1
John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, “Revolution”
KEYWORDS
populism Che Guevara Cuban Missile Crisis
Juan and Eva Perón Fidel Castro Liberation Theology
Pablo Neruda Bay of Pigs
Study Questions:
§ How did Latin American relations with the United States change after World War Two?
§ In particular, what high hopes of Latin American nationalists were disappointed in a postwar
world?
§ In what ways does the 1954 US intervention in Guatemala exemplify patterns of the emerging
Cold War in Latin America? What is to be learned by comparison with Bolivia?
§ What things made a Marxist view of history persuasive to many Latin Americans in the 1950s
and 1960s?
§ Did the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 present a plausible model for would-be
guerrillas around the region?
No response paper due this week.
The project/The Files/From the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health Portal.pdf
11/21/16, 5:01 PMFrom the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health Portal - The New York Times
Page 1 of 7http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/politics/from-the-start-signs-of-trouble-at-health-portal.html
http://nyti.ms/1cJ1iaT
POLITICS
From the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health
Portal
By ROBERT PEAR, SHARON LaFRANIERE and IAN AUSTEN OCT. 12, 2013
WASHINGTON — In March, Henry Chao, the chief digital architect for the Obama
administration’s new online insurance marketplace, told industry executives that
he was deeply worried about the Web site’s debut. “Let’s just make sure it’s not a
third-world experience,” he told them.
Two weeks after the rollout, few would say his hopes were realized.
For the past 12 days, a system costing more than $400 million and billed as a
one-stop click-and-go hub for citizens seeking health insurance has thwarted the
efforts of millions to simply log in. The growing national outcry has deeply
embarrassed the White House, which has refused to say how many people have
enrolled through the federal exchange.
Even some supporters of the Affordable Care Act worry that the flaws in the
system, if not quickly fixed, could threaten the fiscal health of the insurance
initiative, which depends on throngs of customers to spread the risk and keep
prices low.
“These are not glitches,” said an insurance executive who has participated in
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http://www.nytimes.com/pages/politics/index.html
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many conference calls on the federal exchange. Like many people interviewed for
this article, the executive spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he did not
wish to alienate the federal officials with whom he work ...
TỔNG HỢP HƠN 100 ĐỀ THI THỬ TỐT NGHIỆP THPT TOÁN 2024 - TỪ CÁC TRƯỜNG, TRƯỜNG...
1JohnCharlesChasteen,BorninBloodandFire,Revo.docx
1. 1
John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire,
“Revolution”
KEYWORDS
populism Che Guevara Cuban Missile Crisis
Juan and Eva Perón Fidel Castro Liberation
Theology
Pablo Neruda Bay of Pigs
Study Questions:
§ How did Latin American relations with the United
States change after World War Two?
§ In particular, what high hopes of Latin
American nationalists were disappointed in a
postwar
world?
§ In what ways does the 1954 US intervention in
Guatemala exemplify patterns of the emerging
Cold War in Latin America? What is to be
learned by comparison with Bolivia?
§ What things made a Marxist view of history
persuasive to many Latin Americans in
the 1950s
and 1960s?
§ Did the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in
2. 1959 present a plausible model for would-be
guerrillas around the region?
No response paper due this week.
The project/The Files/From the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health
Portal.pdf
11/21/16, 5:01 PMFrom the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health
Portal - The New York Times
Page 1 of
7http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/politics/from-the-start-
signs-of-trouble-at-health-portal.html
http://nyti.ms/1cJ1iaT
POLITICS
From the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health
Portal
By ROBERT PEAR, SHARON LaFRANIERE and IAN
AUSTEN OCT. 12, 2013
WASHINGTON — In March, Henry Chao, the chief digital
architect for the Obama
administration’s new online insurance marketplace, told
industry executives that
he was deeply worried about the Web site’s debut. “Let’s just
make sure it’s not a
third-world experience,” he told them.
3. Two weeks after the rollout, few would say his hopes were
realized.
For the past 12 days, a system costing more than $400 million
and billed as a
one-stop click-and-go hub for citizens seeking health insurance
has thwarted the
efforts of millions to simply log in. The growing national outcry
has deeply
embarrassed the White House, which has refused to say how
many people have
enrolled through the federal exchange.
Even some supporters of the Affordable Care Act worry that the
flaws in the
system, if not quickly fixed, could threaten the fiscal health of
the insurance
initiative, which depends on throngs of customers to spread the
risk and keep
prices low.
“These are not glitches,” said an insurance executive who has
participated in
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://nyti.ms/1cJ1iaT
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/politics/index.html
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/ro
bert_pear/index.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/by/ian-austen
11/21/16, 5:01 PMFrom the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health
Portal - The New York Times
4. Page 2 of
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many conference calls on the federal exchange. Like many
people interviewed for
this article, the executive spoke on the condition of anonymity,
saying he did not
wish to alienate the federal officials with whom he works. “The
extent of the
problems is pretty enormous. At the end of our calls, people
say, ‘It’s awful, just
awful.' ”
Interviews with two dozen contractors, current and former
government officials,
insurance executives and consumer advocates, as well as an
examination of
confidential administration documents, point to a series of
missteps — financial,
technical and managerial — that led to the troubles.
Politics made things worse. To avoid giving ammunition to
Republicans
opposed to the project, the administration put off issuing
several major rules until
after last November’s elections. The Republican-controlled
House blocked funds.
