...Critical note In the previous paragraphs we discussed and evaluated several tools using the group assignment for the course of Management Information systems as an example case. Despite the countless group works most students are assigned during their education at Ghent University virtually none of them use project management tools to plan, execute and control their group assignments. The following question arises: is this due to the fact that few students are familiar with these kinds of tools or are there other reasons why they are not widely used among students. In this case part of the answer more or less resides within the question. It is a fact that these tools are anything but well known among students, only students who took a project management course of some sort are acquainted with these types of tools. Now the question still remains why are they not used by students that are accustomed to them. This is perhaps due to the fact that from a student point of view these tools have certain drawbacks. The most important drawback is most likely the cost. Most of these tools are free only for a limited trial period, often even with limited features. After this period users have to pay a fee to continue to use the tool, this constitutes an obstacle for student users. It is on this level that the project management tools cannot compete with the free application that is most commonly used among students to communicate, share documents… when executing a group work namely facebook...
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...IE 6840 - PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT - 7 VIRTUAL TEAMS - PLUS AND MINUS Write a brief synopsis of each article listed above by identifying the major points of wisdom that you wish to consider in your future projects and why these points. Virtual groups are productive and innovative than Conventional Group; virtual colleagues may start to feel estranged from their associations. Generally dispersed colleagues who add their insight to the may expect that they are affecting their own substitution. Innovation can possibly destabilize the relationship in the middle of associations and workers. Virtual groups use innovation well, better ready to share unequivocal information, which can be disclosed solidly contrasted with conventional up close and personal groups. Inferred learning – which is created through experience and social contact, is hard to share without direct contact. This can prompt confinement and dissatisfaction. The Advantages are Visual cues and social presence in face-to-face dialogue also stimulates members to more easily develop interest about one another's background and expertise. These cues also build trust. Few Disadvantage are the price pays a major role for business that is spread across multiple locations. And Minority expression is lower in face-to-face mode. IS THE MICROPHONE ON Write a brief synopsis of each article listed above by identifying the major points of wisdom that you wish to consider in your future...
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...Projectmanagement binnen FBNL Stefan Kappelhof Module: Professional in Control April 2010 Projectmanagement Finance Projecten FBN Mijn naam is Stefan Kappelhof en ik ben werkzaam op de afdeling Accounting, Reporting & Controlling van Fortis Bank Nederland (FBNL). Binnen Accounting, Reporting & Control hebben we te maken met een veelvoud aan projecten. In het jaar 2010, met de aankomende integratie tussen Fortis Bank Nederland en ABN AMRO, zal het aantal projecten toenemen. De projecten worden vaak toegewezen aan beschikbare personen, vaak met specifieke kennis van een onderwerp. De tijd die hiervoor wordt vrijgemaakt valt vaak buiten de business as usual. Er worden vanuit de projectgroepen vaak wel deadlines gesteld, maar dit wordt momenteel niet altijd afgestemd met de Manager Accounting waardoor het voor hem lastig sturen is. Het doel van deze paper is om te onderzoeken of de projectplanning van FBNL efficiënt verloopt en wat de invloed hierbij is van de methode Prince 2 die FBNL voor al haar projectplanningen hanteert. Hoe gaan afdelingen om met verandertrajecten die door het project ontstaan en is daar nog winst te boeken voor FBNL? Met dit paper wil ik aantonen dat het projectmanagement binnen FBNL niet altijd optimaal verloopt. Daarnaast schort het vaak aan motivatie en bereidwilligheid bij de projectmedewerkers om zich volledig in te zetten voor het project. Binnen FBNL maakt men gebruik van de methode Prince 2 voor de planning van bijna alle projecten...
