Week 1

Question 1

what has project management increased?

Answer 1

1. Move from hierarchical management to participatory management, as with hierarchical management people’s efforts weren’t acknowledged
2. The adoption of the “systems approach”, wherein systems can be broken down and so managed more effectively
3. The role of projects when changing an organisation’s strategy

Question 2

what are the limitations of project management?

Answer 2

1. every project is unique, so requires thinking on your feet
2. can cause firm complexity eg needed the right structure
3. projects will always involve conflict between people over resources
4. can be expensive

Question 3

what is the project management institute (PMI)?

Answer 3

exists to improve project management standards, its american focused
- PRINCE is used in the UK gov and IT industry, prioritises processes, not quality of product

Question 4

What is a project?

Answer 4

• according to meredith et al (2016) “A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result”
• its a specific, finite set of tasks used to
  accomplish a given objective / goal, routine tasks are not projects

Question 5

what is program?

Answer 5

an exceptionally large, long- range objective that is broken down into a set of projects

Question 6

what is a task?

Answer 6

set of activities comprising a project

Question 7

what is a work package?

Answer 7

the division of tasks

Question 8

what is the triple constraint?

Answer 8

there are 3 key objectives of every projects:
1. time - when it needs to be done
2. cost - its within budget
3. scope - what will and wont be done
= all three variables are interrelated as a change in 1 effects the other 2

Question 9

what is the criteria for project success?

Answer 9

1. project efficiency: has the project been well managed, within time, budget and scope?
2. impact on the customer: is consumer happy with their output?
3. business impact on firm: project impact has positive effect on entire firm
4. opens new opportunities for the future - find new market for product

Question 10

who is the project manager?

Answer 10

• has to deal with many differing stakeholders eg employees, boss, public all of whom have different goals that will come into conflict with each other
• PM has full responsibility for project success
• however, all PM’s have many rewards eg high visibility, job variety, prestige and salary

Question 11

what is the project team?

Answer 11

• each project is unique so will need different skills and so different members

Question 12

who is the project sponsor?

Answer 12

• According to Zwikael and Meredith (2018) “A senior manager who is supportive of the project and provides political and top management support for the project manager and their team”
• they can provide the project with guidance, senior management support, resources and financial support, leadership support

Question 13

what are the ‘speeds’ of a project life cycle:

Answer 13

1. slow start: where all planning begins, eg when amount of resources needed are calculated
2. quick momentum: where majority of work is done
3. slow finish: where most of the work is complete and you plan end of project

Question 14

what is the first stage of the project life cycle?

Answer 14

Initiation: a business case is drawn up which explains why a project is needed and what is required to do it, at the end managers decide whether its needed

Question 15

what is the second stage of the project life cycle?

Answer 15

Planning: here formal planning will start eg the budget, schedule and deliverables

Question 16

what is the third stage of the project life cycle?

Answer 16

Execution: here is where the tasks outlined in the planning stage are carried out and where the project is monitored to see if any changes are needed (control)

Question 17

what is the fourth stage of the project life cycle?

Answer 17

closure: most of the work is done here, and so the project team is reassigned and analysis of the project is done

Question 18

what is uncertainty?

Answer 18

its the biggest at the start of the project as unsure of project success but reduces as projects starts and you begin to evaluate what is working and what needs changing
- as the output of one project can be the input of another.