Question

Case Studies Case Studies Case stucies allow you to practice specific skills learned in the er contains several case studies that continue throughout thetextbookandach chp pter capstone case sc NEW CENTURY HEALTH CLINIC New Century Health Clinic offers preventive medicine and tradmedical care. In your role as an IT consultant, you will help New Century develop a nn formationsystem. Background To ensure the quality, cost, and timeliness of the new information system, New is considering a project management approach. To obtain a better understanding of project management, Dr. Jones contacted Precision Planning, a consulting firm that specializes in managing projects of this type. He invited the company to deliver a brief presentation on project management concepts and advantages, and to submit a proposal for project man- agement consulting services. You joined Precision Planning two years ago as a project assistant, after working two summers as a student intern. Your supervisor, Charlie West, asked you to develop the pre- sentation for New Century and you are excited about the opportunity. Charlie said that the main objective is to provide a clear, informative presentation. Charlie wants you to include the following topics in your presentation: an overview of project management and its history, a description of the process, and an explanation of the most important terms and concepts. Charlie also wants you to describe task identification, various types of relationships among tasks, and schedule development. He says you should show how Gantt and PERT/CPM charts are developed, and how they can be used to plan, track, and control projects. Charlie also said that your presentation should include a specific example to illustrate all the main points.

this is not computer science subject. IT SUBJECT Research title topics. i need theoretical framework pls help me thank you

Answer 1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1) An OverView Of Project Management and its history-:

History-:

i) Some people argue that building the Egyptian pyramids was a project, as was building the Great Wall of China.

ii) Most people consider the Manhattan Project to be the first project to use “modern” project management.

iii) This three-year, $2 billion (in 1946 dollars) project had a separate project manager and a technical manager.

Eg:-

2570 BC: The Great Pyramid of Giza Completed

208 BC: Construction of the Great Wall of China

1917: The Gantt chart Developed by Henry Gantt (1861-1919)

1956: The American Association of Cost Engineers (now AACE International) Formed

1957: The Critical Path Method (CPM) Invented by the Dupont Corporation

1958: The Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) Invented for the U.S. Navy's Polaris Project

1962: United States Department of Defense Mandate the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Approach

1965: The International Project Management Association (IPMA) Founded

1969: Project Management Institute (PMI) Launched to Promote the Project Management Profession

1975: PROMPTII Method Created by Simpact Systems Limited

1975: The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Fred Brooks

1984: Theory of Constraints (TOC) Introduced by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his Novel "The Goal"

1986 Scrum Named as a Project Management Style

1987: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) Published by PMI

1989: Earned Value Management (EVM) Leadership Elevated to Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition

1989: PRINCE Method Developed From PROMPTII

1994: CHAOS Report First Published

1996: PRINCE2 Published by CCTA

1997: Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) Invented

1998: PMBOK Becomes a Standard

2001: The Agile Manifesto Written

2006: "Total Cost Management Framework" Release by AACE International

2008: 4th Edition of PMBOK Guide Released

2009: Major PRINCE2 Revision by Office of Government Commerce (OGC)

2012: ISO 21500:2012 Standard for Project Management Released

2012: 5th Edition of PMBOK Guide Released

What is a Project?

Unique process consisting of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve an objective conforming to specific requirements, including constraints of time, cost, quality and resources

i) A Project is a planned set of activities

ii) A Project has a scope

iii) A Project has time, cost, quality and resource constraints  

What is Project Management?

The art of organising, leading, reporting and completing a project through people .

i) A project is a planned undertaking.

ii) A project manager is a person who causes things to happen

iii) Therefore, project management is causing a planned undertaking to happen.

Project Management Process-:

Lets take an example of Developing a project which can run through all below phase-:

i) Phase management – Here, you ensure that you adequately satisfy the conditions for completing each phase, and for starting the next one. To do this, make sure that you fully understand the "gates", or deliverables that must be completed and approved by the appropriate stakeholders before you can exit a phase. Deliverables and sign-off requirements are usually identified in the Project Initiation Document , so review this appropriately during the project.

ii) Planning – Carry out high-level planning for the whole project at the start of the project, then do more detailed planning for each phase at the start of each phase. Ensure that you have the right people, resources, methodologies, and supporting tools in place for each planning phase, so that you can deliver the project on time, on budget, and to appropriate quality standards.

iii) Control – It's essential to control scope , cost , and issues ; and to manage time, risks , and benefits effectively. Create reports that contain the information you need to create an accurate picture of how things are proceeding. A common way of doing this is to use a Project Dashboard .

iv) Team management – As project manager, you are responsible for managing the project team. Working on a project is often different from most "business as usual" activities, and project work may require a different approach and set of skills. As such, you'll probably need specific project management training and support. And there are additional complexities in managing team members who have project responsibilities as well as other roles at the same time.

