Program Management Essentials

This assignment delves into the core principles of program management. It emphasizes understanding various facets like time, cost, and resource management, alongside crucial elements such as program strategy, communication, risk mitigation, and stakeholder engagement. The text also highlights successful program execution strategies and best practices for achieving desired outcomes.

Portfolio Entry 1 – Project vs. Program
1. Explain, with reasons, whether you agree or not with the approach set out by Mike
Fritz, the
director of program / project management at Megatronic.
Mike uses an unconventional approach to differentiate between program and project
management. While conventional view understands program as a collection of different
projects that aim to achieve unified business or strategic goals, Mike’s view sees program as
a strategy oriented work and project as an outcome oriented concept. Programs mostly
include new product development initiatives while projects are task oriented. Projects may
not get any business benefit for the organization but ensure that cost and resources are
utilized with precaution as their priority for their assignment would be given to the programs
(Lo, 2006). This view may facilitate achievement of project outcomes from the project
management perspective but it would not guarantee the strategic success of a project.
Moreover, with the flexible approach taken for project management with lack of strategic
motives, the project team may not remain very sincere to project management. Moreover, as
projects are given less priority than programs, in certain cases where programs suddenly need
resources that are also required by a project, the resources would be preferably given to
programs thereby suffering the project. This can result into many issues like conflicts of
interest, demotivation in project teams, lack of resources, lack of support and lack of
direction. These issues would cause problems in the development of projects (Milosě vic,
2010).
On the other side, if the priorities are always given to projects then the company would face a
risk of over utilizing the resources on new product development that may not always deliver
the desired results. To be able to deliver the desired strategic benefit to the company with the
new product development, the limits and constraints have to b properly set and in case of
inability to identify the right limits for the program, the resources may get wasted on the
development efforts. Giving priorities to programs would make the people prefer to work on
programs rather than on projects. This can create a divide between resources such that people
working on projects would not be respected enough as those working on programs.
2. What advice (if any) would you give to the company regarding the way they
differentiate
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between projects and programs?
I do not agree with the approach taken by Mike despite that it eases of implementation and
progression because of the challenges discussed above. A differentiation between program
and project may not have any negative consequences if both are given required importance.
This is because projects can also add value to the company and not just the programs. For
instance, if the efforts are taken to reduce the cost of operations then it would provide
strategic cost benefits to the company. Thus, a better approach would be to not just give
importance to programs but also to projects. Strategic goals can be attached to projects as
well as programs with the difference of new product development and other types of
development retained. This way, both projects and programs can be given importance based
on the strategic value they give to the business. The boundaries box may be standardized for
managing both projects and programs such that uniformity is maintained making it easier for
the teams and managers to take decisions.
Portfolio Entry 2 – Program Initiation
1. Explain, with reasons, what solution you would suggest to James
James is concerned mainly about the four major requirements specified by key stakeholders
including finance management who want to lower down the costs, plant manager who wants
systems to have easy maintenance, production manager who is concerned about the ease of
use of the system and safety manager who is concerned with the safety of people.
As James has four options to evaluate from four vendors including Fire extinguisher, Early
Birds, Xtra Care and Zebra limited each having defined specifications, these models can be
compared with respect to the four identified requirements of low cost, easy maintenance, ease
of use and safety. Each product may be rated on each of these parameters such that the
product with highest total score may be selected. Evaluations can be based on certain
assumptions that include:
 Maximum of 60 days for implementation and first run
 20,000 meters of area to be secured
A comparison of four products is presented below:
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ABC 1 DEF - 1 GHI - 1 JKL - 1
Technology Chemical based Chemical Based Foam based Water based
Functionality Meets standards Meets standards Meets standards Some standards
may not be met
Installation No Cost No Cost $4 per
installation
No Cost
Unit Price $85 $170 $115 $2430
Spray Area 100 sq mts 250 sq mtrs 200 sq mtrs 5000 sq mtrs
Delivery Lead
time
55 days 50 days 30 days 15 days
Maintenance $3 per set $550 plus 10%
post one year
$3 per unit per
year
No maintenance
Ease of Use Easy To some extent Difficult Easy
Vendor
relationship
Never done
business
Priority
relationship
Never done
business
Never done
business
Rating (1-4) 1 for least satisfaction considering criteria’s of evaluation and 4 being most
effective in criteria
Total Cost for
20,000 meters
spray area in
first year
=200*$88 =
$17,600
=80*$170 +
$550 = $14,150
=100*$122 =
$12,200
=4*$2430 =
$9.720
Cost 1 2 3 4
Ease of
Maintenance
3 3 3 4
Ease of Use 4 3 2 4
Safety 2 2 3 4
Total Ranking 9 10 11 16
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As the ranking for the Zebra limited product is highest considering all stakeholder needs, it
may be chosen by James for installation. Ranks identified already can further be given
weightage based on the importance given to each criterion.
2. What advice (if any) would you give to the company from a program perspective
regarding
The way this issue has been managed?
