EMQM 5103

Project Quality Management

PROJECT MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS

What is a Project ?
Project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or
service.
How Temporary ?
- Has a definite beginning and end and not an ongoing effort.
- Ceases when objective has been attained.
- Team is disbanded upon project completion.
How Unique ?
- Product characteristics are progressively elaborated.
- The product or service is different in some way from other product or
services.
Example
Building a road is an example of a project. The process of building a road
takes a finite amount of time, and produces a unique product. Operations
on the other hand are repetitive. Generating bills every month, and
broadcasting news everyday are examples of operations.
Subprojects are components of a project that often contracted out.

What is Project Management?

Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and
techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.
Project management is accomplished through the use of the processes
such as:
Initiation
Planning
Execution
Controlling
Closing
Project managers or the organization can divide projects into above
phases to provide better management control with appropriate links to
the ongoing operations of the performing organization. Collectively,
these phases are known as the project life cycle

Exercise
Consider the question What is quality?
for few seconds.
-

What does quality mean to you?

What might it mean to others?
How do you describe quality to others?
How do you know quality when you see it?
What are qualitys component elements?

Quality
Management

What does the term quality mean?

Quality is the ability of a product or service to

consistently meet or exceed customer
expectations.
Quality means features of products which meet
customer needs and thereby provide customer
satisfaction.
Quality also means freedom from deficiencies.
The degree to which a set of inherent
characteristics fulfill requirements.

Quality in Project Work

In spite of the many, many books on quality and its
various aspects, it still seems to get short shrift in
project work
Some see it as part of the scope description
Others see it as part of "technical performance"
Still others see it as a nebulous, more-or-less unmanageable
factor in an equally nebulous and unmanageable dimension
known as "customer satisfaction"
And therefore best ignored al together

An interesting history
Down through the ages
Quality was once reflected in "Pride of Workmanship"

an attribute that now seems to be sadly lacking

except with some individual craftsmen
perhaps because "work" is seen as drudgery
and no longer gives the satisfaction that it should

With the advent of the industrial revolution in the 19th

century, and assembly-line production
efficiency and output were the overriding concerns.

 When mass production was established in the early

20th century
Production of standard parts became important
and were tracked by a statistical technique known as "control
charting"

During World War II, quality control was instituted

With an emphasis on inspection and rejection of non-conforming
products or parts
Known as Quality Control
An after-production approach

Quality Management in Japan

At the same time, 1950-1970

When Japanese products were considered to be very "poor quality"

Two American stalwarts in quality management

Edwards Deming
Joseph Juran

Helped to build Japanese production of goods into a powerful competitor

By adopting a Total Quality approach
Now known as Total Quality Management (TQM)
A shift to a quality philosophy
Before production

Process Quality Management

Thus, three responses to quality issues became
popular with process management
Fixing
Using process output accepted without question
With efficient methods for handling complaints

Maintaining
Thoroughly checking outputs, and
Correcting errors as found

Preventing
Establishing systems to ensure avoidance of non-conformance in the
first place

Five Cost Categories Related to Quality

Prevention cost: cost of planning and executing a project so it
is error-free or within an acceptable error range
Appraisal cost: cost of evaluating processes and their outputs
to ensure quality
Internal failure cost: cost incurred to correct an identified
defect before the customer receives the product
External failure cost: cost that relates to all errors not
detected and corrected before delivery to the customer
Measurement and test equipment costs: capital cost of
equipment used to perform prevention and appraisal activities

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Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

Media Snapshot
A 2004 study by Nucleus Research Inc. estimated that
spam would cost large companies nearly $2,000 per
employee in lost productivity in 2004 alone, despite
investments in software to block spam
Spam currently accounts for more than 70 percent of
total e-mail volume worldwide
In just one month (August 2003), at least 50 new Internet
viruses surfaced, and losses related to computer viruses
cost North American companies about $3.5 billion
Businesses have suffered at least $65 billion in lost
productivity because of computer viruses since 1997
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Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

Final thought
Bear in mind that
Quality is never an accident
It is always the result of high intention
Sincere effort
Intelligent direction
And skillful execution

It represents the wise choice of many

alternatives
Conceptual integrity is first and foremost
Central to product quality !

Evolution of Quality Management

1924 - Statistical process control charts
1930s - Tables for acceptance sampling
1940's - Statistical sampling techniques
1950's - Quality assurance/TQC
1960's - Zero defects
1970's - Quality assurance in services

The Quality Gurus

Walter Shewhart
"Father of statistical quality control"
W. Edwards Deming
Joseph M. Juran
Armand Feignbaum
Philip B. Crosby
Kaoru Ishikawa
Genichi Taguchi

Quality Experts
Deming was famous for his work in rebuilding Japan and
his 14 Points for Management
Juran wrote the Quality Control Handbook and ten steps
to quality improvement
Crosby wrote Quality is Free and suggested that
organizations strive for zero defects
Ishikawa developed the concepts of quality circles and
fishbone diagrams
Taguchi developed methods for optimizing the process of
engineering experimentation
Feigenbaum developed the concept of total quality
control

Malcolm Baldrige Award

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
originated in 1987 to recognize companies that have
achieved a level of world-class competition through quality
management
Given by the President of the United States to U.S.
businesses
Three awards each year in different categories
Manufacturing
Service
Small business
Education and health care

Using Software to Assist in Project Quality

Management
Spreadsheet and charting software helps create Pareto
diagrams, fishbone diagrams, and so on
Statistical software packages help perform statistical
analysis
Specialized software products help manage Six Sigma
projects or create quality control charts
Project management software helps create Gantt charts
and other tools to help plan and track work related to
quality management
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Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007