ASSIGNMENT2 Computer Architecture and Imaging So you’re telling .docx

ASSIGNMENT2: Computer Architecture and Imaging
“So you’re telling me an exact replica of ZeroBit’s concept dra
wing has shown up on the cover
of Apex’s product development brochure? What are the chances
of that? … Unless somebody
here at ZeroBit is leaking information…. I’ll get my best invest
igator on it.”
“Thanks for coming by. I wanted to talk with you face to face. I
just spoke with our VP for
External Relations, and it looks like we may have a major securi
ty breach on our hands. How
quickly can you image this USB stick?”
“Our suspect has access to a live system here at Headquarters, a
s well as a networked
computer at our remote location. We’ll need to examine both of
them. You should be able to
slip into his office and acquire his RAM and swap space while h
e's at training this afternoon. But
while you’re waiting, check your email for a message from Lega
l.”
When you open the message from the ZeroBit Counsel, you see
four questions that need to be
answered in preparation for any possible legal challenge. As yo
u’re answering the fourth one, a
notification pops up reminding you that the suspect’s training se
ssion is about to start...that’s
your cue that it will soon be safe to log in to the suspect’s comp
uter. You run your program, acquiring the RAM
and swap space from the live system. Then you log
out, leaving the suspect’s office and computer as you found the
m.
Your colleagues have left for the day, but you’ve stayed behind
to image the suspect’s remote
computer after hours. You log on to the system and have no pro

blem using netcat to transfer a
copy of his remote hard drive to your workstation at Headquarte
rs. You lean back in your chair
and smile. You’ve imaged all of the suspect’s known devices. T
omorrow you’ll compile your
analyses into a final forensic report.
Who knows? You may even be asked to present your report in c
ourt!
Digital forensics involves processing data from many different
types of devices, ranging from desktops to laptops, tablets to
smartphones, servers to cloud storage, and even devices
embedded in automobiles, aircraft, and other technologies. In
this project you will focus on the architecture and imaging of
desktop and laptop computers. You will be working in the VM
to image and verify the contents of the following:
1. a USB stick
2. the RAM and swap space of a live computer
3. a networked computer hard drive
In the final step, you compile all of the previous lab notes and
reports into one comprehensive report. The final assignment in
this project is a forensic imaging lab report that can be
presented in a court of law.
Before you can begin imaging the USB drive provided by your
supervisor, you need to review your technical manual in order
to prepare a statement of work to give to your company's legal
team. Are you ready to get started?
When you submit your project, your work will be evaluated
using the competencies listed below. You can use the list below
to self-check your work before submission.
· 1.1: Organize document or presentation clearly in a manner
that promotes understanding and meets the requirements of the
assignment.
· 1.4: Tailor communications to the audience.
· 1.5: Use sentence structure appropriate to the task, message
and audience.

· 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English.
· 2.2: Locate and access sufficient information to investigate the
issue or problem.
· 2.3: Evaluate the information in a logical and organized
manner to determine its value and relevance to the problem.
· 4.1: Lead and/or participate in a diverse group to accomplish
projects and assignments.
· 10.3: Demonstrate the appropriate use of multiple digital
forensic tools and techniques for imaging and verification.
· 10.4: Demonstrate an understanding of the different parts of a
computer.
· 11.1: Perform report creation, affidavit creation, and
preparation to testify.
Step 1: Conduct a Background Review
Before you have a chance to begin the imaging process, your
supervisor calls to tell you that the organization's legal team has
been asking questions about types, sources, and collection of
digital information. They have also asked about file formats.
Your supervisor asks you to prepare a brief explanatory memo.
You use the department's technical manual to compose your
memo on locations of valuable forensic information and formats
in which digital evidence can be stored. You also
review imaging and verification procedures.
For the first step in this project, prepare a memo (1-2 pages in
length) that summarizes possible locations of valuable digital
forensic information, as well as collection and storage options
in laymen's language. For each location described, include a
short description of the following:
1. Area
2. Types of data that can be found there
3. Reasons why the data has potential value to an investigation
in general, and for this case in particular
The locations to be addressed are: USB sticks, RAM and swap
space, and operating system hard disks.
Also describe possible digital evidence storage formats (raw,
E01 (ewf), and AFF), the advantages and disadvantages of each,

and how digital forensic images are collected (local and remote,
memory and disk) and verified. Your memo will be included in
the final forensic imaging lab report.
Step 2: Imaging of a USB drive using Linux tools
In the first step in this project, you reviewed technical
information and imaging procedures and briefed your legal team
on digital forensic "basics". Now it's time to move forward with
the investigation.
The USB stick may contain intellectual property that you can
use to prove the suspect's guilt, or at least establish intent.
Security personnel recovered the stick from the suspect's desk
drawer the night before. You take possession of the stick,
recording the physical exchange on the chain-of-custody
document prepared by the security officers. Your team's policy
is, when practical, to use multiple tools when conducting digital
forensic investigations, so you decide to image the USB stick
using both Linux and Windows tools.
To get started, you review your "Resources and Procedures
Notes", as well asmethods of acquisition. Then go to the virtual
lab to set up your evidence driveand proceed to enable write
protection, sterilize the target media, perform a static
acquisition of Linux data, and verify the USB stick on the
sterilized media using Linux tools in preparation for the report
and notes requested by your supervisor.
Submit your lab notes and report to your supervisor (instructor)
for ungraded feedback and incorporate any suggested changes.
This material will be included in the final forensic imaging lab
report (Step 7). In the next step, you will conduct the same
procedures using Windows tools.Step 3: Image a USB Drive
Using Windows Tools
After imaging the USB drive with Linux in Step 2, your next
step is to image the USB drive again, this time using Windows
tools. Review your "Resources and Procedures Notes" first, then
go to the virtual lab. When you complete the activity, review
your lab notes and report for accuracy and completeness; they
will be included in your final forensic imaging lab report (Step

