Project Management
Fall 2010
IMB 572
Instructor:
E-Mail:
Web Site:
L. Drew Rosen, Ph.D.
Rosenl@uncw.edu
http://www.csb.uncw.edu/people/rosenl/
(All cases, readings and other materials may be found on this site)
Summary of Module Content
The purpose of this course is to develop skills in the use of Project Management.
Today the successful implementation of projects is essential for corporate success.
This course will focus on the key issues of project management. Projects are
ubiquitous, they are everywhere and everyone does them. Project Management in a
way helps to improve the change efforts of society. As the pace of change has been
increasing at an ever faster rate, effectively and efficiently managing change efforts is
the only way organizations can survive in this modern world. In other words those
organizations who take the lead in implementing project management capabilities
consistently perform their projects better and are more competitive in general.
Following this argument, future young professionals have to be able to understand
and to some extend apply the basic principles of project management. Therefore this
course is designed to help our students to start their career in business once they
have finished their degree.
Module Objectives:

Build awareness of what the basic principles of traditional project management
look like.

Acquire a set of key methods to manage a small or medium sized project.

Build awareness of the scope of modern project management.

Development of sensitivity for the human dimension of a project and the need
for teamwork to ensure success.

Development of an ability to manage and integrate around interfaces in both
the people and product dimensions of the enterprise.
Learning Outcomes

Define project management, quality management, and continuous
improvement terms.

Identify and resolve problems associated with project management.

Build and maintain an effective project management team.

Communicate more effectively in written and oral forms.

Apply win-win project management negotiation techniques.

Define types of project organizations and organizational relationships.

Discuss network based planning and scheduling.
Grading
As this is a graduate course, there will numerous assignments in a short amount of
time. There will be numerous readings available, we will most likely not have time to
discuss all of them directly in class; they are there for your knowledge and future
development as project managers. We will have one or 2 cases due per week, all
students are expected to prepare the cases assigned, student groups will present
some of the cases. Since this is a graduate class, participation is mandatory, we can
learn from each other, therefore your final grade will be based on the following:
Final Exam
Case Presentation
Case write-ups
Class Participation
30%
25%
25%
20%
Grading scale:
UNCW IMBA SCALE
A = 90% and above
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
D = 60-69%
F = 59% and below
Guideline for Case Write Ups:
Case write-ups cannot be longer than 5 pages (double-spaced) long using a 12 pitch
font (i.e., typed) and appropriate margins. There is a ten-point penalty for not
following the length and font guidelines.
Case write-ups must strictly follow the following format. Other formats will not be
accepted. The student must identify and address the most important issues in the
case. Then the student should fill out the following information for each issue.
Complete your discussion of one issue before starting the next issue.
1. Identification of the issue - Clearly and precisely identify the issue. Be sure to look
at the section below to determine the scope of the write-up.
2. Give an example (or examples if possible) of the issue - The examples must be
from the text of the case. I do not want a real-life example from your experience here.
3. Why is the issue important? - There are many issues in most of the cases, the
student must make the case that this is one of the top three.
4. Recommendations - What do you recommend be done. Write your
recommendations for each issue separately. Make sure that your recommendation is
focused on the issue that you identify in step 1.
Questions at the end of each case are just a starting point.
As you will see, most cases are short and will not require anywhere near five pages
of text, the important point is to analyze the cases according to the knowledge you
have gained in the class thus far and your acquired graduate education knowledge!
Course Outline: These are approximate dates; I will do my best to stay as close to
this outline as possible, it is your responsibility to know what topic we are currently
covering (i.e. come to class).
Date
Sept. 14
Topic
PowerPoints
Cases etc.
Introduction to Project
Management
Topic 1 Discussion Qu. (DQ)
 Course Review
see questions and
 Expectations
cases listed
 Group assignments, etc
 Definition of a ‘Project’
 Why Project Management?
 The Project Life Cycle
 Project Selection Models
Sept. 16, 21
Project Manager, the Project
Topic 2
Team, & The Organization
 Role of the Project Manager
 Special Demands on the Project Manager
 Selecting the Project Manager
 The Project Team
 Fitting Projects to the Parent Organization
Sept. 23, 28
Project Planning
Topic 3
DQ: see questions
 What Is a Project Plan?
and cases listed
 The Planning Process
 The Work Breakdown Structure and
Linear Responsibility Charts
 Interface Coordination & Multidisciplinary
Coordination
Sept. 30, Oct. 5, Budgeting the Project



