MB0033 Assingment Set1 Set2

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ASSIGNMENTS - MBA - II SEMESTER

MB0033

SET 1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Q.1 :- Define project management, resource, process and project cycle. Explainthe 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. Projectmanagement is accomplished through the application of and integration of the projectmanagement processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, andclosing. The project manager is the person responsible for accomplishing the projectobjectives.

Need for project management : Project management is necessarybecause:-

(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) Pr eve nt failur es in pr oje cts

(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 veryserious(g) Changes in economic conditions may affect a project

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

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

(b) Materials refer to all materials that become part of the project. In thecase of a building this will include cement, steel, aggregates, doors & windows,mechanical electrical/instrumentation equipment and materials, finishingmaterials like tiles water proofing, ironmongery, consumables utilized in theconstruction etc. In summary all materials that become part of the buildingstructure.(c) Tools and Plants are those items that are deployed to aid theconstruction of the project like lifting equipment (cranes etc.), concretingequipment, welding machines, dozers, transport vehicles and all machineriesdeployed 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 otherprojects after such utilization for the ongoing project. The owner may own someof these tools and plants in which case he will need to apportion an internallypredetermined hiring cost of the same to the project. For the tools and plantsdeployed 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 beprovided for project implementation and dismantled at the end of the project.Examples are labor camps, electric power and water supply systems built for theconstruction of the project, dedicated telecommunication facilities duringconstruction at project sites etc. Each one of the abovementioned resources has acost associated with it and the sum total of these costs will form a part of theproject 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, definedas the Project Management Process Groups, each group comprising one or moreprocesses. This grouping helps in understanding the relevance and significance of thesequence of, and interaction between the various processes in project management.However, a process group is not a totally discrete phase occurring in isolation fromanother process group, and the processes have inherent interactions betweenthemselves throughout the implementation of a project. We will briefly define these

process groups as under, while a more detailed explanation of each process groupfollows subsequently.

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

Planning process group defines and redefines objectives and plans the courseof action required to attain the objectives and scope that the project wasundertaken to address.

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

Controlling process group regularly measures and monitors progress toidentify variances from the project management plan so that corrective action canbe taken when necessary to meet project objectivesClosing process group formalizes acceptance of the product, service orresult 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 theproject progresses. In the event that a project goes off-course, re-planning comes intoplay, and if a project is found to be in serious trouble, it may have to go all the way backto the initiating process to be restarted.

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

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

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. Forexample, when an organization identifies an opportunity, it will conduct or authorize afeasibility study to decide if it should undertake the project. The project life cycledefinition will determine whether the feasibility report is treated as the first projectphase, or as a separate standalone project. The phase sequence defined by most projectlife 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 thenext phase. The requirement of speedy completion of the total project will oftennecessitate 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 theproject. 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 themiddle.

Roles and Responsibilities of a project manager starts before the developmentand continue after delivery of the product.

The project manager conducts the analysis of the problem and submits adetailed report to the top management. The report should consist of what the problemis, 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 schedulewithin 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 projectcost, time and performance (includes quality).

Today large and small organizations recognize that project management, with itsstructured approach to planning and controlling of projects, is a necessary core

competency for success. Like general management, project management also involvesall aspects of planning, organizing, implementing and controlling .However, it has its owntechniques like work breakdown structure, critical path analysis, PERT (Programevaluation & review technique), which will be discussed in later units.

The project manager needs to be proactive in striking a balance between theseconstraints 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 resourcesin sufficient detail.

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

The project managers expectations are clearly communicated to each projectparticipant. Following this approach, ambiguity opens the door for potential failure, andthe managers should be as specific as possible when communicating their expectations.Process formality is very important for this approach. Examples of the top-downapproach applications can be found in many organizations. One of such example is theNew York Times, a leader in the newspaper industry. Several years ago, American

Journalism Review (www.ajr.com) reported that The Times executive management feltthat they were far from what was necessary for creation of a vibrant workplace and asuccessful organization. Power was centralized and masthead editors experienced overallcontrol.