7).
Your organization's legal team has some questions for you in
Step 4.
Step 4: Respond to Questions from the Legal Team
In previous steps, you imaged the USB drive using Linux and
Windows tools. In this step, you respond to pointed questions
from your organization's legal team. The legal team has been
involved in cybercrime cases before, but they want to make sure
they are prepared for possible legal challenges. They have
requested very specific information about your imaging
procedures.
Questions from the legal team:
1. Assuming that this is a criminal case that will be heard in a
court of law, which hashing algorithm will you use and why?
2. What if the hash of your original does not match your
forensic copy? What kinds of issues could that create? What
could cause this situation?
3. What if your OS automatically mounts your flash drive prior
to creating your forensic duplicate? What kinds of problems
could that create?
4. How will you be able to prove that your OS did not
automatically mount your flash drive and change its contents
prior to the creation of the forensic copy?
The legal team would like you to respond in the form of a brief
memo (1-2 pages) written in plain, simple English. The memo
will be included in your final forensic imaging lab report (Step
7) so review it carefully for accuracy and completeness.
You are hoping that you will be able to access the suspect's
local computer next!
Step 5: RAM and Swap Acquisition
In the previous step, you addressed the concerns of your
company's legal team. While you were doing so, the suspect's
afternoon training session started so now you are able to move
on to the next stage of your investigation.
Your organization's IT department backs up the hard drives of
HQ computers on a regular basis so you are interested only in

the suspect's RAM and swap space. The RAM and swap space
may reveal programs used to hide or transmit intellectual
property, in addition to the intellectual property itself (past or
current). You have a four-hour window to acquire the RAM and
swap space of his live computer. When you arrive at the
suspect's office, the computer is running, but locked.
Fortunately, the company IT department has provided you with
the administrator password so you log on to the system. You
review your "Resources and Procedure Notes", access
the virtual lab, and follow the steps required to acquire
and analyze the RAM and swap space from the live system.
Your lab notes and report will be included in your final forensic
imaging lab report (Step 7) so make sure you review them
carefully for accuracy and completeness.
Now that you've imaged the suspect's local computer, there is
only one task that remains. You need to use the company
network to access his remote computer.Step 6: Perform Forensic
Imaging over a Network
In the previous step, you acquired and analyzed the RAM and
swap space from the suspect's live, local computer. In this step,
you perform a similar analysis on his networked, off-site
computer.
Your supervisor confirms that the suspect's remote office is
closed for the weekend so you are free to image his
computer via the network. The remote computer is locked, but
the company IT department has provided an administrator
password for your investigation. Using your forensic
workstation at headquarters, you log on to the remote system. If
the image were going to pass unencrypted over an untrusted
network (such as the Internet), you'd would want to conduct the
transfer over SSH, but since you're on the company network and
connecting to the remote office via a VPN, you can use the "dd"
command to transfer a copy of the remote hard drive to your
local workstation using the "netcat" tool. You review
your "Resources and Procedure Notes", go to the virtual lab,
and proceed to image the computer over the network.

Review your lab notes and report carefully for accuracy and
completeness; they will be included in your final forensic
imaging lab report (Step 7).
Phew! You have conducted an exhaustive investigation of all of
the suspect’s computer devices in this possible "insider cyber-
crime”. In the process, you have written up lab notes and four
reports, as well as providing responses to questions from your
legal team. The last step in the investigative process is to
combine all of the information that you've gathered in Steps 1-6
into a single forensic report that can be presented in a court of
law. That is what you will do in the final step in this project.
Step 7: Submit Final Forensic Imaging Lab Report
Now that you've completed the necessary acquisition and
imaging tasks, you're ready to compile all of your reports and
lab notes into a single forensic imaging lab report that you will
submit to your supervisor. Your supervisor reminds you that
your report may be presented in a court case so it needs to meet
all legal requirements. The report should include the following
sections:
1. One to two-page memo addressing the types, sources,
collection of digital information, as well as file formats
2. Imaging of a USB drive using Linux tools (lab notes, report)
3. Imaging of a USB drive using Windows tools (lab notes,
report)
4. One to two-page memo responding to questions about
imaging procedures
5. RAM and swap acquisition--live, local computer (lab notes,
report)
6. Forensic imaging over a network (lab notes, report)
Upon completion of Steps 1-6, submit your final forensic
imaging lab report to your supervisor (instructor) for
evaluation.
Submit Final Forensic Imaging Lab Report
Before you submit your assignment, review the competencies
below, which your instructor will use to evaluate your work. A
good practice would be to use each competency as a self-check

to confirm you have incorporated all of them in your work.
· 1.1: Organize document or presentation clearly in a manner
that promotes understanding and meets the requirements of the
assignment.
· 1.4: Tailor communications to the audience.
· 1.5: Use sentence structure appropriate to the task, message
and audience.
· 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English.
· 2.2: Locate and access sufficient information to investigate the
issue or problem.
· 2.3: Evaluate the information in a logical and organized
manner to determine its value and relevance to the problem.
· 4.1: Lead and/or participate in a diverse group to accomplish
projects and assignments.
· 10.3: Demonstrate the appropriate use of multiple digital
forensic tools and techniques for imaging and verification.
· 10.4: Demonstrate an understanding of the different parts of a
computer.
· 11.1: Perform report creation, affidavit creation, and
preparation to testify.
Submission for Final Forensic Imaging Lab Report
Table of Contents
Page
Introduction
…………………………………………………………………………
…………4
Section I MSA 602 Course
Overview……………………………………………………...6
Course
Highlights……………………………………………………………
…...7
Section II Literature

