ASSIGNMENTS

Subject code: MB0033

Set 1

1. What are the various characteristics of a project? What is the importance of each
characteristic? Give examples.
Ans : It is well known to all that the organizations continue to grow year by
year. As there is a need to grow it becomes necessary for a growing
organization to resort to proper growth plan. The plan needs to be properly
prepared. It is possible to prepare proper plans only if the manager has
sufficient knowledge of the various process of the project envisage for
growth. The manager has to work on the various life cycle stages and apply
necessary planning tools to come out with a proper growth plan of the
company. The various techniques of identifying the project items, work break
down structure of the project , task duration, estimation etc are to be done
meticulously.

Characteristics

Any project may be considered to have the following characteristics:

a) Resource requirement - During the course of executing the project,

it is seen that the resource requirement increases from start to an
intermediate stage of the project. It further increases at rapid rate and
becomes constant while the project is during its 80 to 95% progress
stage. Thereafter the resources requirement decreases to zero i.e
when the project comes to a finish.

b) Funds - The requirement of funds for the completes execution of the

project also follows the same trend as that of the resources. The two
are more or less proportional.

c) Probability of completion - The probability of completing the project

can be estimated based upon the normal distribution curve. In the
initial stage of the project the probability of completing the project is
low though not zero. It gradually increases and as the project
approaches finish the probability of completing the project tends to
become 100%.

d) Risk - The risks involved in the project affecting its completion time is
high at the initial stages and low at the later stages of the project.

e) Design changes - The project during the course of its progress may
be subjected to changes because of some external factors. The
influence of such external factors on the project may result in changes
in the design f the project though not very often. It is observed that
 such changes if any are normally high during the initial stages of the
project and decreases as the project approaches finish.

2. State the principles of Deming’s Philosophy relevant to Project Management. Explain how
each one is applicable in management?

Ans : Dr. Deming's teachings and philosophy can be seen through the results they produced
when they were adopted by the Japanese, as the following example shows: Ford Motor Company
was simultaneously manufacturing a car model with transmissions made in Japan and the United
States. Soon after the car model was on the market, Ford customers were requesting the model
with Japanese transmission over the USA-made transmission, and they were willing to wait for
the Japanese model. As both transmissions were made to the same specifications, Ford
engineers could not understand the customer preference for the model with Japanese
transmission. It delivered smoother performance with a lower defect rate. Finally, Ford engineers
decided to take apart the two different transmissions. The American-made car parts were all
within specified tolerance levels. On the other hand, the Japanese car parts had much closer
tolerances than the USA-made parts - i.e. if a part was supposed to be one foot long, plus or
minus 1/8 of an inch - then the Japanese parts were within 1/16 of an inch. This made the
Japanese cars run more smoothly and customers experienced fewer problems.

Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management.
Management's failure to plan for the future brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of
jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to
stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through
improved products and services. "Long-term commitment to new learning and new philosophy is
required of any management that seeks transformation. The timid and the fainthearted, and the
people that expect quick results, are doomed to disappointment."

Deming philosophy synopsis

The philosophy of W. Edwards Deming has been summarized as follows:

"Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management,

organizations can increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs (by reducing waste, rework,
staff attrition and litigation while increasing customer loyalty). The key is to practice continual
improvement and think of manufacturing as a system, not as bits and pieces."

In the 1970s, Dr. Deming's philosophy was summarized by some of his Japanese
proponents with the following 'a'-versus-'b' comparison:

(a) When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, defined by the following ratio,

quality tends to increase and costs fall over time.

(b) However, when people and organizations focus primarily on costs, costs tend to rise and
quality declines over time.
 Deming offered fourteen key principles for management for transforming business effectiveness.

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to
become competitive and stay in business, and to provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must
awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for
change.
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on
a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total
cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of
loyalty and trust.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality
and productivity, and thus constantly decrease cost.
6. Institute training on the job.
7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and
gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as
supervision of production workers.
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and
production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may
be encountered with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects
and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as
the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus
lie beyond the power of the work force.
11. a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.
b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical
goals. Substitute workmanship.
12. a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The
responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to
pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating
and of management by objective.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
14. Put everyone in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The
transformation is everyone's work.
3. Explain the concept of concurrency in High Technology Development.
Ans : Concurrency in High Technology Development

As the application of technology has become critical for the survival of

organisation it has become imperative for organizations to initiate measures
for the development of high technology to be ahead of competition. No
doubt, there are many specialized Research and Development firms which
offer their expertise to their clients’ problems. However, their services are
available to the competitors and many technologies developed by the
company’s own research personnel cannot be shared with outsiders. So the
 strategy would be utilize the services of external resource to the extent they
are suitable for our purpose, but with a strong base of R and D of our own.
This will really differentiate the best companies from other ordinary ones. The
following give some guidelines in the form of rules which would help
organisation to be strong in this area.

