Master in Business Administration – Semester 3

Subject Code – PM0010

Subject Name – Introduction to Project Management

4 Credits

(Book ID: B1236)

Assignment Set- 1 (60 Marks)

Note: Each question in total carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions.

Q 1. Describe the three strategy levels in detail. [10 Marks]

Answer:Strategy Levels Strategy exists at three hierarchical levels in an organisation, ranging from the overall business (or group of businesses) to the individuals working in it. 1 Corporate Strategy Corporate strategy is basically related to the purpose and scope of the business to meet stakeholder expectations. This is often explicitly stated in a mission statement. It is heavily influenced by investors in the business, and acts to guide strategic decision-making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is about managing its business units and products so that each becomes competitive and can contribute to corporate purposes. Hence corporate level strategy is fundamentally concerned with the selection of businesses in which the company competes, develops and coordinates. Corporate level strategy addresses the following:

Reach: To define the corporate responsibilities. These include identifying overall goals of the corporation, selecting the types of business in which the corporation may be involved, and the way of integrating and managing the business.

Competitive contact: To define the localisation of the corporate competition.

Manage activities and business relationships: To develop synergies by having business units complement one another, both by sharing and coordinating staff and other resources across business units or by investing financial resources across business units.

Management practices: To decide the ways of governing business units through centralisation and decentralisation.

Corporate strategy can best be described as the overall plan that integrates the strategies of all businesses within a corporation. A diversified company has two strategy levels: Corporate level strategy: This strategy aims to create value for the corporation as a whole.

Business level strategy: This strategy addresses the way to create competitive advantage in each business.

Corporate Strategy Planning Two tools popularly used in the planning of corporate strategy are:

Ansoff matrix

BCG matrix

Ansoff Matrix The Ansoff matrix (originator Igor Ansoff in 1957) presents the product and market choices available to an organisation. The Ansoff matrix is used to aid decision-making concerned with market expansion and diversification. Markets may be defined as customers, products, or items sold to the customers. It considers two factors: • Newness of the product to the company.

• Experience of the company with the intended market.

The table shows the four corporate strategies using an ANSOFF Matrix.

Table : ANSOFF Matrix (Source: Corporate Strategy by Igor Ansoff)

OLD Product OLD Market-Market Penetration

NEW Product Related Diversification-OLD Market (Product Development)

OLD Product NEW Market-Expansion (Market Development)

NEW Product Unrelated Diversification-NEW Market

The explanations for the four strategies mentioned in the quadrants of Table are as follows:

Table : Explanation for Ansoff StrategiesStrategies Strategy Explanation Market Penetration Requires an increase of

existing market share in existing markets.

Market Expansion Requires identification of new customer for existing products.

Product Expansion Requires development of new

customers products for existing customers (Related diversification).

Diversification Markets Requires production of new products for new markets (Unrelated diversification).

Based on management of time availability, skill of personnel, and fund mobilisation capacity the company decides to adopt one or more of the four strategies. The fourth strategy provides high growth potentials but requires careful planning and analysis prior to taking any decision. If the firm decides to expand in all four areas, some of its businesses could end up being badly managed. The limitation of Ansoff matrix is that the matrix tells us one part of the strategy story, but it is imperative to look at other strategic models like Strength Weakness Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis2 in order to view how the strategy changes in the future. 2 Refer SWOT analysis - Strategic planning - Business strategies

BCG Matrix The BCG matrix (developed by Boston Consulting Group in the early 1970s) is another popular tool for portfolio planning. It is based on the product life cycle. The observation that the company”s business units can be classified into four categories based on a combination of market growth and market share relative to the largest competitor is called „growth-share”. Market growth serves as a replacement for industry attractiveness and relative market share serves as a replacement for competitive advantage. The position of a business on this matrix provides an indication of cash generation and cash consumption. Business units which are in a more mature stage and are generating significant cash can deliver the cash to the rapidly growing business as required.