More than 30 states refused to set up their own exchanges,
requiring the federal
government to vastly expand its project in unexpected ways.
The stakes rose even higher when Congressional opponents
forced a
government shutdown in the latest fight over the health care
5. law, which will
require most Americans to have health insurance.
Administration officials dug in
their heels, repeatedly insisting that the project was on track
despite evidence to
the contrary.
Dr. Donald M. Berwick, the administrator of the federal Centers
for Medicare
and Medicaid Services in 2010 and 2011, said the time and
budgetary pressures
were a constant worry. “The staff was heroic and dedicated, but
we did not have
enough money, and we all knew that,” he said in an interview
on Friday.
Administration officials have said there is plenty of time to
resolve the
problems before the mid-December deadline to sign up for
coverage that begins
Jan. 1 and the March 31 deadline for coverage that starts later.
A round-the-clock
effort is under way, with the government leaning more heavily
on the major
contractors, including the United States subsidiary of the
Montreal-based CGI
Group and Booz Allen Hamilton.
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6. One person familiar with the system’s development said that the
project was
now roughly 70 percent of the way toward operating properly,
but that predictions
varied on when the remaining 30 percent would be done. “I’ve
heard as little as two
weeks or as much as a couple of months,” that person said.
Others warned that the
fixes themselves were creating new problems, and said that the
full extent of the
problems might not be known because so many consumers had
been stymied at the
first step in the application process.
Confidential progress reports from the Health and Human
Services
Department show that senior officials repeatedly expressed
doubts that the
computer systems for the federal exchange would be ready on
time, blaming
delayed regulations, a lack of resources and other factors.
Deadline after deadline was missed. The biggest contractor, CGI
Federal, was
awarded its $94 million contract in December 2011. But the
government was so
slow in issuing specifications that the firm did not start writing
software code until
this spring, according to people familiar with the process. As
late as the last week of
September, officials were still changing features of the Web
site, HealthCare.gov,
and debating whether consumers should be required to register
and create
password-protected accounts before they could shop for health
7. plans.
One highly unusual decision, reached early in the project,
proved critical: the
Medicare and Medicaid agency assumed the role of project
quarterback,
responsible for making sure each separately designed database
and piece of
software worked with the others, instead of assigning that task
to a lead contractor.
Some people intimately involved in the project seriously
doubted that the
agency had the in-house capability to handle such a mammoth
technical task of
software engineering while simultaneously supervising 55
contractors. An internal
government progress report in September 2011 identified a lack
of employees “to
manage the multiple activities and contractors happening
concurrently” as a
“major risk” to the whole project.
While some branches of the military have large software
engineering
https://www.healthcare.gov/
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8. departments capable of acting as the so-called system
integrator, often on
medium-size weapons projects, the rest of the federal
government typically does
not, said Stan Soloway, the president and chief executive of the
Professional
Services Council, which represents 350 government contractors.
CGI officials have
publicly said that while their company created the system’s
overall software
framework, the Medicare and Medicaid agency was responsible
for integrating and
testing all the combined components.
By early this year, people inside and outside the federal
bureaucracy were
raising red flags. “We foresee a train wreck,” an insurance
executive working on
information technology said in a February interview. “We don’t
have the I.T.
specifications. The level of angst in health plans is growing by
leaps and bounds.
The political people in the administration do not understand
how far behind they
are.”
The Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of
Congress,
warned in June that many challenges had to be overcome before
the Oct. 1 rollout.
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“So much testing of the new system was so far behind schedule,
10. I was not
confident it would work well,” Richard S. Foster, who retired in
January as chief
actuary of the Medicare program, said in an interview last week.
But Mr. Chao’s superiors at the Department of Health and
Human Services
told him, in effect, that failure was not an option, according to
people who have
spoken with him. Nor was rolling out the system in stages or on
a smaller scale, as
companies like Google typically do so that problems can more
easily and quietly be
fixed. Former government officials say the White House, which
was calling the
shots, feared that any backtracking would further embolden
Republican critics who
were trying to repeal the health care law.
Marilyn B. Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for
Medicare and
Medicaid Services, and Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of
health and human
services, both insisted in July that the project was not in
trouble. Last month, Gary
M. Cohen, the federal official in charge of health insurance
exchanges, promised
federal legislators that on Oct. 1, “consumers will be able to go
online, they’ll be
able to get a determination of what tax subsidies they are
eligible for, they’ll be able
to see the premium net of subsidy,” and they will be able to sign
up.
But just a trickle of the 14.6 million people who have visited
the federal
11. exchange so far have managed to enroll in insurance plans,
according to executives
of major insurance companies who receive enrollment files from
the government.
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And some of those enrollments are marred by mistakes.
Insurance executives said
the government had sent some enrollment files to the wrong
insurer, confusing
companies that have similar names but are in different states.
Other files were
unusable because crucial information was missing, they said.
Many users of the federal exchange were stuck at square one. A
New York
Times researcher, for instance, managed to register at 6 a.m. on
Oct. 1. But despite
more than 40 attempts over the next 11 days, she was never able
to log in. Her last
attempts led her to a blank screen.
Neither Ms. Tavenner nor other agency officials would answer
12. questions about
the exchange or its performance last week.
Worried about their reputations, contractors are now publicly
distancing
themselves from the troubled parts of the federally run project.