Building concurrency into every activity is essential to reduce the

development cycle time and to counter the technology obsolescence. Many
of the tasks that are normally done in a serial fashion can be done in parallel
by synchronizing the flow of information. The practices of the concurrent
engineering where the design of the product and all its associated processes
are carried out simultaneously based on team work and participation. Would
not only help in reducing the development cycle time, but also improves the
product functionality with regard to requirements. Concurrency can be
accomplished in many ways both for product development as well as
technology transfer, user evaluation and production.

Example - Tactical Aircraft: Concurrency in Development and Production of F-

22
Aircraft Should Be Reduced (Letter Report, 04/19/95, GAO/NSIAD-95-59).

Because the F-22 fighter plane is not urgently needed and the Defense
Department (DOD) has discovered engine and software problems with the
aircraft, GAO urges that the F-22 be thoroughly tested before large numbers
of these expensive aircraft are acquired. Concurrency between the
development and production phases of F-22 means that independent testing
of high-tech features of the aircraft will not be completed before the Air Force
makes a significant commitment to producing the F-22. Among other things,
the F-22 boast an advanced architecture for the integrated avionics system, a
propulsion system that will allow cruising a supersonic speeds without the
afterburners that current fighters needs, and low observable technologies.
The military has already disclosed engine and stealth ness problems, and the
potential for avionics and software problems underscore the need to
demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities before committing to production.

4. Explain in detail the project management review process. What are the
various post review activities ?
Ans : Project Management Review Process

There is mutual benefit for corporate and major information systems project
teams and many of the programs as a result of the information exchange
generated by the Project Management Reviews. Throughout the project lifecycle,
project staff should collaborate and communicate with staff responsible for
capital planning, information architecture, standards, information security,
safety, configuration management, risk management, quality management and
assurance. The information exchange may address status, issued, process,
requests, requirements, approvals, and assistance in the areas of project plans,
schedule, budget, functional content, scope, staffing, infrastructure and
operations.
Corporate and major information systems are reviewed from their inception to
retirement, i.e., throughout the Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC)
phases of Identification, Selection, Control, and Evaluation.

The Project Management Review Process includes the following steps:

• Identification of projects that will participate in the Reviews

• Development and adherence to a quarterly reporting schedule
• Compilation of standard project management data into a presentation
data
• Collection of detailed project files that support the information reported
during the project Management Reviews and may be requested for
inspection during a formal audit
• Participation in the Review meetings with any required follow-up activities

Post Review Activities

Once the Project Management Review has been conducted, follow up with
program/project managers on any issues or concerns requiring attention, the
status of open items from the review, and CIO reporting actions, e.g., reports to
the CIO Council. The CIO may also recommend quality assurance analysis be
conducted.

1. Issues or Concerns Requiring Attention

The project manager is responsible for raising issues or concerns that require
assistance or guidance to the attention of the CIO. These items should be
communicated whenever they become known, and not held to the next Project
Management Review. The CIO will assign appropriate OCIO staff available to help
resolve open items. The program / project manager should communicate the
status of these items in each quarterly reviews until the items are resolved /
closed.

2. Status of Open Items from Review

The program/project manager is responsible for tracking the open items from the
review and communicating the status in each quarterly review until the items are
closed. The supporting the scheduling of reviews will coordinate with the
program/project manager after the quarterly reviews to help ensure that new
items have been captured for tracking and action by the program/project
manager.

3. CIO Reports
The staff supporting the CIO Quarterly Reviews will prepare a summary report
after each Project Management Review. The summary report will include the
following information:

i) Summary Status
ii) Open Issues/Items
iii) Status Performance Objectives/Measures
iv) Status of Schedule/Cost

The summary report will be provided to the program/project manager to gain

concurrence on the content. The summary report will be used by the CIO when
 reporting status to the CIO Council.

