ASSIGNMENTS - MBA - II SEMESTER

MB0033

SET 1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Q.1:- Define project management, resource, process and project cycle. Explain
the life-cycle of a project.

Ans:- Project management : It is an art of controlling the cost, time, manpower,

hardware and software resources involved in a project. as “the application of knowledge,
skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements”. Project
management is accomplished through the application of and integration of the project
management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and
closing. The project manager is the person responsible for accomplishing the project
objectives.

Need for project management : Project management is necessary

because:-

(a) A project requires huge investments which should not go waste

(b) A loss in any project would have direct or indirect impact on the society
(c) Prevent failures in projects
(d) Scope of the project activity may undergo a change
(e) Technology used may change during the course of project execution
(f) Consequences of negativity in project related problems could be very
serious
(g) Changes in economic conditions may affect a project

Resource : We discussed earlier that the most important step to arrive at the
relationship between the four constraints is to make an accurate assessment of the
resources required, and the costs thereof. At this stage, we shall broadly classify the
resources required under four categories.

(a) Manpower refers to all the man hours required from various personnel
working directly or indirectly on the project.

(b) Materials refer to all materials that become part of the project. In the
case of a building this will include cement, steel, aggregates, doors & windows,
mechanical electrical/instrumentation equipment and materials, finishing
materials like tiles water proofing, ironmongery, consumables utilized in the
construction etc. In summary all materials that become part of the building
structure.
(c) Tools and Plants are those items that are deployed to aid the
construction of the project like lifting equipment (cranes etc.), concreting
equipment, welding machines, dozers, transport vehicles and all machineries
deployed as construction aids. They do not become part of the project, they are

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 utilized for the implementation of the project, and they are transferred to other
projects after such utilization for the ongoing project. The owner may own some
of these tools and plants in which case he will need to apportion an internally
predetermined hiring cost of the same to the project. For the tools and plants
deployed for the project and not owned by the owner, hiring costs charged by the
external agencies shall be apportioned to the project.

(d) Infrastructure refers to temporary arrangements that need to be

provided for project implementation and dismantled at the end of the project.
Examples are labor camps, electric power and water supply systems built for the
construction of the project, dedicated telecommunication facilities during
construction at project sites etc. Each one of the abovementioned resources has a
cost associated with it and the sum total of these costs will form a part of the
project cost.

It should however be noted that several additional cost elements

contribute to the total project cost like financing costs, insurance costs,
overheads etc

Process : PMBoK organizes Project management processes into five groups, defined
as the Project Management Process Groups, each group comprising one or more
processes. This grouping helps in understanding the relevance and significance of the
sequence of, and interaction between the various processes in project management.
However, a process group is not a totally discrete phase occurring in isolation from
another process group, and the processes have inherent interactions between
themselves throughout the implementation of a project. We will briefly define these
process groups as under, while a more detailed explanation of each process group
follows subsequently.

Initiating process group defines and authorizes the project or a project phase.

Planning process group defines and redefines objectives and plans the course
of action required to attain the objectives and scope that the project was
undertaken to address.

Executing process group integrates people and other resources to carry out
the project management plan for the project.

Controlling process group regularly measures and monitors progress to

identify variances from the project management plan so that corrective action can
be taken when necessary to meet project objectives
Closing process group formalizes acceptance of the product, service or
result and brings the project or a project phase to an orderly end.

Broadly, the process groups tend to be deployed in the sequence listed as the
project progresses. In the event that a project goes off-course, re-planning comes into
play, and if a project is found to be in serious trouble, it may have to go all the way back
to the initiating process to be restarted.

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 To summarize, the result or output of one process group often becomes an input
to another. In the central process groups planning, executing and control), all the links
are looped i.e. the links of these central process groups are iterated – planning provides
execution with a documented plan early on, and then provides documented updates to
the plan, as the project progresses. Fig. 2A illustrates this.

Process Groups in a Phase Also, though these process groups are presented
above as discrete, one-time events; these events overlap and take place at different
levels of activity across each phase in the project life cycle. Fig. 3-2 illustrates this
overlapping.

Project Cycle : A project cycle basically consists of the various activities of

operations, resources and the limitations imposed on them.

Project Life cycle: Collectively, the project phases are known as the project life cycle.
Thus the project life cycle serves to define the beginning and end of the project. For
example, when an organization identifies an opportunity, it will conduct or authorize a
feasibility study to decide if it should undertake the project. The project life cycle
definition will determine whether the feasibility report is treated as the first project
phase, or as a separate standalone project. The phase sequence defined by most project
life cycles generally involves transfer of deliverables (or technology) such as:

(a) Requirements to design

(b) Design to production or construction
(c) Production to distribution
(d) Construction to operation

The Project Life Cycle : A life cycle of a project consists of

(a) Understanding the scope of the project,

(b) Objectives of the project,
(c) Formulation and planning various activities,
(d) Project execution and
(e) Project monitoring and control the project resources.

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 Deliverables from preceding phase are usually approved before work starts on the
next phase. The requirement of speedy completion of the total project will often
necessitate overlapping of phases i.e. a subsequent phase is begun prior to approval of
the previous phase deliverables, when the risks involved are deemed acceptable. This
overlapping is termed fast tracking.

Q.2:- What are the roles and responsibilities of a project manager?

