project team and manager will
make use of the latest technology then this will reduce the time and will increase the efficiency
of working of the team members.
Thus, this will increase the efficiency of the people working on the project and will
improve the project quality as well. Further the project manager must make use of effective time
management strategies so that all the activities under the completion of the project are being
completed before time. Hence, for this the project manager must ensure that they set the time
standards little high so that the people within the team can effectively complete the activities of
the project before time. Thus, this will provide time to the project team members to check and
evaluate their performance (Varajão, Colomo-Palacios and Silva, 2017). Further this evaluation
of the performance will assist the people within the team in identifying their strength and
weakness and try to improve it.
3. Critical discussion on importance of ‘Project quality management’ in project to be successful
The project quality management is defined as the process through which the quality of
the whole project is taken care of. For the project to be successful it is very essential for the
project manager and the project team to manage the project with good quality. The project
quality management is the process which includes the different activities and process which
assist the manager in undertaking the whole project by keeping in mind the best quality. The
better quality of the project will ensure that all the stakeholders and people attached with the
project are being satisfied by their interest within the project. When the project will meet and
abide by all the quality standards then this will have a good impact over the stakeholder interest
within the project. They will like the fact that the project manager is taking initiative in order to
make the project by keeping the quality standards high.

As per the views of Javed and Liu (2017) the major importance of managing the quality
of the project is the cost of quality. The major reason underlying this importance is that if the
project manager will invest in the different types of quality management tools and software than
this will definitely result in the reduction in the cost of project. This is pertaining to the fact that
when the quality of the project is ensured then this will increase the interest of all the stakeholder
within the project and will contribute their part in effective manner. In addition to this a good
quality management plan will assist in better completion of the project and if the stages of
project management are planned and coordinated in effective manner then this will result in
better outcome.
On the flip side Chunli and Rongbin (2016) criticizes that the major importance of using
the project quality management is the continuous improvement. This is also an importance of
using and abiding by the proper quality management then this will assist the project manager in
developing interest in continuously search for the different type of changes taking place in the
external environment. For ensuring proper quality it is very essential for the project manager to
continuously work on improving the working and the operations within the project.
In addition to this Shah, Gochtovtt and Baldini (2019) states that the major importance of
the quality management is finding the deviation among the planned performance and the actual
performance. This is the major importance because the quality of the project ensures that what
has been planned must be implemented and executed in the same manner. This is necessary for
the reason that when the planned activity will take place in the intended manner then this will
result in the success of the project. When the effective quality is ensured then it states that the
project manager is working in effective and as per the planned manner.
As per the views of Chidimma (2016) the major reason behind the importance of project
quality management within the completion of the project is that this assist the manager in setting
the standard. This is also a great importance of using the project quality management. The major
reason underlying this fact is that if the standards will be set then this will assist the project
manager and project team to understand the work and how they have to execute the project. In
order to maintain the quality of the project the standards are set high then the actual. This is done
with the intention that if the standards will be high then at least the project team will work to
attain the actual performance.

Along with this Ajayi and Osunsanmi (2018) in order to manage the project quality
management in effective manner there are three essential steps that is plan quality, quality
assurance and quality control. If the project manager will strictly abide by all the three steps, then
the project will surely be successful. The planning for the quality is referred to as the process
through which the project manager plans all the standard and criteria for the completion of the
project with the fulfilment of the aims of the project. Further the quality assurance is referred to
as the systematic and planned implementation of the plan made in the above stage. Here the
focus of the project manager is to make sure that all the planned activities are made as per the
planning. In the end the necessary step is the quality control and this is the most essential part for
ensuring quality management. The main reason is that if the plan is implemented in the same
manner then this will be judged and tested with help quality control tools.
In accordance with the views of Lo, Shen and Chen (2017) For controlling the quality of
the project manager can make use of PDCA cycle. This is a cycle which includes four stages that
is Plan, Do, Check and Act. Under this the first one relates with planning and establishing the
objectives of the study. Further the next step includes the implementation of the process which
was planned in the first step. Next the step is to check that is monitor and evaluate the working
and the last stage is the act that is performed the necessary action and improve the performance
of the project.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ajayi, O. and Osunsanmi, T., 2018. Constraints and challenges in the implementation of total
quality management (TQM) in contracting organisation. Journal of Construction Project
Management and Innovation. 8(1). pp.1753-1766.
Chidimma, N.A., 2016. Value as a core concept in considering the system of the project quality
management. Управление проектами и развитие производства, (2 (58)).
Chunli, S. and Rongbin, W., 2016, August. Research on Software Project Quality Management
Based on CMMI. In 2016 International Conference on Robots & Intelligent System
(ICRIS) (pp. 381-383). IEEE.
Digehsara, A., Rezazadeh, H. and Soleimani, M., 2018. Performance evaluation of project
management system based on combination of EFQM and QFD. Journal of Project
Management. 3(4). pp.171-182.
Javed, S.A. and Liu, S., 2017, August. Evaluation of project management knowledge areas using
grey incidence model and AHP. In 2017 International Conference on Grey Systems and
Intelligent Services (GSIS) (pp. 120-120). IEEE.
Lo, S.M., Shen, H.P. and Chen, J.C., 2017. An integrated approach to project management using
the Kano model and QFD: an empirical case study. Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence. 28(13-14). pp.1584-1608.
Shah, S., Gochtovtt, A. and Baldini, G., 2019. Importance of Project Management in Business
Analytics: Academia and Real World. In Aligning Business Strategies and Analytics (pp.
81-94). Springer, Cham.
Varajão, J., Colomo-Palacios, R. and Silva, H., 2017. ISO 21500: 2012 and PMBoK 5 processes
in information systems project management. Computer Standards & Interfaces. 50.
pp.216-222.