Project Management Module 2: Standards, Uncertainties, and Strategies

This report delves into the core differences between project management standards and methodologies, highlighting the practical implications for project managers. The report examines commonly used standards such as PMBOK, PRINCE2, Agile, ISO, and APM, providing a comparative analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the report addresses the critical issue of uncertainty within the business environment, identifying effect, state, and response uncertainties faced by managers. It explores various strategies for mitigating these uncertainties, including defensive, prospector, analyzing, and reactive strategies. The role of Agile methodology in managing uncertainties is also discussed, emphasizing its adaptability and responsiveness. The report concludes by offering insights into managing uncertainties effectively in project management, emphasizing the importance of proactive risk management and strategic decision-making.

Running head: PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Principles of Project Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Topic 1:
Considering the project management methodologies and the standards there are several of
differences between them. In the context of project management, the standards are considered as
something which can be utilized as model and measure in the comparative type of evaluations.
The project management standards are very much useful for the organization for establishment
of their internal work. It can be used as some standard meaning that need to be followed by the
employees of the organization. These type of project related standards include programming
standards, engineering standards and many more other standards. There many of the published
standards which includes IPMA, PMI and GAPPS (Kerzner, 2017). These project management
standards can be optional and it depends on the usage of this. Also, in the project management
there are no particular law which that can govern utilization of the standards.
While methodology is considered for the project management it can be defined as a
system that is for particular area of activity or study. The methodology is quite different from the
standards as the methodologies are derived from the methods, that means there are various ways
of performing something. One of the common project management methodologies is the
PRINCE2 which is considered as a standard type of methodology (Tomanek & Juricek, 2015).
The project management methodologies are not known in a generalized form as these
methodologies are custom built for different types of organizations. Though the project
management methodologies and the standards are quite different from each other, the
methodology can also become a standard for the organization. This types of things can happen in
such of the cases where a particular organization adopts a methodology in the initial stages and
later it becomes standard for them.

2PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The most commonly used examples are the PRINCE2 and the PMBOK.
Topic 2:
Within the business environment there are various types of uncertainties that is faced by
the business managers. The three main uncertainties that is faced by the business managers
within the business environment are the Effect Uncertainties, State Uncertainties and Response
Uncertainties (Lee & Klassen, 2016). The effect uncertainties occurs in such of the cases when it
becomes unable of the business managers to determine how the events of outside environment
can affect the current business. The state uncertainties occurs in the situations where the business
managers fails to determine what outcomes can occur due to the current environment of the
business. Response related uncertainties occurs in the business when the business managers
becomes unable to ensure how the market will be reacting to the actions that is taken by the
business manager itself.
It is very much important to mitigate these types of uncertainties in the business and it
can be managed by the business managers through four strategies. First, the defensive strategy
can be used by the business managers where the businesses under a specific and narrow niche
can be defended. The managers also uses prospector strategy where business managers accepts
the uncertainties and they look to replace the area of business which is affected negatively due to
this uncertainty (Maunder, 2019). Analyzing is also a strategy in this case where competitors are
copied for maintaining the core competencies. Reactive strategies is also used by the business
managers for avoiding any type of changes until the issues are forced by the uncertainty.
The agile methodology can be used appropriately for managing various type of
uncertainties. In this context there is mainly two ways through which uncertainties can be

3PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
managed within the businesses which are resolving all the types of uncertainties as much as
possible before starting of the project and elimination of the technology related risk as much as
possible. Through this strategies uncertainties can be managed using the agile type of
methodology.

4PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
References:
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Lee, S. Y., & Klassen, R. D. (2016). Firms’ response to climate change: The interplay of
business uncertainty and organizational capabilities. Business Strategy and the
Environment, 25(8), 577-592.
Maunder, W. J. (2019). The uncertainty business: risks and opportunities in weather and
climate. Routledge.
Tomanek, M., & Juricek, J. (2015). Project risk management model based on PRINCE2 and
SCRUM frameworks. arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.03595.