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Course: MBA Semester 3 Subject Code: PM0010 Master of Business Administration PM0010 Introduction to Project Management Assignment Set- 1

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Q 1. Describe the three strategy levels in detail. Ans: Strategy exists at three hierarchical levels in an organisation, ranging from the overall business (or group of businesses) to the individuals working in it. Corporate Strategy Corporate strategy is basically related to the purpose and scope of the business to meet stakeholder expectations. This is often explicitly stated in a mission statement. It is heavily influenced by investors in the business, and acts to guide strategic decision-making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is about managing its business units and products so that each becomes competitive and can contribute to corporate purposes. Hence corporate level strategy is fundamentally concerned with the selection of businesses in which the company competes, develops and coordinates. Corporate level strategy addresses the following: Reach: To define the corporate responsibilities. These include identifying overall goals of the corporation, selecting the types of business in which the corporation may be involved, and the way of integrating and managing the business. Competitive contact: To define the localisation of the corporate competition. Manage activities and business relationships: To develop synergies by having business units complement one another, both by sharing and coordinating staff and other resources across business units or by investing financial resources across business units. Management practices: To decide the ways of governing business units through centralisation and decentralisation. Corporate strategy can best be described as the overall plan that integrates the strategies of all businesses within a corporation. A diversified company has two strategy levels: Corporate level strategy: This strategy aims to create value for the corporation as a whole. Business level strategy: This strategy addresses the way to create competitive advantage in each business.Reg no 511

Corporate Strategy Planning Two tools popularly used in the planning of corporate strategy are: Ansoff matrix BCG matrix Business Unit Strategy Business unit strategy is concerned with how a business unit competes successfully in a particular market. It includes strategic decisions about choice of products, customer requirements, gaining advantage over competitors, creation of new opportunities and so on. A strategic business unit can be planned independently from the other business units of the firm. Business level strategy addresses the following: Positing the business against rivals. Adjusting the strategies to anticipate and accommodate changes in demand and technologies. Influencing the nature of competition through strategies like vertical integration and political actions. The detailed action of business level strategy is taken to provide value to the customers. Business level strategy is also adopted to gain a competitive advantage by exploring core competencies in specific, individual product or service markets. The four generic strategies to establish a competitive advantage over industry rivals are as follows: Cost leadership: The firm offers products to customers at the lowest price essentially by tight control over production and overhead costs. Differentiation: The firm provides value to customers by delivering products with unique features and characteristics rather than with the lowest price. For example, lower costs for buyers by ensuring better quality thereby leading to lesser breakdowns; by raising perceptions of buyers of the customer support provided by the firm by responding quickly. Focussed low cost: The firm not only sells its products at lowest price, but also selects a small segment of the market to provide goods and services. ForReg no 511

example, sale of a product to only a Government department. Focussed differentiation: The firm not only competes with rivals based on differentiation, but also selects a small segment of the market as in focussed low cost strategy. A fifth strategy is also adopted sometimes, which integrates low cost and differentiation strategy. Here, the customer realises value based both on product features and a low price. Southwest Airlines is an example of a company that adopts this strategy. Operational Strategy Operational strategy is concerned with the process of organising business in order to deliver the corporate and the business-unit level strategic direction. It focuses the on issues of resources, processes, people and so on. Operational strategy is also termed as Functional strategy. Functional levels provide input (input, is usually information on resources and capabilities) into the business unit level and corporate level strategy. After developing the higher level strategy, the functional units translate it into discrete action-plans so that each department follows it to achieve success.

Q 2.

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a. Describe the various roles undertaken by a Project Manager. [5 Marks] b. List and explain in brief the qualities of a Project Manager. [5 Marks] Ans: a. Roles of a Project Manager Leading a project is like leading a department where there are people with different backgrounds and skills, and the project manager has to co-ordinate with all the people to get desired overall result. The project manager should have the skills required to make the project go smoothly. This includes paying constant attention to communication, where it has to be made sure that the project sponsors and the team members are clear on the boundaries and expectations, documenting the project details like the tasks, responsibilities, relationships and understanding the customer and business needs. MeghanaThe project manager is responsible for documenting, in coordination with the project sponsors, a definition of the project. The project manager then makes sure that the project is delivered on time, to budget and to the required quality standard within the agreed specifications. The project manager should ensure that the project is effectively resourced and should also manage the relationships with a wide range of groups which consists of all the project contributors. The project manager is also responsible for handling the work of consultants, allocating and utilising resources in a proper manner and maintaining a co-operative, motivated and successful team. The general roles of a project manager are as follows: Understand and apply the organisational project policies and procedures. Maintain the project staffs technical skill and efficiency, and provide training when required. Establish and maintenance of project quality. Identify and procure the project infrastructure needs. Develop project charter and obtain approval for the same. Define project goals, objectives and success criteria. Identify and document project constraints. Identify and document project assumptions.

