Verified Document

Issues In Project Management Essay

Project management is a systematic methodology of attaining aims and objectives in a given criteria for instance time and budget spread on number of years. Project management has been behind every major project for instance man landing on the moon to polio campaigns throughout a country (Gray CR and Larson, 2008). The subject of project management has grown and blossomed over a number of years. It dates back to cavemen. The cavemen would hunt in groups for a successful hunt. The Egyptians used some form of project management to construct the pyramids of Giza we see today. This is a clear instance of how viably project management has been used during the past centuries (Gray CR and Larson, 2008).

In case of modern era, the project management has been monumental in development of industries and other fields. It makes sure that a project is completed under a given deadline. This protocol is required while overseeing an intricate project and oversees its completion (Fretty, 2006). This paper will stress on the core issues and finds a logical and descriptive solution to:

Non-effective PM

Business case

Contract issues

Planning fallacy

Stakeholders

1: Contractual issues

A contract is bound by policy and legislative framework, but apart from that, there are number of commendable factors, which are embroiled in the final stages of an agreement (Bucero, 2006).

Managing risks

Efficient management entails risk management, which is especially needed in case of an agreement. For the contracts on which the projects are based, this entails recognizing the risks and developing a risk management plan consequently. This entails recognizing the segments / events / stages where, risks are bound to occur and the risk that plagues the confines of that agreement. Thus, the risk assessments must be revised on and off again and modifying the risk treatment plans in case, it risks an agreement (Jones, 2008).

Handling Affiliations

For any agreement to develop and be manageable, the relationship between the concerned two parties must be taken in consideration. The concerned parties have a professional and productive relationship for the successful completion of a project, whilst respecting an agreement. The contract's agreement is reliant on certain factors. Making a contract addressing the needs, ensure a workable relationship with the agreement team. The agreement team must know all the details necessary for reaching a project successfully and the desired outcome of a particular project. The objective of relationship management is keeping open communication. Deeming it impossible is out of the question. The contract won't push forward unless the desired personnel don't contribute. Having a good working alliance doesn't entail that issues will be listed and taken in consideration. They must be acknowledged and resolved in an affable manner (Morris et al., 2000).

Managing resources

Experienced individuals are highly effectual in case of effectual contract management. Thus, it's highly imperative that the required individuals availability is a given in such a case. The negotiations can be executed efficiently. The timeframe is crucial for all the concerned parties which include the contract team. The project details need to be transparent for the contract team to be able to devise a contract best suited for all parties to agree (Morris et al., 2006).

Allocating responsibilities

This concern becomes all the more important as the complexity of the project grows. Allocating responsibilities needs some commendable investment beforehand. It is necessary to invest time in the contract development state period for outlining the deliverables as well as the relevant time frame required and avoiding disagreements regarding the roles of other parties. For reaching a successful arrangement, the milestones must be attainable. A feasible and agreeable project plan sinks teeth into the project's completion. This constitutes analyzing, if sub-contracts are needed and timeframe desired to complete and execute a project. In case of government contracts, a time frame is given for the fiscal year and hence, each project needs to take that into perspective. Some government contracts have severe frames. They must be incorporated into every project plan and will be supervised constantly, so as to end the project within a given timeframe. The firm can't violate a government contract. The key factor is efficient project scheduling and supervision of the project, not to mention milestones and reporting constantly (Cleland and Gareis, 2006).

Ethical behavior

The concerned parties should behave in a cultured and behaved manner. They should be open-minded and transparent. While working on government contracts, this fact is particularly important as governance agreements are in place. The funding agencies have an idea on how much too fund for a particular agreement and all expenses will be fully accountable (Greer, 2009).

2: Business case

The...

The risks, costs, benefits are measured against the investment being made for a particular project / product. The options are pools and assessed for solving the business dispute (Field and Keller, 2008).
A business case is a way out for the relevant businesses to assess if a given project needs to be paid heed to and a viable solution actually is in favor of the company. This is attained by qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. The former is called SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and threats), while the latter is termed as financial analysis technique. This provides a logical answer if a solution is viable and if investment fulfills the required business goals at hand. The project must be financially, objectively viable for the businesses of higher designation (Kerzner, 2009).

The concerned problems arising in a business case exceeds a monetary clarification. The issues can range from:

Solving the business issue

Initiating a project

Including a problem statement

Proposed solutions

What's in it for staff, clients and company

The amount of money, time and resources required to reach the end result

Risks, restrictions and suppositions

Monetary consequence (Yager, 2009)

3: Planning Fallacy

The organizations as well as people may seldom neglect the estimated time for a project completion. This happens even in the case, when such cases have happened before. The project planners always focus on the ideal scenario for their project at hand, according to the researchers. They fail to oversee the practical scenario for their project to work out for them (Kahneman and Tversky, 1979). Roger Buehler and his contemporaries have voiced the idea of wishful thinking. Usually, the project planners deem that a project will reach completion according to their idealized vision. In another research, Buehler and contemporaries provide an answer in case of self-serving favoritism as to how people rate themselves on their previous record (as cited in Pezzo et al., 2006). They will take due credit on relevant tasks well done, but fail to take credit on delays and outside interferences. People are unable to view the past record of project delay. An experiment concluded that predictions made by people secretly is often absent of optimistic bias. Thus, people create an idealized scenario to favor their judgment and impression. The same idea is given in management theory (Cooks, 2002).

