MEM 501: Project Management Concepts Application Report

This report analyzes the application of project management concepts within A. R. K. Space Interior Design Works, focusing on the implementation of an ERP system. The report begins with an introduction to project management and the company background, highlighting its customer-focused approach and operational challenges. It then delves into project management theories, including project objectives, definition, constraints, the project manager's role, and risk management. The core of the report addresses the assignment questions, outlining the project objectives (improving operations through ERP), defining the project within the context of project management principles, identifying constraints (time, scope, and budget), detailing the project manager's functions (team leadership, monitoring, and control), and assessing project risks. The report compares theoretical concepts with the company's practices, drawing conclusions and offering recommendations for improvement. The report emphasizes the importance of effective project management in achieving organizational goals and mitigating risks, particularly in the context of implementing new systems.

Running head: APPLICATION OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Application of Project Management concepts in A R K Space Interior Design Works
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:

1APPLICATION OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Abstract
Project management is a biased concept used by the supervisor and project team members during
the design and implementation of any project. This temporary effort is used by any company to
execute an error free project. The company that has been nominated for this paper is A. R K
Space Interior Design Works L.L.C. This organization was facing major operational and
functional issues to due to lack of technical support. In order to overcome these risks the
company has planned to implement an ERP system to drive needful changes and competitive
advantages as well. During implementation of the project plan different practices are adopted in
terms of scope management, schedule management, cost, quality, resources and communication
management.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Background & Theory................................................................................................................4
2.1 Background............................................................................................................................4
2.2 Project management theory...................................................................................................5
2.2.1 Project Objective............................................................................................................5
2.2.2 Project Definition............................................................................................................6
2.2.3 Project Constraints..........................................................................................................6
2.2.4 Project Manager role / functions.....................................................................................7
2.2.5 Project Risks...................................................................................................................7
3. Reply on assignment question.....................................................................................................7
3.1.1 Project Objective of the company project......................................................................7
3.1.2 Project Definition of the company project......................................................................8
3.1.3 Project Constrains of the company project.....................................................................9
3.1.4 Project Manager role/ functions of the company..........................................................10
3.1.5 Project Risks of the company project...........................................................................11
4. Comparison between theory and assignment answers with the A R K space interior works....12
5. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................13
6. Recommendations......................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................16
Appendices....................................................................................................................................18
Appendix 1.................................................................................................................................18
Appendix 2.................................................................................................................................18
Appendix 3.................................................................................................................................19

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1. Introduction
Project administration is demonstrated as a process skill, knowledge and experience used
to achieve project objectives. Project management gives final deliverable that is controlled to
finite cost and timeframe. It helps monitoring risks, issues by maintaining process of
communication. Project management key umbrella term which helps one organization or
business owner to cover up all kinds of processes and applications implemented for making
comparison and support the organizational leading objectives. However, successful change
management program cannot be implemented project management prcatices. Such change
management program ranges from methods those are applied in resources, business applications,
budget and schedule planning, operation management etc. The UAE, Dubai based company
nominated here is A. R K Space Interior Design Works L.L.C. The company operates in Dubai
but the company higher authority is interested or focused on extending their business through
online operations.
The backgrounds of the company in terms of their mission, vision and business strategies
are elaborated in this report. Apart from that, the theories of project management that A. R K
Space Interior Design Works L.L.C needs to follow to bring needful changes in their business
are also illustrated in the paper. Not only this but also, their customer focused business
application, time and schedule management details are elaborated here.

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2. Background & Theory
2.1 Background
In this section we will demonstrate and introduce the background of the interior company
nominated and also present some related project level theories. A. R K Space Interior Design
Works L.L.C is a known for its creativity, technical expertise and colors. The company uses
these ingredients for creating new and unique space. A. R K Space Interior Design Works L.L.C
is an interior design turnkey solution providing company which provides their solutions under
the roof (Ark space interiors 2020). The company is well known for the customer focused
behavior and creative ideas. The interior decors believe in creating remarkable and new office
living spaces for their clients. The experts work round the clock from the very first meeting with
their clients.
The aim of the company is to measure the site preparing quotes based on that, planning
space design and visualize it as a whole for the clients before final evaluation and its
implementation. Only after getting final approval from clients they start operating the interior
outlines. The top priorities of A R K Space Interior Design Works L.L.C are to draw proper
connection between diverse disciplines for developing accurate product for the client.
Justification for selection of A R K Space Interior Design Works L.L.C
This company is selected for the paper because it has successfully established customer
goodwill and effective custom retention strategies. The creative experts who are well trained in
interior design will always listen to the client’s expectation and their desire at the same time. The
company offers these services throughout Al Twar, Al Qusais and Dubai. Project related
activities, project constraints; objectives, aim and goals of A. R K Space Interior Design Works

