Case Studies in Project Management: Examining Scope and Cost Control

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Assignment 2

Contents
Abstract......................................................................................................................................4
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................5
2. Literature Review...............................................................................................................7
2.1. Challenges/ Literature Gap........................................................................................15
2.2. Conclusion.................................................................................................................21
3. Case Study Review..............................................................................................................22
3.1. Case Study 1 – Procurement – Air Conditioning Project.............................................22
3.1.1. Introduction............................................................................................................22
3.1.2. Problem Description...............................................................................................24
3.1.3. Research Methodology and Collection of data......................................................26
3.1.4. Data Analysis.........................................................................................................28
3.1.5. Findings..................................................................................................................30
3.1.6. Recommendations..................................................................................................31
3.1.7. Conclusions............................................................................................................32
3.2. Case Study 2 – Sydney Opera House............................................................................33
3.2.1. Introduction............................................................................................................33
3.2.2. Problem Description...............................................................................................35
3.2.3. Research Methodology and Data Collection..........................................................37
3.2.4. Analysis..................................................................................................................39
3.2.5. Findings..................................................................................................................41
3.2.6. Recommendations..................................................................................................42
3.2.7. Conclusion..............................................................................................................43
3.3. Case Study 3 – Digital Signage.....................................................................................44
3.3.1. Introduction............................................................................................................44
3.3.2. Problem Description...............................................................................................46
3.3.3. Research Methodology and Data Collection..........................................................48

3.3.4. Analysis..............................................................................................................51
3.3.5. Findings..............................................................................................................52
3.3.6. Recommendations..............................................................................................53
4. Results and Findings...........................................................................................................55
5. Conclusion and Recommendation.......................................................................................56
5.1. Limitations.................................................................................................................59
References................................................................................................................................60
List of Figures
Figure 1: Document for a project based on investment...........................................................10
Figure 2: Project Cost Management.........................................................................................23
Figure 3: Project scope management.......................................................................................24
Figure 4: Data collection and Research methods.....................................................................25
Figure 5: Analysis of interview questions................................................................................27
Figure 6: Narrative analysis.....................................................................................................27
Figure 7: Cost management of project.....................................................................................34
Figure 8: Research Methodology.............................................................................................36
Figure 9: Data analysis of the interview..................................................................................38
Figure 10: Narrative Data Analysis..........................................................................................39
Figure 11: Project Cost Management Life Cycle.....................................................................45
Figure 12:Flow of Project Scheduling Mechanism..................................................................46
Figure 13: Data Collection process..........................................................................................47
Figure 14: Interviewee Responses...........................................................................................50
Figure 15: Data Analysis Methods...........................................................................................50
List of Tables
Table 1: Tools and techniques with its scope definition............................................................7
Table 2: Interview data collection............................................................................................25
Table 4: Interview Questions...................................................................................................36
Table 5: Interview questions....................................................................................................47

Abstract
The project management is focused here. Project Management includes all activities required
to accomplish a predefined goal. This is a very crucial activity for every project. There are
various parameters which should be focused. In this, the parameters which are focused are as
scope and cost. These are the factors which should be properly organized. Various literatures
are reviewed in order to focus on various aspects as documentation, estimation,
implementation design, etc. To understand these concepts better various case studies as air
conditioning system, opera house, etc. are analyzed and results are drawn. For future
enhancement, the recommendations are also provided.

