PPMP20007 Project Management Concept Report 3 Sample

PPMP20007 Project Management Concept Report 3

Task Description

In this assignment students are required to research an approved topic in project management and document their findings in a written report, using an approved formatting and referencing style (Harvard author-date).

Note:

1. Content must extend the knowledge of the class (i.e., it should not be content that is already covered or scheduled to be covered in the unit). However, the report may provide extension material on topics that form part of the unit.

2. Students are required to find appropriate reference material (at least five peer-reviewed, recent, and relevant references) on their topic.

3. Topics must relate to project management and the report should contextualize the relevant concepts using examples from experience or actual project management scenarios.

Topic Selection

Your presentation can be about:

• Any topic related to project management not already covered in the unit or a topic that extends the class knowledge about one of the weekly topics. Where your topic is related to a topic already covered in the unit, you must add a significant body of new material, a different perspective or depth to the information already covered in the unit lecture material. It is important that you extend your knowledge and that of the class beyond what will be covered in this unit during the term. There is scope to research and present more information about many of the weekly topics.

For example, in the Quality Management topic, some students may wish to investigate Six Sigma or ICT students may wish to cover more detail about quality management in the Software Engineering discipline.

• Some suggested topics can be found in Appendix A: Suggested presentation topics.

Suggested Presentation Topics

Some suggested topics are shown below. It is a common mistake to choose a topic that is too wide for the scope of the paper, so discuss in your team and carefully choose a suitable and specific sub-topic.

The discussion section of your report allows for personal opinions to be expressed and supported. In this assignment you can also draw from your experiences and incorporate them into the assignment. If you don’t have any work/project experience, that’s fine too. You can also take the opportunity to be controversial and find academic and trade literature that challenges an aspect of the material you are researching.

Some suggested topics to help you get started (you can also suggest others):

a.) International Projects: There is a chapter on international projects in the textbook that is not covered in this unit, so aspects of this topic would be appropriate for your presentation. You can read this chapter to get an overview and understanding of this topic. Some of the areas that could be researched are:

• What additional challenges are there when you are involved in managing an international project?

• What is culture shock and what are strategies for coping with culture shock?

• How do you select and train personnel to work on international projects?

• What are cross-cultural considerations?

b. )Outsourcing/Procurement Management: There is a chapter on outsourcing in the textbook that is not covered in this unit. Some of the areas that could be discussed in your presentation are:

• What is outsourcing and what are the advantages/disadvantages of outsourcing?

• What is an RFP and what is involved in selection of a contractor?

• What are best practices in outsourcing project work?

• Discuss the art of negotiation.

• What are the different contract types and their risks (from the contractor and customer perspective)?

• What contract types are appropriate for agile projects?

• What is the “point of total assumption” and how do you calculate this?

c.) Leadership: For example:

• Different leadership styles.

• The types of powers used by leaders.

• How to learn to be a good leader and what makes a good leader.

• Stephen Covey and improving effectiveness.

d.) Human resource management: For example:

• Motivation Theories (e.g. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene

Theory, McClelland’s Acquire-Needs Theory, McGregor Theory X and Y, Ouchi’s theory z etc.)

• Developing the Project Team

i. Training.

ii. Team-building Activities.

iii. Different “personality types”: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, The Social Style Profile, DISC.

e. )Quality Management: Quality management in only briefly introduced in the unit. There are a number of topics within the broad area of quality management that could be covered in more depth. For example:

• Tools and Techniques for Quality control.

• Six Sigma.

f. )Agile Project Management: Agile project management is introduced in this unit. However there is scope to extend this topic. For example

• Discussion of alternative agile PM methodologies.

• Scaled Agile Framework.

• DevOps (Agile development and operations).

• More details about agile: e.g. agile estimation, agile story cards/user stories

g.) Effective Communication: For example:

• Keys to good communication?

• Use of technology to enhance communication.

• Running effective meetings

• Using E-mail, texting, and collaborative tools effectively.

• What makes a good presentation?

h. )Software Tools and Systems for Project Management

i. Systems Engineering and Project Management: Topics to be covered could include:

• What is Systems Thinking?

• What is Systems Engineering?

• What are the dimensions of Systems Engineering?

• What is the Systems Life Cycle?

