DISCUSSION BOARD 3 1
Discussion Board 3
BUSI 680: Advanced Project Management I
DISCUSSION BOARD 3 2
A large number of projects do not meet their objectives and about only 40 percent of
project objectives are aligned with the overall organizational strategy (Musawir, 2017)
Oftentimes, project cost estimates and schedules are overly optimistic and flawed due to the
individual conducting the estimate not having accurate information which can lead to not
meeting objectives. In fact, there has been substantial evidence suggesting that poor cost and
time estimates have been the major contributors to projects that have been unsuccessful (Gray &
Larson, 2021). If I were the project manager of the project in the case study, I would prepare a
detailed report and briefing outlining the requirements of needing additional time and costs to
deliver a $200 quality printer. The briefing would include a detailed breakdown of the costs
associated with the project to show management the cost of all the tasks. Additionally, I would
present solutions to bringing the costs down to what top management originally estimated in the
top-down estimate to give leadership options to move forward. I would be blunt in my approach
and let them know that either the scope, time, or cost of the project must give.
In project management, the triple constraints that must be managed closely are cost,
scope, and time (Susilowati et al., 2021). In other words, if the top management wants the costs
to be lower on a project, they will need to reduce the scope or be accepting of a longer duration
of the project. This is not always the case for some projects as costs can increase with increased
duration, but regardless, constraints are properly communicated with top management and
stakeholders to enable the greatest project success (Sicotte & Delerue, 2021). Effectively
communicating to top leadership is one of the most important skills even when the information
may not be favorable. In the Bible, we are reminded to “Let no corrupting talk come out of your
mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to
those who hear” (English Standard Version, 2001, Ephesians 4:29).
DISCUSSION BOARD 3 3
In the case study, top management was acting correctly but could have been much more
efficient in developing an initial estimate by consulting middle-managers on the effort.
Additionally, they should not be pressuring their opinions on employees without a bottom-up
estimate. Their estimate is considered a top-down estimate, which ended up being $1,250,000
over the bottom-up estimate. This disparity in estimates is common as each estimate is made by
different entities, which means that they are made from different perspectives. For example, the
difference between top-down estimates and bottom-up estimates is that top-down estimates are
rough estimates conducted by surrogates who use experience and information while bottom-up
estimates are detailed estimates of work packages conducted by workers at the lower levels who
are most familiar with the project tasks (Gray & Larson, 2021). Some of the estimating
techniques that should be used for a mission-critical project like the one in the case study include
phase estimating, analogous estimating, parametric estimating, bottom-up estimating, three-point
estimating, and case points.
DISCUSSION BOARD 3 4
References
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/
Gray, C. F., & Larson, E. W. (2021). Project Management: The managerial process (8th ed.).
McGraw-Hill Education.
Musawir, A., Serra, C. E. M., Zwikael, O., & Ali, I. (2017). Project governance, benefit
management, and project success: Towards a framework for supporting organizational
strategy implementation. International Journal of Project Management, 35(8), 1658-
1672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.07.007
Sicotte, H., & Delerue, H. (2021). Project planning, top management support and
communication: A trident in search of an explanation. Journal of Engineering and
Technology Management, 60, 101626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jengtecman.2021.101626
Susilowati, M., Kurniawan, Y., Prasetiya, H. P., Beatrix, R., Dewa, W. A., & Ahsan, M. (2021).
How to manage scope, time and cost of project management plan to develop manufacture
information system. IOP Conference Series. Materials Science and Engineering, 1098(6),
62006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/1098/6/062006
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