1. Introduction
To understand the term project management. There is a need to understand Meaning of
project and management. Project includes Number of different sets of Activities an actions.
The set of all actions and activities are done to achieve a particular goal or objective. This
process or procedure is required to in competitive market and goes in long – run. There are
various activities included in management which starts from planning of different activities,
organizing various resources to accomplish a goal, staffing various people to achieve the
common goal, Last but not least coordinating and monitoring all activities in Organization
(Wilkinson 2013). Project Management includes all activities required to accomplish a
predefined goal. It includes various tasks as planning, Organizing various activities. By
managing a Project, the goal or objective of the organization can be accomplished. It also
includes Quality assurance activities to monitor a project effectively and efficiently. Many
Organizations hire a project manager to manage all activities in an organization effectively
and efficiently. To manage various forms of timeframes are included as Gantt Charts, PERT
Charts, Workflow structure, etc. (Kenton 2018). There are various characteristics of Project
Management which are required to accomplish goal effectively. These are as follows:
1. Planning all projects tasks or activities.
2. Organizing the manner of project execution.
3. Monitoring Project aspects with some created plan.
4. Monitoring Quality.
5. Define the closing of project tasks (Collins 2015).
There are various standards which are enlisted in Project Management developed by PMKA
(Project Management Knowledge Area). The developed standards are as follows:
1. Starting of Project Tasks
2. Smart planning made to accomplish project goals.
3. Risk management Activities related to Project.
4. Staffing management.

5. Quality Assurance management activities.
6. Managing all cost related to project.
7. Communication management for project (Gundavajhala 2018).
To manage the budget of the project is a crucial task which is included in Cost management.
The project cost management includes various steps as smart planning and monitoring all
aspects of financials. The various stages in Project cost management are as follows:
1. Smart planning for all essential resources
2. Estimating all cost related parameters.
3. Comply all parameters for budgeting.
4. Monitoring all cost related parameters (Harrison, Frederick, & Dennis Lock 2017).
Here various case studies are discussed in order to clearly understand these parameters which
are as scope and cost. The management starting from analyzing various requirements till
monitoring various aspects are concluded in case studies. The problem is properly described
here with all its results and recommendations.

2. Literature Review
There are various tasks included in the Project Knowledge Management Area (PMKA. These
areas are as Starting of Project Tasks, Smart planning made to accomplish project goals, Risk
management Activities related to Project, staffing management, Quality Assurance
management activities, managing all cost related to project, Communication management for
project, and closing of project. The project is initiated by specifying scope or purpose of
project. By complying the scope of project, delivery of project would be more of good quality
and thus enhancing its productivity. With this the project will be completed on time and
budget of project would also be effective and efficient (Lock, D. 2017).
All the events of Project management are crucial. The main focus is given to Project cost
management. The critical analysis of this topic is focused. With this project management is
also focused. To get a better understanding of all parameters, Review of all parameters are
focused. Challenges with solutions of all the parameters are focused. The enhancements on
these parameters are also focused. The term scope has a different meaning as the purpose of
project or limitations of project as where it is limited to a particular prospect or believe. The
most crucial task is to define the scope of project. The scope of project is included in
planning stage. The scope of project is defined by detecting and reviewing all goals and
objectives, Characteristics are acquired and defined, Activities are defined, Deliverables with
various activities and tasks are identified, and deadlines are acquired. There are various steps
included in describing the scope of project which is as follows:
1. Detecting needs of project: This is the crucial stage. All stages are dependent on this
stage. The consideration would be on the basis of derived requirements. There is need to
focus on detected requirements that they should be on constant or same pace. If it changes
with time to time, then it would not be classified as a requirement. The failure of project
is due to imprecise requirements. So the objectives should be detected properly so that
there are no issues with upcoming stages (Alias, et al 2014).
2. Determining all stakeholders: The important component of every project is a consumer.
Customer satisfaction is crucial for every project or organization. There is a need to
identify all crucial stakeholders for project.
3. Determining drivers of project: There are various parameters through which Project is
inveigled by them. These parameters are as Laws, Rules, Regulations, etc. The major

component in drivers is security and privacy. The other drivers are as desktops, software,
Hardware, storage, etc. The drivers are crucial for project which are to be considered on
every aspect of project.
4. Considering statement for scope: Here the scope of the project is identified. These are
crucial to provide high-quality project (Mirza, el. at.2013).
According to Hassan, there are various tools and techniques which are needed to be smartly
planned so that all success or failure of a project can be determined. The crucial objective of
these tools and techniques is to bring various characteristics which are as follows:
 Changes in scope
 Authenticating scope
 Quantify the Scope of project.
Table 1: Tools and techniques with its scope definition
S. NO TOOLS &
METHODS
SCOPE INTERPRETATION
Scope
Authentication
Scope
Monitoring
Interpreting all
characteristics
1. WBS (Work
Breakdown Structure)
Yes Yes Yes
2. Analyzing Benefits Yes
3. Feature Breakdown
Structure (FBS)
Yes Yes Yes
4. Determining all
Stakeholders crucial
for project
Yes
5. Measuring the
Functional size
Yes Yes

