PROJ6000 Assessment 2: Project Selection Methods and PMBOK Guide

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This essay analyzes project selection methods for Uber's driver app using the PMBOK guide.

PROJ6000 Assessment 2
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Essay................................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
This essay is presented in order to examine a different kind of project selection methods. There is
provided the case study of Uber where the app is being rebuilt for the drivers which are
considered as one of the biggest experiment in the gig economy. This essay will also present the
use of the PMBOK guide in order to understand the initial process group as well as the project
documents which are required for the purpose of making the initiative regarding the project.
There are several methods of the project selection such as Cost-Benefit analysis, Six Sigma as
well as Opportunity cost. The methods of selecting a project are categorized into two different
categories such as Benefit Measurement Methods as well as Constrained Optimization Methods.
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Essay
There is going to be introduced a new app by the Uber in order to provide a good experience to
the drivers of the Uber Taxi Services. This new build of the app is drawing on the technological
components for such new rider app which has recently launched in the last year. It is very
different to create something for the drivers. There has been identified the requirement of the app
which is simple as well as fast. It can provide a much deeper experience to the drivers.
It is essential to find one of the best projects and for such purpose, it is required to use the best
project selection method. A bad project can drive the business downwards and it can also cause a
great loss to such business. This is very necessary to evaluate each of the projects and use the
analytical processes for such purpose. There are several numbers of the project selection methods
which are required to be chosen wisely in order to gain the maximum benefits attained from the
project.
Cost-Benefit analysis is one of those most important methods to select any project. The cost-
benefit analysis generally examines the cost of the project in relation to the financial
commitment as well as the resources used. There is also analyzed the lost opportunity if there
have been restricted from any other activities due to such a project. The internal rate of return
analysis considered the expected expenses covered in the project, also estimates the profits
arrived from such project and then there is made the comparison of such return to the
organization’s standard IRR. If the project is not beneficial enough then it may not be good to
use the important resources for such a project. There are other selection tools similar to the cost-
benefit analysis such as figuring out the net present value for the purpose of analyzing the
profitability of the project. This is a very valuable tool is the time of inflation because it is used
to state the value of the future profits in the relation to the current value of the money (Kim, et.
al., 2015).
The next selection method is scoring which is a great tool of decision making. It involves the list
of the requirements as well as the goals which are crucial for the company with respect to such
projects which are undertaken. There is a requirement of developing the template score sheet if
there is a need of making a regular decision regarding the projects. There will be provided
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scoring to each project against the requirements of the company which include the time
constraint, resource availability as well as the opportunity costs (Carstens, et. al., 2016).
One of the most important methods of selecting any project is the Six Sigma methodology which
is used in order to increase the efficiency of the operations. This is a helpful technique to reduce
the wastage and further also improves the quality of the products as well as the services offered
by the company. It involves making the appropriate analysis of every aspect of the business in
order to analyze it mathematically in order to discover the deficiencies and create the solutions.
The Six Sigma methodology can be used in order to analyze the projects but it is considered as
such a process that does not stand up for the opportunity cost analysis as well as the cost-benefit
analysis itself (Gasik, 2015). This Six Sigma Methodology can be a great project to implement
during the slow times in order to recognize the problems in the business processes which can be
streamlined for the great capability of handling the projects which are large in nature and there
will be no compromise in the overall performance of the company (Project Management
Institute, 2013).
The last method to be discussed is the Opportunity cost which is designed to make improvements
in the operations as well as the expansion of the organization. If there is an internal project that is
reducing the ability of the company to fully service the clients or there is an outside project
which is so demanding that it is taking the resources away from the business development then it
is identified that such project is not good to be undertaken. There is a requirement of calculating
the costs as well as the benefits of the project and then relating them to the expenses of the
resources. It is necessary that the benefits of the project should outweigh the opportunity costs; in
such case, the project can be undertaken (Project Management Institute, 2017).
These are some of the important methods of making the selection of the project. In the given
project of Uber’s new application development, there can be made the use of the six sigma
methodology in order to select the project as well as the processes.
The PMBOK stands for the Project Management Body of Knowledge which is considered and
involves the collection of the processes, terminologies, guidelines as well as the best practices
which are accepted as the predefined standards within the project management industry. The
body of the knowledge is continuously growing as the practitioners have discovered several new
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methods as well as practices which are required to be disseminated and updated. As per the
PMBOK guide, there are five steps involved in project management. These such steps are
initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and at the end it is closing of the
project. The initial process group is very essential for any project and there are several numbers
of the project documents that are being created and are used as the inputs for such new projects.
According to the PMI, the process of the initiation is helpful in setting a vision for the objectives
of the project that what is going to be achieved. This is considered as such process group where
the project is authorized formally by the sponsors of such project, the project scope is defined
and stakeholders of the project are identified (Varajão, et. al., 2017). It is very important to
identify the stakeholders because the correct identification of the stakeholders associated with the
project can either make it successful or can break it. This process group is important and
performed so that the programs are not only approved by the sponsor’s entity but also there can
be made the alignment with the strategic objectives of the organization. If there is no initial
process group in the project management then the project may be carried out haphazardly
without and real target or the objective. The manager for the project is also selected or authorized
in this step of the project management. It is very important for the project to authorize as well as
establish the project manager as they have a lot of accountability and a little authority. If there is
no authority to handle a project then it is not considered as the project.
There are several documents that are required to be prepared in this step of initiation are project
charter as well as the register of the stakeholders. The project charter is the document that
includes the name of the project, problem statement, goal of the project, scope of the project,
team members to be involved, benefits of adopting such project as well as the timelines and
milestone for the effective completion of every phase of the project. The project charter is
considered as the living document which outlines the issues, frameworks as well as the targets of
any process improvement effort (Wysocki, 2014).
The other document is projected shareholder’s register which includes the details regarding the
project. The name of the stakeholder, the position, status as well as the project role of such
stakeholder along with the contact information of such stakeholder is included in this project
stakeholder register. These documents are used as the inputs for the new project.
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Conclusion
It can be concluded from this essay that the initiation step of the project management according
to the PMBOK guide is very important for the business. There has been discussed several
numbers of the project selection methods which can be useful for such project of Uber’s new app
feasible for its drivers. There has been explained all these methods along with the processes. The
stakeholder registers and project charter which are important initiation documents of the project
are also discussed in this essay.
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References
 Carstens, D. S., Richardson, G. L., & Smith, R. B. (2016). Project management tools and
techniques: A practical guide. CRC Press.
 Gasik, S. (2015). An analysis of knowledge management in the PMBOK® guide. PM
World Journal, 4(1), 1-13.
 Kim, C., Jeon, J., & Kim, M. S. (2015). A Project Management System Based on the
PMBOK Guide for Student-Centered Learning. International Journal of Knowledge
Engineering, 1(3), 185-190.
 Project Management Institute. (2013). A guide to the project management body of
knowledge (PMBOK guide) (5th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: PMI.
 Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of
knowledge (PMBOK guide) (6th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: PMI.
 Varajão, J., Colomo-Palacios, R., & Silva, H. (2017). ISO 21500: 2012 and PMBoK 5
processes in information systems project management. Computer Standards &
Interfaces, 50, 216-222.
 Wysocki, R. K. (2014). Effective project management: Traditional, agile, extreme (7th
ed.). Indianapolis, IN Wiley.
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