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Identify and secure project team resources. Serve as a focal point for project related communications. Develop and present milestone during review briefings. Ensure that Information Technology security is met. The following describes the roles undertaken by the project manager: Understanding the client requirements: The client requirements form the basis of the project. It should be clearly understood, planned and executed so that the project is developed to suit the client needs. For example, if the project is for the bank then their requirements should be clearly understood by the project manager to deliver the project to suit their requirements. Understanding end user requirements: End user requirements of the project of the project should be understood as the clients and the end Meghana users may be different. The project should be developed keeping the end users who are going to use the project. For example if the project is for a bank ATM, then the end-users should also be considered if they are going to use the ATMs for their transactions. Understanding the project scope: The scope of the project defines the project tasks. The project has to be planned keeping the timelines, objectives, output and the delivery date in mind. The project should be defined according to the client requirements and the project should be managed accordingly. Understanding the design: All the basic design requirements should be understood. The functional brief should be developed including the design brief preparation. The design and design process should be developed along with the development of contract documentation. The planning process and obtaining relevant approvals should be managed. Communicating: The client should be given regular reports which are relevant and meaningful. The project progress report should be included in the project delivery kit. For example it may be required to send project status report every week. Also the client should be pre-informed about any likely

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delays/problems. b. Ans: Key Qualities and Skills of a Project Manager Project manager plays a vital role in managing a project and is also responsible for defining roles and responsibilities of each member in the project team. A project manager ensures that the project meets its deadlines with expected quality output according to the specifications given by the client. However, for efficient management of the project, the project manager is expected to have the following qualities1: Leadership ability: It is the ability to lead a group with integrity, openness and receptiveness. A good project manager should strictly adhere to the values, morals and methods as defined by the organisation. Rather, it simply means that the words, actions and decisions of a project manager are bound to certain standards defined. A to suit their defined job roles. It is required to provide appropriate training sessions such good project manager has the ability to gather information from various sources and make a final decision based on the input. A project manager is able to take decisions strictly adhering to the framework and structure of the organisation and not based on unleashed emotions. A good project manager is able to solve the queries and prioritise the needs and concerns of the other members of the team. Project managers ideally possess critical management skills that enable to inspire and motivate the group leading towards a common goal. Ability to steer team growth: People are the most valuable asset of a company. Therefore, for an organisation to flourish and meet its successful deadlines, it is very essential to develop people, by nurturing their skills, appreciating their work, and providing training that is necessary as communication skills, team building skills, time management skills and leadership skills. Ability to take decisions: A project manager should be well organised and able to meet specific targets within the allotted time. The project manager hasReg no 511

skills to manage various tasks and responsibilities that are both internal and external to the project. The project manager makes decisions keeping in mind the resources available, the scheduled time targets and the expenses incurred. The project manager is self motivated, self initiated, creative, and is able to solve any queries from the team. The project manager anticipates and has solutions to problems associated with the project. Ability to manage the finances of the project: A project manager effectively analyses and keeps track of the project finances to ensure a balance between the planned budget and the incurred budget. Commitment: A project manager is committed to the roles and responsibilities allotted and also create a positive and energetic work environment for the team to work in. Excellent communication skills: 85-90% of project managers tasks are about communication. Good communication skills help project manager to express and communicate effectively with all the stakeholders and also the team. Communication does not imply only sending information and speaking effectively; it also includes Listening skills, which means receiving information and understanding the message communicated from the other end. Good interpersonal skills (Individual Skills): Good interpersonal skills are defined as those skills which are very essential to interrelate, interact or deal with others in the organisation. Project managers possess good interpersonal skills to ensure that work is done on time without hurting the sentiments of any of the member of the project team. Interpersonal skills are categorised into communication skills, people skills and soft skills. An efficient project manager has good interpersonal skills that facilitate various ways that are suitable for interacting with other team members in various situations. Technical Skills: A project manager should have technical skills relevant to the project. The project manager knows the tools and techniques used in the project to ensure proper utilisation of resources. Problem solving skills: Project managers should possess problem solving skills and provide solution to most of the anticipated problems. A project managerReg no 511

should have the ability to identify the problems and concerns that arise out of various social situations. A capable project manager is able to take timely decisions in case of any risks or uncertainties associated with the implementation of the project. Time management skills: A good project manager understands that time is a non-renewable resource, thus plans and schedules tasks based on the priority that it has to be completed. A good project manager also ensures that scheduled tasks are implemented and executed on time as per the wants and demands of the client with the expected quality outcome. The project manager also ensures that there is ongoing interaction with the clients to determine whether there are any changes in the specifications from the clients.

