Generic - Project Management
Generic - Project Management
Module Guide
Copyright © 2024
MANCOSA
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This module guide,
Project Management(NQF Level 7)
will be used across the following programmes:
Table of Contents
Preface 2
Unit 1 : Introduction to Project Management 8
Unit 2 : Constraints and Potential Project Resource Problems in a Project
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Environment
Unit 3: Project Life Cycle and Tools and Techniques used at Different
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Project Stages
Unit 4: Project Management Tools and Techniques 54
Unit 5: Communication and Risk Management Tools and Techniques in a
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Project Management Environment
Unit 6 : Leadership Teams and Stakeholder Management 84
Unit 7 : Quality in Project Management 105
Unit 8: Project Integration Management 114
References 126
Bibliography 127
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Preface
A. Welcome
Dear Student
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Project Management (PMT7). To make sure that you share
our passion about this area of study, we encourage you to read this overview thoroughly. Refer to it
as often as you need to since it will certainly make studying this module a lot easier. The intention of
this module is to develop both your confidence and proficiency in this module.
The field of Project Management is extremely dynamic and challenging. The learning content,
activities and self- study questions contained in this guide will therefore provide you with
opportunities to explore the latest developments in this field and help you to learn Project
Management as it is practiced today.
The content covered in this module starts from defining what a project is to project closure. This
broad coverage will provide you with the necessary skills to articulate to the next levels with
reasonable ease. It is written in accessible language accompanied with simple illustrations and
examples to facilitate learning. At the end of this module, you should be able to utilise project
management tools and implement projects irrespective of scale – large or small - the principles
remain the same. As you read this module, take down some notes and highlight important concepts.
It is advisable to attempt all the examples. It intuitively true that practice makes perfect.
This is a distance-learning module. Since you do not have a tutor standing next to you while you
study, you need to apply self-discipline. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with each other
via social media tools. Your study skills will include self-direction and responsibility. However, you will
gain a lot from the experience! These study skills will contribute to your life skills, which will help you
to succeed in all areas of life.
Please note that some Activities, Think Points and Revision Questions may not have answers
available, where answers are not available this can be further discussed with your lecturer at
the webinars.
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-------
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rights in or to multimedia used or provided in this module guide. Such multimedia is copyrighted by the
respective creators thereto and used by MANCOSA for educational purposes only. Should you wish to use
copyrighted material from this guide for purposes of your own that extend beyond fair dealing/use, you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
B. Module Overview
The purpose of the course is to provide you with the basic tools, techniques and methodologies of
project management for you to be able to understand how they can be used effectively to execute
projects and to complete such projects successfully to the satisfaction of the customer. The principles
and theories that underpin Project Management derive mainly from the discipline of Management.
This module fits in the programme because it is cross-cutting and leverages the synergies generated
by the other modules. As such, this module was designed to engage you so that you can think
critically about the application of project management in both theory and practice in society. The
course offers an overview of project management and its applicability to the South African, African
and global context. By adopting such an approach, it intends to tap on the wealth of old experiences
while benefiting from new developments in the discipline with both a local and global perspective in
its evolution.
The content covered in this module starts from defining what a project is to project closure. This
broad coverage will provide you with the necessary skills to articulate to the next levels with
reasonable ease. It is written in accessible language accompanied with simple illustrations and
examples to facilitate learning. At the end of this module, you should be able to utilise project
management tools and implement projects irrespective of scale – large or small - the principles
remain the same. As you read this module, take down some notes and highlight important concepts.
It is advisable to attempt all the examples. Intuitively true that practice makes perfect. It is the
anticipation that this module will enhance your employability chances in a spectrum of disciplines in
Project management.
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The purpose of the Module Guide is to allow you the opportunity to integrate the theoretical concepts
from the prescribed textbook and recommended readings. We suggest that you briefly skim read
through the entire guide to get an overview of its contents. At the beginning of each Unit, you will find
a list of Learning Outcomes. This outlines the main points that you should understand when you
have completed the Unit/s. Do not attempt to read and study everything at once. Each study session
should be 90 minutes without a break
This module should be studied using the prescribed and recommended textbooks/readings and the
relevant sections of this Module Guide. You must read about the topic that you intend to study in the
appropriate section before you start reading the textbook in detail. Ensure that you make your own
notes as you work through both the textbook and this module. In the event that you do not have the
prescribed and recommended textbooks/readings, you must make use of any other source that deals
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with the sections in this module. If you want to do further reading, and want to obtain publications that
were used as source documents when we wrote this guide, you should look at the reference list and
the bibliography at the end of the Module Guide. In addition, at the end of each Unit there may be
link to the PowerPoint presentation and other useful reading.
E. Study Material
The study material for this module includes tutorial letters, programme handbook, this Module Guide,
a list of prescribed and recommended textbooks/readings which may be supplemented by additional
readings.
F. Prescribed Textbook
The textbook presents a tremendous amount of material in a simple, easy-to-learn format. You
should read ahead during your course. Make a point of it to re-read the learning content in your
module textbook. This will increase your retention of important concepts and skills. You may wish to
read more widely than just the Module Guide and the prescribed textbook, the Bibliography and
Reference list provides you with additional reading.
The prescribed and recommended textbooks/readings for this module is:
Prescribed Textbook(s)
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management. Seventh Edition. Cengage
Learning.
Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage. Fourth Edition.
Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
Larson, E.W. and Gray, C.F. (2014) Project Management: The Management Process. Sixth
Edition, McGraw-Hill International.
Burke, R. (2013) Project Management Techniques. College Edition. Hampshire: Burke
Publishing.
PMBOK (2013) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Pennsylvania: Project
Management Institute.
Burke, R (2021) Project Management Techniques - Artificial Intelligence. Fourth Edition. Burke
Publishing.
Project Management Institute. (2021) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide). Seventh Edition. Project Management Institute.
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Pinto, J.K. (2021) Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage. Fifth Edition.
Harlow:Pearson.
Larson, E.W. and Gray, C.F. (2020) Project Management: The Management Process. Eight
Edition. McGraw-Hill International.
G. Special Features
In the Module Guide, you will find the following icons together with a description. These are designed to
help you study. It is imperative that you work through them as they also provide guidelines for
examination purposes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may come across activities that ask you to carry out specific
tasks. In most cases, there are no right or wrong answers to
ACTIVITY
these activities. The aim of the activities is to give you an
opportunity to apply what you have learned.
At this point, you should read the reference supplied. If you are
unable to acquire the suggested readings, then you are
READINGS
welcome to consult any current source that deals with the
subject. This constitutes research.
PRACTICAL
Real examples or cases will be discussed to enhance
APPLICATION
understanding of this Module Guide.
OR EXAMPLES
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Unit
1: Introduction to Project
Management
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Prescribed Readings
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management.
Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning.
Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive
Advantage. Fourth Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
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A project is any endeavour or activity that consumes time, money (cost), human effort and technology
with limits in terms of scope. Some projects use a lot of technology while others do not. It is clear
that projects involve the use of resources of various types. These resources form the inputs
necessary for the execution of a project and go through a process of transformation. The
transformation process leads to a specified output which can be either a house, a dam, a stadium, an
airplane, a book, a poem, a sporting event or a song. All these are examples of projects with similar
characteristics. Project characteristics will be explained in the next section of the module guide.
Projects normally have a start and end date, consume resources and are limited by scope time and
costs. The manner in which these inputs are combined, will have an impact on the quality of the
output. Put simply: A project is a task or a group of tasks, with a start and end date a budget and a
unique outcome. The outcome is in the form of a product or service. A project is limited by cost, time
and performance specifications. It uses a variety of skills and resources. When implementing a
project, certain skills, tools and techniques have to be used and they distinguish Project
Management from General Management.
Management involves planning, organising, leading and coordinating resources. As such Project
Management involves planning, leading, organising, coordinating and controlling of resources within
a given timeframe and budget to achieve a clearly defined objective. There is a strong link between
project management and concepts and theories of management.
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Operations of a routine nature are not considered projects as they are repetitive and on-going. A
good example is a production line or a car assembly or selling grocery in a shop. Routine activities
which do not have an end date are not projects. Strictly speaking, projects must have start and end
dates. This typically applies to what people call income generating projects. When these projects
continue without an end, they cease to be projects. Projects must start and end, use resources and
have a final outcome. This does not mean that an income generating project cannot be a project. It
has to have the key attributes of a project such as shall be explained in the next section.
Activity 1.1
Other attributes associated with projects include risk and that a project is usually done on behalf of a
customer. Project Management as a discipline, has its unique qualities.
Below are some examples of projects:
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We see that a project involves the creation of something that has not been done before. It must be
something that is unique. A housing project may involve new designs which make it unique and
different from other projects. A project may be unique because it involves different owners and
different sites.