Team members very often have read-only access to the project plan and cannotmake any contributions or changes. The employees send their updates to the projectmanager in disconnected files via e-mail. The project manager then has to collect all thedata and put the information manually into the project plan. After that, he or she has tocommunicate the changes to the corporate executives. All these routine procedures leadto 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 verytime for leadership from the project manager.

The project manager is the one to conduct the work of his team and choose theright direction for the project development, based on the information received from theindividual 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 projectteam, to use the appropriate tools to ensure that estimates provided during the planningprocess are reliable. Estimation tools are driven by historical data and many can serve asa 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 withprogram/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 requireassistance or guidance to the attention of the CIO. These items should be communicatedwhenever 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. Theprogram / project manager should communicate the status of these items in eachquarterly review until the items are resolved / closed.

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

The project manager should make it a habit of expressing appreciation openly forany good work done. Cross Functional Teams have become a necessity and the synergythey generate would be lost if interpersonal behavior is not of high standard. Asmembers are from different functions, understanding the requirements or compulsions of others is difficult. This fact should be impressed upon all the members and requestingthem 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 uponcompletion shall deliver the gain in the business for which it is intended for. The projectteam has to properly coordinate with each other working on different aspects of theproject. The team members are responsible for the completion of the project as per theplans of the project.

Q.3 :- Explain the various steps in the identification process of a project. Whatare 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 adequateauthorities 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 i s 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 definedby 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 toaccomplish the business need

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

(d) Controlling processes : monitoring and measuring progress and takingremedial action

(e) Closing processes : Formalizing acceptance and bringing project to anorderly end.

Process Interactions Initiating Processes Every process is initiated bymanagement 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 beredefined

(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 variousprocesses

(e) Customisation

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Large projects may need details A detailed project managementplan might be necessary to indicate every detail in the initial stages. Smaller projects may need relatively less details A detailed plan maynot be required in the initial st ages .

Project Planning The purpose of project planning is to first identify the areas of theproject work and identifying the forces affecting the project and then to define theboundariesof the project. Also the scoping has to be explicitly stated on the line of the project objectivesIt also has to implicitly provide directions to the project. The planning and scoping should be such that the project manager is able to assess every stage of the project and also 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 stages.

(b) Enable the team members to work on tools to keep track of the stages andthereby 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 theproject

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

(a) Project organization

Process Skills and activities

Initiation Prepare an outline project justification, plan andproject

BudgetSelection and briefing of the project team, assigningroles 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

(c) Project Key personnel Identify those business areas that are withinthe scope or directly interface with the scope boundary and list them in the

Business area column of the project assignment worksheet Identify the keypersonnel for each area and list them in the Person column of the projectassignment worksheet.

(d) Project management team It is a senior management team, whichwill be accountable for the project. Identify project sponsor, client representativeand technical representative. Stage managers who will plan and manage theproject on a day-to-day basis for this stage

(e) Project coordinators Client coordinator and technical coordinatorclearly define these coordination, control activities and identify the brief suitablepersonnel to carry them out.

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Initiate planning

Develop softwaredevelopment

plan(SDP)

Review and approveSDP

Implement SDP processes and applySPTO process

Measurement andimprove the process

Revise the SDP

Record lessons learnt


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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 andwhose occurrence has a harmful or negative impact on a project. Risk management aimsto 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 costeffective 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 risksit 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 thefollowing marketing parameter price change, changes in marketregulations, economic changes, competition, competitors product changes, etc.

(c) Industry risk it is the risk arising out of a change in scientific instrumentsused in business activity, changes in companies policies because of changes in th

eindustry.

(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 beginningof a project, atthe beginning of major phases in a project (e.g., requirements, design, coding anddeployment) and when there are significant changes (e.g., feature changes, targetplatform changes and technology changes).

At the end of this unit, we have provided you with a copy of our risk process. It issimple, 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 hours.

There are four steps to manage a risk:

(a) Risk Identification :- To identify risks, we must first definerisk. Risks are potential problems, ones that are not guaranteed to occur.When people begin performing riskidentification they often start by listing known problems. Known problems arenot risks. During risk identification, you might notice someknown problems. If so, just move them to a problem list and concentrate on futurepotential problems.