Review………………………………………………………………...
8
Financial Management
Skills…………………………………………………….9
Financial
Performance…………………………………………………………..
10
Understanding Financial
Risk…………………………………………………...11
Section III Relation to Concentration: Project
Management………………………………,12
Section IV Application to Finances in Project
Management….……………………………13
Section V Summary, Conclusions, and
Recommendations………………………………..14
References……………………………………………………………
……………………….15
Financial Decision in Project Management
You will start with the Abstract, you have the table of content

already followed by the Introduction. What ever material you
are using should be from 2012 to date, APA format and Times
Roman with 12 font all through. The reference should be in
Annotated Bibliography
At least 10 reference and finally PLAGIARISM should not be
more than 15 – 20%. The last two sentence on the Abstract
should tell us what the study is all about. 16 pages, I have the
title page so even if we go 20 pages l don’t mind but remember
the paper should make sense and straight to the point please.
Understanding financial risk
Financial Risk is one of the major concerns of every business ac
ross fields and geographies. This is the reason behind Financial
Risk Manager FRM Exam gaining huge recognition among finan
cial experts across the globe. FRM is the top most credential off
ered to risk management professionals worldwide. Financial Ris
k again is the base concept of FRM Level 1 exam. Before under
standing the techniques to control risk and perform risk manage
ment, it is very important to realize what risk is and what the ty
pes of risks are. Let's discuss different types of risk in this post.
Risk and Types of Risks:
Risk can be referred as the chances of having an unexpected or
negative outcome. Any action or activity that leads to loss of an
y type can be termed as risk. There are different types of risks t
hat a firm might face and needs to overcome. Widely, risks can
be classified into three types: Business Risk, Non-
Business Risk and Financial Risk.
1.
Business Risk: These types of risks are taken by business enterp
rises themselves in order to maximize shareholder value and pro

fits. As for example: Companies undertake high cost risks in ma
rketing to launch new product in order to gain higher sales.
2. Non-
Business Risk: These types of risks are not under the control of
firms. Risks that arise out of political and economic imbalances
can be termed as non-business risk.
3.
Financial Risk: Financial Risk as the term suggests is the risk th
at involves financial loss to firms. Financial risk generally arise
s due to instability and losses in the financial market caused by
movements in stock prices, currencies, interest rates and more.
Types of Financial Risks:
Financial risk is one of the high-priority risk types for every
business. Financial risk is caused due to market movements and
market movements can include host of factors. Based on this,
financial risk can be classified into various types such as
Market Risk, Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk, Operational Risk and
Legal Risk.
arious types such as Market Risk, Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk, O
perational Risk and Legal Risk.
Market Risk:
This type of risk arises due to movement in prices of financial i
nstrument. Market risk can be classified as Directional Risk and
Non -
Directional Risk. Directional risk is caused due to movement in
stock price, interest rates and more. Non-
Directional risk on the other hand can be volatility risks.
Credit Risk:
This type of risk arises when one fails to fulfill their obligations
towards their counter parties. Credit risk can be classified into
Sovereign Risk and Settlement Risk. Sovereign risk usually aris
es due to difficult foreign exchange policies. Settlement risk on

the other hand arises when one party makes the payment while t
he other party fails to fulfill the obligations
Liquidity Risk:
This type of risk arises out of inability to execute transactions.
Liquidity risk can be classified into Asset Liquidity Risk and Fu
nding Liquidity Risk. Asset Liquidity risk arises either due to in
sufficient buyers or insufficient sellers against sell orders and b
uy orders respectively.
Operational Risk:
This type of risk arises out of operational failures such as mism
anagement or technical failures. Operational risk can be classifi
ed into Fraud Risk and Model Risk. Fraud risk arises due to lack
of controls and Model risk arises due to incorrect model applic
ation.
Legal Risk:
This type of financial risk arises out of legal constraints such as
lawsuits. Whenever a company needs to face financial loses out
of legal proceedings, it is legal risk.
Copy 2
:
Risk is inherent in any business enterprise, and good risk
management is an essential aspect of running a successful
business. A company's management has varying levels of
control in regard to risk. Some risks can be directly managed;
other risks are largely beyond the control of company
management. Sometimes, the best a company can do is try to
anticipate possible risks, assess the potential impact on the