Project Scope
In the conceptualisation phase, ideas are explored and the broad idea representing the outcome is
clearly defined. Tentative cost estimates are produced. At this stage, it is critical to have consensus
among stakeholders of the end game of the project particularly its specifications and performance
requirements and ensure that, in principle, it meets the needs of all the stakeholders. A decision is
then made whether to continue with the project or not.
The next stage is concerned with designing and planning in which the scope of the project is
defined. The outcome of the project is clearly spelt out and a written scope is produced which
specifies the deliverables. A deliverable is either a product or service.
In essence, the planning of the project begins with the compilation of a budget. Budgeting is made
difficult if the project is huge and complex requiring enormous resources, material, know-how and
skills. Only after this stage will execution begin.
Project Scope is defined as the end result of a project, which is identifiable and measurable and can
take the form of a product or service, which is required by a customer/client. According to Larson and
Gray (2014), the purpose of a Scope Statement is to outline the deliverables of the project for the
benefit of stakeholders particularly the end user. It is also useful in providing a focal point that
represents the end goal of the project and is convenient for planning purposes as well as a tool to
measure the success of the project. Project Scope Checklist should contain Project objective, the
milestones, the deliverables, the project technical requirements, the exclusions and limits as well as
the reviews with the customer (Larson and Gray, 2014).
Project Charter
Pinto (2016) observes that after a comprehensive Statement of Work has been produced, a Project
Charter is then developed. A Statement of Work (SOW) is a detailed description of the work to be
done on am project.
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A Project Charter is the document produced by the sponsor, which formally acknowledges the
existence of a project and gives the project manager the authority to start applying the firm’s
resources to execute it. It represents the firm’s approval that the project should be done and the firm
has ascertained its capability and capacity to execute it. Pinto (2016) notes that, for some
organisations, the signing of the SOW constitutes a Project Charter while for others, a separate
document has to be produced. Figure 1 shows an example of a Project Charter.
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Project Management uses theories in management such as Change Management Theory, Theory
of Reasoned Action, Contingency Theory, Transaction Cost Theory, Management by
Objectives, Management by Walking About including Leadership Theories.
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There are differences between a Project, Programme and Portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of
programmes which are managed together, while a programme is a group of related projects which
are managed in a coordinated manner to maximise the benefits arising from joint coordination. A
programme consists of projects which are linked together to achieve a common goal. These projects
within a programme are assigned to various teams. A Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree Programme
consists of modules or course which constitute a programme. As you attend each course, that is a
project for you. Government Ministers have portfolios – Education for example has Portfolios of
Higher Education and Basic Education. Fig 2 and Fig 3 below show the hierarchy of a Portfolio,
Programme and Projects.
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Source: [Link]
Grouping of projects is done to take advantage of economies of scale, to reduce risk exposure and to
make it easy to manage the projects in a focused manner in order to achieve the organisation’s
strategic goals.
Project management organisations execute their strategies through projects. As such all projects
must contribute to the overall goal of the organisation. In other words, all projects must align with the
organisation’s strategy drawing from its strategic plan. An Organisational strategy provides the focus
of an organisation with a long term horizon in mind. Project Management is about managing those
projects which are informed by the strategy. Operations Management supports projects and involves
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Activity 1.2
Watch this video for more about the role of a Project Manager
[Link]
users and be user-friendly by being executable, comprehensible, convenient and not data intensive
and whose benefits must outweigh its costs.
Payback period: This model considers the amount initially invested in the project which is divided
by estimated net cash inflows per year resulting from the project. It is a crude indicator of risk as it
shows the number of years by which the initial investment id at risk. Thus, a project with a shorter
payback period is preferred and therefore selected.
Example: Sbu runs a small business enterprise. He is planning to invest in one of the two projects:
either Project A or Project B. Both projects have an initial capital investment of R12, 000. Using the
Payback Period method, which project should he invest in given the following information.
In Project A, in the first two years, the firm would have recouped R10,000 (4,000 + 6,000)
2000* is the residual amount to achieve the payback and is obtained as R12,000- R10,000.
Project A will take 2 years and 4 months
Project B will take 3 years and 3 months.
Sbu will invest in Project A as it has a shorter payback period.
The advantages of the Payback Period include:
Measures the time it will take to recover the project investment costs;
Shorter paybacks are more desirable;
Emphasises cash flows, a key factor in business (Larson and Gray, 2014)
The following models all make use of present values of future cash flows:
Net present value (NPV): Also referred to as the discounted cash flow model, it determines the
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NPV of all the cash flows by discounting them (i.e. assessing whether they are less or greater
than – in terms of value) them against the required return on investment rate of the project. This
will be elaborated in class with examples
Profitability Index: takes into account the NPV of all future expected cash flows which are then
divided by the initial investment in which any answer above 1.0 is accepted and the project is
selected. This will also be elaborated in class with examples
Qualitative Models
According to Larson and Gray (2014), qualitative models include:
Unweighted 0-1 factor model: in which management chooses some criteria. A panel either says a
project “Qualifies” or “Does not qualify” based on those criteria. At end of the evaluation, the number
of “Qualifies” and the number of “Does not qualify” are summed up and only projects that meet a
specified threshold of “Qualifies” are selected. It gives all criteria the same weight. There is no
scoring, it is a matter of “yes” or “no” principle.
Unweighted factor scoring model: This model uses a rating scale (from a three-point scale to a
ten-point scale). Ultimately, the scores are added up and projects which have a score above the
threshold are selected.
Weighted factor scoring model: This model assigns weights to factors given their relative
importance to the firm. The score per criterion is multiplied by the weight assigned to the criterion
and the answers are added to obtain the final overall score. See example below. Fig 4:
The sacred cow are projects done at the whim of powerful senior people within the organisation
without considering their value to the firm or its strategy. Such projects can be implemented to test
concepts and assess the possibilities. Many Formula One teams such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW,
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Honda, Ford do that to test their braking systems, multivalve technology and so on.
The operating necessity: Often, action in some area is needed to keep a system or process intact.
These actions can very easily to take the form of a project. If the system or process is worth saving,
such projects are worth pursuing.
Accountability and responsibility still remains with management of which project is selected. It is not
the responsibility of the model! The model is just a tool. Overall, firms use different models to
evaluate projects.
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Feedback and feedforward mechanisms – projects should have mechanisms to ensure that
information flows backwards and forwards so that there is continuity of performance.
Transparency – openness with stakeholders will ensure that everyone buys into the project so that
all of them can commit their effort to their best ability.
Monitoring and evaluation – there should be mechanisms to monitor and evaluate projects at
various stages of performance from the beginning to the end.
Project failure is typically a result of the absence of the above success factors including other factors
such as lack of political support, unrealistic time frames, large teams, lack of leadership, weak
participation in planning as well as discord in the team.
1.10 Summary
This Unit covered concepts of a Project, Management and Project Management. The attributes of a
project were presented. The Unit also distinguished Projects, Programmes from Portfolios and
described the Organisational Structures utilised in Project Management. It is evident that Project
Management requires careful planning and the use of Project Management Tools and Techniques in
order to achieve specific outcomes/deliverables in which the project manager is responsible for
change as the change agent with definite responsibilities. A successful project starts on time, ends
on time, ends within budget, and achieves the scope of the project. Unfortunately, many projects do
not meet these simple criteria. The next Unit looks at Project Management Process Groups as well
as the constraints and potential project resource problems.
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Case Study
Clark Gates Manufacturing
BACKGROUND
By 1999, Clark Gates Company had grown into the third largest supplier of
Gates for both commercial and home use. Competition was fierce.
Consumers would evaluate Gates on artistic design and quality. Each Gate
had to be available in at least five different colours. Commercial buyers
seemed more interested in the cost than the average consumer, who viewed
the Gate as an object for security, irrespective of price.
Clark Gate Company did not spend a great deal of money advertising on the
radio or on television. Some money was allocated for ads in professional
journals. Most of Clark’s advertising and marketing funds were allocated to
the two semi-annual home and garden trade shows and the annual builders
trade show. One large builder could purchase more than 5-10 gates for one
newly constructed hotel or one apartment complex. Missing an opportunity to
display the new products at these trade shows could easily result in a six to
twelve-month window of lost revenue.
CULTURE
Clark Gate had a non-cooperative culture. Marketing and engineering would
never talk to one another. Engineering wanted the freedom to design new
products, whereas marketing wanted final approval to make sure that what
was designed could be sold. The conflict between marketing and engineering
became so fierce that early attempts to implement project management failed.
Nobody wanted to be the project manager. Functional team members refused
to attend team meetings and spent most of their time working on their own
“pet” projects rather than the required work.
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Strange as it may seem, nobody could identify the initial cause of the conflicts
or how the trouble actually began. Senior management hired an external
consultant to identify the problems, provide recommendations and
alternatives, and act as a mediator. The consultant’s process would have to
begin with interviews.