When considering the program perspective which suggests that one program may contain
several projects, the installation of the fire extinguishing system would be one project from
the program. Thus, the decision made on the current installation would actually be affected
by the other projects in the portfolio. This can put constraints in terms of money that can be
spent and the resources that can be made available for the project. For instance, low cost
product would always be attractive to the management but at the same time, if resources are
limited in the company then ease of use and ease of maintenance would be more important
parameters that to be considered while selecting appropriate system. For instance, the weight
given to each ranking parameter can be influenced by limitations and constraints of resources
(Waldron, Vsanthakumar, & Arulraj, 2000).
Portfolio Entry 3 – Program Stakeholder Engagement
1. With reference to current program management stakeholder concepts, explain, with
reasons, what you think the ‘ideal’ decision of the Executive Team should be
Stakeholders are involved at various stages of a program. As per the program stakeholder
engagement concept, a key role stakeholder plays in program management is providing
evaluation and feedback. Thus, for the stakeholders to be able to evaluate the program, it is
essential that they are provided with reports on the progress of the program. This can also
help in managing risks in the programs such that the risk management is a part of monitoring
an evaluation process. Monitoring still remains distinct from the process of controlling and
evaluation. Monitoring is done by project manager or program manager with no direct impact
of stakeholders by stakeholders have a say in controlling and evaluation. Stakeholders of the
hospital projects include program management officer, divisional directors, application
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managers, program manager, project team, and end users of the system. When a decision has
to be made on whether to go ahead with the existing plan for the software development or
include the new feature being discussed which is to bring some benefits to the organization,
an ideal decision can be arrived at by understanding which of the options fulfill what
stakeholder needs such that the option more aligned with stakeholder needs may be chosen
(Huemann, 2004). Table given below evaluates two options from the perspectives of different
stakeholders considering their needs and preferences:
Stakeholder Stakeholder
Needs/Expectations
Option to go ahead
with the plan - in
line with
expectation/need?
Option to add new
feature in the plan -
in line with
expectation/need?
Program Manager Program is executed
within budget and as
per schedule
Program satisfies
needs of most
stakeholders of the
program
Yes
No
NO
Yes
Payroll Specialist Features must
include all
functionalities
needed by them
The software must be
easier to learn such
that work can begin
fast (IFRC, 2011)
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Quality analyst The software
developed should
have good quality in
terms of its ability to
fulfill the goals of
Yes Yes
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development
System analyst System should work
as per requirements
without any bugs
Company must have
systems including
hardware to support
the development of
the software and its
operation.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
DB administrator Administrative tasks
should be simplified
There should less of
paperwork and other
administrative tasks
involved on the
program
No
Yes
Yes
No
Applications
managers
Managing
applications must be
easier after
development (JBS
International, Inc,
2008)
No Yes
Support managers They should
provisions to provide
support for the staff
in programs (ACU,
2017)
Yes Yes
Program
management office
Program should be
completed with given
budget
Yes No
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The project must
have less risks
Yes No
Divisional Directors Business benefit
should be achieved
with the development
(Milosě vic, 2010)
Yes Yes
CRM Director Managing customers
must be easier and
more efficient with
the developed
software
Yes Yes
CIO The information must
be managed
effectively after
development
Best solution must be
implemented and
integrated with the
existing systems of
the company (PWC,
2014)
No
No
Yes
Yes
From the above analysis, it can be said that the second option of including the few
functionalities in the software satisfies more expectations of more stakeholders and thus,
adding it must be ideal for the company while taking decisions (Wideman, 2014).
Portfolio Entry 4 – Program Governance
1. What are the advantages, disadvantages and major benefits of the program strike
zone
concept?
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Advantages of using program strike zone are:
 Critical success factors would be identified and tracked during the project which
would increase the probability of achieving success on the program (Bank Muscat,
2016)
 The company would be able to identify and work on the parameters that are most
important for the company
 Company can understand how it programs can achieve key business goals using this
approach (ASX, 2007)
 Monitoring which is currently the weakness of the company would be taken care of
with program strike capabilities as it would allow company to closely monitor
selected programs (PWC, 2007)
There can also be some disadvantages of using program strike zone such as:
 With application of program strike zone to only selected programs, other programs
would get neglected.
 Program strike zone would increase the administrative burden on the company as
additional measures have to be taken or planning and monitoring programs (UNSD,
2009)
 Although, there are limits defined for programs but freedom can still lead to a
situation where program teams end up executing activities that demand more
resources pushing the limits defined (Pickens & Solak, 2003).
Benefits of using Program strike zone include
 Teams can be innovative and can use new methods to achieve their goals as they are
given the freedom to take decisions as long as they are working under boundaries
 With boundaries set for programs, all the activities would be executed without
crossing the limits or violating the program constraints and thus, the company would
be able to achieve the goals of the program with allotted resources (Rai Technology
University, 2016)
2. Are there any challenges from a program governance perspective in implementing
the
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program strike zone concept? Provide reasons to support your answer.