• What is the relevance of Systems Engineering to Project Management?

j.) Value Management: For example:

• What is value management?

• What are the benefits of value management?

• What industries use value management?

k. )Miscellaneous topics o COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on projects

• The project management trends that lead to project success.

• The effectiveness of change management

• Conflict management in projects

• Success factors of project value management

• Key factors of sustainability in project management

• Emotional intelligence in project management

• The impact of global leadership in leading to the success of a project

• The importance of project stakeholder management

• The contemporary approaches in project management

• The factors that lead to sustainable project management

• Analysis of principles used in project management.

• Retention and attraction of women in the construction industry

• Critical success and failure factors of projects (indicators of performance and success in project management besides the schedule and budget)

• Common challenges in projects: what are the common issues project managers deal with on a project and what advice would you give them in resolving these?

• The use of state-of-the-art technology in projects (discussion with examples)

• Strategies for coping with culture shock in projects

• The best ways to carry out project activities.

• The factors that influence the choice of a project

• How to cross align business and project objectives.

• The effects of the planning and scheduling style in project management

• The evolution of project management overtime

• The relationship between project management and project success

• Why is the optimism in planning a project not always evident in the reality of delivering a project?

• Does every project need to actually finish and if so, under what conditions would this be acceptable?

Paper Structure

The paper must include as a minimum the following:

• Title

• Table of contents

• Introduction of the topic(s)

• Brief literature review and findings

• Discussion (may include author’s opinions or explanations of concepts through experience or examples)

• Conclusion

• References

• Appendices if relevant

Solution

Introduction

There are various methods are used in the process of project management, especially in big and dynamic projects and Earned Value Management is one of them. EVM is a method that helps in the management of projects. This method combines the cost, schedule, and scope to measure the performance of a project. It provides a roadmap for the project managers to allocate and utilize the budget and timelines. It is a flexible tool that can be used on a range of projects of different sizes and types in a project manager's toolbox. There are various formulas are used in EV during the calculation of the budget and schedule. Using trend analysis, a project manager can measure the effectiveness of corrective actions over time and make necessary improvements in the project. EVM provides a culture of accountability by providing information on upcoming risks and forecasting the trends to project managers, clients, and other stakeholders. The procedure of application of EVM are explained in detail in the “32 guidelines outlined in the EIA-748 standard”. These rules are described in terms of five overarching concepts. The future risks in a project is mitigated with the help forecasting technique of EVM. It is the most useful tool for the project manager and other team members of a project but it is important to have in-depth knowledge about operating this technique else it creates problems as well.

Literature review

The Earned Value Management (EVM) method integrates cost, schedule, technical scope, and risk into a project performance management methodology that assesses progress against a baseline, identifies problems, and forecasts trends. The literature review provides existing research on EVM and its application in big projects, shedding light on key theories, findings, and gaps in knowledge. Let’s explore the aspects covered in this literature review:

Key Theories

Benefits of EVM in large projects

Enhanced monitoring and assessment of performance

• According to Wen & Qiang (2019) Project managers' and stakeholders' ability to spot differences in the budget and schedule for project management has an impact on how quickly and effectively the project is completed.

• Perhaps there is an imbalance between overscheduling and underspending, or vice versa.

• EVM can show how much work has been done with the budget and schedule, among other important metrics, with the help of Earned Value (EV) (Mahmoudi et al. 2019).

• EVM provides a quantifiable evaluation of a project's performance, which can be used to project its potential numbers for MBA assignment expert

• Knowing these numbers can help project managers to make wise decisions. In case of any deviations, EVM will flash warning lights.
Enhanced control over budget and timeline

• The most crucial factors in any project are its budget and schedule. Along with tracking finances, EVM maintains a timeline-based record of progress.

• Wanner (2020) states that EVM provides accurate timelines of projects that help in getting corrective action before the issue worsens

• When work is completed and Planned Value is scheduled, differences in the schedule become apparent (Nizam & Elshannaway, 2019). Schedule variations are revealed: are you precisely on course, ahead of schedule, or behind schedule? Just picture being able to spot a slight detour early on and change the rudder to prevent losses.

