Assignment Cover Sheet

CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY

Assignment Cover Sheet

Student Name: __NANCY CHRISTIAN___________________ Student No: ___CSU - 11386111____
Subject Name: Information Technology Project Management Subject Code: __ITC - 493______
Lecturer: __Nathan Ekambareshwar__________________ Assignment No: __1(one)______

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I certify that the attached assignment is solely my work, based on my personal study and research. I also certify that appropriate and full acknowledgment has been made of all sources used in the preparation of this assignment.

Signature of Student: NANCY CHRISTIAN Assignment Due Date: 16th September 2007

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Student Assignment Receipt
Student Name: ___NANCY CHRISTIAN_____________ Student No: __CSU - 11386111________
Subject Name: Information Technology Project Management Subject Code: _ITC 493_____
Lecturer: ___Nathan Ekambareshwar______________ Assignment No: ___1(one)_______
Date Received (stamp & signature)

Exercise 7

Exercise 7

Chapter – 5 Project Scope Management

Exercise 1 (page 195)
Use Power point, Visio or similar software to create a WBS in chart form (similar to an organizational chart – see the sample in Figure 5-2). Assume the level 1 categories are initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. Under the executing section, include level 2 categories of analysis, design, prototyping, testing, implementation, and support. Assume the support category includes level 3 items called training, documentation, user support and enhancements.

Answer:

Reference:

Scwalbe, K 2006, Information Technology Project Management, 4th edn, Thomson Course Technology, Cambridge, MA.

Exercise 6

Exercise 6

CHAPTER – 6 Project Time Management

Exercise 2 (page 240)
Consider Table 6-3, Network Diagram Data for a small project. All duration estimates or estimated times are in days and the network proceeds from Node 1 to Node 9.

Table 6-3: Network Diagram Data for a small project

a. Draw an AOA network diagram representing the project. Put the node numbers in circles and draw arrows from node to node, labelling each arrow with the activity letter and estimated time.
Answer:

b. Identify all the paths on the network diagram and note how long they are, using Figure 6-8 as a guide for how to represent each path.
Answer:

Path 1: A-B-E-I-J-K Length = 2+2+2+5+1+2 = 14 days
Path 2: A-B-E-H-K Length = 2+2+2+2+2 = 10 days
Path 3: A-C-F-I-J-K Length = 2+3+3+5+1+2 = 16 days
Path 4: A-C-F-H-K Length = 2+3+3+2+2 = 12 days
Path 5: A-D-G-J-K Length = 2+4+6+1+2 = 15 days

c. What is the critical path for this project and how long is it?

Answer: The critical path is A-C-F-I-J-K and it is 16 days long.

d. What is the shortest possible time it will take to complete the project?

Answer: The shortest possible time it will take to complete the project is 16 days.

e. Review the online tutorials for Gantt and PERT charts in the third suggested reading by Mark Kelly in this chapter. Write a one page paper with your answers to the questions in the tutorials. Also include any questions you had in doing the tutorials. Kelly, Mark, Project Management Tools: Gantt Charts and
PERT Charts, McKinnon Secondary College, Australia (www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/la/it/ipmnotes/ganttpert).
These online tutorials are a great way to reinforce your understanding of Gantt charts and network diagrams/PERT charts.

Q – 1 Which tasks are on the critical path of the PERT chart above?

Answer:
Path 1: A-B-C-E-I Length = 2+3+1+4+3 = 13 days
Path 2: A-B-D-F-I Length = 2+3+3+3+3 = 14 days
Path 3: A-G-H-I Length = 2+2+5+3 = 12 days

A-B-D-F-I tasks are on the path is the critical path.

Q – 2 What is the slack time for tasks C, D and G?

Answer: The slack time for C =1 day, there is no slack time for D because D is in the critical path and for G = 2 days.

Q – 3 The person working on task C tells the project manager he can’t start the work until one day after the scheduled starting date. What impact would this have on the completion date of the project? Why?

Answer: As one day slack time is there with task C so there would be no impact on the completion date of the project.

Q – 4 Task A will be delayed by 2 days because some equipment arrived late. If the project manager still wants to finish the project within the original time frame, he will need to shorten the time for one or more of the tasks. What steps can he takes to reduce the number of days allocated to a task?

Answer:
The project manager does not need to shorten the time for other tasks. Instead of he needs to tell his project team to work more faster by working maximum hours or could assign more team members in his project by this way he can reduce the number of days allocated to a task.

Q – 5 The project manager decides to reduce the time needed for tasks D and F by one day each. How effective will this reduction be in achieving his aim of maintaining the original finish time for the project?

Answer:

Both the tasks D and F have time duration of 2 days and both are on critical path so, by reducing the duration by one day both the tasks D and F will have now one day estimated duration. Now, both the tasks will no more consider as the critical path because previously A-B-D-F-I had 14 days long path now it becomes 12 days.

