project management report

ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR THE

PROJECT MANAGER

A200SAM ADD+VANTAGE MODULE

PROJECT SUCCESS AND FAILURE

THE PROJECT TRIANGLE

In the project triangle, also called the iron

triangle, there are three key constraints (triple

constraint):

Cost

Time Scope

A FEW EXAMPLES...

SOME PROJECTS TO CONSIDER

 London 2012 Olympic Games (budget)

 Channel Tunnel Rail Link (budget and time)

 Sydney Opera House (5x budget and 3x time)

 Concorde (15x budget? Time? )

ACTIVITY

EVALUATING PROJECT SUCCESS

 What is project success/failure?

 How might you measure success on a project?

 Who determines project success/failure?

 When and how do you decide on the criteria?

 How might the assessment be affected by timing?

 During/after/six months after?

PERSPECTIVES ON PROJECT SUCCESS

 Different stakeholders bring varying perspectives

 Eg A project meeting the needs of a sponsor may not

satisfy the customer, end user, or wider stakeholders

 Impact of who manages the assessment of project

success

 Consider the impact of the project manager/project

sponsor/client/project team measuring success

BACCARINI (1999)

PROJECT SUCCESS

Two components to project success:

 Project management success

 Accomplishment of cost, time and quality objectives

 Project management process

 Product success

 Effects of the project’s final deliverables

SHENHAR ET AL (2001)

PROJECT SUCCESS

Four key dimensions of project success:

1. Project efficiency

 Cost/time/specification

2. Impact on customer

 Benefit to the customer

3. Direct business and organisational success

 Benefit to the organisation eg profit or market share

4. Preparing for the future

 Longer term benefits to the organisation

SHENHAR ET AL (2001)

IMPACT OF TIME

 Time also affects the applicability of the four

dimensions

For example:

 Dimension one (has the project been efficiently run to

time/cost/quality?) is more relevant in the short term

and during the project

 Dimension four (long term benefits) only become

apparent after several years

DETERMINING SUCCESS

Steps to a reliable definition of success:

 Identify valid stakeholders

 Work with stakeholders during project initiation

to agree how success is to be defined

 Ensure success criteria documented and explicit

 Prioritise and balance success criteria

 Agree who is accountable for achieving each

criterion

 Agree when each criterion will be assessed

 Perform ongoing stakeholder and expectations

management

Newton (2009: 202)

SHENHAR ET AL (2001)

PROJECTS AND STRATEGY

 ‘...projects must be perceived as powerful strategic weapons

initiated to create economic value and competitive

advantage, and project managers must become the new

strategic leaders who must take on total responsibility for

project business results’ (Shenhar et al, 2001: 703)

 ‘...many projects are undertaken today in small, start-up

companies, where the project team is involved in all

business aspects, and there is no distinction between

project success and product success.’ (Shenhar et al,

2001: 703)

 ‘Projects in the future... will become the engines that drive

strategy into new directions.’ (Shenhar et al, 2001: 703)

Dimensions of project success

Met time and cost

constraints

Created expected

deliverables

Managed in expected way to expected

process

-

- Organisational learning

- Strategic goals

- Risk minimisationAchieved

expected business benefits

Stakeholder satisfaction

Met stakeholder

needs

Right project to

have chosen

Newton (2009: 194)

RECOMMENDED READING

 Newton, R. (2009) The practice and theory of Project

Management: creating value through change Basingstoke,

Palgrave Macmillan - chapter 7 (available as a digitised

chapter via the resources list)

 Shenhar, A., Dvir, D., Levy, O. and Maltz, A. (2001) ‘Project

success: a multidimensional strategic concept’ Long Range

Planning, 34 (6) 699–725

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

 Atkinson, R. (1999) 'Project management: cost, time and

quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, it’s time to

accept other success criteria', International Journal of

Project Management, 17 (6) 337–342

 Cooke-Davies, T. (2002) 'The “real” success factors on

projects' International Journal of Project Management, 20

185–190

 Papke-Shields, K. E., Beise, C. and Quan, J (2010) 'Do

project managers practice what they preach, and does it

matter to project success?', International Journal of Project

Management, 28 (7) 650-662

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

 Deadline: 5th May 2017, 23:55

 Submission via Turnitin

 draft Turnitin also available

 No paper copy required

ASSIGNMENT FORMAT

 Accounts for 100% of the module mark

 The assignment is in two parts:  Part 1 (80% of the module mark) - Prepare a project report

through critically evaluating the project and drawing on relevant project management theory and framework to present to your company’s board of directors for approval. In order to write this report please refer to the case study. (1500 words)

 Part 2 (worth 20% of the module mark) - What technical and management skills do you think a project manager should have and how effectively they can integrate it to manage the project successfully? (500 words)

 The coursework should be submitted as one document comprising the two answers

 Please use 1.5 or double-line spacing and (preferably) Calibri/12 font

GUIDANCE

 All analysis and recommendations should be

supported by reference to relevant project

management theory presented in academic and

professional publications

 Your report should demonstrate project

management theory throughout

 The case study should be used as the starting

point for your analysis

 CU Harvard referencing must be used

 Appendices should only be used to support

information within the report

WORD LIMIT

 Total: 2000 words

 There is a 10% word limit tolerance. Maximum/Minimum

Range: 1800 to 2200 words. A penalty of 10% of the mark

is applied if the word limit is not within the maximum

/minimum range stated above.

 Overall total is key – balance between 1 (1500 words) and 2

(500 words) is a guide

 Please include the number of words used in your report on

the front page of your report

 Word limit excludes reference list and diagrams

Assessment criteria

Any questions?