company's business and be prepared with a plan to react to
adverse events.
There are many ways to categorize a company's financial risks.
One approach for this is provided by separating financial
risk into four broad categories: market risk, credit risk, liquidity
risk and operational risk.1. Market Risk
Market risk involves the risk of changing conditions in the
specific marketplace in which a company competes for business.
One example of market risk is the increasing tendency of
consumers to shop online. This aspect of market risk has
presented significant challenges to traditional retail businesses.
Companies that have been able to make the necessary
adaptations to serve an online shopping public have thrived and
seen substantial revenue growth, while companies that have
been slow to adapt or made bad choices in their reaction to the
changing marketplace have fallen by the wayside.
This example also relates to another element of market risk –
the risk of being outmaneuvered by competitors. In an
increasingly competitive global marketplace, often with
narrowing profit margins, the most financially successful
companies are most successful in offering a unique value
proposition that makes them stand out from the crowd and gives
them a solid marketplace identity.2. Credit Risk
Credit risk is the risk businesses incur by extending credit to
customers. It can also refer to the company's own credit risk
with suppliers. A business takes a financial risk when it
provides financing of purchases to its customers, due to the
possibility that a customer may default on payment.
A company must handle its own credit obligations by ensuring
that it always has sufficient cash flow to pay its accounts
payable bills in a timely fashion. Otherwise, suppliers may
either stop extending credit to the company, or even stop doing
business with the company altogether.3. Liquidity Risk
Liquidity risk includes asset liquidity and operational funding
liquidity risk. Asset liquidity refers to the relative ease with
which a company can convert its assets into cash should there

be a sudden, substantial need for additional cash flow.
Operational funding liquidity is a reference to daily cash flow.
General or seasonal downturns in revenue can present a
substantial risk if the company suddenly finds itself without
enough cash on hand to pay the basic expenses necessary to
continue functioning as a business. This is why cash flow
management is critical to business success – and
why analysts and investors look at metrics such as free cash
flowwhen evaluating companies as an equity investment.4.
Operational Risk
Operational risks refer to the various risks that can arise from a
company's ordinary business activities. The operational risk
category includes lawsuits, fraud risk, personnel problems and
business model risk, which is the risk that a company's models
of marketing and growth plans may prove to be inaccurate or
inadequate.
Read more: What are the major categories of financial risk for a
company? |
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Why finance matters for project managers
inShare
CONFERENCE PAPERPortfolio Management, Benefits
Realization 7 September 2000
Seminars & Symposium
Cohen, Dennis J.
How to cite this article:

Cohen, D. J. (2000). Why finance matters for project managers.
Paper presented at Project Management Institute Annual
Seminars & Symposium, Houston, TX. Newtown Square, PA:
Project Management Institute.
Reprints and Permissions
Traditionally, the Project Manager’s focus was to bring a
project in on time and on budget. In today’s changing
environment, the scope of the Project Manager’s job is
becoming increasingly broader. As organizations become
increasingly project based, Project Managers need to be more
financially savvy. Not only must projects be on time and on
budget, but they also need to contribute to both shareholder
value and the long-term financial success of the business.
Looking at projects as “ventures” will require Project Managers
to better understand the company’s cash cycle and how each
project fits into it.
Cash Cycle of the Firm and the Project
Every company and every project has a cash cycle. There are
four phases of the cash cycle: Financing, Investing, Operating,
and Returning. The cash cycle is the process in which a
business or a project acquires the cash it needs to begin, uses
the cash to grow and operate, and returns the cash it owes to its
creditors and owners.
Financing Phase begins when a business attracts the capital it
needs to get started from financial institutions and investors.
The business moves into the Investing Phase when it invests
this capital in the labor and equipment necessary for
development. As the company begins to use funds generated by
operations in addition to raised capital, it is in the Operating
Phase. In the final or Returning Phase, the company pays back
interest on loans or provides a return on investment to
shareholders.
A successful start-up business venture is a project, or group of
projects, with a definite beginning and middle; however,
contrary to our usual thinking about projects, it does not have
an end. As upper management makes internal decisions about

how to invest the company’s money, a project must first attract
funds from upper management. Project selection and approval is
equivalent to the Financing Phase of the cash cycle. The Project
Manager invests in developing a product, service or other
outcome that will eventually generate more cash. The project
itself is in this way, the equivalent of the Investing Phase.
Often, the official end of the project occurs well before the
project outcome produces cash. Operations of the Project
Outcome Lifecycle (POL) constitute the Operating Phase. Only
in this phase will upper management be able to assess whether
they have made a sufficient return on their investment. The
Returning Phase of the cash cycle for a project is at the end of
the useful life of the outcome that the project produced. A
major problem for a Project Manager occurs when their project
is conceptually and managerially isolated from the company’s
cash cycle. If the project’s outcome is pooled with all of the
other operating assets, it becomes difficult to isolate the cash
cycle for each individual project. However, for the company as
a whole, the cash cycle depends on the ongoing portfolio of
projects; if projects do not generate sufficient cash, the
company cannot succeed.
Companies that do not generate enough cash take on capital.
The cost of capital for financing is driven by the expectations of
lenders and shareholders. Lenders issue debt and shareholders
own equity. The cost of capital is a combination of the cost of
debt and the cost of equity. The cost of debt is recorded on the
Income Statement on the line item—called Interest Expense.
This is the payment owed to lenders during the period covered
by the Income Statement. (Note: It is common to refer to the
cost of debt as a percentage. This is calculated by dividing the
interest expense by the total amount borrowed.) Determining the
cost of debt is basic, the banks tell the company what their
expectations are, and the company agrees to pay the amount.
The cost of equity is the return that shareholders expect on their
investment. This return is more than a simple payment of
interest; it includes dividends and the appreciation of the value

