Project Management in Business: Peak Project Case Study Report

This project management report provides a comprehensive analysis of project management principles within a business context, specifically using the Peak Project construction company as a case study. The report delves into the background and principles of project management, examining the viability of projects through methods like Payback Period and Net Present Value, and exploring the principles of a project management system. It covers topics such as determining firm structure, roles, and responsibilities, project control and coordination, leadership requirements, and human resource planning. The report also focuses on project planning, scheduling, cost control techniques, performance measurement, and change control procedures. The report concludes by addressing the key elements of terminating a project and conducting post-project appraisals, offering a detailed overview of the project management process from initiation to completion.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS

Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................4
Task 1....................................................................................................................................................4
1.1Background and principles of project management...................................................................4
1.3 Principles of project management system and process..............................................................7
1.4 Key elements of terminating project and conducting post project appraisals...........................8
Task 2....................................................................................................................................................9
2.1 Determining the appropriate firm structure as well as roles and responsibilities of associates.9
Project board:.................................................................................................................................10
Project champion:..........................................................................................................................10
Project sponsor:..............................................................................................................................10
User:...............................................................................................................................................10
2.2 Control and coordinate the project...........................................................................................10
2.3 Assessing project Leadership requirements and qualities........................................................10
2.4 Plan and specify the human resources and requirement for project........................................11
Task 3..................................................................................................................................................12
3.1 Design Project Plans and establish the Project Organisation...................................................12
3.2 Explaining project Scheduling, estimating and Cost Control techniques................................14
3.3 Determining the methods are utilized to measure project performance..................................16
3.4 Explaining Project Change Control Procedure and assess the completed project...................17
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................18

Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Ganntt chart..................................................................................................................15
Illustration 2: Network diagram for project........................................................................................16
Illustration 3: Project summery for the community centre project.....................................................17
Illustration 4: change control process.................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
Project management can be defined as the process of planning, initiating, implementing,
controlling and accomplishing the job in order to achieve goals and objectives of the enterprise. It is
helpful in designing specific products and services for fulfilling the needs of consumers (Tayur,
Ganeshan and Magazine, 2012). It is valuable for organisation to ensure whether project developed
is meeting their requirements or not. Peak project is a construction corporation which offers
infrastructure development and consultancy services to its customers in the United Kingdom. The
present report introduces the principles of project management. Further, it describes the project
leadership requirements and qualities in Peak project organisation. In addition to this, it analyses the
approaches which are used to monitor project performance.
TASK 1
1.1Background and principles of project management
Principles of project management help in managing the functions of peak project in the
corporation.
Background of project management
Corporations utilized Ad-hoc and informal approaches to function its projects. Then after,
Project management procedure initiated in era of 1950. In addition to this, many organizations were
used many methods to manage its projects (Reiss, 2013.). Further, Dupont firm discovered critical
path method to forecast project duration by analysing sequence of its actions in 1957. US Navy
designed PERT method to complete job and find out minimum time needed to finish job in 1958.
Further, US defence division released WBS (Work break down structure) in 1962. WBS was
utilized to analyse scope and size of future project. In addition to this, new project management
approaches are launched in order to manage project with a systematic way which contributes
effective role to increase efficiency and performance of the corporation (Haughey, 2014).
Peak project construction company can able to accomplish its objectives by proper planning,
analysing, supervising, monitoring and controlling the projects with respect to the students. Firm
invests its money for developing student life centre by using innovative, creative and effective
technologies (Pina, Romão and Oliveira, 2013). The main aim of community centre project is to
aware students about the new and innovative techniques so that they can implement those tools and
techniques in their working life.

