Week 6: Ethics and Project Portfolio
Management - Discussion
Value Management (graded)
Chapter 9 of our text looks at value management. VM is based on three root principles.
1.
2.
3.
A focus on objectives and targets
A focus on the function
A continuous awareness of value
According to your text, what is VM and how is it used in an organization? What are the benefits of VM?
Responses
Response
Author
Value
Management!
Instructor Ohayia
Date/Time
8/11/2012 6:09:04 AM
Greetings Class - As you approach these questions think back about our discussion in
Week 1 on the "From Corporate Strategy to Project Strategy" and the value
proposition of any project.
RE: Value
Management! Tiffany Bullard
8/14/2012 7:26:08 PM
Every organization must change as the industry they operate in evolves. if they don't change
they could cease to exist. Value management is a never ending process and one that
organizations must take seriously. As an organization grows it must learn to adapt to its
surroundings in order to stay relevant.
RE: Value
Management! Paul Lindeke
8/15/2012 7:32:50 PM
I agree that companies need to stay current and up to date if they want to be
successful. If a company goes too far out of date then it risks the problem of
becoming obsolete and nobody using the company because it is out of date.
Making sure to have the most up to date technology is important for the companies
that have to do with computers and electronics because if they fall behind the other
companies then they will lose and go out of business. That is why value
management is so important for companies to follow and make sure they never
forget to stay up to date.
RE: Value
Management! Shavonda Marks
8/15/2012 10:09:50
PM
I agree that an organization needs to stay current with
technology. Working in the pharmaceutical industry for
over 20 years, I have witnessed many changes. I worked for
a major pharma company for 15 years. Before I left, the
company had just converted over to E2B gateway to
transport information to FDA in a timely manner. My
current employer is just starting to implement the E2B five
years later. I do believe we are the one of the last to
implement this feature.
RE: Value
Management! Tiffany Bullard
8/16/2012 8:31:50
PM
Your post makes me think of a job that I will be starting Monday. I was
just hired as an IT Project Manager for a large company that is making a
transition from the Waterfall methodology to an Agile one. Naturally
the current employees are used to using Waterfall so I was warned of the
'push back' I will likely encounter. The fact is, the organization is
making rapid changes and Waterfall is just no longer as effective as it
once was. The organization realizes that in order to remain a top
competitor it must do what's needed to stay afloat. I'm a little scared of
what I will encounter on Monday but, Game On!
Value
mangement
Steven Frank
8/12/2012 12:52:29 PM
According to our text, VM is the process of optimizing a project. this includes analysis
of the value the project brings to the organization, including if the project should be
done at all.
RE: Value
mangement Corinne Lisefski
8/12/2012 9:15:09 PM
To add to what Steve said,
"There are three key concepts that, combined, underlie all value
methodologies:



• The function, which is the expression of needs in terms of purpose,
independent from any solution
• The cross-functional team, which enables a broad view and an
increased knowledge of a situation
• The structured process, based on creative thinking; the alternate use
of creativity and analysis, or lateral and vertical thinking (de Bono,
1990)" (Morris, Peter, Jeffrey K. Pinto. The Wiley Guide to Project, Program, and
Portfolio Management. 1. VitalSource Bookshelf. John Wiley & Sons (P&T), 9/7/07,
Sunday, August 12, 2012. <http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781118160466/9/3>)
(link http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781118160466/9/3)
Benefits
of VM
Venkat Yetrintala
8/12/2012 8:15:44 PM
VM is concerned with improving and sustaining a desirable balance between what the
shareholder want and need, with the available resource the company actually have.
VM strategic approach individual target or objective within the organization that need
to support and increase efficiency throughout the organization. An example could be
increase customer satisfaction with new product, a VM strategic plan the best and
most positive practice to achieve goal. VM is more associated with a decision-making
process, where the decision makers are actively participating in the process and have
authority over the resources required to implement the decision. Here are few benefits
of Value Management:






Recognizably better decisions based on relevant and balanced information
Improved performance of products and services that better reflect stakeholder
needs
Increased efficiency through team based activity with a common focus
Enhanced competitiveness by facilitating and realizing latent creativity
A common value culture, with shared understanding of the organizations goals
and associated success factors
Organizational learning, and improved capability to embed change.
Value
Management
Darren Coleman
8/13/2012 1:03:37 PM
VM is more associated with a decision-making process, where the decision makers are
actively participating in the process and have authority over the resources required to
implement the decision.
Some benefits will enable senior management to maintain or increase benefits, encourages innovative
solutions and enables effective consultation and engagement of stakeholders and end users and
reconciles their differing needs.
RE: Value
Management Instructor Ohayia
8/13/2012 5:54:45 PM
Thanks Darren - We would love to hear of some of the benefits you
discovered in your research.
