Thesis Document14

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL
A PRACTICAL REVIEW OF THE FACTORS
AFFECTING A PROJECT’S SUCCESS OR FAILURE
FROM THEORY TO REALITY
Mark Staunton
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the award of
MSc in Strategic Management
DT349
College of Business
Dublin Institute of Technology
SEPTEMBER 2015
Supervisor: John McGrath

ii
Declaration
I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme
of study leading to the award of MSc In Strategic Management (Innovation
Management Stream)
______________________________________________________________________
is entirely my own work and has not been submitted for assessment for any academic
purpose other than in partial fulfilment for that stated above.
Signed: _____________________ Date: ________________
Mark Staunton. 18th
September 2015

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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank John McGrath for all the help he gave me in preparing this Thesis.
His help during our meetings assisted me greatly in keeping my Thesis focused on a
specific topic and gave me great insight on the approach to writing this Thesis. He
assisted me in identifying the correct Literature sources which I reviewed for this
Thesis. He also encouraged my endeavour to find individuals willing to complete a
survey, the results of which are outlined in the Thesis.
I would like to thank Professor Tom Cooney for his advice on how to begin a Thesis.
His invaluable insights on the best methodology for writing a Thesis, and tips for how
to focus in on a topic, were extremely useful.
Thank you to Dr. Phil Hanlon for her guidance throughout the year and help when it
was needed.
I would like to give a massive thank you to my parents and sister who helped me
throughout my 5 years in DIT and FH Aachen. They supported me both financially and
morally and encouraged me throughout the preparation, writing and the proof reading of
this Thesis. They assisted me in finding individuals I could interview and submit
questionnaires to. I would not have been able to get where I am today without their
support and certainly I would not have been able to complete this Thesis.
I would like to thank my semester one group members: Shane O’Connor, Stephen
Smith, Brian Kennedy, Jessie Tan Kiat Xin and Boon Khit Chuah, who really helped
with advice on various aspects of management; most importantly in relation to our
Research Methods module which was extremely useful in the collection of the practical
data. I would like to thank the various group members from semester two: Jonathon
Colgan, Alanna Eden, Jessie Tan Kiat Xin, Darren O’Reilly, Joseph McManus and
Shane O’Connor, who advised on aspects related to Human Resources and appropriate
managerial methods.

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I would like to thank all my school friends, particularly Jonathan and Myles who
supported me in this endeavour; they encouraged me to keep going when I wasn’t sure
if I would ever get this Thesis completed, and they gave me good advice when I needed
it most.
Finally to myself, I struggled when writing this Thesis and wondered if I would ever
finish it; but I put in the hours and endured to finish the Thesis.

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Table of Contents
PROJECT MANAGEMENT.............................................................................................i
FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL ....................................................................................i
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................iii
Table of Contents ..........................................................................................................v
Table of Illustrations, Tables and Graphs...................................................................viii
Abstract .........................................................................................................................x
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................1
1.1 History of Project Management..........................................................................2
1.2 Definitions...............................................................................................................5
1.2.1 What is Project Management? ..........................................................................5
1.2.2 What are PMBOK and PRINCE2?...................................................................5
1.2.3 What are the Key Success Factors (KSFs) for Project Management?..............6
1.2.4 What is Project Management in Organisations?...............................................7
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................9
2.1 The Project Manager (PM)....................................................................................10
2.2 Project Management Methodologies.....................................................................16
2.3 Project Management Processes .............................................................................21
2.4 Project Management Procedures ...........................................................................25
2.5 Project Management Approaches..........................................................................29
2.6 Factors Affecting Project Management.................................................................40
1. Internal Factors.................................................................................................40
2. External Factors................................................................................................42
2.7 Risk Management..................................................................................................43
2.8 Key Success Factors..............................................................................................50
2.9 Lessons Learnt.......................................................................................................53
CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY ................................................................................56

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3.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................57
3.2 Research Parameters..............................................................................................57
3.3 Research Design....................................................................................................58
3.4 Data Collection Methods.......................................................................................58
3.5 Secondary Data......................................................................................................59
3.6 Primary Data..........................................................................................................59
3.7 The Survey Process ...............................................................................................60
3.8 Respondent Profiles...............................................................................................61
3.9 The Interview Process ......................................................................................61
3.10 Respondent Profiles..........................................................................................62
3.11 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................63
CHAPTER 4 - ANALYSIS & RESULTS......................................................................64
4.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................65
4.2 Survey Findings by Section..............................................................................65
4.2.1 Overview.........................................................................................................65
4.2.2 Processes and Procedures ...............................................................................70
4.2.3 Factors Affecting Project Management ..........................................................72
4.2.4 Management of Risks and Audits...................................................................75
4.2.5 Key Success Factors .......................................................................................80
4.3 Interviews Findings by Section .............................................................................82
4.3.1 Getting To Know the PM................................................................................82
4.3.2 Methodologies ................................................................................................82
4.3.3 The Project Manager & The Project Sponsor.................................................84
4.3.4 After The Business Case.................................................................................84
4.3.5 Risks and Causes or Failure............................................................................85
4.3.6 Audits and Advice ..........................................................................................86
4.4 Conclusion to Survey and Interview .....................................................................87
CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................88

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5.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................89
5.2 Conclusions from Results and Analysis................................................................89
5.3 Recommendations for Future Research in this Area.............................................91
5.3.1 Recommendation 1 .........................................................................................91
5.3.2 Recommendation 2 .........................................................................................91
5.3.3 Recommendation 3 .........................................................................................92
5.3.4 Recommendation 4 .........................................................................................92
5.3.5 Recommendation 5 .........................................................................................93
5.4 Overall Conclusion................................................................................................93
APPENDICES ................................................................................................................94
APPENDIX 1 - SURVEY QUESTIONS....................................................................95
APPENDIX 2 – OUTPUT FROM SIX SURVEYS ...................................................96
APPENDIX 3 - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS............................................................109
APPENDIX 4 – OUTPUT FROM THREE INTERVIEWS.....................................110
BIBLIOGRAPHY & ILLUSTRATIONS.....................................................................127
BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................................128
ILLUSTRATIONS....................................................................................................134

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Table of Illustrations, Tables and Graphs
No. Title Page
Illustrations
1 Building the Pyramids ‘Project’ 2
2 A Modernist’s brief history of Project Management 3
3 PMBOK Guide Cover 5
4 Example of Knowledge Management Factors used by
NASA
7
5 The Multi-tasking PM 10
6 Role of the PM 12
7 Project Communication Management 14
8 Project Management Life Cycle 17
9 Lean Methodology 18
10 Scrum Master 20
11 Example of Project Management Processes 21
12 The Project Cycle 24
13 Snapshot of the PMBOK Process Guide 25
14 Project Flow that Procedures must mirror 26
15 PRINCE2 Process Model 31
16 CCPM Buffer Approach 33
17 Agile for Dummies 35
18 Lean 36
19 Traditional Approach 37
20 EPM Approach 38
21 BRPM Approach 39
22 Theoretical Internal / External Factor Model 42
23 Example of a Risk Catalogue 44
24 Ishikawa Diagram 45
25 Example of a Risk Matrix 46

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No. Title Page
Tables
1 Waste as defined by Lean 37
2 SWOT Analysis 40
3 Examples of Major Project Failures 49
4 Top 3 Factors affecting Project Management 72
Graphs
1 Percentage of Respondents with a Qualification 65
2 Overall Respondents Qualifications 66
3 Percentage of Respondents by Location 67
4 Industry Sector of Respondents 68
5 Methodology Used in Respondent’s Firms 69
6 Respondents views on Key Processes 70
7 If 39% (of respondents) see Initiation as Key, what are the
Key Initiation Steps?
71
8 Means of Managing Time and People 73
9 Key External Factors Impacting Projects by % 74
10 When are Project Risks Captured 75
11 Project Audit carried out by % 76
12 Lessons Learnt from Previous Projects 77
13 Do Project Audits add value? 78
14 Are Project Audits readily available? 79
15 Key Success Factors 80
16 Percentage of Projects that deliver Benefits 81

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Abstract
Title: A Practical Review of the Factors Affecting a project’s success or failure
from theory to reality
Author: Mark Staunton
The Literature Review has been collated into the relevant sections which were observed
as providing the most important Project Management success factors. While the
relevant Literature has been utilised for the most in-depth critique, it is important to note
other key success factors were identified and are briefly referred to in this dissertation.
The aim of this dissertation is to review Project Management through the available
Literature, which has been carefully researched, and to determine why Project
Management is so important that organisations have project management methodologies
and systems in place when carrying out projects.
It is important, by the end of this Thesis, the factors leading to success when carrying
out projects are clear. To achieve this, there is a need to determine the processes and
procedures which lead to the success of projects. To assist with this, the author carried
out 3 interviews and 60 surveys. The relevant responses have been analysed in order to
extrapolate pertinent results to verify the author’s conclusions.
The Research Question is based on what the author of this study has observed as a
missing link between the reality of Project Management and the theories put forward by
various authors. The question has evolved throughout the preparation of this Thesis, due
to the enormity of research reviewed and required for the Literature Review, from
which many theories were explored.
The Research Question put forward by the author of this Thesis has been formulated,
and in the end answered, is:
‘What are the Key Success Factors which lead to, and ensure, throughout a
project’s life cycle, successful project management outcomes in organisations?’
Furthermore, based on the number of responses to the primary research, only six of the
sixty surveys have been included in the Appendices and all 3 interviews, which were
conducted, are included.