5. Explain the structure of the documentation systems as required by supply chain monitoring.
What is the significance of documentation? How does it help a manager?
Ans : Requirement of Documented systems in Supply Chain Monitoring
(SCMo)

It is possible today to establish a system aligned with an organizations supply

chain. It can be an add-on to existing ERP-systems. The main objectives are

i) Prevention of stock-out and over supply

ii) Early warnings, elimination of bullwhip effect

iii) Optimized allocation in bottleneck situations due to network-wide

inventory and demand transparency

The main Principles behind is the Integration of supply chain participants,

Exchange of demand and inventory information, transparency & Visibility of
inventories and demands for multilevel supply chains. It also eliminates time lags
in the information flow and ensures synchronization of demand information.
SCMo set up (Initialization) The main steps for the set up are :

a) Determination of the potentially critical part of the supply network Criteria:

b) Mapping of Structures a) high shortage risk and effect, long lead and reaction
times, high total inventory cost, frequent engineering changes.

Main Features – The main features of such system are –

i) Releases and Iterations planning – It is a simple way to create project plan.

ii) Dashboard – It is a quick project status reporting tool.
iii) To-Do lists – Identify and list the Integrated assignments.
iv) Integrated QA - Bug Tracking, Test Cases management, user story-to-bugs
Trace-ability, QA stats and charts.
v) Time Tracking - Create more accurate estimates of time.

Significance of Documentation

It might sometimes be difficult for an organization to straightaway launch into a

Project Management exercise, even if they are well equipped, particularly if the
project is too large – for e.g., development of a new product, expansion of
capacity, modernization of facilities, diversification into a totally new business
area, getting into a Joint venture etc. In this case, the core project team itself
might feel the need to have some major inputs before even a tentative plan
could be drawn up. A well-drafted Business Plan would ideally serve this purpose,
provided it is handled systematically & professionally.

• The documentation system is intranet based to provide immediate access

to current, up-to-date process documentation. The system allows users to
 navigate through graphical structures to relevant documentation and
processes which were created with the ARIS-Toolset.

• The content of the process Documentation System includes the area

supply chain management from the Odette supply chain Management
Group. The system includes graphical process documentation, in the form
of process chains, as well as the entire range of documentation related to
the processes.

• The Process Documentation System gives, according to its objectives, as

overview and a detailed view of the relevant processes for SCMo.

• The entry point in the documentation system is the model “Process

Overview SCMo”. This model is the starting point for the navigation to
other models.

• The vertical navigation is the navigation on different levels. The horizontal

navigation is the navigation on one level.

• Microsoft has a team project management solution that enables project

managers and their teams to collaborate on projects. The Microsoft Project
2002 products in this solution are Microsoft Project Standard 2002,
Microsoft Project Server 2002, and Microsoft Project Server Client Access
License (CAL) 2002.

6. Write down a brief outline of any assumed project management plan.

Ans : Various sections and subsections of this unit would cover as part of
Project Management Plan, the following key aspects:

1. · Project Management Plan – Sample Project

• Project Summary

Project Overview – Consider a firm XYZ as a Stock Broker/ Dealer firm.

Any re will have applications supporting the following components:

• · first, a Brokerage Account Opening application on XYZ’s

Web site that will allow any internet user to open a brokerage
account with XYZ.
• · Second, an account opening and maintenance application,
which is primarily for XYZ’s representatives to open accounts
for the applications received in paper format.

• Project Scope

i. · To provide an effective, efficient means of amount

maintenance activities
ii. · To allow representatives to provide information
 iii. · To provide a complete picture to the client
representatives for account status, valuation, order
status, and trade activity
iv. · To increase the intelligence of the update process

2. · Project’s Value-add to the Customer

• Objectives

Strengthen relationship with XYZ by delivered high quality

software on time
Become preferred vendor by developing expensive on XYZ
product and systems.

• Commitment made to customers

3. · Assumptions made While Planning

• Intelligent update to business partners will be incorporated in

only the maintenance part of the application and not in the
Account opening engine.
• Qualified people will approve Rational Unified Process
methodology for implementing this project
• XYZ reviewers will take seven days to approve a milestone
documents. If no comments are received within this time period,
it will be considered as approved.

4. · Standard Process Followed and Deviation from standard

Process

• Tailoring Notes

Requirement trace ability will be done through the requisite pro-

tool.

Physical data base design may be refined | later iterations.

• Change request tracking

Changes requested by customer will be logged in change

request and analyzed for impact of project

Major change usually has an effort/delivery-on-time impact on

the project. The customer needs to formally approve these
changes.

5. · Requirement Trace Ability

 Requisite tool will be used along with estimated size and effort.
This is the estimation criteria to check everything is in place.