Reletive Market Share (Cash Generation) Figure : BCG Growth-Share Matrix

Figure shows that relative market share (horizontal axis) serves as a measure of Starts Business Units (SBU) strength in the market. Market growth rate (vertical axis) provides a measure of market attractiveness.

Four types of SBUs are identified using the four quadrants of the matrix: • Stars: These are high-growth businesses or products competing in markets. They are relatively strong compared with the competition. Often they need heavy investment to sustain their growth. Eventually their growth slows down and they become cash cows.

• Cash cows: These are low-growth businesses or products that have relatively high share in markets. Cash cows continuously manage to yield profit and generate strong cash flows which are needed for starting firms.

• Dogs: These are businesses or products that have low relative share in unattractive low-growth markets. They may generate enough cash to break even, but rarely, only if profit is there.

• Question Marks: These are businesses or products that have low market share, but operate in relatively higher growth markets. They have the potential but may require substantial investment to increase the market share at the cost of more powerful competitors.

Some limitations cited for the BCG matrix model are as follows: • In industry attractiveness, market growth rate is only one factor and in competitive advantage, relative market share is only one factor. Other factors are overlooked.

• As per framework each SBU is independent of others. Sometimes, a dog, an SBU may help other SBUs to gain advantage.

• The matrix depends heavily on the breadth of the definition of the market. An SBU may dominate its small position, but have very low market share in the overall industry. In such a case, the definition of a market makes the difference between a dog and a cash cow.

We must note that any tool used for strategy planning has some limitations and no tool is exclusive for strategy planning. For example, in case of the BCG matrix, it is difficult to get reliable data on the market share and market growth rate.

2 Business Unit Strategy Business unit strategy is concerned with how a business unit competes successfully in a particular market. It includes strategic decisions about choice of products, customer requirements, gaining advantage over competitors, creation of new opportunities and so on. A strategic business unit can be planned independently from the other business units of the firm. Business level strategy addresses the following: • Positing the business against rivals.

• Adjusting the strategies to anticipate and accommodate changes in demand and technologies.

• Influencing the nature of competition through strategies like vertical integration and political actions.

The detailed action of business level strategy is taken to provide value to the customers. Business level strategy is also adopted to gain a competitive advantage by exploring core competencies in specific, individual product or service markets. The four generic strategies to establish a competitive advantage over industry rivals are as follows: • Cost leadership: The firm offers products to customers at the lowest price essentially by tight control over production and overhead costs.

• Differentiation: The firm provides value to customers by delivering products with unique features and characteristics rather than with the lowest price. For example, lower costs for buyers by ensuring better quality thereby leading to lesser breakdowns; by raising perceptions of buyers of the customer support provided by the firm by responding quickly.

• Focussed low cost: The firm not only sells its products at lowest price, but also selects a small segment of the market to provide goods and services.

For example, sale of a product to only a Government department.

• Focussed differentiation: The firm not only competes with rivals based on differentiation, but also selects a small segment of the market as in focussed low cost strategy.

A fifth strategy is also adopted sometimes, which integrates low cost and differentiation strategy. Here, the customer realises value based both on product features and a low price. Southwest Airlines is an example of a company that adopts this strategy.

3 Operational Strategy Operational strategy is concerned with the process of organising business in order to deliver the corporate and the business-unit level strategic direction. It focuses the on issues of resources, processes, people and so on. Operational strategy is also termed as Functional strategy. Functional levels provide input (input, is usually information on resources and capabilities) into the business unit level and corporate level strategy. After developing the higher level strategy, the functional units translate it into discrete action-plans so that each department follows it to achieve success.

Q 2. a. Describe the various roles undertaken by a Project Manager. [5 Marks] b. List and explain in brief the qualities of a Project Manager. [5 Marks]

Answer:a. Roles of a Project Manager Leading a project is like leading a department where there are people with different backgrounds and skills, and the project manager has to co-ordinate with all the people

to get desired overall result. The project manager should have the skills required to make the project go smoothly. This includes paying constant attention to communication, where it has to be made sure that the project sponsors and the team members are clear on the boundaries and expectations, documenting the project details like the tasks, responsibilities, relationships and understanding the customer and business needs.