RE: Value
Management Darren Coleman
8/15/2012 7:22:31 PM
They say VM benefits can be applied incrementally, delivering
returns on investment of between 20 -40 times the cost, plus
significant soft benefits with low risk. Tangible returns on
investment between 20 and 40 times the resource commitment are
not untypical. Significant benefits in terms of improved working
relationships and organisational learning. Improved performance of
products and services that better reflect stakeholder needs.
Introducing
Value
Management
Venkat Yetrintala
8/13/2012 2:42:32 PM
Found a very good article on how to Introducing Value Management in Your Organization:
Value management is a journey, not a destination. The journey doesn’t end when you arrive
at a certain result. Rather, it’s an ongoing process of constantly striving for better results,
achieving them, and setting new goals based on changing business circumstances and
current priorities.
http://www.the-decisionfactor.com/performance-management/a-case-for-introducing-valuemanagement-in-your-organization/
RE:
Introducing
Corinne Lisefski
Value
Management
8/13/2012 9:53:18 PM
Thanks for sharing Venkat. I agree with article. Organizations must adapt
and change with the needs of the market and as such they are always evolving
and changing. "VM as a journey", allows an organization to continue to grow
and have a management style that will adapt to the organization and still be
usable and beneficial to the organization. I think this is something my
organization should look at implementing; I can see a lot of benefits for us.
RE:
Introducing
Elvis Niangoran
Value
Management
8/14/2012 4:50:56 AM
VM technique can put a big emphases on the employees motivation
in any organization, help develop skills, promoting synergies and
innovation. The main objective of this thecnique is to maximize the
overall performance of the whole organization
RE:
Introducing
Melinda Larsh
Value
Management
8/17/2012 3:37:22 PM
I agree with both of it. It is imperative that a company continues to
grow and change as the market does. We can look at Kodak as a
company that did not react quickly enough and although they used to
be the leader, they didn't react to enough to the digitial age and not
Kodak camera's are no long a market leader.
Value
Management
Oral Bestman
8/14/2012 11:40:07 AM
VM is concerned with improving and sustaining a desirable balance between what the
shareholder want and need, with the available resource the company actually have.
VM strategic approach individual target or objective within the organization that need
to support and increase efficiency throughout the organization. An example could be
increase customer satisfaction with new product, a VM strategic plan the best and
most positive practice to achieve goal.
RE: Value
Management Venkat Yetrintala
8/14/2012 3:04:37 PM
From the book:
To be most effective, value management must be linked to strategy, success
factors, programs, and prioritization, as well as to change management. VM
is a group decision management (GDM) process, which enables groups of
stakeholders to make sensible and well-grounded strategic decisions, based
on needs; define and prioritize expected benefits; and quantify them. It also
enables program managers to select and prioritize projects and other actions,
based on the expected benefits that have been defined at a strategic level and
the most effective use of resources. Value management, if it is applied at the
project gateways and program appraisal phase, becomes a change
management methodology that ensures a choice of options directly related to
the expected benefits.
From this what I got is value management is really about delivering more for
less by providing value to key business skateholders.
RE: Value
Management Kim Easter
8/14/2012 5:08:06 PM
To add to Venkat's post, According to our text, "value management
is not a new process. It has evolved over decades and the actual term
was first used in the 1980s. It emerged as a discipline in
the 1990s drawing on management techniques and fully integrating it
in the project life cycle as a “collaborative group-learning approach”
(Barton, 2000). Value Management is widely utilized in various
processes such as strategic planning, process reengineering,
organizational and change management as well as organizational
effectiveness, quality management, and risk management." (Morris
200)
Morris, Peter, Jeffrey K. Pinto. The Wiley Guide to Project,
Program, and Portfolio Management. John Wiley & Sons (P&T),
9/7/07. <vbk:9781118160466#outline(9.1.1)>.
RE: Value
Management Jenna Pingitore
8/15/2012 7:55:31 AM
You make some very good points, Oral. Finding that balance between the
shareholder and the company is not always an easy thing to do. When you
look at the success of a company and you look at the shareholders that are
there, you are looking at good results when the shareholders is supportive of
the company and is really looking out for the best interest of the company.
When you have a shareholder that is just there to hold a seat but really could
not care less about how the company does, you are doomed from the start.
The company needs to have someone in place that is there for the company
and wants to see them do well. You mentioned efficiency and I think that this
is definitely something worth evaluating when you are looking at the
company, overall.
RE: Value
Management Instructor Ohayia
8/16/2012 3:46:18 PM
Thanks Oral/Jenna! You both raised some interesting points
regarding balance and efficiency, can you relate this to Kim's
definition and points from our text.
8/16/2012 5:01:06
PM
RE: Value
Management Jenna Pingitore
Going off of Kim's post with the definition: "Value
Management is widely utilized in various processes such
as strategic planning, process reengineering, organizational
and change management as well as organizational
effectiveness, quality management, and risk
management." (Morris 200). When I look at the books
definition that Kim pulled, it definitely talks about
organizational management and how effective they are.
