Project Management World Today Featured Papers
September/October 2005
Editorial | Viewpoints | Papers | Case Studies | Community | Scene | Publications
- PMBOK® Guide Third Edition: An Analysis by Muhamed Abdomerovic
- The Danger of Failing to Manage Risk in Projects by Laurence J. Nicholson
- Cooperative Competency as an Input Factor for Project Success by Dr. Bob Hunt and Richard Stejer
- Project Management: Using Data to Increase Profitability and Reduce Risks by Curt Finch
- What Do You Do Around Here? by Rob Zanfardino
- Negotiation success requires planning by Michael Lee Smith
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PMBOK® Guide Third Edition: An Analysis by Muhamed Abdomerovic
This article compares the changes from the PMBOK® Guide 2000 Edition to the PMBOK® Guide Third Edition (2004 Edition). Its purpose is to review the historical perspective of the Guides with reference to their process inputs and outputs. In particular, there have been conceptual changes that should be explained for the benefit of the project management community.
As a result of this research, as well as making suggestions for future editions, we strongly recommend improvements to the 2004 Edition by way of an amended update. This should be done in two stages. The Project Management Institute should move to correct invalid figures as First Stage Improvements, to avoid harm to the reputation of the Guides. This should be followed closely by a Second Stage project of improvements along the lines described in this paper.
Read the full text at The PMBOK® Guide Third Edition: An Analysis
About the Author:
Muhamed Abdomerovic, Dipl. Eng., PMP, is a Civil Engineer with over thirty
years experience in managing information technology, construction, process
industry and energy sector projects. He has published three books and more
than thirty articles on project scope, time and cost management. His current
research activities cover several aspects of project management including
process relationships, knowledge integration, information systems, document
description and retrieval. He can be reached at
mabdomerovic@insightbb.com
The Danger of Failing to Manage Risk in Projects by
Laurence J. Nicholson, PMP, FPMA
When I think about all of the projects I have been involved in and consider all of the aspects of the management of those projects, what I would consider to be the single most important area of knowledge that has the most impact on the outcome of the project is 'Risk'
Why? Well, if we could predict all of the issues, both opportunities and risks, that would have an effect on our project and have a plan in place to avoid, mitigate, transfer or accept the outcome of the issue, would we not have a perfect project?
Probably yes, is the answer, but we all know that the very nature of risk dictates that we cannot predict them all.
Read the full text at The Danger of Failing to Manage Risk in Projects
About the Author:
Laurence
Nicholson is a PMP and a Fellow of the Association of International Professional
Managers (FPMA). He has been leading international technology projects
for over 18 years at all levels, and 5 years ago was the first employee
of ‘Xoomworks’, a start-up Consultancy, where he now heads
the Project Management Practice as a Senior Manager.
Cooperative Competency as an Input Factor for Project Success by Dr. Bob Hunt and Richard Stejer
Executives rely more and more on projects to marshal the cooperative behaviors needed for fast-tracking innovation and improving organization performance (Eisenhardt and Brown 1998). Although the central driver of performance is the quality of inputs like cooperative behavior, most organizations are focused on outputs like cost control and resource optimization (Liebowitz 1999, Devinney 2000, Hamel and Valikangas 2003).
An objective of the article is to widen debates from the relative merits of 'soft' behavioral skills versus 'hard' control skills. It engages debates about improvements in project practices for making informed decisions through lifecycles of product innovation in construction, telecommunications, defense, and financial services. Its discussion will interest people in the fields of organizational learning, knowledge management, project-based management, project integration management, and development of project professional standards.
Discussion in this article will explore a compelling question. If senior executives continue to favor 'soft' cooperation skills more than 'hard' skills for managing projects, and if management-by-projects becomes part of organization strategy, then how could the alarming rate of project failures be rectified? Tackling this question may contribute to advancing standards published in mainstream project bodies of knowledge and national competency standards.
Read the full text at Cooperative Competency as an Input Factor for Project Success
About the Authors:
Dr. Bob Hunt is Associate Professor in Management, Director, Centre
for Management Innovation and Technology at Macquarie University’s
Graduate School of Management. In the MGSMs Post Graduate Diploma, Master
of Management, and MBA programs, Bob lectures in Operations Management,
Technology Strategy, and. Project Based Management. Bob’s current
research is concerned with shortening cycle times and improving the processes
of innovation, strategy and operations so that organisations become more
flexible and responsive to stakeholder needs in today's increasingly
turbulent global business environment. Dr Hunt has published more than
50 papers, books, management monographs videos and case studies. In 2002
Bob was awarded the Akao prize for his contributions to the development
and dissemination of Quality Function Deployment (QFD), which provides
a strong framework for innovation as well as for strategy development
and implementation.
Mr.
Richard Stejer is NSW Service Delivery Manager for Terra Firma, a specialist
firm providing business analysis and project management services for
organisations in telecommunications, defence, financial services and
state government. The scope of his role is fully described at www.terrafirma.com.au.