Apart from that the new critical path now is A-B-C-E-I that is 13 days long. Furthermore, the project manager in order to maintain the finish time for the project needs to concentrate on the new critical path.

References:

Scwalbe, K 2006, Information Technology Project Management, 4th edn, Thomson Course Technology, Cambridge,MA.

Kelly, M 2006, Project Management Tools, Australia, viewed 7 September, 2007,
< http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/la/it/ipmnotes/ganttpert/ >.

Exercise 5

Exercise 5

CHAPTER – 5 Project Scope Management

Exercise 5 (page 195)
Read one of the suggested readings or find an article related to project scope management. Write a one – page summary of the article, its key conclusions, and your opinion.


Summary:

Article: Importance of Scope in Project Management

Project scope management is the process which controls and defines what work should be included in the project and what should not be included in the project. After defining scope the two constraints such as cost and time can be estimated. Scope plays an vital role in project management because it gives assurance to both stakeholders as well as to the project team about the product to be produced and by which process.

The article reflects that how is scope important in project management. It shows how the five processes such as Scope planning, definition, verification, control and creating work breakdown structure plays an imperative role in project scope management. Moreover, the article shows how the planning of the scope can be done it shows the various ways to plan the scope and the tools an techniques used for scope planning by various templates.

Scope is compelled to change and so many difficulties can arise during the entire project life cycle. Sometimes due to uncertain situation it may happens that the request for change occurs so at that time it becomes very difficult because the two constraints cost and time depends on scope. Scope change may lead the project where it becomes difficult to manage the project and we can’t say that at what time and what cost the project will be completed.

While initiating the project developing project scope statement is important because it provides the basic information about the scope and is also useful for the future decisions. The best way to manage the project is by developing work breakdown structure which shows all the tasks involved in the project which also reveals the scope of the project.

The important tools and technique for defining scope is to take expert judgement, to scrutinize the needs of the stakeholders and to apply different approaches such as prototyping. The major factor that leads a project to failure is scope creep so for this reason scope control is beneficiary by adapting various techniques to control scope creep. It can be controlled by keeping record of the changes occurred and its status for implementation. Moreover, the system called Configuration management is used to identify, record and control the changes occurred.

It is necessary to understand that how important is scope for the project management without planned scope the desired outcomes of deliverables are not generated properly. The project managers should use project scope management for recognizing and controlling all the aspects of project for an enhanced outcome.

From my point of view by managing project scope through a relevant tools and techniques you can give an assurance of delivering proper products and services and also by planning and scheduling of proper scope the undertaking required to complete the project becomes simple.



Reference:

Ghosh, A 2007, Importance of Scope in Project Management, ASP Alliance, viewed 2 September, 2007,
< http://aspalliance.com/1152_Importance_of_Scope_in_Project_Management >.

Exercise 4

Exercise 4

CHAPTER – 4 Project Integration Management

Exercise 1 (page 160)

Write a two – page paper based on the opening case. Answer the following questions :
a. What do you think the real problem was in this case?
b. Does the case present a realistic scenario? Why or why not?
c. Was Nick Carson a good project manager? Why or why not?
d. What could Nick have done to be a better project manager?
e. What should top management have done to help Nick?


a. What do you think the problem was in the case?

This case is about to do project for critical biotech for analysing the human genome. In addition, it also includes the development of hardware and software for assembling the human genome. In the case it shows that this project is the largest project for the company and in the case it shows that within three years the company has already changed three project managers. Now, the company has chosen Nick as a project manager as he has good software technical background.

The problem in this case is that it seems that Nick as a project manager does not have good management skills because he was not able to manage entire aspects of the project. Moreover, Nick was not able to deal with problems occurred during the entire phase of the project. The true role of the project manager is to manage daily activities by scheduling them and t cope up with the situations that arises but in this case Nick as a project manager was not successful to manage his work properly.

The key problems in this case are first that Nick was able to manage entire aspects of the project and the second problem is that he was not communicating with the top management. He was not accurate in his work as he does not impart with top management and he does not provide any schedules or process plan for his work so, the top management was not happy with his work as he was not able to focus on all the tasks of the project.

Although, he was working as a project manager he wants to work as a software integrator so he was not able to cope up with the two roles at same time. Instead, he should perform one role at a time and should improve his management skills.


b. Does the case present a realistic scenario? Why or why not?

Yes, this case presents a realistic scenario. This kind of problem can be faced by many companies by not selecting proper project manager because, the project success is based on the project manager. It depends upon the managers skills that how easily the manager can perform his tasks by properly scheduling them. The key problem with the Nick was that he had a good technical skills but he was not able to manage and schedule his work properly.