One plausible answer is focalism, which can constitute neglecting of off project perils. Sometimes, people may neglect the external factors which relate with a project indirectly. Then, they may also neglect high impact risks as one is improbable than the other one (Mulcahy, 2003a).

The project planners mostly plan on the project in perspective and neglect certain factors such as:

Sickness

Vacations

Meetings

Overhead tasks (Mulcahy, 2003b)

The project planners then tend to overlook the smaller details such as time taken on small tasks for instance time taken for one brick to be placed in a wall. This neglects usage of actual metrics and raises optimism bias. For instance, placing one brick and multiplying by total number of bricks. The intricate projects which are absent with respect to goals often fall prey to (Rich, 2008):

Scope creep

Mission creep

Featuitis

Fred Brooks has stated in The Mythical Man-Month that hiring new individuals in a late project is destined to incur newer risks and problems, not to mention overhead costs. That makes it more lately. This is called Brookes law (Schwalbe, 2009).

A plausible explanation is the 'authorization imperative'. The project planning commences in the event that financial approval is met for the project. The project planner needs to get the project approved. This may lead the project manager to negate the total effort required to reach the project to completion. The effort required may not be well thought out. It is better to provide real time effort guestimate prior to seeking permission than to ask for permission to extend. Thus, these unexpected events come under strategic misrepresentation (Paul, 2005).

Apart from psychological descriptions, the phenomenon has been regarded as natural irregularity. Scaling issues are also involved. The asymmetric nature of events give rise to increased costs and incompetent results, which intersect the encouraging results and discouraging results. The scaling problem is a result, which is attained due to linear disturbances. The magnitude of effort seldom does elevate the increase in error as compared to the effect of the reaction caused instigated by inefficiencies. The efforts which can't be separable in increments are to be considered. This is taken in comparison to previous projectscompleted on time (For instance, Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge and The Crystal Palace) dictates notable flaws in the…

Sources used in this document:
References

Bucero, A. Listen and Learn. PM Network, Jul, Vol. 20 Issue 7, p20-22, 2p

Cleland, D.I., & Gareis, R. (2006). Global project management handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Cooks, Sarah (2002), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, PMI, 3rd Edition (PMBOK Guides)

David I. Cleland, Roland Gareis (2006). Global Project Management Handbook. "Chapter 1: "The evolution of project management." McGraw-Hill Professional.
Greer, M. (2009, September 20). 14 Key Principles of Project Management. Retrieved December 08, 2009, from michaelgreer.biz: http://michaelgreer.biz/?p=125
Yager, S. (2001). Top 10 Project Management Problems. Retrieved December 08, 2009, from dssresources.com: http://dssresources.com/papers/features/yager10032001.htm
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Project Management February J. 2014 a Project
Words: 2863 Length: 9 Document Type: Research Paper

Project Management February J. 2014 A project is a temporary group of activity designed to produce unique products and services or results. Typically, a project has a defined beginning and end and therefore having defined scope and resources. (Pierre, 2012). A project also has a specific set of operations to accomplish a singular goal. Examples of projects are as follows: Development of software to improve business process, Construction of bridge or building, Expansion of sales

Project Management in a Legal Context Project
Words: 1301 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Project Management in a Legal Context Project management is increasingly becoming a popular and preferred way of contending with inter-organizational ventures that are out of the ordinary. When the functions of a project require the involvement of specialized personnel and skill sets which may not be readily represented from within the company to the fullest extent demanded, it may be appropriate to organize a project team. This might be comprised of

Project Management Plan
Words: 2954 Length: 11 Document Type: Research Paper

Project Management Plan of a New Restaurant This project management plan is majorly concerned primarily with the first two steps which are defining the project; the project objective is broken down into a series of manageable steps called tasks and designing the project process; this work is performed by the project manager and is presented in the GANTT chart where the tasks are displayed in more detail (Hamilton, 2004). Besides, for

Project Management Involved in Formation of Airbus A380
Words: 3616 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

Project Management Involved Formation of Airbus Project Management involved in Formation of Airbus The report investigates factors that led to the A380 project crisis. Analysis of the project revealed that Airbus did not integrate an effective project management model into the project lifecycle leading the project to be two years behind schedule, which eventually led to the costs escalations. The report reveals several lessons to be learned from the A380 project crisis.

Project Management for an Experienced Entrepreneur: The
Words: 2148 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

Project Management for an Experienced Entrepreneur: The Benefits of Specialized Expertise As an experienced entrepreneur with several successful projects already underway or completed, there is no real need to tell you how important it is to know -- or to consult and work with people who know -- the specifics of a particular process, product, or industry when engaging in a new venture. Knowledge might not translate directly to power in

Project Management Any Project, No Matter What
Words: 2984 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

Project Management Any project, no matter what the outcome is supposed to be, has to be properly managed from outset to completion to make sure that the outcome is the one desired. Without some type of plan, a project can easily become so overburdened with cost and time overruns that it is better just to abandon it and move on. The problem is though that project management often requires a large

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now