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Risk identification can be done using a brainstorming session. The brainstorm typically takes 15 30 minutes. Be sure to invite anyone who can help you think of risks. In the brainstorming session, people call out potential problem thatthey 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 riskobtained from past.

The information obtained from such databases can help the projectmanager to evaluateand 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 wont restartin situation X, and People might resist the change. Any potential problem, or critical 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 itactually occurs. This approach requires a quantitative assessment of the riskprobability and the risk consequences. For each risk rate the probability of itshappening as low, medium or high. If necessary, assign probability values in theranges given for each rating. For each risk, assess its impact on the project aslow, 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 risksfrom the previous risk logs maintained by the PM and select a suitable riskmitigation step. The risk mitigation step must be properly executed byincorporating them into the project schedule. In addition to monitoring theprogress of the planned risk mitigation steps periodically revisit the riskperception for the entire project. The results of this review are reported in eachmilestone analysis report. To prepare this report, make fresh risk analysis todetermine whether the priorities have changed.

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

Ans :- Project Management Knowledge Areas and Relationship : Itcomprises of various techniques needed to manage projects, the practicalmethodologies adopted in formulating a project and managing the resources whichwould affect the project completion. Relationship with other management disciplines isessential for a project to be successful. Supporting disciplines includes law, strategicplanning, 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 wasteb) a loss in any project would have direct or indirect impact on the societyc) prevent failures in projectsd) scope of the project activity may undergo a change

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e) technology used may change during the course of project executionf) consequences of negativity in project related problems could be veryseriousg) changes in economic conditions may affect a project

Project Management Information System (PMIS) : A information systems ismainly aimed at providing the management at different levels with informationrelated to the system of the organization. It helps in maintaining a discipline inthe system. A system is prone to malfunctions if not properly maintained. Aninformation systemdealing with project management tasks is the project management information system. It helpin decision making in arriving at optimum allocation of resources. The information systems is based on a database of the organization. A project managementinformation system also holds schedule, scope changes, risk assessmentand actual results. Usual information systems are not designed for projects. Normalinformation systems tell managers if they are working within the scope of thebudget. The information is communicated to managers at different levels of theorganization depending upon the need. Upper managers need to knowinformation on all projects regardingprogress, problems, resource usage, costs and project goals. This information helps them take decisions on the project. They should review the projects at each milestone andarrive at appropriate decision. Project manager and department managers need to seeeach project schedule priority and use of resources to determine the most efficient useacross the organization. Project team members need to see schedule, takes lists andspecification 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 atthe right time.(b) Assist the team members, stakeholders, managers with necessaryinformation 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 organizationlearn about project management.

A good PMIS is possible to be developed from the team members andnot from the systems administrators of the company. Organizations tend toallocate such responsibility by rotation among members with a well designed andstructured 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 completestability to fulfillment of goals, one needs to constantly evaluate from time totime, the consideration of what will constitute the success of completing aproject and assessing its success before completion. The KSF should be evolved basedon 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 thancontributors. Broad level of KSF shouldbe available at the conceptual stage and should be firmed up and detailed out duringthe 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 managementduly approved by the project manager before execution and control stages. KSF ridesabove normal consideration of time and cost at the levels encompassing clientexpectation and management perception time and cost come into play assubservient to these major goals.

(b) Empowerment Title (ET) ET reflects the relative importance of members of theorganization at three levels:

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

(c) Partnering Decision Making (PDM) PDM is a substitute to monitoring andcontrol. 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 futurebetter from past experience. The key here is the active participation of membersin the decision making process.The ownership is distributed among all irrespective of levels the term equally should beavoided here since ownership is not quantifiable. The right feeling of ownership is important. This step is most difficult since junior members have torespond and resist to beingpushed through sheer innovation and performance this is how future leaders would emerge. 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 wantshelp he or she locates a source and proposed to the manager only if such help is notaccessible for free.Similarly, a member should believe that a team leaders silence is a sign of approval and shouldnot provoke comments through excessive seeking of opinions. In shortleave people alone and let situation perform the demanding act. The bend limit of MBEcan 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 evenat 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 materialsrequired in the project. During the course of executing the project, it is seenthat the resource requirement increases from start to an intermediate stage of the project. It further increases at rapid rate and becomes constant whilethe project is during its 80 to 95% progress stage. Thereafter the resources

requirement decreases to zero i.e when the project comesto a finish. Refer the Characteristic chart. Plan the resources required for variousstage of the project. Brief both the project team and the key resources about theobjectives 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 inthe company. Top management also must be willing to allocate adequate resources topermit success.