Project manager duty is to communicate and provide details of all the processes of project to top management. As project manager leads the project it is duty of the manager to guide the team in order to complete the project successfully rather than not scheduling and managing the process properly. Moreover, should provide details and plan of the work to top management so, the top management can deal with process further.


c. Was Nick Carson a good project manager? Why or why not?

No, Nick was not a good project manager because he was only concentrating on some of the aspects of the project and had only good technical skills rather than also having good management skills as well as communication skills.

He did not provide top management with detail schedule and plan for the process he was performing so, top management was not able to figure out that what actual work was performed by him and his team.

It was true that he had finished the project but still the top management was not happy with his performance.


d. What could Nick have done to be a better project manager?

Nick as a project manager needs to improve his management skills though he has good technical background. Moreover, he needs to perform one role at a time because as he was performing the role of project manager at the same time he accepted the role to perform as a software integrator and troubleshooter so, that resulted in improper management.

Nick should inform project manager about his schedule for performing the process and if he faces some problems then immediately he should inform top management about the problem. To be a good project manager Nick should adopt good management skills and should report top management about plan for his work so, the top management can guide him throughout the whole project life cycle.


e. What should top management have done to help Nick?

Top management plays a vital role in company’s success by providing resources to the company in order to improve company’s performance Top management should provide proper guidelines to Nick as he was not focusing on all aspects of the project. Top management should keep a record of work that Nick was performing so they can know how Nick is working and where he had faced the problems.

Top management should motivate Nick by providing him appropriate solutions regarding his problems and should provide him training in order to improve his management skills. Nick is new to the role of a project manager and as the project is very large he might face certain difficulties while handling the large project so top management should provide him with various resources when needed. Top management should build good relation with Nick and should give encouragement and support so that he can perform his role better.




Reference:

Scwalbe, K 2006, Information Technology Project Management, 4th edn, Thomson Course Technology, Cambridge, MA.

Exercise 3

Exercise 3

CHAPTER – 3 The Project Management Process Groups

Exercise 1 (page 111)

Study the WBS and Gantt charts provided in Figure 3-3 and 3-4. Enter the WBS into Project 2003, indenting tasks as shown to create the WBS hierarchy. Then enter durations and dependencies to try to reproduce the Gantt chart. Check your work with the files available on the companion Web site for this text.

Solution:

Reference:

Scwalbe, K 2006, Information Technology Project Management, 4th edn, Thomson Course Technology, Cambridge, MA..

Exercise 2

Exercise 2

CHAPTER –2 The Project Management and Information Technology Context

Exercise 5 (page 66)
Write a one – to two page summary of an article about the importance of top management support for successful information technology projects.

Summary:

The important features that leads a project to success is the top management support which in turn can lead the project the way to victory. Top management plays a key role in developing a project. There are several factors that can lead a project to success. One of the factors is that the highly skilled project managers are assigned for the project work and the way they are using the best processes for management which can lead the project to success. It is not that the project manager can alone capable to handle the project works but it is necessary to have a support of top management because without the support of top management the project can overdue or tends to fail.

A project is a part of the organisation so in order to achieve success top level management support is necessary. Top management can help project leaders by providing support through adequate resources. Resources can be funds, decision making, equipments and man power. Through by providing this kinds of resources by the top management at the time when it is needed can make a massive difference. Top management must provide services needed by the project leader when necessary and also help him to deal or co – operate with the third parties. Sometimes there may lead to situations where the project manager can’t handle the task alone. So, co – operation of top management is needed in order to perform the task well. Sometimes project can be affected by the problems related to political issues which can become out of control for project manager; top management should help project manager in order to keep focus on the project. (Schwalbe, P51)

Supportive environment is really worth for successful projects. For a project development team top management support is considered as a heart for them because it gives full support all the time and encourages the team in completion of the project. There are several factors that the top management need to focus they are as follows:

1. Organisation basic requirements.
2. Useful & right methodology.
3. Executive summary.

4. Skilled project managers.
5.A high standard software infrastructure.
6. Trustworthy estimates.


Organisation basic requirements: This factor plays an important role for project success. It is always considered good to first collect basic requirements and then work further in the project. This will minimise the chance of seldom changes. Regardless, it is also useful in deciding the next phase for the project. Moreover, it is also beneficial to project manager in terms of making themselves prepared in order to articulate priorities and needs which is helpful them in the next phase.

Useful & right methodology: One reason for the top management to keep this factor as a key factor in order to develop a successful project because, it basically depends on the user requirements. Although, every project strategy or method may vary in terms of the requirements arises. So, the top management must use the right methodology by focusing on user requirements. Top management in order to build good strategy should use project structure.

Executive support: This factor has much more influence on projects processes and progress. The top management must give project manager executive rights so that the manager can take right decisions which can be helpful in the project progress. Moreover, the project manager doesn’t have to ask for permission for taking decisions. So, the project can be finished with in the time limit.