of the stock. Determining the cost of equity is more difficult
than determining the cost of debt. While the payment of
dividends is recorded in the Cash Flow Statement and the
Balance Sheet, there is no line item on any of the financial
statements that expresses the value that shareholders expect.
Although shareholders are not guaranteed a return on
investment, they expect one. On average, when shareholder
expectations are met or exceeded, the price of the stock rises.
When shareholder expectations are not met, the price of the
stock falls. Shareholders, in general, expect a return that is 6%
higher than that available on long-term U.S. treasury bonds,
since those are considered nearly risk free. (Ibbotson, Roger C.,
& Rex A. Sinquefield, “Stocks, bonds, bills, and inflation:
Historical returns (1926–1987), Charlottesville, VS, Research
Foundation of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts,
1989.) However, a company may be more or less risky than the
typical company, so the amount expected by shareholders needs
to be adjusted accordingly. If the company does not meet its
shareholders expectations, the price of the stock will fall,
making it more difficult to find potential shareholders willing to
invest the next time the company tries to raise capital. Even if
the company manages to find investors, the investors will
probably be willing to pay less money for a larger percentage of
the business.
Project Managers need to keep in mind that from a financial
perspective, their company is no more than the sum of the
projects in which it invests. If these projects do not produce a
Return
On Investment (ROI) that meets or exceeds the Weighted
Average Cost of Capital (WACC), then it is unlikely that the
company will be able to produce a significant return.
WACC = (Percent of Debt Financing) x (Cost of Debt) x (1 –
tax rate) + (percent of Equity Financing) x (Cost of Equity)
The company determines the WACC by first determining the
total amount of debt and equity it has. It then calculates the
Cost of Debt and the Cost of Equity. The cost of debt is the

interest expense on the loans the company possesses. The cost
of equity is the risk premium associated with the shareholders’
investment in the company. The cost of capital follows as the
percentage of cost of debt and the percentage of cost of equity
to the whole and then averages the expected return of each
weighted by its percentage. Admittedly, WACC depends on
factors such as stock price and the cost of debt, which Project
Managers do not influence in the short term. However, good
projects do reduce the cost of capital over the long run. Project
Managers should pay attention to rate of return for project
selection, and to the factors that may influence that rate of
return as they manage the project. In addition, Project Managers
should focus on cash flow and increasing the rate of cash flow
when making decisions to help lower the WACC over the long
run.
Remember, finance matters throughout the project management
process because shareholders matter. Project Managers should
remember that ultimately shareholders own the company, and
projects are instrumental in creating shareholder value.
Companies that create more shareholder value are more
productive, and the numbers of employees grow faster than
other companies (Bughin & Copeland, p.157). At a national
level, shareholder value has been linked to overall economic
performance (Bughin & Copeland, p. 163). This means that
sound business management should be applied to the total
project and the POL. This should include sound financial and
business analysis in project selection, thoughtful financial and
business reasoning in the Planning of all projects, and judicious
financial and business management as an important element of
Controlling and Executing all projects. With the advent of new
information systems and techniques like data warehousing, it
will become much easier to measure projects according to their
contribution to EVA® and shareholder value (Zweig, p. 3).
The most important part of project initiation is selection. A
project plan should look like a business plan. The analysis that
led to project selection should be refined and amplified as the

project planning process uncovers more information. The
project plan can then become a better guide for managing the
project as a total enterprise, rather than an isolated piece of
work separated from its outcome. With a business-oriented
project plan, the Project Manager can better Execute and
Control the project with the end in mind, the end being to
optimize EVA® for increasing shareholder value. The most
important principle should be that the project stays open until
the POL is complete. While this is difficult in the turbulence of
today’s business environment, it is essential to compare the
results of the project outcome with the assumptions and plans
generated during the project. A traditional “lessons learned”
session at the end of a project is missing this vital element
because, in most cases, the project outcome has not yet
happened; the end of a project is usually the beginning of the
POL. Did the financial analysis that justified the investment in
the first place really happen? Could the project have been
managed better to make it happen or make it better? These are
very important questions. Without answers, it becomes very
difficult for a company to improve EVA® at its source—
namely, the project portfolio.
The fundamental question for any Project Manager who
understands why finance matters is, “So what do I do now?” To
help provide a clear answer to this question, let’s engage in a
“thought experiment.” Thinking this through will help you to
experience the practical implications of finance and project
management as a business process. After completing this
exercise, you will be ready to consider a Project Venture
Development Process that should serve as an ideal desired state
for project management in the future. The process is based on
business principles and takes the concept of the project-based
organization to its logical conclusion. This paper will conclude
by offering a list of things you should focus on, and execute, at
each stage of a project to think more like an entrepreneur and
act like a CEO.
A Thought Experiment

A “venture” is defined as a potential business that the company
will invest in to realize a return on its investment. Imagine a
company that has organized all of its work around ventures. The
venture consists of a project and a POL coupled to constitute a
viable business model with the potential of providing the best
return on investment in comparison to any other venture that is
competing for funding in the company. The venture team
consists of the project team and the implementation team—
every-one necessary to develop, and operate, the venture
throughout its life cycle. Compensation for the project and
implementation managers will be heavily dependent on the
success of the venture, thus giving them financial incentive to
drive the venture to succeed. A venture failure would leave
them with less compensation than they would normally expect,
but a venture success would be very rewarding. The team
members would be compensated in a similar fashion, but in
general, they would have a smaller percentage of their
compensation at risk. Any manager or team member could
choose to increase the amount of their compensation at risk,
which would increase the potential reward for success or loss
from failure.
How would you manage your project given this kind of
environment? Let’s suggest some principles that would underlie
your management behavior:
•The venture should be a viable business that combines all of
the elements of a value chain necessary to serve a customer base
that will sustain the business over the long run.
•If a core project team consists of a person from every function
necessary to produce the project outcome, then the venture core
team should consist of one person from each link in the value
chain necessary to produce customer satisfaction. This may
require including suppliers and intermediary customers on the
core team.
•Those responsible for the implementation of the POL will want
to be on the venture core team to give their input. Since your
ultimate success will depend on them as they operate the POL,