The project manager is responsible for documenting, in coordination with the project sponsors, a definition of the project. The project manager then makes sure that the project is delivered on time, to budget and to the required quality standard within the agreed specifications. The project manager should ensure that the project is effectively resourced and should also manage the relationships with a wide range of groups which consists of all the project contributors. The project manager is also responsible for handling the work of consultants, allocating and utilising resources in a proper manner and maintaining a co-operative, motivated and successful team.

The general roles of a project manager are as follows: • Understand and apply the organisational project policies and procedures.

• Maintain the project staff’s technical skill and efficiency, and provide training when required.

• Establish and maintenance of project quality.

• Identify and procure the project infrastructure needs.

• Develop project charter and obtain approval for the same.

• Define project goals, objectives and success criteria.

• Identify and document project constraints.

• Identify and document project assumptions.

• Identify and secure project team resources.

• Serve as a focal point for project related communications.

• Develop and present milestone during review briefings.

• Ensure that Information Technology security is met.

The following describes the roles undertaken by the project manager: • Understanding the client requirements: The client requirements form the basis of the project. It should be clearly understood, planned and executed so that the project is developed to suit the client needs. For example, if the project is for the bank then their requirements should be clearly understood by the project manager to deliver the project to suit their requirements.

• Understanding end user requirements: End user requirements of the project of the project should be understood as the clients and the end users may be different. The project should be developed keeping the end users who are going to use the project. For example if the project is for a bank ATM, then the end-users should also be considered if they are going to use the ATMs for their transactions.

• Understanding the project scope: The scope of the project defines the project tasks. The project has to be planned keeping the timelines, objectives, output and the delivery date in mind. The project should be defined according to the client requirements and the project should be managed accordingly.

• Understanding the design: All the basic design requirements should be understood. The functional brief should be developed including the design brief preparation. The design and design process should be developed along with the development of contract documentation. The planning process and obtaining relevant approvals should be managed.

• Communicating: The client should be given regular reports which are relevant and meaningful. The project progress report should be included in the project delivery kit. For example it may be required to send project status report every week. Also the client should be pre-informed about any likely delays/problems.

To summarise, the project manager’s role includes the following activities: • Defining the scope

• Planning and sequencing of the activity

• Planning for the resource

• Developing the schedules

• Estimating the time

• Estimating the cost

• Developing the budget

• Controlling the budget

• Controlling the quality

• Analysing risk

• Managing risks and issues

• Realising the benefits

• Analysing scalability, interoperability and portability

• Documenting the work

• Maintaining customer relationship

b. Key Qualities of a Project Manager Project manager plays a vital role in managing a project and is also responsible for defining roles and responsibilities of each member in the project team. A project manager ensures that the project meets its deadlines with expected quality output according to the specifications given by the client.

However, for efficient management of the project, the project manager is expected to have the following qualities:

• Leadership ability: It is the ability to lead a group with integrity, openness and receptiveness. A good project manager should strictly adhere to the values, morals and methods as defined by the organisation. Rather, it simply means that the words, actions and decisions of a project manager are bound to certain standards defined. A to suit their defined job roles. It is required to provide appropriate training sessions such good project manager has the ability to gather information from various sources and make a final decision based on the input. A project manager is able to take decisions strictly adhering to the framework and structure of the organisation and not based on unleashed emotions. A good project manager is able to solve the queries and prioritise the needs and concerns of the other members of the team. Project managers ideally possess critical management skills that enable to inspire and motivate the group leading towards a common goal.

• Ability to steer team growth: People are the most valuable asset of a company. Therefore, for an organisation to flourish and meet its successful deadlines, it is very essential to develop people, by nurturing their skills, appreciating their work, and providing training that is necessary as communication skills, team building skills, time management skills and leadership skills.

• Ability to take decisions: A project manager should be well organised and able to meet specific targets within the allotted time. The project manager has skills to manage various tasks and responsibilities that are both internal and external to the project. The project manager makes decisions keeping in mind the resources available, the scheduled time targets and the expenses incurred. The project manager is self motivated, self initiated, creative, and is able to solve any queries from the team. The project manager anticipates and has solutions to problems associated with the project.