Ans:- The Project Manager : A project manager is a person who manages the
project. The project manager is responsible to carry out all the tasks of a project.
Responsibilities of the project manager

· Budgeting and cost control

· Scheduling tasks
· Allocating resources
· Tracking project expenditures
· Ensuring technical quality
· Manage relations with the customer and company

Life cycle of a project manager overlaps with the development life cycle in the
middle.

Roles and Responsibilities of a project manager starts before the development

and continue after delivery of the product.

The project manager conducts the analysis of the problem and submits a
detailed report to the top management. The report should consist of what the problem
is, ways of solving the problem, the objectives to be achieved, and the success rate of
achieving the goal.

The project manager and the project team to complete projects on schedule
within budgeted cost and in full accordance with project specifications. At the same time,
they help achieve the other goals of the organization, such as productivity, quality and

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cost effectiveness. Hence the objective of project management is to optimize project
cost, time and performance (includes quality).

Today large and small organizations recognize that project management, with its
structured approach to planning and controlling of projects, is a necessary core
competency for success. Like general management, project management also involves
all aspects of planning, organizing, implementing and controlling .However, it has its own
techniques like work breakdown structure, critical path analysis, PERT (Program
evaluation & review technique), which will be discussed in later units.

The project manager needs to be proactive in striking a balance between these

constraints by making the client aware of the limitations pertaining to time, budget,
technicalities etc. In striking this balance, he needs to plan the deployment of resources
in sufficient detail.

Issues are made clear by the project manager to avoid as many surprises as
possible. Bottom-up project management can also be viewed as a way of coping with the
increasing gap between the information necessary to manage knowledge workers and
the ability of managers to acquire and apply this information.

The project manager’s expectations are clearly communicated to each project

participant. Following this approach, ambiguity opens the door for potential failure, and
the managers should be as specific as possible when communicating their expectations.
Process formality is very important for this approach. Examples of the top-down
approach applications can be found in many organizations. One of such example is the
New York Times, a leader in the newspaper industry. Several years ago, American
Journalism Review (www.ajr.com) reported that The Times’ executive management felt
that they were far from what was necessary for creation of a vibrant workplace and a
successful organization. Power was centralized and masthead editors experienced overall
control.

Team members very often have read-only access to the project plan and cannot
make any contributions or changes. The employees send their updates to the project
manager in disconnected files via e-mail. The project manager then has to collect all the
data and put the information manually into the project plan. After that, he or she has to
communicate the changes to the corporate executives. All these routine procedures lead
to a situation where the project manager's talents often are buried by the routine work.
The huge amount of mechanical control/synchronization work often leaves little very
time for leadership from the project manager.

The project manager is the one to conduct the work of his team and choose the
right direction for the project development, based on the information received from the
individual employees. Thus, the role the project manager plays in the project changes.

Project managers should be familiar with, and be able to use or direct the project
team, to use the appropriate tools to ensure that estimates provided during the planning
process are reliable. Estimation tools are driven by historical data and many can serve as
a parametric model which can be scalable based on the size of the project.

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 Once the Project Management Review has been conducted, follow up with
program/project managers on any issues or concerns requiring attention, the status of
open items from the review, and CIO reporting actions, e.g., reports to the CIO Council.
The CIO may also recommend quality assurance analysis be conducted.

The project manager is responsible for raising issues or concerns that require
assistance or guidance to the attention of the CIO. These items should be communicated
whenever they become known, and not held to the next Project Management Review.
The CIO will assign appropriate OCIO staff available to help resolve open items. The
program / project manager should communicate the status of these items in each
quarterly review until the items are resolved / closed.

The program/project manager is responsible for tracking the open items from the
review and communicating the status in each quarterly review until the items are closed.
The supporting the scheduling of reviews will coordinate with the program/project
manager after the quarterly reviews to help ensure that new items have been captured
for tracking and action by the program/project manager.

The project manager should make it a habit of expressing appreciation openly for
any good work done. Cross Functional Teams have become a necessity and the synergy
they generate would be lost if interpersonal behavior is not of high standard. As
members are from different functions, understanding the requirements or compulsions of
others is difficult. This fact should be impressed upon all the members and requesting
them to cooperate is vital.

An experienced project manager and his team may manage more than one
project at a time. The project team is responsible for ensuring that the project upon
completion shall deliver the gain in the business for which it is intended for. The project
team has to properly coordinate with each other working on different aspects of the
project. The team members are responsible for the completion of the project as per the
plans of the project.

Q.3:- Explain the various steps in the identification process of a project. What
are the tools used in project planning?

Ans:- Project: A project may be stated as:

· A programme of non routine work bringing about a beneficial change

· Guided by at least one well engaged sponsor who has both adequate
authorities
· resources to charter the project effort
· Has a start and an end date
· A multidisciplinary team brought together for the project
· Scope of work that is well defined
· Constrained by cost, time and quality

Project Processes : A project process is a series of activities to achieve the

target.
Project process is classified into two main categories:

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 (a) Project management process Project management process is defined
by the organization. It describes and organizes the work of the project.

(b) Product oriented process Product oriented process is defined by

the life cycle. It specifies and creates products and related works.

Process Groups : It consists of the following:

(a) Initiating processes: recognition to start and establishing commitment.

(b) Planning processes: devising and maintaining a workable scheme to

accomplish the business need

(c) Executing processes: coordinating people to carry out the plan

(d) Controlling processes: monitoring and measuring progress and taking

remedial action

(e) Closing processes: Formalizing acceptance and bringing project to an

orderly end.

