Question

Context

You are working as a project manager in your chosen case organisation and a senior manager has asked for your assistance with understanding and resolving two current problems (refer below). The senior manager has asked that you provide a justified response to the two problems in the form of a written report (refer report structure below). Your responses are to be justified by recent and relevant scholarly (journal articles and eBooks) literature.

The two current problems Problem 1 – The nature of work and its management: • For your case organisation, critically argue (i.e. support your argument with scholarly literature) what activities undertaken by the organisation can be classified as operational work and what activities can be classified as project work. Then, evaluate, with the use of scholarly literature whether the managerial approaches currently being used for the management of those activities is the most suitable given your argued classification. Make recommendations based on the findings of your analysis. [Course module 1]

Problem 2 – Structuring project work: • For your case organisation, critically analyse, using scholarly literature, whether the current use of portfolios, programs and projects for structuring project work is appropriate. If the organization is not currently using these structures, critically assess whether there is any benefit in doing so. Make recommendations based on the findings of your analysis. [Course module 2]

Report structure For assignment 1, provide the following: Mark sheet/rubric (see separate mark sheet / rubric on the course study desk) Report cover sheet (similar to what you would use for a workplace report) Executive summary (200 - 300 words – not included in word count) Table of contents, List of Tables (if required), List of Figures (if required)

1. Introduction (100 words) Introduce the purpose of your report and its structure.

2.Organisational context (250 words) In this section, describe the organisational and project context for which you are preparing the report. You need to provide sufficient detail about the organisation that the reader can understand your responses to the two issues

Answer 1

Project work and Operational work

*Both are performed by people,
*Both are planned, executed and controlled, and
*Both have resource limitation.
*There are only two aspects of work (or the combination of these two) in any organization; i.e., projects and operations.

Project-

The organization which purely deals with projects is known as a projectized organization, and the organization which deals with operational work is known as a functional organization. And the organization which deals with projects and as well as operations is known as a matrix organization.

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.”

The nature of the project is temporary-This means that once you deliver the deliverables (output of the project), your project will cease to exist because it has achieved its objective.
and
The project is undertaken to produce a unique output, for example, a product, service, or a result- projects are undertaken to produce a specific output. If it is a construction-related project, it may create any physical structure.

Operation-
Operations are the ongoing execution of activities that produce the same output or provide a repetitive service.
Operations do not produce new things, but they are necessary to maintain and sustain the system.
Operations are used to run regular business models, achieve the goals of the business, and support the business.
Operations are different as opposed to projects, which are known for their uniqueness.
Operations are permanent, and their only constraint is to make a profit for the organization.
Any manufacturing or production process can be an example of an operation.

The difference between the Project and the Operation:-
*Projects are unique and temporary (definitive beginning and ending), while operations are ongoing and permanent with repetitive output.
*Projects have a fixed budget, while operations have to earn a profit to run the business.
*Projects are executed to start a new business objective and terminated when it is achieved, while operational work does not produce anything new and it is ongoing.
*Projects create a unique product, service, or result, while operations produce the same product, aim to earn a profit and keep the system running.

Example:

Assuming you was given a project to build a car manufacturing facility.
Then you build the facility and deliver it to the client. Your job is completed, and the client has started manufacturing the cars.
In this example, building the facility is an example of a project, because here you constructed a car manufacturing facility and handed it over to the client and signed off.
However, once the facility starts working and the car manufacturing process starts, this will be an example of operation, because here the facility is producing a repetitive output, i.e., cars, and the process is ongoing.

Before I conclude let me tell you an interesting discussion about the project and the operation that happened between my friend and me.

A few days ago, I argued with my friend regarding the definition of a project.

He was not able to differentiate between the project and the operation. He was confused by the similar nature of projects with operations.

He was saying that an organization has completed a project to build a school building. This project is completed, and the school building is handed over to the client.

Now if the same organization gets another project to build a similar school building at another place, it would be an operation, because the organization is performing the same task.

I explained to him that even though the organization is doing a similar type of project, this is not an operation. The organization may use the experience and template/procedures from previous similar projects, but they have to start fresh whenever they get any new project regardless of whether they have completed any similar type of project in the past.

Being similar does not mean they are the same or can be categorized as operations. Although you are constructing a school building, once you hand it over it to the client, your job is completed, and the team is released.

Whenever you handle a similar type of project in the future, you will start planning from scratch, develop your project team, procurement contracts, and so on. Everything will be new and will start from scratch.

Although your experience will help you managing the project, it is not the same as before.

I explained to him the definitions of a project and operation and how he can apply these definitions to his school building example.

I asked him: once the school building is completed, will the project team remain with it, or they will leave? He replied that once the school building is completed, the team will disappear. I said it fulfilled the first condition of a project, which states that the nature of the project is temporary.

I asked him again: will this team give you any output, and if there is any repetition to it? He replied, yes they will give output as a school building, and there is not any repetition. I said it fulfills the second condition of a project, which means projects are undertaken to produce some unique service, result or product.

I also asked him if there is any fixed budget or time duration to complete the construction of the school building. He said yes. I told him these are properties of projects, that they have a definitive beginning, ending, and has fixed budget.

Operations don’t have a fixed budget or time duration.

Finally, he got the difference between a project and an operation.

I hope these concepts are now clear to you, too.