Oct. 7, 12
Topic 4
Methods of Budgeting
Cost estimating
Uncertainty & Risk Management
Introduction to Scheduling
Topic 5
 Background
 Network Techniques: PERT and CPM
 Project Uncertainty & Risk Management
 Gantt Charts
 Simulation
DQ: see questions
and cases listed
DQ: see questions
and cases listed
DQ: see questions
and cases listed
Introduction to Project Scheduling Software
 Software Applications
Oct. 14
Oct. 14, 19
Oct. 21
Allocating Resources to the Project Topic 6
 Expediting the Project
 Resource Loading & Levelling
 Conflict and Project Life Cycle
 Scarce Resource Allocation
 Goldratt’s Critical Chain
DQ: see questions
and cases listed
Monitoring and
Controlling the Project
Topic 7
DQ: see questions
 The Planning - Monitoring - Controlling Cycle and cases listed
 Information Needs and the Reporting Process
 Earned Value Analysis
 Designing the Control System
Questions for Class Discussion
Topic 1
You are the project manager of a team of software specialists working on a project to
produce a piece of application software in the field of project management. Give
some examples of things that might go wrong on such a project and the sorts of
trade-offs you might have to make.
Give several examples of projects found in your city, region, or country – avoiding
those used as examples in the chapter.
Construct a list of factors, conditions, and circumstances you think might be important
for a manufacturing firm to evaluate during the project selection process. Do the
same for a computer repair shop.
How might you use project management for doing a major school work assignment?
Topic 2
There is danger in letting the client “visit” the project operation too frequently, not the
least of which is “scope creep” or informal change to the project’s performance
specifications. What other dangers might arise? How might the danger of scope
creep be monitored and controlled?
How should a PM decide which problems (or potential problems) deserve being
reported to management and which are not worth the trouble when attempting to
“never surprise the boss?”
Discuss how you would go about getting competent staff from a functional
department.
Give an example of a case in which project management could be important in your
personal life. Explain why, as well as how and why you might organize such a
project.
Topic 3
For each one of the nine components of a project master plan, discuss the problems
that might be raised if the element was incomplete.
What causes so much conflict on multidisciplinary teams? As a PM what would you
try to do to prevent or reduce such conflict?
You and your family and friends are planning to host a graduation party at the end of
the school year. Construct an action plan for this party.
Consider one or more projects (from this course or elsewhere) that you understand
reasonably well. Identify situations where information learned from a later task of the
project becomes important to an earlier task.
Topic 4
Given the tendency of accountants to allocate a project’s estimated costs evenly over
the duration the task, what danger might this pose for a project manager who faces
the following situation? The major task for a $5 million project is budgeted at $3
million, mostly for highly complex and expensive equipment. The task has a sixmonth duration, and requires the purchase of the equipment at the beginning of the
task to enable the equipment at the beginning of the task to enable the project team
to conduct the activities required to complete the task. The task begins December 1.
As a senior manager, you oversee a project with a total estimated cost of 245
engineer-months of effort. Three months ago, however, the project had fallen behind
by about 25 engineer-months so your authorized the hiring of three additional
engineers, which you felt should more than make up for the delay in the remaining
year of the project (3 X 12 months = 36 engineer-months) You have just received the
latest quarterly project status report and are surprised to learn that the project is now
40 engineer-months behind schedule! Your first reaction is to calculate how many
more engineers need to be hired to make up for the increased delay. Using Brooks’s
concept of the “mythical man month,” explain what might be happening here.
Topic 5
When would it be accurate to determine the probabilities of all the paths through the
network together? When would it not be accurate?
Given all the estimating done to determine the duration of project activities, what
does it mean to say that “only after the fact do we know which path was actually the
critical path?
It was noted that “the PM must manage the project team as well as the project.”
Explain why.
Topic 6
Describe the fundamental trade-offs made when deciding whether or not to crash a
project. If the decision is made to crash, what additional trade-offs must be made?
Describe in your own words what is meant by Goldratt’s critical chain. How does it
work?
Goldratt suggested that to avoid the “student syndrome,” it is a good idea to set
activity durations so short that there is a high probability that the task will not be
finished on time. On the other hand, it has long been known that setting people up
for failure is strongly demotivating. What should the PM do?
Topic 7
How can the PM circumvent the problem that the monitoring system can only report
on activities that have passed, thus telling the PM what has already gone wrong but
not what will go wrong in the future?
“In order to manage for overall project success, control must be exercised at the
detailed work level for each aspect of project performance or no significant change
will occur.” Does this mean that the PM should micromanage the project? If not,
what does it mean?
Of all the rules for conducting meetings, the most difficult to enforce is the injunction
against the weekly (or daily) standard project progress report (the “show and tell”
meeting). Why is this, and under what circumstances do you think that such
meetings are justified?
Cases
Topic 1: Payroll Services
Transportation Improvements
Topic 2: Quantum Bank
Communication Problems
Midsize Pharmaceutical Company
Topic 3: St. Dismiss Assisted living Facility
Soccer Club
Team Problems
Health care Associates
Topic 4: None
Topic 5: Nutristar
Springville Fire Department
Topic 6: Bathtub Period
Lab Results Inc.
Topic 7: St. Margret’s Hospital
Readings
Topic 1: Lessons for an accidental Profession
PM as a Profession
The new project Manager
Topic 2: How to pick a project team
Influence Methods of project manager’s perceptions of…
Negotiating techniques
Team
The Virtual project
Understanding your project organizations Character
We want you
What did you say?
Where project managers are king
Topic 3: From experience linking projects to strategy
Topic 4: Early warning signs of IT project failure
The amoebic growth of project costs
Three perceptions of project costs
Topic 5: -----Topic 6: A critical look at critical chain project management
Topic 7: Planning for crises in project management
The fall of the firefly an assessment of a failed project
General:
Project management in the age of complexity and change
Success of projects in different organizational conditions
Why choose project management