When you look at how effective a project is and the value
management that is associated with that project, there is a lot
to keep in mind. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is
that value management is not a one and done thing, the
project will continuously loop back to the value
management to make sure that everything is being kept in
line with the project.
Value
Management
Nazar Eljack
8/14/2012 5:00:41 PM
Value Management Today: A Style of Management
At a management level, VM is based on three root principles:
1. A focus on objectives and targets: stakeholders’ needs and critical success
factors
2. A focus on the function: purpose of the product, system, or service
3. A continuous awareness of value: measures for improvement and
innovativeness
Three key concepts underlie it:
(a) A transverse approach, translated in practice by cross-functional teamwork. The
VM methodology is based on a multidisciplinary team approach in a workshop
environment; it enables the team to broaden perspective, assess every angle, share
opinions, and reach consensus.
(b) A structured decision process leading to better business decisions. The VM
process is a systematic approach, based on creative thinking, which uses time in the
most efficient way to ensure that the scope of the VM study is covered in the best
sequence.
(c) The use of functions, increasing effectiveness and enhancing competitiveness. VM
relies on functions, rather than on predefined solutions, to identify the expected
outcome of a project, thus allowing evaluation of a broader range of possible options.
The Wiley Guide To Project, Program & Portfolio Management
Peter W. G. Morris Jeffrey K. Pinto
RE: Value
Management Oral Bestman
8/15/2012 2:58:43 PM
VM focus on objectives and targets, it strength and weakness and how each
can be used to benefit the shareholder without increasing the available
resources, which usually is cost, labor, and material. The objective of VM is
to reduce shareholder risk, and increase profit / benefit within the
organization. Usually the best process, is identifying what the client need, and
producing that resource at a reasonable price, without impact on the
organization goal and shareholder needs.
RE:
VM at Troy Brown
it's
8/14/2012 6:21:42 PM
finest
Modified:8/14/2012 6:23 PM
As most classmates already posted what VM is and it's benefits. I thought this was an
interesting example that I got off the web in a small paper that I read. I think this
example gives a clear meaning of VM:
"There are two types of manager: leaders and administrators. Most organizations
employ administrator-managers. If an employee goes to the manager and says, "If I
could have one of these new widgets I could make us a lot of money", the leadermanager will reply, "OK. I'll get you one". What's the model number and how much
does it cost?" The implication is that real value will be added. On the other hand the
administrator-manager will reply, "OK, write me a business case and I will submit it
to my boss and she will submit it to a committee." By the time the reply comes back,
if ever, it will be either too late or the employee will have become de-motivated (or
have moved on). When organizations change from being ordinary to become dynamic,
the managers change from administrators to leaders. In organisations with several tiers
of management (whether officially recognised or not) the value management approach
queries the value of each tier. When every manager and employee understands his or
her own value, the organisation will be in a position to really flourish."
http://www.innovationgame.com/invgame/vmpaper.htm
I think this is so true, and I run into the administrator-manager all of the time at my
workplace. I love it when you bring a great idea to the table and it gets shot down or
has to go through the chain of command just to get implemented. Maybe this is just a
cultural thing for some organizations as they breed their management to always look
up at the authority or follow a systematic approach to cover their butts even with the
smallest change. I think the true meaning behind VM is the value it brings to the
company as a whole and what people make of that value.
RE:
VM at
Steven Frank
it's
finest
8/14/2012 7:04:48 PM
I have an example of this from a previous job (Early 90's). I was doing
desktop support and mentioned to my manager that I needed a CD burner for
the lab. Not being that well versed on what we actually did operationally (she
was very empowering), she asked a co-manager that was more familiar.
When he said yes, I was asked to pick one from the catalog. I thought about
ordering the awesome duplicator that would make 100 copies at the touch of
a button, but it wasn't what we needed. Within a week, all 4 labs had CD
burners, no questions asked.
Had I been asked to justify the request and document the value add of a CD
burner, I would probably have just bought one myself instead of dealing with
the paperwork.
RE:
VM
at it's Tyrone Labad
finest
8/14/2012 9:14:31 PM
Recent years have seen a plethora of new management approaches for improving
organizational performance focusing on adding value. HR practitioners have a new
mandate to focus on employee's adding value to their job, to their organisation ,
to their team or department some of the ones which global organisations have/are
using are total quality management, flat organizations, empowerment, continuous
improvement, reengineering, kaizen, team building, and so on. Many have
succeeded—but quite a few have failed. Often the cause of failure was
performance targets that were unclear or not properly aligned with the ultimate
goal of creating value. The Best approach which I quote from one of my earlier
jobs is to have an idea forum with a measurable impact of the idea and the value it
can create. It is an approach to management that aligns a company's overall
aspirations, analytical techniques, and management processes to focus
management decision making on the key drivers of value and this way each
employee can focus on creating value and feel contributed
.