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1.1 History of Project Management
Today there is an abundance of Project Management theories, dating back to around the
latter part of the 20th century. According to the Literature, Project Management was
brought into common practise in the 1980s. This doesn’t suggest the concepts and
practices of Project Management first came into being in the 1980s. According to Garel
“Project management raises the dual issue of envisaging a future undertaking and the
act of making it happen” (Garel, 2013).
In business terms developing an objective or goal and ensuring it is met by practical
means. Gauthier and Ika (2012, P.13) said “Ever since project management has become
a field of study, projects have been regarded by most project management writers as a
universal feature of human existence and a prominent transhistorical phenomenon that
has always existed” (Ika, 2012).
Based on what Gauthier and Ika said it is clear that Project Management can be dated
back to before Project Management was titled as such. Thinking back to ancient times,
there is a case to say the building of the Pyramids could be called a “project”, and the
Egyptians incorporated aspects of ‘Project Management’ in the building of the
Pyramids; this must certainly have been the case (see Illustration 1).
Illustration 1 – Building the Pyramids ‘Project‘

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Furthermore, Maylor and Söderlund (2012, pp. 694) point out “That research has
become too occupied with novel approaches, framing every technique and approach as
completely new, thereby making limited use of existing theory and prior research. The
result is a breakdown of knowledge accumulation” (Maylor, 2012).
Maylor and Söderlund believe a material issue with project management theory is that
every time a new theory is developed, it does not build on the existing foundations.
While this helps with creating innovative methodologies, it limits organisation’s ability
to choose one based on a proven success rate or even extensive research to prove its
value in delivering consistent benefits.
To fully understand how Project Management today relates to projects in the past,
which wouldn’t generally have been considered as projects, understanding what a
project is should be useful. According to Turner a project is:
“An endeavour in which human, material and financial resources are
organised in a novel way, to undertake a unique scope of work, of given
specification, within constraints of cost and time, so as to achieve beneficial
change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives” (Turner, 1993).
With Turner in mind, it is easy to understand how far back Project Management really
goes (and not as depicted in Illustration 2 below). While it may not have been termed
‘Project Management’ at the time, the activity would have similar attributes that we
understand in project management today.
Illustration 2 – A modernist’s brief history of Project Management

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Now that the history of Project Management before the 1980s has been established, it is
important to note how this has affected today’s project management theories and
practise. As can be seen later in Lessons Learned, audit and review, activities are a
crucial part of any project, i.e. learning from past experiences of success and failure.
The question remains, as pointed out by Maylor and Söderlund, that many authors
define their theories as new, rather than building on and improving existing theories and
methodologies.
In Gauthier and Ika’s article they have paraphrased Joffre et al. when they say:
“Early writers were convinced that projects were designed to serve progress
and that project management would ensure controllability. This remains the
dominant view of project management. As a consequence, projects are, like
project management, figures of modernity (Joffre et al., 2006)” (Ika, 2012).
This continues to be true today, as the aim of Project Management is to attempt to
control the variables having an effect on a project’s success. This will become more
evident in the Literature Review. Joffre et al. say this can be verified through the
strategic management approach:
“Hence, modern project management emphasizes project planning and control
and, therefore, setting up clear project objectives and constraints at the
beginning of the project. This clearly links modern project management to the
scientific management approach (Joffre et al., 2006)” (Ika, 2012).
Joffre’s approach is aiming to improve and optimise on the ‘Time, Cost and Quality
Triangle’. This triangle covers a broad range of specific Project Management Key
Success Factors (KSFs). As Project Management has become one of the most dominant
disciplines in organisations today, it is no wonder there has been so much research
required. Project Management is now defined as a separate discipline to Operations,
where it was previously lumped in as an operational activity. The separation of Project
Management and Operations allows research on project management to be more defined
and ensures analysis gathered is less industry specific. Unfortunately, many articles are
still industry specific. If the combined research was put together, conceptually a general
project management theory for effective management of projects could be developed.

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1.2 Definitions
Some of the key reference definitions are set out below. These will be referred to
throughout the Literature Review. These definitions are a guide to assist in
understanding the theories used in Project Management.
1.2.1 What is Project Management?
According to the Project Management Institute (PMI):
“Project management, is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to
execute projects effectively and efficiently. It’s a strategic competency for
organizations, enabling them to tie project results to business goals — and thus,
better compete in their markets” (Project Management Institute Inc., 2015).
For a successful project an organisation, and in particular the Project Manager (the PM
or PMs), needs to ensure the right set of knowledge, skills and techniques are acquired
and used on a project.
1.2.2 What are PMBOK and PRINCE2?
Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) “is a book which presents a set of
standard terminology and guidelines for project management”, (Project Management
Institute Inc., 2015).
Illustration 3 – PMBOK Guide Cover

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PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments) is a “process-based method for
effective project management” (ILX Group plc., 2015).
Combined, these resources provide organisations with an overall guide to running
generic projects. Each organisation should adopt an appropriate methodology to better
suit their projects. This may not encompass every aspect of these resources. Therefore,
PMs should be aware of other techniques they will need to consider and include, and
how to best combine these techniques, with the appropriate methodology for the
organisation.
1.2.3 What are the Key Success Factors (KSFs) for Project Management?
According to Cooke-Davies, 2002, authors such as De Wit have made two clear
distinctions for projects. The first distinction is between project success and project
management success. Davies said that project success is “measured against the overall
objectives of the project” and project management success is “measured against the
widespread and traditional measures of performance against cost, time and quality”
(Cooke-Davies, 2002). The distinction is therefore between success criteria (i.e. delivery
of project benefits) and success factors (i.e. the measures by which the project
performance is assessed). According to Davies;
Success criteria is “the measures by which success or failure of a project or business
will be judged”, and
Success factors are “those inputs to the management system that lead directly or
indirectly to the success of the project or business” (Cooke-Davies, 2002).
It is important to note it is the combination and interaction between these distinctions
that is important. An organisation cannot determine what the KSFs should be without
first determining the criteria for success.
According to the Literature, there are many factors which contribute to the success of a
project. Throughout the Literature there have been four KSFs which have been
identified more than others:
1. People Management;
2. Knowledge Management (see Illustration 4);
3. Financial Management; and
4. Time Management

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These four KSFs are covered in more detail in this Thesis.
Illustration 4 - Example of Knowledge Management Factors used in NASA
1.2.4 What is Project Management in Organisations?
Project Management, has grown in importance in organisations more than other
disciplines, with Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance coming a close second
but both having a dependency on Project Management to effect change. Organisations
have recognised that Project Management needs to be treated as a separate and key
discipline from operations.
Shi argues that:
“How to implement and improve Project Management in the “right way” is still
a relevant topic to study. One important issue in this topic is that Project
Management is highly contingent on the organisational context, such as
structure of business or industry sector, size, and its environment” (G.
Fernandes, 2014).

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This demonstrates how important the right Project Management approach, relevant to
the organisation, is to a project. There is no one size fits all in terms of Project
Management; one key aspect organisations need to understand is adapting to
circumstances is critical. To adapt to the environment both internally, e.g. in terms of
the available resources, and externally, e.g. in terms of the factors which will affect the
success of a project, are business necessities.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

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2.1 The Project Manager (PM)
According to PMBOK, the Project Manager is “The person assigned by the performing
organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives”
(Project Management Institute, 2013).
Depending on the size of the organisation the responsibility for a project may rest with a
Project Sponsor to whom the PM reports. The organisation may have a Steering
Committee of key stakeholders, normally chaired by the Project Sponsor. In smaller
organisations, a PM may report to an Executive Committee and, in some cases, the PM
is themselves the Subject Matter Expert (SME) who combines project management with
other duties. In this dissertation the focus is on the role of the PM.
A project should commence by ensuring the right person is in charge; that person is the
PM. PMs need to have specific leadership characteristics in order to ensure a project’s
success. According to Dulewicz and Higgs, 2005 “Leadership characteristics are one of
the most commonly researched human behavioural subjects” (Higgs, 2005). In 2003,
Malcolm Higgs identified six major schools of thought. These included trait,
behaviour, contingency, visionary, emotional intelligence, and competency schools
(Higgs, 2003).
Illustration 5 – The multi-tasking PM

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So why is there evidence of some organisations putting the wrong person in charge? In
some organisations, they allow the person who has the most knowledge of a subject, the
SME, to run a project, and in the vast majority of companies it is the most senior
employee who is put in charge.
PMs have been referred to as ‘change agents’ by authors such as Lundberg. The reason
behind this is that PMs need to make the objectives of a project their own and use their
skills and knowledge to motivate teams. Many authors have asked, i.e. what makes a
good PM?
According Goffee and Jones (2000), ‘in 1999 over 2,000 books were written on the
topic of leadership’ (Jones, 2000). They added they have yet to see any truth about
effective leadership other than the four traits that almost everyone agrees leaders need;
these include vision, energy, authority and strategic vision (Goffee, 2006). They
discussed four unexpected qualities they found in their study that inspirational leaders
have “leaders who selectively show their weaknesses, leaders who rely heavily on
intuition to gauge the appropriate timing and course of their actions, leaders who
manage employees with something the authors called tough empathy, and finally
leaders who reveal their differences” (Jones, 2006). While the authors have not
specifically linked these to PMs, based on other reading, as can be seen below from
Geoghegan and Dulewicz, the characteristics relate directly to the characteristics of
PMs.
Geoghegan and Dulewicz said there is a strong relationship between leadership
characteristics and project success, (Dulewicz, 2008). Higgs in 2003 identified four
issues organisations need to consider “The first is changes in societal values, the
second is changes in investor focus, the third is challenges in implementing
organisational change, and the fourth issue is awareness of the impact of stress”
(Higgs, 2003). In order to deal with these organisational issues, and based on the
Literature cited, these are several characteristics of a good PM. Below are some of the
characteristic outlined in an article from the PMI:
1. “Show their worth;
2. Understand business strategy;
3. Overcome hurdles; and
4. Improve team performance” (Project Management Institute, 2015).

