Project management

Project Management

Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................................3
LO 1. Analyse and critically evaluate the drivers of projects in various sectors.........................................3
LO 2. Synthesise the role of strategic project management in organisational life-cycle, particularly the
links with change management....................................................................................................................5
LO 3. Clearly define and apply the key phases of project management, project organisation and
procurement.................................................................................................................................................6
Phases of project:.....................................................................................................................................6
Project organization:................................................................................................................................7
Procurement:............................................................................................................................................8
LO 4. Prepare and evaluate work breakdown structures for various projects.............................................8
LO 5. Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of delivering projects to schedule, to quality and on
budget..........................................................................................................................................................9
LO 6. Define and critically appraise the role of stakeholders, leadership, teams, risk and quality within
the various aspects of managing projects...................................................................................................11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12
References..................................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Project is a transitory working process to create a product, service, or obtaining a desired result. A
project is defined by time, scope, and necessary resources (Dwivedula and Bredillet, 2010). Project
management is the application of resources, tools, expertise, and techniques to achieve project results or
outputs. This report mainly focuses on the project management plan and its surrounding factors to
initiate, run, and make a project successful. It specifies the structure of the project and application of
project resources.

LO 1. Analyse and critically evaluate the drivers of projects in various

sectors.
I have chosen the launching of a retail cloth store as my project.
We know that cloth industry is changing fast and people want new and stylish clothes over time. Projects
are temporary and are driven by different factors (smallbusinesschron.com, 2016). They are shortly
described below.

Urbanization
Demographic
factors

Economic
factors

Easy loan

Drivers of
projects in
different
sectors

Supply chain

Figure: drivers of projects in various sectors

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Economic factors:
Recently we have experienced a rise on disposable income and inflation. This rise has increased the
purchasing capacity of individuals. They like to spend more on branded goods. Business organizations
can sell their products and services to middle income customers as there is a rise in their income
(Dwivedula and Bredillet, 2010).
Demographic factors:
Due to cultural fusion, people have different choices, behaviours, and attitudes towards brands. Shifting
the demand towards fashionable goods is also driving many retail industries. Organizations need to
recognize the changing needs of customers and capitalize on them by providing good products and
services (Frame, 2010).
Urbanization:
People tend to move from rural to urban areas for better living. They like to work more hours for
increased income and that has spurred the launch of many comfortable ready-made products and food
items. They need to save time to balance work and personal life and online business has made the most
benefit of it (smallbusinesschron.com, 2016).
Easy loan:
Loans and credits are very available to people from all levels. It has increased the capacity to spend
more. Now from lower income people to higher income people get easy credit on long and short terms.
There are some cultural issues in spending. Some cultures encourage spending more and saving less
income while some others do the opposite (Frame, 2010).
Supply chain:
A well maintained supply chain ensures the availability of goods to customers. Good distribution
channel can provide goods according customers preferences. They have established communication
system that enables firms to reduce inventory and expenses while accelerating sales (Frame, 2010).

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LO 2. Synthesise the role of strategic project management in

organisational life-cycle, particularly the links with change management.
Strategic project management means achieving long-term results for an organization by implementing
the strategic plan. Strategic project management aims at achieving long-term benefits for organization
by establishing long-term relationship with customers and providing excellent products and services
(smallbusinesschron.com, 2016).
Strategic project management has a vital impact in organizational life cycle (Gasik, 2011). There is a
graph showing a typical organizational life cycle of a simple organization.

Revival
Maturity
Decline
Growth
Start-up
Figure: life cycle of an organization
1. Start-up: start-up stage requires the initiation phase of the project. Here an organization needs to
change their view among the customers by adding new products to their portfolio. There is
research on the feasibility of a project to change the structure or strategy of an organization. A
group of solutions may come up and management needs to choose among these solutions to
make a considerable change (Gasik, 2011).
2. Growth: growth phase involves planning a new change strategy that will benefit the company. In
my project I need to add a range of stylish T-shirts to my business portfolio. As a project leader
of a retail cloth industry I need to assess the market to launch new T-shirts in the market.
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3. Maturity: in maturity stage the sales of T-shirts are increasing rapidly because I am offering
designer T-shirts with extraordinary colour combination. Maturity stage requires adding more
variations in the shirts and more colour combinations (Gladden, 2010).
4. Revival: Revival stage can take up two paths: it may decline or increase sales. I need to change
the project by adding more variety in my portfolio or simply drop the project and take up
something else to run another new project.
5. Decline: if I cannot bring appropriate changes to the strategy or plan my business project may
decline. There will be many competitors selling the same kind of T-shirts and my sales will
gradually decline and I have to add new products to survive.