• Ability to manage the finances of the project: A project manager effectively analyses and keeps track of the project finances to ensure a balance between the planned budget and the incurred budget.

• Commitment: A project manager is committed to the roles and responsibilities allotted and also create a positive and energetic work environment for the team to work in.

• Excellent communication skills: 85-90% of project manager’s tasks are about communication. Good communication skills help project manager to express and communicate effectively with all the stakeholders and also the team. Communication does not imply only sending information and speaking effectively; it also includes Listening skills, which means receiving information and understanding the message communicated from the other end.

• Good interpersonal skills (Individual Skills): Good interpersonal skills are defined as those skills which are very essential to interrelate, interact or deal with others in the organisation. Project managers possess good interpersonal skills to ensure that work is done on time without hurting the sentiments of any of the member of the project team.

Interpersonal skills are categorised into communication skills, people skills and soft skills. An efficient project manager has good interpersonal skills that facilitate various ways that are suitable for interacting with other team members in various situations.

• Technical Skills: A project manager should have technical skills relevant to the project. The project manager knows the tools and techniques used in the project to ensure proper utilisation of resources.

• Problem solving skills: Project managers should possess problem solving skills and provide solution to most of the anticipated problems. A project manager should have the ability to identify the problems and concerns that arise out of various social situations. A capable project manager is able to take timely decisions in case of any risks or uncertainties associated with the implementation of the project.

• Time management skills: A good project manager understands that time is a non-renewable resource, thus plans and schedules tasks based on the priority that it has to be completed. A good project manager also ensures that scheduled tasks are implemented and executed on time as per the wants and demands of the client with the expected quality outcome. The project manager also ensures that there is ongoing interaction with the clients to determine whether there are any changes in the specifications from the clients.

Project managers base their decisions based on a sound understanding of the concepts and techniques used in the implementation of the project.

Some of the skills that a project manager requires with respect to project implementation are as listed below: • Agency responsibilities: A good project should possess ability to deal with the obligations and challenges during the development, implementation and execution of the project. For example, the implementation of a software development project, a project manager ensures that the project meets the requirements of the end user, performs perfectly , provides software that is user friendly, cost effective and that can be maintained and managed efficiently.

• Understanding the nature of the project: It is very important for the project manager to analyse the nature of the project to assign roles to various members of the team. Understanding the nature of the project ensures that suitable resources, tools and techniques are chosen for the implementation of the project. The nature of the project has to be in line with the company’s structure, policies and planned budget.

• Conforming project feasibility: The project manager is able to manage the project in a manner that is feasible to various kinds of situations.

• Defining and setting the project scope: It is very essential that the objectives and the scope of the project are defined along with the shared decision by the senior members of the team. The probability of project failure increases when there is no clear definition and clear understanding of the objectives of the project. Once the goals and the objectives of the project are set, the task that follows is to identify the scope of the

project. When scope has to be defined for a project, various factors have to be taken into considerations such as: o The amount of effort that has to be put in the project assigned

o The duration of the completion of the project

o Financial commitments

o Duration and availability of the resources. • Setting goals: Project managers ensure that the goals of the project benefit the organisation in terms of finance as well as the overall growth of the organisation.

• Assigning roles and responsibilities: It is vital that the job roles and responsibilities are assigned based on the skill set possessed by the employees. • Planning organisational change: In situations, where an existing structure of the organisation is not matching the requirements of the project taken up, it requires changing or updating the framework or certain activities of the organisation to ensure accommodating of the new process tasks. Thus, the organisation should be well prepared for the transitions of the plan so as to meet the specifications and the requirements of the client. However, a delay in the transition planning of the project can impair the productivity of the organisation. The planning of the changes in the organisation hold good in various aspects such as policies, procedures, description of new job roles, and other services of the customers.

