Project Management
BP Oil Spill
Response
Glastonbury Festival
How many events?
How many participants?
Where are the events located?
How should the events be scheduled?
What infrastructure needs to be built?
When to build? Completion time?
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
2
What is a Project?
A project is a “temporary endeavor
undertaken to create a unique product or
service”.
A project is a well-defined set of tasks
or activities that must all be completed in
order to meet the project’s goals. Two
prevalent characteristics:
Each task may be started or stopped
independently of other tasks;
Tasks are ordered such that they must be
performed in a given sequence.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
3
Examples of Projects
Building the pyramids
Apollo moon landing mission
Developing MS Windows
Making The Lord of the Rings
Organizing the Olympics Games
Developing and marketing a new drug
Implementing a new company wide IT system
Designing this course
Project management spans both the
manufacturing and service sectors.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
4
Other examples of “projects"
 Construction of dams, warehouse, freeways,
railways, etc.
 Design of new models of products, such as new
cars, ships, and aircraft.
 Development of computer systems, software, etc.
 New product marketing, advertising campaigns,
global mergers, capital acquisitions, etc.
 Set-up of a new enterprise, organization,
department, office, etc.
 Performing major maintenance or repair.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
5
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
6
Definition of a “project"
A project is an organized endeavor
aimed at accomplishing a specific nonroutine set of tasks within a certain
time and under a certain resource
constraint.
Time required and costs are usually
significant.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
7
Characteristics of projects
 There is a set of well-defined goals.
 There is a specific start and a specific end point.
 The endeavor is unique and not repetitious.
 A project usually contains costs and time schedules
to produce a specified product or result.
 A project often cuts across many organizational
and functional lines, and thus there are
requirements for specific expertise, and
sometimes conflicts with within the project team.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
8
Project management
 The means, techniques, and the
concepts used to run a project and
achieve its objectives subject to
various constraints and limits on time,
resources, technology, and personnel.
 Planning
 Organising resources
 Directing and Controlling
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
9
Project management
The main components :
Project initiation, selection, and
definition.
Project organization
Analysis of activities/tasks
Project scheduling
Project budgeting
Resource management
Project execution and control
Project termination
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
10
Acknowledgment: Ms. Colleen White, Project Manager,
Cardinal Health, Dublin, Ohio, USA
What is a Project Manager?
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
11
Characteristics Needed as a
Project Manager
During planning: Detail oriented, organized,
logical thinker, can deal with uncertainty,
creative.
During execution: Effective communicator,
problem solver, quick thinker, good memory.
During assessment: Analytic, sensitive,
continuous improver.
During collaboration: Effective
communicator, facilitator, motivator, team
builder.
Acknowledgment: Ms. Sally Stark, Director of Program
Management, New Product Innovations, Powell, Ohio, USA
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
12
History of Project Management
 Some early examples of project management
was the construction of the pyramids in
Egypt, building the Great Wall of China
 Henry L. Gantt (1861-1919) added an
important visualization tool around 1917 with
the Gantt Chart
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
13
Example—
Gantt Chart for building a house
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
14
History of Project Management
 In 1957, J.E. Kelly of Remington-Rand and M.R. Walker of
DuPont Company developed the Critical Path Method (CPM)
for project scheduling,
 i.e. the basic algorithm used in MS Project
 scheduling maintenance shutdown of chemical plants
 Also in the late 1950s, Booz Allen Hamilton developed the
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), which
models uncertainty in project management
 Lockheed Aircraft, US Navy Special Projects Office:
 Polaris Missile Project
 New directions since 1995: critical chains, agile and extreme
project management
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
15
Polaris A3T missile
(Submarinelaunched ballistic
missile)
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
16
Importance of Project Management
 Project management effectively controls
organizational change, allowing organizations to
introduce new products, new processes, and new
programs effectively.
 Projects are becoming more complex, making them
more difficult to control without a formal
management structure.
 Projects with substantially different characteristics,
especially in IT, are emerging.
 Project management helps cross-functional teams to
become more effective.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
17
Importance of Project Management
“At last we are beginning to see
research which proves how
important project management is
... without well-trained and capable
project managers the percentage
of GDP spent through projects is
inflated due to many exceeding
their budget through poor
management.”
Richard Pharro, author and consultant (2003)
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
18
Project Management versus
Process Management
“Ultimately, the parallels between process and
project management give way to a fundamental
difference: process management seeks to
eliminate variability whereas project
management must accept variability because
each project is unique.”
J. Elton, J. Roe. 1998. Bringing Discipline to
Project Management. Harvard Business Review.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
21
Measures of Project Success
Overall perception
Cost
Completion time
Technical goals, compared to initial
specifications (“scope”)
Technical goals, compared to other projects
in the organization
Technical goals, taking into account the
problems that arose in the project
R.J. Might and W.A. Fischer (1985)
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
22
Nine Factors Critical to
the Success of Many Projects
Clearly defined goals
Competent project manager
Top management support
Competent project team members
Sufficient resource allocation
Adequate communication channels
Effective control mechanisms
Use of feedback for improvement
Responsiveness to clients
J. Pinto and D. Slevin (1987)
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
23
Challenges of Project Management
 Initiation: Over-commitment - management
commits to a schedule, budget, or deliverable that
is unrealistic.