RE:
VM
at it's Robert Allen
finest
8/16/2012 4:05:13 PM
Steven, your comment about "just buy one myself instead of dealing
with paperwork" strikes a sympathetic chord with me. What's
unfortunate for us is that such forward thinking and action is often
not recognized in an employee by a manager or director. I've had
similar experiences at my last job (teaching) where I wanted to run
weekend events for the students. I ended up funding the
refreshments myself because getting renumerated for them was just
too much hassle. Since I didn't trumpet my 'sacrifice' to the high
heavens, no one knew. This in turn decreased my value to the school
because I was not perceived as doing anything beyond my normal
routine.
Leaders need to remember that value propositions aren't just for
products sold, or products bought, but also for the staff who must be
trained to generate the product.
One other side comment: by buying what you needed, 4 burners,
instead of 1 big shiny burner, you did the right thing, adding value to
your group and labs. I hope you got credit for that.
RE:
VM
at it's Corinne Lisefski
finest
8/16/2012 8:59:40 PM
Steven, that's an interesting story. Working for a government
agency, I can understand why you wouldn't want to deal with the
paper work. I myself am amazed at the amount of paperwork we
have internally and more so at what we ask our vendors/contractors
to do. I know that some companies refused to do work with a
government agency, because of the paperwork (and/or how long it
takes to get paid.) But I often wonder if the paperwork means that
vendors are raising their prices, just because of the hassle of
paperwork Or if its a vendor who is new to working with us, if the
paperwork means they won't be working with us again?
RE:
VM
at
Steven Frank
it's
finest
8/17/2012 10:49:43 AM
I was working at an IT services contractor as an onsite
engineer for a client. We had expenses, since the client
didn't want to pay for our supplies, and the company I
worked for didn't have a system to supply us remotely. The
reimbursement process was horrible - a command line
UNIX system that had not aliases set up. The process was so
frustrating that if my expenses were under $50, I just
wouldn't submit the request. My time was worth more than
the reimbursement.
As an employee of an IT services company, I was
embarrassed that we were using an archaic system.
"Sensing
making..."
Instructor Ohayia
8/15/2012 3:55:38 PM
Class - VM talks about sensing making. What is it and how is it done?
RE:
"Sensing
Damion Alexander
making..."
8/15/2012 9:06:04 PM
Value management is a combination of planning tools and methods to find
the optimum balance of project benefits in relation to project costs and risks.
It is the process of planning, assessing and developing the project in order to
make the right decisions about the optimized balance of project benefits, risks
and costs. The goal is to achieve a better understanding of business needs of
the performing organization and to consider all options, alternatives and
innovative ideas regarding project implementation and product delivery.
Source: http://www.mymanagementguide.com/value-management-inprojects-definition-and-goals/
RE:
"Sensing Tyrone Labad
making..."
8/15/2012 11:14:39 PM
One key area is the issue of reliability of cost and schedule performance and how
it can directly attribute value.. It is not enough to deliver projects that, on average,
have favorable cost and schedule performance. It is also crucial that those results
be predictable wrt to project costs and the risks involved. Value Management is
essential to ensure that the Project Deliverable s and the Project
is successful. Finally, there is the question of how much does Project Management
cost. Higher levels of Value Management Maturity are found to be associated with
better cost and schedule results, on average. Critically important, they are also
associated with more predictable results.The cost of managing projects is shown to
decline over time, too. However, there is a chance for regular measurement and
reporting of Value and the assessment of the project which provides a clearer
understanding of business needs and the overall organisational goals.
RE:
"Sensing Troy Brown
making..."
8/16/2012 9:41:58 PM
To add to both responses sensemaking is the ability to come
up realistic outcomes and reduce the chance for uncertainity
and assumptions. As it is stated in our text "Sensemaking,
which includes function(al) analysis and can use a variety of
techniques like scenario planning, soft systems analysis, gap
analysis, and others, is used to understand the situation and
come to a shared agreement about the critical success factors
(qualitative-level expected benefits) and key performance
indicators (quantitative measures)."(Morris 206) I think
sensemaking is kind of like groupthink or brainstorming
sessions where you get all of the key stakeholders together
to discuss key issues with analyzing the data understand
what value or problems come from these key issues.
Morris, Peter, Jeffrey K. Pinto. The Wiley Guide to Project,
Program, and Portfolio Management. John Wiley & Sons
(P&T), 9/7/07. <vbk:9781118160466#outline(9.3)>.
RE:
"Sensing
Timothy Mark Thurman
making..."
8/19/2012 1:50:31 PM
Sense making is the details, almost the tangibles of a project. If a company
comes in and says "we want to build a sky scraper!" Great, now what? Sense
making would be coming up with the details, how big, where will it be built,
how much can we allocate to it, is it a worthwhile investment, among other
relevant questions. It answers a lot of the "why is this a good idea" questions.