Eric Gundersen,
the president of Development Seed, emphasized that his
company had built the
home page of HealthCare.gov but had nothing to do with what
happened after a
user hit the “Apply Now” button.
Senior executives at Oracle, a subcontractor based in California
that provided
identity management software used in the registration process
that has frustrated
so many users, defended the company’s work. “Our software is
running properly,”
said Deborah Hellinger, Oracle’s vice president for corporate
communications. The
identical software has been widely used in complex systems, she
said.
The serious technical problems threaten to obscure what some
see as a
nationwide demonstration of a desire for more affordable health
insurance. The
government has been heavily promoting the HealthCare.gov site
as the best source
of information on health insurance. An August government e-
mail said: “35 days to
open enrollment.” A September e-mail followed: “5 days to
open enrollment. Don’t
wait another minute.”
13. The response was huge. Insurance companies report much
higher traffic on
their Web sites and many more callers to their phone lines than
predicted.
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That made the flawed opening all the more disappointing to
supporters of the
health plan, including Timothy S. Jost, a law professor and a
consumer
representative to the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners.
“Even if a fix happens quickly, I remain very disappointed that
the Department
of Health and Human Services was not better prepared for the
rollout,” he said.
Robert Pear reported from Washington, Sharon LaFraniere from
New York and Ian
Austen from Ottawa. Quentin Hardy contributed reporting from
San Francisco, and
Kitty Bennett contributed research.
A version of this article appears in print on October 13, 2013,
on page A1 of the New York edition with the
headline: From the Start, Signs of Trouble At Health Portal.
15. U.S.
WORLD U.S. N.Y. / REGION BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY
SCIENCE HEALTH SPORTS OPINION ARTS STYLE
TRAVEL JOBS REAL ESTATE AUTOS
POLITICS EDUCATION TEXAS
������������������������
Consumers provide basic information to set up accounts. They c
an
apply for a plan as well as for financial assistance, which can be
in
the form of tax credits or government assistance programs.
�������
Consumers have had difficulty creating
online accounts and comparing plans.
A spokesman for Quality Software
Services, a contractor responsible for one
component of the user registration, said the
government made “a late decision requiring
consumers to register for an account before
they could browse for insurance products.”
���������������
The government created a
virtual waiting room to
deal with traffic overloads.
Urged people to apply
16. by mail, by phone or in
person.
Allowed users to
compare plans before
creating an account.
It only caused more
confusion, and the feature
was eventually removed.
Phone operators reportedly
used HealthCare.gov and had
the same issues.
Many users received
quotes that were incorrect
because the feature used
prices based on just two
age groups.
��������������
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�������������U.S. Edition
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praises-gains-on-health-site.html
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18. didnt.html%26pos%3DBar1%26campaignId%3D6FU66
javascript:;
11/21/2016 How HealthCare.gov Was Supposed to Work and
How It Didn’t - Graphic - NYTimes.com
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didnt.html?_r=0 2/4
State
exchanges also
use the hub to
verify the
identity of their
applicants.
���������������
The application is sent through a data hub, which checks the
consumer’s identity against data from at least nine federal agenc
ies.
�������
Some state-run exchanges, like
those in Rhode Island,
Minnesota and Nevada, initially
had problems using the hub.
The spokesman from Quality Software
Services, which was also responsible
19. for the data hub, said that it was
working, and that occasional bugs were
being promptly corrected.
Veterans Health Administration, Defense
Department, Office of Personnel
Management, Medicare, Peace Corps and
the applicant’s state Medicaid agency to
check that they are not already enrolled in
other health insurance programs.
Department of
Homeland Security
to make sure the
applicant is a
citizen or legal
resident.
Social Security
Administration to
verify Social
Security Number,
citizenship and
other information.
Internal Revenue Service
and a government
contractor to verify
applicants’ incomes if they
20. are seeking financial
assistance.
�����������������������������������
�
The Web site shows applicants their options, which can include
private insurance plans and coverage through government progr
ams.
The site also tells them if they qualify for tax credits or a disco
unt on
out-of-pocket costs. Applicants choose a plan.
�����������������������������
The exchange sends the applicants’ information to the insurance
companies.
The companies send confirmation back to the federal exchange.
�������
Insurers have received enrollment files from the federal
exchange that are incomplete or inaccurate. The information,
part of a data transmission known as an “834,” includes who is
enrolling and what subsidies they may receive. Some insurers
say they have been deluged with phone calls from people who
believe they have signed up for a particular health plan, only to
find that the company has no record of the enrollment.
A spokeswoman for the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services
said on Nov. 19 that the government
21. As part of a “technology surge,” the White
House said that experts from government and
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/business/white-house-
praises-gains-on-health-site.html?hp&pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/us/politics/health-
insurance-marketplace-is-still-about-40-percent-incomplete-
official-says.html
11/21/2016 How HealthCare.gov Was Supposed to Work and
How It Didn’t - Graphic - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/10/13/us/how-the-
federal-exchange-is-supposed-to-work-and-how-it-
didnt.html?_r=0 3/4
By LARRY BUCHANAN, GUILBERT GATES, HAEYOUN PA
RK and ALICIA PARLAPIANO
Sources: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Departme
nt of Health and Human Services; Federal News Service
had fixed “twothirds of the high-
priority bugs” that were responsible
for inaccuracies in enrollment data.
Mr. Chao said the government was
still working on “back office systems,”
including those needed to pay
insurance companies.
industry were working together “to iron out
kinks” in the enrollment transactions.
