...Project Estimating Technique Paper By: Efrain Gonzalez Jr. CPMGT/303 October 6, 2014 Chanda Sanders This paper describes each of the project estimating techniques by explaining when each technique would be used, and how each technique is used. The information being explained provides sources of information that is needed to figure out the most appropriate technique for a project. When justifying an estimate there are certain tools you could use that will help one justify an estimate correctly, and the information being provide explains what tools will be used to justify estimates. Project estimating techniques and tools are important aspects needed to achieve the goal and objective of a project. An analogous estimation is a very common estimation technique used to estimate activities within a project through previous experiences with different projects and extrapolates onto the current project at hand. This technique is mainly used for projects that have the same type of work, and the same resources being used between projects. Parametric model estimation is another precise, easy, accurate technique that is used to estimate time, and resources needed within a project to perform activities. The use of this technique is created upon historical experiences, and lessons learned on different projects. The three point estimation techniques is used to clarify and understand levels of uncertainty within an estimation through the use of three sets of assumption that are all different...
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...Chapter 3 Planning the Project This chapter begins by discussing the nine key elements of the project plan. The following two sections address the planning process in greater detail with considerable emphasis placed on the project launch meeting and the hierarchical planning process by which parts of the plan are sequentially broken down into finer levels of detail. This provides a natural transition to the creation of the Work Breakdown Structure. Finally, the chapter is concluded with a discussion of multidisciplinary teams including the topics of integration management and concurrent engineering. Cases and Readings Some cases appropriate to the subject of this chapter are: Harvard: 9-692-058 Taco Bell Corp. This 31-page best-selling case describes a project to implement a new strategic plan involving major changes in layout, staffing, quality, product design, and information systems. The coordination and integration of all these project activities is what makes the plan successful, and hard for competitors to imitate. Two teaching notes are available for this case: 5-692-091 (20 pages) and 5-196-073 (12 pages). Harvard: 9-694-059 Hardcard Project: Plus Development Corp. (A1); 9-694-060 Hardcard Project: Plus Development Corp. (A2) This 10-page (12-pages for A2) case allows the students to evaluate, using Microsoft Project software, the time line, resource allocations, and other aspects of a major project concerned with developing a hard disk drive...
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...THE CONTRIBUTION OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GHANA INTRODUCTION Project management as a management discipline underpins much economic activity. In industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, software and aerospace, projects drive business. And in the public sector, it is effective project management that translates politicians' promises of new roads, schools and hospitals into gleaming new constructions that improve everyday life. The development of Ghana Successive Ghanaian governments pursued various models of economic development throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. In the immediate post independent era of the early 1960s, Ghana’s economic development objectives were geared towards the ‘Big Push’ primary economic policies. These revolved around: a major investment effort; an industrialization drive; increased import substitution; processing of commodities and minerals previously exported in their raw form; and direct state participation in leading areas of the economy. The 1970s ushered in a policy of increased ‘Ghanaianisation’ or indigenisation with specified industrial activities reserved for state participation, Ghana-foreign ownership, and exclusive Ghana ownership, among others. The early 1980s saw the liberalization of the Ghanaian economy and the encouragement of foreign investments. All these approaches, however, fell far short of expectations and the failures were exacerbated by adverse terms of trade, falling commodity prices, and crippling debt by...
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...State University of New York Empire State College, MBA Program Course 651644: Tools and Processes in Project Management Summer 2013 term Instructor: Dr. Adams Assignment #1: X-philes Data Management Corporation: RFP Matters By Jose M Collazo What is the basis for the problem? There are two primary problems with how X-philes Data Management Corporation handled the request for proposal. The first one was the lack of communication by the managers who selected the same vendor for two different projects. This problem led to the creation of the second problem which is proper resource allocation. When dealing with multiple projects with the same vendor, the company runs the risk of creating multiple interdependencies. Any resource allocation decisions made in one project by the vendor are likely to have ramifications in the other projects. According to Pinto, Some of the better known problems include inefficient use of resources, resource bottlenecks, ripple effects, and the heightened pressure on personnel to multitask (Pinto 2013). The personnel issue in particular, was a main cause of schedule slippage as employees quit at the contractor and they were unable to maintain sufficient staffing levels to keep the projects on track. While bottleneck’s restricts a vendor's ability to make money, they realize that the best way to maximize income is to fully exploit the bottleneck resource (Chakravorty & Atwater§, 2006)...
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...with any project team is a lack of good communication.This type issue could arrise where team members are scareterd all over the world without face to face communication.The communication through the internet, skype or some of the other communication technologies that are now available are sometimes not reliable and could cause miscommunication. what about one of the team members performing one of the tasks without informing the other team members about it. Overdetermining - project managers sometimes overstates their capabilities of comleting a project on time. That is when a project will take say two months to accomplish they use presure or lack of experience or presure to perform even the other factors that ignores reality for something that is not imporsimble to accomples in the time given. When everyone is not available at the same time to work as a team on the project this could cause a delay to finish and deliver the project on time. The trade offs that is to make a clear policy of communication from the begining of the project that nobody goes off course and that everyone have to work as a team and must be on the sameline with everyone on the team. The project head must make him or herself available at all time to make sure that all the policys are met by everyone in the group. Handster inc. 1. Which projects would you recommend Handstar pursue based on the NPV approach? The spreadsheet bellow summarizes the NPV calculations for the six projects assuming...
