Question

BACKGROUND
Throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Du Telecom provides mobile and fixed telephony, broadband
connectivity and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services to people, homes, and businesses. When it
opened for business in 2006, the company boldly entered what was already a saturated market with 100%
penetration. Although du Telecom recognized that the telecom industry in the Arabian Gulf is fast growing
and that the company would face ever increasing competition, it approached the market as an opportunity
rather than an obstacle.
Within four years, Du Telecom had acquired almost 40% of the region’s mobile market share and was
maintaining an annual growth rate of more than 32% in a saturated market.
Established in 1987, Huawei is a global leader of ICT solutions and the largest telecommunications
equipment maker in the world.
Their telecom network equipment, IT products and solutions, and smart devices are used in 170 countries
and regions. In 2013, Du Telecom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Huawei
Technologies Co. Ltd., a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and
services company. With this understanding, du and Huawei are working together to better define the best
practices in portfolio and project management concepts, processes and techniques for their industry,
including knowledge transfer and research.

Du and Huawei are operating what they term a “distributed Project Management Office” in two countries.
This requires that both understand how a Project Management Office (PMO) functions in that type of
environment. The two companies decided to work together to exchange best practice industry
methodologies, concepts, tools and techniques, while also better defining best practice portfolio
management concepts, processes, and techniques.
THE CHALLENGE
Du Telecoms knows that every project takes place in a specific context, be it a stand-alone project or part
of a greater program, or one among a portfolio of projects. A project may also involve a team whose
members have never worked together before, and it may require assigning responsibilities and roles to
people who are new to them. All of these factors are identified and considered as part of a project. With
all of these considerations in mind, du was looking for partners who could help them overcome these
challenges. This provided the trigger to initiate an engagement with Huawei.
In a region marked by fierce competition, telecom operators contend with constant change and long-term
uncertainty. One key shortcoming that du explored for surmounting these challenges was the role of project
leadership—a capability that delegates and facilitates faster decision making and improves time to market.
THE SOLUTION
Project leadership is a skill that requires time to develop—in a person or an organization. Achieving
success requires an analysis of setbacks and failures as a roadmap for improvement. Focusing on each
project’s challenges and learning from them helps build a more successful project management capability.
PMI’s in-depth report “Capturing the Value of Project Management Through Knowledge Transfer” reveals
that while capturing lessons learned is critical, what an organization does with that knowledge once it is
captured, is equally important.
As part of the MOU, Huawei and Du Telecoms work together to improve project management practices
between the two companies through knowledge sharing, exchange visits, and other forms of collaboration.
Having robust project management capabilities gives decision makers real-time visibility on project health,
trends on investment returns, and the appropriate control to enable decision making that reduces
uncertainty and opens up opportunities.
As part of the process, du and Huawei use the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3)
model to accomplish management and control. Organizations turn to OPM3 because it helps them bridge
the gap between strategy and individual projects. It provides a way to advance strategic interests through
the application of project management principles and practices. This generates consistently successful,
high-quality projects that achieve their goals in a timely manner.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
As a result of their collaboration, both companies report a reduction in project failure, an appropriate level
of quality, and results that meet requirements and customer expectations. Both were also able to free up
staff for other assignments and increase efficiency both on the project and within the business, making
things simpler and easier for staff.
Du and Huawei instituted a single point of contact responsible for the management of an overall project.
This produces consistent communications among staff and suppliers and also keeps costs, timeframes,
and resources within budget.
Finally, robust project management practices are all about managing customer expectations with a
customer-centric vision. Within the du Telecom–Huawei collaboration, project management practices
touched upon the DNA of the telecom business, which is customer experience. Project management
became the enabler for that customer experience.
Source: Project Management Institute, Inc 2015
Question 1
With the aid of a diagram discuss the different stages of the project lifecycle that Du Telecoms and Huawei
would undergo to successfully deliver their projects.?

Answer 1

Case Critical Analysis:

Du Telecom provides mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services to people, homes, and businesses. Established in 1987, Huawei is a global leader of ICT solutions and the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world. In 2013, Du Telecom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. With this understanding, Du and Huawei are working together to better define the best practices in portfolio and project management concepts, processes and techniques for their industry, including knowledge transfer and research.

The two companies decided to work together to exchange best practice industry methodologies, concepts, tools and techniques, while also better defining best practice portfolio management concepts, processes, and techniques.

Project life cycle:

The project life cycle can be defined as a four-step process implemented by almost all project managers working in organizations while going forward toward project completion. The project life cycle provides a framework that helps manage any kind of project in a business. The project life cycle is the standard way through which teams achieve successful project completion.

Stages in the project life cycle:

According to the Project Management Institute, the project life cycle is essential for all project managers who aim to deliver projects to their clients successfully.

The following are the steps that Du Telecoms and Huawei would strictly have to follow to successfully deliver their projects:

Stage 1: The Conceptualization Phase

Stage 2: The Planning Phase

Stage 3: The Execution Phase

Stage 4: The Termination Phase

Stage 1: The Conceptualization Phase

The Conceptualization phase is also called the “Initiation Phase” and is the start point for any project or concept. For this stage to start with, a strategic need for the project ought to be considered by the top-level management in the organization. A thorough analysis is required at this stage and it is also required to consider important points like defining the problems, studying whether the development of the project would resolve the problem, defining objectives of the project, and finding whether the team has sufficient resources to sustain and accomplish the project successfully. The major activities in the stage involve:

• Developing the statement of work
• Preparing a case and presenting it to the top management and those who would be involved in the project
• Creating a business contract

Stage 2: The Planning Phase

The second phase of the project is the planning phase. Once there is a green signal from the top management to launch the project, there arises the need to develop a more formal and well-thought set of plans and strategies. It also involves establishing and defining the initial goals.

It involves identifying the purpose of the project, the vision, and mission and finding if there are measurable goals or success criteria. It also involves determining whether they have a suitable and standard description of the project, its needs, and risks associated with it and whether they can effectively plan and finance large milestones. The major activities in the stage involve:

• Assessing the availability of resources
• Developing an estimated budget for the project
• Allocating tasks to specific resources

Stage 3: The Execution Phase

The third stage in the process is the execution phase. In this phase, the concrete tasks of the project are done in real sense. Resources, equipment, and necessary materials are utilized and transformed to attain the goals. In this phase, performance is consistently measured in order to make sure that the project is moving smoothly and would lead to success.

The phase involves analysing whether all resources are being followed upon, whether the project is running according to the planned budget and scheduled time, if resource planning needs to be optimized, and if there are any major hurdles that demand change management. The major activities in the stage involve strategic and implementation planning.

Stage 4: The Termination Phase

The final stage is the termination phase. This phase starts when the project is technically accomplished. It involves disbanding the team working on it, reassigning new tasks to staff and tools, and transferring the project to intended users.

A few important activities are further considered in this stage, such as determining whether the completion standards of the project have been met or not, if there is a report being prepared to declare the formal closure of the project, if all project artefacts have been gathered and saved for the future or not, and finally whether a formal project analysis has been planned or not.

Hence, the above discussed are the major steps to be followed by Du Telecoms and Huawei to successfully deliver their projects.

However, apart from these standard processes, the companies need to take care of a few more things to ensure successful project delivery. They must ensure fluidity and feedback between stages. The project life cycle needs to be infinite, holistic, and cyclical through the life of the project. The individuals involved in the project need something extraordinary tailored to them to make the project a success.