it would behoove you to include them on the team.
•Both project and POL team members will be very concerned
about a perfect handoff of the project outcome to the POL team
so that implementation begins as soon as possible and revenue
flows in as soon, and as fast, as possible. One of the teams
blaming the other for problems and delays won’t help anyone.
The incentive built into the system is for everyone to roll up
their sleeves and fix whatever goes wrong.
•The project team would strive to keep costs down during the
project, in the design of the POL, and during POL operations
without sacrificing the quality of outcome for customer
satisfaction; thus, jointly optimizing revenue and maximizing
EVA®.
•The project team would want to be available as long as
necessary to get the POL started successfully, as long as the
cost to keep them available did not outweigh the gain from their
help.
•Throughout the course of the project, you would want to make
decisions with the end in mind. Whenever there was a tradeoff
between time, cost and quality, you would choose the solution
that jointly optimized them to maximize EVA® and shareholder
value.
•In short, all members of the venture team would strive to
maximize EVA®. Why? Because they now have the same
interests as shareholders. The more value they create with the
venture as a whole, the more they will earn for themselves.
If you, the Project Manager, can close your eyes and immerse
yourself in these imagined circumstances, it will help to drive
home the impact on both your motivation and your behavior in
terms of managing a project as if shareholders mattered. It also
suggests some practical implications to your job as a Project
Manager. You will need to manage projects like business
ventures, and less like a technical or scientific undertaking. In
the end, project management is not a technical process—it is a
business process. To thrive, it needs to be incubated in a
business-oriented environment.

The Process
To support a venture oriented project management system, we
recommend a business-oriented process that is modeled to some
extent on the Venture Capital system that has become so
ubiquitous in the high-tech world of e-commerce and the dot-
coms. Think of the company as a Venture Incubator, an
environment that is structured specifically to promote the
growth and well being of new ventures. Ventures, of course, are
the projects coupled with their POL’s defined in such a way to
constitute a viable business model worthy of investment. The
project selection process is run as a venture capital selection
process, and the Project Office becomes the Project Venture
Development Center. Venture team members own their ventures
through a system of virtual stock options that convey rights to
virtual stock in the venture valued according to its contribution
to the EVA® of the company. (For examples of corporate
venture compensation plans see Block & MacMillan, 1995, pp.
125–143.) How different would the process be in this
environment? It would be different enough to promote and
emphasize managing the project for business results. Highlights
of the process include:
Initiation
•The Business Case is developed by the venture core team. This
team would include one member from each link in the value
chain from initial process to the customer led by the Project
Manager and POL manager.
•An internal venture capital board chooses to either funds or
reject projects as part of developing and maintaining a portfolio
of ventures. Critical selection criteria include strategic fit,
competitive advantage, and potential Return On Investment
(ROI) of the venture. (Block & MacMillan, 1995, p. 57) Board
members’ incentives are based on how well the portfolio of
their investments fare over the long run.
•Ventures are staffed with the end in mind to support the total
POL so as to assure that all links in the value chain are
represented on the core team and will participate in the overall

planning.
Planning
•The venture team will refine the business case and convert it to
action steps and major milestones. The team will develop a
business plan to guide the venture to the end of the POL.
•The team plans phases of the project with more detail than
phases for the POL, which are planned at a higher level of detail
by major milestones at first.
•As the project rolls out, the venture team adds detail to the
POL part of the plan.
•All aspects of the venture become part of the budget, schedule
and specifications.
•The plan is constructed from the perspective of the venture as a
whole rather than from the project perspective.
Execution and Control
•The venture team implements the business plan.
•The team treats all assumptions of the business plan as their
working hypothesis and the venture as an experiment.
•At each major milestone, the team checks their assumptions
against what has happened. If there is a gap, they change their
assumptions accordingly and retest the plan for feasibility. At
this point, they decide to continue or stop. (Block & MacMillan,
1995, p.171)
Transition (Closing the Project)
•The project subteam hands off the project outcome to the
implementation team.
•Key members of the project team are linked to the POL
implementation team to support the transition for as long as
they are needed to facilitate a fast, cost-effective start-up.
Operation and Evaluation
•The organization endeavors to broaden lessons learned to
include the business execution as well as the project
implementation. The goal is better ventures for a greater return
on the investment of capital.
•A process is set up to monitor the POL in order to compare its
business results to the expectations stated in the business plan,

