Evaluating Project Management Principles and Methodologies

This essay delves into the realm of project management by critically evaluating the various methodologies employed to ensure project success. The focus is on understanding the practical applications and benefits of renowned frameworks such as PRINCE2, PMBOK, and agile practices. Through a comprehensive review of literature, including works by Mir & Pinnington (2014), Martinelli & Milosevic (2016), and Walker (2015), this paper explores how these methodologies align with project objectives and contribute to achieving desired outcomes. It examines the strengths and limitations of each approach, drawing on case studies and empirical evidence to provide a balanced perspective. The essay further discusses the strategic alignment of these methodologies within organizational contexts, as highlighted by Kruger & Rudman (2013), and their role in enhancing project management maturity models, as suggested by Lianying et al. (2012). Ultimately, this analysis aims to offer insights into selecting appropriate methodologies for specific projects, considering factors such as project complexity, team dynamics, and organizational culture.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODS
Project management methods
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Project management defines the various principles that are adopted for addressing the
various principles are to be adopted for streamlining the flow of operations in the business. This
essay includes an analysis of the management processes of three different organizations. Their
difference is in their business perspective and their origins. The main organizations also differ in
their adopted management principles. The chosen management styles to be applied are the
PRINCE2 and the PMBoK. This essay also includes a discussion about the chosen
methodologies for applying in the businesses. The main purpose and the benefits are also
included along with the difficulties that can be faced by applying such methods.
The project management involves the various processes for managing the operations in a
business organization or companies. The main processes included are the initiation of the project,
planning of the requirements, and execution of the operations in the plan to meet the needs,
controlling the operations of the plan and closure of the project when the needs are met (Barker
2013). The main involvement of the project is done to meet the temporary needs of the said
organizations. When the needs are met, the project is closed to review the outcomes. The project
management technologies also define the need for analyzing the difficulties and constraints
within the time for fruitfulness of the project.
The project management methods are considered a management level process. The main
processes included in the applied methods, are to be managed by the presence of efficient
personnel for streamlining the steps to be followed. The project managers are responsible for
undertaking the review process of the various operations. The managers are to be efficient
enough to facilitate such processes (Boud, Cohen and Sampson 2014). Due to the presence of
processes in the project management, the personnel for management are also to look in the
various other aspects like risk management or virtual management if required. The first process

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is the initiation process, which involves the initiation of the project plan. The basic need for the
organization is noted in this phase. In addition, this section of the management method also
involves understanding the scope that is to be followed to get results. This section is identified by
the organizational head. Initiation phase takes note of the current level of the system and
analyzes the presence of future updates if applied (Burke 2013). This gives a general idea as to
what the requirements are and what might be the possible solution. Moreover, the SWOT
analysis of the business organization or company is also done to know the weaknesses that can
be covered by the application of the project. The planning phase of the methods involves
identifying the various requirements for implementing the project. The authorities responsible
are the project manager for this phase. The main needs like the presence of funds, the presence of
teams and many other parameters are first analyzed to commence the plan. The architectural
requirements for implementing physical level or virtual architecture for implementing virtual
level are also involved. This gives a general idea to the requirements of the project (Fleming and
Koppelman 2016). The execution phase involves the commencement of the project. After the
commencement, the operations and the level of completion is constantly updated to the manager
in charge. The proper allocation of resources and the management of the various activities is all
the aspects are managed in this section. The control phase involves the constant monitoring of
the ongoing activities. This section is monitored by the team leaders who are in place to know
the level of completion of the certain work. The project will be divided into teams where the
leader of each teams will be enabled for the monitor process. The last phase is the closure of the
project. The analysis of the project is made by the project leader, which is passed on to the
organizational head (Ghosh et al. 2012). This is reviewed and compared with the actual need of
the project and depending on that, gain or loss is made.