Richard is a candidate for Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) at
Macquarie University’s Graduate School
of Management (MGSM). He is researching how project 'soft' skills
and 'hard' skills may lead to successful projects for new
product development. He has published his preliminary findings in project
management journals and at conferences. His goal is to advance current
practices in Project Integration Management, and broaden professional
competency standards in project management.
Project Management: Using Data to Increase Profitability and Reduce Risks by Curt Finch
Project management data – which is obtained from time tracking information – is often an area that could be improved in many companies. Recent studies have shown that cost reductions of 6.5 percent are common from improvements in tracking time from the project management area alone. This compares with improvements of about 5 percent for billing automation or 1 percent for payroll automation.
Read the full text at Project Management: Using Data to Increase Profitability and Reduce Risks
About the Author:
Curt Finch is the CEO of Journyx (http://pr.journyx.com), a provider of
Web-based software located in Austin, Texas, that automates billing, payroll & project
management by tracking time, expenses and mileage. Finch is a software
industry veteran. In 1997, Curt created the world's first Internet-based
timesheet application and the foundation for the current Journyx product
offering. Curt has managed development teams creating enterprise-level
software solutions since 1985, with a focus on distributed workforce management.
What Do You Do Around Here? by Rob Zanfardino
There is an amusing joke that is circulating around the water cooler these days and it goes something like this:
A tourist walked into a pet shop and was looking at the animals on display. While he was there, another customer walked in and said to the shopkeeper, "I'll have a C monkey please." The shopkeeper nodded, went over to a cage at the side of the shop and took out a monkey. He fit a collar and leash, handed it to the customer, saying, "That'll be $5,000." The customer paid and walked out with his monkey. The tourist went over to the shopkeeper and said, "That is a very expensive monkey. Why did it cost so much?" The shopkeeper answered, "Ah, that monkey can program in C - very fast, tight code, no bugs, well worth the money." The tourist looked at the monkey in another cage. "That one's even more expensive! $10,000! What does it do?" "Oh, that one's a C++ monkey; it can manage object-oriented programming, Visual C++, even some Java. All the really useful stuff," said the shopkeeper. The tourist looked around for a little longer and saw a third monkey in a cage of its own. The price tag around its neck read $50,000. He gasped to the shopkeeper, "That one costs more than all the other put together! What on earth does it do?" The shopkeeper replied, "Well, I haven't actually seen it do anything but, the other monkeys call him the project manager."
I love a good joke and I truly feel the moment that we start taking ourselves too seriously or all important in our professional and personal lives we are in trouble. However, this joke has real meaning to me and perhaps to anyone else that had to manage a project of one type or another, who may have had the same feeling. It is an interesting way to start this article but in many respects this question, “What do you do around here?” is one of the most important ones that we need to be asking ourselves time and time again throughout the project cycle.
Read the full text at What Do You Do Around Here?
About the Author:
Robert
J. Zanfardino, Senior Project / Program Manager, has worked with multi
billion dollar corporations such as IBM, Gentiva Health Services, CompuCom,
and Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as smaller midsize companies while
managing his own consulting company. This deep range of experiences over
the years developed Rob into a Senior Advisor playing pivotal roles by
identifying new strategies and methodologies within corporations as they
effect the project life cycle. His ability to envision long term solutions
combined with structuring sensible implementation plans have made Rob
a valued asset and "Go To" resource. As an Adjunct Professor
focusing on Business Process Management methodologies, Rob has devised
quality strategies used to streamline processes that focus on the customer's
needs. Rob is currently consulting with corporations enhancing their
IT/IS projects, project management offices, and business process methodologies.
Rob can be contacted at: 845-226-6074 or email: zanfardino4@earthlink.net.
Negotiation success requires planning by Michael Lee Smith
Negotiating is most often learned by the old fashioned "sink or swim" method when the representative for "our side" is told to "go negotiate and do your best". The difficulty with this method is obvious. Any early success will be accidental. Success and failure will produce a pattern of behavior from which the negotiator will learn how to negotiate. Unfortunately, this does not guarantee that the negotiator will have learned the most important or most effective behaviors to ensure continued success.
Learning from others' experience is an excellent way to increase success on purpose. Ten common problems we have discovered are presented below with suggestions for dealing with them. Because six of these common problems are related to planning, a checklist is presented as a guide for the negotiator. Use of the checklist will help enhance the negotiator's probability of success.
Read the full text at Negotiation success requires planning
About the Authors:
Michael Lee Smith is a Senior Business Process Consultant at Educational
Testing Service (ETS) in New Jersey, USA. In his current position, he
is part of a team implementing Six Sigma. He instructs, provides support
and manages process improvement projects. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Mr. Smith has more than 35 years experience in human resources and process
improvement in the telecommunications, engineering and business services
industries. He has a website where Human Resources, Training, Six Sigma,
Project and Process Management information articles and forms are available
for free use: http://www.mikesmith-hr.com/default.asp He
can be reached at
ms@mikesmith-hr.com
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