Project Management: Notes, Case Studies, Questions and Answers

Project Management guide for beginners. Learn about important concepts, and Project Management software and tools.

Project stage Key activities

• Initialisation: Determines the purpose and objectives. Project charter lists goals and scope, participants, success and other factors.
• Planning: Make Project plan, list tasks and deadlines. Create work break down structure
• Execution: Executing stage puts the project plan into action. The various deliverables need to be produced. The project manager role is to track the various tasks, and co-ordinate.
• Controlling: The objective of this stage is to ensure the project is moving along as planned. The deliverable at this stage is the project status report. This lists issues and concerns.
• Closing: The objective of this stage is to get approval on the deliverables. The two key areas are signed off and feedback

Challenges faced by most projects

• Communication
• Lack of Clear Project Goals and Alignment with Business Objectives
• Lack of Accountability
• Unrealistic Deadlines and Planning Fallacies
• Resource Allocation
• Inadequate Project Budget.
• Insufficient Risk Management.

Critical path

The critical path is the sequence of activities with the longest duration. A delay in any of these activities will result in a delay for the whole project. Below are some critical path examples to help you understand the key elements.

When constructing a project network, for every activity, managers assign details like duration, early start and finish date, latest start and finish date so that it becomes easier to do forward as well as backward pass and to calculate the slack values.

Lot of project managers like to start with a sketch that makes it easy to make the full network.

In order to calculate the Critical path, you need to do the following steps:

• Construct a project network
• Perform forward and backward passes
• Determine project completion time
• Calculate Slack values (Early start – Late start or Early finish – Late Finish)
• Finally, find the critical path

 

 

 

Here’s a nice video that shows how to calculate the critical path on a project network.

Project Scheduling – PERT/CPM | Finding Critical Path

 

Lot of students thing project scheduling is very complicated, but it isn’t, as you can see from the video.

Its not that only project managers have to use project management techniques. Lot of Management students who are doing their project are expected to provide the project schedule wherein they are expected to provide the work breakdown structure (WBS) for the various activities and also provide the critical path for those activities.

Hope this article helped you in understanding the critical path.

Academic Questions on Project Management

Questions, assignments and projects on Project Management.

Question: Based on the issue highlighted, suggest a project for the case study company:

Describe the elements of your project process and plan. Project scope, objectives, resources, time scales, stakeholders, triple constraints. Describe key stages of project management using literature on project management.

Discuss how the project you have identified would be managed; how will you ensure that the project is completed as per the plan and achieves its objectives. Using the literature on project management, discuss the possible challenges to the project plan; talk about challenges that most projects generally encounter. Discuss and evaluate the challenges in implementing the project plan; talk about the possible challenges in your project and how will you tackle those challenge.
Required: Stakeholder mapping diagram, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Project Schedule and Network Diagram.

Question: Identify a Project based on an issue in Supply chain management or good practices in the industry. Use Triple Constraints and Justify Project in terms of : Quality- Project objectives or Project Deliverables. Time: Start and Finish time of the Project. Cost- Budget Constraint. Stakeholder Mapping/ Matrix. List all direct and indirect stakeholders. Explain how you intend to manage them considering power and influence (Use academicreference to support). Work Breakdown Structure. Allocate time , resources and cost for each activity. Create WBS. Time Management. Use Gantt Chart or Network Diagram. Identify and explain the slack activities and critical path. Write about the sequences tasks and parallel tasks. Risk Management. Identify potential risks for the project. Rank risks as high, medium or low or critical risks. Explain how to mitigate critical and high risks to the project. Project Life Cycle. Phase wise sequence your project and discuss. Critique three to five approaches that would be useful in measuring the project outcomes for your project. Evaluate the challenges/ risks in implementing the project plan.

Question. Acme Agarbatti Pvt Ltd manufactures and sells incense sticks under the brand name ‘Sugandhi Suman’. It has got 19 plants across western India. It is contemplating the implementation of an open source ERP called ERPNext. You are invited to advise the company on risk management for this project. As a first task, you will need to prepare a list of project risks. Please prepare the one with at least 12 relevant risks possible in this project.

Q. A software services company having a staff of 159 developers, 37 testers, 25 business analysts, 88 support engineers, and 17 project managers is looking for deployment of SEI CMMI model. You are invited to explain five levels of CMMI model to the entire staff in a town hall meeting. How will you explain CMMI model in the context of this company.

Q. 3. “It seems everyone finds me available and dumps work on me. It is so frustrating! I never knew being a project manager would mean so much of work and stress!” Rajashri Gokhale was really stressed out at the cafeteria where she had met her friend from other department for a cup of coffee. “Relax, you may find it stressful but you have earned this promotion with your hard work. Now you have to work harder to grow further.” Her friend, Keshav Kumar tried to cheer up.

