Operations Management
Lesson 5
Project Management
1
What you will learn in this unit:
 Project Life Cycle
 Project Planning Tools
 The Roles of Project Managers
 Key Success Factors
2
What is a project?
A project is a set of activities, which has a defined start point and a
defined end state, that pursues a defined goal and that uses a defined
set of resources.
Project management is the process of managing the activities
within a project by planning the work, executing it and coordinating
the contribution of the staff and organizations who have an interest
in the project.
An AIDS information campaign
Designing an aircraft
Constructing petronas twin tower
Installing a new information system
Project Management
Applications

What is a project?

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
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Any endeavor with objectives
With multiple activities
With defined precedent relationships
With a specific time period for completion
Examples?

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A major event like a wedding
Any construction project
Designing a political campaign
4
Five Project Life Cycle Phases

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Conception: identify the need
Feasibility analysis or study: costs
benefits, and risks

Planning: who, how long, what to do?

Execution: doing the project

Termination: ending the project
5
Network Planning Techniques

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Program Evaluation & Review Technique (PERT):
 Developed to manage the Polaris missile project
 Many tasks pushed the boundaries of science &
engineering (tasks’ duration = probabilistic)
Critical Path Method (CPM):
 Developed to coordinate maintenance projects in the
chemical industry
 A complex undertaking, but individual tasks are
routine (tasks’ duration = deterministic)
6
Both PERT and CPM

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Graphically display the precedence
relationships & sequence of activities
Estimate the project’s duration
Identify critical activities that cannot be
delayed without delaying the project
Estimate the amount of slack associated with
non-critical activities
7
Some Network Definitions
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All activities on the critical path have zero slack
Slack defines how long non-critical activities can be
delayed without delaying the project
Slack = the activity’s late finish minus its early finish
(or its late start minus its early start)
Earliest Start (ES) = the earliest finish of the immediately
preceding activity
Earliest Finish (EF) = is the ES plus the activity time
Latest Start (LS) and Latest Finish (LF) depend on
whether or not the activity is on the critical path
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Gantt Chart is used for project scheduling; it involves
multiple dimensions in assisting for planning. It’s a
simple and visual oriented planning method.
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Breakfast in bed project

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Purpose – to make breakfast in bed
End result – breakfast in bed of boiled egg,
toast & orange juice
Success criteria – minimum staff resources &
time; high quality (egg freshly boiled, toast
warm etc.)
Scope – project starts in kitchen at 6am and
finishes in bedroom; needs one operator and
normal equipment
10
A work breakdown structure
Serve breakfast in bed
Type title here
produce glass
of orange juice
Obtain
juice
obtain
glass
Produce boiled egg
in egg cup
produce
boiled egg
Obtain
egg
Obtain
water
obtain
egg cup
Produce buttered
toast
Produce
toast
obtain
butter
Arrange
tray
Obtain plates
and cutlery
Obtain tray
obtain bread
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Breakfast in bed project
Task
ID
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
I
Activity
Butter toast
Pour orange juice
Boil egg
Slice bread
Fill pan with water
Bring water to boil
Toast bread
Take tray to bedroom
Fetch tray etc
Effort
(Operatve
mnutes)
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
Duration
(Mins)
1
1
4
1
1
3
2
1
1
12
Breakfast in bed project
Task
ID
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
I
Activity
Butter toast
Pour orange juice
Boil egg
Slice bread
Fill pan with water
Bring water to boil
Toast bread
Take tray to bedroom
Fetch tray etc
Predecessors
d,g
e,f
e
d
a,b,c,d,e,f,g,I
-
13
Network diagrams
Activity reference
a
An Activity
1
Activity duration
14
Network diagrams
An event
Event number
1
Earliest event time
Latest event time
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Project Slack
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If there is a difference between the
earliest and latest event time this is
known as the slack on that event
If the earliest and latest event time are
equal, this event lies on the critical path
16
Gantt Charts
Activities requiring operator time
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Orange
Bread
Water
Toast
Boil water
Butter
Boil egg
Bedroom
Tray
Operators required
4
3
2
1
17
Gantt Charts
Activities requiring operator time
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Orange
Bread
Water
Toast
Boil water
Butter
Boil egg
Bedroom
Tray
Operators required
4
3
2
1
18
Gantt Charts
Activities requiring operator time
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Orange
Bread
Water
Boil water
Toast
Boil egg
Butter
Bedroom
Tray
Operators required
4
3
2
1
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Successful Project management
The following factors are particularly important:

Clearly defined goals

Competent project manager

Top-management support

Competent project members

Sufficient resource allocation

Adequate communications channels

Control mechanisms

Feedback capabilities

Responsiveness to client

Trouble shooting mechanisms

Project staff continuity
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