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Q 3. a. Describe the major types of stakeholders in a project. [5 Marks] b. Describe the major type of Organisational structure in Detail. [5 Marks] Ans: The major stakeholders of a project are: Project Manager Customer Performing Organisation Project Team Members Sponsor Society Project Manager Project manager is the interface between the customer and other internal stakeholders. The project manager holds the responsibility for the successful implementation of the project and is an important stakeholder. Customer Customers are the internal or external group of individuals who directly affect the project. The aim of the project is to create a product, service or facility based on customer requirements and to deliver it to the customer. Hence, the project team must consider all requirements of the customer while creating the deliverable. The customer can be any one of the following: Internal customer: They are individuals within the parent organisation. For example, the IT department is assigned to provide a software package for the accounts department. The accounts department is the internal customer. Intermediate customer: They are external to the company but not the final user of the product. For example, distributors and wholesalers. External customer: They are individuals or organisations that pay for and use the final product. Performing OrganisationReg no 511

The performing organisation is the enterprise whose employees are most directly involved in performing the work of the project. Therefore, the project contributes towards achieving the corporate goals of the performing organisation. In addition, there are several other stakeholders like project owner, fund providers, suppliers or contractors, government agencies and media outlets and the society. Stakeholder roles and responsibilities may overlap. For example, when an engineering firm finances a plant it is in the designing or construction field, the role of the engineering firm changes from performing organisation to sponsor for the projects undertaken by the designing or construction company. The naming or grouping of stakeholders is primarily an aid to identify individuals or organisations who view themselves as stakeholders. Project Team Members Team members working in their individual areas of expertise play a crucial role in the success of the project. They work directly with or under the project manager depending on the organisation structure adopted for the project. The project manager, therefore, uses team building skills to ensure that the team members work as a team. Sponsor The sponsor is an individual or a group within or external to the parent organisation who arranges the financial resources in cash or in kind for the project. The sponsor may be a senior executive of an organisation or a junior manager with formal authority who is responsible for the project thus, acting as a link between the project and the performing organisation. b. Organisational Structure Organisational structure has a significant impact on the functioning of a project manager. To enable successful completion of a project, it is important that the resources required for project implementation flow freely from the organisation to the project. There are three types of organisational structures: Functional organisation is a hierarchical structure. It defines a clear

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Superior-Subordinate relationship, i.e, the line of control is clear. Each department carries out work in its area of specialisation and employees in each department work with its respective expertise within the department's line of control. In a manufacturing organisation, the different departments are production, finance, marketing, quality control, engineering, administration, personnel ands so on. If a new product is to be developed, the engineering department handles only the design development phase of the product. If answers to questions concerning manufacturing, marketing or quality control are found, the query is passed on to the respective department through formal communication channels. Project-based organisations are designed to provide near total authority to the project manager. The project manager directs work and sets priorities to employees assigned to the project manager for the project. Functional departments exist in this organisation, but the groups working in these departments report directly to the project manager in the execution of various projects. Matrix-based organisations combine the features of functional and projectbased organisational structures. In this type of organisational structure, project managers and functional managers have equal authority, which implies that the functional staff member reports to both project manager and their functional manager. This constitutes a dual reporting system for each functional staff member.

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Q 4. List and describe in brief the various qualities of the project management process. [10 marks]. Ans: The various qualities that a good Project Management process should encompass are as listed below: Creativity: A good Project Management process should be creative that facilitates integrating various categories of the project into a unified structure. It should provide abilities to create enthusiasm and appeal in the process. Structure: The structure of the organisation will have a set of specifications, parameters, limitations as well as certain guidelines that has to be followed. The members of the organisations are expected to work effectively within the defined framework and structure of the organisation. Intuition: Intuition is very important part of maintaining a good Project anagement process. It is that ability of understanding the uncertainties and the things forth coming without the use of any rational processes. It is the foundation of emotional intelligence. It is vital to have a stronger intuition that enables to sense what the other members are feeling and thinking. Knowledge: Knowledge is an important part of the Project Management process. It is required for the deeper understanding of the project with ease and also to delegate the technical aspects training to the other members participating in the project team. Commitment: The commitment of the project manager is responsible for holding the team together to pull the project to meet its delivery dates successfully. Commitment ensures that there are fixed allotted timings for every activity to be performed in the process. Being Considerate: Being considerate infers that a task allotted to the members of the team can be well completed in the allotted time. It ensures that

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no employee is heavily loaded with unnecessary work he is not responsible for. Thus, the loyalty and humbleness of the manager will further take the project team to meet its objectives defined. Versatility: The primary qualities of a Project Management process include flexibility to any kind of environment. It requires versatility that enables the project manager to change any decisions with respect to resources and other constraints quickly. Lightness: It complements the importance of the tasks as well as provides options to resolve them. This leads to strong team results and team maintenance. Discipline/focus: It is very essential to be self focused and disciplined to maintain the moralities and ethics of self and the company. Big picture, small actions: It is very essential for a good Project Management process to visualise things in a broader perspective. This leads to thinking in a wider range meanwhile paying attention to the details of the project. However, it requires good communication skills to interact with the team members in order to establish the clear expectations of the clients. It is required that the members of the team are also given the authority to make shared decisions regarding developing the project. It gives a clear picture of the people who are assigned to the specific tasks. Effective Project Management process adopts various customs and ways in order to correspond and share the relevant information such as conducting meetings and informal conversations with the relevant and concerned people such as with the other members of the team, the clients and other senior officials of the project. This requires that the manager of the project have good communication skills and believe in listening skills than talking skills.