Q 3. a. Describe the major types of stakeholders in a project. [5 Marks] b. Describe the major type of Organisational structure in Detail. [5 Marks]

Answer:a. According to PMI”s guide to PMBoK, project stakeholders are 'individuals and organisations actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of project execution or project completion”.

According to Stanford Research Institute5 stakeholders are “those groups without whose support the organisation would cease to exist”. The major stakeholders of a project are: • Project Manager

• Customer

• Performing Organisation

• Project Team Members

• Sponsor

• Society

Figure depicts a diagrammatic representation of the major stakeholders of a project.

Figure : Major Stakeholders of a Project

Project Manager Project manager is the interface between the customer and other internal stakeholders. The project manager holds the responsibility for the successful implementation of the project and is an important stakeholder. Customer Customers are the internal or external group of individuals who directly affect the project. The aim of the project is to create a product, service or facility based on customer requirements and to deliver it to the customer. Hence, the project team must consider all requirements of the customer while creating the deliverable. The customer can be any one of the following: • Internal customer: They are individuals within the parent organisation. For example, the IT department is assigned to provide a software package for the accounts department. The accounts department is the internal customer.

• Intermediate customer: They are external to the company but not the final user of the product. For example, distributors and wholesalers.

• External customer: They are individuals or organisations that pay for and use the final product.

Performing Organisation The performing organisation is the enterprise whose employees are most directly involved in performing the work of the project. Therefore, the project contributes towards achieving the corporate goals of the performing organisation. In addition, there are several other stakeholders like project owner, fund providers, suppliers or contractors, government agencies and media outlets and the society. Stakeholder roles and responsibilities may overlap. For example, when an engineering firm finances a plant it is in the designing or construction field, the role of the engineering firm changes from performing organisation to sponsor for the projects undertaken by the designing or construction company. The naming or grouping of stakeholders is primarily an aid to identify individuals or organisations who view themselves as stakeholders. Project Team Members Team members working in their individual areas of expertise play a crucial role in the success of the project. They work directly with or under the project manager depending

on the organisation structure adopted for the project. The project manager, therefore, uses team building skills to ensure that the team members work as a team. Sponsor The sponsor is an individual or a group within or external to the parent organisation who arranges the financial resources in cash or in kind for the project. The sponsor may be a senior executive of an organisation or a junior manager with formal authority who is responsible for the project thus, acting as a link between the project and the performing organisation.

b. Organisational structure has a significant impact on the functioning of a project manager. To enable successful completion of a project, it is important that the resources required for project implementation flow freely from the organisation to the project. There are three types of organisational structures: • Functional organisation is a hierarchical structure. It defines a clear Superior-Subordinate relationship, i.e, the line of control is clear. Each department carries out work in its area of specialisation and employees in each department work with its respective expertise within the department's line of control. In a manufacturing organisation, the different departments are production, finance, marketing, quality control, engineering, administration, personnel ands so on. If a new product is to be developed, the engineering department handles only the design development phase of the product. If answers to questions concerning manufacturing, marketing or quality control are found, the query is passed on to the respective department through formal communication channels.

• Project-based organisations are designed to provide near total authority to the project manager. The project manager directs work and sets priorities to employees assigned to the project manager for the project. Functional departments exist in this organisation, but the groups working in these departments report directly to the project manager in the execution of various projects.

• Matrix-based organisations combine the features of functional and project-based organisational structures. In this type of organisational structure, project managers and functional managers have equal authority, which implies that the functional staff member reports to both project manager and their functional manager. This constitutes a dual reporting system for each functional staff member.

Q 4. List and describe in brief the various qualities of the project management process. [10 marks].

Answer:The various qualities that a good Project Management process should encompass are as listed below:

• Creativity: A good Project Management process should be creative that facilitates integrating various categories of the project into a unified structure. It should provide abilities to create enthusiasm and appeal in the process.

• Structure: The structure of the organisation will have a set of specifications, parameters, limitations as well as certain guidelines that has to be followed. The members of the organisations are expected to work effectively within the defined framework and structure of the organisation.