LO 3. Clearly define and apply the key phases of project management,

project organisation and procurement.
Phases of project:
Like other functions of an organization project also has a start and ending point (Gladden, 2010). Phases
represent sequential stages of activities that are completed during the project time. There are mainly
four stages of a project.

Initiation

Planning

Execution

Ending

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Figure: phases of a project

The initiation phase is the beginning of the project. Here I need to gather resources, information, funds
to start my process of retail cloth store (Gladden, 2010). I have to develop a detailed framework of my
project and determine the time, budget, and scope of the project. I need to capitalize my conceptual
skills and discuss with experts to build a structure of my business.
Planning phase involves developing a more detailed budget and time schedule of project activities.
Where do I start my business? How much will I invest on my project? How big is the market demand?
These are the most common questions in this stage.
Execution phase means carrying out the activities that have been planned earlier. Buying materials,
structuring routine activities, development of website, booking shop are the activities to be carried out in
the execution (Kendrick, 2010).
Ending phase closes the project by documenting all necessary paperwork. It starts with finally opening
the shop and start selling my products and carry out daily routine activities to run the shop properly.

Project organization:
One method cannot be applied to a specific organization. Many aspects are associated with the
organizational approach of a project to make it successful. The culture of the organization, management
concerns, skills and expertise of the project team affect the project to a great extent. I need to specify the
span of control for my organization (Kendrick, 2010).

Procurement:
Procurement is the process of buying materials and supplies necessary for the project. My project is a
less complex project so I need to buy the supplies from one or two suppliers. Bigger organizations
employ procurement teams or specialists to do so. Procurement also includes the installation of
equipments and structuring the layout of the equipments and space. The most common types of
procurements are:

Commodity procurement
Vendor procurement
Partnerships

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LO 4. Prepare and evaluate work breakdown structures for various

projects.
To develop a project we need a certain structure. Structuring a process needs the breakdown of activities
into pieces to organize them into a meaningful manner. Work breakdown structure decomposes the work
activity that is executed by project team. We can breakdown the structure of a project in following way.

Figure: Work breakdown structure

Phases:
I need to identify and deliver the required information or output of a project. By analysing each phase I
can ensure the completion of a project and they are meeting the expectations. When deliveries are
completed in one phase, these are passed to the next phase.
Strategy and requirements:
After planning the whole strategy, you need to define the method that will be used to validate the
project. I need to define a strategy that will be beneficial to my project and that will fit to my time scale
and budget.
Preparation:
After analyzing the stakeholders I need to prepare for the next steps. I need to determine milestones for
my project for coming years. Distributing individual responsibilities and recruiting project team
members is also task to be carried out when structuring.
Design:
Stakeholders primarily determine the designs of deliveries. When designing deliveries the opinions of all
stakeholders are necessary. Flow diagrams, network diagrams are useful in determining the movement
of activities of the project design.
Developing and testing:

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In this step I need to develop products (T-shirts) and test the market to observe whether they fit to the
market demand or not.
Support activities:
After completion of the project, assistance on different department is required. Technological and
financial assistance are the most necessary after the launch of a project. Funding is required for
advertisement and promotional efforts (Organizational project management maturity model (OPM3),
n.d.).
Closing the project:
Closing the project is not really wanted by the project leaders. Documentation and storing of information
is done in this last step of project structuring (Mller and Turner, 2010).

LO 5. Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of delivering projects to

schedule, to quality and on budget.
The preconditions for delivering projects are time, budget, and company procedures. It is a must to
deliver the project in time and monitor that it does not cross the budget and does not go against the
company policy. These issues are discussed below.