v) Communication – Make sure that you're clear about who is responsible for communicating to team members, the project board, the different stakeholders within the business, and relevant third parties. Inadequate communication is a frequent problem area for projects, and it needs considerable attention to communicate well. Our articles on communication skills are a useful starting point for developing these essential skills.

vi) Procurement – This is a specialist area. Many projects hire third parties to manage purchasing, particularly when it involves IT systems. Managing these third parties is often the role of the project manager. See our articles on Request for Proposal Documents and Procurement Management for more on this.

vii) Integration – Many projects do not stand on their own within an organization – they often impact other areas of the business. Make sure that you consider how your project will interface with other projects or functions.

Project Management Terms-:

following are the few project management terms-

i) Acceptance Criteria – Those criteria, usually stated in a contract and/or SOW, that includes deliverables, performance requirements and essential conditions, which must be met to complete project deliverables and be accepted.

ii) Acquisition Process – The process of acquiring personnel/goods/services for new or existing work within the general definitions of contracts requiring an offer and acceptance, consideration, lawful subject matter, and competent parties.

iii) Action Plan – A plan that describes what needs to be done and when it needs to be completed. Project plans are action plans.

iv) Activity – The work or effort needed to achieve a result. An activity consumes time and usually consumes resources.

v) Budget – When unqualified, refers to an estimate of funds planned to cover a project or specified period of future time. When approved, the estimate for the project or any work breakdown component or any schedule activity.

vi) Calendar Unit – The smallest unit of the calendar produced. This unit is generally in hours, days, or weeks. It can also be grouped in shifts.

vii) Cost Variance (CV) – Any difference between the estimated cost of an activity and the actual cost of that activity.

viii) Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) (Process) – Partitioning the project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components known as activities, tasks and work package.

ix) Decomposition – The process of breaking down activities and the work package to a manageable level.

x) Effort – The number of labor units required to complete an activity or other project element. Usually expressed as staff hours, staff days, or staff weeks. Should not be confused with duration.

xi) Estimate – An assessment of the likely quantitative result. Usually applied to project costs and durations and should always include some indication of accuracy (e.g., +/- x percent). Usually used with a modifier (e.g., preliminary, conceptual, feasibility). Some application areas have specific modifiers that imply particular accuracy ranges (e.g., order-of-magnitude estimate, budget estimate, and definitive estimate in engineering and construction projects).

Project Management Concepts-:

1) Introduction

2) Projects

3) Project Management Phases

4) Project Management Knowledge Areas

5) Uncertainty of Project Resources

6) The Triple Constraint

7) Project Management vs. Program Management

8) Complications

9) Involving IT Projects

10)Characteristics of Projects.

Task Identification and Schedule developement-:

A key to successful project scheduling is to break down the project goals into tasks BEFORE you consider

delivery dates, resource constraints, specific named resources, or task dependencies. This helps you to

objectively identify all of the work necessary without subconsciously leaving out real work in order to fit

date constraints.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) step helps accomplish the following key objectives:

1) Develops an objective, rational view of the amount of work required (VITAL!)

2) Helps team grasp the skills required and amount of resources required for the project

3) Provides a clear framework for assigning to individuals a clear task definition and delegate the responsibility for completion

4) Lays a foundation for analyzing the task dependencies and for isolating and managing risks

5) Lays a foundation for developing a bottom-up estimate for the project schedule

6) Allows tradeoffs to be made consciously and with the proper consensus involved.

Project Scope -> Task Identification, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ->Task Resource Assignment -> Task Relationships and Dependencies -> Task Work & Duration Estimates -> Project Schedule

Plan & Schedule -> Trade-offs, Optimization, and Risk Management Development

Schedule developement-:

To develop a project schedule, the following needs to be completed:

1) Project scope.

2) Sequence of activities.

3) Tasks grouped into 5 project phases (conception, definition & planning, launch, performance, close)

4) Task dependencies map.

5) Critical path analysis.

6) Project milestones.

For Example-:

Anita and Anil have decided to tie the knot, but they don’t have much time to plan their wedding. They want the big day to be unforgettable. They want to invite many people and provide a great time. They’ve always dreamed of a Dec wedding, but it’s already January. Just thinking about all of the details involved is overwhelming. Anita has been dreaming of the big day since she was 12, but it seems that there’s so little time for all the tasks to be completed. When they were choosing the paper for the invitations, the couple realized that they needed help.

Anita: Anil, we need some help.

Anil: Don’t worry. My sister’s wedding planner was great. Let me give her a call. [Anil calls the wedding planner salil.]

Wedding Planner: Hello Anita and Anil.

Anil: We want everything to be perfect.