ENGINEERING INTERVIEWS
“We are loaded down with work. If marketing would stay out of engineering,
we could get our job done.”
“Marketing doesn’t understand that there’s more work for us to do other than
just new product development.”
“Marketing personnel should spend their time at the country club and in bar
rooms. This will allow us in engineering to finish our work uninterrupted!”
“Marketing expects everyone in engineering to stop what they are doing in
order to put out marketing fires. I believe that most of the time the problem is
that marketing doesn’t know what they want up front. This leads to change
after change. Why can’t we get a good definition at the beginning of each
project?”
MARKETING INTERVIEWS
“Our livelihood rests on income generated from trade shows. Since new
product development is four to six months in duration, we have to beat up on
engineering to make sure that our marketing schedules are met. Why can’t
engineering understand the importance of these trade shows?”
cannot be helped.”
The consultant wrestled with the comments but was still somewhat perplexed.
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Answers to Activities
Activity 1.1
Project Management involves planning, leading, organising, coordinating and controlling of
resources within a given timeframe and budget to achieve a clearly defined objective. There is a
strong link between project management and concepts and theories of management.
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Unit
2: Constraints and Potential Project Resource
Problems in a Project Environment
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Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive
Advantage. Fourth Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
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2.1 Introduction
This Unit will look at constraints and project resource problems in a project environment. Problems
sometimes emerge in projects because of poor estimation of time and costs, unforeseen events
including a lack of adequate resources of equipment, skills and capital. The constraints can be
project constraints, internal constraints or external constraints. Some of the constraints include
technology, the firm’s resources, equipment capability, special equipment and transport, currency
risk, competition, standards, the economy, policies and so on. This unit looks at mainly project
constraints and some of these problems and provides some solutions.
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Besides these quadruple constraints, there are other constraints such as human resource
constraints in relation to special skills and adequacy of human resources; the environment may be
new which may bring its own challenges on operations; dependency constraints arise when the
project relies on others for their inputs such as suppliers and service providers. Any delays on their
part will affect the project. It is clear that projects consume resources and these resources are
limited. This means that they have to be used effectively and efficiently with less waste but superior
outputs. Often times, these resources of money, time and people are limited. There is a relationship
between these constraints and they do impact on each other. For example, if you cut back on your
budget, it may take longer to complete the task on time. It may well affect the quality of the output. If
you cut back on time by taking shortcuts, this may also affect the number of people who will be
employed and obviously the output. During the course of the project, if you add new activities which
were not part of the scope are added, this may affect the time and budget. To obviate some of these
challenges, the next section looks at project success factors.
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2.3 The Influence of Scope, Time and Cost on the Quality of Projects
Scope, time and cost are related. If scope increases, this results in an increase in costs and time it
takes to accomplish the project. Cutting costs and time may negatively impact the quality of the
project. If you are given a project to complete in a tight schedule (time constrained), that may affect
the costs because you may need more resources to fast track the completion of the project and may
also lead to the reduction of the project scope. Similarly, a tight budget may mean reduced scope
and increased time. All the three constraints affect quality as mentioned earlier in Section 2.1.
These problems affect the scope, time, cost and quality of the project. It is therefore important to use
project management tools because they bring about some level of reliability, efficiency and precision
that would be absent without them.
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There are advantages of using Project Management tools and techniques. These include:
They help hasten the completion of projects and they are reliable
They are efficient and effective because they have been tried and tested
They allow for cost savings in resource use
Using spreadsheets is good for numerous computations which a manual system would not cope
with especially in a project which is complex and huge
They are fast and expedient, for example, emails and other applications for messaging
They allow visual presentation of project elements and outcomes in its various phases –
visualisation
There are also limitations found in the use of Project Management tools and techniques:
In sum, each Project Management tool and technique has its own pros and cons. For instance, the
Gantt chart can be messy due to frequent changes. The CPM and PERT are complicated, meaning
that they are not user-friendly. The CPM and PERT require a lot of technical skills which are not
always available. The WBS does not show the timing of activities. Computer- based Project
Management tools can only be used by those with the relevant technical skills (Mtapuri et al., 2008).
Practice has shown that there are solutions to common problems. Some of the solutions include:
Ensure that you have experts to do the cost estimates and budgeting
At all material times be prudent and realistic in your evaluations
Only take as much work as you can do without over–committing yourself
Service your equipment and machinery regularly to avoid breakdowns
Replace old machinery when due for replacement
Keep stakeholders informed using information communication tools such as e-mail and meetings
Use high quality materials to ensure that outputs are equally of high quality
Train staff properly
Pay staff well and introduce incentive schemes so that they work harder
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2.6 Summary
This Unit looked at constraints which can affect a project in its life cycle. These constraints range
from project constraints, internal constraints to external constraints. The Unit focused essentially on
the triple constraints of scope, cost and time. It also examined their commensurate impacts on
quality when they are modified. Constraints are deemed limiting factors because they encumber
efforts by organisations to achieve their goals. Using project management tools has the advantage
to ameliorate some of the problems as they quicken the completion of projects, are more efficient
and effective and reliable because many of them have been tried and tested in practice. The next
Unit looks at the Project Life Cycle and the tools and techniques used at different project stages.
1. What do you think will happen if a project has NOT been allocated enough
human resources and a sufficient budget
2. What are the triple constraints? In what ways are they related to Quality?
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Answers to Activities
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Unit
3: Project Life Cycle and Tools and Techniques
used at Different Project Stages
Unit 3: Project Life Cycle and Tools and Techniques used at Different Project Stages
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Prescribed Readings
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management.
Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning.
Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive
Advantage. Fourth Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
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3.1 Introduction
Project success can be determined by completing a project within scope and cost, on time and of
high quality and exceeding the customer expectation. Within its project life cycle, a variety of Project
Management Tools and Techniques are used. They depend on the size of the project, its complexity
and the capacity and resources which the organization has at its disposal. The skills and
technologies which the firm has are important factors for the completion of a project. Management
practices and organizational culture have a bearing on the performance of individual workers and
the whole organization. This Unit looks at Project Management Tools and Techniques and how they
are deployed during defining, planning, execution, closure and monitoring and evaluation of projects.
In this Guide we will explain using the Project Life Cycle (PLC) with four stages:
The first stage is called the Defining stage. At this stage, brainstorming of the general idea is done.
The intended outcome is clarified including the goals, project specifications, tasks and
responsibilities. Goals are set, the project specifications are established (e.g. the size of the house),
tasks are revealed (such as foundations, building, roofing, landscaping) and responsibilities are
assigned to team members (who is responsible for what).
During this stage, the stakeholders have to agree on a specific outcome and a decision is made
whether to pursue the project or not. The person supporting the project is usually called the sponsor.
This does not mean that he/she is the one funding the project, but is just the person behind the
project. It is also at this stage that a Project Manager is appointed. Fig 9 below shows the project life
cycle.
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The second stage is called the planning stage. This takes place only when a project has been
approved. The scope of the project is a key outcome of this phase. The scope is a clear and detailed
written statement of the outcome of the project, the deliverables, product or service. Once this is
known, planning can then begin in essence. This involves producing a budget for the project. It is not
easy to put up a budget if the project is big and complex and therefore requires skills and
experience. Time frames which are called schedules have to be established. Resources such as
machinery and personnel have to be identified and allocated to the project. Projects are affected by
such risks as unanticipated price increases, currency fluctuations, delays in receiving materials,
power black outs for whatever reason, industrial strikes and so forth.
Planning for staff is important, for example, where additional staff is needed, more people have to be
hired. During this stage a Risk Analysis is performed. The reporting channels are also established.
The Project Manager has to ensure that resources are adequate before the project commences and
that there should be contingency measures in place to deal with unexpected events. Once all the
people, resources and technologies have been assembled, the next big stage is execution.
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Execution is synonymous with implementation. It consumes most of the time and effort. That is when
the real work begins. It is about authorising activities as the project progresses. Status reporting has
to do with progress reporting in terms of how far the project is being undertaken. Any changes to the
project scope is recorded and agreed upon with stakeholders. It is during this stage that quality
assurance and control are important. Inspections have to be undertaken to ensure that a quality
outcome is produced. Additional forecasts are done mid-way to ensure that tasks are going to be
completed on time and delays are also anticipated and catered for in the contingency plans. The
stage involves controlling resources, monitoring and evaluation until the project can be delivered to
the customer. Once the project is complete, the closing stage follows.
In the closing stage, training of customers is done so that they are able to use the product, the
computer or the dam which was the ultimate deliverable of the project. This is the time to also
acknowledge the contribution of team members and rewarding those who excelled. Documents such
as title deeds are transferred to the home owner or handing over the computer/car manual that
relates to the computer/car in the case of a computer/car during this time. The customer should be in
a position to accept the product or services if all specifications were met. The Project Management
team will then release resources both human and material to the next project. During evaluation,
team members assess how the team performed in the form of a self-evaluation after the project has
been completed. This is linked to lessons learned. What did we learn from this experience? Which
best practices should be pursued further and what bad practices should be abandoned?