“I am not sure whether whatever comes to me is what I am supposed to look into. For example, today morning, Rajan asked me to provide the projected cash flow for my project. And yesterday late evening, I had to resolve the issue in my team which popped up because two of my team members had a breakup!” Rajashri had just started to tell her ordeal.

a. Is Rajashri responsible for preparing projected cash flow? Why or why not?
b. Should Rajashri resolve personal problems of team members?

Case Study : Project Management And Next Steps At HP [MBA]

When Hewlett-Packard’s (HP’s) Services division decided to focus more on external IT consulting, Ron Kempf, the director of project management competency and certification at HP, brought together the firm’s various stakeholders to conduct a needs assessment to determine what type of training would be needed to achieve the new goal. HP’s decision to expand its consulting and integration business meant that 2,500 client-focused project managers and support staff around the world would need to improve their skills.

Based on the cost of training and the resources it could provide, ESI International was chosen to train Kempf’s division so employees could achieve the “project management professional” designation. The designation has become a standard in the industry, and clients ask for the certification when requesting project bids. As a result, HP needed its project managers to be certified in order for the company to be competitive. Kempf worked with ESI to provide training in various formats in order to meet the needs of the worldwide workforce. The training methods included using HP’s knowledge management system, networking participants so they could learn from each other, e-learning, self-paced instruction, and formal training conducted at a “project management” university.

The training initiative, which has been refined as needed over the years, has been very successful. Kempf credits it with boosting HP’s profit margins and keeping projects within budget. Now, however, HP needs to decide on the “next steps” to ensure that it doesn’t lose its competitive edge since many other companies have the same certifications for their project managers. Also, about 20% of the first group of employees who were trained will retire in five years.

Answer the following questions by applying the concepts learned in Chapter 8. Also, conduct literature reviews on the subject of discussion and use to support your case study answers:

Discuss the role that a needs assessment played in planning the training program for project management staff.
What are the issues HP now faces? What role, if any, will training need to play in addressing those issues?
How would you begin the process of creating a new training plan? Who should be involved? What would be the desired outcome of this training?
HP is a very large company. How might the planning process for training be different if HP were a much smaller company?

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Review

Hewlett-Packard (HP) attempted to make its company competitive on market by receiving certification at HP. An assessment called between various stakeholders suggested expand consulting and integration to focus benefit of clients. Some employees are selected to achieve “Project Management Professional” by taking training and certification. Training is conducted using KMS (Knowledge Management System) from HP, distance learning and instruction of formal training focusing particular section for skill enhancing. They wished to see effectiveness of training measuring performance of employee. HP wish to achieve competitive advantage over other competitors. But the challenge is that 20% of trained employees are retiring in next 5 years so they want to initiative “next steps” in the company to ensure of not losing market position. (Lepak & Gowan, 2010)

Need assessment in planning training program

Need assessment is first step for effective training process that will boost employees’ competency and achieve competitive advantage over other companies. Company should analyse whether employees have required prequalification or not. The director Ron Kempf decides running an assessment to find employees competencies on job. Need assessment finds gap of knowledge they have and they need. The company decides that their managers who are responsible for handling clients need training for performance improvement.

Need assessment plays role in identifying importance of training and the priorities. Need assessment detects who are in need of training, and type of training they need. Need assessment plays role in finding competencies which is to be improved. There are different training methods among which need assessment decides to choose best one. The methods be Job Training, E-learning, and Procedural Manual. With assessment test HP decides using KMS, Self-Placed, instruction and formal training conduction. Need assessment helps estimate effectiveness of training program and expected outcomes.

Issues on HP and roles to address issues

Need assessment shows need of training for supporting staffs for skill improvement. They hired an ESI agency who trains employees receiving “Project Management Professional” certifying course that can deliver needed technical support in market. The main issue is all competitors are also using same certified training management system. So HP need think differently to achieve comparative advantage. Other issue on HP is that 20% of those trained employees are retiring soon letting the skilled position empty. It means HP should plan for Job Rotation and train new employees too. So company should choose employees who are in need of training and the process training is to be conducted. Company should perform task analysis that helps finding gaps between knowledge.

Training plan creation, involvement and desired outcome

Training process determines type of training, trainer, time and place of training. Manger should have clear objective and goal for training plan. Training plan specifies needed competencies achievement for a defined time period. Training being provided is to be focused on company objectives. Training session is followed by need assessment, design, implementation and evaluating those results.