Principles of project management
 Design the objectives- Principles of project management aid firm to organize job by
analysing its goal and objectives. So, it helps in developing strategies to accomplish mission
and vision of peak project.
 Commitment principle: As per this principle project manager needs to develop a mutual
commitment and understanding between associated stakeholders, team members and
sponsors (Andersen, 2016).
 Success principle: It is principle of deciding success and failure criteria for this project.
According to this principle project manager needs to focus on all those requirements which
are necessary for completing project in successful manner (Caniëls and Bakens, 2012).
Along with this, project manager of community centre project should focus on appropriate
allocation of roles, responsibilities and resources for accomplishing projection in successful
manner.
 Tetrad trade-off principle: As per this principle project manager needs to assure about the
appropriate documentation of all information including project scope, quality, time and cost.
Along with this, estimated time and cost must be attainable (Wilson, 2014).
 Cultural environment principle: As per this principle, project manager should have to
maintain a participative and supportive culture and environment for team members. It will
help in increasing communication among team mebers which will play important role in
success of community centre project (Meng, 2012).
 Quality improvement – Principle of quality improvement helps in improving the quality of
community centre project which is managed by peak project firm. So, it can aid firm to
enhance productivity and performance regarding project.
 Understating of the constraints- This Principle contributes effective role in the organization
by analysing future complexities like shortage and price changes of raw material at the time
of managing community centre project. It can also help Peak project firm to reduce its
various problems (Kodukula, 2012).
1.2 Viability of project through various methods

Viability of community centre project can be measured through various investment appraisal
approaches like discounted as well as non-discounted methods. Generally, Payback Period (PBP)
and Net Present Value (NPV) are necessary to analyse the viability of new investment project.
According to the question, Peak project can spend £400000. So, PBP and NPV for community
centre project are calculated in the below table.
Pay Back Period:
Table 1: Payback period calculation
Payback Period
Years Cash Inflow Cumulative frequency Cumulative cash flow
1 60,000 60000 -340000
2 60,000 120000 -280000
3 60,000 180000 -220000
4 80,000 260000 -140000
5 80,000 340000 -60000
6 80,000 420000 20000
Payback period in years 4 years + {(400000-340000)/ 80000}= 5.75 years
PBP is one of the essential approaches for analysing time in which organization can receive
its invested money back. As per the table, Peak project can get back it’s invested monetary funds in
5.75 years. Further, it also reveals that PBP for project is very higher. So, organization needs to
choose any another project for the investment.
Net Present Value Method:
Table 1: Net Present Value Method
Net Present Value of project
Years Cash Inflow £ Present value of 6% Discounted Cash Inflow @
6%
1 60,000 0.943 56580
2 60,000 0.890 53400
3 60,000 0.840 50400
4 80,000 0.792 63360

5 80,000 0.747 59760
6 80,000 0.705 56400
Total Discounted Cash inflow 339900
Less: Initial Investments 400000
Net Present value -60100
According to the table, NPV of investment project for Peak Project firm is -60100 which
provides negative value. It is showed that community centre project will not be feasible and
profitable for the firm. As a result, organisation should not invest money on this project. Enterprise
should not consider this project for the future investment.
1.3 Principles of project management system and process
Principles of project management system aid Peak project firm to manage its projects and
operations regarding community centre project.
Definition of project management system
Project management system is a method which contributes effective role in organizing firm’s
day to day operations. It helps in achieving goals and objectives of the organisation related to
project completion.
Principles of project management system
Principles of project management system help in understanding situation, project strategy,
schedule, design as well as its testing and termination of project. These things aid peak project to
manage its functions in an appropriate manner. These principles also help firm to analyse human
resources, proper idea investment, priorities of tasks to meet deadline of project and quality
measurement to terminate community centre project in the college
 Understand project strategy and business case: As per this principle, project manager
needs to understand the actual requirements of the community centre project. Analysis has
reflected that major requirements of current project is appropriate arrangement of the
resources, allocation of role and responsibility, appropriate communication, etc (Pemsel and
Wiewiora, 2013). Regarding this project manager needs to arrange meetings and
conferences with team members which will help in distributing information to the respective
person. Project scheduling: As per this principle, project manager needs to estimate a reliable and