• At every project stage, EVM offers an early summary of any discrepancies between the projected and actual costs in terms of cost control. Like a watchful accountant, EVM compares Planned Value, or the budget, and Actual Cost, or spending, regularly.

• By performing a "reality" check to see if the project is spending more, less, or within the allocated budget, project managers can find out before the project exceeds its budget and make necessary adjustments to the budget, negotiate better terms in contracts, or take cost-cutting measures.
Early detection of problems

• Eirgash & Baltaci (2021) argues that the implementation of EVM processes enables project managers to identify irregularities that serve as early warning signs of task delays or cost overruns.

• The conventional approach to project management frequently depends on gut feeling and trailing indicators, which can catch managers off guard until problems become serious and affect the project (Dimitrov, 2019).

• To ensure on-time delivery, project managers and coordinators may carefully plan a project pipeline; however, it's also crucial to address roadblocks that might impede project advancement.

• Ola (2019) states that by acting as a warning indicator and triggering an immediate investigation and corrective action before the issue worsens, EVM assists projects in critically addressing the roadblocks that could impede project advancement.

• In this process of detection, one of the most important metrics is earned value (EV), which measures the value of finished work about the approved budget.

• When EV begins to manifestly deviate from the planned value (PV), tasks are either running late or costing more than anticipated.

Practical insights based on data

• According to Venkataraman & Pinto (2023) for EVM, risk management is crucial. By being proactive, risks are promptly minimized and project stability is maintained. The impact of EVM on project priorities is not limited to the planning phase; it persists throughout the project lifecycle.

• The functionality of EVM can make faster and more effective decisions, supported by concrete data about the reality of the work executed with the help of its data-driven systems.

• EVM allows for efficient distribution and maximizes return on investment by identifying areas that require more support and underutilized resources, as opposed to randomly allocating resources over a large area. Budget and timeline adjustments offer predictive insights that act as early warning systems, alerting stakeholders to potential roadblocks before they materialize (Klakegg et al. 2020).

• EVM is a tool that helps managers track performance metrics on robust management tools. It integrates schedules and budgets into the system and using Gantt charts it provides actionable insights on reports and analytics.

Figure 1. Benefits of EVM
Source: Created by author

Difficulties of EVM in big projects

Data must be accurate

• Wanner (2020) states that without timely and precise cost information, EVM's analyses become incomplete and lose their ability to guide decisions.

• One of the biggest challenges in EVM implementation is that it requires only accurate data to proceed.

• The EVM reflects only those data who have accurate worked time, schedule, and cost data in real-time and is also vulnerable to misuse if the scope of the project and its deliverables are not defined accurately.

• The project delays caused due to the financial department's processing schedule and EVM's requirement for real-time data are considerably out of step. Variable vendor credit periods make the situation even more difficult.

• EVM works properly in the cost dimension as all activities contribute to the total project cost based on the accurate data of the budget. But that is not the case for time deviations. Activities need to happen in a specific order to achieve a particular duration.

• The intricacy of real cost data must therefore be recognized and handled to properly utilize EVM. There is a need to come up with innovative ways to bridge the temporal gap between finishing an activity and recording the costs.

Team Member Support

• Bagherpour et al. (2022) state that a lack of understanding of the underlying concepts is one of the largest barriers to earned value management (EVM) implementation in an organization.

• Lack of knowledge can show up as uncertainty, resistance to change, and difficulty understanding information presented in terms of EVM.

• The introduction of the EVM method among the team members is an important step in the progression. According to Stone (2022) by reducing the knowledge gap and promoting a shared understanding of EVM, organizations can effectively manage the challenges posed by large projects and fully utilize their potential.

• Assuring stakeholders of this useful project management tool through hands-on experience through pilot projects and demonstration exercises can also help to boost buy-in (Sharon 2022).

Opposition to Change

• Kineber et al. (2023) states that EVM has various challenges, especially in large and dynamic projects and resistance to change is one of them.

• Making changes in EVM is impossible because if the tasks are assigned to chargeable accounts they cannot be removed or deleted. If the schedule needs to change in the project the budget aspects are also affected by them.