 Planning: Outsourced contributors present
problems which can affect client satisfaction and
delivery.
 Execution: Resource competition / unfocused
resources result in missed estimates.
 Controlling: Change control is good, but apparently
not nearly as good as apathy.
 Closing: “We need project managers, not
historians!”
Acknowledgment: Mr. Carl Long, Medical IT Portfolio Manager,
Cardinal Health, Dublin, Ohio
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
24
Famous Project Failures (1 of 5)
In 1988, Westpac Banking
Corporation initiated a 5-year, $85m
project to improve its information
system. Three years later, after
spending $150m with nothing to show
for it, they cancelled the project and
eliminated 500 IT development jobs.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
25
Famous Project Failures (2 of 5)
The computerized baggage handling system at
the Denver International Airport delayed the
opening of the airport from March 1994 to
February 1995 and added $85 million to the
original budget. The baggage system tried to
unload bags that were jammed on the
conveyor belt. The system also loaded bags
into telecarts that were already full. Hence,
many bags fell onto the tracks, jamming the
telecarts…
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
26
Hong Kong Airport Changeover: 7 July, 1998
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
27
Lack of preparations behind H.K.
airport opening chaos
Asian Economic News, Jan 25, 1999
A Hong Kong government commission Friday attributed
last July's chaotic systems operations at the opening
of the territory's new airport to overconfidence by
the authorities and lack of coordination. The
government-appointed Commission of Inquiry led by
Justice Woo Kwok-hing said in a report that the
chaos at the Chek Lap Kok airport could have been
avoided by postponing operations by about two
months.
The report said the Airport Authority and the major
cargo operator, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd.
(HACTL), were overconfident in assessing the risks
involved in compressing the testing and training time
for the new systems at the airport.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
28
London Heathrow Terminal 5 Opening
(2008)
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
29
Famous Project Failures (3 of 5)
Disney's shipbuilder was six months
late in delivering its new cruise ships
in 1998. Thousands of tourists who
had purchased tickets had to be
compensated for making different
plans.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
30
Famous Project Failures (4 of 5)
The “Big Dig” road construction project in
Boston (1987-2007) was budgeted at
$5.8b but eventually cost over $15b.
The project resulted in criminal arrests,
thousands of water leaks, the death of a
motorist from a tunnel collapse, and
hundreds of
millions of dollars
in lawsuits.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
31
Famous Project Failures (5 of 5)
In 2005, UK grocery chain J. Sainsbury
wrote off its $526m investment in an
automated supply chain management
system. They hired 3,000 additional
workers to stock their shelves manually.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
32
Reasons Why Projects Fail
Improper focus of the project management
system, e.g. too much focus on low level
details
Fixation on first budget estimates
Too much reliance on inaccurate project
management software
Too many people on the project team
Poor communication within the project team
Incentives that reward the wrong actions
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
33
Common Excuses for Project Failures
Unexpectedly poor weather delayed
construction
Unforeseeable poor performance by
contractors
Senior management imposed an unrealistic
schedule
Instructions by senior management were
unclear
Many wasteful “synchronization” meetings
interrupted actual work
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
34
Management of IT Projects
More than $250 billion is spent in the
US each year on approximately 175,000
information technology projects.
IT project management is an $850
million industry and is expected to grow
by as much as 20 percent per year.
Gene Bounds, “The Last Word on Project
Management”, IIE Solutions, 1998.
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
37
IT Project Outcomes
26%: On time
29%:
Cancellation
6%: Less than
20% late
6%: more than
200% late
8%: 21-50% late
16%: 101-200%
late
9%: 51-100%
late
Standish Group Survey, 1999.
(from a survey of 8000 business
systems projects)
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
38
Why Do IT Projects Fail?
 Ill-defined or changing requirements
 Poor project planning/management
 Uncontrolled quality problems, e.g. software
fails to complete computing task in time
 Unrealistic expectations/inaccurate estimates
 Adoption of new technology without fully
understanding it
Why are IT projects apparently more difficult
than traditional projects?
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
39
DESIGN
Design (Scope), Cost, Time
Tradeoffs
This is
sometimes
called the
“triple
constraint”
of project
management
Required
Performance
Target
COST
Budget
Constraint
Due Date
Optimal Time-Cost
Tradeoff
“You can have your job done cheap, quick, or
right; pick two.” [Sign in local copy center.]
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
40
Project management
The main components :
Project initiation, selection, and
definition.
Project organization
Analysis of activities/tasks
Project scheduling
Project budgeting
Resource management
Project execution and control
Project termination
Project Scheduling
SEEM 3530
41