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The first trait, Show their worth, looks at how any PM demonstrates capabilities to
deliver change and successfully meet delivery criteria.
The second trait, Understand business strategy, looks at how PMs need to envision
how a project will align to the business strategy. The aim of any project should be to
enhance a business’ capabilities; a project must align with the strategic direction or
requirements of an organisation. If the PM fails to align to the business strategy, they
will normally fail to deliver the expected benefits and risk wasting time and resources.
The third trait, Overcome hurdles, relates to PMs being able to overcome situations as
they may arise at any point during a project. A PM needs resilience in managing and
influencing key stakeholders; making the most of challenges and being solution
focused. The PM may need to identify innovative solutions, thinking on their feet,
which will ensure a project can still meet its objectives.
The fourth trait, Improve team performance, looks at how PMs must work to ensure a
team’s performance meets expectations. This is crucial to ensure quality standards are
met; time objectives are kept, and the project completes successfully. It is the PMs job
to ensure the team has the resources and tools needed, within reason, to perform at
optimal capacity and within budget (see Illustration 6 below).
Illustration 6 – Role of the PM

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Since the characteristics of PMs has been discussed above, it is also important to note
how this fits with the overall role of the PM. Some aspects of the PM’s role include:
1. Identify Stakeholders
2. Communicate Plan
3. Distribute Information
4. Manage Expectations
5. Report
1. Identifying stakeholders is important to ensure the right people are engaged in
a project, understand the objectives, and can monitor progress and the benefits a
project will deliver. In large organisations the stakeholders could include, inter alia,
shareholders, CEO, specific departments, staff to be affected by the outcome of a
project, customers, etc. These are just some high level project stakeholders, but the
list can be extensive in some organisations. As a consequence, stakeholder
management is the key.
2. Communication is also a critical role a PM is responsible for. The PM must
ensure everyone is clearly communicated to on the plans, fully understand what their
roles are, and how the project will affect them. The communication strategy needs to
be planned and agreed with all stakeholders. This strategy needs to consider the most
appropriate form of communication; in certain cases face-to-face discussion may be
preferable to, say, e-mail updates e.g. where a lot of explanation is required and
facilitates question and answer engagement.

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Illustration 7 – Project Communication Management
3. Distribute information
There are three inputs into this process:
1. The Project Plan, which should incorporate the Communication Plan
2. Performance reports; these provide essential information which are continuously
monitored and controlled by the PM and key stakeholders
3. Organisational documents, e.g. policies, procedures, guidelines, lessons learned
from previous similar projects, databases, contact information, or any templates
for communication purposes
The key output is updates – providing updates from the inputs and any changes in the
information used or required by the project. The distribution tools include a range of
processes, e.g. formal reporting, emails, face to face meetings, presentations, notice
boards, intranet, walkthroughs, etc.
4. Managing expectations; PMs are often tasked with delivering fast and cheaply.
A project plan with clearly undeliverable milestones, resource assumptions, etc. will
create unrealistic expectations from the key stakeholders. Setting realistic deadlines
and budgets, agreed by all stakeholders, is critical. If a PM undertakes that a project
will be delivered in X weeks, then this is the expectation, particularly if that project’s
timeline has knock-on implications for an organisation. The same is true on budgeting,
PMs need to be realistic; picking a very low figure to impress management is

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disastrous if it can never be achieved. Equally, picking a figure too high will become
unrealistic for budget approval purposes.
5. Finally a role which has been studied extensively is on reporting. Having clear
reporting allows project’s progress to be monitored and demonstrates targets are
being met. The reporting element mirrors that of Distribution of Information, as it will
comment on project risks, challenges, dependencies, etc. So all stakeholders have a
clear picture on progress, and next steps, it is important PMs set out exactly the status
of a project, and cross dependencies are fully elaborated and understood. Reporting is
focused on the critical path to delivery of a project.
Based on this understanding of the PMs Role, it is clear the role is something that needs
to be clearly determined up-front by a Project Sponsor (or the equivalent responsible
person) and the most competent PM put in charge of each project. It is crucial to get this
right, as the PM will make immediate key decisions, which will have a knock on effect
throughout the project. Also ensuring the PM is aware of all the internal and external
factors that could affect a project allows The PM to make more informed decisions.

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2.2 Project Management Methodologies
A methodology is a set of principles, tools and practices which can be used to guide
processes to achieve a particular goal. PMBOK defines a methodology as “a system of
practises, techniques, procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline”
(Project Management Institute, 2013).
Once an organisation has formed its project management team, they must decide what
methodology would best suit the team in executing a project1
. In Binders ‘Global
Project Management Book’, he states after forming a project team the organisation
should look at investigating current methodologies, define their methodology and
finally promote the methodology, (Binder, 2007). Given that various industries have
different business objectives and requirements, organisations need to tailor
methodologies to best suit their needs, as suggested by Binder. When promoting the
methodology, an organisation must ensure it is accessible to everyone and can be clearly
understood. Providing training to key internal stakeholders and SMEs on the
organisations methodology is advisable. There are four general methodologies which
feature in most Literature:
 PRINCE2;
 Project Life-Cycle Methodology;
 Lean Development; and
 Agile Methodologies (e.g. SCRUM)
PRINCE2 is one of the most common methodologies used in Ireland, UK and Europe.
Many authors cite that, the combination of PRINCE2 and PMBOK, allows for a more
complete methodology approach for PMs. PRINCE2 focuses on a process based
approach, (Bert Hedeman, 2009). It was originally developed by the UK government for
their own use; however its success in commercial businesses has made it the de facto
methodology for Europe-wide private businesses.
See Project Management Approaches for greater detail on PRINCE2 and PMBOK.
1
In mature organisations, with a set methodology, it is likely the establishment of the project team will
come after the decision on the methodology, as the internal and external hiring policy would be targeted
at project management resources with experience in the organisation’s methodology.

17
Illustration 8 – Project Management Life Cycle
The Project Life-Cycle Methodology (PLCM) is the second methodology covered
(see example in Illustration 8 above). Many PMs determined there are four main phases
to the PLCM, Initiation, Planning, Execution and Closure. According to PMBOK the
Project Life Cycle is “The series of phases that represent the evolution of a product,
from concept through delivery, growth, maturity, and to retirement” (Project
Management Institute, 2013).
Labuschagne and Brent said, “Companies, which are successful in project management,
all use a company-specific, simple and well-defined project management framework
that defines a staged approach for all projects under all circumstances. The framework
specifies major activities and deliverables for each project phase as well as guideline
questions for the phase end reviews or gates” (Brent, 2005). This supports the
importance of the steps below and how crucial they are for the success of a project.
1. Initiation looks at the commencement of a project including developing a business
case, conducting feasibility studies, developing a project charter, pick the project
team, set up a project office and review of the overall initiation phase.
2. Planning looks at developing various business, resource, financial, production and
risk plans, amongst others.
3. Execution looks at the project delivery. This includes initiating tasks and monitoring
and controlling various processes such as time, cost, and risk management.