• If the project team or other stakeholders have differing expectations or interpretations and they try to make changes in the value or quality of the work completed, this could lead to misleading or inaccurate EVM estimates.
Acquiring Project Progress Data

• According to Vanhoucke (2019) a significant obstacle to the efficacy of EVM is incomplete project progress data. Data that is inconsistent or missing at predefined intervals leads to inaccurate reports and performance analyses.

• Workflows that include robust data collection, automated updates, and real-time dashboards guarantee timely, consistent, and reliable data—all of which are necessary for accurate EVM insights.

• As collecting data manually can take a great deal of time, this is especially true when managing multiple projects at once. Modern organizational MIS and reporting systems, fortunately, can save EVM (Kerzner, 2018).

• By emphasizing these resources, businesses can provide project managers with the knowledge they need to oversee projects accurately and confidently.
Methods

Data Collection

The qualitative method of data collection is well suited to the requirements of this project because this method helps in understanding the interaction, beliefs, experiences, and attitudes towards the application of EVM in large projects. This method provides non-numerical data and helps in interpreting what participants have said and also to explain why they have said it.

• Document analysis: The procedure of evaluating and reviewing electronic and printed in a methodical manner. This method helps in interpreting and examining data regarding EVM to understand the meaning and processes of EVM and also helps in concluding. The project reports, company manuals, relevant case studies, and industry publications are important documents that are interpreted regarding the application of EVM in large-scale projects. This report will examine the practical and theoretical aspects of EVM during this analysis. This analysis helps in identifying the shared benefits, challenges, and best practices applied to different kinds of projects and economic sectors.

• Social media analysis: Social media analysis is the procedure of analyzing and collecting the data that are shared by the audience on social media sites. In this report, we analyze the data through this analysis by gathering the opinions of audiences regarding the implementation of EVM in large projects. The relevant keywords and hashtags are tracked on several social media sites like Twitter and LinkedIn to improve an organization's strategic business decisions. This may involve examining the tweets, posts, and articles shared by stakeholders in large projects, project managers, and industry experts.

Analysis of data

For the analysis of data thematic analysis method is used in this project. All the qualitative information gathered from social media, document analysis, and online forums will be examined using thematic analysis (Caplan & Purser, 2019). It is a method for examining qualitative data that involves reading through a set of data and looking for patterns in the meaning of the data to find themes. Finding recurring themes and patterns in the data is necessary to understand the overall opinions and significant concerns related to the application of EVM in big projects. It is an active process of reflexivity so, in this project, NIVO software is utilized to make the process of analysis and coding simpler.

Limitation

This study may not be able to fully rely on secondary data sources to fully understand individual experiences and perspectives. Results are based on a numerical basis and get slightly less insight into the thoughts and conclusions might only hold for the specific analysis keywords and data sources.

Finding and discussion

Earned value management is a method that helps in the management of projects. This method combines the cost, schedule, and scope to measure the performance of a project. It provides a roadmap for the project managers to allocate and utilize the budget and timelines. EVM compares the work value accomplished against the actual cost and the planned value incurred to fully understand the progress of a project (Stone, 2022). The dedication of EVM towards the openness and careful tracking of advancements provides accurate benchmarks for budgets and timelines. Using trend analysis, a project manager can measure the effectiveness of corrective actions over time and make necessary improvements in the project. EVM provides a culture of accountability by providing information on upcoming risks and forecasting the trends to project managers, clients, and other stakeholders. This provides various objective measurements for solving the problems coming in projects. It is done by projects to be divided into manageable, small work packages with end goals. The budget (in hours or dollars) is then used to assign a weight to each completed work package and/or milestone. This can be summed up using the work breakdown structure (WBS) to produce an objective percent complete that takes into account both the actual work that has been completed and the budgeted value of that work.

By providing so many benefits to the big projects EVM also carries various limitations. Project managers can use EVM to help forecast issues, but regardless of EVM use or EVM skill set training, project failures related to cost and schedule still happen at similar rates. This creates a problem in making calculations and is difficult to obtain data. But when it has accurate data it forecasts completion costs, project stakeholders can accurately plan resources. Change resistance is an inevitable part of every project, and could arise within the rigid EVM framework. EVM does not allow changes which may lead to inaccurate data and bad decisions. EVM needs accurate progress data of a project that is time-consuming because collecting data manually needs enough time management (Wanner, 2021). Modern organizational MIS and reporting systems, fortunately, can save EVM. To reach the full potential of data challenges and ensure that the data underlying EVM is dependable and easily accessible, better techniques for collecting and integrating data are required. Providing training to the team members regarding to the information and abilities to use EVM efficiently.