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This section will present a few examples of common project management tools.
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3.3.1 Templates
A template is a skeleton of a document with headings and explanatory notes, without its content so
that documents are standardised. Standardisation is useful so that processing is systematic and
uniform. If people use different formats, process becomes difficult. Templates enable people to find
information quicker and if well-constructed are generally user-friendly. These blank documents
emanate from old projects and practice. Templates for minutes, memos, claim forms, time sheets,
invoices, receipts, payslips and material requisition orders are common. Below is a template for a
Petty Cash Voucher.
Table 3 : Template of a Petty Cash Vouche
These are used to budget for the project; store, process and retrieve information which is generated
during the implementation of the project.
3.3.3 Expert judgement
The services of experts are useful for their advice and views on how the project is running and how it
is being executed.
3.3.4 Computer software and spreadsheets
These Project Management tools are easy to use, fast and good for providing quick estimates.
Nowadays, they are generally user-friendly.
3.3.5 Quality inspections and audits
These are used to measure, examine and test components of the project to see if the results are in
line with the expected outcomes.
3.3.6 Team building activities
These include sporting activities and debates. These tools are used to enhance productivity in
project.
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A plan of the house is the key deliverable in April. If the plan is not out by that time, then there is a
delay in the following activities. Reasons must be given for the delay.
Construction must start and end in May
By June, the building must be ready for inspection
An optimistic time estimate, which is an estimate of the minimum time an activity will require
A most likely time estimate, which is an estimate of the normal time an activity will require
A pessimistic time estimate, which is an estimate of the maximum time an activity will require
A report
A new building
An architectural drawing
A poster
A sporting event such as the 2010 World Cup Soccer in South Africa
We can further separate projects into technical, developmental and business related projects.
Technical projects
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Developmental projects
Housing project
Road or dam construction project
Income generating project for the youth
Market gardening project
Sewing project, embroidery project
Cattle fattening project
Scope (all work that must be done to produce the deliverables must meet customer requirements
and acceptance criteria);
Quality (projects must have quantitative acceptance criteria);
Stakeholders (they may influence and affect the performance of the project);
Schedule (this specifies the timetable which must be conformed to);
Budget (amount payable for acceptable deliverables);
Resources (specific resources are required at specific times);
Risk (technology may not work as envisaged) and;
Customer satisfaction (entails sustaining a relationship with the customer via regular
communication) as factors constraining project success
3.7 Summary
This unit examined the Project Life Cycle and its characteristics. The four stages of Defining,
Planning, Execution and Closing were elaborated with respect to the activities undertaken at each
stage. Furthermore, Project Management Tools and Techniques were presented with explanation of
the commonly used Tools and Techniques which ranged from the basic to sophisticated ones.
Examples of projects, categorized by their nature, were presented. To be a good Project Manager,
you need to know these tools and techniques and apply them. The next Unit further elaborates on
key Project Management Tools and Techniques and their applications.
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Answers to Activities
2. What good project management practices were implemented in order to complete the
9,000km long pipeline from mainland China to Hong Kong on time, with minimal environmental
impact and zero fatalities?
Effective Planning
Effective Scope Management
Proactive Quality Monitoring
People Management
Proactive Risk and Safety Management
Effective Communication
Effective Decision Making
Effective Stakeholder Management
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Unit
4: Project Management Tools and
Techniques
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Prescribed Readings
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management.
Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning.
Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive
Advantage. Fourth Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
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4.1 Introduction
There are some Project Management Tools and Techniques that every person who is interested in
Project Management should be aware of. These are common tools and techniques but very
important and include the Gantt Chart, a Work Breakdown Structure and the Critical Path Method.
Other network diagrams are also discussed but greater detail is given to the former given their
importance in the practice of Project Management. They distinguish Project management from other
forms of management. The next section looks at the Gantt Chart.
This Gantt chart shows the work packages in the form of activities that are going to take place:
the design of the house will take 2 months, namely February and March
demolition of the old house will take place in April
construction will be carried out from May to September.
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The Gantt Chart can also be presented as shown in a project involving a survey to collect data on
Job Satisfaction among Young Business Managers in 2018. (see Fig 12)
Gantt Chart: Survey on Job Satisfaction among Young Business Managers 2018.
In this example, a close out phase has been added to demonstrate the importance of a close out
report. The close out report, which should be compiled at the end of a project, presents lessons
learnt, the challenges faced during the execution of the project and how they were resolved. It is
useful to learn from previous experience and some best practice. There is a wealth of knowledge
and experience contained in the close out reports.
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very important to know and plan for dependencies as it can cost a lot of money later to re-do tasks
because the dependencies were not identified correctly. For example, if the air conditioning is done
after the walls have been painted, then there will be damage that has to be repainted. This means
money and time are wasted to rectify those mistakes (Mtapuri et al., 2018).
In sum, a work breakdown structure is used to define the project work by breaking it down into
specific tasks which are then subdivided into more detailed components and finally into a set of
activities and their related costs.
According to Larson and Gray (2014), a Project Network is a flow chart in the form of a graph that
illustrates the sequence and relationships between activities called interdependencies, by reflecting
start and finish times of activities of the critical path across a network. It important as a base for
resource (labour and equipment) scheduling. It provides the duration of the project. It forms the
foundation to create the budget. It helps the manager to stay focused on the game plan. Importantly,
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it identifies activities which are ‘critical’ and should not be delay lest they affect the whole project.
Each job on an activity-on-node network is represented by a rectangular box. A descriptive label and
the duration of the activity is written into the box. The left edge of the rectangular box represents the
start of the activity. The right edge of the rectangular box represents the completion of the activity.
Sequence arrows represent the relationship between the completion of preceding activities and the
starts of the succeeding ones. Figure 14 shows the project presented as an activity-on-node network.
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Independence
Here, the three activities are not related to each other, namely A, B and C. Although all are linked to
D.
Neither the start nor the end time of each activity is affected by what happens to the activity.
Merge
This occurs when an activity cannot start until two or more immediately preceding activities have
been completed. In Figure 15, for example, motor car assembly cannot start until the body and
engine have been made. A, B and C merge in D.
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Sequence
Here, one activity cannot start before anther is finished. For example, B cannot start before A.
The end event of the earlier activity is the start of the later one.
Burst
This occurs when, as soon as one activity is finished, two or more others can start. In Figure 17, for
example, as soon as the Board agrees to go ahead with building the new office, the design team can
be engaged and the building plot can be bought.
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Figure 17: Illustration of a Burst activity: Source: Larson and Gray (2014)
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This occurs when several activities cannot start until two or more immediately preceding activities
have been finished.
Timescales
For most projects, the most convenient units for activity duration are weeks, days, shifts or hours. A
rule of thumb is that the basic unit should be the order of 1- 2 percent of the timescale for the whole
project.
For example: use weeks for projects lasting 2 to 5 years. Use the same unit for all durations and for
event times.
If critical activities are delayed, or exceed their estimated duration, the whole project will be delayed
by that amount of time. Therefore, a critical activity is an activity that joins two critical events and has
a duration which equals the difference between the times of these critical events.
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A project consists of activities. When these activities have been completed, then the project has been
completed. An activity is an operation which consumes time and resources. CPM shows a picture of
these activities and their relationships using nodes.
An event is a state in the progress of a project after completion of all preceding activities, but before
the start of any succeeding activity. A square is used to show the event. Each event must have a
unique label which is shown at the top or centre of the square. In this case, the Activity on Node
(AON) format is used in which a forward and backward passes were undertaken to determine the
project’s duration as well as to identify critical activities (those without slack) and the critical path.
Every project has a definite start which is shown by a start event, the only symbol with outgoing but
no incoming arrows. The definite project completion is shown by the finish event, which has arrows
entering it but no outgoing ones. Table 3 shows the network computation process.
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Add activity times along each path in the network (ES + Duration = EF)
Carry the early finish (EF) to the next activity where it becomes its early start (ES) unless…
The next succeeding activity is a merge activity, in which case the largest EF of all preceding
activities is selected
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Subtract activity times along each path in the network (LF - Duration = LS)
Carry the late start (LS) to the next activity where it becomes its late finish (LF) unless
The next succeeding activity is a burst activity, in which case the smallest LF of all preceding
activities is selected
Figure 22: Illustration of a backward pass: Source: Larson and Gray (2014)
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Is the amount of time an activity can be delayed after the start of a longer parallel activity or
activities?
Is how long an activity can exceed its early finish date without affecting early start dates of any
successor(s).
Allows flexibility in scheduling scarce resources.
