...Assignment 2: Scope and Time Management CIS 517 Dr J.F. Manning July 24, 2011 How can this activity improve the chances of your future IT project being a success? Project planning is often the most difficult and unappreciated process in project management. The main purpose of project plans, however, is to guide project execution. To guide execution plans must be realistic and useful, so a fair amount of time and effort must go into the planning process (Schwalbe, pg. 96, 2011). The work break down structure is a useful tool to help project managers become better organized and execute projects effectively while minimizing risks involved with the project process. This activity emphasized the importance for project managers to make strategic decisions, while staying observant and detail oriented throughout the project process. The insight obtained from the activity will aid in the success of any future IT project. Following the five main steps timely and effectively resulted in a more efficient management process. Setting the guidelines of the project and the added use of the work break down structure gave me a better view of how important it is to meet deadlines. Prioritizing the work packages and understanding the possibility that not all objectives would be completed helped minimize the stress associated with the project process. The activity shows how to diligently work together and communicate effectively in order to ensure a successful project outcome. Conducting...
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...Judge how Volvo Car Corporation integrated the cloud infrastructure into its networks. Volvo split from Ford in in 2010. In doing so they needed to create their own standalone IT environment and at the same time improve its business intelligence capabilities and operational efficiency (Microsoft, 2012). In a world where many consumers value smart technology in coexistence with automotive engineering, Volvo has created vehicles with hundreds of sensors and CPU’s embedded throughout the car (I-CIO, 2011). “Besides vehicle data gathered by sensors in and on the vehicle, we also collect visual information from four cameras. This gives us a good view of what happened in the cab and on the road at any given point in time” (Volvo Group, 2011). From the central locking system to the on board camera’s, data is being captured for use within the vehicle and then transmitted via the cloud back to Volvo (I-CIO, 2011). Once data is received at Volvo it is streamed to a centralized analysis hub (the Volvo Data Warehouse), alongside data from customer relationship management systems (CRM), dealership systems, and product development and design systems (I-CIO, 2011). Once data is retrieved at the Volvo Data Warehouse it is archived where it can be retrieved and analyze or manipulated by Volvo employees. Through the cloud Volvo is massing large amount of rich data and this is providing them with the opportunity to “turn that resource into something that no only helps build better...
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...Q.1.C. How should scope, time and cost be planned monitored and controlled on projects and how does this relate to integration? Provide a series of at least 20 actions to plan and control scope, time and cost using the strengths of both the PMBOK model and the PRINCE2 model. Solution: Introduction The scope, cost and time management are three separate bodies of knowledge areas in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) [1]. These knowledge areas are described in detail in PMBOK study guide, but this report gives a brief explanation about what purpose they serve and how they are used. Scope Management In general PMBOK defines different ways of how the scope of a project can be managed and controlled. The scope management is divided in the following five processes [1]. * Scope Planning. * Scope Definition. * Creating WBS. * Scope verification. * Scope control. The above mentioned processes will interact with each other and also with the other bodies of knowledge. These processes document clearly help to define the projects limits, risks, hypothesis, constraints, organization, milestone and etc. The WBS (Work Break-down Structure) is used to subdivide the projects workload and this is done for better or management and control purposes. In general the scope of a project is decided or planned at the scope planning or definition stage. In WBS structure creation all the major deliverables are divided into smaller and manageable components. After...
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...BSBPMG409A: Apply project scope management techniques Key terms for this unit Glossary Glossary Assumptions Beliefs considered to be true, real or certain for the sake of planning. Benefit measurement method Used in comparing the value of one project against the value or benefits of another, often used in project selection models. Benefit/ cost analysis The process of determining the pros and cons of any project, process, product or activity. Benefit/ cost ratios These models examine the cost-to-benefit ratio. Change control board A board that determines the validity and need of (thus approving or denying) project change requests. Change control system A system to formally accept, review and act upon project change requests. Change requests Requests to expand or reduce the project scope, modify policies, processes, plans or procedures, modify costs, budgets or revise schedules. Requests for change can be direct or indirect, externally or internally initiated and legally or contractually mandated or optional. Only formal, documented requested changes are processes and only approved change requests are implemented. Configuration management Activities focusing on controlling the characteristics of a product or service. A documented process of controlling the features, attributes and technical configuration of any product or service. Sometimes considered a rigorous change control system. Constrained optimisation methods These are complex mathematical formulas and algorithms...