and to conduct lessons learned sessions at useful stages of the
POL.
•Systems are in place to measure contribution to EVA® on a
venture-by-venture basis. When ventures return a positive
EVA®, the venture team is compensated accordingly.
Immediate Application of Principles
Not all companies will embrace the principles put forth in this
paper. For most readers, the most immediate question is, “What
can I do now given a conventional corporate environment for
projects?” Here are a few suggestions:
1. Develop a business case for each project. Many companies
use business cases for project selection purposes. One example
is a client company in financial services. Although most of their
projects are IT-based internal projects, they require a business
case for each one. The case template requires that the project is
built on specific client needs and what the competition is likely
to do to meet those same needs. The business case should
address the following issues at the very least:
•Where do the numbers for estimated price, sales volume,
production, and operating costs come from?
•How accurate are the numbers?
•What are assumptions that drive the numbers?
•Do not accept simple outcome, cost and schedule. Go back to
all of the business assumptions that went into the origination of
the project.
•Most importantly, what is the business model that will make
this a sound investment for the company?
3. Think strategically. Consider your project in its wider
context. What are the links in the value chain that connect this
project to the ultimate customer and end user? How does it fit
into the wider strategy of the company such that it either
supports existing sustainable competitive advantage, or creates
a new one?
•What is the big picture?
•What type of strategy is this project supporting?
•How is it promoting the strategy of the company?

•In what ways will it help to sustain the competitive advantage
of the company?
•What other projects are part of the strategy implementation?
•How does fulfilling the business case implement the strategy?
•Relate the numbers of the business case to the strategy.
4. Turn the business case into a true business plan to guide the
project. This means that you will need to incorporate all of the
elements of the business case into a plan for action, and
integrate that plan with the rest of the project planning process.
All of this needs to be done with the team—not in isolation.
•Remember you are responsible for the project and POL
performance—not just the project.
•Even if the project is internal and seems remote from
customers and competition, trace it through the value chain.
Determine the net return on investment for doing the project
against not doing it.
•Refine the numbers and then refine them again. Assign risk
probabilities; force yourself to if possible.
•Conduct sensitivity analysis. When you think you have done
enough, do more.
•Do more market research. Ascertain market demand figures as
best as you can and gather more competitor information.
•Think about your budget as an investment rather than as an
expense. How are you going to use it to get the best return
possible?
•Assemble the core team and do all of your business planning
with them.
•Make sure that the core team includes important POL
implementers like: Manufacturing Engineering, Technical
support, Sales, and Training.
•Trace through the value chain of the project and identify
everything that must happen outside the boundaries of the
project to make the POL a success.
•Identify major milestones where it would be best to stop and
review your assumptions.
5. Execute and control the projects through the business

plan. There was a reason why you spent all of that time
integrating the business plan into the project plan. It should be
an integral part of project control. Do not make the mistake of
doing all of that business analysis on the front end, but using
only Triple Constraint thinking to control the project.
•Employ the language of the business plan to negotiate with
upper management.
•Focus on the POL rather than the end of the project.
•Manage the risks for the POL, as well as the project itself.
•Use quick prototyping to maintain a pulse on to the market and
the end users.
•Constantly check in with customers and end users.
•Internal projects have competitive implications as well. They
affect a company’s ability to compete in the marketplace.
•At each major milestone, compare the outcome thus far with
your assumptions. What changes in assumptions must you
make? How will this affect the rest of the project?
•Keep the ultimate business objectives in mind by making all
decisions as tradeoffs with the business equation. Which
alternative will ultimately provide the best competitive
advantage and economic value?
•The correct response to a request for a change is no longer
“next version,” or simply “No, it is too late.” Rather it is,
“What is the effect on economic value if we incorporate this
change at this late date?”
•Act strategically by constantly checking to ensure that the
project is staying aligned with its strategic objectives.
6. Closing out the project. This phase is really misnamed. It
should be called Transition or perhaps even “birth.” This is not
an end, but rather a beginning. The project team needs to
support the new toddler to prevent it from falling down.
•Track the POL and make sure that project team members stay
available to the implementation team as long as they are needed.
Balance their cost against the cost of a slower start-up if they
would not be available to get support for the POL.
•Write a final project report with numbers, projections and

assumptions that everyone signs off on and is checked with
reality over the life of the POL to promote organizational
learning.
7. Operate and evaluate. (This term come from Chevron, Inc.—
Chevron Project Development and Execution Process.)
•“It ain’t over ‘til the POL is over.”
•Review the major milestones of the POL to check assumptions.
Take corrective action to improve performance if necessary and
possible.
•When the POL is over, write a final venture report based on
comparing the actual POL performance with the assumptions in
the final project report. Disseminate to promote organizational
learning.
•Compensate the venture team according to venture
performance.
•Celebrate success. Learn from failure.
References
Block, Zenas, & MacMillan, Ian C. (1995). Corporate
venturing. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Bughin, Jacques, & Copeland, Thomas E. (1997). The virtuous
cycle of shareholder value creation. McKinsey Quarterly, 2,
156–167.
Ibbotson, Roger C., & Sinquefield, Rex A. (1989). Stocks,
bonds, bills, and inflation: Historical returns (1926–1987).
Charlottesville, VS, Research Foundation of the Institute of
Chartered Financial Analysts.
SMG, Inc. (1997). Why finance matters: Understanding finance
and shareholder value. SMG, CD-ROM Interactive Learning
Program. Zweig, Phillip L. (1996, Oct. 28). Beyond bean-
counting. Business Week.
This material has been reproduced with the permission of the
copyright owner. Unauthorized reproduction of this material is
strictly prohibited. For permission to reproduce this material,
please contact PMI or any listed author.
Proceedings of the Project Management Institute Annual
Seminars & Symposium