6. · Automated Estimation Process

Estimate the total effort wrt each activity and effort for each
phase of a project expressed as of percentage of man days.

7. · Scheduling and Estimation of Resources

• People
• Hardware, software and Tools
• Training Plan

8. · Quality Plan – Quality Goals

• Project Goals

Prepare a strategy for meeting quality goals indicating the

expected benefits

• Estimation of Defects to be defected

• Reviews

9. · Project Tracking

Prepare the reports to be given to the customer which indicates

–

• Milestone reports & weekly status reports

• Issue requiring clarification
Plus other reports which needs to be given to Business
Managers

10. · Defect Control System Performance Summary

Prepare a list probable defects & defect distribution table to find

out deviation for the same. There were very few large deviations
in the process performance; the actual performance was close to
what is expected. This will give a chance to improve the poor
performance.

11. · System Driver Risk Management

Prepare a table on risk management indicating the type of risk,

 actual elapsed time, estimated time, percentage slippage and
reasons for slippage.

12. · Global Delivery Model the Latest Trend in Project

Management

• Standardization
• Modularization
• Minimum Cutomerization
• Maximum Micro Structure

ASSIGNMENTS
Subject code: MB0033
Set 2

1. How can risks be prioritized in a project management? Give any suitable example.
Ans : Risk Management Risks are those events or conditions that may occur and whose
occurrence has a harmful or negative impact on a project. Risk management aims to identify
the risks and then take actions to minimize their effect on the project. Risk management
entails additional cost. Hence risk management can be considered cost effective only if the
cost of risk management is considerably less than the cost incurred if the risk materializes.

Risk prioritization – Risk prioritization focus on the highest risk. Prioritization requires
analyzing the possible effects of the risk event in case it actually occurs. This approach
requires a quantitative assessment of the risk probability and the risk consequences. For each
risk rate the probability of its happening as low, medium or high. If necessary, assign
probability values in the ranges given for each rating. For each risk, assess its impact on the
project as low, medium, high or very high. Rank the risk based on the probability. Select the
top few risk items for mitigation and tracking.

Refer to a list of commonly used risk mitigation steps for various risks from the previous risk
logs maintained by the PM and select a suitable risk mitigation step. The risk mitigation step
must be properly executed by incorporating them into the project schedule. In addition to
monitoring the progress of the planned risk mitigation steps periodically revisit the risk
perception for the entire project. The results of this review are reported in each milestone
analysis report. To prepare this report, make fresh risk analysis to determine whether the
priorities have changed.

2. Mention any six characteristics of interpersonal behaviour. What are the types of
reviews?
Ans : Interpersonal Behaviour - In a team the maxim that all members will do well to
remember is “Learn to appreciate the problems of others, and some others would appreciate
yours”. It is therefore important that in a business environment, particularly in Project
Management, an effort to evolve solutions jointly has great benefits, both for the teams as well
as the organization. The top management has the responsibility of encouraging such a culture
to develop team work to healthy interpersonal behaviour.

Interpersonal behaviour calls for:

• Projection of a pleasant, but firm personality
• Clarity of expression and communication
• Patience in listening and reacting with empathy
• Documentation and correct recording
• Offer to help
• Call for help whenever necessary
• Seeking information before attempting decisions
• Not waiting for things to go wrong
• Motivation of others through efficiency and meticulousness, rather than urging and
exhibiting dependency
• Putting team goals ahead of individual targets.

The project manager should make it a habit of expressing appreciation openly for any good
work done. Cross Functional Teams have become a necessity and the synergy they generate
would be lost if interpersonal behaviour is not of high standard. As members are from different
functions, understanding the requirements or compulsions of others is difficult. This fact should
be impressed upon all the members and requesting them to cooperate is vital.

Reviews Types

The reviews are generally divided into four types which are conducted at different stages of
the project.

1. Initiation Reviews (IR)

2. Planning and Proposal Reviews (PPR)
3. Procurement Reviews (PR)
4. Quality Assurance Reviews (QAR)
A project review is a process where we capture information from the team experience and see
the variances and deviations from the plan. These reviews help in increasing productivity and
improve organizational success. The purpose of the reviews can be generally stated as under.
Depending on the manager’s ability they can be made more meaningful. Performance
improvement starts with commitment to an agreed plan. The reviews are meant to keep the
activities are according to the plan. The purpose of them can be states as:

• Finding out the feasibility of the project and helping management team to take a
decision based on this initial Review.
• Checking if all the necessary activities were done before presenting a customer the
proposal or solution
• Checking if all the formal agreements and procedures were formally accepted and
reviewed between the customer and the project delivery organization.
• Finding out the deviation and allowing elbow room for changes in the action plan for
improvement.