Insurance executives have reported that they
22. were still seeing problems in the enrollment
data as of the end of November.
����������������������
The insurance company determines the portion of the charges to
be
billed to the member and to the government.
Member
portion billed.
Government
portion billed.
�������
Insurers want to make sure the federal
government has correctly calculated the
amount of the subsidy and the amount
consumers owe them.
�������
Federal officials have acknowledged
that this system has not yet been built. It
is not clear if the government payment
system will be completed in time to
begin making payments in mid-January
as has been planned.
Member
pays.
23. Government
pays.
�����������
If a member pays, they will be covered, even if the government
has
not yet paid its portion. Coverage can begin as early as Jan. 1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/us/politics/health-
insurance-marketplace-is-still-about-40-percent-incomplete-
official-says.html
11/21/2016 How HealthCare.gov Was Supposed to Work and
How It Didn’t - Graphic - NYTimes.com
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federal-exchange-is-supposed-to-work-and-how-it-
didnt.html?_r=0 4/4
View More Multimedia »
States Where Insured Could
Renew Plans Before Change
by Obama
Some states have said they will not
follow President Obama’s recently
announced policy.
Why Some People Can’t Keep
Their Insurance Plans
Despite President Obama’s
assertion that people can keep their
health plan if they like it, some are
being forced to buy new plans.
26. regularity that creation of a WBS to define
the scope of the project will help ensure delivery of the
project’s objectives and outcomes.
Moreover, the more clearly the scope of the project is
articulated before the actual work begins,
the more likely the success of the project – ―…the intelligent
structure of work breakdowns is a
precursor to effective project management.” (Homer and
Gunn,1995, p. 84). Specifically, the
Planning Process Group begins with three essential steps –
Scope Planning (3.2.2.2), Scope
Definition (3.2.2.3) and Work Breakdown Structure
Development (3.2.2.4). (PMBOK® Guide -
Third Edition). The following discussion will examine the
current trends and practice regarding
Work Breakdown Structures.
The Importance of the WBS
Experienced project managers know there are many things that
can go wrong in projects
regardless of how successfully they plan and execute their
work. Component or full-project
failures, when they do occur, can often be traced to a poorly
developed or nonexistent WBS. A
poorly constructed WBS can result in adverse project outcomes
including ongoing, repeated
project re-plans and extensions, unclear work assignments,
scope creep or unmanageable,
frequently changing scope, budget overrun, missed deadlines
and unusable new products or
delivered features.
The WBS is a foundational building block to initiating,
27. planning, executing, and monitoring and
controlling processes used to manage projects as they are
described in the PMBOK® Guide—
Third Edition. Typical examples of the contribution the WBS
makes to other processes are
described and elaborated in the Practice Standard for Work
Breakdown Structures–Second
Edition.
To explain, there are many project management tools and
techniques that use the WBS or its
components as input (PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, Chapter
5, Section 5.3). For example, the
WBS utilizes the Project Charter as its starting point. The high-
level elements in the WBS should
match, word-for-word, the nouns used to describe the outcomes
of the project in the Scope
Statement. In addition, the Resource Breakdown Structure
(RBS) describes the project’s
resource organization and can be used in conjunction with the
WBS to define work package
assignments. The WBS Dictionary defines, details, and clarifies
the various elements of the WBS.
The Network Diagram is a sequential arrangement of the work
defined by the WBS and the
elements of the WBS are starting points for defining the
activities included in the Project
Schedule.
The WBS is used as a starting point for scope management and
is integral to other PMI
processes, and as a result, the standards that define these
processes explicitly or implicitly rely
on the WBS. Standards that take advantage of the WBS either
use the WBS as an input (e.g.,
29. The WBS is not a description of
the processes followed to perform the project… nor does it
address the schedule that defines
how or when the deliverables will be produced, but rather is
specifically limited to describing and
detailing the project’s outcomes or scope. The WBS is a
foundational project management
component, and as such is a critical input to other project
management processes and
deliverables such as activity definitions, project schedule
network diagrams, project and program
schedules, performance reports, risk analysis and response,
control tools or project organization.
Defining the WBS
The upper levels of the WBS typically reflect the major
deliverable work areas of the project,
decomposed into logical groupings of work. The content of the
upper levels can vary, depending
on the type of project and industry involved. The lower WBS
elements provide appropriate detail
and focus for support of project management processes such as
schedule development, cost
estimating, resource allocation, and risk assessment. The
lowest-level WBS components are
called Work Packages and contain the definitions of work to be
performed and tracked. These
can be later used as input to the scheduling process to support
the elaboration of tasks, activities,
resources and milestones which can be cost estimated,
monitored, and controlled.
A few of the key characteristics of high-quality Work
Breakdown Structures (Practice Standard for
30. Work Breakdown Structures–Second Edition) are outlined
below:
A central attribute of the WBS is that it is ―deliverable
orientated‖ (Berg and Colenso,
2000). The PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition defines a
deliverable as: ―Any unique and
verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that
must be produced to
complete a process, phase or project.‖ In this context,
―oriented‖ means aligned or
positioned with respect to deliverables, i.e., focused on
deliverables.