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The organization A needs to apply the PMBOK guide to address their application related
concerns. The managers of the organization can influence the senior management officers to
implement the methods. This results in the success of those managers as well as the organization
as well. The Project management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) consists of a set of processes
that are referred as standards and rules in the organization concerned (Hedeman, Van Heemst
and Fredriksz 2012). The organization is mainly concerned with the financial services in
Australia and New Zealand. The project management in the financial services includes various
sub-processes like the strategy in planning, management of project or program and risk
management. The strategic planning aspect helps the organization to make and identify their
strategic needs and apply the relevant parameters for enhancing their applications in the business.
This includes the analysis of the growth, share position or the return in investments. The program
or project management is also done by applying the methodologies as the various factors needed
for the analysis of the operations are to be maintained (Hinde 2012). The various constraints and
the challenges are considered by the methodologies. In addition, the risks management is also
provided by the project management methods. This helps in the reduction of the risks in the
financial businesses to help in prosperity. Thus, the organization A needs to implement the
project management principles in their whole processes of operation and will follow the PMBOK
guide. These principles are to be considered with the organization B as well. The project
management method is not effective and follows a very haphazard way of decision-making. The
methodology followed was developed by them internally and was applied to all of their projects
(Kerzner 2013). The building society also needs to implement the PMBOK guide for applying
the project management principles. Effective management involves the appliance of various
strategies and tools for making their services more attractive. This involves increasing the

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efficiency of the process and reducing the costs of deployment. The projects are to be managed
within the already made time. In addition, the indulgences of the third party vendors like the
suppliers or the retailers are to be complied in the project management principle. The main
processes involved are the management of the teams involved for the project, which includes the
teams responsible for monitoring particular aspects of the project (Kerzner 2017). The risk
management is also included which helps in minimizing the risks involved in any types of
housing or mortgaging requirements. The last process involves the commissioning of the
resources that were required for the project completion. The organization C is involved in a
customer centered operational processes. This is the reason for a PRINCE2 approach in the
methodologies as the principles involved are also consumer centric. The basic processes
involved are the governance, proposal, planning, execution and closing. The governance aspect
is concerned with the delivery of quality products even under the presence of constraints (Kruger
and Rudman 2013). This helps in determining the objectives required for successful meeting of
the project outcome. The proposal stage is same as the initiation phase where the needs are
identified and then the project is commenced. The planning phase is involved in identifying the
requirements of the project. This involves analyzing the needs for the project completion, which
includes all the resources required. The execution phase is involved in the monitoring and
delivery of the project. This involves the management of all the issues required. The closing
phase is done when the outcome is met. Thus, the organizations need to apply the methods in
their respective services as a whole in their organization.
To implement the project management principles, the organization must list the
possibilities of all the requirements and apply them accordingly (Leach 2014). Though this may
seem okay, issues may arise any time, which comes as a constraint. The first issue is the goals

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that are unidentified and undefined. This involves the presence of certain goals within the project
requirements whose existence is undefined in front of the teams responsible for the development
of the project. In cases like this, the project development has a very low chance of success in
case of successful completion. The next issue is the changes in the scope of the project. As the
project involves the analysis of pre-defined scopes to be followed, any changes in the scope can
lead to certain issues in case of success. This will also cause problems among the teams
responsible for the project. This usually happens in cases of changes in the requirements set by
the organizations or the stakeholders. The other issue in terms of project management is the
inadequacy in skills (Lianying, Jing and Xinxing 2012). The project manager must analyze the
skill sets of the underlying teams that will be required for the development of the project. In case
of the commencement of the project and the required skill sets are not found in the team
members, a major setback will be in progress that will be impacted in the success chance of the
project. In addition, the lack in skills for accountability and responsibility can create adverse
effects in the project development. In case the members of the team responsible for the project
are not in harmony with each other with the presence of destructive feelings towards each other,
can lead to negative impacts in the success rate of the project. Moreover, the issues in project
management also include the risks management inadequacy and lack of contingency plans. The
project completion in some level can range to any other levels, which are not identified, and thus,
the proper following of theoretical plans are not always ensured in practical implementations
(Martinelli and Milosevic 2016). Improper risk management by the authorities in charge can lead
to implications in the success rate. If the risks are evident, the presence of contingency plans are
to be in pace to address them or else this will also lead to problems in the success of the project
development. Moreover, the other issues that are in place during the implementation of the