3. What are the main considerations in planning P2M? Give relevant examples.
Ans :

Consideration in Planning P2M

Some of the considerations for effective programme management are given below:

Focusing on the various strategic initiatives taken up for multiple projects and the issues
related to benefits and risks.

Bringing about the attention of management to a defined set of benefits, which are understood
immediately, which are managed throughout the implementation and at completion.

Helping top management to set priorities, choosing options and allocate resources
Setting up mechanisms to measure and ensure that the projects making contributions for
realizing expected business benefits.
Leading the organization on the path of ‘where it’ an ‘where it wants to be’
Ensuring that the effects of the programme driven changes are coordinated, the transitions are
successfully managed. The operations are effective and efficient.
Process of P2M

The objectives sought to be achieved and the methods which are adopted and the activities
that are going to be undertaken i.e. the process include the following steps:
Preparing and maintaining a set of activities and the workflow that is to be followed and
identifying business areas responsible for different stages in the above;

1. Making sure that the priorities that the above generate are relevant and the projects
are run on the basis of their impact on the business as a whole;

2. Structuring the programme so that the responsibilities and roles – at both programme
and project level – are acceptable to both the top management and managers;

3. Planning the various points of review between various phases of the projects. The
process has to incorporate all the important aspects which are to be addressed during
implementation and management of the projects. It is important to identify all factors
and incorporate resources – men, materials, technology and time – so that their
provision can be planned.
Managing the Programme

When we consider the portfolio of projects as a programme, the main considerations will be on
resources, risks associated with the programme, quality of the projects at every stage of the
execution as meeting the requirements of the client as per the contract and monitoring the
change processes that get enmeshed during implementation. The specifics concerning the
above are listed below:

i) Evaluating the risks associated with the programme – the planned changes to the
business operations;
ii) Ensuring that the processes to ensure quality are sufficient and purposes are fully
met;
iii) Keeping track of the changes and developments external to the project
environment and studying their impact on the programme.
iv) Making sure that the personnel in business affected by the above are informed and
trained so that the projects are smoothly;
v) Ensuring that the support services like human resources and IT are able to adopt to
the changes that take place in the projects and business operations as a whole.

4. What is the significance of reviewing ROI? Explain in detail.

Ans : ROI - Return on Investment (ROI) is the calculated benefit that an organization is
projected to receive in return for investing money (resources) in a project. Within the context
of the Review Process, the investment would be in an information system development or
enhancement project. ROI information is used to assess the status of the business viability of
the project at key checkpoints throughout the project’s lifecycle.
ROI may include the benefits associated with improved mission performance, reduced cost,
increased quality, speed, or flexibility, and increased customer and employee satisfaction. ROI
should reflect such risk factors as the project’s technical complexity, the agency’s
management capacity, the likelihood of cost overruns, and the consequences of under or
nonperformance. Where appropriate, ROI should reflect actual returns observed through pilot
projects and prototypes.

ROI should be quantified in terms of dollars and should include a calculation of the breakeven
point (BEP), which is the date when the investment begins to generate a positive return. ROI
should be recalculated at every major checkpoint of a project to se if the BEP is still on
schedule, based on project spending and accomplishments to date. If the project is behind
schedule or over budget, the BEP may move out in time; if the project is ahead of schedule or
under budget the BEP may occur earlier. In either case, the information is important for
decision making based on the value of the investment throughout the project lifecycle. Any
project that has developed a business case is expected to refresh the ROI at each key project
decision point (i.e., stage exit) or at least yearly.
Exclusions

If the detailed data collection, calculation of benefits and costs, and capitalization data from
which Return on Investment (ROI) is derived was not required for a particular project, then it
may not be realistic or practical to require the retrofit calculation of ROI once the project is
added to the Review portfolio. In such a case, it is recommended that a memorandum of
record be developed as a substitute for ROI. The memorandum should provide a brief history of
the program, a description of the major benefits realized to date with as much quantitative
data as possible, and a summary of the process used to identify and select system
enhancements.

Some of the major benefits experienced by sites that installed the information system that
would be important to include in the memorandum are:

a) Decommissioning of mainframe computers

b) Reduction/redirection of labour
c) Elimination of redundant systems
d) Ability to more cost effectively upgrade all sites with one standard upgrade package.