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...“centralized” repository of Project Management knowledge, best practices, lessons learned, and resources 2) What are the main challenges and obstacles in implementing PMO? The main obtacles in implementing PMO as follows; • Rigid corporate culture and failure to manage organizational resistance to change • Lack of experienced project managers (PMs) and PMO leadership • Lack of appropriate change management strategy 3) What structures and governance mechanisms are critical to effective PMO implementation? 4) How much PM is enough PM? How much PMO support is enough PMO support? References http://www.mastering-project-management.com/project-management-office.html http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/camel-blog/projectmanagement/meaning-purpose-of-pmo/...
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...Module 2 Review Questions: 1. Discuss some major causes of project failure. One reason is that many systems analysts are unfamiliar with, or undisciplined in how to properly apply, tools and techniques of systems development. But most failures are attributed to poor leadership and management. This mismanagement results in unfulfilled or unidentified requirements, cost overruns, and late delivery. 2. Discuss the major functions of management: scoping, planning, estimating, scheduling, organizing, directing, controlling and closing. Scoping- Scope defines the boundaries of the project. A project manager must scope project expectations and constraints in order to plan activities, estimate costs, and manage expectations Planning- Planning identifies the tasks required to complete the project. This is based on the manger’s understanding of the project scope and the methodology used to achieve the goal. Estimating- Each task that is required to complete the project must be estimated. How much time will be required? How many people will be needed? What skill will be needed? What tasks must be completed before other tasks are started? Can some of the tasks overlap? How much will it cost? These are all estimating issues. Scheduling- Given the project plan, the project manager is responsible for scheduling all project activities. The project schedule should be developed with an understanding of the required tasks, task duration, and task prerequisites. Organizing-...
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...Compliance System Training The Compliance System is going to be based on the leadership and firm commitment from the Board of Directors, along with the management team to the highest ethical and compliance standards. It will also include the vision and values set out in the Code of Ethics. The Compliance System will be structured from the following elements: risk management, establishing training and communication plans focusing on the areas on compliance and ethical conduct, and lastly, developing policies and procedures. MEMORANDUM TO: All Managers FROM: Corporate Office DATE: July 18, 2015 SUBJECT: Compliance System Training CC: Board of Directors Description: The System will be structured around the following elements: Risk Management: This process will include identifying, analyzing, and responding to risks factors throughout the entire project and the best interest of the objectives. The company wants to ensure proper risk management that will help control the possibility of future events. Establishing Training and Communication Plans: Training and communication for this project is extremely important. It will take everyone’s effort to come up with a training plan for when the Compliance System becomes available and communication with the user’s to determine if there are any issues that arise. The manager’s will come for a two-day training and are encouraged to ask any questions...
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...Strategy & Project Management: Project orientated organisations Finnland 2005 Prof. (FH) Peter J. Mirski Prof.(FH) Mag. Peter J. Mirski Tel.: +43-512-2070-3510 E-Mail: peter.mirski@mci.edu http://www.mci.edu Current Position MCI, University of Applied Sciences: Director of studies „Management & IT“, Head of IT-Services Academical Profile Research projectmangement, knowledgemanagement strategic information management, e-learning Education process, project, information management Publications and articles in journals Practice Profile Management, R&D Project Management, CEO, CIO Consulting & Training Agenda 10:00 – 14:00 Brief project management overview Project orientated organisations Project scorecard Discussion Literature De Marco T., „The Deadline“, Dorset House Publishing Co ,1997 Goldratt E., “The Critical Chain“, North River Press, 1997 Heerkins G., „project management“, briefcase books 2002 PMBOK Guide, „A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge“, PM Institute, 2000 Links •www.p-m-a.at (pm baseline english, german) •www.pmi.com (pm information) project management overview Importance of Project Management • Projects represent change and allow organizations to effectively introduce new products, new processes, new programs • Project management offers a means for dealing with dramatically reduced product cycle times • Projects are becoming globalised, making them more difficult to manage without a formal methodology –...