RE:
"Sensing Paul Lindeke
making..."
8/19/2012 3:56:39 PM
Sense making is a crucial part of any project because before we start working on
the project we need to make sure the project will be a successful project that will
be beneficial. If a project is decided on and no goals are put into place, or if the
project doesn't make any sense then the project will not get off the ground and it
will fail. When an idea for a project comes out, like Timothy said, we need to ask
the "why is this a good idea" questions, so we can determine if it will be successful
and beneficial for the company.
RE:
"Sensing
Andrea Johnson
making..."
8/18/2012 3:16:20 PM
I've concluded from our text that sense making is utilized to come to efficient
and cost effective project decisions. Sense making is normally done in group
decision making environments such as brainstorming or stakeholder
meetings.
RE:
"Sensing
Darren Coleman
making..."
8/18/2012 2:53:31 PM
Sense making refers to the social processes of developing a common or
shared understanding for example of an emerging customer need or of how
a material might deliver a certain level of performance. Subjective sense
making is one in which there is no product experience.
RE:
"Sensing Kim Easter
making..."
8/18/2012 3:10:23 PM
In Value Management, sense making is process of of prioritizing and
quantifying benefits. The elaboration process consists of evaluating
alternatives qualitatively and quantitatively, combining them and/or
further developing them to form options. These options are potential
projects or actions that will form the program. When elaborating an
option, one must identify both direct and indirect values, and
both tangible and intangible benefits. Direct values are financial or
nonfinancial impacts directly related to the choice of an option; they
are usually easy to measure. Indirect values are consequences of the
option, valued by stakeholders and, especially, decision-makers; they
are usually more difficult to measure because generally they are not
clearly expressed. Hard benefits are economic, technical, and
operational; soft benefits are linked to power, politics, and
communications and are more difficult to identify and
measure.(Morris 125-126)
Morris, Peter, Jeffrey K. Pinto. The Wiley Guide to Project,
Program, and Portfolio Management. John Wiley & Sons (P&T),
9/7/07. <vbk:9781118160466#outline(6.5.2)>.
RE:
"Sensing Shavonda Marks
making..."
8/19/2012 11:24:09 PM
Sensemaking is to identify how the project manager interact with
others when key issues need to be discussed. It is also how the
interaction of the project manager and project team dealing with any
issues and making decisions. One thing is sensemaking is an
ongoing process until the project ends.
RE:
"Sensing
Ricardo Antezana
making..."
8/19/2012 9:23:41 PM
According to the text book sense-making means functional analysis, a PM
can choose from a variety of techniques to try to understand and make every
one on the team to understand the status of the project so the team can agree
upon the critical success factor.
Value
Mangement
Timothy Mark Thurman
8/15/2012 4:11:35 PM
Looking at these principles, they remind me of a practice from quality class I took
earlier. Lean principles follow similar guidelines. If a step doesn't add value to the
process then it should be eliminated. Both value management and lean principles help
a company maintain focus on what their purpose is and keeps them from getting
bogged down with frivolities that can ultimately be costly.
RE: Value
Mangement Damion Alexander
8/16/2012 4:13:10 PM
I agree Timothy, because adding another step requires more training, more
personnel and increases cost. And if the step that was added doesn't increase
the value or decrease risks, then it should just remain an idea. The purpose of
a business is to lower costs while increasing profits, so if I add something that
doesn't have value or maximizes my profit, then it would be a waste of time
and money.
RE: Value
Mangement Timothy Mark Thurman
8/17/2012 10:09:24 AM
There is a third possibility that I didn't originally think of. Depending
on the product, the change could be implemented after its release.
How many times have we seen products that after a certain amount
of time they come out with improvements. For example, the iPhone
was an amazing device then we had the iPhone 2 with all their
improvements and so on. A change can be made later and used as a
publicity stunt to stretch the popularity of the project or item.
RE: Value
Mangement Instructor Ohayia
8/18/2012 6:51:04 AM
Tim you are absolutely correct - The idea behind lean
management is to maximize customer value while
minimizing waste – doing with by creating more
value for customers with fewer resources.
RE: Value
Mangement Tiffany Bullard
8/18/2012 5:29:50
PM
Professor, I agree with your definition of LEAN. At my
proper job they implemented LEAN as a way to streamline
production and eliminate waste. Although it did improve on
time service, It caused other problems in the end. I still
believe LEAN is good way to go I think its success depends
greatly on the type of industry that you work in.