An additional key attribute of the WBS is that it is a
―…hierarchical decomposition of the
work…‖ Decomposition is ―a planning technique that
subdivides the project scope and
project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components,
until the project work
associated with accomplishing the project scope and
deliverables is defined in sufficient
detail to support executing, monitoring, and controlling the
work‖ (PMBOK® Guide—Third
Edition). This decomposition (or subdivision) clearly and
comprehensively defines the
scope of the project in terms of individual sub-deliverables that
the project participants
can easily understand. The specific number of levels defined
and elaborated for a
specific project should be appropriate for effectively managing
the work in question.
The 100% Rule (Haugan, 2002, p 17) is one of the most
important principles guiding the
35. oriented Work Breakdown Structures
as a basis for scope management and schedule development.
The difficulty they encounter…
making the logical association and transition from WBS to
project schedule, drives their
reluctance to adopt the practice. In fact, much of the available
documentation (e.g., (Pritchard
1998); (Rational Unified Process,
http://www.ts.mah.se/RUP/RationalUnifiedProcess/manuals/intr
o/im_diff.htm) for applying Work
Breakdown Structures to project scheduling actually suggests
the development of ―task-oriented‖
or ―process-oriented‖ Work Breakdown Structures to ease the
transition from WBS to project
schedule.
Demystifying linkages between the Deliverable-Oriented WBS
and Project Schedule
To correct and counter this confusing instruction, key guidance
to assist project managers can be
found in the PMBOK
®
Guide—Third Edition, Chapter 6. This chapter, Time
Management,
contains much of the information required to explain and
resolve the deliverable-oriented WBS –
to – Project Schedule transition challenge. Though somewhat
obscured by other important
concepts presented in this chapter, the core elements that show
the linkage between the
deliverable-oriented WBS and the project schedule are present.
The elements, extracted from
36. the chapter, that explain the transition include Activity
Definition, section 6.1; Activity Sequencing,
Section 6.2 and project Schedule Development, section 6.5 are
examined in detail and contain,
specifically, the fundamental concepts required to simplify the
process.
Activity Definition (section 6.1) describes the inputs, tools,
techniques and outputs
necessary to create the listing of activities that will be
performed to produce desired
project outcomes. The Project Time Management Overview
(figure 6-1, page 140) and
the detail found in this section clearly show the Scope
Statement, WBS and WBS
Dictionary as inputs to the Activity Definition process. Tools
for development of the
Activity List, Milestone List and remaining outputs of the
process include Decomposition,
Rolling Wave Planning and others. Illustrated simply, this can
be described as:
Input Process Output
Activity/Milestone List
Activity Sequencing (section 6.2) explains how the project’s
activities, milestones and
approved changes are used as inputs to the activity sequencing
process, while the tools
for developing the outputs are described, including the Project
Schedule Network
Diagram, updated Activity and Milestone Lists include various
38. Summarizing the information found in these sections:
The core elements that enable the elaboration and development
of the Project Schedule
begin with the Scope Statement, WBS and WBS Dictionary.
These inputs are taken through a decomposition process to
produce the project’s Activity
and Milestone Lists.
These in turn, are input elements to Network Diagramming that
produces the Project
Schedule Network Diagram and updated Activity / Milestone
Lists.
Finally, the Project Schedule Network Diagram, Updated
Activity and Milestone Lists are
then used as input to the project scheduling tools and
methodology to generate the
Project Schedule. Illustrated in simplified process-flow form as
before, the entire
process can be summarized as follows:
Input Process Output
Schedule
39. And again, this simplified view in block diagram form:
Input Process Output
Network Diagram Project Schedule
WBS / WBS
Dictionary
Exhibit 4 – WBS to Project Schedule
Transition
Putting These Concepts to Work
To illustrate how this process would be put into practice, a
simple example will be used. We will
presume for this discussion that the WBS elements listed in the
outline below are a few of the key
scope components derived from an initial home building
contract. Representing level 1, 2, 3 and
4, the high-level scope elements include the components of the
primary structure, the foundation,
exterior walls, roof, plumbing, electrical and interior walls.
The component element list – without
hierarchical structure appear to the project manager (from the
contractor) as follows;
House Project
41. truly the correct representation.
Working with the contractor, the project manager, then, would
arrange the high-level deliverables
for the House Project in the following manner:
1. House Project
1.1 Primary Structure
1.1.1 Foundation Development
1.1.1.1 Layout – Topography
1.1.1.2 Excavation
1.1.1.3 Concrete Pour
1.1.2 Exterior Wall Development
1.1.3 Roof Development
1.2 Electrical Infrastructure
1.3 Plumbing Infrastructure
1.4 Inside Wall Development: Rough Finish
Exhibit 5 – House Project WBS Elements – An Illustration
Here, in Exhibit 5, level 1 indicates the work called ―House
Project‖ represents 100% of the work
of the project. All other scope (WBS) elements associated with
the project would be subordinate
to the House Project element. At level 2, there are 4 major
components that make up the House
Project: Primary Structure, Electrical Infrastructure, Plumbing
Infrastructure and Inside Wall
Development. Level 3 shows the key components of the
Primary Structure: Foundation
Development, Exterior Wall Development and Roof
42. Development. And finally the Foundation
Development is decomposed into three work elements that
become level 4: Layout-Topography,
Excavation and Concrete Pour.
Granted, this is a highly simplified characterization of the work.
It is used here, however, to help
illustrate the WBS hierarchical concept, not necessarily the
proper breakdown of all the work
required to construct a home.