September 7–16, 2000 • Houston, Texas, USA
Areas of Focus
Getting Started with Financial Management
· How does corporate finance function? Tasks, and how the two
are related
· Reading financial statements and calculating cash-flow – a
summary of tools and methods
· Financing, types of financing
Planning and Budgeting
· The conceptual basis of financial planning and budgeting
· Assessing financial performance, looking to the future
· Revenue, profit and cash-flow objectives
Cost Management
· Cost structures and cost categories
· Contribution margin accounting, break-even analyis
· Calculating and determining prices
Controlling, Review and Evaluation
· Developing a KPI system for financial controlling
· Understanding controlling reports and how to interpret them
correctly
Business Plan
· How to structure a professional business plan
· Checking and verifying the plausibility of your own financial
planning
Understanding Financial Objectives, Dealing with KPIs
· Breaking down long term financial objectives into short-term
goals
· Important KPIs
Investments and Investment Decisions
· Economic-efficiency calculations
· Making investment decisions
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Project Management Fundamentals
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What is a Project?
Project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create
a unique product or service.
· Projects are unique.
· Projects are temporary in nature and have a definite beginning
and end date.
· Projects are completed when the project goals are achieved or
it is determined the project is no longer viable.

· A successful project is one that meets or exceeds the
expectations of your stakeholders.
How Unique?
· Product characteristics are progressively elaborated.
· The product or service is different in some way from other
product or services.
How Temporary?
· It has a definite beginning and end. effort.
· It is not an ongoing effort such as in operations.
· It ceases when objective has been attained.
· The team is disbanded upon project completion.
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:
· Initiating
· Planning
· Executng
· Monitor and 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.

Project managers deliver projects while balancing the following
constraints:
· Scope
· Schedule
· Quality
· Resources
· Customer Satisfaction
· Risk
These all are so intertwined that a change in one will most often
cause a change in at least one of the others
For example:
· If time is extended, the cost of the project will increase.
· If time extended with the same cost then quality of the product
will reduce.
· If scope is extended then cost and time will also extend.
Changes to any of these legs sets off a series of activities that
are needed to integrate the change across the project.
What is Program Management?
A program consists of a group of related projects and Program
management is the process of managing multiple on going
projects. An example would be that of designing, manufacturing
and providing support infrastructure for an automobile make.
Program management involves centrally managing and
coordinating groups of related projects to meet the objectives of
the program.
In some cases Project Management is a subset of Program
Management. The project manager may report to the program
manager in such cases. A portfolio consists of multiple
programs.
What is Portfolio Management?
A portfolio is a collection of projects, programs subportfolios,
and operations that are grouped together to facilitate effective
management of that work to meet strategic business objectives.
Organizations manage their portfolios based on specific goals.
Senior managers or senior management teams typically take on
the responsibility of portfolio management for an organization.

Portfolio management encompasses managing the collections of
programs and projects in the portfolio. This includes weighing
the value of each project, or potential project, against the
portfolio's strategic objectives.
Portfolio management also concerns monitoring active projects
for adherence to objectives, balancing the portfolio among the
other investments of the organization, and assuring the efficient
use of resources.
Why do we need Project Management?
We need project management to manage projects effectively and
drive them to success. Project Management starts with the
decision to start a project upon weighing its need and viability.
Once a project starts, it is crucial to watch the project progress
at every step so as to ensure it delivers what all is required, in
the stipulated time, within the allocated budget. Other drivers
influencing the need of project management are:
· Exponential expansion of human knowledge
· Global demand for goods and services
· Global competition
· Team is required to meet the demand with quality and
standard.
· Improved control over the project
· Improved performance
· Improved budget and quality
Project Management Skills:
Many of the tools and techniques for managing projects are
specific to project management. However, effective project
management requires that the project management team acquire
the following three dimensions of project management
competencies:
· Project Management Knowledge Competency: This refers to
what the project management team knows about project
management.
· Project Management Performance Competency: This refers to
what the project management team is able to do or accomplish
while applying their project management knowledge.

· Personal Competency: This refers to how the project
management team behaves when performing the project or
activity.
Interpersonal Skills Management:
The management of interpersonal relationships includes:
· Effective communication: The exchange of information
· Influencing the organization: The ability to "get things done"
· Leadership: Developing a vision and strategy, and motivating
people to achieve that vision and strategy
· Motivation: Energizing people to achieve high levels of
performance and to overcome barriers to change
· Negotiation and conflict management: Conferring with others
to come to terms with them or to reach an agreement
· Decision Making: Ability to take decision independently.
· Political and cultural awareness: Important to handle various
personal and professional issues.
· Team Building: Ability to create a productive team.
What is PMBOK Guide?
PMBOK Guide is the bible for Project Management. PMBOK
stands for Project Management Body of Knowledge. There are
ten knowledge areas defined in PMBOK Guide, which are as
follows:
· Project Integration Management
· Project Scope Management
· Project Cost Management
· Project Time Management
· Project Risk Management
· Project Quality Management
· Project HR Management
· Project Communication Management
· Project Procurement Management
· Project Stakeholder Management
Each Knowledge area has certain processes. There are a total of
47 processes in PMBOK 5. Each process has following three
important parts.
· Inputs

· Tools & Techniques
· Outputs
The PMBOK covers each of the 10 knowledge areas and 47
processes with their inputs, outputs, and tools & techniques.
Further the discipline of Project Management has five process
groups.
These are:
· Initiating
· Planning
· Executing
· Monitoring and Controlling
· Closing
Each process is part of one of these five project phases. It is
important to know the process group for each of the 47
processes

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