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...Quality standards or requirements related to meeting the stakeholder expectations Quality control in the Green Computing project can use many tools and techniques. Since information technology projects use testing extensively to ensure quality, following tools can be used. Cause-and-effect diagrams These diagrams help to think through causes of a problem thoroughly. Their major benefit is that they push you to consider all possible causes of the problem, rather than just the ones that are most obvious. The approach combines brainstorming with use of a type of concept map. Cause and Effect Diagrams are also known as Fishbone Diagrams, because a completed diagram can look like the skeleton of a fish. Quality problems are typically not simple. They often involve the complex interaction of several causes. A cause-and-effect diagram will help to: • Define and display the major causes, sub-causes and root causes that influence a process or a characteristic. • Provide a focus for discussion and consensus. • Visualize the possible relationships between causes, which may be creating problems or defects. • What can do it is • Use your diagram to develop a common understanding of the factors potentially influencing or causing a quality problem. • Use diagram as a road map for collecting data to verify the causal relationship of various factors to the characteristic. • Continue to annotate and modify diagram as you verify relationships and learn more. Using...
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...Achieving Project Goals Simulation Maria Algarin University of Phoenix MGT 437 Project Management Simulation It is important for project managers to not only make the best project plans, but to be also suitably prepared to tackle contingencies and minimize their impact on the project (Achieving Project Goals Simulation, 20011). In my opinion, there is a misconception as to the role of a project manager. The main challenge is to ultimately achieve the defined goals for the project. Another challenge is maximize the integration of inputs to meet the objectives. Realistically it is important to understand all the processed that relate to the project. Once these items are identified the actual management of the project becomes apparent. My perspective of project management was limited to the construction industry. The simulation changed my perception because I realized that project management is even required in the most unconventional situations. For example, the simulation consisted of preparing a plan to move eight elephants to centralized location. The assignment called for proper planning and logistics to ensure that the cargo arrived safely. Throughout the trip there were unforeseen circumstances and in some cases the animals were at risks. My overall perception is that the project manager is very important. A successful Project Manager must simultaneously manage the four basic elements of a project: resources, time, money, and most importantly, scope (Reh, 2009)...
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...To: Audit Senior From: Sara Smith Date: 09/14/2014 RE: Testing the NRV of Inventory The focus of this audit is to determine the appropriateness of company XYZ’s inventory on hand. By doing so, the audit will focus on testing the net realizable value of inventories on hand as of December 31,2007 using IDEA. The assertions tested in evaluating the net realizable value of inventory include the following, valuation, rights & obligations, completeness and existence. But, due to the limited amount of information provided by the client, only the valuation assertion will be tested using IDEA. When testing the NRV of inventory, first one should obtain the following files from the client, the inventory final 2007, Sales 2007, Sales 2008, and the Sale pricing master file 2007. It is imperative to obtain these files so that one can match certain files to each other and extract data. The next step is to review unique and unusual items in the different source files. For example, its is crucial for one to understand the data being tested before importing it into IDEA. Therefore, in order to understand the data one should scan and review the files for unusual items. Then one should analyze the source files and compute the net realizable value in IDEA. Once the various source files have been matched, the following question should be considered, are there items with no recent sales?, are there items with quantities in excess of sales activities?, are there items that were sold doing...
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...Prioritizing Projects at D.D. Williamson Jessie Bruswick July 18, 2014 Introduction What are the key components that keep a business or company afloat? Most business owners and CEOs would suggest a business plan, budget, qualified and experienced workers, goals for the business, great leadership, and maybe even trial and error. All of these suggestions are sure contributions to the success of any business, but we must not forget prioritizing. This case study will help us to see and understand that D. D. Williamson Company made prioritizing very crucial and necessary in the building, growth, and success of the company. Many companies have all the previously mentioned attributes, but without having a since of priority, the company will soon fail. After realizing some failed projects, D.D. Williamson began taking a closer look at what was really important. Prioritizing allows companies like D.D. Williamson, the opportunity to step back and see what’s important, very important, and least important. With that knowledge, the company can take its best managers or leaders and put them on projects that require more attention, skill, and knowledge, while other sub-projects can be seen after by others with not as much experience. Literature Review Critique the prioritizing process The process previously used by D. D. Williamson Company in 2004, caused a weakness that was two-fold. The company had too many projects that were considered as high importance and the projects...
