Project Management Principles: Traits, KFC Example, and Processes

This report delves into the core principles of project management, emphasizing the crucial role of leadership in successful project execution. It highlights the essential traits of an effective project manager, including strong leadership qualities, technical expertise, excellent communication skills, and the ability to build and manage teams. The report uses the global operations of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) as a case study to illustrate these principles, discussing the company's global presence and the project management challenges associated with overseeing its numerous outlets worldwide. The analysis covers project selection processes, such as benefit-cost ratios and opportunity costs, and emphasizes the importance of planned management of timetables and alignment with organizational goals. The report also touches upon non-financial considerations in project selection, such as the organization's overall vision and investment strategy. References to the Project Management Institute (PMI) are included to support the findings.

Running Head; Project Management Principles 1
Principles of Project Management
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Institution
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Traits of an effective project manager
Global project management is the supervision of projects globally in many cultures and
countries. This means that a project manager must possess some specific qualities to ensure
every project he/she is in charge of succeeds. Some of the traits of a project manager include;
A project manager has to have very strong leadership qualities. This is because a project
manager supervises is responsible for many people from diverse backgrounds. Thus, they have to
be able to mobilize all these people across all cultures to achieve the company’s goals. Leaders
set the pace for the rest to follow and they have to be well informed and experts in their fields.
Technical expertise is also required of a project manager. Leading top professionals is
required of a project manager, thus the manager ought to be a top expert in their field of practice.
Leaders lead and the rest follow, technical expertise is a crucial trait required and interacting well
with co-workers.
Effective communication ability is another personal trait required of a project manager.
Communications Control is the supervision and management of communications in the entire life
cycle of the project to satisfy the stakeholders information demands (Institute, Project
Management, 2013). Effective communication is key to building an effective team throughout the
project.
Team building skills is required of a project manager. Managing many people is a trait
only a few possess. A project manager ought to be have the required skills to form a team that
can move the project in a right direction.

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Global Project
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is an example of a global project undertaking that I have
experienced personally. KFC is a global enterprise conducted in 118 nations worldwide. The
company has 18,875 outlets worldwide, thus requires project managers to oversee supervision of
these outlets.
Some processes that could be used in evaluating set up locations for a company such as
KFC include; benefit ratio, this is the probability difference between the amount invested for
startup and the expected cash inflow of the business. Planned Management of Timetables is the
act of setting up the policies, strategies and paperwork for developing, supervising and executing
the project schedule. The key advantage of planned schedules is the provision of a sense of
direction and guidance on how the schedule is controlled throughout the project” ( Project
Management Institute, 2017).
Opportunity cost is also considered during project selection processes. In the project
selection process, the project with the lowest opportunity cost is usually selected. A company
like KFC would choose to set up an outlet in a country with less strict taxation requirements and
vice versa. Project selection process takes into account the organization’s goals.
Non- financial considerations are also taken into view during the project selection
process. This refers to the overall vision and goals of the organization. The organization’s
investment strategy plays a crucial role in project selection to ensure compliance with all its
standards.

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References
Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK
guide), Sixth Edition. Pennsylvania: USA Project Management Institute.
Institute, Project Management. (2013). Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®
Guide)–Fifth Edition. Project Management Institute.