Road Transport Project Management

Vocabulary flashcards covering the core principles, terminology, constraints, planning models, and closure methods of Road Transport Project Management based on Level 6 module materials.

A Project

A once-off, or unique activity with a well-defined set of desired outputs, which needs to be achieved within a required time frame and within a specified budget.

Project Management

The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet stakeholder needs and expectations from a project.

Megaproject

A very large investment project, typically exceeding $US\$1\,\text{billion}$, that attracts significant public attention due to its scale and impact on environments and budgets.

Portfolio

A collection of related or unrelated projects that share a mutual outcome, product, or service, such as different software programs for tracking performance.

Programme

Related projects grouped due to their strategic intention and ongoing nature, which share a mutual strategic objective supporting the broader organization.

S-curve

A graphical representation showing that a project typically has a slow start during initiation, picks up momentum during planning and execution, and returns to a slow pace for closure.

Deliverable

A tangible, verifiable work product, such as a feasibility study, a detailed design, or a working prototype, produced at the completion of a project phase.

Phase Exits

Reviews held at the end of a project phase to evaluate performance and determine if the project should continue, also known as stage gates or kill points.

Project Scope

A definition of the end-result or mission of the project, specifying what will be delivered to the client including deliverables, milestones, and technical requirements.

Scope Creep

The tendency of the project scope to expand or change over time by ballooning beyond original parameters, usually due to changing requirements from clients or executives.

Project Charter

An outcome of scope planning, also known as the Project Mission, which refers to a document authorizing the project manager to initiate and lead the project.

Payback Period

A numeric selection model representing the number of years required to recover the original investment, calculated as $\text{Payback Period} = \frac{\text{Initial Investment}}{\text{Cash Inflow per Period}}$.

Average Rate of Return (ARR)

A selection model calculated as $\text{ARR} = \frac{\text{Profit}}{\text{Initial Investment}}$, indicating the desirability of a project based on its rate of return per rand invested.

Net Present Value (NPV)

A method that discounts all estimated cash flows to the present time using a common interest rate to determine project profitability.

Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

A method that determines the interest rate required to make the present value of cash flows in the project equal to zero.

Feasibility Study

An assessment of the practicality of a proposed plan that answers if the project is viable and likely to succeed based on an analysis of stakeholders and deliverables.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

An organized hierarchical diagram that identifies all project activities and tasks to be completed, used to link organizational units to sub-deliverables.

Gantt Chart

An illustration of multiple time-based activities on a horizontal time scale that shows task interdependence and provides a clear picture of the project's current status.

Critical Path Method (CPM)

A mathematical analysis technique that calculates a single early and late start/finish date for each activity to determine the least scheduling flexibility or float.

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

A scheduling method that uses sequential network logic and a weighted average duration estimate to calculate total project duration.

Expected Time ($T_e$)

The estimated duration for a task in PERT, calculated using the formula $T_e = \frac{o + p + 4m}{6}$ where $o$ is optimistic, $p$ is pessimistic, and $m$ is most likely time.

Critical Path (CP)

The longest path from start to end on a network diagram, consisting of activities that if delayed, will delay the completion of the entire project.

Slack (or Float)

The time available on a network path for activities and events to move forward or backward without affecting the final project end date.

Crashing

A schedule compression technique where cost and schedule trade-offs are analyzed to shorten the project duration by adding resources to activities.

Fast Tracking

Extending a project schedule by performing activities in parallel that would normally be done in sequence, which can result in rework and increased risk.

Matrix Organisation

An organizational structure combining functional and project forms where the project manager controls tasks while functional managers control staff assignments.

Responsibility Accounting

A management accounting system where costs and revenues are traced back to the specific individuals or responsibility centres responsible for their incurrence.

Investment Centre

A responsibility centre where the manager is accountable for expenses and revenue, and has control over capital investment decisions for plant or equipment.

Profit Centre

A responsibility centre, such as a warehouse or distribution centre, where managers are accountable for both sales revenue and expenses.

Cost Centre

A responsibility centre, such as a maintenance depot, where managers are only accountable for the costs or expenses that are under their control.

Resource Loading

The process of filling team members' total available time with assignments throughout a work week until they reach $100\%$ of their capacity.

Resource Levelling

A project management technique that resolves overallocation and scheduling conflicts to ensure projects are completed with available resources by shifting activities within slack.

Resource Smoothing

A resource optimization technique that adjusts activities within pre-defined limits to avoid peaks and lows in resource demands without extending the project duration.

Cybernetic Control

Also known as steering or continuous control, this method is used during the project execution phase to monitor and adjust performance as activities are implemented.

Go/No-go Control

A type of pre-control assessment used to check if predetermined specifications or standards have been met before work on a project continues.

Earned Value Chart (EVC)

A graphical display of earned value management metrics representing progress made by comparing budgeted costs for work performed against actual costs and schedules.

Project Audit

A process of detailed inspection of project management, methodology, procedures, budgets, and level of completion to capture successes and failures.

Termination by Extinction

A method of project closure where activities cease because the project has successfully achieved its goals or has been superseded and abandoned.

Termination by Addition

Institutionalizing a successful in-house project as a formal, permanent part of the parent organization, such as a new division or department.

Termination by Integration

Closing a project by distributing its property, equipment, material, and personnel into existing sections of the parent organization's standard operating procedures.

Termination by Starvation

A slow reduction or cutback of a project's budget and resources over time until further progress becomes impossible and the project effectively ends.