In each case above, identify the specific site, systems, and labour involved in determining the
cited benefit. Identify any costs or dollar savings that are known or have been estimated. The
memorandum will be used as tool for responding to any future audit inquiries on project ROI.

For the Project Management Review, it is recommended that the project leader replace the
text on the ROI document through -

1) a note stating which stage of its cycle the project is in;

(2) A bulleted list of the most important points from the memorandum of record; and

(3) a copy of the memorandum of record for the Review repository.

In subsequent Reviews of the information system, the ROI slide can be eliminated form the
package. There is one notable exception to this guidance. Any internal use software project in
the maintenance phase of its lifecycle that adds a new site or undertakes an enhancement or
technology refresh that reaches the cost threshold established by Standard will need to satisfy
capitalization requirements. It requires all agencies to capitalize items acquired or developed
for internal use if the expected service life is two or more years and its cost meets or exceeds
the agency’s threshold for internal use software. The standard requires capitalization of direct
and indirect costs, including employee salaries and benefits for both Federal and Contractor
employees who materially participate in the Software project. Program managers are
considered to be the source of cost information for internal use software projects. If
capitalization data is collected for the project in the future, the project would be expected to
calculate and track its ROI.

5. What is meant by baseline? How is it reviewed?

Ans : Baseline
The Baseline created can be used to compare the original project plan with actual events and
achievements. This will display the days required for each task and project phase. For actual
operating instruction please refer the Microsoft Project User Handbook. The Microsoft Project
family of products offers tools to work on a Project from management point of view. Microsoft
Project is designed for people who manage projects independently and don’t require the
capability to manage resources from a central repository. Microsoft has a team project
management solution that enables project managers and their teams to collaborate on
projects. After creating a fairly complete final project plan it is a good idea to create a
baseline to compare the original project plan with actual events and achievements.

Reviewing baseline

This will display the days required for each task and project phase. It includes -

Tracking Progress

After creating a baseline, if the project has begun, it is necessary to enter actual dates that
tasks are being completed and the resource utilization used to complete them. Again review
different views and the cost and summary tables before proceeding to the next section. Return
to the Entry view of the Gantt chart before proceeding.

Balancing Workloads

At times people and equipment can become assigned more work than they can complete in
normal working hours. This is called over allocation. Project can test for this condition and
reschedule (or level) their workload to accommodate completing tasks during a normal day.

Monitoring Variance

After a baseline has been established and the project has begun, it is desirable to determine if
tasks are being accomplished on time and /or if cost over runs are occurring.

Creating Reports

Project has many different built-in reports and has the capability building custom reports and
exporting data to other MS Office applications for integration into other reporting venues.

6. Explain in detail GDM and its key features?

Ans : GDM - The Global Delivery Model (GDM) is adopted by an Industry or Business such that it
has a capability to plan design, deliver and serve to any Customers or Clients Worldwide with
Speed, Accuracy, Economy and Reliability. The key Features of GDM are ·

Standardization
Modularization
Minimum Customization
Maximum Micro structure

Adoption of a Combination of the Greatest Common Multiple and the Least Common
Factor of a Large Mass of Microbial Components-

a) Standardization - Ingenious Design and Development of Components and Features

which are like to be accepted by 90% of Worldwide Customers. Global Standards of
Design focusing on highly standardized Methods and Processes of manufacture or
Development. Adopt Plug and socket Concepts with minimum adaptable joints or
Connections.

b) Modularization - Product or Solution split up into smallest possible individual

Identifiable Entities, with limited Individual Functioning Capability but powerful and
robust in Combination with other Modules.

c) Minimum Customization - Minimum Changes or Modifications to suit Individual

Customers.

d) Maximum micro structuring - Splitting of the Product Modules further into much
smaller entity identifiable more through characteristics rather than application
Features. Approach through Standardization of these Microbial Entities even across
Multiple Modules. Application of these Microbial Entities to rest within multiple
Projects or Products or even as add-ons suit belated Customer Needs.

Special Features of GDM

Some of the special features of GDM are ·

• Cuts across Geographical and Time Zone Barriers
• Unimaginable Speeds of Response and Introduction.
• Common Pool of Microbial Components
• Largely Independent of Skill Sets required at Delivery Stages
• Highly automated Processes
• Quality Assurance as a Concurrent rather than a Control Process
• Near Shore Development, Manufacture and Delivery for better Logistics
• Mapping of Economical Zones rather than Geographic Zones
• Continuous Floating virtual Inventory to save Time and Efforts.