2. Create New Organizational Components A Steering Committee tooversee the PIP and Productivity Managers to implement it are essential. TheCommittee should be staffed by top departmental executives with the responsibilities of goal setting, guidance, advice, and general control. The Productivity Managers areresponsible for the day-to-day activities of measurement and analysis. Theresponsibilities of all organizational components must be clear and well established.

3. Plan Systematically Success doesn't just happen. Goals andobjectives should be set, problems targeted and rank ordered, reporting and monitoringrequirements developed, and feedback channels established.

4. Open Communications Increasing productivity means changing the waythings are done. Desired changes must be communicated. Communication should flowup 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 qualityof work life, worker motivation, training, worker attitudes, job enrichment, qualitycircles, 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 noteasy to engender. Through basic fairness, employee involvement, and equitableincentives, 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 dataidentified, benchmark studies performed, and personnel assigned. Measuringproductivity can be a highly complex task. The goal, however, is to keep it as simple aspossible without distorting and depreciating the data. Measurement is so critical tosuccess, a more detailed analysis is helpful.

7. Quality Control This is very important in any project. Quality control ispossible if the project members follow the quality charts and norms very strictly.

8. Schedule Quality Review It is recommended that quality reviewbe scheduled at the beginning of the stage and also ending of every stage. 9. Agenda for quality review Create and distribute a quality reviewagenda specifyingthe objective, products, logistics, roles, responsibilities and time frame.

10. Conduct quality review The qualityreview is to be conducted in a structured and formal manner. Quality review shouldfocus on product development and its quality factors. Focuson whether it meets the prescribed quality standard .

11. Follow up QR complete product status revised from In progress to QRComplete. Follow up the actions planned in strict manner which ensures conformity tothe standards. 12. Review quality control procedures Verify that the quality objectives foreach productare appropriate and that all participants are satisfied both with the process and itsoutcome.

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Q.2 :- Explain the relevance of Work Breakdown Structure in determiningresponsibility 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 stagecalled the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

A typical example of a work breakdown structure of a recruitment process is indicated below :

This is the technique to analyze the content of work and cost by breaking it down into itscomponent parts. Project key stages form the highest level of the WBS, which is thenused to show the details at the lower levels of the project. Each key stage comprisesmany 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 eachelement down into component parts and continuing to breakdown until manageable workpackages 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 thatit has a capability to plan design, deliver and serve to any Customers or ClientsWorldwide 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 Common 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 andProcesses of manufacture or Development. Adopt Plug and socket Conceptswith minimum adaptable joints or Connections.

(b) Modularization Product or Solution split up into smallest possibleindividual Identifiable Entities, with limited Individual Functioning Capabilitybut powerful and robust in Combination with other Modules. (c) Minimum Customization Minimum Changes or Modifications to suitIndividual Customers.

d) Maximum micro structuring Splitting of the Product Modulesfurther into much smaller entity identifiable more through characteristicsrather than application Features. Approach through Standardization of theseMicrobial Entities even across Multiple Modules. Application of theseMicrobial Entities to rest within multiple Projects or Products or even asaddons 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 thesignificance of reviewing ROI? Ans :- ROI - Return on Investment (ROI) is the calculated benefit that an organizationis 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 systemdevelopment or enhancement project. ROI information is used to assess the status of the business viability of the project at key checkpoints throughout the projects lifecycle.

ROI may include the benefits associated with improved mission performance,reduced cost, increased quality, speed, or flexibility, and increased customer andemployee satisfaction. ROI should reflect such risk factors as the projects technicalcomplexity, the agencys management capacity, the likelihood of cost overruns, and theconsequences of under or nonperformance. Where appropriate, ROI should reflect actualreturns 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 apositive 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 theproject 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 investmentthroughout the project lifecycle. Any project that has developed a business case isexpected to refresh the ROI at each key project decision point (i.e., stage exit) or atleast yearly.