Process Interactions Initiating Processes Every process is initiated by

management group decision which results in the next phase of the project.

(a) Planning Processes

· Planning has the major importance
· Plans are nothing planning is everything
· Planning processes are highly interdependent
· If the cost is unacceptable, scope and time may need to be
redefined

(b) Executing processes

· Interactions depend on the nature of the work
· They are dynamic & dependent on Team Innovations

(c) Controlling processes

· Measuring project performance [time, cost, quality]
· Identifying variances from the plan
· Updating project plans
· Taking corrective action

(d) Closing Processes

· Review of the project
· Findings
· Analysis of the project performance with respect to various
processes

(e) Customisation

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 · Large projects may need details A detailed project management
plan might be necessary to indicate every detail in the initial stages.
· Smaller projects may need relatively less details A detailed plan may
not be required in the initial stages.

Project Planning The purpose of project planning is to first identify the areas of the
project work and identifying the forces affecting the project and then to define the
boundaries
of the project. Also the scoping has to be explicitly stated on the line of the project obj
ectives
It also has to implicitly provide directions to the project. The planning and scoping shou
ld be such that the project manager is able to assess every stage of the project and als
o enabling the assessment of the quality of the deliverable of the project at every stage
. The various steps of project scoping and its characteristics are:

(a) Identify the various parametric forces relevant to the project and its stage
s.
(b) Enable the team members to work on tools to keep track of the stages and
thereby proceed in the planned manner.
(c) Avoiding areas of problems which may affect the progress of the project.
(d) Eliminating the factors responsible for inducing the problem.
(e) Analyzing the financial implications and cost factor at various stage of the
project

Planning Tools The tools which may be necessary for coordinating a project
successfully are as follows:-

(a) Project organization

Process Skills and activities

Initiation • Prepare an outline project justification, plan and

project
Budget
Selection and briefing of the project team, assigning
roles and organization
• Feasibility study risk and key success factors

Planning • Project definition and project plan

• Communicate to the team

Execution • Allocating and monitoring the work and cost •

Ensuring work and team cohesion
• Reporting progress

Control • Monitoring progress and managing changes

• Helping the team to solve project problems
Close • Satisfactory delivery
• Compiling lessons from project experience

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(b) Project structure Development plan, project tracking and oversight

Initiate planning

Develop software
development
plan(SDP)

Review and approve

SDP
Implement SDP
processes and apply
SPTO process

Measurement and
improve the process

Revise the SDP

Record lessons learnt

(c) Project Key personnel Identify those business areas that are within
the scope or directly interface with the scope boundary and list them in the
“Business area” column of the project assignment worksheet Identify the key
personnel for each area and list them in the “Person” column of the project
assignment worksheet.

(d) Project management team It is a senior management team, which

will be accountable for the project. Identify project sponsor, client representative
and technical representative. Stage managers who will plan and manage the
project on a day-to-day basis for this stage

(e) Project coordinators Client coordinator and technical coordinator

clearly define these coordination, control activities and identify the brief suitable
personnel to carry them out.

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Q.4:- What is Risk Management? How can risks be prioritized?

Ans:- Risk Management Risks are those events or conditions that may occur and
whose occurrence has a harmful or negative impact on a project. Risk management aims
to identify the risks and then take actions to minimize their effect on the project. Risk
management entails additional cost. Hence risk management can be considered cost
effective only if the cost of risk management is considerably less than the cost incurred if
the risk materializes.

There are different types of risk involved in a project. The main types are:-

(a) Project risks

it is the risk arising out of a change in the scope of the project,
changes in the work quantities, changes in the resource requirements,
estimation error or unexpected developments in a project.

(b) Market risks it is the risk arising out of a change in any of the
following marketing parameter – price change, changes in market
regulations, economic changes, competition, competitors product changes, etc.

(c) Industry risk it is the risk arising out of a change in scientific instruments
used in business activity, changes in companies policies because of changes in th
e
industry.

(d) Social and political risk it arises out of changes in labour

situation, labour laws, environment law, etc.

The risk process, described below, should be performed at the beginning

of a project, at
the beginning of major phases in a project (e.g., requirements, design, coding and
deployment) and when there are significant changes (e.g., feature changes, target
platform changes and technology changes).

At the end of this unit, we have provided you with a copy of our risk process. It is
simple, effective, and takes 90 to 120 minutes for projects that are 1260 personmonths.
Projectssmaller than 12 personmonths take 4060 minutes. You can control the length of
the sessionby controlling the scope you pick. Most sessions usually take less than two h
ours.

There are four steps to manage a risk:

(a) Risk Identification:- To identify risks, we must first define

risk. Risks are potential problems, ones that are not guaranteed to occur.
When people begin performing risk
identification they often start by listing known problems. Known problems are
not risks. During risk identification, you might notice some
known problems. If so, just move them to a problem list and concentrate on futu
re
potential problems.

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 Risk identification can be done using a brainstorming session. The brainsto
rm typically takes 15 30 minutes. Be sure to invite anyone who can help you thin
k of risks. In the brainstorming session, people call out potential problem that
they think could hurt
the project. New ideas are generated based on the items on the brainstorm list.
A project manager can also use the process to refer to a database of
risk
obtained from past.

The information obtained from such databases can help the project
manager to evaluate
and assess the nature of the risk and its impact on the project.

