MGMT 346 - Quiz 2

Chapter 8

project

an interrelated set of activities with a definite starting and ending point, which results in a uniqye outcome for a specific allocation of resources

3 main goals of a project

1. complete project on time or earlier

2. do not exceed budget

3. meet the specification to the satisfaction of the customer

how to overcome uncertainties in projects

flexibility on resource availability, deadline, budget, and good project management

project management

a systemized, phased approach to defining, organizing, planning, monitoring, and controlling projects

program

interdependent set of projects with a common strategic purpose

• bigger than a project; contains interconnected projects

cross-functional

departments outside of your own helps on the project

steps for defining and organizing projects

1. define the scope and objectives of a project

2. select the project manager and team

3. recognize organizational structure

statement of scope

project objective statement that captures the essence of the desired project outcomes in the form of major deliverables

scope creep

ongoing changes to project scope that may cause time delay and failure

what has to be as specific as possible?

time frame

project manager

responsible for integrating the efforts of people from various functional areas to achieve specified project goal

what are the roles of a project manager

facilitator

communicator

decision maker

facilitator

must resolve conflicts between individuals/departments to ensure project has appropriate resources for job

communicator

project progress and requests for additional resources must be clearly communicated to senior management and other stakeholders in a project

decision maker

organize the team meetings, specify how the team will make decisions, and determine the nature and timing of reports to senior management

project team

group of people that represent different functional areas or organizations

3 organizational structures

functional

pure project

matrix

functional organizational structure

the project is housed in a specific department or functional area

pure project organizational structure

team members work exclusively for the project manager

matrix organizational structure

compromise between functional and pure project

5 steps of planning phase

1. define the work breakdown structure

2. diagram the network

3. develop the project schedule

4. analyze cost-time trade-offs

5. assess and analyze risks

work breakdown structure (WBS)

a statement of all work that has to be completed

• work list

network diagram

a network planning method designed to depict the relationships between activities that consist of nodes (circles) and arcs (arrows)

precedence relationships

one activity cannot start until a preceding activity has been completed

critical path

the sequence of activities between a project’s start and finish that takes the longest time to complete

earliest start time (ES)

the earliest finish time of the immediately preceding activity

earliest finish time (EF)

an activity’s earliest start time plus its estimated duration

slack time

the difference between the earliest start and latest start