INSTRUCTOR’S RESOURCE MANUAL
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction: Why Project Management?
To Accompany
PROJECT MANAGEMENT:
Achieving Competitive Advantage
By
Jeffrey K. Pinto
CHAPTER ONE
PROJECT PROFILE – Disney’s Expedition Everest
INTRODUCTION
1. WHAT IS A PROJECT? General Project Characteristics
2. WHY ARE PROJECTS IMPORTANT?
PROJECT PROFILE – Dubai – Land of Mega-Projects
3. PROJECT LIFE CYCLES
PROJECT MANAGERS IN PRACTICE – Christy Rutkowski, Regency Construction Services
4. DETERMINANTS OF PROJECT SUCCESS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT RESEARCH IN BRIEF – Assessing Information Technology (IT) Project Success
5. DEVELOPING PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY
6. PROJECT ELEMENTS AND TEXT ORGANIZATION
Summary
Key Terms
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Employees have to be trained in the new processes and learn to implement it into their current role. Often times, employees are adverse to a large shift in current practices due to uncertainty of the outcome.
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages to using project management?
Advantages: ▪ Innovative, produce new ideas and new products ▪ Geared toward accomplishing a specific goal ▪ Aimed at customer satisfaction
Disadvantages: ▪ Inaccurate cost estimates during initial stages may cause project to fail due to lack of resources ▪ Low success rate in some industries ▪ Requires heavy commitment by staff
4. What are the key characteristics all projects possess?
Projects: ▪ are temporary operations with a defined lifespan ▪ help develop and execute organizational strategies and goals ▪ are sources of innovation and progress ▪ stimulate internal collaboration between members of various functional areas ▪ are limited by resource and time constraints ▪ end when objectives are successfully reached
5. Describe the basic elements of the project life cycle. Why is an understanding of the life cycle relevant for our understanding of projects?
The project life cycle includes the stages of the project’s development. The basic elements of the cycle include: ▪ conceptualization: outlines project goal, scope of work, identifies required resources and stakeholders ▪ planning:
Evaluate the importance of understanding the various stages of the project life cycle and its possible contributions to a project.
In order to successfully and effectively implement change all of the employees should have a good understanding of how the changes will benefit the organization, their positions, and how it might impact their routines. To many employees the implementation of change is not always properly communicated, and the process of change on paper as it is being implemented can be threatening as well as confusing. Also, the people behind the scenes making the changes may not have taken specific details into consideration regarding effective changes that perhaps the employees
Once the plans are put in motion interventions are designed to gain the necessary compliance. The manager needs to provide information by doing so he can change an individual’s perception, attitudes and values this is a plus for the manager. Training the employees to the new way will give them information and skill practice it show them how to perform in a system not how to change it. When possible the manager should use groups to discuss issues that are perceived as important and make relevant, binding decisions based on these discussions. Individual and group implementation can be combined so whatever methods are used participants should feel their input is valued and should be rewarded for their efforts. In some cases people are not always persuaded before beneficial change is implemented, sometimes behavior changes first and attitudes are modified later to fit the behavior (Sullivan & Decker, 2009, p. 71).
Implementing change in an organization is complicated. It is important that a manager understands their role and responsibilities for which could very well be the success or failure of an organization. A manager should know how to handle staff resistance, and the areas that require change. There are processes that help management with assisting their staff members with adjusting to change and concentrate on the areas of importance. This process includes planning, assessment, implementation, and evaluation. The difference between a failed organization and a successful manager is when the manager has the ability to implement change with little disruption to
Some many organizational change efforts fail to reach their intention, but the high-ranking sponsors often blame the disappointment on the employees and manager struggle to change at times. They really don’t know how difficult it is to lead and implement change effectively (Robbins, 2011). A good change does require good people skills. Employees resist change because employees can be very unsure about the loss of status or job security within the organization. This would mean the employees and there manager as well as their peers will resist technological changes. The employees will also endure fear of failure that could cause employees to doubt their ability to do the job/ or their duty. Those type of change employees are resisting because the employees are too worried about learning the new requirements. Peer pressure can be endured as well for employees when the employees start to resist change to protect their co-worker, and so will the manager to protect their work group. The human resources roles are planning and implementation, planning would be evaluation of
In order to move with the times, the organisation may introduce new equipment or software. Some staff may see this as a positive step that moves the business forward, but some employees may feel anxious about the change, how much it is costing the business and whether it is actually going to improve their role or create more problems.