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...Approaches, Models and Costs 1. Explain project scope management in terms of its processes. Project scope management in terms of processes serves for the stakeholders and team to have The same frame on what products the project will have to use to produce and processes the intended project. There are five main processes in project scope management (PSM): a. Collecting requirements is a technique of collecting documents, management plan, and traceability matrix and project scope statement. It defines what is included and what is not by clarifying the boundaries. This will be the details to satisfy the stakeholders in order for their expectations to be managed. This important documentation is from which the schedule, budget, quality specifications, resource plans, and risks emanate. (Litten 2014; p. 1) Means inserting the conditions and capabilities needed by the users to solve the problem also refers to an objective, meaning that it needs to satisfy the contract, standard, specification. b. Defining scope; allows to identify the goals, objectives, tasks, sub phases, resources, budget and scheduling outlining the parameters or limitations of the project, spelling what is excluded including project by-products that are not goals (Richter 2011, p. 1). By bringing the details of the scope and work required for the project it defines the scope. The reason that is important to defined is because it improves the accuracy of time, cost, and resource estimates, it defines a baseline...
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...Project Scope Creep | | [Type the author name] | [Pick the date] | Colquitt, J. and Lepine, J. (2013) “Stress.” Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace, 130-142. The authors focus on the research field of organizational behavior and understanding attitudes and behaviors of individuals and groups within organizations with the goal of improving them and the way the function collectively. The section on stress analyzes the negative impacts that stress can exert on organizations and methods for managing it to minimize its effect. The foundation of the section revolves around the “transactional theory of stress” which explains how stress is perceived and how individuals respond to it, taking into account the effects of both work and non-work influences on the overall organization. Due to the high cost organizations are faced with associated with employee stress, the section analyzes different practices and methods that can be utilized to manage stress and eliminate issues that cause it. Additionally, a number of different companies and their stress management practiced are discussed as well as resources that can be used to aid organizations. This book is an excellent resource and reference tool for project managers as they face a unique set of challenges based upon the nature of projects and the functionality of project organizations. The stress section was particularly beneficial in describing the stressful effects that scope creep...
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...11 Chapter Project Management I n this chapter we explore a concept and a practice that has grown in importance as organizations have become more complex and are continuously evolving and implementing new ideas, products, and services or seek to improve existing ones. An organization will create a project as a way to focus resources on an opportunity or issue and to serve as a way to effectively organize its efforts to achieve a specific goal or objective. In a small firm, practice, or business, a project may be the installation of a new accounting software system or the introduction of a new product or service. In large, complex organizations, several projects may be in play at the same time, with some midlevel managers whose only responsibility is the management of a stream of these short-term assignments. In the dynamic nature of today’s organizational environment, project management is an important concept and tool to understand and effectively implement. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), 74 percent of all projects fail. The projects can fail from a processes standpoint (initiation, planning, executing, controlling, or closing), or they can fail from a weakness in project dynamics (scope, time cost management, quality management, human resources management, communications, or risk). Project management covers a wide range of topics and issues and is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a broad range of activities...