If the detailed data collection, calculation of benefits and costs, and capitalizationdata from which Return on Investment (ROI) is derived was not required for a particularproject, then it may not be realistic or practical to require the retrofit calculation of ROIonce the project is added to the Review portfolio. In such a case, it is recommended thata memorandum of record be developed as a substitute for ROI. The memorandumshould provide a brief history of the program, a description of the major benefits realizedto date with as much quantitative data as possible, and a summary of the process usedto 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 upgradepackage.

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

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For the Project Management Review, it is recommended that the project leaderreplace 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 eliminatedform the package. There is one notable exception to this guidance. Any internal usesoftware project in the maintenance phase of its lifecycle that adds a new site orundertakes an enhancement or technology refresh that reaches the cost thresholdestablished by Standard will need to satisfy capitalization requirements. It requires allagencies to capitalize items acquired or developed for internal use if the expected servicelife is two or more years and its cost meets or exceeds the agencys threshold forinternal use software. The standard requires capitalization of direct and indirect costs,including employee salaries and benefits for both Federal and Contractor employees whomaterially participate in the Software project. Program managers are considered to bethe source of cost information for internal use software projects. If capitalization data iscollected for the project in the future, the project would be expected to calculate andtrack 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 imperativefor organizations to initiate measures for the development of high technology to beahead of competition. No doubt, there are many specialized Research and Developmentfirms which offer their expertise to their clients problems. However, their services areavailable to the competitors and many technologies developed by the companys ownresearch personnel cannot be shared with outsiders. So the strategy would be utilize theservices of external resource to the extent they are suitable for our purpose, but with astrong base of R and D of our own. This will really differentiate the best companies fromother ordinary ones. The following give some guidelines in the form of rules which wouldhelp organisation to be strong in this area.

Building concurrency into every activity is essential to reduce the developmentcycle time and to counter the technology obsolescence. Many of the tasks that arenormally 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 productand all its associated processes are carried out simultaneously based on team work andparticipation. Would not only help in reducing the development cycle time, but alsoimproves the product functionality with regard to requirements. Concurrency can beaccomplished in many ways both for product development as well as technologytransfer, 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 theF-22 fighter plane is not urgently needed and the Defense Department (DOD) hasdiscovered engine and software problems with the aircraft, GAO urges that the F-22 bethoroughly 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 theAir 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 propulsionsystem that will allow cruising a supersonic speeds without the afterburners that currentfighters needs, and low observable technologies. The military has already disclosedengine and stealth ness problems, and the potential for avionics and software problemsunderscore the need to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities before committing toproduction.

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

Ans :- Enterprise Resource Planning Manufacturing management systems haveevolved in stages over the few decades from a simplemeans of calculating materialsrequirements to the automation of an entire enterprise. Around 1980, overfrequent changesin sales forecasts, entailing continual readjustments in production, as well as theunsuitabilityof the parameters fixed by the system, led MRP (Material Requirement Planning) toevolve into a new concept : Manufacturing Resource Planning (or MRP2) andfinally the generic concept Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

The initials ERP originated as an extension of MRP (material requirementsplanning then manufacturing resource planning). ERP systems now attempt tocover all basic functions of an enterprise, regardless of the organization's business orcharter. Nonmanufacturing businesses, nonprofit organizationsand governments now all utilize ERP systems. To be considered an ERP system, asoftware package must provide the function of at least twosystems. For example, a software package that provides both payroll andaccounting 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 applicationseliminates the need for external interfaces previously required between systems,and provides additional benefits that range fromstandardization and lower maintenance to easier and/or greater reporting capabilities.

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

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

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Manufacturing Engineering , Bills of Material, Scheduling, Capacity, Workflow Management,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, AccountsReceivable, 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, andEmployees Enterprise Resource Planning is a term originally derived from manufacturing resource planning that followed material requirements planning . MRP evolved into ERP when"routings" became a major part of the software architecture and a company's capacityplanning activity also became a part of the standard software activity. ERP systemstypically 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 manybusiness activities, like sales, marketing, delivery, billing, production, inventorymanagement, quality management, and human resource management.