As a result, they can affect items that are working properly, as well as, incur associated cost without the benefits (Taylor, 2015). Next, the firm should glide toward step 1, which is the redesign or the adaptation of the individual’s roles, responsibilities, and relationships (Spector, 2013, p. 42). This step allows the employee’s to discover who they need to work with, how they will benefit the company strategy, and the outcomes they wish to achieve. In this particular scenario for illustration, the team of nurses, therapist, tech, and schedulers will needs to work together, discover what they needs to do to make an impact (minimizing wasting products or ensuing they charge them out to the patient), and move from only providing quality care to providing quality, cost effective care. The importance here is that the employees devised this new concept rather than top management forcing it down the chain. This area can also present some potential problems. The team or organization can be risk adverse and fear making mistakes or failing (Recklies, 2001). For example, if 2 options are available, the person will go with the one that has lower risk instead of the one that may be more risky and provide a higher return or better outcome. Moreover, employees may be resistant to change as they are uncomfortable with it, do not see the new skills as beneficial, or they prefer the status quo. The second step, help, requests
The nature and scope of a project is determined at the initiation stage. This involves analyzing the business needs, developing goals, budgets, tasks, deliverables, and the stakeholder analysis. The project planning stage determines the planning team, develops the scope, and identifies work breakdown structure and activities that will be needed to complete deliverables. The planning stage also estimates time and cost activities, develop schedule and risk plan, and gain formal approval for work to begin. The executing stage involves all processes used to meet the project requirement and involves managing people and resources. The process that entails the identification of potential problems and
As a result of the success these practices have realized, employees tend to embrace them and reject any changes that do not conform to what they consider the way they have always done things. Employees usually become conditioned to the idea that the activities and procedures of the past will continue to be fruitful in future. As a result, they may reject new development and advancements that they feel would threaten their value system.
3. Describe the basic elements of the project life cycle. Why is an understanding of the project life cycle relevant for understanding project management?
Personal impact and fear of change are not the only causes of resistance by individuals during a change to business practices. The lack of respect and negative attitudes can also lead to employees resisting business change. If an employee lacks respect or has a negative attitude towards a person or department leading the change, then there are more likely to oppose the new ideas being implemented. Poor communication greatly impacts individuals’ accepted to new practices in a company. Typically if an employee is given new behaviors to adopt, but is given no reason, then that employee may reject the change. Upper management must effectively relate the value, need and benefit of the change to help get employees on board with new changes. The lack of individual input can also lead to resistance. Some individuals feel the need to be included in new ideas. When employees are not asked to be involved in changes, they may lack the vision of importance or will to change. A heavier workload can also cause opposition among employees. Employees may not embrace more systems and requirements needed
Over the past few years, project managers and Project management has shown tremendous growth. Project management has evolved over the past several years from an activity in an organization to a discipline in its own right. Many professional bodies exist today to represent project management as a discipline, Some of which include, PMI, Prince2 Foundation, PM Bok.
2. Identify and briefly describe the six factors that are increasing the demand for project management.
c After the acceptance of all stakeholders is achieved, actual growth begins and a project management methodology needs to be selected based on the major areas seeking improvement. A project tracking and monitoring system has to be in place for improved estimation of project life-cycle.
The paper is divided into three sections, the first of which will establish a timeline of events. This project background will serve as a case study for the analysis in the following section that will be structured such that each of the previously mentioned facets will be independently analyzed and contrasted with project management principles. Finally the paper will conclude with a summary of the analysis and recommendations based on