Project Management Lecture 1

1. Project Management
Lecturer:
Haris Jaswal
Program: BA (Hons) in Business Studies (BABS)

2. Lecture: 01
Introduction to Project Management
 What is an Organization?
 Module Aims
 Project Management
 Project Definition
 Project Management
 Strategy
 Strategies and Projects

3. What is an organisation?
No analysis is complete unless it takes account of all these aspects at once!
A group of people
An economic actor
A bundle of resources
An accumulation of
knowledge + learning SZABIST

4. Module Aims
 The module addresses wider business and project management issues which affect
the technological and business environment.
Regional/International context
National context
Business environment
Principles of strategic
management
Project management & planning
Auditing & control
Business legislation
Resource management
Global markets &
supplies
Forecasting
Organisation
Organisation structure

5. Project Management
The Context of Projects
Project
Management
Skills
Technical
Management
Skills
General
Management
Skills

6. Project definition
“A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create
a unique product, service or result” (PMBoK, 2013, p.2).
 Temporary means a definite beginning and a definite end
 Has a unique outcome, product, service,
improvement, innovation
 Has a purpose/goal. Ceases when objectives have been
attained.
 Team disbanded upon completion.
 A project can end when:
 The project’s objectives have been achieved
 The project is terminated because its objectives will
not or cannot be met
 The need for the project no longer exists.

7. Questions
Why do we do projects?
To address the organization’s strategic plan:
a) A market demand;
b) A strategic opportunity / business need;
c) A customer request;
d) A technological advancement; and
e) A legal requirement.

8. Questions
Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:
Identify the example that would not usually be
considered a project.
a) Developing a new product or service,
b) Effecting a change in the structure, staffing, or style of an
organization,
c) Developing or acquiring a new or modified information system,
d) Constructing a building or infrastructure, or
e) Implementing a new business process or procedure.

9. Project Management
 Application of skills, knowledge, tools and techniques to project
activities in order to meet project objectives/requirements
 Involves applying and integrating processes:
 Initiating
 Planning
 Executing
 Monitoring
 Controlling
 Closing
 A project often covers the following elements
 Scope, time & cost
 Human resource, communication, stakeholders
 Risk, quality & procurement

10. Project Management
Project Planning
 Definition of work requirements
 Definition of quantity and quality of work
 Definition of resources needed
Project Monitoring
 Tracking progress
 Comparing actual outcome to predicted outcome
 Analysing impact
 Making adjustments

11. Strategy
What is strategy?
“Strategy is the framework that guides those choices
that determine the nature and direction of an
organization”
(Benjamin Tregoe and John Zimmerman, Top Management Strategy)
“Strategy answers the questions: What should the
organization be doing? What are the ends we seek and
how should we achieve them?”
(George Steiner, Strategic Planning)
“Competitive strategy is a combination of the ends
(goals) for which the firm is striving and the means
(policies) by which it is seeking to get there”
(Michael Porter, Competitive Strategy)

12. Strategy
When you have each of the following, consider that
you have a set of strategies:
A position or mission comprising of a set of products,
services, markets, geographies, channels, technologies
(ends)
A set of measureable goals (ends)
Approaches by which you will achieve the ends
(means)
Specific plans to apply those means and resources to
achieve the ends (project portfolio management)

13. Strategies and Projects
Many organisations are involved in implementing
more than one project, and are considering future
projects, at the same time
Organisations usually have stated objectives and
strategies
At project level, we have project management
Strategy is usually at the executive level
Is there a “gap”?

14. Strategies and Projects
An executive might ask:
 What mix of potential projects will provide the best utilization of
human and cash resources to maximize long-range growth and
return on investment for the firm?
 How do the projects support strategic initiatives?
 How will the projects affect the value of corporate
shares?(Levine 2005, p.16)
These questions will not necessarily trouble those
managing single projects
 They have to meet scope, time, cost and quality objectives
particular to their project

15. Strategies and Projects
There are two levels of management:
 Operations Management => enterprise-level goals
 Projects Management => project-level goals
Source: Clevland and Ireland (2006, p.8)
2

16. Strategies and Projects
Operations Management
• Strategies
• Objectives/goals
• Business performance
• Stockholder satisfaction
• Project selection/mix
• Resource availability
• Cash flow, income
(Levine 2005, p.18)
Projects Management
• Schedule/time
• Project cost
• Project performance
• Stakeholder satisfaction
• Scope/change management
• Resource utilization
• Cash usage

17. Strategies and Projects
Project implementation is often at arms-length from the
executive level
But, during implementation…
Projects change
Business environments change
Markets change
Technologies change
Policies change
Economies change
Anything else?

18. Thank You