For more on a forward and backward pass, see Larson and Gray (2014: 160). A critical path consists
of critical activities only. If there is more than one, they all have the same duration. An event that is
not critical is said to have slack (e.g. BDGF). Float is the time available for an activity in addition to its
duration. Non – critical activities have float – it is time by which the activity can be delayed without
affecting the duration of the project.
The duration of the above project is 10+25+50+15=100. And the critical path is A, C, E, H. These are
activities without any slack. B, D, G and F are non-critical activities because they do have slack and
can be delayed by the same amount of slack they have without affecting the overall project duration.
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4.5 Summary
This Unit looked at important Project Management Tools and Techniques namely the Gantt Chart,
Work Breakdown Structure and Critical Path Method. It also looked at issue that deal with Project
Closure. It highlighted that information contained in databases needs to updated before closure.
Subsequently, the same information should be archived. This database is a repository of all project
information including information on lessons learnt which will be used in future projects. The next
section will look at Communication and Risk Management Tools and Techniques.
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3. Which tools and techniques support IBM’s practices found in its Worldwide
Project Management Method (WWPMM)?
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Answers to Activities
IBM’s Worldwide Project Management Method (WWPMM) is supported by project planning, work
plan generation, estimating costs and schedules, time tracking and status reporting.
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Unit
5: Communication and Risk Management Tools and
Techniques in a Project Management Environment
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Prescribed Readings
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management.
Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning.
Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive
Advantage. Fourth Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
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5.1 Introduction
Larson and Gray (2014) argue that the scope of communication encompasses receiving, processing
and disseminating of information. According to PMBOK (2013: 287), ‘Project Communications
Management includes the processes that are required to ensure timely and appropriate planning,
collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring, and the ultimate
disposition of project information’. Because the project Manager has to communicate with people
from within and outside the organisation who come from different cultural backgrounds and with
different levels of expertise, he/she needs to be a good communicator.
As the project has a start and an end, it has a life cycle. The interesting part of a project life cycle is
that at the beginning of the project, you have the most opportunity to change things, and you have
spent the least money, so the risk at the project start is high. However, as the project progresses, the
opportunity to change things is reduced, until a point is reached where it cannot be changed. The
risk is also decreased because so much has already been spent, and so much of the project has
already been completed. Risk in a project declines as the project comes closer to conclusion. The
reason is simply that there is less that can go wrong as more and more of the project is completed.
However, the amount invested in the project is at its highest at the end of the project. This Unit will
look at Communication and Risk Management Tools and Techniques.
Communication within a project is critical. While there is much verbal communication going on at all
times in a project, it is imperative that there is a strong and strict written communication system. All
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meetings must have minutes which accurately reflect the proceedings of the meeting in sufficient
detail. Copies of the minutes must be sent to all participants, whether they have attended the
meeting or not. Any requests for scope changes, irrespective of where they have come from, must
also be noted in detail in the minutes. Activities in a project refer to the types of work the project team
may do. These activities include communicating, planning and controlling.
5.4 Risk
Risk: is defined as “The effect of uncertainty on objectives”. Put differently, risk is uncertain or chance
events that planning cannot overcome or control.
Risk Management relates to a proactive approach to identifying and managing events within the
internal environment and threats in the external environment with a likelihood to affect a project’s
outcomes and success.
It entails asking questions like: What can go wrong (risk event); How to minimise the risk event’s
impact (consequences); what can be done before an event occurs (anticipation); what to do when an
event occurs (contingency plans) (Larson and Gray, 2014).
Pinto (2016) is of the view that Risk Management has four stages, namely,
Risk identification: this involves unpacking risk factors which may affect the project;
Risk mitigation strategies: Measures taken to minimise the effects of risk factors;
Control and documentation: this entails creating a database which contains lessons learned for
use in future projects.
There are five primary causes/sources of risk. According to Pinto (2016), these are:
Financial risk - big projects come with heavy financial outlays and these pose a risk;
Technical risk- some projects are new and the technologies being used are new and not tested;
Commercial risk – the profitability of a new product or service is not known in advance. Customers
may accept, be ambivalent or reject it.
Execution risk– geographical or physical conditions may prove to be a hindrance say in mining or
agriculture.
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Contractual or legal risk– in circumstances where strict terms and conditions are stipulated upfront,
such as fixed cost or cost plus terms, it is difficult to re-negotiate the terms and conditions should
circumstance change for the worse.
Pinto (2016) identifies four Risk Mitigation Strategies with respect to how risk should be addressed.
The four mitigation strategies are:
Accept Risk: these are factored in but with no action being taken because the likelihood of
occurrence is minimal and their impact is insignificant. Pharmaceutical/drug producers produce
drugs some of which are not viable, but they still produce drugs.
Minimise Risk: this can be done by working with suppliers to ensure that you get the best quality
products. Boeing works with its suppliers to minimise risk.
Share Risk: This can be done through partnerships with other organisations by sharing components
of the project for joint execution. Risk can also be shared between suppliers and customers for
example in ‘Built-Own-Operate-Transfer’ arrangements. For example, a private firm can operate a
bridge in which users pay toll fees, but over a specified time frame, the bridge will be transferred to
government.
Transfer Risk: Risk can be transferred to another party such as an insurance firm.
Other mitigation measures include mentoring junior staff by pairing them with senior members to
learn best practice. Cross training is another strategy in which personnel are trained to play a
different role or that of their colleagues so that they can fill in their position when absent so that there
are no disruptions to operations. Mitigation strategies should apply to all forms of risk.
Projects can be slotted into categories using a Risk Impact Matrix as shown in Fig 24 below.
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Project D is high risk with a high likelihood to occur and therefore would require detailed contingency
planning because it can harm the project. Project A is low risk thus gets a proportionate response.
The matrix allows the project team to focus on areas where risk is high.
Based on their impacts, risks can be tabulated by objective (Cost, Time, Scope and Quality) on an
impact scale as shown in Table 6 below.
Funds have to reduce the impact of risk are set aside in Contingency Funds which are usually in
three streams: a fund to cover project risks, budget reserves and management reserves. Delays are
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Within the context of the Project Risk Analysis and Management (PRAM) process, Pinto (2016)
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5.8 Summary
This Unit looked at Communication and Risk Management in Project Management. It showed that
poor communication can result in misunderstandings between stakeholders hence the need to have
a Communication Plan. It also looked at risk and presented risk mitigation measures. It also
presented the tools and techniques used in risk management. The next section will look at
Leadership, Teams and Stakeholder Management in a Project Environment.
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Answers to Activities
In this case, DEWA’s leadership knew that adhering to proven project, program, and portfolio
management practices reduces risks, cuts costs, and improves success rates.
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Unit
6: Leadership Teams and Stakeholder
Management
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Prescribed Readings
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management.
Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning.
Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive
Advantage. Fourth Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
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6.1 Introduction
The functions of management are to plan, organise, coordinate and control the resources they are
responsible for, in order to achieve the organisation’s goals. These resources are the financial,
human and equipment resources of the organisation. Whereas, leadership is the ability of one
person to influence the human resources of an organisation so that they achieve the organisation’s
goals in the most effective and efficient way possible. As such, leaders are critical to a project, as
they can be the difference between success and failure. Good leaders can reverse a poor project
and make it successful, simply through their ability to influence the people involved in the project.
Lao Tse, Tao Te Ching had this to say about leaders and leadership:
‘The superior leader gets things done with very little motion. He imparts instruction not through many
words but through a few deeds. He keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all. He is
a catalyst, and though things would not get done well if he weren't there, when they succeed he
takes no credit. And because he takes no credit, credit never leaves him.’
This excerpt shows that good leaders are not doers, but rather earn the reputation of being good
leaders through the good work of their followers or employees. He also indicates that being humble
is an important characteristic of a good leader.
A democratic leader includes others in decision making. He/she leads by the vote as decisions are
based on consensus with team members. It is s good type of leadership to the extent that it gives
others a voice. This does not mean that he/she does not have the final say.
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An autocratic leader is the opposite of democratic. He does not consult and makes the final
decisions. Employees are expected to conform.
A transformational leader is always transforming and improving and asking for more by motivating
employees to reach or exceed their best.
A transactional leader rewards employees for work done by providing incentives such as bonuses
to them. It is more like a case where he/she says, a good gesture deserves another.
A bureaucratic leader goes by the books. He is considered to be better than an autocratic leader.
Employees under his authority feel that their freedoms are threatened. He lacks flexibility.
A laissez-faire leader gives free rein to employees. He/she delegates and is good for organisations
that are into innovation.
An authoritarian leader is one who is powerful; he/she is the boss. He/she may increase
productivity but may see a reduction in employee morale. He/she rules groups with authority.
A servant leader believes he/she is the servant of the people and is there to serve them. He/she
believes that it is not the other way round – where people are there to serve their leaders.