RE: Value
Mangement Kim Easter
8/19/2012 1:43:17
PM
There has been steps made to implement
value management in the organization I
work for. Many of the requirements that
phone representatives had to comply with
when interacting with customers were
redundant and inconvenient to
customers. These unnecessary elements
interfered with other performance criteria
that affected constraints such as time and
resources. Some of them have been
eliminated and have improved our bottomline however there is so much more that
needs to be considered. For instance our
reporting process. As a manager, I have
about 10 reports that I have to answer to on
a weekly basis. Many of them are
interrelated and could be streamlined to
one report. However reporting is not my
expertise so my suggestions are often times
over-looked. I must really improve my
reporting skills so that I am able to provide
visuals with my ideas.
Value
Management
Melinda Larsh
8/15/2012 4:12:08 PM
I think its used when you decide if you are going to work on a project, as you look at
if it aligns to the strategic objectives of the company. In my current role, after projects
I lead a lessons learned session with the project members and we document what went
well and what didn't. That allows me to see what the value was of the project and what
needs to be changed for the next project.
RE: Value
Management Courtney Little
8/15/2012 7:42:46 PM
Melinda,
I agree with needing to align with the strategic objectives of the company. I
know we relatively implemented a team of Lean Six Sigma people to cut
through all the processes and procedures and projects that don't make
sense. If it doesn't add value, then why do it?
You really need to balance the wants and needs of the stakeholders with the
resources available.
VM
Emilia Crespo
8/15/2012 7:29:39 PM
Value management is analyzing a project from a management prospective and the
value that it will bring to the company. Focus on the why and how of a project and the
plan for it to continue. Bringing value into all aspects of the project understanding it
and working to its highest standards.
RE:
VM Elvis Niangoran
8/15/2012 11:02:58 PM
Adding to your post Emilia VM provides a systematic approach to imposing
scope performance and bring estimated costs into line with budget. It also
differ radically from simple cost cutting based on smaller quantities or
cheaper quality. MV is best applied in the earlier stages of definition and
planning.
Benefits of VM:
VM often results in improved performance and/or appearance and
simplification
RE:
VM Instructor Ohayia
8/16/2012 3:56:23 PM
Thanks Emilia/Elvis - you both made some good points, but left me
wanting more information. Adding some examples would really
help me get the full flavor of your post.
RE:
VM Emilia Crespo
8/19/2012 9:49:03 PM
An example- a new animal shelter being built in a low
poverty community. How is this going to benefit the
company. Will it help bring together the community with
volunteer opportunities? WIll this bring a value to the
organization? How will it function and what is the goals of
the shelter? Is it to bring together the community or find
homes for the animals or both? Once these questions are
answer a goal and vision is establish and all of the remaining
projects steps should work around these goals to reach to the
vision of the organization.
Emilia
VM
Ricardo Antezana
8/15/2012 8:59:24 PM
Our text book finds the most appropriate definition of VM, for the purpose of the
lecture as; "The relationship between the satisfaction of needs and the resources used
in achieving that satisfaction." (The Wiley guide to project, program, and portfolio
management, pg 203). Also defines VA (value analysis), and VE (value
engineering) as methodologies aimed to improve or develop better products, and VM
to define the management of value proposals generated through the use of VA and
VE. distinguishing soft VM to be applied in early stages of the project and hard VM
Applying on latter stages of the project based on VE and VA, when customers and
problems can be identify, to improve delivery and outcomes.
RE: Value
Management
Andrea Johnson
8/15/2012 10:04:19 PM
Via our text, Value Management is the combined application of value methodologies
and other methodologies at organizational level in order to improve organizational
effectiveness. Our text also describes value as the relationship between the satisfaction
of need and the resources used in achieving that satisfaction. Therefore a benefit to
implementing value management is to ensure that the relationship stays in tact and
continues to be an effective relationship. A common application of VM is illustrated
through group decision making processes.
Value
Management
Charlese Adams
8/15/2012 10:52:39 PM
Value management involves the process of planning, assessing, and developing the
project in order to make the right decisions about the optimized balance of project
benefits, costs, and risks.
What
is
CSF?
Instructor Ohayia
8/17/2012 2:42:07 AM
Class - VM identifies CSF. What is this? How does this add value to an organization?
RE:
What
Robert Allen
is
CSF?
8/17/2012 12:19:47 PM
CSF is an acronym for Critical Success Factors. The text, for a change, is
rather clear about what these are in plain English "There are few rules as to
what constitutes a CSF, except that the team identifies them as significant
measures of the program or project's success. (Morris 212)" So they are in
essence measurable deliverables for a successful project. As always it
seems, however, they are still an intermediate goal. They are the "what",
from which we design the "how".
An example from the book is "Increase credibility with customers". The how
includes "Identify key projects", "assign key projects to PMs", and "Improve
customer communication.
RE:
What
Tyrone Labad
is
CSF?