18
4. Closure looks at the processes relating to completing / shutting down a project. This
phase includes closing individual tasks, transferring employees to new projects, hand
over to business as usual, and reviewing the project.
The Project Life-Cycle Methodology is useful for PMs, as it guides them from
commencement of a project to its conclusion.
The third methodology is Lean Development. This methodology looks at achieving the
lowest possible cost by cutting out waste in resources and budget. Organisations need to
optimise their operations and supply chains due to intense competition. This
methodology is useful for PMs operating on tight budgets and resources. It is crucial
PMs use every resource available to them strategically and minimise wastage. The
methodology is used frequently in manufacturing projects, as there tends to be more
demand on resources.
Illustration 9 – Lean Methodology

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Toyota is an example of an organisation that has successfully implemented Lean
development methodologies. According to Arif-Uz-Zaman:
“It is designed to eliminate waste in every area extending from production to
customer relations, product design, supplier networks and factory management.
Its target is to incorporate less human effort, less inventory, less time to develop
products, and less space to become highly responsive to customer demand while
producing top quality products in the most efficient and economic manner
possible” (Arif‐Uz‐Zaman, 2013).
As Arif-Uz-Zaman suggests, if done correctly, this methodology is very effective in
optimising projects and cutting costs.
According to Meredith et al. ‘Agile Project Management was developed to deal more
effectively with the complexity of modern business organisations’ (Mantel, 2012). The
fourth methodology looks at Agile Management focusing on SCRUM, which is a
component of ‘Agile Project Management’. SCRUM comes from rugby terminology,
where a scrum is an analogy for teamwork. Instead of looking to streamline operations
as with Lean, this plans to keep operations versatile. Cervone said “in terms of agile
project management, a Scrum is simply an agile, lightweight process for managing and
controlling software and product development in rapidly changing environments”.
He went further to say:
“For example, agile project management Scrums are intentionally iterative,
incremental processes that are predicated on a team-based approach. Given
that systems today are usually developed in ﬂuid and rapidly changing
environments, one of the major reasons for using an iterative process is to help
control the chaos that can result from conﬂicting interests and needs within the
project team” (Cervone, 2011).
This means the SCRUM methodology is adaptive to the environment but within its own
defined process. This methodology allows PMs to constantly change plans to better suit
the environment affecting a project.

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Illustration 10 – Scrum Master
The SCRUM methodology, which is brief, focused and results driven, looks at
uncertainty and develops a path for PMs to follow; with the ability to adapt to
circumstances. There are three components to the SCRUM methodology.
1. Roles. Assigning roles is crucial; it means members of a project have direction and a
time frame to complete tasks.
2. Process Component. Follows a similar format to the project life-cycle methodology.
3. Artefacts Component. Considers a list of unfinished project tasks which must be
prioritised, or as it is referred to ‘the living backlog’.
All four methodologies outlined above have similarities and differences. A combination
of aspects of each can lead to an overall methodology which allows organisations to
adapt during projects, but also follow a standard process to reduce waste and costs. No
one methodology is uniquely better than another, however it is clear some are more
industry/task specific. The SCRUM methodology is more beneficial for technology
orientated firms and Lean Development methodology is better suited manufacturing.
The similarity in all four methodologies is they follow a path from initiation to closing a
project.

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2.3 Project Management Processes
According to PMBOK processes are “A systematic series of activities directed towards
causing an end result such that one or more inputs will be acted upon to create one or
more inputs” (Project Management Institute, 2013). There are many project
management processes, the most common of which are the processes outlined in
PMBOK. In considering processes, two questions are relevant;
What are project management processes?
What is the importance of project management processes to a project’s success?
Project Management processes define how a project will be run and ensure the project
completes successfully. Outlining a project’s processes at the commencement of a
project is part of the PM’s role. The PM must decide the most appropriate processes for
the project and how they will be utilised. Outlined in this section is a comprehensive
look at areas that require project processes and why they are important. PMs need to
develop processes for each of the following:
1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Execution
4. Monitor & Control
5. Closing
6. Project Audits
Illustration 11 – Example of Project Management Processes

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Many projects are forced on organisations, e.g. changes in regulations; hence initiation
in such cases may be about defining the requirements and means and options for
delivery. Such projects are often strictly time bound and impact an organisation’s ability
to do business. So the initiation phase can be multi-faceted.
1. Project processes play a crucial role in the initiation stage of a project. Initiation
looks more at the design and idea generation phase and processes that encourage
realistic and actionable ideas. A process to facilitate idea generation could include
surveying potential users and determining their needs, e.g. typical in technology
companies. Other processes may be used, and are appropriate in a broad range of
organisations, include giving designers a blank canvas for ideas, brainstorming
sessions, or market research. With these types of processes, it is essential for
organisations to ensure designers know the primary objectives of the organisation.
An example of what shouldn’t happen with a blank canvas is for a drinks company to
allow designers to look into developing mobile phones.
2. The second area in which project processes play a crucial role is planning. As with
initiation, this phase looks at activities before the project delivery commences. The
Plan needs to outline each process for managing the project, processes for decision
making and roles and responsibility. Processes for communication are established in
this stage. Ensuring the person required to make decisions is accessible to project
participants in the planning this stage of a project is crucial. The Plan needs to
articulate all cross-dependencies. There is a wide range of process activities in this
stage including, Business and Technical Specifications, Risk logs, budget approval,
etc., which permit the project to move to the execution stage.
3. The third area is in the execution of a project. After Approval and Planning the PM
executes the project in order to achieve project’s objectives. Each member of the
project team carries out their own tasks per the schedule. The PM oversees the
detailed project schedule to track the project’s overall progress. During the execution
phase, there are many reporting activities. The organisation, e.g. the Steering
Committee, will require weekly status reports on progress. During execution, it is
essential to track costs versus budget. There may be multiple deliveries during the
execution phase. Usually, deliverables are not one-off leading to the end of the
project but are stepping stones on which other tasks depend.

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4. The fourth area in which project processes play a crucial role is in monitoring and
control. Transcending the project life cycle, delivery of the project must be fully
monitored and controlled. The control aspect is generally ensuring the project is
adhering to plan and specifications. Each deliverable needs a form of quality control
and assurance which requires a test plan, including in some cases User Acceptance
Testing (UAT). The PM may likely also have a range of key performance indicators
(KPIs) within the plan. All deliverables will have their own validation criteria.
Sometimes there are specialists responsible for developing testing, such as UAT, or
output quality assurance in the output.
5. The fifth area is the closing of a project. This considers everything from analysing
hand-over to live to the success of the project. It is crucial, when shutting down a
project the organisation does not lose valuable assets or knowledge which may be
needed in the future. The PM should ensure the closing phase is as carefully planned
as the initiation phase.
6. The sixth area is project audits and. This should ensure the benefits / objectives
have been delivered; the project has followed its agreed stages including timelines
and budget, any issues or delivery challenges are fully understood, including the root
cause and lessons learnt, and recorded for future projects. Process Analysis is “a
process that follows the steps outlined in the process improvement plan to identify
needed improvements” (Project Management Institute, 2013). With this in mind it is
clear that audits need to be done for each step of the project.
Finally, while having the right processes for each phase is individually important, it is
equally important processes work in tandem and drive a project along its predetermined
critical path.

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Illustration 12 – The Project Cycle

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2.4 Project Management Procedures
PMBOK states procedures are “An established method of accomplishing a consistent
performance or result, a procedure typically can be described as the sequence of steps
that will be used to execute a process” (Project Management Institute, 2013). Project
Management Procedures are documented guidelines a project is delivers. These
procedures vary from project to project depending on need. It is most likely, if an
organisation develops a set of project procedures, these will be re-used on similar
projects and be built upon based on past experience. For example, a Mobile Phone
company may use the same procedures to develop a new phone which they previously
used for a previously successful development project.
Illustration 13 below outlines an example of key areas procedures should cover.
Illustration 13 – Snapshot of the PMBOK Process Guide for Process Groups and
Knowledge Areas for which procedures are required

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The procedures need to consider the flow of the project; see illustration 14.
Illustration 14 – Project flow that procedures must mirror
Procedures are required when conducting all of the following stages (this is not an
exhaustive list):
 Organisational Planning. The procedures here include the steps to be taken in
originating a plan, which should be involved in the planning process and set times for
on-going review of the plan. Project Management Plan “The document that describes
how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled” (Project Management
Institute, 2013).
 Financing. The procedures include establishing the budget, its allocation for each
task, setting cost thresholds, and procedures to account for all money spent in the
project to prevent miss-management.
 Agreements. Considers the procedures involved in reaching an agreement with
suppliers and / or customers.
 Schedule. Scheduling is crucial to adhere to the critical path. Time management
procedure focuses on tasks being completed on time or risk future tasks being
delayed. A procedure to manage ‘change control’, i.e. enforced changes to the

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schedule will also be put in place together with a procedures to ensure suppliers
deliver on time or face penalty clause.
 Plan of Execution. This looks at how, who and when a project performs. Ensuring a
project starts at the correct time, with the right people and starts in the right direction
is key. The plan of execution should lay out the procedures for each task.
 Cost & Progress Reports. This looks at procedures for keeping the project on track.
Standard formats include developing project budget performance reports, risk
analysis reports, status review reports, etc.
 Legal. Where applicable, legal specialists need to be contracted.
 Closure. This covers procedures for (a) hand-over to live and (b) post-delivery
assessment.
a. Applies to contracts, compliance with the law, both locally and abroad if a
project is based overseas. If handover is not carried out correctly, in this step, it
will most likely negatively impact the view of the entire project.
b. Post-Delivery Assessments are very important to understanding whether a
project followed its governance, procedure and delivered what was expected. It
is usually evident if a project was a failure, at a high level, but there may be
many lessons learnt at a micro-level that should be captured. There needs to be
specific measurement procedures against which a PM can determine if a project
was a success or failure.
Looking more broadly at the planning phase procedures are needed to (a) follow a
process for sizing the resourcing requirements or constraints and (b) to inform and guide
the budgeting process. In other words, ensuring the cost is relative to the project’s scope
and size. Clear procedures need to be in place to prevent budget over-runs. Procedures
may need to consider if a feasibility study is required. If a project could cost more than
the possible benefits, the project may simply not be viable. An organisation’s outside
customers need to be part of the feasibility study to determine will “Return on
Investment (ROI)” for products which will be sold externally be sustainable.
Few projects have unlimited resources available, with the possible exception of a
regulatory change imperative to doing business. If an organisation cannot proceed,
based on available resources, to consider all other delivery options, such as outsourcing
or forming a strategic alliance with another firm. If all else fails, organisations and PMs