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Q.5. Write a short note on the following: [52=10 Marks] a. SWOT Analysis as a Strategic Planning tool. b. Net Present Value (NPV) as a Project selection criterion. Ans: a. SWOT Analysis as a Strategic Planning Tool Periodic SWOT analysis facilitates the generation of ideas. It is also be used for screening of ideas. In SWOT, the following questions are answered before arriving at a decision on a strategy or project: What is our (that is our organisations) strengths? How can we take advantage of them? What weaknesses do we have? How do we minimise the effect of them? What opportunities does this market offer us? How can we capitalise on them? What threats exist that may impact our success? How can we deal effectively with these? It is a process of checking the companys internal workings, which are relatively easier to identify and control than outside factors. Conversely, examining opportunities and threats are a part of environmental analysis that is, the company must look outside of the organisation to determine opportunities and threats, over which it has lesser control. Four SWOT concepts are: Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats The SWOT analysis framework is summarised in figure.

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SWOT Analysis Examples of each of the above four concern areas are as follows: Strengths (S) Strength of a company is its ability to, create new products, provide high level customer service, have a presence in multiple retail markets and enhance quality of its managers. It is also being privy to a technological edge in manufacturing a higher quality product or a cheaper product of the same quality as competitors. General examples of Strengths are: Patents Strong brand names Good reputation among customers Cost advantages from proprietary know-how Exclusive access to high grade natural Favourable access to distribution networks Weaknesses (W) The absence of certain strength may be viewed as a weakness. For example an often cited original weakness is that when the business was started by Sunil Bharti Mittal over 15 years ago, the business has little knowledge and experience of how a cellular telephone system actually worked. So the starting business had to outsource to industry experts in the field. General examples of weaknesses i.e., the absence of certain strengths is the lack of strengths like: Lack of patent protection A weak brand name

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Poor reputation among customers High cost structure Lack of access to the best natural resources Lack of access to the key distribution channels We should note that in some cases, a company may consider a factor as an S when it may actually be a W. For example, a large manufacturing capacity compared to a competitor is consider as S but if that results in the company are being slow in reacting to changes in the strategic environment, it is a W. Hence a practical evaluation by the company is required here. Opportunities (O) Opportunities are external elements that prove helpful in achieving the goals set for the project. Factors of this type can be the positive observation of the ompany by the general public, a network of vendors who are ready to work with the company to achieve success with the project, and market conditions that help to make the project attractive to the market at large, or a least a significant segment. Availability of internet has provided numerous opportunities for companies to expand their product sales. General examples of opportunities are: Arrival of new technologies Loosening of regulations Removal of international trade barriers Threats (T) Threats can be an individual, group, or organisation outside the company that aims to reduce the level of the companys performance of the company. For example, Dr.Reddys Laboratories (DRL) started with pharmaceutical specialists, who were earlier employed with Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (IDPL). DRL overtook IDPL very quickly as a drug manufacturing company, resulting in IDPL having to close its operations. Threats can also come from government regulation or consumer groups. Generalexamples of threats are: Shifts in consumer tastes away from the firms products.

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Emergence of substitute products. New regulations Increased trade barriers. A SWOT analysis leads to the generation of a SWOT profile which is used as the basis for goal setting, strategy formulation and implementation. Table shows the SWOT profile.

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Q 6. Describe in brief the Human resource management process in a project. [10 Marks] Ans: Human Resource Management includes various processes that are vital to make the most effective use of the people involved with a project. The main process involved with the HR Management process includes: Acquiring the project team. Developing the project team. Managing the project team. Acquiring a Project Team The members who belong to different groups and functions and are allocated to the activities of the same project, form a project team. A team can be divided into subteams if required. Generally, the project teams are only used for a defined period of time. However, they are disbanded when the project is complete. Sometimes, due to the nature of the specific formation and disbandment, project teams are usually agile in organisations. Acquiring a project team is the process of acquiring the specific people needed to accomplish all phases of the given project. Ultimately the team members will bring all the specific qualifications and capabilities to the project team. However, the project management team has control over the selection process. Selection of team mates involves certain concerns which need to be evaluated. A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide).Fourth Edition 2008 Project Management Institute. Newton Square USA. A number of factors are considered while deciding the team members. These factors include a series of environmental factors (such as work experience, availability, and cost), derivation of clear and concise project organisation charts, and formulation of a thorough staffing management plan. Once the team is properly staffed, the next steps (or outputs) of the process involve staffing out assignments to the team, determining availability of resources, and updating the staffing management plan. Important factors that are considered during the process of acquiring the team

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are: The project manager should efficiently discuss and induct others who are in a position to supply the required Human Resources in a project. Failure to obtain the essential Human Resources for the project will affect project agenda, budgets, consumer satisfaction and quality. It declines the probability of success and eventually results in project cancellation. The figure depicts the inputs, tools and techniques and the output of acquiring a project team.

