The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management

Introduction. Setting the stage. Project management centres on avoinding problems. The invisible project manager. Project management is an emerging profession. Getting the words in the right order. Introduction to project management. What is project management? What is project planning? How do you project plan? Nine steps to a successful project. The scope of the project and its objectives. Defining the project. Changes to the project. Establishing key dates. Evaluation of potential risks. The cost/time/quality triangle. The spectrum of projects. The need for planning. Project planning. The bar chart versus network analysis. Network analysis - a primer. Activity-on-arrow plans. The precedence convention. Choosing the tasks. Drawing up the plan. A fly on the wall. Resource management. Resource definition. Resource allocation. Resource aggregation. Resource aggravation. Resource levelling. Resource smoothing. Resource hierarchies. Resource calendars. Money management. Progress monitoring and control. Concepts. Cost monitoring. Reporting. Computers and other boxes with many buttons. PERT - a potted history. Hardware and software. Types of software. Some words of advice. Advanced critical-path topics. Work breakdown structure and organizational breakdown structure. Merging plans, boiler plating, or task processing. Hammocks. Calendars. Constraint dates. Negative floats. Subprojects. Claims. The people issues. The role of the project manager. The classification of people. Decision making. Motivation. Choosing project-planning software. Hardware. Software criteria. Major software suppliers. Risk management. Qualitative risk. Quantitative risk. Case study: The british library. Contingency and insurance. Terminology Definitions. Alternative definitions. Further reading. Index.

The purpose of this study is to analyze existing approaches to managing a portfolio of projects and programs, their further development and generalization, the creation of systems focused on creating the competence of specialists in the field of managing enterprise project portfolios. The substantiation and main reasons for the need to form the competencies of specialists in project portfolio management from the point of view of the effectiveness of project activities and business of the enterprise are discussed.In modern conditions, the functioning of any company is determined by a number of global trends - a change in business formats under the influence of digitalization, networkization of the economy, and changes in the structure of transaction costs, optimization of project portfolio management. This, in turn, entails a change in the requirements for the competencies of managers in managing enterprise project portfolios. The higher education system currently does not form the necessary set of competencies for university graduates, who should be functionally involved in managing a portfolio of projects and programs. Project portfolio management competencies are erroneously replaced by individual project management competencies, while almost all modern enterprises have a project portfolio. This is one of the reasons why the managers of the enterprise, when hiring yesterday’s university graduates, formulate an introductory requirement for them: - “Forget everything you were taught at the university”.Materials and methods. The study was conducted from 2019 to 2021 at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation among 4th year students of the direction of study “Business Informatics”, studying in the profile “IT Management in Business”. The methodological basis of the study was a set of theories of innovation management, portfolio and project management. The typology of project portfolios is represented by the core competencies required by managers in managing project and program portfolios. An analysis of the existing education system shows that even after a master’s degree it is not capable of providing businesses with a professionally trained manager of large projects, not to mention a bachelor’s degree. Some limitations in the use of well-known portfolio management competencies due to their inconsistency with current business realities are noted. The main research method was the analysis of modern requirements for the functionality of the organization’s project portfolio management system.Results. It was revealed that the main requirements of modern business in specialists with competencies in managing a portfolio of projects and programs are significantly ahead of the existing competencies of university graduates. The main necessary competencies of project portfolio managers are determined. The gap in business requirements and existing competencies of university graduates in this direction of management is shown. The results obtained in the study can be used in the formation of competencies in the management of a portfolio of projects that the business presents to the education system.Conclusion. Project and program portfolio management is a significant factor in the development of an enterprise’s business. Business conditions are now such that enterprises simultaneously implement several projects and programs, these projects and programs are forced to be combined into portfolios. In portfolios, projects compete for the limited resources of the enterprise, and in the absence of systemic management of the project portfolio, lack of coordination between them, managerial chaos may arise that harm both individual projects and the entire business of the enterprise. Thus, combining individual projects into programs, and programs into portfolios, significantly increases the efficiency of project activities and the business of the enterprise as a whole.Using the example of Sberbank, the article compares the list of competencies required by the business functionality in the field of managing portfolios of projects and programs with the assessment of the competence of graduates in the direction of business informatics. The results obtained in the study can be used in the transformation of personnel training systems, in practical activities for managing portfolios of projects and programs of organizations of any type.