Example of risks are: “We may not have the requirements right.
“The technology is untested,” “Key people might leave,” “The server won’t restart
in situation X,” and “People might resist the change.” Any potential problem, or cr
itical project feature, is a good candidate for the risk list.

(b) Risk prioritization: Risk prioritization focus on the highest risk.

Prioritization requires analyzing the possible effects of the risk event in case it
actually occurs. This approach requires a quantitative assessment of the risk
probability and the risk consequences. For each risk rate the probability of its
happening as low, medium or high. If necessary, assign probability values in the
ranges given for each rating. For each risk, assess its impact on the project as
low, medium, high or very high. Rank the risk based on the probability. Select the
top few risk items for mitigation and tracking.

Refer to a list of commonly used risk mitigation steps for various risks
from the previous risk logs maintained by the PM and select a suitable risk
mitigation step. The risk mitigation step must be properly executed by
incorporating them into the project schedule. In addition to monitoring the
progress of the planned risk mitigation steps periodically revisit the risk
perception for the entire project. The results of this review are reported in each
milestone analysis report. To prepare this report, make fresh risk analysis to
determine whether the priorities have changed.

Q.5:- What is Project Management Knowledge Areas? Explain briefly PMIS.

Ans:- Project Management Knowledge Areas and Relationship : It

comprises of various techniques needed to manage projects, the practical
methodologies adopted in formulating a project and managing the resources which
would affect the project completion. Relationship with other management disciplines is
essential for a project to be successful. Supporting disciplines includes law, strategic
planning, logistics, human resource management and domain knowledge.
Need for project management : Project management is necessary because:-
a) a project requires huge investments which should not go waste
b) a loss in any project would have direct or indirect impact on the society
c) prevent failures in projects
d) scope of the project activity may undergo a change

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 e) technology used may change during the course of project execution
f) consequences of negativity in project related problems could be very
serious
g) changes in economic conditions may affect a project

Project Management Information System (PMIS): A information systems is

mainly aimed at providing the management at different levels with information
related to the system of the organization. It helps in maintaining a discipline in
the system. A system is prone to malfunctions if not properly maintained. An
information system
dealing with project management tasks is the project management information system. I
t helpin decision making in arriving at optimum allocation of resources. The information s
ystems is based on a database of the organization. A project management
information system also holds schedule, scope changes, risk assessment
and actual results. Usual information systems are not designed for projects. Normal
information systems tell managers if they are working within the scope of the
budget. The information is communicated to managers at different levels of the
organization depending upon the need. Upper managers need to know
information on all projects regarding
progress, problems, resource usage, costs and project goals. This information helps the
m take decisions on the project. They should review the projects at each milestone and
arrive at appropriate decision. Project manager and department managers need to see
each project schedule priority and use of resources to determine the most efficient use
across the organization. Project team members need to see schedule, takes lists and
specification so they know what needs to be done next.

The four major aspects of a PMIS are:-

(a) Provide information to the major stakeholders ie the right information at
the right time.
(b) Assist the team members, stakeholders, managers with necessary
information and summary of the information shared to the higher
level managers.
(c) Assists the managers in doing what if analyses about project staffing,
proposed staffing changes and total allocation of resources.
(d) Help organizational learning by helping the members of the organization
learn about project management.

A good PMIS is possible to be developed from the team members and

not from the systems administrators of the company. Organizations tend to
allocate such responsibility by rotation among members with a well designed and
structured data entry and analytical format.
Q.6:- List out the macro issues in project management and explain each.

Ans:- Macro issues

(a) Evolving Key Success Factors (KSF) Upfront: In order to provide complete
stability to fulfillment of goals, one needs to constantly evaluate from time to
time, the consideration of what will constitute the success of completing a
project and assessing its success before completion. The KSF should be evolved based
on a basic consensus document (BCD). KSF will also provide an input to effective

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exit strategy (EES). Exit here does not mean exit from the project but from any of
the drilled down elemental activities which may prove to be hurdles rather than
contributors. Broad level of KSF should
be available at the conceptual stage and should be firmed up and detailed out during
the planning stage. The easiest way would be for the team to evaluate each step for
chances of success on a scale of ten. KSF should be available to the management
duly approved by the project manager before execution and control stages. KSF rides
above normal consideration of time and cost – at the levels encompassing client
expectation and management perception – time and cost come into play as
subservient to these major goals.

(b) Empowerment Title (ET) – ET reflects the relative importance of members of

the
organization at three levels:

(i) Team members empowered to work within limits of their respective allocat
ed responsibilities – the major change from bureaucratic systems is an
expectation from these members to innovate and contribute to time and cost.
(ii) Group leaders are empowered additionally to act independently towards
client expectation and are also vested with some limited financial powers.
(iii) Managers are empowered further to act independently
but to maintain a scientific balance among time, cost, expectation and
perception, apart from being a virtual advisor to the top management.