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...DISCUSSION OF PROBLEMS 5 3.2.1. POOR PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS 5 3.2.2. NO DETAILED SCOPE SPECIFICATIONS 6 3.2.3. LACK OF TOP OR SENIOR MANAGEMENT SUPPORT 6 3.2.4. LATE INVOLVEMET OF MIDDLE OR FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT 7 3.2.5. POOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS 8 4. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS OF SOLUTIONS 9 4.1. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS 9 4.2. DISCUSSION OF SOLUTIONS 9 4.2.1. EFFECTIVE PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS 9 4.2.2. DETAILED SCOPE SPECIFICATIONS 10 4.2.3. TOP OR SENIOR MANAGEMENT SUPPORT 11 4.2.4. EARLY INVOLVEMENT OF MIDDLE OR FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT 13 4.2.5. EFFICIENT CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS 13 5. CONCLUSIONS 15 6. RECOMMENDATIONS 16 6.1. EFFECTIVE PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS 16 6.2. DETAILED SCOPE SPECIFICATIONS 16 6.3. TOP OR SENIOR MANAGEMENT SUPPORT 17 Top management support should always be there in an organisation to provide sufficient executive level support and make management decision. Tough the other members on the management level are not available; the business should be able to continue without showing any gap. Therefore, Corwin needs to do the following: 17 6.4. EARLY INVOLVEMENT OF MIDDLE OR FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT 18 6.5. EFFICIENT CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS 18 Corwin Corporation must put in place an efficient change management process that will address all the scope changes. 18 PMBOK (2008:93), the Perform Integrated Change Control process includes the following change management activities in differing levels of detail, based upon the progress of the project...
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...Project schedule control involves making sure that the scheduled work is completed on time and within budget (Morris and Pinto, 2007). sollo 1:18:45 AM project Scope management process includes process such as executing, monitoring and controlling the project process (Morris and Pinto, 2007). you can discuss how monitoring, controlling or executing enable the company to achieve project success The project scope includes a number of processes such as plan scope management, collecting requirements, defining scope, creation of work-based structure, validation of scope, as well as control of scope. This is shown in figure 4 below. In other words, it involves planning, monitoring, and controlling activities that are within the project scope and those that are not within the scope (Morris and Pinto, 2007). Process Project Group/team Key Deliverables Plan Scope Management Planning Collect Requirements Planning Requirements document Define Scope planning project scope statement Create WBS planning WBS, WBS dictionary Validate Scope Monitoring and Controlling Acceptance deliverables Control Scope Monitoring and Controlling Change Requests sollo 1:22:28 AM Turner (2012) indicates that project planning is critical in project management. It involves developing a work breakdown structure in order to know all the resource needed for the project and this would ease the flow of events. To ensure good project planning, the company and the project manager select qualified...
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...SDSU GE/OM 569 Project Management 3 April 2013 Where are we now? PMBOK – 5th Edition (2013) 1 Executing, Monitoring & Controlling Executing Process group consists of those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project specifications. Results may require planning updates & rebaselining Large portion of budget is expended performing the execution process group 3 Executing, Monitoring & Controlling… The Monitoring & Controlling process group consists of those processes required to track, review & orchestrate the progress & performance of the project, identifying any areas in which changes to the plan are required and initiate the corresponding changes. What work does it monitor & control? Product work Project work 4 2 Executing, Monitoring & Controlling 5 Executing, Monitoring & Controlling 6 3 The Project is Up and Running: Now What? You want what? When! I have jury duty! The software doesn’t do that? That is not what I want! We have to be done by….! The software (critical) will be late! Why not add this?! You never asked for that?!? Just have your team do it! 7 Validate Scope 8 4 Validate Scope Validate Scope is the process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables. It includes… Reviewing deliverables with the customer or sponsor to ensure they are completed satisfactorily, and Obtaining their...
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...Project scope is the parameter of the project. It defines what are the deliverables, requirements and expectations for the project and provides a baseline to exclude unrelated works. The project manager’s job is to ensure all necessary works for the project success are included. And this process is referring to as the project scope management. Project scope management involves six processes, which are planning scope management, collecting requirements, defining scope, creating WBS, validating scope and controlling scope. These six interrelated steps provide an agreement between the stakeholders and project team to clarify expectation and requirements. The six processes also allow the team to understand how and what they should do in order to deliver the project within the deadline and without exceeding limited resources. 1. Planning scope management: This process answers the question “how will the team manage and maintain the scope” and “how to prepare required documents”. The team will review the project description from the project charter and project management plan to develop scope management plan and requirements management plan. The scope management plan defines how to prepare, maintain and control all management documents such as project scope statement, WBS and change requests. This step set the foundation for the scope management, as the team and manager will choose the most efficient way in controlling the process. 2. Collecting requirements: After defining the...