• Intuition: Intuition is very important part of maintaining a good Project Management process. It is that ability of understanding the uncertainties and the things forth coming without the use of any rational processes. It is the foundation of emotional intelligence. It is vital to have a stronger intuition that enables to sense what the other members are feeling and thinking.

• Knowledge: Knowledge is an important part of the Project Management process. It is required for the deeper understanding of the project with ease and also to delegate the technical aspects training to the other members participating in the project team.

• Commitment: The commitment of the project manager is responsible for holding the team together to pull the project to meet its delivery dates successfully. Commitment ensures that there are fixed allotted timings for every activity to be performed in the process.

• Being Considerate: Being considerate infers that a task allotted to the members of the team can be well completed in the allotted time. It ensures that no employee is heavily loaded with unnecessary work he is not responsible for. Thus, the loyalty and humbleness of the manager will further take the project team to meet its objectives defined. • Versatility: The primary qualities of a Project Management process include flexibility to any kind of environment. It requires versatility that enables the project manager to change any decisions with respect to resources and other constraints quickly.

• Lightness: It complements the importance of the tasks as well as provides options to resolve them. This leads to strong team results and team maintenance.

• Discipline/focus: It is very essential to be self focused and disciplined to maintain the moralities and ethics of self and the company.

• Big picture, small actions: It is very essential for a good Project Management process to visualise things in a broader perspective. This leads to thinking in a wider range meanwhile paying attention to the details of the project. However, it requires good communication skills to interact with the team members in order to establish the clear expectations of the clients. It is required that the members of the team are also given the authority to make shared decisions regarding developing the project. It gives a clear picture of the people who are assigned to the specific tasks. Effective Project Management process adopts various customs and ways in order to correspond and share the relevant information such as conducting meetings and informal conversations with the relevant and concerned people such as with the other members of the team, the clients and other senior officials of the project. This requires that the manager of the project have good communication skills and believe in listening skills than talking skills.

Q.5. Write a short note on the following: [5×2=10 Marks] a. SWOT Analysis as a Strategic Planning tool.

b. Net Present Value (NPV) as a Project selection criterion.

Answer:a. SWOT Analysis as a Strategic Planning Tool Periodic SWOT analysis facilitates the generation of ideas. It is also be used for screening of ideas. In SWOT, the following questions are answered before arriving at a decision on a strategy or project: • What is our (that is our organisation”s) strengths? How can we take advantage of them?

• What weaknesses do we have? How do we minimise the effect of them?

• What opportunities does this market offer us? How can we capitalise on them?

• What threats exist that may impact our success? How can we deal effectively with these?

It is a process of checking the company”s internal workings, which are relatively easier to identify and control than outside factors. Conversely, examining opportunities and threats are a part of environmental analysis that is, the company must look outside of the organisation to determine opportunities and threats, over which it has lesser control. Four SWOT concepts are: • Strength

• Weakness

• Opportunities

• Threats

The SWOT analysis framework is summarised in figure.

Figure : SWOT Analysis

Examples of each of the above four concern areas are as follows: Strengths (S) Strength of a company is its ability to, create new products, provide high level customer service, have a presence in multiple retail markets and enhance quality of its managers. It is also being privy to a technological edge in manufacturing a higher quality product or a cheaper product of the same quality as competitors. General examples of Strengths are: • Patents

• Strong brand names

• Good reputation among customers

• Cost advantages from proprietary know-how

• Exclusive access to high grade natural

• Favourable access to distribution networks

Weaknesses (W) The absence of certain strength may be viewed as a weakness. For example an often cited original weakness is that when the business was started by Sunil Bharti Mittal over 15 years ago, the business has little knowledge and experience of how a cellular telephone system actually worked. So the starting business had to outsource to industry experts in the field. General examples of weaknesses i.e., the absence of certain strengths is the lack of strengths like: • Lack of patent protection

• A weak brand name

• Poor reputation among customers

• High cost structure

• Lack of access to the best natural resources

• Lack of access to the key distribution channels

We should note that in some cases, a company may consider a factor as an S when it may actually be a W. For example, a large manufacturing capacity compared to a competitor is consider as S – but if that results in the company are being slow in reacting to changes in the strategic environment, it is a W. Hence a practical evaluation by the company is required here.