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need to have a procedure in place for making a decision to proceed, if not viable, e.g.
go/no go procedure.
PMs must have procedures for the ‘Division of Responsibility’. PMs must have
procedures for assigning work stream manager(s) to ensure each aspect of the project is
conducted as planned; these managers may be project or technical analysts responsible
for critical steps in the process. The procedures must facilitate participants
understanding their delegated responsibilities to get the job completed on time and to
budget.
Pinto states that “Rules and procedures are central to any discussion of cross-functional
cooperation because they offer a means for coordinating or integrating activities that
involve several functional units” (Pinto, 2013).
He goes on to say that “Organizational rules and procedures are defined as formalized
processes established by the organization that mandate or control the activities of the
project team in terms of team membership” (Pinto, 2013).
For of Human Resources (HR), the PM needs to outline procedures for participants
working on a project, to communicate all issues to them, and/or address the needs of
participants with regards to the work they are carrying out. Specified timelines must be
laid out, by the PM in the procedures, to give updates on the overall project status and to
communicate clearly what needs to be achieved and when it needs to be achieved.
According to Pinto:
“One method for influencing project management culture is to create a rulebook
or system of procedures for employees to clarify acceptable behaviour. The idea
behind rules and procedures is to signal companywide standards of behaviour to
new employees” (Pinto, 2013).
Procedures are crucial throughout the entirety of any project. Having procedures in
place to guide PMs and employees through the process should help minimise errors.

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2.5 Project Management Approaches
“Koskela and Howell argue that for speedy projects, traditional project management is
simply counterproductive; it creates self-inflicted problems that seriously undermine
performance” (Warren, 2009).
This means in today’s environment, approaches to project management need to be
dynamic and not following a strict rigid approach. Set out below are eight of the most
commonly used Project Management approaches. While presented as unique in their
own right, many aspects of the approaches are utilised to some extent in each of the
other approaches. This is not an extensive analysis of each approach, but more to
outline the range and types of approaches in use by organisations today.
1. PMBOK is a guide book which presents a set of standard terminology and
guidelines for Project Management. PMBOK also outlines rules and standards
targeted to delivering successful Project Management outcomes. The first edition
was published in 1996 by the PMI.
PMBOK covers four key areas of professional project management:
1.1. Project;
1.2. Programme;
1.3. Portfolio; and
1.4. Organisational
Refer to Illustration 14 in the previous section, which shows the processes and how they
interact with the various knowledge areas. These links in with all of the project
management approaches discussed in this section.
1.1 Project: this is the view of a standalone project utilising the PMBOK Process
Groups and Knowledge Areas standards and approaches.
1.2 Programme Management: This standard helps Programme Managers2
find the
best means of achieving their goals and driving organisational change. This
provides assistance to Programme Managers in assessing the variety of factors
linking projects under one programme and allotment of resources between
2
Normally a role where there are multi-faceted projects with streams each managed by an individual PM.

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projects; the standard is an invaluable tool for programme, project and
portfolio managers alike, as well as project stakeholders and senior
management.
1.3 Portfolio Management: If project and programme management are disciplines
for effective delivery, Portfolio Management is the discipline for effective
management of multiple simultaneous change activities. Portfolio Managers
oversee a collection of projects, programmes and other change tasks that are
grouped together to meet strategic business objectives. Portfolio Management
is often run by a dedicated Project Management Office (PMO) in larger
organisations.
1.4 Organisational Project Management: Organisations benefit from achieving
Organisational Project Management maturity — where projects aren’t just
executed randomly, but are tied to business strategy and support business
goals. Organisational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) provides
the tools organisations need to measure their maturity against a
comprehensive set of organizational best practices. Responsibility for this often
rests with a PMO.
2. PRINCE2
This is a process based methodology for Project Management. There are five key areas
which PRINCE2 looks at:
o “Focus on business justification
o Defined organisation structure for the project management team
o Product-based planning approach
o Emphasis on dividing the project into manageable and controllable
stages
o Flexibility that can be applied at a level appropriate to the project” (ILX
Group Plc., 2015).

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Illustration 15 – PRINCE2 Process Model
Using PRINCE2, PMs can better manage control of resources and gain the ability to
manage projects and project risk more effectively. This is beneficial to the following:
o “Individuals seeking leading project management skills and greater
employment prospects
o Project managers
o Directors/executives (senior responsible owners) of projects, and
o Organisations” (ILX Group Plc., 2015).
PRINCE2 offers PMs an approach which allows them gain:
o “A common, consistent approach
o A controlled and organised start, middle and end
o Regular reviews of progress against plan
o Assurance that the project continues to have a business justification”
(ILX Group Plc., 2015).

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3. Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) approach
“Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) is a methodology for planning, executing
and managing projects in single and multi-project environments” (Goldratt UK, 2007).
CCPM was created by Dr Eli Goldratt in 1997. His aim was to develop an approach to
Project Management aimed at improving performance and reduce project durations. He
also incorporates an approach to budgeting focused on a reduction of costs. There are
three aspects to this approach:
3.1 Planning
3.2 Execution
3.3 Review
3.1 Planning. This looks at the project’s critical path in order to determine the
longest duration of a project, based on dependent tasks. He stated “In this case,
‘dependent’ refers to resources and resource contention across tasks/projects as well
as the sequence and logical dependencies of the tasks themselves. This differs from the
Critical Path Method” (Goldratt UK, 2007).
The most effective way to achieve this is to use estimations to determine the earliest and
latest completion times, and safety buffers. This uses an ‘as late as possible (ALAP)
schedule’; in other words, a full view of the critical path to projected completion,
including estimated buffers. Safety buffers ensure any delays are forecasted in advance
and will not cause a dependency problem for the next task on the critical path “The
safety at a task level is aggregated and moved to strategic points in the project flow”
(Goldratt UK, 2007).

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Illustration 16 – CCPM Buffer Approach
There are three types of safety buffers.
3.1.1 The Project Buffer. This considers how the buffer for each task can be managed
but still ensures the completion date is met. “Any delays on the longest chain of
dependant tasks will consume some of the buffer but will leave the completion
date unchanged and so protect the project” (Goldratt UK, 2007).
3.1.2 The Feeding Buffer. This buffer considers any potential delays on a task’s path
which can cause a delay for another subsequent task. Feeding Buffers are usually
used for tasks not on the critical path but still need to be completed to ensure the
completion of other tasks.
3.1.3 Resource Buffers. These consider ensuring all resources are available to complete
a task; both people and machinery are available for a specific task, at a specific
time.
3.2 Execution. This has two aspects to consider:
3.2.1 Priorities. Ensuring every task is assigned a priority level to ensure the most
critical tasks are completed in the correct sequence “A resource with more than
one task open should normally be assigned to complete any task jeopardising any
projects Critical Chain before completing any feeding path task” (Goldratt UK,
2007).
3.2.1 Completion. This relates to completing tasks as fast as possible without
sacrificing the quality of the project. Many authors stated that tasks should not be
partially completed, in order to prevent multitasking, and possible errors “As task
duration estimates have reduced safety they drive resources to meet the more

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“aggressive” durations and limit the behaviours of Student Syndrome and
Parkinson’s Law” (Goldratt UK, 2007).
3.3 Review. CCPM considers the following two aspects;
3.3.1 Buffer Management; Considers delays affecting completion dates. The buffer
is the potential additional time for each task in the event of unknown issues
arising; buffers should be allocated to each task. This is also known as ‘latest
time of completion’
3.3.2 Remaining Duration; Project tasks are monitored for their remaining duration.
PMs obtain an estimate of the time it will take to complete the project by the
sum of the outstanding tasks. This ensures any delays can be identified quickly
so corrective measures can be taken.
4. Process Based Project Management (PBPM) approach. According to
Consulting “Process-based management is a management approach that views a
business as a collection of processes. The processes are managed and improved by
organisation in purpose of achieving their vision, mission and core value” (Consulting,
2010). The overall theme of this approach is to improve an organisation’s efficiency
and effectiveness.
There are many benefits from adopting a PBPM approach. Improvements in the
processes in use can increase the value add from existing activities and reduce
associated costs. One approach is the use of cost allocation techniques, such as activity
based cost accounting. There are six stages in Process Based Management approach:
1. Defining a process - processes identified are documented;
2. Establishing measures to evaluate a process, e.g. process performance measurements
(measurable metrics), efficiency, quality and timelines, all aspects that could be
improved upon;
3. Analysis of process performance;
4. Analysis of process stability, through for example the use of audits;
5. Planning improvements; and
6. Implementation of improvements

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5. Agile Project Management approach. The Agile approach is used in fast paced
environments. The best examples are the technology and pharmaceuticals industries.
However, there are clear differences between the two industries.
In the IT industry Agile projects support organisations in delivering programmes and
adding continuous updates to software, based on customer needs. Facebook and
Apple are both good examples of companies who are continuously updating their
products; each time with a consumer focus, rather than simply meeting a specific
corporate goal.
The Agile approach was developed to be clearly flexible. Organisations should be able
to test the result of each project’s phased release against requirements, instead of aiming
for a single final result at the end of a project.
Illustration 17 – Agile for Dummies
In the pharmaceuticals industry this could mean developing a drug to treat one illness
but during testing realising, and adapting to a finding, it actually is more effective
treating another illness. The overall goal was to develop a new / updated product that
benefits patients. The project will have been deemed a success, even though it was
envisaged to do something completely different at the innovation stage.