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L.L.C and how the company is bringing changes in terms of managing projects are compared
and illustrated in this paper. These are the reasons for which A R K Space Interior Design Works
L.L.C is chosen.
2.2 Project management theory
2.2.1 Project Objective
According to PMBOK project management theories project objectives are defined as
project goals. The objectives for any project is always developed focusing on future commercial
profit and sustainable growth of the business organization (refer to Appendix 1). If appropriate
project objectives are designed by the project team and supervisor then the company would be
able to meet the ultimate goals (Gido and Clements 2008). It has to be clearly defined and simply
demonstrated to the project team. Clearly presented project objectives would help the
organization meeting the decision. The objectives need to be followed throughput the
development life cycle period (Ackermann and Alexander 2016). Theoretically project
objectives need to be clearly measurable and must contain key performance indicator. The key
performance indicators must include budget, quality and timeframe as well.
Project objectives demonstrate status of the project and always offer the best solution.
Before final execution of the project, the outcomes have to be compared with preliminary
objectives.
2.2.2 Project Definition
The project management background and theory section demonstrates project boundaries
and other details that can help the supervisor and team to plan any long term as well as
sustainable project. The project management theories are mainly focused on the different

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knowledge areas in terms of resources, cost, time, scope, quality, risk and communication. Each
of the knowledge area associate to the project needs to be managed by the team and supervisor as
well throughout the development life cycle period.
2.2.3 Project Constraints
The accomplishment and breakdown of a project relies on the project constraints
estimated for any project at the very early stage (Gido and Clements 2008). Properly estimated
project constraints can direct any project towards the expected goals and objectives. The project
supervisor has to be very cautious about the project monitoring and controlling the constraints
(refer to Appendix 2)
Project constraints can also be defined as a limitation that restricts any project by creating
a boundary. Not only the project manager but the team members are equally important for
taking such project constraints related decisions. The different project constraints that a project
manager needs to consider include cost, quality, resources, risk, customer satisfaction, scope and
time (Gido and Clements 2008). However, among theses 7 constraints time, cost and scope are
the main constraints to be considered and managed by the supervisor and team associates all
through the implementation life cycle period. Project quality is the other constraint essential for
project progress and success (Brulin and Svensson 2016). Proper estimation of project
constraints can improve the positive project aspects.
In PMBOK project assumptions are defined as a factor that is part of project process. In
other words assumptions are circumstances rather events expected to generate during the project
development life cycle (refer to Appendix 3).

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2.2.4 Project Manager role / functions
According to PMBOK, the role of the project manager is to lead the project team towards
the objectives considering the time and budget. Not only this but also it is duty of the project
team to control and monitor the project progress.
2.2.5 Project Risks
Project risks are the specific obstacles that may interrupt the activities of any project that
can lead a project towards the expected objectives and goals. If the risks are not identified at the
early stage of development then the entire project may fail to meet the expected outcomes. For
any project before initiation risks are to be identified.
3. Reply on assignment question
3.1.1 Project Objective of the company project
The objectives of this project are elaborated below:
 To improve the present operational and functional ongoing activities by
implementing an ERP system for A. R K Space Interior Design Works L.L.C
 To design time, schedule and resource management plan based on company
expectation
 To make proper comparison between project management theories and change
management
3.1.2 Project Definition of the company project
In this section we will discuss definition of the project and also elaborate how it has met
the project management theories and practices. Project is a temporary attempt with a proper