Identifying Dependencies between WBS Elements
Looking at this particular breakdown of the work, contractors,
project managers and homeowners
alike would likely recognize that if this were the work to be
completed, it would occur in a
prescribed order, with some elements coming before – and being
completed - before others
begin. For example, it would be very helpful to build the
foundation and walls before constructing
the roof. Though it isn’t mandatory to do it in this way,
building the foundation first and then the
walls; establishing this order would allow the roof to be
constructed on top of the walls – where it
will ultimately be completed and integrated to secure the
structure. Certainly this is not the only
approach to home construction – and the order can surely be
modified to accelerate the building
process, but for this illustration, we will presume a traditional
home construction project, and the
order would be: foundation, exterior walls, then roof.
Once the foundation, walls and roof are completed (and
assuming additional details such as
windows, doors and exterior finish are part of the work), the
45. Exhibit 6 – House Project High Level Scope Sequence
This exhibit shows how the project manager would use a
sequence representation – or an
illustrated dependency map to indicate that Foundation
Development (with its Work Packages,
Layout-Topography, Excavation and Concrete Pour) must
complete before the Exterior Wall
Development can begin, and that Roof Development depends on
the completion of the Exterior
Walls. Once the roof is complete, both the plumbing and
electrical work can begin, but the
Interior Walls would not start until the plumbing and electrical
are complete. (In reality, the word
―complete‖ here could mean ―roughed-in‖ where wires and
pipes are run to and from their
destinations, but there are no fixtures attached to them.) It is
important to note, the work
elements shown here are not tasks or activities, but rather
significant scope components that
logically lead and follow one-another. Once these elements
(Work Packages) are decomposed
via the process described earlier, the resulting tasks, activities
and milestones can be placed into
the project scheduling tool.
Taking the Process One Step Further – Introducing the concepts
of Inclusion and the
Scope Relationship Diagram
To further ease the transition from the deliverable-oriented
WBS to project schedule, we can
47. reflecting in graphic illustration, how they are developed and
listed in an outline, chart or WBS
template.
―Inclusion‖ as a dimension is used to show which elements are
―part of‖ larger work elements, as
well as clearly articulating which WBS elements are not ―part
of‖ the work of others. Said another
way, some work depicted by a WBS is intended to be seen as
being ―part of‖ a higher-order work
element, while other elements in the WBS are clearly not ―part
of‖ specific higher-order elements.
Using the example from the House Project above, we will take
another look at the hierarchical
outline for the work:
1. House Project
1.1 Primary Structure
1.1.1 Foundation Development
1.1.1.1 Layout – Topography
1.1.1.2 Excavation
1.1.1.3 Concrete Pour
1.1.2 Exterior Wall Development
1.1.3 Roof Development
1.2 Electrical Infrastructure
1.3 Plumbing Infrastructure
1.4 Inside Wall Development: Rough Finish
Describing this outline using the concept of ―inclusion‖, it is
48. easy to see that the WBS Elements
1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 – the Primary Structure, Electrical
Infrastructure, Plumbing Infrastructure and
Inside Wall Development are all ―part of‖ the House Project.
They are integral to the completion
of the project and are ―included in‖ the work. By the same
token, it is clear from the outline that
the elements 1.1.1.1, 1.1.1.2 and 1.1.1.3 are all ―part of‖ and
―included in‖ the work that makes up
the Foundation Development WBS element (1.1.1).
Our sequence diagram in Exhibit 6 shows the precedence and
dependency between these
elements, but does not clearly show which elements are actually
―part of‖ the scope of other
elements. In fact, if you examine Exhibit 6 carefully, you will
notice that some of the elements
have been left out of the diagram – for example, the level 1
WBS element House Project is not
included. Additionally, the first level 2 element, Foundation
Development is excluded, as are the
three level 4 elements, Layout, Excavation and Concrete Pour.
Why have they been excluded?
Because including them in this drawing would be confusing and
would disturb the illustration of
the dependencies that are present. How would it be possible in
Exhibit 6 to represent the level 1
or level 4 WBS elements without disturbing the logical flow of
the dependencies between the
relevant elements? In truth, it is nearly impossible to properly
include those elements in this
illustration. To correct this issue and explain, we will examine
the Foundation Development
elements closely.
In Exhibit 6 the Foundation Development elements at level 4,
50. Layout –
Topography
1.1.1.1
Foundation
Development
1.1.1
Exhibit 8 – Foundation Development WBS elements from the
House Project
In this excerpt, it’s difficult to clearly envision or understand
the relationship between the parent
and children WBS elements other than the fact that we have told
you the three elements at level
4 are children of the parent element Foundation Development –
which is not accurately
represented in Exhibit. If we were to link the parent, the
Foundation Development would appear
as simply another node in the sequence, when in actuality it
isn’t. In truth, the relationship
between the Foundation Development element at level 3 and its
children at level 4 is more clearly
shown in the textual, outline form in Exhibit 9.
1.1.1 Foundation Development
1.1.1.1 Layout – Topography
1.1.1.2 Excavation
1.1.1.3 Concrete Pour
51. Exhibit 9 – Foundation Development Outline from House
Project
Here, it is easy to recognize the parent-child relationship
between the level 3: Foundation
Development WBS element and the level 4 elements, Layout–
Topography, Excavation and
Concrete Pour. Because of the indentation of the level 4 WBS
elements under the parent
element, this outline form communicates to us and clearly
shows that Layout-Topography,
Excavation and Concrete Pour are actually ―part of‖ and
―included in‖ the work that is called
Foundation Development. Showing this in graphic format (see
Exhibit 10) using an alternative
view to represent this parent-child relationship may help
somewhat, but does not fully capture the
true relationship between the parent and child elements.