Acquiring a Project Team: Inputs, Tools and Techniques and Output Developing a Project Team Developing a project team is a process of enhancing interaction among the team members and also the project manager. The process refers to increasing competencies of individuals and building up team spirit, which finally leads to a quality project2. To achieve project success, there should be good communication among the team members. Project managers should administer the development of the project team. The project manager should create the relevant environment for teamwork, provide new goals for the team to compete and achieve. Project managers should encourage feedback from the team. The project manager should provide effective review and good support to the team staff. Open communication between the project manager and team reduces conflicts. The management should also support the project managers. The project stakeholders should provide the required support to the development of theReg no 511

project team. Projects are done in diversified environments. The project team may experience variance in language, industry and culture while at work. The project team should be dedicated to the project and the team members should work together, without losing their individuality. The goals for developing a project team are: To develop technical knowledge about the project, this leads to quality output and meeting delivery schedules with reduced cost. To enhance trust among team members, thus reducing conflicts. To develop cohesiveness in the project. To allow sharing knowledge among team members.

Developing a Project Team: Inputs, Tools and Techniques and Output

Managing a Project Team Managing a project team is the process of delegating responsibilities and tasks, monitoring team performance, providing feedback, solving issues, and coordinating changes to enhance overall project performance. Managing the team is one of the most critical aspects of project management. The project manager should encourage building competencies among the team members and reward them accordingly. Key aspects of managing a project team are: Assigning work and observing the commitment level in each team member. Building co-operative working relationship and ensuring effective communication among all members of the project team. Monitoring team spirit.

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Providing effective performance review and appraisal to inspire the project team.

Managing a Project Team: Inputs, Tools, Techniques and Output

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Course: MBA Semester 3 Subject Code: PM0010 Master of Business Administration PM0010 Introduction to Project Management Assignment Set- 2

Q 1. List and explain in brief the inputs to the following processes [25=10 marks].

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a. Acquiring a project team. b. Communication plan Ans: a. Acquiring a Project Team The members who belong to different groups and functions and are allocated to the activities of the same project, form a project team. A team can be divided into sub-teams if required. Generally, the project teams are only used for a defined period of time. However, they are disbanded when the project is complete. Sometimes, due to the nature of the specific formation and disbandment, project teams are usually agile in organisations. Acquiring a project team is the process of acquiring the specific people needed to accomplish all phases of the given project. Ultimately the team members will bring all the specific qualifications and capabilities to the project team. However, the project management team has control over the selection process. Selection of team mates involves certain concerns which need to be evaluated.1 A number of factors are considered while deciding the team members. These factors include a series of environmental factors (such as work experience, availability, and cost), derivation of clear and concise project organisation charts, and formulation of a thorough staffing management plan. Once the team is properly staffed, the next steps (or outputs) of the process involve staffing out assignments to the team, determining availability of resources, and updating the staffing management plan. Important factors that are considered during the process of acquiring the team are: The project manager should efficiently discuss and induct others who are in a position to supply the required Human Resources in a project. Failure to obtain the essential Human Resources for the project will affect project agenda, budgets, consumer satisfaction and quality. It declines the probability of success and eventually results in project cancellation.

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Acquiring a Project Team: Inputs, Tools and Techniques and Output The inputs for acquiring a project team are: Enterprise environmental factors: Team members are available from internal and external sources. When selecting the team members, it is important to evaluate the following factors: Availability Ability Experience Interests Costs b. Communication Plan Planning communication is the process of ascertaining the information and communication needs of the project stakeholders. Communication plan helps to communicate the right information, to the right people at the right time. It is a schedule of communication events used to make sure that the project stakeholders are kept properly informed. The various factors such as the time, effort and resources that are required to perform these planned communication activities are the part of the Project Management. The communication goals, strategies and stakeholders are described in the communication plan. The best time for planning communication is at the start up phase of the projectReg no 511

life cycle. It ensures that the plan includes the tasks needed to communicate effectively throughout the project cycle. The key features influencing the communication plan includes Project Management team structure, scope of the project and feedback from the stakeholders. There are two ways of planning communication: Constant communication: Constant or regular communication involves communicating to the project team, managers and project stakeholders on a regular basis. These types of communication include regular status reports, project team meetings and monthly status updates about the project. The constant communication also includes the regular stakeholder report updates. Event driven communication: The event driven or one-time communication includes sessions discussing critical issues, stakeholder meetings, training schedules and wrap up sessions. The advantages of planning communication are: It facilitates team development. It makes it easier to update stakeholders. It saves creation of additional project documentations. Incorrect planning of communication leads to problems such as hindrance in message delivery, providing sensitive data to the wrong audience or lack of communication to certain stakeholders. The inputs for planning communication are: Stakeholder register: Stakeholder records consist of stakeholder identification, assessment and classification documents. Stakeholder management strategy: Stakeholder management strategy describes the method to gain support and reduce dissatisfaction from the stakeholders throughout the entire project life cycle. Enterprise environmental factors: All environmental factors such as organisational culture, industry standards are considered as inputs for the planning communication process. Organisational process aspects: All organisational process assets areReg no 511