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beginning and an appropriate end and it has to be focused on creating some unique or new either
service or product. Any project is always elaborated in a progressive manner. Activity of a
project can also be defined as separate small projects. These activities cannot go indefinitely
because it always has a predetermined purpose.
For implementing an ERP system the phases that were followed include initiation,
planning, implementation, testing and monitoring and closure. The board committee members of
the company had decided to develop a team of technical experts. Technical expertise of the
assigned people helped the company throughout design and implementation of the ERP system.
At the project initiation stage, a feasibility study was conducted considering the scope statement,
company mission, vision and objectives.
Before evaluating this project, a scope statement was prepared. The project supervisor
and team associates were focused on the project scope statement throughout design and
evaluation of ERP system. After that based on the project requirements the schedule, resource
and cost management plan for the ERP implementation plan was elaborated. Before final
evaluation of the project, monitoring and control were also done to check the actual progress of
the project. Unit testing integrated testing and user acceptance testing were the three different
project monitoring phases followed to evaluate the final ERP project.
This project met the definition of a project used in this course work. A. R K Space
Interior Design Works L.L.C provides necessary tools useful for the office spaces (Ark space
interiors 2020). The ultimate decoration of the company always focused to meet the customer’s
expectation. Each interior requires to be enough creative and unique in nature considering useful
materials. The company also gives their best products and craftsman to develop and design the

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interior projects. However, due to their effective and affordable services frequently the numbers
of consumers are increasing for the interior company. In order to manage large numbers of
clients and their respective data manual data management system was causing issues. For
avoiding these issues, the company has planned to implement an ERP system. The managerial
communication approach used by the company is customer focused.
3.1.3 Project Constrains of the company project
Whenever the company is assigned to any project it becomes their responsibility to set a
project timeline or schedule and budget to complete it. For this project triple constraints are
considered in terms of time, scope and budget. The net budget considered for the project is
$80,000 and the total time within which the project will be accomplished is 4 months. The
changes or improvement plan must be completed according to the user expectation and
company’s long term sustainable objectives.
3.1.4 Project Manager role/ functions of the company
In order to process and implement any project the leading role is always played by the
manager. Besides managing the scheme the supervisor must behave like a leader also. A
successful project leader always helps the team completing the project on time and budget. For
this particular the function of the project manager is to develop a team comprises of technical
experts who have early experiences of ERP development and testing. The project manager will
play the role of an operation manager throughout the design and development life cycle period.
Before assigning members to the project team their skill, knowledge and experiences will be
individually evaluated by the project supervisor.

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The project supervisor will arrange internal on job and development training program or
the team associates to ensure further improvement. The supervisor must design the activity
duration and distribution in such a way so that the team members feel excited and motivated to
complete their assigned roles. Before designing the project outline and prototype useful survey
has to be conducted by the manager along with some members to understand the desire of the
consumers and A. R K Space Interior Design Works L.L.C Company as well (Ark space interiors
2020). The project manager was assigned to check the project progress in details.
The project manager checked the project details thrice respectively 25%, 50% and 75%
end of the project. The project needs to be monitored periodically to ensure that it will be
completed on time in the estimated budget only. All the project related activities were planned
and timely accomplished by the project manager. Though planning process is partially
instrumental to meet the project objectives on time and budget but still many project ails due to
not completion on time or delay. The project manager also determined the scope statement and
objective to let the project team realize what actually they need to do throughout the
development life cycle.
3.1.5 Project Risks of the company project
In this section some risks are identified that, the company faced during the design and
implementation of the ERP system. The supervisor and team dealt with the risks because the
company cannot actually afford those. The potential risks those impacted the project activities
negatively include presence of no such clear project vision, selection of wrong software, lack of
experience among the technical team members, exposure of sensitive data, poor level project
planning and over allocation of project budget (Ark space interiors 2020). It was duty of the

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project supervisor and project team to ensure that both the technical and non technical
requirements of the project were met according to the client and company expectations.
Initially there was no clear vision thus, the company failed to stay competitive. In order
to measure project success goals and project aims are essential to establish. The time and budget
estimated for implementing the ERP system exceeded the early measurement. Besides this, the
supervisor failed to select the best applicable development software. Some of the data stored in
the server were sensitive. It was responsibility of the project associates to keep that information
secured from external attackers. The developed project plan was poor therefore, confidentiality
of data were somewhere interrupted.
In order to deal with these risks, some effective risk management approaches were
considered by the supervisor. The company arranged on-job training and development program
for the technical team and other project team members. This training program helped the
technical team earning additional technical knowledge and experiences. The feasibility analysis
study improved the schedule and cost management plan. For overcoming the other functional
and operational issues, the company developed a communication plan considering open
communication. The process of open communication gave the project supervisor and assigned
team members a common platform. Each of the members assigned to the project were allowed to
share their ideas and creativity over the platform.
4. Comparison between theory and assignment answers with the A R K space
interior works
For managing and evaluating any project in time and budget, application of project
management practice is essential. There are some specific project related knowledge areas such