Excavation
1.1.1.2
Layout –
Topography
1.1.1.1
Concrete Pour
53. and precedence shown in Exhibit 8.
The resulting Scope Relationship Diagram reflects the added
dimension of Inclusion representing
these same WBS elements as follows in Exhibit 11.
Foundation Development
1.1.1
Excavation
1.1.1.2
Layout –
Topography
1.1.1.1
Concrete
Pour
1.1.1.3
Exhibit 11 – Scope Relationship Diagram from House Project
Foundation Development Segment
Here, in this Scope Relationship Diagram representation, the
Foundation Development WBS
element – 1.1.1 is larger and visually includes the lower level
54. elements 1.1.1.1, 1.1.1.2 and
1.1.1.3.
With the addition of arrows to show the scope sequence
described earlier, we are now able to
illustrate how scope elements are planned within the concept of
inclusion. In Exhibit 12 it is clear
to see that the three elements at level 4 are executed in
sequence ―within‖ or as ―part of‖ the
scope of the parent element, Foundation Development.
Foundation Development
1.1.1
Excavation
1.1.1.2
Layout –
Topography
1.1.1.1
Concrete
Pour
1.1.1.3
Exhibit 12 – Scope Relationship Diagram from House Project –
With Scope Sequence
Foundation Development Segment
57. Inside Wall
Development –
Rough Finish
1.4
Exhibit 13 – Scope Relationship Diagram for House Project
With this illustration, demonstrating or describing which WBS
elements are ―part of‖ others is
easy. The parent elements always include the child elements,
and appear as nested
representations of work within the Scope Relationship Diagram.
Moreover, it is easy to recognize
which WBS elements are both parent and child. Nesting the
scope elements clarifies the true
relationship between the elements, a representation that
previously could be illustrated only in
outline form.
To take this concept further, while the Scope Relationship
Diagram for the House Project enables
the visualization of the work ―included‖ within the scope of
each parent WBS element, it also
allows a more direct and straightforward transition from
deliverable-oriented WBS to project
schedule. This results from the additional clarity the Scope
Relationship Diagram provides, as it
represents the relationships between WBS elements graphically,
showing how they interact within
the entire scope of the project. Added benefits are also derived
from this WBS representation.
60. 1.1.1
Excavation
1.1.1.2
Layout –
Topography
1.1.1.1
Concrete
Pour
1.1.1.3
Exhibit 14 – Scope Relationship Diagram for House Project –
with Scope Sequence
Using this approach, the project manager is able to use a step-
wise process to create the linkage
between the components of the deliverable-oriented WBS and
the scope of the project, prior to
further decomposition and development of the Project Schedule.
Most importantly, representing
the WBS in this way may simplify the transition from WBS to a
Project Schedule we described at
the beginning of the chapter.
To conclude this discussion, we want to be sure you are able to
clearly see these two methods as
reliable ways to transition from the deliverable-oriented WBS to
61. the Project Schedule. So to
recap, a clear path can be drawn from deliverable-oriented WBS
to Project Schedule, if that path
is taken through a logical sequence of decomposition and
network diagramming. This concept is
represented in Exhibit 15, which is a repeat of the concepts we
discussed at the beginning of the
chapter.
Input Process Output
Network Diagram Project Schedule
WBS / WBS
Dictionary
Exhibit 15 – WBS to Project Schedule
Transition
As we have described, once the WBS is complete, illustrated
(documented) and placed under
change management control, it becomes the foundation for other
important aspects of the project,
including the project schedule, risk management plan, budget
and financial management plan,
quality plan, resource management plan and others. Beyond
this, the WBS plays a vital role in
the executing, monitoring, controlling and closeout phases of a
project, and in so doing,
transitions from being seen primarily as a planning tool, to an
active role, where the WBS
63. Is a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements
Is created by those doing the work
Contains 100% of the work defined by the scope or contract
and captures all deliverables
(Internal, External, Interim) in terms of work to be completed,
including Project
Management
Defines the context of the project, clarifies the work and
communicates project scope to
all stakeholders
Is expressed as an illustration, chart or outline, providing a
graphical or textual
breakdown
Arranges all major and minor deliverables in a hierarchical
structure - and is constructed
so that each level of decomposition contains 100% of the work
in the parent level
Should contain at least 2 levels
Uses nouns and adjectives – not verbs
Evolves along with the progressive elaboration of project
scope, up to the point of scope
baseline, and thereafter in accordance with project change
control - allowing for continual
improvement
Employs a coding scheme for each WBS element that clearly
identifies the hierarchical
64. nature of the WBS when viewed in any format
To develop effective Work Breakdown Structures and apply
them throughout the conduct and
duration of projects, the project manager should take the
guidance provided here and apply WBS
construction activities independently of the project schedule or
scheduling tools. To do this, the
project manager will reference a set of key documents to begin
the development of the WBS.