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Time

Company
strategy

Preconditions
for delivering
projects

Budget

Quality

Figure: preconditions for delivering projects

Delivering on time:
I need to plan the delivery time and schedule before the delivery so that tine does not become a
constraint in delivering the project. The implementation of plan must also be timely. Peers and members
should have shared responsibilities of executing the project plan on time (Kendrick, 2010).
Deliver within estimated budget:
Before starting implementation of project plan I must assume the cost and benefits of the budget. I have
to anticipate the possible risk and costs may be associated with the project. I can apply the best practices
when confronting a difficult situation to avoid unnecessary costs (Kendrick, 2010).
Quality:
The project completed and delivered must also achieve the highest quality. Sometimes completing the
project on time hinders the quality of the whole project. I need to ensure two-way communication
between the stakeholders and employees so that they can give their opinion in different critical
situations. Sometimes quality project needs higher budget than expected. I need to consult with experts
to handle this kind of situation easily (Maylor, 2010).
Company strategy:
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I have to ensure that the project is compatible with the overall organizational strategy. I need to check
the decisions and evaluate it with the company strategy before taking any decisions. I have to make sure
that the project is aimed at creating values to the customers and benefit the organization overall.
There are some other considerations like external stakeholders preferences, best practices, low-cost
strategies that may be used in different segments of the project whenever any modification is needed
(Maylor, 2010).

LO 6. Define and critically appraise the role of stakeholders, leadership,

teams, risk and quality within the various aspects of managing projects.
Stakeholders are persons and organizations who invest in the organizations and concerned with profit
and loss of the organizations. They are concerned with success of the deliveries and other partial factors
of the organizations. There are mainly two types of organizations: internal and external.

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Internal stakeholders

Top management
Project team members
Managers
Employees

External stakeholders

Government
Suppliers
Contractors and subcontractors
Customers

Figure: stakeholders
Internal stakeholders:
Top managers include the governing body of the organization. It entails president, vice-president,
owners etc. They develop strategies and milestones for projects on the basis of which operational
activities will be carried out. The project team members are responsible for carrying out the activities
defined by top management and report to them. However conflicts in the opinions among members are
also a concern for the management. Managers must be informed about the progress of the project and
have all the necessary requirements available for meeting the project goals. Employees and peers share
responsibilities and workload. They share their views and opinions towards managerial decisions.
However sabotage and personal conflicts may hinder the development of the project in time.
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External stakeholders:
Government and regulatory authorities of central and state provide guidance, rules, and procedures for
conducting business. Contractors provide technological assistance, human resource, and expertise to do
the work of an organization which does not have the ability to hire all the things. Suppliers provide the
raw materials and all relevant information about the market including demand and supply of a product.
Suppliers regulate the sale of products and influence the price directly in the market. Customers are
considered the king in the retail cloth industry. They buy products of their own choice and provide
feedback to the organization that can be capitalized as change practices.

Conclusion
This report signifies the structure and planning of a simple project by evaluating its stages and
processes. There are some factors that influence the project. The roles and responsibilities of
stakeholders to complete the project and their influence on the project is also evaluated in this report.
Overall this report describes how a project can be successful and by satisfying internal and external
customers.

References
Dwivedula, R. and Bredillet, C. (2010). Profiling work motivation of project
workers. International Journal of Project Management, 28(2), pp.158-165.

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Frame, J. (2010). Project management theory and practice. Project Management Journal,
41(5), pp.87-87.
Gasik, S. (2011). A model of project knowledge management. Project Management Journal,
42(3), pp.23-44.
Gladden, R. (2010). Managing project uncertainty. Project Management Journal, 41(3),
pp.100-100.
Kendrick, T. (2010). The project management tool kit. New York: AMACOM American
Management Association.
Maylor, H. (2010). Project management. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Mller, R. and Turner, R. (2010). Leadership competency profiles of successful project
managers. International Journal of Project Management, 28(5), pp.437-448.
Organizational project management maturity model (OPM3). (n.d.). .
smallbusinesschron.com. (2016). project planning and control. [online] Available at:
http://smallbusinesscron.com/projectmgt [Accessed 26 Oct. 2016].

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