A good leader
Overall, leaders have many roles and skills other than those considered in the above definitions. A
good leader needs to be empathetic. As importantly, a good leader needs to be able to use empathy
in an intelligent way. Today we speak of good leaders as having emotional intelligence. A good
leader is someone who has a strong sense of ethics. Ethics is difficult to describe but someone who
is transparent in their actions, accountable and responsible for their actions, honest and has integrity,
can be said to be ethical.
A good leader needs to be assertive. Leaders should know what they want and where they are
going. They also need to be focused on doing just that. When they are not assertive, they lose
control of people under their authority. It is important to note that being assertive does not mean that
you spend time screaming and shouting at people. That is the sign of a poor leader. Leaders also
have to be objective. They must not allow their personal feelings to influence decisions, and must
always do what is right for the organisation. It is not easy to be objective at all times.
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Situational leadership is valued as an important leadership ability. Situational leadership refers to the
way in which leaders need to change their style to suit the situation. Sometimes leaders need to be
assertive and give clear instructions on how things must be done. At other times, leaders need to
guide people to the answer, letting them find the answer to the problem. The secret lies in knowing
when to use the correct approach for the problem currently at hand.
Leaders normally have specific roles, which are their responsibility, in an organisation. The leader of
the organisation is often required to have a vision for the organisation. The vision is where the leader
wants the organisation to be, or what the leader wants the organisation to be in the future. The
leader should unify the people working within the organisation and unite them in their efforts to
achieve a common cause, goals, and objectives. The leader needs to do so by being self-motivated
and by motivating people to want to achieve the common cause, goals and objectives. The leader
needs to create synergies between departments and if applicable, between businesses, in order to
maximise the efforts, effectiveness and efficiencies of all the efforts to achieve the common cause,
goals, and objectives. A further role of the leader is to create an organisation that allows people to
grow with the organisation and, at times, beyond it. Finally, a leader should be innovative and
creative. An organisation’s vision must be based upon innovation and creativity, in order to find a way
to be different from their competitors, which will in turn lead to better profit margins. The leader must
be opportunity aware, and must always be looking for opportunities for the organisation. (Mtapuri et
al, 2008).
Depending on the size of the organisation, each level of management will reduce the information
received from the level above into more specific detail to suit their role in the organisation. The
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leader, normally the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), will be responsible for the vision together with the
directors if there are any. The line managers, for example the financial manager and the marketing
manager, will translate the vision into a departmental vision goals and objectives. The managers
beneath them will, in turn, translate the departmental vision goals and objectives into departmental
strategies and action plans. The situation for small business owners, however, is that they have to do
it all. That is what makes a small business so challenging, and why it is so difficult to succeed and
grow a small business.
Within every organisation, there are limited resources. Resources include people, money, equipment
and time. There is always too little of at least one of these to accomplish one or other goal or
objective. Every organisation will experience shortages of one or other resource at some time.
The smaller the organisation, the more likely it is to have a shortage of resources. A large
organisation is more likely to suffer from a shortage of people than cash, but it is still a shortage. The
manager’s role in an organisation is to manage the resources. The manager needs to allocate the
resources according to where they will be best used, always remembering that they are best used
when trying to achieve the organisation’s vision. The manager should administer and organise the
resources, so that the resources are used in the most effective manner possible. The manager
should organise the organisation’s systems to ensure strict control of the resources and also to
create a suitable organisational structure that will get the best of the people in the organisation. This
might make you think there are only leaders at the top and that managers are not leaders. This is not
true. Leaders can be found throughout an organisation. Leaders are everywhere, and a good
organisational leader will find these people and use them to help lead the organisation forward to
achieve the vision. Every organisation needs team members, team leaders and managers.
Every project should have a project manager. The project manager has a difficult job. The project
manager usually has to manage very limited resources, particularly time, as every project has a start
and end date. The project manager may be a good leader and, if so, should find the project easier to
manage. If the project manager is a poor leader, there may well be other people within the project
team who are good leaders, and they will indirectly help the project manager to complete the project
on time. The leaders should help motivate and drive the people on the project to successfully
complete the project on time. The project manager, as a manager, will be solely responsible for
ensuring that there is sufficient cash, people and equipment in the right place at the right time to
complete the project on time. A leader should lead by example. Figure 26, shows some qualities
found in leaders who lead by example.
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Leaders are not all the same. It is important for a good leader to be able to apply leadership skills to
suit the situation/context. The context is influenced by the people, the problem and the constraints.
The same problem may be handled in very different ways depending on the people involved.
Similarly, the constraints of a project will influence how the leader responds to problems. If it affects
the final completion date or cost, the project manager is more likely to be harsh in responding to a
problem, than if the problem does not affect these constraints.
Directing
If the project manager simply instructs people on what must be done, this is known as directing. The
leader directs people as to what must be done. This is a no-nonsense approach: ‘Here is the
problem, get it done, these are your constraints.’
Delegating
Sometimes the task may be small or lacking in importance, in which case the project manager may
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Situational leadership
Project managers use the directive style most of the time. However, a project manager who has good
leadership skills will use a variety of styles and behaviours, depending on the situation. In other
words, they will be good situational leaders. It is no longer considered acceptable to say ‘Well I have
to direct them, and if they do not like it, tough.’ There is a direct link between being able to apply
situational leadership and emotional intelligence.
According to Larson and Gray, 2014), the following are the traits of a good leader:
He/she is a systems thinker (one who recognises that entities and phenomena are interconnected or
related);
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the listening.
Once the objectives and each member’s role in the team is understood, the team goes into the
second stage of its development. In this stage, the team members start to discuss how they will
achieve the team objectives. This stage can run smoothly, or it can become a difficult stage for the
team members. During this stage, the team members may start to show how much they do or do not
know. Team members may try to assert themselves. This may lead to conflict between members who
both believe they are more knowledgeable than anyone else on the topic. This situation may sort
itself out as one person allows the other to be the expert. In a worst-case situation, the team leader
will have to make the decision and appoint someone as the leader. Normally these situations sort
themselves out through discussion. Once everyone knows who is who, who is best at what, and who
will do what, the team becomes a proper team and starts to find ways of achieving the team
objectives (Mtapuri et al, 2008).
It is often more difficult to make and keep effective a team that is made up of people from inside and
outside the organisation, who may have no previous knowledge of each other nor have worked
together.
It is important for team members to be tolerant of the diversity of fellow team members. Positive
attitudes, perseverance, non-judgemental conduct, and clear communication are also abilities that
team members need to have, in order to work successfully within a team. Team members also need
to be sensitive to other people’s needs, and to try and see things from the other person’s position.
Team members need to be attentive to each other’s needs and feelings, be positive in their dealings
with and criticisms of each other, and find ways to build each other up.
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should get the two members who are in disagreement to sit down as a team and resolve the issue.
By talking about the issue, there is a possibility that the conflict will dissipate and the team will
become functional again. If this is unsuccessful, the team leader needs to get involved. The team
leader needs to sit with the two parties to discuss the problem. The team leader should explain how
he or she has assessed the situation, and then together with the team members, work out a way
forward. In the event the team leader is unable to resolve the differences, he or she should seek
advice from the project manager. If that does not work, one of the parties might have to be moved
from the team. The strongest support system is the team itself, and that support system gets stronger
the stronger the team is, the more cohesive the team is.
Team dynamics
The team will always be something that may work one minute, and might not work the next minute.
This is simply because there are people in the process, and people have the ability to think and act.
The relationships that build, or exist, between team members will influence the way they operate,
both independently of each other, and together with each other. The skills level of a team member
might make people ignore him or her because they think he or she is incompetent. A team member
might have so many skills that everyone just leaves those tasks to that person as the ‘expert’,
creating an overload of work for that person. Team members may think the team goals and priorities
are unrealistic and lose hope of meeting them, and then their performance will drop. The roles
allocated to each team member may not be the best way to use their skills, and this could lead to
dissatisfaction within the team. The way the team is structured could also lead to dissatisfaction
within the team. If a team has too much formalities it could make things happen slowly and result in
objectives not being met. Too little formality could result in chaos and in objectives not being met.
Communication channels between the team leader and the team members must be good and also
easy to use. If it becomes too much trouble to communicate, people simply will not, and that will lead
to team failure. Too much communication can also lead to very little being achieved, so teams should
be careful of having too many unnecessary meetings occurring.
Teams need to be flexible, in order to meet changing circumstances. A lack of flexibility, especially by
the team leader can lead to team failure. Teams also need to function well as a team, and not as a
group of individuals. A team is cohesive when everyone works for what is in the best interests of the
team. If all these things are happening in a positive manner, then the team members will have high
levels of trust, low levels of conflict and strong and mutually beneficial relationships with each other.