(c) Partnering Decision Making (PDM) PDM is a substitute to monitoring and

control. A senior with a better decision making process will work closely with the project
managers as well as members to plan what best can be done to manage the future
better from past experience. The key here is the active participation of members
in the decision making process.
The ownership is distributed among all irrespective of levels –the term equally should be
avoided here since ownership is not quantifiable. The right feeling of
ownership is important. This step is most difficult since junior members have to
respond and resist to being
pushed through sheer innovation and performance – this is how future leaders would em
erge. The PDM process is made scientific through:
(i) Earned value management system (EVMS)
(ii) Budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS)
(iii) Budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP)
(iv) Actual cost of work performed(ACWP)

(d) Management By Exception (MBE) – “No news is good news” . If a member wants
help he or she locates a source and proposed to the manager only if such help is not
accessible for free.
Similarly, a member should believe that a team leaders silence is a sign of
approval and should
not provoke comments through excessive seeking of opinions. In short
leave people alone and let situation perform the demanding act. The bend limit of MBE
can be evolved depending on the sensitivity of the nature and size of the project.
MBE provides and facilitates better implementation of effectiveness of
empowerment titles. MBE is more important

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since organizations are moving toward multiskilled functioning even
at junior most levels.

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 ASSIGNMENTS - MBA – II SEMESTER

MB0033

SET 2

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Q.1:- Providing adequate resources is key to productivity – Comment.

Ans:- Resource It refers to manpower, machinery, money and materials

required in the project. During the course of executing the project, it is seen
that the resource requirement increases from start to an intermediate stage of
the project. It further increases at rapid rate and becomes constant while
the project is during its 80 to 95% progress stage. Thereafter the resources
requirement decreases to zero i.e when the project comes
to a finish. Refer the Characteristic chart. Plan the resources required for various
stage of the project. Brief both the project team and the key resources about the
objectives of every stage, planned activities, products,
organization, metrics and project controls.

Key elements of a Productivity Improvement Program:

1. Obtain Upper Management Support Without top management support,

experience shows a PIP likely will fail. The Chief Executive Officer should issue a clear,
comprehensive policy statement. The statement should be communicated to everyone in
the company. Top management also must be willing to allocate adequate resources to
permit success.

2. Create New Organizational Components A Steering Committee to

oversee the PIP and Productivity Managers to implement it are essential. The
Committee should be staffed by top departmental executives with the responsibilities of
goal setting, guidance, advice, and general control. The Productivity Managers are
responsible for the day-to-day activities of measurement and analysis. The
responsibilities of all organizational components must be clear and well established.

3. Plan Systematically Success doesn't just happen. Goals and

objectives should be set, problems targeted and rank ordered, reporting and monitoring
requirements developed, and feedback channels established.

4. Open Communications Increasing productivity means changing the way

things are done. Desired changes must be communicated. Communication should flow
up and down the business organization. Through publications, meetings, and films,
employees must be told what is going on and how they will benefit.

5. Involve Employees This is a very broad element encompassing the quality

of work life, worker motivation, training, worker attitudes, job enrichment, quality
circles, incentive systems and much more. Studies show a characteristic of successful,
growing businesses is that they develop a "corporate culture" where employees strongly

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identify with and are an important part of company life. This sense of belonging is not
easy to engender. Through basic fairness, employee involvement, and equitable
incentives, the corporate culture and productivity both can grow.

6. Measure and Analyze This is the technical key to success for a PIP.
Productivity must be defined, formulas and worksheets developed, sources of data
identified, benchmark studies performed, and personnel assigned. Measuring
productivity can be a highly complex task. The goal, however, is to keep it as simple as
possible without distorting and depreciating the data. Measurement is so critical to
success, a more detailed analysis is helpful.

7. Quality Control This is very important in any project. Quality control is

possible if the project members follow the quality charts and norms very strictly.

8. Schedule Quality Review It is recommended that quality review

be scheduled at the beginning of the stage and also ending of every stage.

9. Agenda for quality review Create and distribute a quality review

agenda specifying
the objective, products, logistics, roles, responsibilities and time frame.

10. Conduct quality review The quality

review is to be conducted in a structured and formal manner. Quality review should
focus on product development and its quality factors. Focus
on whether it meets the prescribed quality standard .

11. Follow up QR complete product status revised from ‘In progress’ to ‘QR
Complete’. Follow up the actions planned in strict manner which ensures conformity to
the standards.

12. Review quality control procedures Verify that the quality objectives for
each product
are appropriate and that all participants are satisfied both with the process and its
outcome.

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Q.2:- Explain the relevance of Work Breakdown Structure in determining
responsibility area. Explain in detail GDM and its key features

Ans:- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) The entire process of a project may
be considered to be made up on number of sub process placed in different stage
called the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

A typical example of a work breakdown structure of a recruitment process is indic

ated below :

This is the technique to analyze the content of work and cost by breaking it down into its
component parts. Project key stages form the highest level of the WBS, which is then
used to show the details at the lower levels of the project. Each key stage comprises
many tasks identified at the start of planning and later this list will have to be validated.
WBS is produced by identifying the key elements, breaking each
element down into component parts and continuing to breakdown until manageable work
packages have been identified. These can then be allocated to the appropriate person.
The WBS does not show dependencies other than a grouping under the key stages.
It is not time based there is no timescale o the drawing.

GDM The Global Delivery Model (GDM) is adopted by an Industry or Business such that
it has a capability to plan design, deliver and serve to any Customers or Clients
Worldwide with Speed, Accuracy, Economy and Reliability.

The key Features of GDM are

· Standardization
· Modularization
· Minimum Customization
· Maximum Micro structure

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 Adoption of a Combination of the Greatest Common Multiple and the Least Comm
on Factor of a Large Mass of Microbial Components.