Program governance includes filling of management roles, organizing of oversight functions
into structures and developing policies for defining principles of decision making and
management. With program strike zone implemented, all these factors would be affected. As
the program needs management to monitor and obtain oversight of the functions but at the
same time, also give the freedom to employees to find solutions to achieve goals in their own
ways. Thus, policies and principles have to be modified. However, there are standard
governance policies and procedure that are followed by all companies and they are also
influenced by the government procedures. In case the changes are made in these structures
and procedures, the company would need to be very careful (Sanghera, 2008). Governance
demands interventions from the stakeholders for understanding what they need and this could
influence the way company functions and executes it programs. With stakeholder
involvement in governance, some of the stakeholders may not agree with the approach taken
by the company in the program strike zone approach which would create conflicts between
the management and the stakeholders. Reaching consensus between the people on the
advisory board can become very challenging in such situations. Currently, it is the Program
Management Office that gives the structure to the program and provides administrative
policies but with the implementation of the program strike zone, the involvement of others
associated with programs may also be needed and the structure has to be modified which
would be a major change in the structure of the company (Sprouse, 2010).
Portfolio Entry 5 – Program Theory
Discuss, with reasons, whether you agree with the following statement: “Although it is in
practice
difficult to make a clear distinction between a program and a project, program management is
more
than a scaled-up version of project management, because programs include elements that are
outside the scope of individual projects within a program”
The statement suggests that program management includes a set of projects and also some
elements that may not be within the scope of the project. For instance, a project manager
would have projects manage while a program manager would deal with the portfolios. There
are other differences in the two constructs that can be explored to understand the additional
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elements that program management has to offer over project management practices. For
instance, program manager deals with strategies and objectives of an organization which is
not included in the project management which is only focused on project requirements
(Stasse, Doherty, & Poe, 2000). The objective of a project manager is to ensure that all the
planned activities of a project are completed within given time and allotted budget while a
program manager would be focused on maximizing the returns and getting value out of the
program delivery. A project manager would perform more of the technical tasks while
program manager would deal more with the strategic tasks. For this, they have to take care of
project scope, resource and schedules in case of project management and people, negotiation
and politics in the case of program management (UNSD, 2009).
A clear distinction can thus be seen between project and program management such that they
have common elements such as schedule considerations, risk management, monitoring and
control or the governance. Additional elements that program would have can include focus on
project benefits, aggregation of schedules if individual components of a program, vision,
conflict management and governance mechanisms (University Services Program
Management Office (PMO) , 2011).
As per the program theory, programs consist of different projects that are coordinated which
brings strategic benefit to an organization which may not be available from the management
of individual projects. The projects that belong to one program are managed from a
centralized location and the resources available to the program are shared between them.
Project managers provide leadership on projects while program managers act as leaders for
project managers (Rai Technology University, 2016).
Program management involves constant planning and focus of the practice remains on
achieving the objectives effectively. In program management, projects are given different
priorities such that appropriate resources are assigned accordingly. In a program, there are
human resources that are assigned to a program and from them, selections are made for
individual projects based on their experience, competency and skills such that they remain
working on a project till the project outcomes are met after which they are released and can
be allotted new projects within the program (Usmani, 2012). Thus managing programs is
more than just a management of a set of different projects. While in a program, the objective
would be to execute the tasks planned in a controlled manner with minimization of risks,
program management would also involve evaluation of outcomes in terms of strategic benefit
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achieved by the sponsor organization. Projects may be selected, rejected, cancelled, put on
hold, approved or re-energized based on the program objectives. While project management
focuses on time, cost and people management, program management also involves business
process management, quality improvement, service delivery models, and human resources
accountability (Waldron, Vsanthakumar, & Arulraj, 2000).
References
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https://www.acu.edu.au/policies/governance/project_management/project_management_p
rocedure
ASX. (2007). Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations. ASX Corporate
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.aspx
Huemann, M. (2004). Improving Quality In Projects And Programs. Vienna University for
Economics and Business Administration.
IFRC. (2011). Project/programme monitoring and evaluation (M&E) guide. Geneva:
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Program . HHS Government.
Lo, P. (2006). Project Analysis & Defnition. PeterLo.com.
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management. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
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Pickens, S., & Solak, J. (2003). Successful Healthcare Programs and Projects: Organization
Portfolio Management Essentials. Journal of Healthcare Information Management , 19
(1), 9-27.
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(PPM) Service Catalogue. PWC.
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PWC.
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Based on the Global Standard. J. Ross Publishing.
Sprouse, L. (2010). THE INFLUENCE OF THE EFFICACY OF THE PROGRAM
MANAGEMENT : OFFICE ON IT PROJECT SUCCESS RATES . UNIVERSITY OF
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Stasse, M. L., Doherty, K., & Poe, M. (2000). PROGRAM-Based Review and Assessment :
Tools and Techniques for Program Improvement . UMASS.
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TOOLS. University of Minnesota.
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PMI.
Waldron, M. W., Vsanthakumar, J., & Arulraj, S. (2000). Improving the organization and
management of extension. University of Guelph.
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Responsibilities –and who should be responsible for what. Vancouver, BC: PMI.
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