The more teams work together, talk together, plan together and decide together, the more cohesive
the team becomes, and the more efficient and effective the team becomes. Positive feedback is
essential for team success. If team members see something is wrong or could be wrong, they need
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to ensure that the team know and understand this as soon as possible, so that the team can take
corrective action as soon as possible. The best way to have feedback sessions is through regular
meetings of the team members. It is best to give feedback in a non-stressful environment. Obviously
if it is important to stop someone creating further problems immediately, then the matter must be
addressed immediately. However, if there is time available, it is best to discuss the matter when it is
not a crisis. Remember it is natural for human beings to be defensive about their actions. No one
likes to think they are stupid or making mistakes. If someone talks to them while they are doing
something wrong, they may react defensively, whereas if they are in a meeting environment and the
topic is discussed without finger pointing, then the chances are that the matter can be resolved in a
way that causes no conflict. The team can develop team spirit over time. Team spirit can be improved
through socialising outside the work environment, and special activities can be organised for this
purpose. Trust is critical for team success, and the easiest way to trust people is to get to know them,
which is why socialising is sometimes a good solution. The next section looks at stakeholders.
Key Definitions Stakeholder: Any group or individual, both internal and external to the
organisation, who might influence and in turn be influenced by a particular project's outcome and
on whom the PM ultimately therefore depends for the success of the project
Urgency: The degree to which a stakeholder claim calls for immediate attention. Urgency may
be based on time sensitivity (the degree to which a delay in attending to the claim or relationship
is unacceptable to the stakeholder) or criticality (the importance of the claims or the relationships
to the stakeholder)
Definitive Stakeholder: A stakeholder with high levels of power and interest in a project
Dormant stakeholder: A stakeholder who has high levels of power but low levels of interest in a
project
Expectant Stakeholder: A stakeholder with moderate levels of power and interest in a project
Interest: The stakeholder's opportunity and willingness to act on their power. This, in turn,
depends on the nature (legitimacy) and urgency of the stakeholder's claim
Interested stakeholder: A stakeholder who has high levels of interest but low levels of power in
a project
Latent Stakeholder: A stakeholder with relatively low levels of power and interest in a project
Legitimacy: The nature of a stakeholder's claim on a project. This claim may be based on
contractual relationships, or whether the stakeholder has something at risk (perceived or
otherwise) as a result of the project
Marginal stakeholder: A stakeholder who has relatively low levels of power and low levels of
interest in a project
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Pivotal stakeholder: A stakeholder with a high level of power and high level of interest in a
project. This type of stakeholder plays a major role in the project
Power: The relationship in which one social actor, A, can get another social actor, B, to do
something that B would otherwise not have done. For example, in a project environment power
is held by someone who has the ability close the project (coercive), or someone who can provide
a lot of expertise (utilitarian), or someone who can command the attention of other key
stakeholders (symbolic)
Larson and Gray (2014), define a stakeholder as any group or individual, both internal and external
to the organisation, who might influence and in turn be influenced by a particular project's outcome
and on whom the PM ultimately therefore depends for Urgency. Urgency is the degree to which a
stakeholder claim calls for immediate attention. Urgency may be based on time sensitivity (the
degree to which a delay in attending to the claim or relationship is unacceptable to the stakeholder)
or criticality (the importance of the claims or the relationships to the stakeholder). For any project to
be a success, it is important that good relations between stakeholders and team members are built
and maintained. This section will give you the understanding necessary to be able to establish
relations between team members and stakeholders. Fig 27 shows the stakeholder management
process.
The sponsor of the project - This is the person who decides the need for the project, and who
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then ensures that the organisation makes the decision to proceed with the project. This person is
also the champion of the project and ensures that all stakeholders remain in favour of it
The organisation which owns the project - Whether the project is being completed by internal
staff, external contractors, or a combination of the two is irrelevant. The owner of the project
normally sets the goals and objectives for the project
The team leaders for the different teams in the project - Remember that one team can lead to
project failure, so close liaison between teams is essential. Team leaders must ensure that they
respect one another, and they must believe that the teams will deliver on their objectives
Project management team - The team leaders themselves form another team in the project, with
the project manager as the team leader. Success for the team leaders means they stand a
chance at being used as a project manager at a later stage, and the project manager stands a
chance of getting bigger projects to manage
The beneficiaries - These are the people who will benefit from the project. In an organisation
installing a new computer, the staff members who will use the new computer are stakeholders.
People in a village getting electricity from an electrification project are stakeholders. They want
the project to succeed, so they can get the benefit of the project’s output
The suppliers and contractors to a project - The suppliers and contractors want the project
successfully completed because then they get paid what is due to them, and they can then add
the project to their list of successes
The team members - Team members want to see the project successfully completed. If it is then
they can proudly say ‘We did that’
The list is not exhaustive as there are other stakeholders such as Government. There are variants of
stakeholders as shown in the key definitions section. It is important that all team members
understand who the stakeholders are, and what the benefits for each of them are. The project
manager has a commitment to deliver the project completed in line with the project owner’s
objectives. Within the project team it is generally only the project manager who liaises and builds
relationships with other stakeholders. However, there are times- depending on the type of project,
when the team members will interface with the beneficiaries. For example, team leaders designing a
new computer system would have to ask the beneficiaries what they want, and would need to spend
a lot of time understanding their needs. However, the builders of an enormous hydro-electric dam will
not meet with the people who are going to get electricity from the dam. It is difficult to predict the
interaction between stakeholders in advance, but in any of these interactions all stakeholders must
respect each other and their opinions. Like any team, stakeholders should work through their
differences, should they occur, in a constructive manner. Larson and Gray (2014) argue that
relationships between parties are dynamic, and the links with stakeholder need to remain relevant,
and that in engaging stakeholders there is need for negotiation and conflict management skills.
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6.7 Summary
This unit defined various leadership styles. A good leader is empathetic, has emotional intelligence
and is someone with a strong sense of ethics. A leader is expected to have a vision for the
organisation representing where he/she wants the organisation to be, or what the leader wants the
organisation to be in the future. He/she should unify the people working within the organisation for
them to be able to achieve a common cause, goals, and objectives. Managers have to translate the
organisation’s vision, mission, goals and objectives into a series of appropriate strategies and action
plans. After differentiating leadership and management, the unit then looked at team formation and
team dynamics. It is evident that teams need to be flexible, in order to meet the needs of ever-
changing circumstances. Trust is critical for team success. It also looked at stakeholders and
surmised that for any project to be a success, it is important that good relations between
stakeholders and team members are built and maintained.
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Ducor Chemical
In the autumn of 2010, Ducor Chemical received a research and development
contract from one of their most important clients. The client had awarded
Ducor with a twelve-month, sole-source contract for the R&D effort to create a
new chemical that the client required for one of its future products. If Ducor
could develop the product, the long-term production contract that would follow
could generate significant profits over the next several years. In addition to
various lab personnel who would be used as needed, the contract mandated
that a senior chemist be assigned for the duration of the project. In the past,
the senior chemists had been used mainly for internal rather than external
customer projects. This would be the first time a senior chemist had been
assigned to this client. With only four senior chemists on staff, the project
manager expected the resource negotiation process with the lab manager to
be an easy undertaking.
Project manager: “I understand you’ve already looked over the technical
requirements, so you should understand the necessity for assigning your best
senior scientist.”
Lab manager: “All of my senior scientists are good. Any one of them can do
the job. Based upon the timing of your project, I have decided to assign John
Thornton.”
Project manager: “Just my luck! You assigned the only one I cannot work with
effectively. I have had the misfortune of working with him before. He’s
extremely arrogant and unpleasant to work with.” Lab manager: “Perhaps so,
but he got the job done, didn’t he?”
Project manager: “Yes, he did. Technically, he is capable. However, his
arrogant attitude and sarcasm produced a demoralizing atmosphere for my
team. That project was about three months in length. This project is at least a
year. Also, if follow-on work is generated, as I expect it to be, I’ll be stuck with
him for a long time. That’s unacceptable to me.”
Lab manager: “I’ll talk to John and see if I can put a gag in his mouth. Anyway,
you’re a good project manager and you should know how to work with these
technical and scientific prima donnas.”
Project manager: “I’ll never be able to maintain my sanity having to work with
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him full-time for at least one year. Surely you can assign one of the other
three senior chemists instead.”
Project manager: “I feel like you are dumping Thornton on me without
considering what is in the best interest of the project. Perhaps we should have
the sponsor resolve this conflict.”
Project manager: “My salary, promotion, and future opportunities rest solely
on the success of this one project, not twenty.” Lab manager: “Our relationship
must be a partnership based upon trust if project management is to succeed.
You must trust me when I tell you that your deliverables will be accomplished
within time, cost, and quality. It’s my job to make that promise and to see that it
is kept.”
Project manager: “But what about morale? That should also be a factor. There
is also another important consideration. The customer wants monthly team
meetings, at our location, to assess progress.”