ERP systems saw a large boost in sales in the 1990s as companies faced the Y2Kproblem in their legacy systems. Many companies took this opportunity to replacetheir legacy information systemswith ERP systems. This rapid growth in sales was followed by aslump in 1999, at which time mostcompanies had already implemented their Y2K solution.

ERPs are crossfunctional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that areinvolved in operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition tomanufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and information technology, this wouldinclude 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 datafor 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, generalledger and cash management, etc.c. Human Resources : Benefits, training, payroll, time and attendance, etcd. Supply Chain Management : Inventory, supply chain planning, supplierscheduling, 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, customercontact, calls center support, etc.g. Data Warehouse : Usually this is a module that can be accessed by an organizationscustomers, suppliers and employees.

ERP Improves Productivity Before ERP systems, each department in an organization would most likely have their own computersystem, data and database. Unfortunately, many of these systems wouldnot be able to communicate with one another or need to store or rewrite data tomake it possible for cross computer system communication.For instance, the financials of a company were on a separate computer system thanthe HR system, making it more intensive and complicated to process certain functions.

Once an ERP system is inplace, usually all aspects of an organization can work in

harmony instead of every single system needing to be compatible with each other. For large 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 supplychain. 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-wideinventory and demand transparency

The main Principles behind is the Integration of supply chain participants,Exchange of demand and inventory information, transparency & Visibility of inventoriesand demands for multilevel supply chains. It also eliminates time lags in the informationflow 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 reactiontimes, 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 projectplan.

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-bugsTrace-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 aProject Management exercise, even if they are well equipped, particularly if the project istoo large for e.g., development of a new product, expansion of capacity, modernizationof facilities, diversification into a totally new business area, getting into a Joint ventureetc. In this case, the core project team itself might feel the need to have some majorinputs before even a tentative plan could be drawn up. A well-drafted Business Planwould ideally serve this purpose, provided it is handled systematically & professionally.

The documentation system is intranet based to provide immediate access tocurrent, up-to-date process documentation. The system allows users to navigatethrough graphical structures to relevant documentation and processes which werecreated with the ARIS-Toolset.

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

The Process Documentation System gives, according to its objectives, asoverview and a detailed view of the relevant processes for SCMo.

The entry point in the documentation system is the model Process OverviewSCMo. This model is the starting point for the navigation to other models.

The vertical navigation is the navigation on different levels. The horizontalnavigation is the navigation on one level.

Microsoft has a team project management solution that enables project managersand their teams to collaborate on projects. The Microsoft Project 2002 products inthis 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 Asthe FRODO and MERRI projects have matured, there is a growing realisation thatsustainable identifier infrastructure is required to deal with the vast amount of digitalassets 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 anymeans of managing this data over any length of time.

The emphasis in the PILIN Project will be on building identifier managementinfrastructure 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 theVTE sector, the Le@rning Federation and the TILIS Project.

The project aims to take advantage of existing governance and consultativemechanisms within the ARROW environment to ensure relevant and sustainableoutcomes and optimal return on investment. The project will be run in partnershipbetween ARROW and the University of Southern Queensland ( USQ ), specifically throughthe RUBRIC Project.

Aims and Objectives

Support adoption and use of persistent identifiers and shared persistent identifiermanagement services by the project stakeholders.

Plan for a sustainable, shared identifier management infrastructure that enablespersistence 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 willinclude services for creating, accessing and managing persistent digital identifiersover their lifetime. The pilot infrastructure will interoperate with other DESTfunded 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 thedevelopment program if resources permit.

5. Software tools to help applications use the shared persistent identifierinfrastructure more easily.

6. Report on options and proposals for sustaining, supporting (including outreach)and governing shared persistent identifier management infrastructure.
http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/tlf2/http://www.talc.com.au/TILIS/tabid/220/Default.aspxhttp://www.usq.edu.au/http://www.rubric.edu.au/http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/tlf2/http://www.talc.com.au/TILIS/tabid/220/Default.aspxhttp://www.usq.edu.au/http://www.rubric.edu.au/

MB0033 Assingment Set1 Set2

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