Aug 1999 PM217 : Project Management (Question 1) Suggested Solutions

(a)	In project management what is the objective of a feasibility study and when should it be carried out?	[2]
	The objective of the feasibility study is to determine whether or not the proposed system is practicable and it should be carried out at the start of the project before full funding is approved.
(b)	List and explain three reasons why the traditional approach to the system development life cycle may be inappropriate in the modern business setting. Include in your explanation a discussion of those stages of the traditional life cycle that might not be required.	[6]
	System being developed directly by end-users: if end users are sufficiently business oriented it is possible to merge requirements definition, system specification and system design phases. Pre-packaged software: the design and implementation stages can be eliminated, test-stage shortened etc. 4GL, application generators, case tools: when using OO there is little need for the system design, specification, or development stages. Object-oriented programming: as above, when using OO there is little need for the system design, specification, or development stages. Prototyping: although the life cycle remains the same, it is usually repeated several times in much more rapid cycles.
(c)	Describe three approaches to successful human resources management.	[6]
	Make the team as tangible as possible. For example, a manager might: hold productive meetings, create a team space, create a team 'sign', or publicise team efforts. Develop rewards for good behavior. For example, a manager might: write letters of commendation for good performance, recommend employees for corporate bonuses, take ream members out for dinner, or allow team members to give briefings to upper management. Develop an effective personal touch. For example, a manager might: provide positive feedback on performance, publicly acknowledge good performance, show an interest in team members, or be a 'shirt sleeve' manager.
(d)	Explain the fifty-fifty rule.	[2]
	When a task begins, it is assumed that we have achieved half its value, where a project's value is measured in terms of the budgeted cost of the task. We do not assume that the full value of the work has been achieved until the task ends, no matter whether the project finishes early, on-time, or late.
(e)	Explain, with the aid of examples, how modelling can be used to help in the management of risk.	[4]
	Building a mathematical model of an IT project allows us to assess what might happen as the various parameters governing the success or failure of a project are varied, It allows the various parts of the project -budget, resources, schedule etc - to be considered simultaneously in the same model. So, for example, we might ask what happen if we doubled the number of staff available, or if the supplier of the hardware delivered three weeks late.