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...Project Kick-Off Meeting Dwayne A. Blanchette BUS 611: Project Planning and Management Dr.: Donald McKay April 25, 2016 Recently the project charter for transitioning the Quick Drop 100 (QD100) from New York to Florida received final authorization. I was awarded the project and assigned as project manager (PM) to lead a team of qualified individuals and complete the task of relocating the QD100 program to the state of Florida. The next step in the preparation phase is to hold a project kickoff meeting. This meeting will be used to acclimate team members, clients, and other attendants to ensure everyone understands the key players and their respective roles. As the PM I plan to generate enthusiasm, motivation, and excitement while maintaining a guided discussion regarding the content, schedule, and duration of the project from start to finish. To prepare for the meeting I will accomplish several preliminary tasks. The most important areas to consider during preparation include identifying stakeholders, communication methods, team building, accountability and code of conduct. Once the tone has been set and key points discussed the meeting will conclude by first reiterating member expectations and responsibilities followed by a summary of all pertinent information. The bottom line is this kickoff meeting will be presented as such to ensure all relevant attendants and stakeholders are provided a transparent achievable list of goals. Stakeholders A significant...
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...PROJECT MANAGEMENT COURSE ASSESSMENT 1 The final date for submission of this assessment without penalty is 24th March 2014 Assessment will be accepted for marking 14 days prior to the due date Late Penalty System Please refer to the Student/Programme Handbook This module is being delivered through the Manchester Blackboard virtual learning environment. All assessments must be submitted through Blackboard at: http://online.manchester.ac.uk/ If you have any technical difficulties using blackboard, please visit our support pages at: http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/blackboard Submitting your Assignment 1. Assignments should be typed, 10 or 11 point font size (Times Roman or similar if possible) double spaced with a 4 cm margin on the right side of the page with the page size specified as UK A4. All pages must be numbered. 2. Assignments should be submitted in either Microsoft Office and/or PDF format (.doc, .docx, .pdf etc.). File names should be kept simple and only contain alphanumeric characters (a-z0-9), spaces and underscores (e.g. Valid_filename_1.doc). Files with other characters such as apostrophes, brackets or commas may not be accessible by markers. 3. Assignments may be uploaded only once; substitutions are not permitted and students should therefore ensure that the version uploaded is their final submission. 4. Please ensure you include your student number and the assignment reference (PM/Student Number/Jan14/1) in all submitted assignments and that assignments...
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...The Project manager will put together a human resources team that will be responsible for building a cross-cultural team that will work closely together. Individuals who are bilingual and have worked on a global scale will be given priority. Employees will be selected through a thorough interview process that includes background checks and drug testing. We will only hire qualified individual because they will represent the Acme Company in Mexico and will help us establish a relationship with the community we will be serving An approach is to work with a reputable local employment agency, another one is to hire translators to assist management and local staff. The human resources team will implement current company policies and procedures A marketing and communication team will be responsible for: * promoting Acme products * Supporting project management in achieving the aims and objectives of the project. * Implementation and evolution of the brand guidelines. * Instilling and communicating good marketing and communications practice across Acme * Marketing analysis and environmental scanning (the team will ensure that Acme offers competitive prices than local competitors. * Helping the company communicate with the public. * Creating advertisements, campaigning, offering coupons In order to have an effective marketing strategy, we will work with local marketing companies because they have better understanding on how to market Acme’s products...
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...Research Project Management Key Concepts Dr Robin Henderson robin@myconsultants.net Research Project Management - Key Concepts © My Consultants Ltd 2010 Introduction The successful management of a research project depends upon the researchers ability to plan, coordinate and perform the research. Many researchers do not formally manage their research and whilst this does not necessarily mean that the research will not be completed successfully this approach has impacts on the staff whom are involved in the project. For example an unplanned approach can often lead to stress in members of the research team, crises management when deadlines are not effectively managed and the lack of time within the research to deliver effective outcomes for all the staff involved in the project. This short document outlines some of the key tools which you can utilise within research contracts to lead to more successful outcomes. Clearly understanding what success means for your project. The starting point for managing a project effectively is to have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve. A simple model to start to explore this is to distinguish between outputs and outcomes. Outputs are the physical deliverables of the project Outcomes are what happens as a result of the outputs For example in a clinical based trial the output could be a paper with the related outcome being the changes in clinical practise. The starting point for a project is to define what the desired outcomes...