Training plan sets objective of training clearly and being specific. Objective setting analyzes area in need of improvement.
Objective setting is followed by lesion planning that roadmaps the topics covered on training session. Lesson plan defines place of training for each session. Manger should improve their project management skill for managing this much training volume.
Manager should focus on defining methodology of training and instructions. Methodology depends on size of target group and competency of trainees
After all training plan includes selecting and defining participants and location of training
In HP Company the new managers who are not trained already are in need of training. So that the gap created by going manpower is fulfilled. Company might face lagging with competitors if the manpower are not fulfilled soon after aged professional retirement. The training session will remove possible threats of frustration on management and staffs too.

Training process on larger and smaller companies

In smaller companies small number of employees are known to each other well and they know others competencies, easier to find who is in need of training. HP company in given case is large having thousands of people involved on it worldwide. It’s hard to find the ability of employees and possible improvement for them. Resources need for conducting training on large company is very high as compared to smaller one. For small companies selecting few employees would count high on percentage of participation but for large one the figure would be very low. Large companies have separate department for training and skill improvement, they could hire consultant before conducting training but for smaller one they could have only few trainers hired for market for conducting training session. In larger companies the coverage being wide is not possible to move same training group or trained employees for training other part but for small companies’ managers take training from outside and train remaining lower level or co-workers.

Conclusion and Recommendations

In the given case director Rom Kempf conducts need assessment on managers needing training. The large volume of mangers are seeking for certification “Project Management Professional”. Training methods followed on HP includes participatory interaction as well as e-learning, self-paced instruction formal sittings etc. The company should make clear vision on “Next Step” to be taken. HP company on other hand need cross cultural training to address problem prevailing on workplace. Company having large number of mangers in need of training should conduct training dividing employees into groups rather than on single. So that training session become more interactive and efficient.

Question: Develop Timeline chart & project table using PERT/CPM Project scheduling methods (Software Engineering Experiment).