attainable time for completing the whole project. Regarding this project manager needs to
allocate roles and responsibility to those person who have capable enough to complete their
task in effective manner (Alhawari and et.al, 2012). Regarding this manager needs to focus
on skills and knowledge of every team member. It will help in accomplishing the current
construction project of community centre development in appropriate time. Project developing and testing: After completing the project plan, manager of community
centre project needs to focus on implementation of this project. At this time project manage
resource about that whether construction of the community centre project is as per the
requirement of client or not (Sadgrove, 2015). Along with this, project manager also needs
to monitor the performance of project implementation on regular basis.
 Project Closing: As per this principle project manager needs to focus on appropriate
execution and completion of the project in effective manner. At the time of project closing,
project manager needs to use balance score card method and variance analysis for closing
project in effective manner (Sommer and et.al, 2014).
Importance of project management system
Project management system plays important role to manage record of daily based activities
in order to do systematic work for the organisation. It helps peak project firm to handle its progress
reports, allocation of employees, effective planning, monitoring and communication with
customers. It gives appropriate power to corporation for arranging information of project and
ensuring its accountability. In addition to this, it plays major role for peak project to maintain the
transparency and proper flow of functioning in the running task. Project management system aids
firm to complete job before its deadline by utilizing optimistic allocation of resources in order to
increase its efficiency and productivity in the market. Arrangement of resources: Principles of the project management system is beneficial for
determining the actual needs of the all types of resources. It will help in making arrangement
of all resources in effective manner. Monitoring: Project management system helps in monitoring performance and progress of
the project in effective manner (Catanio, Armstrong and Tucker, 2013). It will help in
determining the necessary improvement in the project for attaining all standards. It will also
help in managing cost and time in effective manner.
 Effective planning: With consideration of all principle of project management system,
manager of community centre project can develop an effective plan for attaining all
objectives. Along with this, effective planning will help in maintaining quality in outcomes
of the project (Hwang and Ng, 2013).

1.4 Key elements of terminating project and conducting post project appraisals
There are many elements for terminating community centre project and conducting post
project appraisals.
Key elements of terminating project
 Management of Peak project can face with unnatural issues like lack of raw material, less
monetary funds and union strike that can lead to terminate community centre project. For
example, Peak project can suffer with the issue related to the shortage of cement and wood
which are essential to build the infrastructure of community centre. This condition can
create bad impact on activities of the organisation.
 Natural disaster can also influence Peak project to terminate its project. For example, Alton
area is suffering from flood and tornadoes which can directly affect development
community centre project.
Elements of post project appraisal
 Management of peak project can use cost benefit analyse which helps to interpret difference
between the approximate and actual cost. It is used to determine expenditure on labour and
time which help to save monetary funds of the firm. Further, it can also contribute effective
role for Peak project to conduct post project appraisals for the better infrastructure
development of community centre in the college.
 According to the case, management of firm can take feedback from students by analysing
completion status of their requirements in the college. This process can also help Peak
project to determine final achievements of its project in the institute of UK.
TASK 2
2.1 Determining the appropriate firm structure as well as roles and responsibilities of
associates
Organisation structure
Generally, Peak project can utilize matrix structure for community centre project. This
structure provides optimistic reliability to organize project activities for its staff members in the
firm. Further, it can aid organisation to enhance its efficiency and performance by consuming less
time in comparison to hierarchical structure for managing its various activities of community centre
project. Mainly, Matrix structure gives dual reporting relationship for the Peak project. For
example: employee of project can report the finance as well as project manager in respect of
infrastructure development of community centre project in the college. This thing also helps
company to take fast decision in short time by providing huge reliability. According to case, peak