(a) Standardization Ingenious Design and Development of Components

and Features which are like to be accepted by 90% of Worldwide Customers.
Global Standards of Design focusing on highly standardized Methods and
Processes of manufacture or Development. Adopt Plug and socket Concepts
with minimum adaptable joints or Connections.

(b) Modularization Product or Solution split up into smallest possible

individual Identifiable Entities, with limited Individual Functioning Capability
but powerful and robust in Combination with other Modules.

(c) Minimum Customization Minimum Changes or Modifications to suit

Individual Customers.

d) Maximum micro structuring Splitting of the Product Modules

further into much smaller entity identifiable more through characteristics
rather than application Features. Approach through Standardization of these
Microbial Entities even across Multiple Modules. Application of these
Microbial Entities to rest within multiple Projects or Products or even as
addons suit belated Customer Needs.

Special Features of GDM

· Cuts across Geographical and Time Zone Barriers
· Unimaginable Speeds of Response and Introduction.
· Common Pool of Microbial Components
· Largely Independent of Skill Sets required at Delivery Stages
· Highly automated Processes
· Quality Assurance as a Concurrent rather than a Control Process
· NearShore Development, Manufacture and Delivery for better Logistics
· Mapping of Economical Zones rather than Geographic Zones
· Continuous Floating virtual Inventory to save Time and Efforts.

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Q.3:- What do you understand by Resource Smoothing? What is the
significance of reviewing ROI?

Ans:- ROI - Return on Investment (ROI) is the calculated benefit that an organization
is projected to receive in return for investing money (resources) in a project. Within the
context of the Review Process, the investment would be in an information system
development or enhancement project. ROI information is used to assess the status of
the business viability of the project at key checkpoints throughout the project’s lifecycle.

ROI may include the benefits associated with improved mission performance,
reduced cost, increased quality, speed, or flexibility, and increased customer and
employee satisfaction. ROI should reflect such risk factors as the project’s technical
complexity, the agency’s management capacity, the likelihood of cost overruns, and the
consequences of under or nonperformance. Where appropriate, ROI should reflect actual
returns observed through pilot projects and prototypes.

ROI should be quantified in terms of dollars and should include a calculation of

the breakeven point (BEP), which is the date when the investment begins to generate a
positive return. ROI should be recalculated at every major checkpoint of a project to se if
the BEP is still on schedule, based on project spending and accomplishments to date. If
the project is behind schedule or over budget, the BEP may move out in time; if the
project is ahead of schedule or under budget the BEP may occur earlier. In either case,
the information is important for decision making based on the value of the investment
throughout the project lifecycle. Any project that has developed a business case is
expected to refresh the ROI at each key project decision point (i.e., stage exit) or at
least yearly.

If the detailed data collection, calculation of benefits and costs, and capitalization
data from which Return on Investment (ROI) is derived was not required for a particular
project, then it may not be realistic or practical to require the retrofit calculation of ROI
once the project is added to the Review portfolio. In such a case, it is recommended that
a memorandum of record be developed as a substitute for ROI. The memorandum
should provide a brief history of the program, a description of the major benefits realized
to date with as much quantitative data as possible, and a summary of the process used
to identify and select system enhancements.

Some of the major benefits experienced by sites that installed the information
system that would be important to include in the memorandum are:

(a) Decommissioning of mainframe computers

(b) Reduction/redirection of labour
(c) Elimination of redundant systems
(d) Ability to more cost effectively upgrade all sites with one standard upgrade
package.

In each case above, identify the specific site, systems, and labour involved in
determining the cited benefit. Identify any costs or dollar savings that are known or have
been estimated. The memorandum will be used as tool for responding to any future
audit inquiries on project ROI.

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 For the Project Management Review, it is recommended that the project leader
replace the text on the ROI document through -

(1) A note stating which stage of its cycle the project is in;

(2) A bulleted list of the most important points from the memorandum of
record;

(3) A copy of the memorandum of record for the Review repository.

In subsequent Reviews of the information system, the ROI slide can be eliminated
form the package. There is one notable exception to this guidance. Any internal use
software project in the maintenance phase of its lifecycle that adds a new site or
undertakes an enhancement or technology refresh that reaches the cost threshold
established by Standard will need to satisfy capitalization requirements. It requires all
agencies to capitalize items acquired or developed for internal use if the expected service
life is two or more years and its cost meets or exceeds the agency’s threshold for
internal use software. The standard requires capitalization of direct and indirect costs,
including employee salaries and benefits for both Federal and Contractor employees who
materially participate in the Software project. Program managers are considered to be
the source of cost information for internal use software projects. If capitalization data is
collected for the project in the future, the project would be expected to calculate and
track its ROI.

Q.4:- Explain the concept of concurrency in High Technology Development.

Ans:- Concurrency in High Technology Development As the application of

technology has become critical for the survival of organisation it has become imperative
for organizations to initiate measures for the development of high technology to be
ahead of competition. No doubt, there are many specialized Research and Development
firms which offer their expertise to their clients’ problems. However, their services are
available to the competitors and many technologies developed by the company’s own
research personnel cannot be shared with outsiders. So the strategy would be utilize the
services of external resource to the extent they are suitable for our purpose, but with a
strong base of R and D of our own. This will really differentiate the best companies from
other ordinary ones. The following give some guidelines in the form of rules which would
help organisation to be strong in this area.