These include (and may not be limited to):
The project charter
The project problem statement or scope definition
Applicable contract or agreement documentation
Existing project management practice
Armed with these documents as the basis for WBS development,
the project manager will guide
the project team through the development of a deliverable-
oriented WBS, carefully relating all
WBS elements to these foundational documents and associating
work described by the WBS to
specific scope boundaries defined by them. These activities are
typically performed by engaging
the entire project team in ―brainstorming‖ or ―idea-
generation‖ sessions, using affinity
diagramming techniques and iterative decomposition to define
the WBS elements - all
independent of the project scheduling tool.
66. Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK
®
Guide, Third Edition.). Newtown
Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute Inc.
Work Breakdown Structures, Version 2.01, (November, 2004)
James R. Chapman,
retrieved 2/22/05, Website
http://www.hyperthot.com/pm_wbs.htm
Pritchard, Carl (1998), How to build a work Breakdown
Structure, The cornerstone of
Project Management. Arlington, Virginia: ESI International
Haugan, Gregory T. (2002), Effective Work Breakdown
Structures, Management
Concepts, Vienna, Virginia
Independent Verification and Validation White Paper
(December 2002) Macdonald
Bradley, Inc., retrieved 2/20/2005, Website:
http://www.mcdonaldbradley.com/comps/white%20papers/IVV
%20white%20paper.
pdf
Performance Based Contracting: Development of a Work
Statement (August, 2001),
68. development of PMI's Practice Standard for Work
Breakdown Structures, Second Edition, this much-
needed text expands on what the standard covers
and describes how to go about successfully
implementing the WBS within the project life
cycle, from initiation and planning through project
closeout.
Using a real-life project as an example throughout
the book, the authors show how the WBS first
serves to document and collect information during
the initiating and planning phases of a project.
Then, during the executing phase, the authors
demonstrate how the WBS transitions to an active
role of project decision-support, serving as a
reference and a source for control and
measurement.
69. Work Breakdown Structures: The Foundation for Project
Management Excellence
ISBN: 978-0-470-17712-9
http://www.pmi.org/Marketplace/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?GM
Product=00101082601
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-
0470177128.html
The project/The project information.docx
Health Insurance Market Place (healthcare.gov): A Project
Management Perspective
The information:
Use information from: 1) “From the Start, Signs of Trouble at
Health Portal (Which is in the attached PDF file)” and 2) “How
the Federal Exchange Is Supposed to Work, and How It Didn’t”
(graphic) (Which is in the attached PDF file) and the following
online articles:
3) http://www.cioinsight.com/it-management/project-
management/project-management-lessons-from-
healthcare.gov.html
70. 4) http://www.informationweek.com/strategic-
cio/healthcaregov-hard-earned-lessons-for-cios/d/d-id/1324456
to answer the following questions. In addition, be sure to
review: https://www.healthcare.gov
Provide well-supported claims and assertions that demonstrate
and understanding of project management processes with a
specific focus on “applying the work breakdown structure
(WBS) to the project management lifecycle (Which is in the
attached PDF file)”. Writing must be at a college level, and
responses must be clear and concise.
The questions:
1. As detailed specifically in (4), "Healthcare.gov is not just a
website …Healthcare.gov is a complex eligibility verification
and determination application that is integrated with a data
services hub that serves as a broker for all the requesters and
responses that are coming from those authoritative sources."
Speculate on how greater attention to WBS could have
supported a more successful rollout? In articulating your
response, provide a minimum of two (2) conceptual points and
one (1) specific example across each of the recognized lifecycle
phases of design, development, and deployment.
· Response should reflect an understanding of the nature, scale,
and scope of the effort, as detailed in the readings.
· Specific example may be “hypothetical” but should be
appropriate
71. 2. Select one (1) of the lifecycle phases discussed in Question
(1). Using the WBS in hierarchical outline form, offer a “high-
level” (simplified) instantiation of a breakdown of the work that
would be required to support the selected phase. Your
instantiation should include some examples through level 4.
(work packages)
· Again, response should reflect an understanding of the nature,
scale, and scope of the effort, as detailed in the readings.
· Think as an engineer with an understanding of the engineering
design process
3. As discussed in (3), “Beta can be your best friend. A beta site
might not have been feasible for HealthCare.gov, but a
minimally viable solution would have provided the environment
needed for developers to test and improve the integration and
the Website’s underlying technologies. Wherever possible, CIOs
should take advantage of user willingness to freely test beta
developments” Offer some specific project management insights
into how “beta” could be incorporated into the work of
Healthcare.gov. Revisit your response to Question (2) and
provide an iteration of your outline that includes appropriate
elements that would support an integration of beta
developments.
· Again, response should reflect an understanding of the nature,
scale, and scope of the effort, as detailed in the readings.
· Think as an engineer with an understanding of the engineering
design process: iterative nature of “doing” engineering
4. Provide a scope relationship diagram, with scope sequence
for your response to Question (3).
Responses must be typed in Times New Roman, size 12 font,
and double spaced. Text should be aligned left, or justified,
with one-inch margins on all sides. Page numbers should be
included in the top right-hand corner of each page. Pages should
72. be printed single-sided, and stapled in the upper left-hand
corner. Include a title page including your name; your name
should not appear anywhere else in the case study. Do not
include a page number on the title page. Questions should be
answered in the order they appear. All submissions should be
based on the provided articles; however, outside sources CAN
BE used to provide additional support. Cite appropriately using
IEEE style citations (excluding individual portion). All direct
quotes should appear in quotations, and must be cited. Failure
to do so will be considered plagiarism. All documents used,
including the provided articles, should appear in your
bibliography.