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...PROJECT FEASIBILITY DOCUMENT |Project name |insert project name | |Release |Draft/Final | | |Date: | |Author: | | |Project | | |Director: | | |Project | | |Champion: | | |Accountable | | |Body: | | |Executive Summary ...
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...Tools used by Project Managers Lisa M. Wondolowski Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Tools used by Project Managers Formally, an organization and/or company typically would decide to commence a project exertion and appoint the project necessary resources to a prudently selected person and inferred that the individual will use some form of project management. Nonetheless, organizational implications were of little importance in the past. Although the necessary concepts of project management are straightforward, applying these approaches is to an existing organization is not. Richard P. Olsen, in his article "Can Project Management Be Defined?" defined project management as, "The application of a collection of tools and techniques- to direct the use of diverse resources toward the accomplishment of a unique, complex, one-time task within time, cost, and quality constraints. Each task requires a particular mix of these tools and techniques structured to fit the task environment and life cycle (from conception to completion) of the task." (Adams, 1997) Conclusively, employing project management methodologies and technologies decreases the diversion of routine business activities in many cases by placing under a single command all of the technologies, resources and skills necessary to effectuate the project. The dexterity that is vital depends upon each specific project and the assets available at that time. There are ten key elements...
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...WORK-LIFE BALANCE DOING IT RIGHT AND AVOIDING THE PITFALLS Jim Bird This is a preprint of an article accepted for publication in Employment Relations Today, Autumn 2006, vol. 33, no. 3. Copyright 2006, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The demand for work-life-balance solutions by employees and managers is expanding at an unprecedented rate. As a result, work-life balance is an increasingly hot topic in boardrooms and government halls today. Over the coming decade it will be one of the most important issues that executives and human resource professionals will be expected to manage. This article provides the methods for you to accelerate the implementation of a very successful work-life strategy within your organization. First we cover why work-life is critical to the key objectives of your organization and its executive team. A brief history of work-life efforts follows so you can learn from the trial and error of others and avoid their mistakes. Finally, we describe the two parts of a successful work-life strategy and how you can most quickly and effectively implement them. Let’s start with the senior executive concerns and opportunities that work-life affects. Growth and profit impact. Accelerated on and off-the-job stresses and expectations are adversely affecting top and bottom-line growth, unnecessarily driving down productivity. A well-implemented work-life strategy greatly reduces both the real and perceived overwork and out-of-balance pressures that hamper productivity, producing...
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...Service Request SR-rm-022, Part 3 BSA/375 Service Request SR-rm-022, Part 3 Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastic manufacturer located in Albany, Georgia. Founded by Dr. Riordan, a professor of chemistry, he wanted to use existing patents to create a better plastic. He later bought a fan manufacturing company and became Riordan Manufacturing. Today Riordan Manufacturing is projected to earn $46 million annually and employs over 550 employees. With Riordan Manufacturing expanding the company needs to expand their Human Resources program to better the effectiveness of work within the department. Interested Stockholders The CEO and President Michael Riordan is the main stockholder because he is who signs everyone’s checks. The Director of Human Resources would be beneficial to gather information from because he/she is the one running the department and knows the applications they are using now. Chief Operating Officer, Executive Assistant, and the Senior Vice President are stockholders we should gather information from as well. The Chief Operating Officer knows what every department is using to accomplish their work and can give feedback on certain applications being used. The Executive Assistant is good to gather information from as well because they know more than others about what is happening around the manufacturing plant. A couple floor employees working in the Human Resources Department would be useful as well because they use the programs on a daily basis and...
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