Building concurrency into every activity is essential to reduce the development

cycle time and to counter the technology obsolescence. Many of the tasks that are
normally done in a serial fashion can be done in parallel by synchronizing the flow of
information. The practices of the concurrent engineering where the design of the product
and all its associated processes are carried out simultaneously based on team work and
participation. Would not only help in reducing the development cycle time, but also
improves the product functionality with regard to requirements. Concurrency can be
accomplished in many ways both for product development as well as technology
transfer, user evaluation and production.

Example - Tactical Aircraft: Concurrency in Development and Production of F-22

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Aircraft Should Be Reduced (Letter Report, 04/19/95, GAO/NSIAD-95-59). Because the
F-22 fighter plane is not urgently needed and the Defense Department (DOD) has
discovered engine and software problems with the aircraft, GAO urges that the F-22 be
thoroughly tested before large numbers of these expensive aircraft are acquired.
Concurrency between the development and production phases of F-22 means that
independent testing of high-tech features of the aircraft will not be completed before the
Air Force makes a significant commitment to producing the F-22. Among other things,
the F-22 boast an advanced architecture for the integrated avionics system, a propulsion
system that will allow cruising a supersonic speeds without the afterburners that current
fighters needs, and low observable technologies. The military has already disclosed
engine and stealth ness problems, and the potential for avionics and software problems
underscore the need to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities before committing to
production.

Q.5:- What are the main utilities of an ERP package?

Ans:- Enterprise Resource Planning Manufacturing management systems have

evolved in stages over the few decades from a simple
means of calculating materials
requirements to the automation of an entire enterprise. Around 1980, over
frequent changes
in sales forecasts, entailing continual readjustments in production, as well as the
unsuitability
of the parameters fixed by the system, led MRP (Material Requirement Planning) to
evolve into a new concept : Manufacturing Resource Planning (or MRP2) and
finally the generic concept Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

The initials ERP originated as an extension of MRP (material requirements

planning then manufacturing resource planning). ERP systems now attempt to
cover all basic functions of an enterprise, regardless of the organization's business or
charter. Nonmanufacturing businesses, nonprofit organizations
and governments now all utilize ERP systems. To be considered an ERP system, a
software package must provide the function of at least two
systems. For example, a software package that provides both payroll and
accounting functions could technically be considered an ERP software package.

However, the term is typically reserved for larger, more broadly based application
s. The introduction of an ERP system to replace two or more independent applications
eliminates the need for external interfaces previously required between systems,
and provides additional benefits that range from
standardization and lower maintenance to easier and/or greater reporting capabilities.

Some organizations -typically those with sufficient inhouse IT skills to integrate multiple
software products - choose to implement only portions of an ERP system and develop an
external interface to other ERP or standalone systems for their other application needs. F
or example, one may choose to use the HRMS from one vendor, and the financials
systems from another, and perform the integration between the systems themselves.

Ideally, ERP delivers a single database that contains all data for the software mod
ules, which would include:

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Manufacturing Engineering, Bills of Material, Scheduling, Capacity, Workflow Manage
ment,Quality Control, Cost Management, Manufacturing Process, Manufacturing Projects,
Manufacturing Flow Supply Chain Management Inventory, Order Entry, Purchasing,
Product Configurator, Supply Chain Planning, Supplier Scheduling, Inspection of goods,
Claim Processing, Commission Calculation.

Financials General Ledger, Cash Management, Accounts Payable, Accounts

Receivable, Fixed Assets

Projects Costing, Billing, Time and Expense, Activity Management

Human Resources Human Resources, Payroll, Training, Time & Attendance, Rostering,
Benefits

Customer Relationship Management Sales and Marketing, Commissions, Service,

Customer Contact and Call Center support

Data Warehouse and various SelfService interfaces for Customers, Suppliers, and
Employees

Enterprise Resource Planning is a term originally derived from manufacturing resource pl

anning that followed material requirements planning . MRP evolved into ERP when
"routings" became a major part of the software architecture and a company's capacity
planning activity also became a part of the standard software activity. ERP systems
typically handle the manufacturing,
logistics, distribution, inventory, shipping, invoicing, and accounting for a company.
Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP software can aid in the control of many
business activities, like sales, marketing, delivery, billing, production, inventory
management, quality management, and human resource management.

ERP systems saw a large boost in sales in the 1990s as companies faced the Y2K
problem in their legacy systems. Many companies took this opportunity to replace
their legacy information systems
with ERP systems. This rapid growth in sales was followed by a
slump in 1999, at which time most
companies had already implemented their Y2K solution.

ERPs are crossfunctional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that are
involved in operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition to
manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and information technology, this would
include accounting, human resources, marketing, and strategic management.

The Ideal ERP System

An ideal ERP system is when a single database is utilized and contains all data
for various software modules. These software modules can include:

a. Manufacturing: Some of the functions include; engineering, capacity,

workflow management, quality control, bills of material, manufacturing process, etc.

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b. Financials: Accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, general
ledger and cash management, etc.
c. Human Resources: Benefits, training, payroll, time and attendance, etc
d. Supply Chain Management: Inventory, supply chain planning, supplier
scheduling, claim processing, order entry, purchasing, etc.
e. Projects: Costing, billing, activity management, time and expense, etc.
f. Customer Relationship Management: sales and marketing, service,
commissions, customer
contact, calls center support, etc.
g. Data Warehouse: Usually this is a module that can be accessed by an organizations
customers, suppliers and employees.