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...Activity 1 1. Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing. Managing a project is best described as consistently producing key results expected by stakeholders. While all stake holders are important, it is of prime importance to meet the customer’s needs and requirements. 2. Project Integration Management Project Scope Management Project Time Management Project Cost Management Project Quality Management Project Management Project Human Resource Management Project Communications Management Project Risk Management Project Management Project Procurement Management 3. A project management office (PMO) is an organizational unit to centralize and coordinate the management of projects under its domain. A PMO can also be referred as to a program management office, project office or program office. A PMO oversees the management f projects, programs or a combination of both. The projects supported or administered by a PMO might not be related other than by being managed together. Some PMO’s do coordinate and manage related projects. In many organizations those projects are grouped or related in some manner based on the way the PMO will coordinate and manage those projects. 4. Objective A project objective...
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...Conclusion………………………………………………………………………17 References………………………………………………………………………18 2 Executive Summary K. Schwalbe (2012) has provided a basic understanding of what project management is and explains that it requires planning and use and management of organizational resources in order to complete a project within the required time, scope and cost. Project managers must understand that one of the most important aspects of project management is to complete a project with a successful delivery of the product while ensuring that it is within the required timeline and within the resources allocated to the project. Therefore, it is imperative that the managing of a project makes efficient use of time, resources, cost, risk, quality and scope. By understanding these constraints, the project manager will be able to successfully complete the project. In reviewing the Orion Shield project case, it is very clear that the Scientific Engineering Corporation did not apply these methods. This paper will compare Scientific Engineering Corporation’s (SEC) project management techniques to the five project management process groups and the nine project management knowledge areas that are detailed in the a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), 5th ed., 2013. PMBOK has identified five project management...
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...(CHAOS) found that only 16.2% of IT projects were successful in meeting scope, time, and cost goals; over 31% of IT projects were canceled before completion Advantages of Using Formal Project Management: * Better control of financial, physical, and human resources * Improved customer relations * Shorter development times * Lower costs * Higher quality and increased reliability * Higher profit margins * Improved productivity * Better internal coordination * Higher worker morale What is project? A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result” Project Attributes: A project: * has a unique purpose * is temporary * is developed using progressive elaboration * requires resources, often from various areas * should have a primary customer or sponsor * The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the project * involves uncertainty Program: group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually The triple constraint of project management: Scope, cost & time. Project management: is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements” 10 knowledge areas (project management framework): 1. Scope management 2. Time management 3. Cost man. 4. Quality man. 5. Human Resource man. 6...
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...the project manager's decisions C. Negotiate with team members to achieve the project objectives D. Remain neutral and facilitate the meetings | | 2. | You are a consulting project manager and have been contracted by an investment bank to run a large information technology project that is expected to last 15 months. During the Direct and Manage Project Work process, you discover that several regulatory requirements have not been addressed in the project management plan. Failure to meet these requirements could result in legal action against the company. However, implementing the technology to comply with these regulations exceeds the budget and scope of the project, and could result in the cancellation of the project. What should you do? A. Submit a change request to incorporate the missed requirements to the project's scope. B. Do not do anything as these requirements are not a part of the scope baseline. C. Request additional funds to implement these requirements. D. This is a classical example of scope creep and such requirements must be ignored. | | 3. | A fundamentally functional organization creates a special project team to handle a critical project. This team has many of the characteristics of a project team in a project organization and has a Project manager dedicated to the project. Such an organization would be called: A. A projectized organization B. A functional organization. C. A strong matrix organization D. A composite organization |...
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