| (a) |
One of the main aims
of project management is to ensure that projects do not fail. When can a project be said
to have failed? |
[2] |
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A project is said to have failed if it
- fails to meet the users'
requirements
- is implemented too late to be
effective
- exceeds by unacceptable amount its
development or operational budget
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| (b) |
Be
defining a minimum set of deliverables we can reduce the failure rate in the project
development process. What are the three important purposes of these deliverables? |
[3] |
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The
purposes of a minimum set of measurable deliverables are
- to provide a set of components,
documentation and code which together make up the final delivered product.
- to provide a means of measuring both
the progress and the quality of the product as it is developed.
- to provide a set of starting
conditions to be used in the next stage of development.
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| (c) |
The traditional
approach to project management suffers from several deficiencies. List and explain three
problems that can result from using the traditional approach. |
[6] |
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- Paying insufficient attention to
customer satisfaction: success is measured against satisfying time, budget, and
specification constraints and the customer is treated as an afterthought.
- Slavish adherence to a single set of
tools or a single approach: in order to meet the customers' need and achieve customer
satisfaction it is necessary to be open minded and be prepared to try any approach or set
of tools which will allows us to achieve this goal.
- Narrow definition of the aims of a
project: traditional project management often limits the life cycle to four phases
---concept, planning, execution, and close-out. Little attention is paid to after-project
maintenance for the customer.
- Too constricted a view of the role
of the project manager and what they should be capable of doing: the manager must have the
freedom to act in any way that will allow him/her to meet the customers' needs.
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| (d) |
The following three
criteria are central to the new approach to project management:
- Project management must be customer-focused
- Project management must make use of non-traditional
management skills
- Project management must redefine the role of project
managers
For each criterion, explain carefully why this new approach
is necessary, how it is employed in practice, and how it differs from the traditional
approach. |
[9] |
|
- Project management must be
customer-focused: This is necessary because customer satisfaction leads to a good
reputation in the market place, and may lead to repeat orders. In practice this is
achieved through effective communication with the customer, and involving the customer at
all stages of the development process. This differs from the traditional approach which
focus on success and failure measured through time, cost and specifications.
- Project management must make use of
non-traditional management skills: In the modern business world project managers need to
additional tools to maintain a competitive edge in the market place. In practice this
means developing skills in finance, contracting, managing change, and communicating with
the customers etc. This is very different from the traditional approach which emphasizes
only scheduling, budgeting, and allocating human and material resources.
- Project management must redefine the
role of project managers: This is necessary to ensure the project manager has the freedom
and flexibility to negotiate and communicate with the customer to ensure that the
customers needs are truly met. In practice this means that manager can make most of
his/her decisions independently, have responsibility for finances, and posses sufficient
business skills to operate in a competitive environment. This is very different from the
traditional approach where the project manager possessed few of these skills.
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