project can terminate its project planning within the period of three month with the help of this
structure.
Role and responsibilities of employees
Peak project requires various staff members to complete community centre project in the
institute. Management of the organisation needs HR manager, operation executive, architect, project
manager, finance manager etc. to design planning of this project under three month period.
Employees of operation division help in managing all the project related activities according to the
guidance of project manager. In addition to this, finance manager aids in arranging budget for the
development of this project. Project manager also liable for analysing the all activities the regarding
infrastructure development of canteen in the college. Further, Architect is responsible for designing
map of community centre project and analysing materials required to design this building. Further,
HR manager is also responsible to allocate human resources and other things to complete project in
a systematic manner.
 Project manager: The role and responsibility of project manager is to manage and lead the
team. In addition to it, his role is to record, manage and resolve the problems that arises at
the time of project implementation (Kavadias, 2014). He also plays essential role in User
Acceptance phase of the testing for delivering the project in line as per the client
expectations.
 Project leader:The role of project leader is to perform different kind of activities such as
maintaining relationships with the stakeholders, guiding and monitoring team members and
measuring their performance.
 Project board: Project board consists of the executive, senior user and senior supplier
whose responsibility is related to the delivery of project (Dwivedula, Bredillet and Müller,
2012).
 Project champion: He is the one who supports the team members in their projects till the
completion of those projects.
Project sponsor: Project sponsor is responsible for the case related to the project and owns the
project as per the perspective of enterprise (Lindberg, Voss and Blackmon, 2013).
User: User is the one who uses the project and takes advantages of its products and services.
Job and person specification
 Person specification: The candidate who is applying for the post of project manager should
have experience of at least 3 years. He should posses management skills, time management
skills, team management skills, technical skills and communication skills and have

knowledge related to the planing, managing and analysing the process with respect to the
project management (Caniëls and Bakens, 2012).
 Job specification: The role of project manager in the field of project management is crucial
as it require proper planning and monitoring of the processes of the complete tasks
(Haughey, 2014). He has to manage the resource properly along with the cost and overall
budget of the project.
2.2 Control and coordinate the project
 Configuration Control: This tool is used for observing the emerging project scopes with
respect to the original scope. Company can use this tool for proper monitoring and
controlling the processes related to the project.
 Design control: In this stage, project scope, schedule, cost and required resources are
observed by the project manager (Lientz and Rea, 2012).
 Trend monitoring: With the help of this tool, project manager can easily track the
estimated costs, schedules and other required resources against the planned ones.
 Acquisition control: It monitors the required equipments, materials, resources, services and
many more things for the development of project
 Specification control: In this, it is checked that whether the project specification are meet
as per the expectations or not. If not, then they can be changed as per the requirement.
There are many approaches to control and coordinate project in the firm. It is described in
below paragraph:
Peak project organisation can utilize Work down break (WBS) structure method for
controlling and coordinating project of community centre. WBS provides systematic base for the
development of this project in respect to its complete planning as well as control. It helps in
dividing work into many parts. In addition to this, it aids peak project to enhance coordination,
calculate the cost, prepare scheduling of work and reporting of labour hour to manage project
effectively. This way, Peak project can systematically control and coordinate the project of
community centre in the college.
It is important to complete the project on time with proper coordination and cooperation of
the workers. There are various types of techniques such as Schedule Performance Index and Project
Management Reporting tool which company can use for making their work effective and efficient
(Pemsel and Wiewiora, 2013). UK based enterprises can use NPV and pay back period method for
identifying the exisiting position of it in the market. In addition to this, PERT and CPM methods
can be considered as useful for the team-members in completing their project.

2.3 Assessing project Leadership requirements and qualities
There are many roles and qualities of project leader which contribute effective role to lead
any type of project in the organisation.
Role of project leader
Project manager is essential to organize and coordinate all the operations with employees
regarding appropriate development of any project. For example: project leader plays an important
role in planning, controlling as well as implementing infrastructure development of community
centre project in the college.
Leadership requirements and Qualities of leaders
 Core competency- Project leader has many qualities to guide and direct employees
regarding work which help to solve the queries of them. Further, core knowledge of project
management can help peak project to manage its project in an appropriate manner. In
addition to this, it also aids Peak project to achieve success in infrastructure development of
the project.
 Communication and liaison making skills- Effective interaction abilities contribute
effective role for project leader to sort out project related issues of employees in team. In
addition to this, communication skills also help manager to manage appropriate relationship
with other leaders, employees, directors as well as customers which aid to improve the
quality and performance of peak project.
2.4 Plan and specify the human resources and requirement for project
Management of Peak project can utilize requirement assignment matrix for infrastructure
development of community centre project. It is stated below the table.
Function Operation
executive
Project
manager
Architect Quality analyst Finance
manager
Planning of
Project
A R I I I
Identification of
needs
R R I I I
Preparation of
the goals and
A R A I I