Conclusion

After discussing all the important aspects in this report, this is concluded that the Earned Value Management (EVM) system is unquestionably a potent tool in the project manager's toolbox, even though it is not a cure-all for all project management issues. By acknowledging its advantages and disadvantages, we can make the most of it and turn it from a simple map into a trustworthy compass for navigating the challenges of large-scale projects. An accountable and knowledgeable culture of decision-making is encouraged by EVM, which raises the banner of transparency. When using the EVM as a guide, it is important to ensure that the project will be completed on schedule, within budget, and with a sense of a job well done. Large projects can overcome obstacles and withstand setbacks with resilience when they employ this strategy. The qualitative method helps in interpreting and examining data regarding EVM to understand the meaning and processes of EVM and also helps in concluding.

The legacy of victory never fades because the ripples of achievement travel a great distance in a multitude of pursuits. In the broad field of project management, EVM stands out as a beacon that shows the path to well-earned success.

References

Bagherpour, M., Zadeh, M. K., Mahmoudi, A., & Deng, X. (2020). Interpretive structural modeling in earned value management. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 26(6), 524-533. https://journals.vilniustech.lt/index.php/JCEM/article/view/12182
Caplan, M. A., & Purser, G. (2019). Qualitative inquiry using social media: A field-tested example. Qualitative Social Work, 18(3), 417-435. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1473325017725802

Eirgash, M. A., & Baltaci, Y. (2021). Project monitoring and early warning of time-cost overruns in earned value management. Current Trends in Civil & Structural Engineering, 7(5), 1-7. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mohammad-Eirgash/publication/354312631_Project_Monitoring_and_Early_Warning_of_Time-Cost_Overruns_in_Earned_Value_Management/links/613094880360302a0073e3f4/Project-Monitoring-and-Early-Warning-of-Time-Cost-Overruns-in-Earned-Value-Management.pdf

Jabbar, A., & Dani, S. (2020). Investigating the link between transaction and computational costs in a blockchain environment. International Journal of Production Research, 58(11), 3423-3436. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207543.2020.1754487

Kineber, A. F., Ali, A. H., Elshaboury, N., Oke, A. E., & Arashpour, M. (2023). A multi-criteria evaluation and stationary analysis of value management implementation barriers for sustainable residential building projects. International Journal of Construction Management, 1-14. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15623599.2023.2267870

Mahmoudi, A., Bagherpour, M., & Javed, S. A. (2019). Grey earned value management: theory and applications. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 68(6), 1703-1721. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8790982/

Nizam, A., & Elshannaway, A. (2019). Review of earned value management (EVM) methodology, its limitations, and applicable extensions. https://soar.wichita.edu/handle/10057/24251

Ola, G. (2019). Constraints To Implementing Earned Value Management (Evm) As A Tool For Project Planning And Control–A Solutions Perspective-A Case Study Among Nigerian Construction Project Managers. https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/336936/Ola_Gbolahan.pdf?sequence=2

Sastoque Pinilla, E. L. (2023). A data-driven approach for a project management methodology for R&D Projects. https://addi.ehu.es/handle/10810/61357

Stone, C. L. (2022). Exploring the Procedures Project Managers Need to Improve for Successful Projects Using EVM (Doctoral dissertation, Colorado Technical University). https://search.proquest.com/openview/2bf0db790e0e8b33804d616fe9b41965/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Stone, C. L. (2022). Exploring the Procedures Project Managers Need to Improve for Successful Projects Using EVM (Doctoral dissertation, Colorado Technical University). https://search.proquest.com/openview/2bf0db790e0e8b33804d616fe9b41965/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Tumpa, R. J., Skaik, S., Ham, M., & Chaudhry, G. (2023). Enhancing project management graduates’ employability through group assessment innovations: An empirical study. Project Leadership and Society, 4, 100084. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666721523000054

Wen, Q., & Qiang, M. (2019). Project managers’ competences in managing project closing. Project Management Journal, 50(3), 361-375. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/8756972819832783