1. Aim: Develop Timeline chart & project table using PERT/CPM Project scheduling
methods.
2. Objectives: From this experiment, the student will be able,
● To introduce the concept of advance software methodology
● To understand Project management software for scheduling, cost control and
budget management, resource allocation, collaboration software,
communication, quality management and documentation or administration
systems which are used to deal with the complexity of large projects .
3. Outcomes: The learner will be able to
● To apply the software concepts for implementation of Project Scheduling
● To understand, identify, analyze and design the problem, implement using
current techniques and skills.
4. Hardware / Software Required: PERT & CPM tools
5. Theory:
• Introduction
Basically, PERT (Programed Evaluation Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path
Method) are project management techniques, which have been created out of the need
of Western industrial and military establishments to plan, schedule and control
complex projects.
• Planning, Scheduling & Control
Planning, Scheduling (or organizing) and Control are considered to be basic
Managerial functions, and CPM/PERT has been rightfully accorded due importance
in the literature on Operations Research and Quantitative Analysis. PERT/CPM
provided a focus around which managers could brain-storm and put their ideas
together. It proved to be a great communication medium by which thinkers and
planners at one level could communicate their ideas, their doubts and fears to another
level. Most important, it became a useful tool for evaluating the performance of
individuals and teams.
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There are many variations of CPM/PERT which have been useful in planning costs,
scheduling manpower and machine time. CPM/PERT can answer the following
important questions:
● How long will the entire project take to be completed? What are the risks
involved?
● Which are the critical activities or tasks in the project which could delay the entire
project if they were not completed on time?
● Is the project on schedule, behind schedule or ahead of schedule?
● If the project has to be finished earlier than planned, what is the best way to do
this at the least cost?
• The Framework for PERT and CPM
Essentially, there are six steps which are common to both the techniques. The
procedure is listed below:
I. Define the Project and all of its significant activities or tasks. The Project
(made up of several tasks) should have only a single start activity and a single
finish activity.
II. Develop the relationships among the activities. Decide which activities must
precede and which must follow others.
III. Draw the “Network” connecting all the activities. Each Activity should have
unique event numbers. Dummy arrows are used where required to avoid
giving the same numbering to two activities.
IV. Assign time and/or cost estimates to each activity
V. Compute the longest time path through the network. This is called the critical
path.
VI. Use the Network to help plan, schedule, and monitor and control the project.
The Key Concept used by CPM/PERT is that a small set of activities, which make up
the longest path through the activity network control the entire project. If these
“critical” activities could be identified and assigned to responsible persons,
management resources could be optimally used by concentrating on the few activities
which determine the fate of the entire project. Non-critical activities can be
re-planned, rescheduled and resources for them can be reallocated flexibly, without
affecting the whole project.
Five useful questions to ask when preparing an activity network are:
• Is this a Start Activity?
• Is this a Finish Activity?
• What Activity Precedes this?
• What Activity Follows this?
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• What Activity is Concurrent with this?
Some activities are serially linked. The second activity can begin only after the first
activity is completed. In certain cases, the activities are concurrent, because they are
independent of each other and can start simultaneously. This is especially the case in
organizations which have supervisory resources so that work can be delegated to
various departments which will be responsible for the activities and their completion
as planned. When work is delegated like this, the need for constant feedback and
co-ordination becomes an important senior management pre-occupation.
• Drawing the CPM/PERT Network
Each activity (or sub-project) in a PERT/CPM Network is represented by an arrow
symbol. Each activity is preceded and succeeded by an event, represented as a circle
and numbered.
At Event 3, we have to evaluate two predecessor activities – Activity 1-3 and Activity
2-3, both of which are predecessor activities. Activity 1-3 gives us an Earliest Start of
3 weeks at Event 3. However, Activity 2-3 also has to be completed before Event 3
can begin. Along this route, the Earliest Start would be 4+0=4. The rule is to take the
longer (bigger) of the two Earliest Starts. So the earliest Start at event 3 is 4.
Similarly, at Event 4, we find we have to evaluate two predecessor activities –
Activity 2-4 and Activity 3-4. Along Activity 2-4, the Earliest Start at Event 4 would
be 10 wks, but along Activity 3-4, the Earliest Start at Event 4 would be 11 wks.
Since 11 wks is larger than 10 wks, we select it as the Earliest Start at Event 4.We has
now found the longest path through the network. It will take 11 weeks along activities
1-2, 2-3 and 3-4. This is the Critical Path.
• The Backward Pass – Latest Finish Time Rule
To make the Backward Pass, we begin at the sink or the final event and work
backwards to the first event.
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At Event 3 there is only one activity, Activity 3-4 in the backward pass, and we find
that the value is 11-7 = 4 weeks. However at Event 2 we have to evaluate 2 activities,
2-3 and 2-4. We find that the backward pass through 2-4 gives us a value of 11-6 = 5
while 2-3 gives us 4-0 = 4. We take the smaller value of 4 on the backward pass.
• Tabulation & Analysis of Activities
We are now ready to tabulate the various events and calculate the Earliest and Latest
Start and Finish times. We are also now ready to compute the SLACK or TOTAL
FLOAT, which is defined as the difference between the Latest Start and Earliest Start.
Event Duration(Weeks) Earliest
Start
Earliest
Finish
Latest
Start
Latest
Finish
Total
Float
1-2 4 0 4 0 4 0
2-3 0 4 4 4 4 0
3-4 7 4 11 4 11 0
1-3 3 0 3 1 4 1
2-4 6 4 10 5 11 1
▪ The Earliest Start is the value in the rectangle near the tail of each activity
▪ The Earliest Finish is = Earliest Start + Duration
▪ The Latest Finish is the value in the diamond at the head of each activity
▪ The Latest Start is = Latest Finish – Duration
There are two important types of Float or Slack. These are Total Float and Free Float.
• Total Float is the spare time available when all preceding activities occur at the
earliest possible times and all succeeding activities occur at the latest possible
times.
Total Float = Latest Start – Earliest Start
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• Activities with zero Total float are on the Critical Path. Free Float is the spare
time available when all preceding activities occur at the earliest possible times and
all succeeding activities occur at the earliest possible times.When an activity has
zero Total float, free float will also be zero.
• There are various other types of float (Independent, Early Free, Early Interfering,
Late Free, Late Interfering), and float can also be negative. We shall not go into
these situations at present for the sake of simplicity and be concerned only with
Total Float for the time being.
• Having computed the various parameters of each activity, we are now ready to go
into the scheduling phase, using a type of bar chart known as the Gantt chart.
• There are various other types of float (Independent, Early Free, Early Interfering,
Late Free, Late Interfering), and float can also be negative. We shall not go into
these situations at present for the sake of simplicity and be concerned only with
Total Float for the time being. Having computed the various parameters of each
activity, we are now ready to go into the scheduling phase, using a type of bar
chart known as the Gantt chart.
6. Procedure:
Students should define activities planned for their case study & use PERT & CPM
Method to draw Timeline chart & project table
7. Conclusion:
A Timeline chart& project table helps in planning, how long that project might take
and that can really save time in the end and more so if you are on a deadline
8. Viva Questions:
1. What are the components of timeline chart?
2. Explain critical path method in detail.
9. References:
1. www2.kimep.kz/bcb/omis/our_courses/is4201/Chap14.pdf
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC2ji72DxXg
3. www.slideshare.net/koppulachandra/cpm-pert-problems
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdRZN5o)8eM

References

Lepak, D., & Gowan, M. (2010). Human resource management: Training and Development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall

Zeromillion.com,. (2015). 4. Employee Training and Development . Retrieved 4 October 2015, from http://www.zeromillion.com/business/personnel/employee-training.html