6. Story Mapping Yes Yes Yes
7. Joint Application
Design
Yes Yes Yes
There are various important Methods and tools as per timings and deliverables of project. By
this through WBS, project is decomposed into various components. Same as WBS
(abbreviated as Work breakdown structure) FBS (abbreviated as Feature Breakdown
Structure) will show their work scopes in different components of Workflow structure.
Functional Points are computed to interpret various tasks of each user working for the
project. To separate the project on to various repetition of tasks. So these components
mentioned above would help in scope management for project (Baroudi, Hadjinicolaou &
2017).
The separate components of project make into one successful project. The vision of objective
and its scope should be gathered and clearly defined to make project delivery on time with
best Quality measurements and at an efficient and effective budget policy. The assumptions
made for the project, goals, and objectives of the project, Scope for project, identification of
risks for the project, and other crucial reviews for the project should be cleared (Radujkovic
& Sjekavica 2017).
The cost for anything is a crucial element. So for the terms of project, Project cost
management is crucial elements for project management knowledge area (PMKA). The
crucial stage in project is planning and monitoring. These tasks are also associated with cost
management. There are various tasks that are associated with cost management which are as
estimating, managing, funding, budgeting and last but not least that is monitoring the budget
so that project could be closed. The budget management is included with every stage and in
every step of project. There are various expenses in a project such as a cost of buying, budget
amount, incomes related to project, cash flows, etc. Controlling the cost implies consequence
of the cost that is overrun and considering all financial activities, knowing all facts about cost
or budget, considering all future inappropriate results by all members for the budget (Sanchez
2017).

The crucial aspect for the method of cost management is Documents decomposition. This
document includes various other documents as Budget management for project, and other
financial documents which are enlisted. The 3 components for cost documents are as follows:
1. Finance planning or scheduling: Financial scheduling and planning are used to is to
know about the needed amount of payment for both finance and mechanics which is
comprised of unit per cost of any material or object.
2. Estimating summary: In summary, the specification for construction of budget for
whole project is enlisted. It also includes realization of whole project by complicated
amount.
3. Budgeting: In this, it also signifies about profit and loss in making the project, other
required costs and quantity with cost are also been added to this.
The challenges with consequence are cleared in upper section and through that, we have a
clear definition for project scope and how it could have defined appropriately so that these
issues stated will not occur in entire lifecycle of project. The recommendation would also be
enlisted for the efficient and effective management of scope for the project. Through these
steps and recommendation cost and scope could be improved for the entire lifecycle for the
project.

Figure 1: Document for a project based on investment
(Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Document-support-of-cost-management-of-
investment-project_fig1_311938011)
The above document support is categorized into 3 different components which are as follows:
1. Estimating the cost: There are other components or stages as well which are as
follows:
1.1. Aggregated estimation.

1.2. Justification of economic-tech
1.3. Designing the cost document
2. Budgeting: There are the components or stages as well which are as follows:
2.1. Work scheduling
2.2. Financial Budget scheduling
2.3. Decision was taken to estimate the budget
2.4. Completing the work
2.5. Need for the cost of resource
2.6. Scheduling the supply
3. Controlling the cost. There are the components or stage in this as well which are as
follows:
3.1. Computing the changes from baseline cost and to maintain efficient cost
corrective actions are needed to be taken.
3.2. List of volume
3.3. List of cost attached with volume.
3.4. Evaluating and monitoring the actual cost with the cist which was evaluated
before.
3.5. The register through a contract for the budget is endured.
3.6. Evaluating both the cost of the project which is cost previously made and
targeted cost (Sanchez 2017).
The summary made for the estimation of budget helps in making the expenditure according to
budget preference. The results for the financial month are as follows:
1. Budget Implementation
2. Planning the fixed income.