Skilled project manager: Behind every successful project there is a experienced and high skilled project manager. It is also based on top management support that how it helps project manager in performing various tasks.

A high standard software infrastructure: Top management should adopt a stable infrastructure. That is it should support for the standard software rather than the free trail software in order to run project smoothly. And this in turn will be easy for the project team by making the process simple and they don’t face any miserable conditions.

Trustworthy estimates: This factor is also important to make the project successful because top management must approach systematic project estimation. So, this will help the project manager to take right decisions. As every organisation wants to complete the project in budget, so this is possible through top management support.

References

Software Magazine and Wiesner Publishing 2001, Collaborating on Project Success, viewed 24 August, 2007,
< http://www.softwaremag.com/archive/2001feb/CollaborativeMgt.html >.

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 2006, An Enhanced Framework for the Management of Information Technology Projects, Ottawa, Canada, viewed 25 August, 2007,
<http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/ciopubs/tb_it/efm1_e.asp>.

Exercise 1

Exercise 1

CHAPTER – 1 Introduction to Project Management

Exercise 3 (page 34)

Search the Internet for the terms project management, project management careers, project portfolio management, and information technology project management. Write down the number of hits you received for each of these phrases. Find at least three Web sites that provide interesting information on one of the topics. In a one – to two-page paper, summarize key Management Institute’s Web site (www.pmi.org).

Summary:

Search results for the following phrases are as shown below:

Project management: Results about 158,000,000 for project management (0.18 seconds)

Project management careers: Results about 11,300 for project management careers (0.09 seconds)

Project portfolio management: Results about 1,710,000 for project portfolio management (0.14 seconds)

Information technology project management: Results about 135,000 for information technology project management (0.12 seconds)

The search result for the phrase “Project Management “gives large number of links to the website, among them www.aipm.com.au (Australian Institute of Project Management), www.managementhelp.org (Free Management Library) and www.projectmanagement.com (Project Management) are more informative.

The key role of www.aipm.com.au (The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM)) is to encourage its project manager and directors as well as project team members by providing skills and knowledge in order to achieve its business objectives. Even the mission statement of AIPM is “… to promote and progress the profession of project management in Australia.” That reveals its goals and objectives. Moreover, it also considers the people outside the project team or other community to bring awareness about its achieving of business objectives and that also shows in its vision statement that is “Our Vision is for project management to be recognised as the preferred process for achieving objectives at all levels across industry, government and the community”. There are several goals of AIPM such as to spread awareness, to advance its globalisation and to grow its membership.


www.managementhelp.org (Free Management Library) is online library which gives a facility through providing information of project management to all the people in project management section. Moreover, it deals with how the project management is planned and constructed to build a computer system. It has its aim behind building a computer system by expanding its project plan, better management through controlling the plan by managing its critical path.
This website provides extensive resources on various subjects of management and leadership. It gives in depth information regarding various phases that are considered in project management such as viability study, planning, implementation and maintenance. It also provides knowledge of the major factors that play a vital role in making the project management successful are their problems solving techniques, its project team, group guidance and meeting, and variance management.

www.projectmanagement.com (Project Management), it mainly focuses on providing knowledge with project management related information such as white paper, case studies, links, references and tools Moreover, it provides PMBOK guide for guidance and support for an organisation. This website provides assistance to various industries like IT, finance and construction. In addition, it also provides several types of resources which are helpful to increase the productivity as well helpful to project managers to do their work more efficiently. The company comprises of its own consultancy organisation which provides solutions regarding Microsoft project, provides training and consultation to its customers.

www.pmi.org (Project Management Institute (PMI)), is one of the leading website which provides information regarding project management and is foremost membership alliance for the professions related to the project management. Its main aim is to set high standards of professionals, provides important information and carries out researches.
PMI focuses through worldwide in order to satisfy the needs of the professionals of project management. It has been recognized as a leader which leads the way to deal with project management. Moreover, it comprises of community of 240,000 members from various 160 countries. Apart from that, it also contains various resources for career progression, knowledge, and standards for professionals, education and professional advancement and networking. It also has certain objectives which involves career development and business solutions.

References:

Australian Institute of Project Management 2007, Australian Institute of Project Management, Sydney, NSW, Australia, viewed 20 August, 2007, <http://www.aipm.com.au/html/about.cfm >.

Free Management Library 2007, What is Free Management Library, Authenticity Consulting, LLC, viewed 20 August, 2007,
< http://www.managementhelp.org/aboutfml/what-it-is.htm >.

Project Management 2003, Project Management, viewed 21 August, 2007,
< http://projectmanagement.com/pm/home.cfm >.

Project Management Institute 2007, Who We Are, Project Management Institute, Inc., Pennsylvania, USA, viewed 21 August, 2007,
< http://www.pmi.org/WhoWeAre/Pages/Default.aspx>.