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6. Lean Project Management
This approach is focused on removing wastage from projects and to reduce project
costs. Its motto is simply ‘how to eliminate waste’. There are many different types of
Lean Project Management, however the three most common are Ford, Kaizan and Six
Sigma models. According to Kerzner “The Six Sigma strategy involves the use of
statistical tools within a structured methodology for gaining the knowledge needed to
create products and services better, faster, and less expensively than the competition”
(Kerzner, 2013).
Illustration 18 – Lean
One common aspect of the Lean models is the aim to reduce waste in order to reduce
costs and therefore benefit the bottom line. Many organisations strive to run their
business using a Lean methodology, however few are fully able to utilise this ‘measure
everything approach’.
Lean needs to be utilised continually, not just as a once off. It can be an effective
approach for Project Management, if utilised correctly or a failure if not. Table 1,
below, outlines a range of Lean definitions of potential waste in processes:

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Table 1 – Waste as defined by Lean
7. Extreme Project Management (EPM) approach. EPM projects are permitted to
change, as the factors affecting the project change which aligns the approach to Agile.
Traditional Project Management tends to be more plan focused, where the plan is a
guide through all issues that arise. EPM is about being able to change to any
circumstance (see Illustration 19 below). Stakeholders want to be involved in every
aspect of projects. This means they may change their mind or want something added
to a project. EPM is about the ability of the project team to take on these new
challenges.
A traditional project looks something like this:
Illustration 19 - Traditional Approach

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An extreme project looks more like a despondent strand of cooked spaghetti.
Illustration 20 - EPM Approach
EPM assists project teams manage these unusual or unexpected circumstances in and to
allow them to deliver a desired outcome. Some of the most common characteristics of
EPM include:
 “Fast-paced work;
 Highly complex project needs and outcomes;
 Frequent changes to the project requirements as the project progresses;
 Trial-and-error approach to see what works;
 Self-correcting process when things go awry to get back on track;
 A move away from hierarchy in decision making; and
 People–driven projects, instead of process-driven (people don’t adapt their
projects to fit the model, they adapt models to fit the project)” (Coolman, 2015).
In summary, this approach is about being able to deliver a project, which may not have
been easy to determine at the outset.
8. Benefits Realisation Project Management (BRPM) approach. This has increasingly
become a focus in Project Management. Like other methodologies, the approach
looks at the best way to guide projects from their inception to the realisation of the
benefits, with the extraction of the benefits front and centre in this process. This
approach looks at linking strategic alignment with project success in order to
realise the benefits. The approach is more commonly used for portfolio
management, as it focused on a multiple number of projects rather than just a
single project.

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Illustration 21 – BRPM Approach
There are two parts to this approach.
8.1 The first is the need to identify what the success criteria for each individual
project are and what are the criteria for the overall portfolio.
8.2 The second part is the need to identify Benefits Realisation management practises
to help determine what is required to ensure the best chance of success in
delivering these benefits.
Once these two parts have been completed, the BRM practices should reduce project
failure rates on delivery of benefits, and thereby reduce financial losses related to
project failure “They ensure the execution of projects that deliver value to the business
as well as perhaps being the best way to ensure strategically aligned project portfolios”
(Serra, 2013) and “A clearer identification of valuable projects supports organizations
in being more efficient, and then in increasing their range of investment” (Serra, 2013).

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2.6 Factors Affecting Project Management
There are two factors that can affect project management and ultimately projects
success.
1. Internal Factors; Knowledge, Time, and HR management are three areas which
need to be looked at continuously, as they have major effects on projects.
2. External Factors; can include global economic impacts, similar projects in other
firms, and consumer preferences.
Internal Factors should be addressed in the planning stage of a project together with a
plan to manage these factors. Internal Factors are then monitored on a more continuous
basis, to ensure any developing issues can be addressed promptly. Internal Factors are
more controllable for PMs. On the other hand, External Factors should be considered in
the initiation phase and then on a semi regular basis to track updates in these factors
which are likely to be outside the organisation’s control. Both factors are considered in
more detail below.
Table 2 - One tool used to capture the Internal and External Factors is a SWOT
analysis:
Internal Factors External Factors
Strengths(S) Opportunities (O)
Weaknesses (W) Threats (T)
1. Internal Factors
According to Davenport “Knowledge Management is the process of capturing,
distributing, and effectively using knowledge” (Davenport, 1994). It is crucial in any
project to capture the knowledge gained from previous projects. Once this is done it is
the PM’s responsibility to disseminate this information to colleagues so they conduct
tasks more effectively using this information.
Effectively using knowledge gained can be a difficult task according to many authors.
The reason for this is that knowledge in certain areas can be tacit. In other words, it is
something an employee needs to learn rather than be taught. Therefore, organisations
need to consider developing a Knowledge Management Systems (KMS). Many authors
suggest the use of Information Communications Technology (ICT) as an effective

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KMS. The difficult part of designing the correct KMS lies with the PM. According to
Maier and Hädrich, the reason for this is that KMSs need to be “aligned with the
specifics of the applications environment, the goals, and the types of KM initiatives as
well as the acquisition and deployment processes required for managing knowledge”
(Hädrich, 2006). The author notes for the KMS to be successful, it needs to
comprehensively look at the ICT in order to facilitate collaboration and knowledge
sharing.
As has been discussed in the Project Management Approaches section, the next crucial
Internal Factor is ‘Time Management’. Project Time Management is about ensuring a
project is completed inside a specific timeframe. According to PMBOK:
“Project time management involves the following processes: Define Activity,
Sequence activities, Identify and document relationship among project activities,
Estimate activity resource, Estimate activity Duration, Develop schedule and
Control schedule” (Project Management Institute, 2013).
Given that industries today have become highly competitive, it is clear that getting first
mover advantage is crucial. As such, PMs need to ensure the time scale allotted is
appropriate. PMs need to constantly review the overall project schedule for each task;
and controlling the project schedule to ensure each task is completed when it should be.
There should be a continuous flow of project tasks and any delays could be detrimental,
therefore having buffers in place gives an organisation scope when needed.
The third internal factor of most importance is HR Management “Project Human
Resource Management includes the processes that organize, manage, and lead the
project team” (Project Management Institute, 2013). Many authors have agreed that
having the right person in charge of a project at the start is a necessity for the success of
a project. The resources need to be available at the correct time in order to minimise
wastage in terms of down time and cost.
Management’s role in a project is important to ensure open communication channels,
employees understand their role and the overall goal of the project is understood. They
must deal with any issues that may arise. See Illustration 22 for other Internal Factors.

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Illustration 22 - Theoretical Internal / External Factor Model
2. External Factors
The Political dimension is one of the major uncontrollable External Factors which can
affect a project. Changing political agendas may lead to a project not meeting new
standards or regulations and therefore require more time to ensure a project is fit for
purpose. Regulatory changes are more mandatory than optional to avoid a breach of the
law. PMs need to be aware of the risk of changing political / regulatory environments
when starting and during any project. They also need to ensure they are able to
influence crucial decisions that these factors may cause for a project.
Competitors and Consumers are further External Factors which play a major role in
Project Management. Information is crucial in today’s world. Organisations need to
know what their competitors are doing. If another organisation releases a product before
a competitor organisation, they will have achieved first mover advantage. This means
organisations, and in particular PMs, need to assess the competitor risk.
While there are many more factors which can affect organisations project decisions, the
above are the top key factors. Many authors carried out in-depth analysis and have
determined that a mistake in the assessment and execution of one of these factors can
lead to project failure.