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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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...frame: Coalitions composed of varied individuals and interest groups. Conflict and power are key issues Symbolic frame: Symbols and meanings related to events. Culture, language, traditions, and image are all parts of this frame Organization structure: Project organization structure (is hierarchical, but instead of functional managers or vice presidents reporting to the CEO, program managers report to the CEO.) Matrix organization: • represents the middle ground between functional and project structures. Process of Project management: 1. Starts the project 2. Initiate (the planning) 3. Plan 4. Execute 5. Close (end the project) Project management Process Groups: 1 Initiate (start) include defining and authorizing a project or project phase. Initiating processes take place during each phase of a project. 2 Planning (Scope document, schedule management plan, cost mgr plan, and procurement plan) 3 Execute (Implementation phase, acquiring and developing the project team, performing quality assurance, distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations,)building and testing 4 Monitor and control: include regularly measuring and monitoring progress to ensure that the project team...
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...seek a Project Manager in their Washington DC offices. Provides program support to team members as needed related to projects and program activities. Tasks include task tracking, program change management support, administrative support and project and program reporting. Helps with the preparation of project and program schedules and coordinates the necessary internal and external resources to fulfill the project and program activities within the prescribed time frames and funding parameters to ensure project and program objectives and stakeholders expectations are met. Specific responsibilities include: * Coordinates activities within the project life-cycle including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control phases. * * Helps with the preparation of Project and Program Weekly Status report as necessary and upload to the Project Server in a timely fashion. * Generates various other Project, Program and department related status reports as needed. * Helps prepare responses for anticipated questions during the weekly ITIL meeting (in case of a Red project). * Helps Identify and schedules project deliverables, milestones, and required tasks. * Prepares change management documentation in support of the change management process and supports the Change Management meeting. * Documents all change management decisions according to the change management process * Coordinates selection and assignment of SMEs to the project team...
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...Project Plan Outline 1.0 Goals and Objectives This section presents a general description of the project along with any general or technical constraints and/or considerations. Please include the sub-sections below. 1. Project name 2. Business goals and project goals 3. Scope 4. Time and budget constraints 5. General and technical requirements 6. Training and documentation 7. Installation 2.0 Project Estimates This section presents a set of estimates for the completion of the project, including people, hardware and software. Please include the following sub-sections. 1. People costs a. Historical or researched data used for estimates (Requires annotation listing where you got this information) b. Salary requirements 2. Equipment costs (Requires costs for all hardware and software used. It is assumed that all hardware and software will be new). a. Hardware b. Software 3. Estimation techniques and results a. Process-based (use the format shown in section 1.2.1 of the lecture) b. Second method c. Triangulation results 3.0 Project Schedule This section presents an overview of project tasks and the output of a project scheduling tool. The following sub-sections should be included: 3.1 Project task list The tasks that have been selected for the project are presented in this section. 3.2 Task network Project tasks and their dependencies are noted in this diagrammatic form. 3.3 Timeline chart A project timeline chart (Gantt chart) is presented...
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...The report describes how the IT system plays an important role in the organisation. To be on the move with the world and be effective in the services they provide, Holland Rise decides to implement the IT systems across the trust. The report is all about the tasks that will be involved during the implementation of the project. Task 1- Project Manager Responsibilities • Project manager of the Holland Rise and Social Care Trust is greatly responsible for the overall success. As a project manager he/ she needs to be a creative and self-motivated person. • Efficiency: As a project manager of Care Trust IT system manager should perform honestly and efficiently. In general that can help to deliver a better success rates. • Proposal Writing: Preparing a detailed project management plan and a proposal for this Care Trust project is one of the important issue that must be the considered by the project manager. • Time, Budget and resources: Manager must set a timeframe and budget limit. He/ she should ensure that the project finishes on time within the budget allocated. Proper utilization of resources is one of the vital task of the manager. • Leadership: Project Manager must have the power to be an excellent leader. He/ she has to lead the team to bring out the best. • Work environment: Manager should create an excellent work environment for the employees by dialogue and communicating with the team member. • Problem Solver: As being a leader he/she should solve the problems...
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...Project [Author] [Instructor] [Course] [Date] Project 1. How should the cost of quality be factored in to the project budget process? There are two aspects to find the value of any given product or service. One is the making/functioning of the product and the second is the trust or dependency associated with any specific product or service. Basic functionality of any product will give you the basic reward whereas; the trust or dependency is the value added factor which will give you the advantage of value addition. This value addition will result in inflow of some extra dollars. However, this is not a very easy process and involves a systemic chain of operations to include and maintain quality of any product. This chain of operations will result in the formation of a special product with increased efficiency and value. It is imperative to introduce this chain of operations and to keep check at every step of production. Failure to abide by the quality parameters at any specific point will result in defective product. This defective product will not only affect the future sales of the company but will also affect the value associated with the company’s brand name. One important discussable thing here is that how the cost of quality should be factored in the project budget process. This is not a very tough work; however, it does require a level of accuracy and precision. Although, the quality assurance cost at each level of manufacturing varies, yet, this does...
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