Opportunities (O) Opportunities are external elements that prove helpful in achieving the goals set for the project. Factors of this type can be the positive observation of the company by the general public, a network of vendors who are ready to work with the company to achieve success with the project, and market conditions that help to make the project attractive to the market at large, or a least a significant segment. Availability of internet has provided numerous opportunities for companies to expand their product sales. General examples of opportunities are: • Arrival of new technologies

• Loosening of regulations

• Removal of international trade barriers

Threats (T) Threats can be an individual, group, or organisation outside the company that aims to reduce the level of the company”s performance of the company. For example, Dr. Reddy”s Laboratories (DRL) started with pharmaceutical specialists, who were earlier employed with Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (IDPL). DRL overtook IDPL very quickly as a drug manufacturing company, resulting in IDPL having to close its operations. Threats can also come from government regulation or consumer groups. General examples of threats are: • Shifts in consumer tastes away from the firm”s products.

• Emergence of substitute products.

• New regulations

• Increased trade barriers.

A SWOT analysis leads to the generation of a SWOT profile which is used as the basis for goal setting, strategy formulation and implementation. Table shows the SWOT profile.

Table: SWOT ProfileStrengths(S) What do you do well? What unique resources can you draw on? What do others see as your strengths?

Weaknesses(W) Where do you have fewer resources than others What could you improve? What are others likely to see as weaknesses?

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

Opportunities(O) What good opportunities are open to you? What trends could you take advantage of? How can you turn your strengths into opportunities?

Threats(T) What trends could harm you? What is your competition doing? What threats do your weaknesses expose you to?

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

SWOT analysis is only the first step in developing and implementing an effective organisational strategy. After this analysis, the next step is to rank the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and to document the criteria for ranking. Table shows a two-by-two grid to determine the company”s strategic fit. The grid is also known as a SWOT Strategic Alternatives matrix or a TOWS Strategic Alternatives matrix.

Table : TOWS Strategic Alternatives MatrixMatrix 1. 2. 3.

Opportunities (O) Threats (T) 1. 2. 3.

Strengths ( ) 1. 2. 3.

SO “Maxi-Maxi” Strategy Strategies that use strengths to maximise opportunities.

ST “Maxi-Mini” Strategy Strategies that use strengths to minimise threats.

Weaknesses (W) 1. 2. 3.

WO “Mini-Maxi” Strategy Strategies that minimise weaknesses by taking advantage of opportunities.

WT “Mini-Mini” Strategy Strategies that minimise weaknesses and avoid threats.

The steps of TOWS Strategic Alternatives matrix are as follows: 1. Step 1: Perform a SWOT analysis and generate SWOT profile as per figure.

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Q 6. Describe in brief the Human resource management process in a project. [10 Marks]

Answer:

Human Resource Management includes various processes that are vital to make the most effective use of the people involved with a project. The main process involved with the HR Management process includes:

• Acquiring the project team.

• Developing the project team.

• Managing the project team.

1 Acquiring a Project Team The members who belong to different groups and functions and are allocated to the activities of the same project, form a project team. A team can be divided into sub-teams if required. Generally, the project teams are only used for a defined period of time. However, they are disbanded when the project is complete. Sometimes, due to the nature of the specific formation and disbandment, project teams are usually agile in organisations. Acquiring a project team is the process of acquiring the specific people needed to accomplish all phases of the given project. Ultimately the team members will bring all the specific qualifications and capabilities to the project team. However, the project management team has control over the selection process. Selection of team mates involves certain concerns which need to be evaluated.