Anita: There is so much to do! Invitations, food, guests, and music.

Anil: Oh no, we haven’t even booked a place!

Anita: And it has to be done right. We can’t print the invitations until we have the menu planned. We can’t do the seating arrangements until we have the RSVPs. We aren’t sure what kind of band to get for the reception, or should it be a DJ? We’re just overwhelmed.

Anil: My sister said you really saved her wedding. I know she gave you over a year to plan.

Anil: But I’ve always dreamed of a June wedding, and I’m not willing to give that up. I know it’s late, but salil can you help us?

Wedding Planner: Take it easy, guys. I’ve got it under control. We’ve a lot of people and activities to get under control. You guys really should have called six months ago, but we’ll still make this wedding happen on time.

Much work has to be done before June. First, salil figures out what work needs to be done. She starts to put together a to-do list:

1) Invitations

2) Flowers

3) Wedding cake

4) Dinner menu

5) Band

6) Since many different people are involved in the making of the wedding, it takes much planning to coordinate all the work in the right order by the right people at the right time. Initially, salil was worried that she didn’t have enough time to make sure that everything would be done properly. However, she knew that she had some powerful time management tools on her side when she took the job, and these tools would help her to synchronize all the required tasks.

To get started, salil arranged all the activities in a work breakdown structure. The next exercise presents part of the WBS salil made for the wedding.

WBS Exercise (Solution follows)

Arrange the following activities into the WBS to show how the work items decompose into activities.

1) Shop for shoes

2) Create guest list

3) Have the tailoring and fitting done

4) Shop for dress

5) Find caterer

6) Cater the wedding

7) Wait for RSVPs

8) Mail the invitations

9) Finalize the menu

10) Print the invitations

11) Choose the bouquet

Next we need to cover below all methods to plan anil and anita wedding.

i) Activity List

ii) Leads and Lags

iii) Milestones

iv) The Activity Sequencing Process

v) Creating the Gantt Chart

vi) Creating the Network Diagram

vii) The Critical Path

Gantt Chart-:

A Gantt chart is a graphical depiction for planning and scheduling projects. It breaks a project into smaller pieces of tasks with each of these spread out over time. With it, you can see task dependencies, scheduling constraints, duration of each task and percent complete. In a Gantt Chart, each activity is represented by a bar; the position and length of the bar reflects the start date, duration and end date of the activity. The milestone is represented by a triangle, and the relationship is always shown with an arrow.

Examples of gantt charts

Software development gantt chart example

Software developers frequently use gantt charts to manage their projects. This example shows a gantt chart for a software development project using the agile approach. Tasks have been organized into groups based on sprints, with milestones for sprint planning and deployment.

Construction scheduling gantt chart example

Construction project managers rely on gantt charts to manage moving parts across large projects. In this simple gantt chart example, each phase of the construction process has been broken down into its own group of tasks. Important planning meetings, contract sign-offs, and inspections are represented by milestones.

PERT Chart-:

PERT stands for Program Evaluation Review Technique. It was introduced by the United States Navy in the 1950s. Pert chart is also a project management tool used to plan tasks within a project – making it easier to schedule and coordinate team members accomplishing the work. Pert chart was initially developed to simplify the planning and scheduling of large and complex projects.Pert chart looks like a flowchart. It uses boxes and arrows to show the subtasks and their dependencies.

Creating a PERT Chart
When creating a PERT chart tasks, or activities, are represented as arrows on the diagram. The dates of project milestones are represented as nodes, or circles.

A PERT event is a point that marks the start of completion of one or more activities.

There are also predecessor events, which occur immediately before some even, and a successor event, which naturally occurs afterwards.

PERT has four definitions for the time required to accomplish an activity.

Optimistic Time, which is the least amount of time to accomplish a task or activity. Pessimistic Time, which is the maximum amount of time to accomplish a task or activity. Most Likely Time, which is the best estimate of how long it will take to accomplish the task or activity, assuming there are no problems. Expected Time, which is the best estimate of how long it will take to accomplish the task or activity, assuming there will be problems
Terms Related to Using a PERT Chart
Slack: The amount of time a task can be delayed without causing an overall delay to the project or other tasks.
Critical Path: Charts the longest path from beginning to the end of a task or event.
Critical Path Activity: An activity with no slack.
Lead Time: How much time you should complete a task or activity without impacting the following ones.
Lag Time: The earliest time in which to a task can follow another.
Fast Tracking: Working tasks or activities at the same time.
Crashing Critical Path: Shortening the time of a task.
Steps to Implementing a PERT Chart
Determine the tasks required to complete the project, the order in which they must be done and their duration.
Create a network diagram with arrows representing activities and nodes being milestones.
What is the critical path and possible slack?