Week 1

Introduction to Principles of Management

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Principles of Management Module
Overview

Definition of a project

What is Project Management?

Project Life Cycle

Project Stakeholders

Organisational and environmental influences

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Principles of Management Module

What is a project?

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Principles of Management Module
Definition of a project
The Project Management Institute defines a
project as:

‘A temporary endeavour undertaken to create a

unique product or service’. (PMI, 2000: 6)

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Principles of Management Module
Definition of a project
Another definition is given by the British Standards
Institution:

A project is a unique set of coordinated

activities, with a definite starting and finishing
point, undertaken by an individual or
organisation to meet specific objectives within
defined schedule, cost and performance
parameters.
(BS 6079-1, 2000: 2)
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Definition of a project
Then again, according to MacLachlan (1996)

‘A project is a task with a beginning, a middle

and an end, which you as a manager need to
Complete’.

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Principles of Management Module
Characteristics of projects

Temporary (limited time only)

Note that temporary does not imply of short duration and a project’s end
products may endure indefinitely (e.g. Pyramids)

Duration depends on its size and complexity.

Unique

One way or another, projects are all different in the way they are planned,
executed and controlled.

The presence of repetitive work does not change the fundamental
uniqueness of a project (e.g. Multiple prototypes might be required prior to
developing a new piece of software).

Require ‘progressive elaboration’ to take shape

The work required is gradually defined, with increasing detail being added
over time (e.g. decisions about the internal colour scheme of a building can
be done later on after the building has been completed).

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Principles of Management Module
Other traits that projects tend to
exhibit:

A level of risk and uncertainty

Organisationally complex, requiring the interaction of many

people, departments and other organisations

Need to be managed against time, budget and human resource

plans

Cause Conflict due to competition for resources

Required by other projects and non project work

Require teamwork and the ability of participants to use effective

leadership skills.

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Principles of Management Module
Which of the following are projects?

Building a bridge

Designing an information system

Planning an election campaign

Writing an essay

Developing a new product or service

Effecting a change in organisation structure

Swimming

Working in an office

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Principles of Management Module
Where do projects come from?

According to PMI (2000), projects are usually authorised as a result of one or more of the
following reasons :

A market demand (for example a supermarket chain opens a new store due to popular demand)

A business need (for example a university authorises a project to develop a distance learning
course to increase its revenues)

A customer request (for example an electric authorises a project to build a substation to serve a
new industrial park)

A technological advance (for example a new computer chip spawns a project to produce the

next generation of computers)

A legal requirement (for example a paint manufacturer authorises a project to establish

guidelines for the handling of hazardous materials as required by recent government legislation)

A crisis (for example a market downturn forces accompany to restructure itself)

A social need (for example a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) in a developing country

authorises a project to provide potable water systems and sanitation education to low-income
communities suffering from high rates of cholera).

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How would you define project management?

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Principles of Management Module
Definition of project management

At its simplest level, project management can
be defined as the discipline of managing
projects successfully. (APM, 2000: 14).

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Principles of Management Module
Definition of project management

British Standards Institution (2000) definition:

Project management is the planning, monitoring

and control of all aspects of a project and the
motivation of all those involved in it to achieve
the project objectives on time and to the
specified cost, quality and performance.

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Principles of Management Module
Definition of project management

Project Management is the application of
skills, knowledge, tools and techniques to
project activities to meet project
requirements.

(PMI, 2000)

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Principles of Management Module
Notes:

Project management is about managing a process
and the people who participate in it.

The project manager may or may not also be

involved in doing the work to create the project’s end
products, whether goods or services.

Project managers essentially manage people,

resources and the delivery of products, not the work
itself.