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2.7 Risk Management
A robust Risk Management approach is a key requirement of Project Management. PMs
must outline the potential risks within a project, compared with the potential benefits
that can be delivered upon completion. It is therefore crucial a full Risk Management
assessment occurs before moving to each stage of a project. PMBOK states there are six
processes to Risk Management:
1. Risk Planning
2. Identifying Risks
3. Perform Qualitative Analysis
4. Perform Quantitative Analysis
5. Plan Risk Responses
6. Monitor and Control Risks
During the planning phase of a project, when any risk is identified, the PM must
carefully consider the risk relative to the risk appetite and risk tolerance of the Project
Sponsors or Stakeholders. Risk appetite is the level of risk an organisation is willing to
take and risk tolerance is where the level of risk becomes intolerable for a project to
continue. Understanding this could be the difference between projects not being
supported at the outset or, if not identified or quantified correctly, risks the project
imploding down the line.
According to the PMI:
“Plan Risk Management is the process of defining how to conduct risk
management activities for a project. The key benefit of this process is it ensures
that the degree, type and visibility of risk management are commensurate with
both the risks and the importance of the project to the organisation” (Project
Once risks have been identified and quantified, PMs need to consider, in the planning
phase, the risk relative to the cost and size of the project. The cost of mitigation may
outweigh the project benefits. A PM must ensure all stakeholders agree to and
consistently use the chosen methodology to manage project risks.

44
For Risk Management planning, there are two aspects that need to be determined:
1. Inputs to Risk Management Planning. These could include the company culture,
the historical information on similar projects, the scope of the project, and how
the project will be managed. Basically anything that could cause risks.
2. Outputs of Risk Management Planning. These could include controls to be
applied, roles and responsibilities, budgeting, timing, and stakeholder tolerances,
etc.
PMs need to understand these in order to develop a clear plan of action that will prevent
or mitigate risks.
According to PMBOK there are two types of Risk. Firstly, Pure Risk, where the only
risk is potential loss. This type of risk is a hazardous risk; it is usually related to fire,
theft, injuries etc. Secondly is Business Risk; this is a speculative risk which may never
arise; it looks at the risk of loss or gain. This type of risk could include currency
fluctuations, taxes, budget estimates or availability of skilled employees.
While one is named Business Risk and the other is Pure Risk, they both relate to the
possibility of something going wrong in an organisation. The difference is that one can
be planned for, whereas the other is an unknown variable that must be dynamically
managed.
Illustration 23 – Example of a Risk catalogue for a specific type of project

45
According to some authors, when planning out project risks, it may be beneficial to use
a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) to determine possible risks in areas of the business.
Illustration 23 above shows a possible RBS, in this case for a Landscaping Project. In
Project Management terms, a PM needs to manage all aspects of the RBS to ensure all
risks have been identified and planned out.
Combining the RBS with Ishikawa diagrams (see Illustration 24 below), or as they are
better known Fishbone diagrams, enables a PM to determine the reasons behind why a
specific risk may occur. The Fishbone diagram tracks how each decision can affect
different elements, while the RBS shows an analysis of the elements.
Illustration 24 - Ishikawa Diagram
Other methods for identifying risks include the Delphi Technique, Interviewing, and
Monte Carlo (simulation) Analysis. The Delphi Technique refers to the surveying of
experts on possible project risks. This keeps recurring until a consensus is reached.
Interviewing is similar in that you interview anyone who has worked on a similar
previous project and determine likely risks. The Monte Carlo Method uses models to
simulate various outcomes and determines risk within certain confidence levels.

46
According to the PMI:
“Identifying risks is the process of determining which risks may affect the
project and documenting their characteristics. The key benefit of this process is
the documentation of existing risks and the knowledge and ability it provides to
the project team to anticipate events” (Project Management Institute, 2013).
A PM must analyse the project risks upfront. Using a SWOT analysis can be beneficial.
Strengths and Weaknesses focus on the internal risks, while Threats and Opportunities
focus on the external risks. Another analyses tool is a Probability and Impact matrix.
This tool allows PMs to assign each task a probability of the risk occurring, at varying
degrees of impact. This assists PMs to plan for worst case scenarios.
PMI stated that Performing Qualitative Risk Analysis:
“Is the process of prioritising risks for further analysis or action by assessing
and combining their probability of occurrence and impact...It enables project
managers to reduce the level of uncertainty and to focus on high-priority risks”.
(Project Management Institute, 2013)
Whereas Performing Quantitative Risk Analysis:
“Is the process of numerically analysing the effect of identified risks on overall
project objectives. The key benefit of this process is that it produces quantitative
risk information to support decision making in order to reduce project
uncertainty” (Project Management Institute, 2013).
Illustration 25 – Example of a Risk Matrix

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There are three factors that will affect the likelihood of a risk arising in a project:
1. Probability (also referred to as Likelihood), which is outlined in the probability and
impact matrix above.
2. Impact (also referred to as Consequences), which refers to the magnitude of an
impact if a risk arises.
3. Project Lifecycle, in a projects time span over which risks arise.
These three factors need to be addressed in the planning stage to manage stakeholder
confidence levels.
Once all risks have been identified, planned and analysed, the PM should develop
responses to each risk. When looking at possible threats, there are three possible
responses a PM could take.
1. Avoid; removing all causes of the risk.
2. Mitigate; work to reduce the probability and impact of a risk occurring.
3. Transfer; passing on the impact of the risk to someone else who is better able to
manage or mitigate this risk. Transfer would usually be used with Pure Risks,
whereby an Insurance company, for example, could underwrite the risk for the
organisation.
For risk opportunities there are also three possible responses; exploit, enhance, and
share. Exploit looks at proactively working to make sure it happens; Enhance looks at
improving the probability of it happening, and Share looks at sharing with another
project team or organisation so both may take advantage of the opportunity.
The Process for Planning risk Responses according to the PMI is:
“To develop options and actions to enhance the opportunities and to reduce
threats to project objectives. The key benefit of this process is that it addresses
the risks by their priority, inserting resources and activities into the budget,
schedule, and project management plan as needed” (Project Management
Institute, 2013).
Finally we consider Monitoring & Controlling of risks. The PM needs to constantly
look for signs a risk is in play. Ensuring a problem is noticed early greatly limits the
potential damage it can cause a project. This means PMs should conduct risk audits, as

48
often as needed, to assess the risk management processes and responses. If risks have
been identified; ensure effective strategies to deal with them have been developed.
There should also be risk reassessments, as often as needed, to ensure risk logs are up-
to-date and risk controls are effective. Controlling risk is a process of:
“Implementing risk response plans, tracking identified risks, monitoring
residual risks, identifying new risks, and evaluating risk progress effectiveness
throughout the project. The key benefit of this process is that it improves
efficiency of the risk approach throughout the project life cycle to continuously
optimise risk responses” (Project Management Institute, 2013).
Contingency plans are a crucial part of risk management. If a risk occurs and the
primary plan to deal with the threat fails, a PM should have a contingency plan in place
to deal with the issue. Without a contingency plan, the managerial response could be
significantly impaired and could lead to decisions not being thought through, which can
be costly (see Table 1 below of some project management disasters).
Risk vs. uncertainty – Hobbs Journal Article
The eminent economist Knight (1921), founder of the Chicago School, distinguishes
risk from uncertainty by relating risk to a “quantity susceptible of measurement” . . . “a
measurable uncertainty” opposing it to real uncertainty “an immeasurable one”
(Knight, 1921)
Lycett et al. (2004) and Pellegrini (1997) describe portfolio risk management as
focusing more on strategic issues for a portfolio of projects and the ability to achieve
strategic objectives.
Olsson “Most of the existing project processes are not developed to handle a portfolio
of projects when considering risks and opportunities”.
Set out below is a random selection of projects that went severely wrong. The root
causes are many and not everyone was a fiasco for foreseeable reasons; some are a
build-up of small but lethal risks in combination, von Clausewitz says “Countless minor
incidents – the kind you can never really foresee – combine to lower the general level of
performance, so that one always falls short of the intended goal” (Freedman, 2013).

49
Table 3 – Examples of Major Project Failures

50
2.8 Key Success Factors
According to Gray and Larson (2008) “…the major goal of a project is to satisfy a
customer’s need” (Larson, 2008).
Based on this, the KSFs of any project need to focus on ensuring the project meets the
customer’s requirements. In order to do this, a PM must firstly understand the objectives
of the project and then establish the KSFs required to deliver these objectives. Authors,
such as Müller and Jugdev, have written on project KSFs determined there are three
main factors crucial for a projects success; ensuring PMs understand that the aim of the
project is the delivery of benefits, going from handover to live, and finally budgeting
correctly. While this is only small number of the KSFs a PM needs to consider, there
will likely be a multitude depending on the PM’s specific project. Other KSFs, as
previously referenced in this Thesis include:
Time management. Subject to the aim of the project for example ensuring first mover
advantage is secured.
Knowledge management. Having the right people, with the right knowledge, in the
project.
Risk management. Willing to take a level of risk relevant to the objectives of a project,
but also willing to stop a project if risk exceeds appetite relative to the benefits to be
extracted from the project.
The KSFs outlined here are all predicated on the goals/objectives set out by the project
owner / sponsor. There are no predefined KSFs that PMs must consider, rather a guide
they can follow to ensure they use KSFs appropriate for their project.
Time/Knowledge/Risk management are the three most common KSFs and the reason
for this is that they should be looked at in every project to some extent as they all have
an impact on project’s success. For these factors to be considered key to a project’s
success, they must be planned, monitored and be versatile, as change is a factor in many
projects.
According to Young, there are two types of KSFs. First is the Process Type and second
is Project Type. The Process Types are those which can be associated to planning the
project strategy. An example of the process type would be budget and time
management. The Project Types are those that deliver benefits from a project, e.g.