ERP Improves Productivity Before ERP systems, each department in an organiza

tion would most likely have their own computer
system, data and database. Unfortunately, many of these systems would
not be able to communicate with one another or need to store or rewrite data to
make it possible for cross computer system communication.
For instance, the financials of a company were on a separate computer system than
the HR system, making it more intensive and complicated to process certain functions.

Once an ERP system is in

place, usually all aspects of an organization can work in
harmony instead of every single system needing to be compatible with each other. For la
rge organizations, increased productivity and less types of software are a result.

Q.6:- Explain three levels of SCMo documentation. Explain PILIN.

Ans:- Requirement of Documented systems in Supply Chain Monitoring (SCMo)

It is possible today to establish a system aligned with an organizations supply

chain. It can be an add-on to existing ERP-systems. The main objectives are

i) Prevention of stock-out and over supply

ii) Early warnings, elimination of bullwhip effect

iii) Optimized allocation in bottleneck situations due to network-wide

inventory and demand transparency

The main Principles behind is the Integration of supply chain participants,

Exchange of demand and inventory information, transparency & Visibility of inventories
and demands for multilevel supply chains. It also eliminates time lags in the information
flow and ensures synchronization of demand information. SCMo set up (Initialization)
The main steps for the set up are :

a) Determination of the potentially critical part of the supply network Criteria:

b) Mapping of Structures a) high shortage risk and effect, long lead and reaction
times, high total inventory cost, frequent engineering changes.

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Main Features – The main features of such system are –

i) Releases and Iterations planning – It is a simple way to create project

plan.
ii) Dashboard – It is a quick project status reporting tool.
iii) To-Do lists – Identify and list the Integrated assignments.
iv) Integrated QA - Bug Tracking, Test Cases management, user story-to-
bugs
Trace-ability, QA stats and charts.
v) Time Tracking - Create more accurate estimates of time.

Significance of Documentation

It might sometimes be difficult for an organization to straightaway launch into a

Project Management exercise, even if they are well equipped, particularly if the project is
too large – for e.g., development of a new product, expansion of capacity, modernization
of facilities, diversification into a totally new business area, getting into a Joint venture
etc. In this case, the core project team itself might feel the need to have some major
inputs before even a tentative plan could be drawn up. A well-drafted Business Plan
would ideally serve this purpose, provided it is handled systematically & professionally.

• The documentation system is intranet based to provide immediate access to

current, up-to-date process documentation. The system allows users to navigate
through graphical structures to relevant documentation and processes which were
created with the ARIS-Toolset.

• The content of the process Documentation System includes the area supply chain
management from the Odette supply chain Management Group. The system
includes graphical process documentation, in the form of process chains, as well
as the entire range of documentation related to the processes.

• The Process Documentation System gives, according to its objectives, as

overview and a detailed view of the relevant processes for SCMo.

• The entry point in the documentation system is the model “Process Overview
SCMo”. This model is the starting point for the navigation to other models.

• The vertical navigation is the navigation on different levels. The horizontal

navigation is the navigation on one level.

• Microsoft has a team project management solution that enables project managers
and their teams to collaborate on projects. The Microsoft Project 2002 products in
this solution are Microsoft Project Standard 2002, Microsoft Project Server 2002,
and Microsoft Project Server Client Access License (CAL) 2002.

PILIN – PERSISTENT IDENTIFIER AND LINKING INFRASTRUCTURE As

the FRODO and MERRI projects have matured, there is a growing realisation that
sustainable identifier infrastructure is required to deal with the vast amount of digital
assets being produced and stored within universities. This is a particular challenge for e-

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Research communities where massive amounts of data are being generated without any
means of managing this data over any length of time.

The emphasis in the PILIN Project will be on building identifier management

infrastructure based on a technology (Handle) that is now under development through
the auspices of CNRI to underpin sustainable global identifier infrastructure.

PILIN aims to meet a specific need common to e-Research communities, the

proposed work to be undertaken will be transferable to other communities, such as the
VTE sector, the Le@rning Federation and the TILIS Project.

The project aims to take advantage of existing governance and consultative

mechanisms within the ARROW environment to ensure relevant and sustainable
outcomes and optimal return on investment. The project will be run in partnership
between ARROW and the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), specifically through
the RUBRIC Project.

Aims and Objectives

• Support adoption and use of persistent identifiers and shared persistent identifier
management services by the project stakeholders.
• Plan for a sustainable, shared identifier management infrastructure that enables
persistence of identifiers and associated services over archival lengths of time.

Project Outputs

1. Best practice and policy guides for the use of persistent identifiers in Australian e-
learning, e-research, and e-science communities.
2. Use cases describing community requirements for identifiers and business process
analysis relating to these use cases.
3. E-Framework representations of persistent identifier management services that
support the business requirements for identifiers.
4. A “pilot” shared persistent identifier management infrastructure usable by the
project stakeholders over the lifetime of the project. The pilot infrastructure will
include services for creating, accessing and managing persistent digital identifiers
over their lifetime. The pilot infrastructure will interoperate with other DEST
funded systemic infrastructure. The development phase of the pilot will use an
agile development methodology that will allow the inclusion of “value-added”
services for managing resources using persistent identifiers to be included in the
development program if resources permit.
5. Software tools to help applications use the shared persistent identifier
infrastructure more easily.
6. Report on options and proposals for sustaining, supporting (including outreach)
and governing shared persistent identifier management infrastructure.

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