8/17/2012 8:54:23 AM
A variety of factors determine significant success ingredients for
Value Management in complex projects in terms of these objectives which
are aligned to organisational goals and business inefficiencies. There are
many
previous researches in Projects and value Management regarding to
identify critical success factors (CSFs) analysis. Factor analysis concerned
about value management (VM) in construction was adopted to find out the
factors of VM according to their degrees of importance in relation to success
of the Project. A proposed a partnering framework to identify the CSFs for
a)construction parties
b) implementing parties
c) implementing partnering arrangements
The identified CSFs for construction projects were also broad strategic
principles, which would definitely require further refinement to identify lower
level factors that can be implemented as the majority for the right and impact
full Critical Success Factors
RE:
What
Damion Alexander
is
CSF?
8/17/2012 5:39:00 PM
It is Critical Success Factors and they must be of a high enough level to be
manageable and of a low enough level to be easily measured; they are
generally qualitative. CSF's can be identified at different levels of the same
FBS but should cover the complete range of needs. This means that if the
team decides to go down one level, they must take all the subsidiary functions
of that function; also, they cannot identify CSF's in the same branch at two
different levels. Breaking these rules would create a gap or a redundancy.
They are generally used to create a baseline related to the needs of the
stakeholders.
Source:
Morris, Peter, Jeffrey K. Pinto. The Wiley Guide to Project, Program, and
Portfolio Management. 1. VitalSource Bookshelf. John Wiley & Sons (P&T),
9/7/07, Friday, August 17, 2012.
<http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781118160466/9/14>
RE:
What
Courtney Little
is
CSF?
8/17/2012 5:55:36 PM
Critical Success Factors are just that--an element that is critical for the
success of a project.
I found a list of 5 CSF's for Project Management:
 Staffing
 Realistic planning
 Top-level support
 Defining benefits
 Managing change
http://pmtips.net/5-critical-success-factors-ppm/
RE:
What
Charlese Adams
is
CSF?
8/17/2012 11:54:11 PM
While looking up information about CSF, critical success factors, I found a
good article of certain CSF's that should be exhibited in order to be a
successful project manager. As always, there are probably other factors that
contribute to the success of a project but these are just a few.
1-Agree on the project goals.
2-Develop clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities and
accountabilities.
3-Manage the project scope effectively.
4-Cultivate constant effective communications.
5-Make sure you have management support.
http://www.ies.ncsu.edu/news-center/blog/five-critical-success-factors-forproject-managers/
RE:
What
Instructor Ohayia
is
CSF?
8/18/2012 6:53:52 AM
Class - thanks for your input on CSF - excellent points. What
experience have you had implementing CSF goals and how
successful were they, what could have made it more successful?
RE:
What
Oral Bestman
is
CSF?
8/19/2012 11:36:13 AM
Very little, six months ago we implemented a CSF to our
program structure moving from manual work process to
electric process. The ideal to reduce our time spent on
manual labor, used the time on customer services. The
problem is not everyone had the skill to move to the new
electric process, therefore we have to train some staffs on
the process which take away from other duties.
RE:
What
Robert Allen
is
CSF?
8/19/2012 11:57:56 AM
I believe I've had reasonable success at implementing CSFs,
although when I was doing it I didn't know the term. At a
previous job I was teaching. I and my manager were
unhappy with some of the curricula and so set out to
improve it. As part of this we set specific goals for the new
material and then set methods and requirements to meet
those goals. That material is still being used in classes.
RE:
What
Paul Lindeke
is
CSF?
8/18/2012 12:26:31 PM
I have been in a view groups where we have looked at our CSF goals
and we try and follow them but sometimes we would get off track. I
think this happened due to a lack of communication between team
members and when we realized that we had gotten off track, we had to
spend time to get back on track and I think that hurt us in the long run
but we were able to get the project done on time and we were happy with
the outcome. Of course if we had stayed on track and hadn't lost focus
then the project would have been more successful.
RE:
What
Courtney Little
is
CSF?
8/18/2012 7:46:14 AM
I think one of my groups biggest challenges when it comes
to CSF's is the idea that Charlese mentioned with agreeing
on project goals. It seems that different parts of my work
group all have their own agendas. When we do not have a
clearly defined set of project goals, things tend to go off on
tangents and the ultimate goal gets muddled with mixed
results of an outcome.
RE:
What
Troy Brown
is
CSF?
8/18/2012 9:15:23 AM
At my company we do an excellent job identifying
CSF's and coming up with a plan to implement
these ideas, but we tend to lack at effectively
communicating these CSF's to the organization as
an whole. As these CSF's get directed from the Top
down, it gets lost in the middle levels of the
company. What we lose is buy-in from the
organization as whole to make sure that these CSF's
get implemented successfully. Like Charlese stated
in her post as getting support from Upper
Management, this could one reason why these
CSF's are not getting communicated effectively
through out our organization (I don't think we are
getting the full support from upper management to
make sure we same on task with our CSF's).
RE:
What
Ricardo Antezana
is
CSF?