A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide).Fourth Edition © 2008 Project Management Institute. Newton Square USA. A number of factors are considered while deciding the team members. These factors include a series of environmental factors (such as work experience, availability, and cost), derivation of clear and concise project organisation charts, and formulation of a thorough staffing management plan. Once the team is properly staffed, the next steps (or outputs) of the process involve staffing out assignments to the team, determining availability of resources, and updating the staffing management plan. Important factors that are considered during the process of acquiring the team are:

• The project manager should efficiently discuss and induct others who are in a position to supply the required Human Resources in a project.

• Failure to obtain the essential Human Resources for the project will affect project agenda, budgets, consumer satisfaction and quality. It declines the probability of success and eventually results in project cancellation.

The figure depicts the inputs, tools and techniques and the output of acquiring a project team.

Figure : Acquiring a Project Team: Inputs, Tools and Techniques and Output

The inputs for acquiring a project team are:

• Enterprise environmental factors: Team members are available from internal and external sources. When selecting the team members, it is important to evaluate the following factors:

• Availability

• Ability

• Experience

• Interests

• Costs • Assets of organisational process: Assets of organisational process covers reviewing the documented policies, procedures, and guidelines governing staff assignments.

• Roles and responsibilities: The roles and responsibilities document should be assessed to determine a team member”s roles, responsibilities, skills, levels of authority, and competencies.

• Project organisation charts: The project organisation chart is an input/output device that serves a valuable role for the Project Management team and team leader in the process of keeping a thorough and careful organisational record of the project”s processes.

• Staffing management plan: The staffing management plan with the project schedule is reviewed to ascertain when team members are needed.

For successful completion of a project, it is always beneficial to gather the best team available. With the right team, one will have good foundation. The common tools and techniques utilised to ensure quality output from a good project team are:

• Pre-assignment: Pre-assignment is commonly done when the project team positions are known in advance. This is usually completed when the project is dependent on the expertise of an individual.

• Negotiation: Negotiation is used when the project manager needs to assure that the project receives skilled staff within the required time frame. Another situation which calls for negotiation is when particular or scarce resources are needed to complete the project plan.

• Acquisition: When organisations do not have the in-house staff needed to complete the project, staff acquisitions is done to provide new resources, consultants, or subcontractors to the project.

• Virtual teams: Virtual teams are utilised in the following situations:

• The teams encompass individuals who are not located in the same region.

• The teams comprise employees who work from home.

• The teams consist of individuals working in different shifts.

• The teams consist of individuals with mobile handicaps.

The results from the right project team are a good foundation to start a project when the project manager has negotiated and secured the services for successful completion of the project. The output of acquiring a project team process is:

• Assignments of project staff: Assignments of project staff illustrates who has been assigned to the project. These assignments should be documented in team directory, in project organisation charts and in schedules.

• Availability of resources: Availability of resources gives the time periods that each project team member can work on.

• Updates of staffing management plan: Changes in the staffing management plan is needed in order to update the plan with the real team.

2 Developing a Project Team Developing a project team is a process of enhancing interaction among the team members and also the project manager. The process refers to increasing competencies of individuals and building up team spirit, which finally leads to a quality project2. 2 A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide).Fourth Edition © 2008 Project Management Institute. Newton Square USA.

To achieve project success, there should be good communication among the team members. Project managers should administer the development of the project team. The project manager should create the relevant environment for teamwork, provide new goals for the team to compete and achieve. Project managers should encourage feedback from the team. The project manager should provide effective review and good support to the team staff.

Open communication between the project manager and team reduces conflicts. The management should also support the project managers. The project stakeholders should provide the required support to the development of the project team.

Projects are done in diversified environments. The project team may experience variance in language, industry and culture while at work. The project team should be dedicated to the project and the team members should work together, without losing their individuality. The goals for developing a project team are:

• To develop technical knowledge about the project, this leads to quality output and meeting delivery schedules with reduced cost.

• To enhance trust among team members, thus reducing conflicts.

• To develop cohesiveness in the project.

• To allow sharing knowledge among team members.

The figure depicts the inputs, tools and techniques and the output of developing a project team. Figure : Developing a Project Team: Inputs, Tools and Techniques and Output

The inputs for developing a project team are: • Project staff allocation: Project staff allocation deals with listing the members of the

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