applied while planning communications. The lessons learned and documented information is important as it gives an idea about the issues resolved. Q 2. Write short notes on the following idea generation technique: a. Mind mapping b. Delphi technique c. Brainstorming d. Nominal Group technique Ans: a. Mind mapping Another way to look at the human levels of thinking is the mind mapping concept. Mind mapping exercise is aimed at increasing mental energy to utilise creative thinking skills, enabling the mind to track out ideas which normally lie in obscurity on the edge of thinking. Following example is taken from the software Buzans iMind Map which was chosen for the brainstorming session aimed at planning for the future of young and developing minds. The software replicates the organic shape, form and use of colours and images to convey a thought or idea a graphic technique for stimulating creativity and unleashing the truth, often untapped potential of the mind. This was used in June 2008 at Petra, Jordan, where 30 Nobel Prize winners (scientists, entrepreneurs, academics, and humanitarians) participated in the conference focused on the theme Reaching for New Economic, Scientific and Educational horizons. Two of the many conclusions of the brainstorming session were - elimination of child poverty worldwide is essential to move forward with educational development; new and innovative learning tools are the foundation for a positive future for the next generation. b. Delphi technique This is a systematic, interactive, forecasting method that relies on a panel whose members are carefully selected independent experts. It is based on the principle

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that forecasts from an unstructured group of individuals are comparatively inaccurate than forecasts from a structure group of experts. The experts answer prepared questionnaires in two or more rounds. After each round, a facilitator provides an overall summary of the experts forecasts from the previous round as well as the reasons they provided for their judgments. The participants revise their earlier answers by knowing the responses of other members of the group. The process stops after a predetermined stop-criterion like number of rounds or achievement of consensus. Usually, participants maintain secrecy even after completion of the final report. The facilitator, who is the coordinator of the Delphi method, sends out the questionnaire, collects and analyses responses, and identifies common and conflicting viewpoints.

c. Brainstorming This method aims to give people freedom of mind and action to create and reveal new ideas. All spontaneous ideas from a group are gathered to find a solution for a specific problem. The rules followed during brainstorming are as follows: No criticism of ideas Go for large quantity of ideas Build on each others ideas Encourage wild ideas Brainstorming consists of a facilitator who composes the brainstorming panel and an idea collector to record the suggested ideas. Sometimes the facilitator is also the idea collector. Some of the leading questions that a facilitator asks during the session are Can we combine these ideas? and How about looking from another perspective? The idea collector also numbers each idea for future reference. When a participant exhausts all ideas, the creativity and experience of another participant is brought out. This often makes group brainstorming sessions enjoyable experiences. This also facilitates in bringing team membersReg no 511

together. Individual brainstorming is effective in generating many ideas, but not at developing the ideas. Brainstorming is used to generate ideas, for others to evaluate and select. The strategy is more effective when the brainstorming group evaluates and selects a solution to the problem proposed. In either case, the organisation offers incentives so that participants maintain their brainstorming efforts. Brainstorming is a lateral thinking process. It is employed particularly when new ways of thinking are called for and when there is a need to break out of old established patterns of thinking. Some instances where brainstorming is used are when there is a need to look at new opportunities, when there is a need to improve the service offered, or when existing approaches are just not giving the right results. d. Nominal Group Technique This is a type of brainstorming. This technique encourages all participants to have an equal say in the session. Participants are asked to write their ideas anonymously. The moderator collects the ideas and each idea is voted on by the group. The process of voting can be simply by show of hands. The top ranked ideas are sent back to the group or subgroups for further brainstorming. Each subgroup comes back to the whole group for ranking the listed ideas. Sometimes the group revaluates the ideas that were previously dropped. This method requires a trained facilitator.

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Q 3.Describe in brief the various sources of project financing. [10 Marks] Ans: Means of Financing The project cost can be met by the following sources of finance: Share Capital: This can be equity capital and preference capital. Equity capital is contributed by the business owners who collect the benefits of a profitable operation, as well as bear the risks of ownership Preference capital is contributed by preference shareholders, and the dividend rate on this is usually fixed. Term Loans: Term loans form the most important and sizeable component of project finance. They are provided by financial institutions, as well as commercial banks Debentures: These are issued for a period of 5 to 9 years and carry a fixed rate of interest. Non-convertible debentures are those which redeem after the tenure, carry a fixed rate of interest during their tenure, and do not provide an option to be converted into shares. Convertible debentures carry a fixed rate of interest and are convertible partly or wholly into equity shares at pre-specified conversion price and conversion period. Deferred Credit: Equipment or machinery suppliers may offer deferred payment option to the project company for the companys purchase of equipment or machinery i.e. the company can make the payment over a period of time. Other Sources of Finance: Depending on the location or category of the industry, Government may provide incentives like seed capital, tax holiday, tax

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exemptions etc.