51
knowledge management. Knowledge management gives PMs access to what worked
well and what worked poorly in previous similar projects.
Jonasson and Ingason said there are four dimensions to the success of a project:
1. “Project efficiency;
2. Impact on customers;
3. Business success; and
4. Strategic potential” (Ingason, 2013).
These have been analysed and divided into more general KSFs by Pinto and Slevin and
outlined below. It is important to note that many authors have come up with the same
general KSFs but have labelled them in different ways.
Pinto and Slevin go even further and identify 10 key success factors for Project
Management, which are outlined individually below.
1. Project Missions look at the underlying purpose of the project. According to Pinto
“Project success is predicated on the importance of clearly defining objectives as
well as the ultimate benefits to be derived from the project” (Pinto, 2013). This
means all the objectives/goals must be clearly understood by the project team, but
also by the departments in the organisation.
2. Top Management Support refers to the importance in which projects rely on top
management support to succeed or fail. The project team relies on top management
to outline plans, make decisions and give support; without these projects will fail.
According to Pinto, lack of support from top management will determine the amount
of acceptance and resistance to internal projects amongst employees.
3. Project Plans and Schedules are highly important activities for the implementation of
projects. According to Pinto, these are concerned with “time schedules, milestones,
labour and equipment requirements” (Pinto, 2013). Without such plans projects
would never make it successfully into the implementation stage.
4. The fourth factor looks at Client Consultation. This is crucial, as projects outputs will
be used by someone, either internally or externally, of an organisation and therefore
it is highly important the PM takes theses client’s opinion into account when setting
the objective/goals of a project.
5. The next factor looks at Personnel. According to Pinto this “includes recruitment,
selection, and training of project team members” (Pinto, 2013). Again this is a

52
crucial factor, as having the right people do carry out tasks will ensure the project
objectives/goals are met to a high standard.
6. Technical Tasks; this has two interrelated factors, (a) the nature of the technical task
itself and (b) relating back to the Personnel factor, by ensuring the technical
expertise is available to complete the task.
7. The seventh factor looks at Client Acceptance. This moves on from client
consultation above and focuses on activities to deliver the project to live and to the
client acceptance to live. Tools such as user acceptance testing will be used in this
phase.
8. The eighth factor is Monitoring and Feedback. This is one of the most crucial factors
in ensuring there is a constant review of the project milestones, as they relate to the
requirements which themselves are linked to the KSFs.. A monitoring and feedback
loop within a project is probably one of the most important KSFs to maintain focus
with a project on the final delivery.
9. The ninth factor is Communication. This factor is essential throughout the entire
project life cycle. It is important that clear lines of communication our open between
all stakeholders involved in a project.
10. The tenth and final factor is Troubleshooting. Problems will occur or issues may
arise outside the control of a PM. This factor is about having the right tools to direct
the right steps to address problems or issues, or indeed deal with any project threats;
this is certainly not about burying the head in the sand. It is important the PM has
clear direction on what and when to do when these matters arise.
The combination of all ten of these factors should enable PMs to have a very good
starting point to focus on ensuring a project’s success. If the PM ignores some of these
KSFs they are setting themselves up to fail. Each factor relies on the others to ensure
overall project success.

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2.9 Lessons Learnt
What is now emerging from Literature as one of the key, yet insufficiently covered,
areas of project management is ensuring that lessons are learnt from past successes and
failures. This is done through the use of project audits and reviews. The output of such
project audits and reviews, or as they are often referred to Project Implementation
Reviews or PIRs, will be that the key findings from these reviews are available to PMs,
working on similar projects, and enable them to avoid pitfalls of the past or copy the
successful models. The PMI definition of lesson learned is “The Knowledge gained
during a project which shows how much how project events were addressed or should
be addressed in the future with the purpose of improving future performances” (Project
According to Fuller et al. (2011) “In project-based organizations learning lessons from
past projects and actually implementing the learning successfully on future projects is
commonly acknowledged as difficult to achieve” (Paul A. Fuller, 2011). This
observation begs the question why is this difficult to achieve. There are many factors
which inhibit this learning being extracted in the first place, for example extracting this
information from a range of personnel who worked on a project; the geographic location
of these people, and the size and complexity of the project. These can deter
organisations from even attempting to perform project audits and thereby prevent future
projects from learning from these. What Fuller may also be alluding to, and this applies
principally when the lessons learnt are from a project failure, in that participants are
very reluctant to acknowledge let alone publish the findings.
On the other hand according to Carlile “A key enabler for improving project delivery is
the ability to learn from existing activities and use this learning to continually improve
and innovate whilst delivering a quality service or product to clients” (Carlile, 2004).
Knowing that organisations can learn from their mistakes should be a big reason to
carry out project audits; everyone understands this. Yet the existing Literature focuses
more on the reasons organisations don’t carry out audits than on how to overcome the
resistance to carrying them out and more importantly sharing the findings for future
projects.

54
There are two areas of key importance; documenting the reviews and capturing the
knowledge. Documenting reviews looks at the process of gathering information and
reviewing it to determine its validity and completeness. Knowledge base looks at what
has been captured and retained as the historical data record from which the lessons
learned from previous project decisions and performance are available.
One way of gathering this information is the Pentagon Model:
“In order to assess the performance of a project organization executing a
megaproject, we need an assessment tool. Several such tools are available for
business processes in general, but we have not come across many tools that are
applicable for evaluating the effect of different project management
approaches” (Asbjørn Rolstadås, 2014).
The Pentagon model was originally developed by Schiefloe in 2011 and allows PMs to
analyse large complex organisations. The Pentagon model, as one may infer, has five
aspects; structure, technologies, culture, interaction, and social relations and networks.
They look at the formal and informal aspects of an organisation. Whilst this is not
strictly aimed at projects, it is highly possible it could be adapted to work for PMs and
allow them to analyse projects.
Another approach outlined by Tortorella et al.is the A3 model. The A3 model aims:
“To acquire the necessary information to provide effective solutions to
problems, one of the main practices for identifying and solving problems is the
A3 methodology, which has its origin in Toyota Motor Corporation and widely
uses quality tools”, (Guilherme Luz Tortorella, 2015).
This approach, as stated, was originally developed by the car manufacturer Toyota.
What is interesting about this model is it can be used outside manufacturing in various
different ways. It is a good guide for organisations looking at new-product development
and focuses around the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach.
This model does however have some limitations. Oliveira and Nodari (2010) stated:
“highlight some difficulties in its implementation, such as the tendency to omit
steps in the analysis of the problems, incorrect identification of the problem to
be solved, the collection of information related to the situation in which the
problem occurs and the capture and sharing of knowledge obtained” (Oliveira,
2010).

55
Even with these limitations, this model could be adapted to better suit organisations
working on projects not related to specific product development and adjusted to better
cope with the limitations outlined above.
According to Prieto and Revilla:
“Knowledge-based resources are considered particularly important for
providing competitive advantage (Grant, 1996; Spender, 1996) and learning
processes are thus necessary to transform and refine a firm’s knowledge
resources in accordance with the environmental conditions. This link between
knowledge and learning processes is often associated with the organizational
capability to learn (Crossan et al., 1999; Sanchez, 2001)” (Isabel Ma Prieto,
2006).
No matter which type of approach is used by organisations, one thing has become
evident from all the Literature; learning from previous projects will add a significant
competitive advantage. If this is true, then organisations no matter the scope of the
project and difficulties that may be involved should attempt to capture this knowledge
and use it at a later date.

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3.1 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to outline the research methodology used in conducting
this research. This section focuses on both primary and secondary data collection
methods.
The purpose of this study is to assess what is required to ensure an organisation’s
successful project management. It looks at the key factors, processes and procedures to
ensure success of a project. In order to assess this, the author of this study tried to
determine the best processes and procedures for successful project management using
deductive analysis.
3.2 Research Parameters
The research focuses on the key success factors of project management. It takes account
of the various processes and procedures outlined in Project Management methodologies.
The scope of this Thesis looks at what are the most important factors to a project’s
success based on the knowledge and experience of practitioners.
For the purpose of obtaining a relatively complete view of what is required for success,
the author took into account many of what are considered the key factors for project
management. The aim is to compare and contrast these factors and to develop a project
methodology/approach which can contribute to the success of a project. It is important
to note not all factors could be taken into consideration, as there are far too many in use
today capable of being considered for this dissertation.
The dissertation focuses on medium to large organisations. Outside of scope were small
organisations within a single small market. The scope limitation on small organisations
means the data collected is relevant on a global scale and not geographically or industry
specific. Given the limitations on resources available to conduct this dissertation, the
author decided that two methods were required to ensure the validity of the findings was
not diluted and distorted. While this means that geographically the scope of the
dissertation is somewhat large, the universality of project management methodologies
and approaches means it will not deviate heavily on what is occurring in other
international countries.

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