There is a project management tool such as Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) that ensures the investment thereof; it would be recommended implement mechanisms necessary in its application in future projects. At present the basic requirements in the proposals for work are not included these new tools such as WBS, because of their ignorance and lack of technical preparation of those who take the decisions in the allocation of the most important works. The WBS to define the project’s scope of work in terms of deliverables and further decomposition of these deliverables into component. The WBS is one of the main contributions to the projects management by the Project Management Institute (PMI), which is considered the most important project management professional association. On several occasions it has been experienced that the failure of projects is due to lack of management implementation thereof; such case, the importance of projects looking for its amount, without addressing the application of WBS. In assessing of the results describe the significance of the use the WBS at different stages of the projects, referring to what happens in planning, executing, controlling and closing. Have focused illustrations with different scenarios of the usefulness and benefits involving different criteria for projects for better interpretation. Finally, refers to other standards such as the PMI, standard practice for the programming, standard practice for the earn value management and corporate management maturity of model projects such as work related to the WBS.
 Index Terms— Deliverables, work breakdown structure o WBS, work packages

The airport development project is included in the list of National Strategic Projects of Indonesia stipulated in Presidential Regulation no.58/2017. The Government is committed to realize the economic independence by increase infrastructure development and one of them by moving the economic sector that must be supported by one of which is the construction of the airport in areas that can spur economic impact. However in practice, there is often a delay in the process of implementing airport construction that negatively impacts stakeholders related to the project. So it takes good and correct airport project management to eliminate this phenomenon. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a project activities decomposition of which are broken down into several work elements based on the hierarchy. WBS makes project management better so that risks to time performance weakness can be anticipated and managed at the resources level. This study aims to develop risk-based WBS standards to improve airport project construction time performance. The results of this study are WBS standards, implementation methods, activities, potential hazard risks, scheduling planning using risk-based WBS standards, WBS dictionaries and WBS checklists on airport construction work, as an effort in preventing, reducing or eliminating the potential events resuting in delays.

A major challenge in Information Systems and Information Technology is to improve the ability to conceptualize, design, develop and deliver information systems that meet customer requirements. Project management is often adopted to create solutions that work and meet customer needs. The principles of project management as defined by the Project Management Institute, can improve project success rates. Researchers in the project management need to help practitioners understanding the impact of different principles on the success of IS development. This study undertakes a survey of project management experts on the state of practice and research to examine the need for improving project management, and suggest areas that can be improved. Research may be the most effective means of defining opportunities for enhancing project success rates by tapping the wealth of literature and complementing it with the expertise of project management practitioners. INTRODUCTION Software development applications require frequent changes and updates in order to support enterprise systems. These frequent changes to IS/IT comprise a large volume of software development efforts. These efforts, undertaken as projects, are generally complex and take place in a dynamic environment where business conditions and technologies change frequently during the life of the project (Chen, et. al., 2004). The factors of project success include user involvement and project size, management and planning (Schmidt, et al., 2001). A fully operational project management system in enterprise offers the best opportunity for project success through the implementation of methods and tools for planning, organizing, and managing team-based activities to accomplish specific directives (Jurison, 1999). Project management is widely adopted in Corporate America embraces project management to implement system changes (Muriithi & Crawford, 2003; Park & Pena-Mora, 2003; Yilmaz & Phillips, 2007), which are even considered as too significant to outsource (Fish & Seydel, 2006) or having high risk of leading to undesirable consequences (Wei & Peach, 2006). However, many projects fail, even when performed using project management techniques. Such project failure reduces the capability of technology components. The 2004 Chaos report by the Standish Group found that only 28% of IT projects were successful, down from 34% in earlier report; The proportion of IT projects canceled before completion increased to 18% (from 15%), and a further 51% of IT projects were considered challenged as they are seriously late, over budget and missing expected features (The Standish Group, 2004; The Standish Group, 2007). Possible causes for these findings are the size and expense of large projects, a return to traditional development practices on large projects (Boddy, 1993), the absence of user involvement (Turner & Cochrane, 1993; Akbulut & Motwani, 2005), and lack of executive support (Munns & Bjeirmi, 1996). Thus, scope management is regarded as a key area of successful project management in practice (Hayes, 2004). Although some project failures are because of technical reasons, most are directly related to the failure of stakeholders to embrace the principles of good project management (Jurison, 1999). As part of the project management process, project teams must understand the standards to which their projects are being held in order to ensure that project performance is emphasized appropriately (Crawford, 2005). The Field Guide to Project Management (Cleland, 2004) suggests that project management should be an easy sell to organizations because it enhances business performance and increases revenue. An organization can manage project effectively by identifying its goals in applying project management principles (Aladwani, 2002). For most organizations, these goals are to apply a proven practice, optimize resources, serve customer needs and save time and money (Turner & Cochrane, 1993). …

Web-based Project Management Influence on Project Portfolio Managers’ Technical Competencies

One of the key problems in complex product manufacturing is the lack of support for multiple management-oriented perspectives in the design and implementation of work processes. If we do not comprehensively analyse and understand the characteristics of complex product manufacturing projects, we cannot make the decomposition results of a work breakdown structure (WBS) effectively guide the work processes. The purpose of this paper is to develop a research framework for understanding the development and usage of WBS in complex product manufacturing by synthesising theory from project and manufacturing operations management disciplines. This framework must identify how to effectively deliver the information from management requirements to the work process that supports the manufacturing process. To accomplish this purpose, we analyse research in project management and compare the results to characteristics of complex product manufacturing. From this analysis, we design a unique framework of WBS construction and usage in complex product manufacturing and suggest future research directions.