Q 4. Explain the important concepts in Research design? [10 Marks] Ans: The research designer understandably cannot hold all his decisions in his head. Even if he could, he would have difficulty in understanding how these are interrelated. Therefore, he records his decisions on paper or record disc by using relevant symbols or concepts. Such a symbolic construction may be called the research design or model. A research design is a logical and systematic plan prepared for directing a research study. It specifies the objectives of the study, the methodology and techniques to be adopted for achieving the objectives. It constitutes the blue print for the plan is the overall scheme or program of research. A research design is the program that guides the investigator in the process of collecting, analysing and interpreting observations. It provides a systematic plan of procedure for the researcher to follow elltiz, Jahoda and Destsch and Cook describe, A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. Components of Research Design: It is important to be familiar with the important concepts relating to research design. They are: 1. Dependent and Independent variables: A magnitude that varies is known as a variable. The concept may assume different quantitative values, like height, weight, income, etc. Qualitative variables are not quantifiable in the strictest sense of objectivity. However, the qualitative phenomena may also be quantified in terms of the presence or absence of the

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attribute considered. Phenomena that assume different values quantitatively even in decimal points are known as continuous variables. But, all variables need not be continuous. Values that can be expressed only in integer values are called non-continuous variables. In statistical term, they are also known as discrete variable. For example, age is a continuous variable; whereas the number of children is a non-continuous variable. When changes in one variable depends upon the changes in one or more other variables, it is known as a dependent or endogenous variable, and the variables that cause the changes in the dependent variable are known as the independent or explanatory or exogenous variables. For example, if demand depends upon price, then demand is a dependent variable, while price is the independent variable. And if, more variables determine demand, like income and prices of substitute commodity, then demand also depends upon them in addition to the own price. Then, demand is a dependent variable which is determined by the independent variables like own price, income and price of substitute. 2. Extraneous variable: The independent variables which are not directly related to the purpose of the study but affect the dependent variable are known as extraneous variables. For instance, assume that a researcher wants to test the hypothesis that there is relationship between childrens school performance and their self-concepts, in which case the latter is an independent variable and the former, the dependent variable. In this context, intelligence may also influence the school performance. However, since it is not directly related to the purpose of the study undertaken by the researcher, it would be known as an extraneous variable. The influence caused by the extraneous variable on the dependent variable is technically called as an experimental errors Therefore, a research study should always be framed in such a manner that the dependent variable completely influences the change in the independent variable and any other extraneous variable or variables. 3. Control: One of the most important features of a good research design is to minimize the effect of extraneous variable. Technically, the term control is used when a

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researcher designs the study in such a manner that it minimizes the effects of extraneous independent variables. The term control is used in experimental research to reflect the restrain in experimental conditions. 4. Confounded relationship: The relationship between dependent and independent variables is said to be confounded by an extraneous variable, when the dependent variable is not free from its effects. Q 5. Explain the following [52=10 Marks] a. Project Vs. Program Vs. Portfolio b. Project work and Traditional functional work . Ans: a.Project A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.PMBOK defines a project as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. In my terms, a project has a specific start and end date with a clearly defined deliverable produced. Project management is the application of knowledge, skill, tools, techniques and processes to effectively manage a team towards this final deliverable. In real life this means the management of a specific project (e.g. implementing a new accounting system). This project will start on a specific date and end according to our project plan with the delivery of your new accounting system. Program group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. This is where the confusion seems to start. A program is a group of related projects managed together to obtain specific benefits and controls that would likely not occur if these projects were managed individually. While project management focuses on delivering the specific objectives of the project program management isocused on achieving the strategic objectives and benefits of the integrated program.

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The implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is often performed as a program. The ERP system will include several specific individual projects (i.e. Finance, Purchasing, Materials Management, etc.). Each of these specific projects should be run by a project manager using a formal project management approach. The overall grouping of theserelated projects will be run by a Program Manager. The Program Manager will be responsible for the rolling up of information from each of the projects and ensuring the overall program is driving towards achieving the business objectives. This requires each of the project managers to manage their individual projects in a fashion that easily integrates into the overall program plan (easily said more challenging in actual practice). The Program Manager is also responsible for tracking and analysing across the entire program. This involves considering risk management strategies not only for each individual project but also analysing the collective risk across the program. The same goes for quality management, schedule management, cost management, communications, etc. Portfolio A collection of projects or programs and other work that are grouped together to facilitate effectivemanage ment of that work to meet strategic business objectives. projects or programs grouped together to facilitate effective management of efforts to meet strategic business objectives. These projects or programs are not cessarily interdependent or directly related. Portfolio management is the centralized management of multiple projects, programs and possibly portfolios. This typically includes identifying, prioritizing and authorizing projects and programs to achieve specific strategic business objectives. The group of projects and programs within a specific business division could be an example of a portfolio. This might include the implementation of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program; Sales Data Warehouse

