Project Management World Today Student Papers
February 2006

Editorial | Viewpoints | Papers | Case Studies |Student Papers | Community |Scene | Publications

Please note that these papers were written for educational purposes, not necessarily for publication. They may not comply with pmforum.org’s normal standards for format and grammar. However, they have been judged by both the instructor and pmforum.org as containing accurate and useful information of interest to others, and therefore worthy of publication.

Get Adobe Acrobat ReaderThe full text of student papers are available as PDF files. Click on the full text link in the summary to access the full content in PDF format.

Can CPI Be a Suitable KPI? Let’s Go Deeper on EV and AC Calculation

by Jérémy Abonneau

Key Performance Indicators help an organization to define and measure progress toward organizational goals. Once an organization has analyzed its mission, identified all its stakeholders, and defined its goals, it needs a way to measure progress toward those goals. Key Performance Indicators are those measurements. Applied to project management, Cost Performance Index (CPI) pretends to be an indication of how efficiently the project manager is using its resources. CPI is an output of Earned Value Management System (EVMS).

The term “Earned Value” is gaining in popularity around project management circles as if it is some wonderful new concept to be embraced. Yet, it has been in use since the 1960s when the Department of Defense adopted it as a standard method of measuring project performance. The concept was actually developed as early as the 1800s when it became desirable to measure performance on the factory floor. Today, it is both embraced and shunned, often in response to prior experience or stories told “in the hallway.” The opponents will generally cite the cost and effort to make it work, and the limited benefit derived from its implementation. The proponents will cite the cost savings to the project overall, the improved analysis, communication and control derived from its implementation. No doubt, the two camps have vastly different experiences to formulate their perceptions.

In this paper, we will look at Earned Value and the different ways to calculate it. Then will review the attributes of a KPI and try to apply them to the CPI, highlighting the possible cause of mistakes in its utilization.

Read the full text at Can CPI Be a Suitable KPI? Let’s Go Deeper on EV and AC Calculation

About the Author:

Jérémy Abonneau is 22 years old. He graduated from ESCT Toulon Business School with a bachelor’s degree in International Business. He is a student in ESC Lille participating in a master’s degree in Project and Program Management.

His short professional experience includes placement in major companies of aeronautic and space industry, as well as nuclear industry where he is currently a financial controller. Specializing in cost control, he took part in various IT projects. He developed the ability to work in international teams through some experience in both Europe and North America. Jérémy can be contacted at: j.abonneau@orange.fr

Top of Page

Financing Methods in Project Management and Its Relevance in the Success of a Project

by Claudia Lorena Lopez Valencia

How to finance a project and how to get advantage of the market in order to succeed is one of the most important topics in project management. The project manager and project’s financiers must be aware of the finance and management issues such as Build-Own-Operate, Build-Own-Transfer, Build-Own-Operate-Transfer etc.

In managing a project, there must be a structure consistent with project financing practice. When deciding where to look for finance, how much is needed and how the money should be obtained, the project manager is dealing with project finance and the challenge here is to lead the project to a happy ending within budget and specifications. Looking at the resources and defining what to do with them is only the beginning of a large and delicate process of knowing how to present your case and how to get the money to achieve a deal that is beneficial to both the company and the financier.

In this article we will analyze the different methods of financing projects in public and private sectors and how lenders and borrowers take advantage of the situation to achieve mutual earnings.

Read the full text at Financing Methods in Project Management and Its Relevance in the Success of a Project

About the Author:

Claudia Lopez is 26 years old and currently a master’s degree in Project Management student at ESC Lille Paris. She obtained a bachelors degree in Financial Engineering at Pilot University of Colombia.

In Colombia she participated in a project to automate the processes of sample collection, task allocation and invoicing, improved the Accounts Receivable (A/R) process to ensure faster order-to-cash cycle times in a medical services company. Also, she participated in the implementation of a Database system oriented towards the efficient management of Mortgages and their related activities in the financial environment. Claudia can be contacted at: mona.lopez@gmail.com

Top of Page

Using the Total Cost Management Tools and Technique in IT Insurance Projects

by Carole Lehel

Over the past five years, with the new economy, there has been a shift toward increased technology usage and many insurance companies have embraced technology to support their business. They have seen the opportunity to use Internet as a new channel of distribution for their products, complementing their traditional sales channels (agents or brokers) and as a way to build a competitive advantage.

Over the last year insurers have spent between 2.5% and 3% of premium on IT. Celent believes that over the next five years, this will increase to between 3% and 3.5% as IT becomes increasingly more essential to insurance company operations and consumes a larger portion of operating ratios. As overall premium grows modestly over the next five years, IT spending will correspondingly keep pace.

As the main objective for companies is to continuously improve overall productivity by reducing the costs and increasing revenues, the need for comprehensive IT management has become more apparent. Increased competition and the growing need to demonstrate return on investment have dictated a new approach to managing IT. It is no longer about keeping the system running; it is about accountability and improved decision-making.

Read the full text at Using the Total Cost Management Tools and Technique in IT Insurance Projects

About the Author:

Carole LEHEL was born in Paris, France. She is 25 years old. She graduated from Paris IX Dauphine (2002) with a bachelors degree in Sciences of Management (Specialising in Entrepreneurship).

She has been working in a French insurance company for four years now as a Project Manager. Her professional experience includes project management in insurance product development, information systems, optimization methods and organizational development.

Parallel to working, she is currently participating in a Master’s degree in Project and Program Management at ESC LILLE to reinforce her knowledge in this field.

Carole LEHEL can be reached via email at carole.lehel@free.fr

Top of Page

Cost Estimating in the Software Company

by Ramakrishna Reddy

Research on software cost estimation started independently in a number of companies and military organizations that built large software systems. Formal research into software cost estimation became necessary when software applications and systems software began to go beyond 100,000-source code statements in size. The main issue that led to formal research programs for software cost estimation was the difficulty encountered in completing large software applications on time and within budget. A secondary issue was the fact that when deployed, software applications often contained significant numbers of bugs or defects.

The software cost estimation industry and the project management tool industry originated as separate businesses. Project management tools began appearing around the 1960s, about 10 years before software cost estimation tools. Although the two were originally separate businesses, they are now starting to join together technically.

Project management tools have no built-in expertise regarding software, as do software cost estimation tools.

Read the full text at Cost Estimating in the Software Company

About the Author:

Ramakrishna Reddy Jitta is 23 years old. He graduated from OSMANIA UNIVERSITY Hyderabad, India, with Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. He is student in ESC-LILLE PARIS CAMPUS, participating in masters in degree in Project and Program Management.

He has experience in software industry, Omega Information Technology Solutions. As well as in Marketing Department he was a Marketing Team Leader in TIMES OF INDIA (Daily Newspaper in English Language) Hyderabad, India. Ramakrishna can be contacted at: rama9999@gmail.com