8/18/2012 10:58:59
AM
I think the same happens in my company,
we identify the CSF, everybody seems to
agree, but latter down the road the whole
idea seems to have changed or faded, I
don't know if it is a matter of lack of
communication or is just that upper
management don't fully supported the idea.
This happened a couple of times.
RE:
What
Melinda Larsh
is
CSF?
8/19/2012 4:07:49 PM
I work in a call center and often run into resource issues.
Our PMO consists of only three individuals so when you
need help on a project that has a big scope we will often
have resource issues and have to delay the starts of projects
until they are available! This is the main reason I am going
to school for PM, I want to be able to influence a change in
that area!
RE:
What
Kim Easter
is
CSF?
8/18/2012 3:31:53 PM
"The Critical Success Factor, CSF, is a limited number, usually
between 3 to 8. of characteristics, conditions, or variables that have a
direct and serious impact on the effectiveness,efficiency, and
viability of an organization, program, or project. Activities
associated with CSF must be performed at the highest possible level
of excellence to achieve the intended overall objectives. Also called
key success factors (KSF) or key result areas (KRA)."
When AT&T formly known as Cingular, we determined our top
performers by our CSF, Cingular Success Factors. The 8 identifiers
we utilized when creating our annual review are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Champion of Innovation and Change
Strive For Results
Foster Relationships
Take Initiative
Communicate Professionally and Prolifically
Behave Ethically
Improve Continuously
Organizational Knowledge
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/criticalsuccess-factors-CSF.html#ixzz23w19Yuyr
RE:
What
Shavonda Marks
is
CSF?
8/18/2012 10:04:15 PM
Modified:8/18/2012 10:10 PM
I found an article on the importance of CSFs and how to use them.
CSFs are the essential areas of activity that must be performed well if you are
to achieve the mission, objectives or goals for your business or project. CSFs
help everyone in the team to know exactly what's most important. CSFs
can create a common point of reference to help direct and measure the
success of your business or project.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_80.htm
RE:
What
Nazar Eljack
is
CSF?
8/18/2012 11:39:58 PM
Critical Success Factors are the essential areas of activity that must be
performed well if you are to achieve the mission, objectives or goals for your
business or project.
By identifying your Critical Success Factors, you can create a common point
of reference to help you direct and measure the success of your business or
project.
As a common point of reference, CSFs help everyone in the team to know
exactly what's most important. And this helps people perform their own work
in the right context and so pull together towards the same overall aims.
The idea of CSFs was first presented by D. Ronald Daniel in the 1960s. It
was then built on and popularized a decade later by John F. Rockart, of MIT's
Sloan School of Management, and has since been used extensively to help
businesses implement their strategies and projects.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_80.htm
RE:
What
Elvis Niangoran
is
CSF?
8/19/2012 12:29:14 PM
CSFs are the essential areas of activity that must be performed well if you
are to achieve the mission, objectives or goalsfor your business or project.By
identifying your Critical Success Factors, you can create a common point
of reference to help you direct a nd measure the success of your business or
project. As a common point of reference, CSFs help everyone in the team to
know exactly what’s most important. And this helps people perform their
own work in the right context a nd so pull together towards the same overall
aims.
Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/991993/Management-signals-KPI-CSF
RE:
What
Andrea Johnson
is
CSF?
8/19/2012 11:49:17 PM
I view critical success factors as goals an organization sets to measure their
current and future success. Theses factors should push the evolution of
project portfolios. Once a factor is reached and before a new one is set, an
analysis of how well the organization reached that factor or goal to further
improve organizational operations.
VM
Benefits
Charlese Adams
8/19/2012 5:29:58 PM
When value management is utilized in a company, there are many benefits. Value
management will define what the owners and end users mean by value, and provides
the basis for making decisions, throughout the project, on the basis of value. It
improves all communication between the stakeholders because the client's priorities
and expectations are clearly defined in the beginning of the project. The project will
also be more cost-effective. Utilizing value management in a project will encourage
the team members to think outside the box and develop more innovative design
solutions.
RE: VM
Benefits Jenna Pingitore
8/19/2012 8:13:14 PM
You make a great point, Charlese. When you can base management of a
project on value, you can ensure that things are right where they need to be.
As you mentioned, it allows for owners and end users to make decisions
using value and that allows for improvements to communication because
everything is clearly stated. When you have clearly defined values, you are on
the track to having a successful project.
RE:
VM
Kyle Simmons
Benefits
8/19/2012 11:59:02 PM
I think that this is also a great way for the customer to see the
directives they give us from a different angle and hopefully get them
on the right track.
Ready
for
Instructor Ohayia
Week 7!
8/19/2012 7:27:48 PM
Class - thank you for your participation this week. Just a reminder that your Course Project is due next
week (Week 7). You need to be putting the finishing touches on your paper.
Regards,
Regards,
Professor Ohayia