Lab manager: “I know that. I read the requirements document. Why are the
monthly meetings a problem? But based upon previous experience, he simply
does not know when to shut up! He could cause irrevocable damage to our
project.”
Lab manager: “I will take care of John Thornton. And to appease you, I will
also attend each one of the customer interface meetings to keep Thornton in
line. As far as I’m concerned, Thornton will be assigned and the subject is
officially closed!”
THE PROJECT CONTINUED
. . . John Thornton was assigned to the project team. During the second
interface meeting, Thornton stood up and complained to the customer that
some of the tests that the customer had requested were worthless, serving no
viable purpose. Furthermore, Thornton asserted that if he were left alone, he
could develop a product far superior to what the customer had requested. The
customer was furious over Thornton’s remarks and asserted that they would
now evaluate the project performance to date, as well as Ducor’s commitment
to the project. After the evaluation they would consider whether the project
should be terminated, or perhaps assigned to one of Ducor’s competitors.
The lab manager had not been present during either of the first two customer
interface meetings.
QUESTIONS
1. How do we create a partnership between the project manager and line
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managers when project manager focuses only on the best interest of his/her
project and the line manager is expected to make impartial company
decisions?
2. Who should have more of a say during negotiations for resources: the
project manager or the line manager?
3. How should irresolvable conflicts over staffing between the project and line
managers be handled?
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Answers to Activities
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Unit
7: Quality in Project Management
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Prescribed Readings
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management.
Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning.
Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive
Advantage. Fourth Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
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7.1 Introduction
Quality is of utmost importance to ensure that a customer is satisfied with the output of the project.
Besides scope, cost, time, quality is of equal importance. Substandard work will not meet a
customer’s expectations even if the project is completed on time, within budget and in line with its
scope. It is the prerogative of the project manager and his team members to ensure that the final
product is of high quality and is acceptable to the customer.
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.‘Quality is “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfil requirements’ (ISO 9000 cited in
PMBOK, 2013). The PMBOK (2013) states that every project should have a quality management
plan. In line with ISO, PMBOK (2013) argues that quality management must ensure that outcomes
must meet the requirements with minimum variation and should take cognisance of importance of
customer satisfaction, of prevention over inspection, continuous improvement, management
responsibility and the cost of quality. Re-working and recalls (for examples of defective vehicles)
must be avoided. Preventing mistakes is cheaper than correcting them (PMBOK, 2013). Fig 28
shows an overview of the Project Management Process reflecting on the Inputs, Tools and
Techniques and Outputs for Planning Quality Management, Quality Assurance and Quality Control.
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7.7 Summary
This unit looked at Quality. It emphasises that quality is good for customer satisfaction and for
earning their loyalty. Brands are founded on quality. Therefore, to retain loyal customers, quality must
be high. Controls are important in order to monitor the quality of specific project results regularly by
comparing those results against standards in order to correct any mistakes instead of waiting until
project completion. Quality pre-empts recalls and re-works. The unit emphasises the need for
elaborate quality management plans as a prerequisite in environments that uphold high standards,
excellence and exceeding customer expectations.
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2. What were the benefits for du and Huawei to use the OPM3 model to
accomplish management and control?
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Answers to Activities
2. Identify and discuss the benefits for du Telecom and Huawei to use the OPM3 model to
accomplish management and control?
Organisations 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.
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Unit
8: Project Integration Management
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Prescribed Readings
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management.
Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning.
Recommended Readings
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive
Advantage. Fourth Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
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8.1 Introduction
It is important to have a bird’s eye view of the whole organisation. This will allow the leadership and
management to align projects with organisation’s strategy, resources and capacities. Having such a
broad view of the organisation is prudent to allow for integration to be achieved. Without such broad
insights, it is hard to achieve the organisation’s overall strategic goals. Integration allows
management to have a firm hold on all project activities across the firm. The seven stages of project
integration are shown in Fig 29.
s
Figure 29: The Seven Stages of Project Integration
Source: Larson and Gray (2014)
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Project Management has technical and socio-cultural dimensions. The technical dimensions relate to
formal processes of planning, scheduling and controlling entailing the development of the project
scope, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Schedules, Resource Allocation, creation of Budgets
and writing of status reports. The WBS has all the work packages and deliverables for the whole
project which permits allocation of both human and financial resources. These project management
tools and techniques provide the means through which integration of effort is made possible. This
allows any changes to be traced to their source (Larson and Gray, 2014). It is imperative for the
project manager to be well versed in the technical dimensions of the project management process –
the hard skills.
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Figure 31: The Technical and Socio-cultural Dimensions of the Project Management Process
Source: Larson and Gray (2014)
The project manager has to network with people outside the organization such as government
people and sub-contractors. He/she has to take their perspectives into account and meet their
expectations. This implies that the project manager must possess both the hard and soft skills.
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8.6 Summary
This unit looked at the importance of Project Integration Processes and emphasised that alignment
to the strategy is important to bring focus to the organisation’s overall performance. If project
selection and prioritisation and their alignment to the organisation’s portfolio are done in an
integrated way, resources are effectively and efficiently used and the organisation is likely to meet its
overall goals. Project managers need to have both the technical (hard) and socio-cultural (soft) skills.
In other words, they need to know their work and they also need to network with people at a social
level. Projects are likely to have change requests to deliverables, management plans, project
organisational assets and so on. These changes must be recorded and documented in a proper way.
Changes remain the responsibility of the project manager.
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[Link] did AstraZeneca create an agile and efficient drug PMO and what are
its components as found in an “ideal profile” of a project manager?
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Revision Questions
10. Identify at least three stakeholders and evaluate their roles in a project of
your own choice.
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Answers to Activities
2. How did AstraZeneca create an agile and efficient drug PMO and what are its components as
found in an “ideal profile” of a project manager?
Quality Information
Technical Excellence
Champion Portfolio Reporting Excellence
Strong leadership
Capability Development
Guiding Decision Making
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2. What are the key differences between a Functional and Matrix Organisational Structure? Answer
is in section 1.5
3. There are differences between general management and project management. Discuss using
examples. Answer see Section 1.6
4. Discuss the importance of a project life cycle to stakeholders. Answer see section 3.2
5. What are the advantages of using Project Management Tools and Techniques in Projects? Answer
is found in section 2.5
6. Using a concrete example, construct a Work Breakdown Structure showing its elements. Answer
is in section 4.3 of the module
8. Discuss using examples, the risk management cycle. Answer is in section 5.6
9. There is a vast difference between management and leadership. Using examples, evaluate this
statement. Answer is in section 6.3
10. Identify at least three stakeholders and evaluate their roles in a project of your own choice.
Answer is in section 6.6
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References
Burke, R. (2013) Project Management Techniques. College Edition. Hampshire: Burke
Publishing.
Burke, R.J. and Barron, S. (2007) Project Management Leadership. Hampshire: Burke
Publishing.
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management. Seventh Edition. Cengage
Learning.
Heizer, J. and Render, B. (2010) "Project Management” in Operations Management. Tenth
Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Larson, E.W. and Gray, C.F. (2014) Project Management: The Management Process. Sixth
Edition. McGraw-Hill International.
Mtapuri, O. Nkosi, N. and Smorfitt, R. (2008) Pathways to Project Management. Johannesburg,
Heinemann Publishers
Oosthuizen and Venter (Eds) (2012) Project Management in Perspective. Third Edition. Oxford
University Press.
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive [Link] Edition.
Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited
PMBOK (2013) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Project Management
Institute: Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
PMI (2004) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). Third
Edition. Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.
Project Management Skills (n.d). Project Charter. [Link]
charter/
Soderlund, J. (2004) Building Theories of Project Management: Past Research, Questions for the
future, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 22: pp. 183-191.
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Bibliography
Burke, R. (2013) Project Management Techniques. College Edition. Hampshire: Burke
Publishing.
Burke, R.J. and Barron, S. (2007) Project Management Leadership. Hampshire: Burke
Publishing.
Clements, J.P. and Gido, J. (2018) Successful Project Management. Seventh Edition. Cengage
Learning.
Heizer, J. and Render, B. (2010) "Project Management” in Operations Management. Tenth
Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Larson, E.W. and Gray, C.F. (2014) Project Management: The Management Process. Sixth
Edition. McGraw-Hill International.
Mtapuri, O. Nkosi, N. and Smorfitt, R. (2008) Pathways to Project Management. Johannesburg,
Heinemann Publishers
Oosthuizen and Venter (Eds) (2012) Project Management in Perspective. Third Edition. Oxford
University Press.
Pinto, J.K. (2016) Project Management: Achieving Competitive [Link] Edition.
Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited
PMBOK (2013) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Project Management
Institute: Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
PMI (2004) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). Third
Edition. Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.
Project Management Skills (n.d). Project Charter. [Link]
charter/
Soderlund, J. (2004) Building Theories of Project Management: Past Research, Questions for the
future, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 22: pp. 183-191.
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