(Source: Gardiner, 2005)

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Principles of Management Module
 Differences in environment between project management and
general management

Managing an on-going enterprise Project Management

Closed, stable, mechanistic
Open, adaptive, organic

Well defined goals
Changing goals

Stable technology
Uncertain/turbulent environment

Routine activities
Non-routine activities

Repetition
Creativity

Hierarchy
Innovation

Tight structures
Flexibility

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Principles of Management Module
Use of processes

Project management is achieved through the
use of processes:

Initiating

Planning

Executing

Controlling

Closing

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Principles of Management Module
Project Process Flow

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Overlap of process groups

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Principles of Management Module
Project Management entails:

Managing competing demands for scope,
time, cost, risk and quality

Managing stakeholders with different needs

and expectations

Managing identified requirements

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Principles of Management Module
Simple Project Organisation Structure

04/09/2010 Source: Gardiner, Prepared

2005 by: Ashna Unnuth
Principles of Management Module
 The Project Life-cycle Source: Weiss and Wysocki, 1992, p.15

Planning Implementation

Define Plan Organise Control Close

• Obtain Client
• Identify Project Acceptance
• Determine personnel • Define Management
• State the Problem Activities
Style
needs
• Identify Project • Estimate Time • Install
Goals & Cost • Establish Control Deliverables
• Recruit Project
Tools
• Sequence Project Manager
• List the Objectives Activities • Document
• Prepare Status
•Recruit Project Team the Project
Reports
• Determine Preliminary
Resources • Identify Critical •Organise Project
• Review • Issue
Activities Team
Project Schedule the Final Report
• Identify Assumptions
and Risks • Assign Work • Conduct
• Write Project Packages • Issue Change Orders Post-Implementation
Proposal
audit

DELIVERABLES

•Project Overview •Work Breakdown •Recruitment Criteria •Variance reports

•Final Report
•Project Network •Work Package Description •Status Reports
•Audit Report
•Critical Path •Work Package •Staff Allocation Reports
•Project Proposal Assignments

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Principles of Management Module
How would you define project stakeholders?

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Principles of Management Module
Definition of project stakeholders

‘Project stakeholders are individuals and
organisations that are actively involved in the project,
or whose interests may be positively or negatively
affected as a result of the project execution or
completion. They may also exert influence over the
project and its results’.

(PMBOK Guide, 2000 Edition, of the Project

Management Institute).

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Class discussion

Who could be the potential stakeholders for

the following?

Building a bridge

Designing an information system

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Principles of Management Module
Project Stakeholders

Project Resources (e.g. Project Leader, Core Team
members etc…)

Primary Stakeholders (e.g. Project Manager, Senior

managers, trade unions, employees, suppliers etc…)

Secondary stakeholders (e.g. Consumer Groups,

Media, Competitors, political groups, environmentalist
etc… anyone else who believes he/she has a say in
the ‘Project’)

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Principles of Management Module
Source: Cleland, 1999
Stakeholder influence

Source: Bourne and Walker (2003) - Stakeholder power and impact

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Principles of Management Module
Notes
Please undertake additional research work around stakeholder analysis
area.

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Principles of Management Module
Organisational influences

The extent of which organisational factors
influence project management performance
has not been established.

However, it is sensible, according to

research, to assume that there will be
advantages in developing an organisational
structure for a project which is optimised to
the nature of the project (Todhunter, 2007)

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Principles of Management Module
Organisational influences

Three major organisation forms:

Functional (companies organised by functional

departments e.g. Marketing, HR, IT, Engineering)

Matrix (groups employees by both functional and

product structures)

Project (companies organised by projects)

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Principles of Management Module
Notes
Please undertake additional research work around the advantages and
disadvantages of each organisational form.

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Principles of Management Module
Environmental influences

The project environment can be defined in many
ways.

Daft (2001) defines the environment as “… all elements

existing outside the boundary of the organization that
have the potential to affect all or parts of the
organization.”

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Principles of Management Module
Environmental influences

The environment an organisation operates in, is
made up of:

The internal environment e.g. staff (or internal

customers), office technology, wages and finance,
etc.

The micro-environment e.g. external customers,

agents and distributors, suppliers, our competitors,
etc.

The macro-environment (Pestle factors)

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Principles of Management Module
Environmental Influences

PESTLE analysis

Political

Economic

Social

Technological

Legal

Environmental

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Principles of Management Module
The information given in the following tables collates the responses to a poll conducted by the Standish Group (2001).

Source: Stylus Inc.com (2009)

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Principles of Management Module
Case studies

The Gamma Project

Scottish Parliament Building Project

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Principles of Management Module