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project management principles are the lack of good communication, time management, resource
scarcity and stakeholder mismanagement. The presence of good communication must be ensured
with the authorities in charge and the project members or else the commencement of the plans
will not be in a stepwise manner. Time management is another issue that causes problems among
the team if the deadline of the project is changed. This results in increased pressure to the
members and may lead to inefficient behaviors that might reflect in the project success (Matos
and Lopes 2013). Resource scarcity is another way that is of issue and the project manager needs
to analyze the requirements beforehand or else the project might come to a halt. Lastly, the
stakeholder mismanagement is the need for complying with the stakeholders as the presence of
good feedback from them can create much enthusiasm among the project participants.
In case of the various issues faced by the authorities responsible for the completion of the
project, the solutions must also be used to address them. This will increase the effectiveness in
the development of the project and will resolve the constraints faced. For the undefined goals set
by the authorities, the manager in charge of the team must arrange to tell the members about the
goals and the scope of the project. This will include the addressing of the right amount of
questions to the members that will help in setting clear connections within the project
requirements. In addition to this, the changes in the scope of the project due to the changes in the
needs of the stakeholders may result in issues. These changes must be addressed by the project
manager who will be responsible for careful analysis of the changes in requirements so that the
compliance in terms of resources and deadline (Mir and Pinnington 2014). The other risks like
the accordance to the inadequacy in skills and accountability has to be addressed else the project
success might not be met. A project manager must be efficient in their skills, which will help
them to recognize the required skill sets in the team members. In accordance to the analyzed

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skills, training or recruitment for new members will be facilitated. In addition, the responsibility
and accountability arises due to the lack of harmony among the team members. This results in
issues where the team members are often blamed by others. The manager must learn to provide
resolving ideas to address such issues and must lead the members towards a certain goal. The
challenges and constraints faced must also be addressed by changes in the sectional outcomes
(Nicholas and Steyn 2017). The concerned authorities must learn to face the risks involved in the
system and must apply some contingency plans to address them. In case of unavailability of the
contingency plans, the authorities must take responsibility to discuss the problems with others to
come at a solution that will help in identifying the risk and resolve it. Moreover, efficient
management practices are required to be present in the concerned authorities to identify the
presence of any risks in the system and this needs proper training to be allocated (Hedeman, Van
Heemst and Fredriksz 2012). The issues faced in communication problems can also lead to false
analysis of the project and the concerned authority needs to have better tools for communication.
In accordance, the recordings of all the processes must be facilitated to keep records of all the
ongoing processes in the project. Deadline compliance is also another issue in project
management and the authorities in charge can ask their teams to comply with them under
pressure (Rose 2013). This results in decreasing morale and production leading to quality
problems. Thus, the authority must note the impossible compliance to the deadlines and must act
accordingly. The resource depletion as well as the stakeholder mismanagement is another issues
that are to be referenced The authorities in charge must use certain accounting and budgeting
tool to analyze the required budgets and resources before commencing with the development. In
addition, efficient training also helps to make a manager efficient in handling the resources
necessary for fulfilling the requirements.

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The issues and their mitigation are to be addressed to get the vast amount of benefits
received from the implementation of the project management principles. The first benefit that
can be received is the efficiency in the delivery of the required projects (Schwalbe 2015). As the
various processes involved in these methodologies helps in addressing the various requirements
of the projects. This also helps in minimizing the risks and threats involved and provide the ways
to mitigate them. This results in increase efficiency in the services. Due to the enhancement in
the effectiveness of the services, the customers satisfaction associated with the services will also
increase. As a result, the services and the project outcome become more efficient and this leads
to positive appraisals of the team responsible (Snyder 2014). This increases the production due to
increased morale in the workspace. In addition, the competitive advantage in the market is also
gained due to constant effectiveness in the services provided. Moreover, the project management
is also enhanced as it helps in taking effective decisions and resolve problems in project
management. This also helps in the reduction of the costs and helps in finishing the project in
less time. The chances of failing of the project is also reduced as the parameters are analyzed
beforehand which helps in acquisitions of better competitive advantage in the market concerned.
It also helps in ensuring the right communication among the various members responsible for the
development and the completion of the project. Lastly, the risk management is also provided by
the use of project management methodologies (Tomanek and Juricek 2015). This reduces the
chances of the risks in the system and helps in better efficiency in the project concerned. In
addition, due to the presence of such benefits, the scalability and flexibility is also increased for
the concerned organizations.
Thus, the project management skills are very efficient when handling the necessary
resources to be applied in the business. The organizations concerned needs to rethink their

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business operations and apply the principles to increase the efficiency of operations in their
systems. Project management methods characterizes the different rule that is received for tending
to different standards that are to be embraced for streamlining the operations in the businesses
involved. The organization concerned needs to apply the relevant methodologies discussed in
their businesses that will help them to thrive in their respective fields. However, the issues that
may arrive due to the adoption of these methods are to be first addressed so that they are
addressed without any casualties in implementation.

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