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program; Commission Tracking project; And a project to launch a new product within the Sales & Marketing Division. In this case the Portfolio Manager is managing this broad range of somewhat unrelated programs and projects towards a specific set of strategic divisional business objectives. b.Project work and Traditional functional work: Project work and traditional functional work differ in many ways. It is important to understand these differences. Functional work is routine on-going work. Each day machine operators, car salesmen, secretaries, accountants, financial analysts and quality inspectors perform functional work that is routine, notwithstanding some variations from day to day. The functional worker gets training from a manager assigned to the specific function, and the manager supervises and manages the worker according to standards of productivity and quality set for the particular function. In contrast to functional work, project work is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique, non-routine product or service. A project manager manages a specific project with people and other resources assigned to him only for project management support on the specific project, and not on an ongoing basis. The project manager is responsible for the approved objectives of a project such as budget, schedule and specifications. Project terms are typically not organized in the same hierarchical structure as that of functional group.

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Q 6. Describe the following quality control tools: [2.54=10 Marks] a. Ishikawa diagram b. Flow chart c. Pareto chart d. Scatter diagram Ans: a. Ishikawa diagram Cause and Effect Diagram: This is also known as fishbone diagram or Ishikawa diagram was developed in 1960 and named after Kaoru Ishikawa, a Japanese quality control statistician. It is one of the seven basic tools of quality management. It is named fishbone diagram because of its fish-like appearance. It is a systematic way of analysing effects and causes that creates or contributes to the effects. This tool is employed by a problem solving team for assembling all inputs systematically and graphically. All the inputs given to this tool is obtained from a brainstorming session. It enables the team to focus on why the problem occurs and not on the symptoms or history of the problem. It also displays a real-time snapshot of the collective inputs of the team as it is updated. The possible causes are represented at various levels of detail in connected branches. The level of detail increases as the branch goes outwards which means that an outer branch is a cause of the inner branch it is attached to. Therefore, the outermost branches in a cause and effect relationship diagram usually indicate the root causes of the problem. Figure 11.4 shows an example of cause and effect diagram.

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Cause and Effect Diagram b. Flow chart: It is an essential project management technique. It is used by the project manager and project management team to discuss about the project. Flowchart is a specific graphical representation of order and process that must take place during the life of a project. This represents and highlights fundamental elements of project like every single mode of input, processing action, and output. Flowchart is not meant to represent a formal and unyielding plan that describes how the project must be conducted. It is a brainstorming type of activity that is meant to merely illustrate the anticipated course that the project and its anticipated components will take, with the idea that it may in fact become obsolete as the project advances. Flowcharts are also used to represent a document process flow. This is used to figure out bottlenecks or breakdowns in current processes. Flowcharts are also be used to show changes in process, when improvements are made or to show a new work flow process. The figure given below shows the generic flowchart

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c. Pareto chart : This quality control tool is based on Paretos rule. The Pareto rule states that 80 percent of the problems are often due to 20 percent of the causes. The basic assumption is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes and helps to identify the vital few contributors that account for most quality problems. The Pareto chart is a form of histogram that orders the data by frequency of occurrence. It shows how many defects were generated, by a type of category of identified cause. For example, to determine the errors in the collection of beneficiary data, a project team identified five causes and frequency of errors, of each cause. The bars represent each category and, the line the cumulative percentage of the errors. The chart indicates that that 80% of the errors could be reduced just by improving the data collection in two categories, instead of focusing efforts to correct all categories. Figure below illustrates an example of Pareto chart to identify the frequency of various data errors.

Example of Pareto Chart d. Scatter diagram : It is a graphical technique used to analyse the relationship between two variables. It determines and shows whether or not there is correlation between two variables. Correlation means the measure of the relationship between twoReg no 511

sets of numbers or variables. Two sets of data are plotted on a graph, where yaxis is used for the variable to be predicted and the x-axis is used for the variable to make the prediction. A scatter diagram shows the possible relationships. It should be noted that two variables might appear to be related but they might not be. Hence those who know well about the variables must evaluate the variables. Correlation does not refer a direct cause and effect relationship. If the values of one variable can be predicted, based on the value of the other variables, then there exists correlation. All relationships between variables are not linear. A visible slope of line does not provide any information about the strength of correlation since the scales of the graph can be expanded or compressed on either axis of the scatter diagram. The direct or strong correlation between the variables does not necessarily imply cause and effect relationship. If a correlation is shown by scatter diagram, investigate for further confirmation. For example, volume of ice cream sold per day is strongly correlated to the daily number of fatalities by drowning. Neither of the variables is a result and strongly correlated to third variable which is the outside temperature. The steps to draw a scatter diagram for a process are shown in the table below.

Steps to Draw Scatter DiagramReg no 511