Lecture 1

Modern Project Management

 Learning objectives
1. Understand why project management is crucial in today’s
world.
2. Distinguish a project from routine operations.
3. Identify the different stages of project life cycle.
4. Understand the importance of projects in implementing
organization strategy.
5. Understand that managing projects involves balancing the
technical and sociocultural dimensions of the project.

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 Contents
1. What is a project?
2. Comparison: programs, projects, routine work
3. Project life cycle
4. The project manager
5. Current drivers of project management
6. Project governance & social-technical approach
7. Overview of project management

Key terms
Review questions & exercises

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 What is a Project?
• A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result.

• Major characteristics of a project:

1. An established objective.
2. A defined life span with a beginning and an end.
3. Usually, the involvement of several departments and
professionals.
4. Typically, doing something that has never been done before.
5. Specific time, cost, and performance requirements.

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 Programs versus Projects
• A program = a group of related projects designed to
accomplish a common goal over an extended period of
time.
– Each project within a program has a project manager.
– The major differences lie in scale and time span.
– Example:
• Project: completion of a required course
in project management.
• Program: completion of all courses required
for a business major.

Chương Trình gồm nhiều dự án

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 Comparison of Routine Work with Projects

Routine, repetitive work Projects

• Taking class notes • Writing a term paper
• Daily entering sales receipts into • Setting up a sales kiosk for a
the accounting ledger professional accounting meeting
• Responding to a supply-chain • Developing a supply-chain
request information system
• Practicing scales on the piano • Writing a new piano piece
• Routine manufacture of an Apple • Designing an iPod that is
iPod approximately 2  4 inches,
interfaces with PC, and
stores 10,000 songs
• Attaching tags on a manufactured • Wire-tag projects for GE and
product Wal-Mart
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 Project Life Cycle

Xây dựng dự án
Lập kế hoạch Giải phóng
FIGURE 1.1
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 The project manager
• Performing the same functions as other managers
– Plan, schedule, motivate, and control
• However… temporary, nonrepetitive activities, to
complete a fixed life project.
– Create a project team/organization where none existed before
– How things should be done instead of simply managing set
processes
– Meet the challenges of each phase of the project life cycle

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 The project manager
• Work with a diverse troupe of characters to complete
projects.
– Typically the direct link to the customer; manage the tension
between customer expectations and what is feasible and
reasonable.
– Provide direction/coordination/integration to the project team
– Work with a cadre of outsiders (vendors, suppliers,
subcontractors) who do not necessarily share their project
allegiance
• Ultimately responsible for performance
– Ensure that appropriate trade-offs are made among the time,
cost, and performance requirements of the project.
– Induce the right people, at the right time, to address the right
issues and make the right decisions 9
 Being part of a project team
• Most cases, people work part-time on one or more projects
– Learn how to juggle their day-today commitments with
additional project responsibilities
– Project team may consist of strangers from different
departments and organizations
• Use project management tools and concepts
– Scope statement
– Project schedule and budget
– Monitor and report project progress
– …

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 Current drivers of project management
• Compression of the product life cycle
• Knowledge explosion
• Triple bottom line (planet, people, profit)
• Increased customer focus
• Small projects represent big problems

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 Project governance
• Rationale for integration of project management was to
provide senior management with:
– An overview of all project management activities.
– A big picture of how organizational resources are being used.
– An assessment of the risk their portfolio of projects
represents.
– A rough metric for measuring the improvement of managing
projects relative to others in the industry
– Linkages of senior management with actual project execution
management.

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 Integrated
Management of
Projects

FIGURE 1.2
Contents
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 A Socio-Technical
Approach to Project
Management

FIGURE 1.3
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 Overview of Project Management

Project Schedule
Estimate
networks resources & costs
5
6 8

Define Reducing
project duration
4 9

Managing Monitoring Project

Introduction Organization
risk progress closure
1 3
7 13 14

Project
Strategy Teams Outsourcing
manager
2 11 12
10

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 Key terms
• Program
• Project
• Project life cycle
• Project Management Professional (PMP)

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 Review questions & exercises
• Review questions
– Textbook, page 19: #1–5.

• Exercises
– Textbook, page 19: #1–3

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 Functional departmentalization

• Advantages • Disadvantages
– Efficiencies from putting together – Poor communication across
similar specialties and people with functional areas
common skills, knowledge, and – Limited view of organizational
orientations goals
– Coordination within functional area
– In-depth specialization

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 Managers vs.
nonmanagerial
employees

Back
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