The general objective of this study was to establish the influence of project management practices on implementation of donor funded water and sanitation projects in the Central Rift region, Kenya. The study specifically sought to establish the influence of stakeholder involvement, project team training, monitoring and evaluation and risk management on implementation of donor funded water and sanitation projects in the Central Rift region, Kenya. The study was anchored on four theories, namely; stakeholder theory, team theory, dynamic capabilities theory and the theory of resilience. For purposes of this study, a descriptive survey design was employed. The target population were all 160 project members comprising project managers, consultants, project implementation teams and task managers from donor agencies in 16 donor funded water and sanitation projects in the central rift region. Using statistical formulae, a sample of 62 elements was obtained. Purposive sampling was then used in targeting the said staff in each of the donor funded water and sanitation projects. This study used questionnaires in collecting data from the target group. Pilot-test was conducted to check the reliability of the instruments used for data collection. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The study revealed that when all the variables for project management practices, stakeholder involvement, project team training, project evaluation and risk management, were multi regressed against the dependent variable, project implementation, there was an observable model of good fit at 99.6% hence, a good predicator of project implementation if cumulatively practiced. The study further found that stakeholder involvement is a significant predicator (p=0.046<.05) of project implementation in donor funded water and sanitation projects in the Central Rift region, Kenya. Further, the study established that project team training is an insignificant positive predicator (p=0.800 >.05) of project implementation. Project evaluation is a significant predictor (p=0.024<.05) of project implementation and role risk management was found to be a significant predictor (p= 0.21 <05) project implementation. Regression analysis revealed that risk management variable (β = 7.633) has the greatest influence, followed by stakeholder engagement variable (β = 1.192) then followed by evaluation variable (β = 0.116) and lastly project team training variable (β = -0.672).Therefore, the study recommended that, project implementation teams for donor funded water and sanitation projects in Kenya should emphasize more on project risk management as it has the most significant influence on project implementation. The study recommends that the donors of the water projects should sustain, project team training, as much it does not significantly influence project implementation, but it contributes significantly to the overall model fit. The findings of this study will be significant to the government since it aims to stimulate economic growth through attaining value for money for funds sourced from donors. The study will also provide opportunities for project managers to identify key project management practices and how they influence implementation of donor funded water and sanitation projects.

ISO 9000 certification and construction project performance: The Malaysian experience

Throughout the course of a project cycle, the many phases of project management—including planning, execution, control and monitoring, and ending—are integrated and executed. In modern firms, project management has become the dominant tool for managing change. Best practices have emerged due to global project management practices and company evolution. The primary goal was to investigate how project management approaches affected project performance of the Saudi Arabia Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). This study investigated the impact of various project management practices including risk management, communication, leadership, and stakeholder management, on project performance in manufacturing SMEs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A quantitative research methodology was employed, with data collected from 250 employees (i.e., supply chain, finance and R&D managers/supervisors) across 8 SMEs. The results revealed that risk management, leadership practices, and stakeholder management significantly contribute to project performance. Surprisingly, no significant relationship was found between communication practices and project performance. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of effective risk management, strong leadership, and efficient stakeholder management in achieving successful project outcomes. Finance managers and R&D managers in Saudi manufacturing SMEs should lead and engage stakeholders to improve project performance. Supply chain managers must manage risk and maintain stakeholder relationships to avoid disruptions. Communication improvements, despite their small impact, are essential for departmental coordination. Global project management strategies tailored to local culture and business will improve project success.

This paper presents a systematic literature review analyzing the intersection of intelligent technology and project management through empirical studies encompassing 53 peer-reviewed articles published between 2018 and 2024. The research aims to identify key themes, geographic distribution, author contributions, and future research directions in the field. The thematic analysis reveals five predominant categories: project complexity and theorizing, project governance and management, digitalization and technology, inter-organizational projects and networks, and agility and innovation. The geographic analysis indicates that Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, leads in research contributions, while North America and Asia show emerging but limited involvement. The author's contribution analysis highlights notable scholars who emphasize governance, sustainability, and digital transformation. Future research is expected to focus on intelligent technology-driven risk management, the integration of agile methodologies, and sustainability practices within project management frameworks. The findings underscore the transformative potential of intelligent technologies in enhancing project outcomes, emphasizing the need for robust governance and adaptability in project management practices. The study identifies critical gaps, particularly in the areas of public-private partnerships and cultural dynamics, suggesting avenues for future research to optimize the integration of intelligent technologies in project management. Overall, this review contributes to the understanding of how intelligent technology can reshape project management, providing a conceptual framework that integrates independent, dependent, intervening, and moderating variables to enhance project success in an increasingly complex environment.

The peculiarities of modern investment activity of enterprises are analyzed in the work. The goals of investment activity of enterprises are structured: increase of profitability; expanding market share; strengthening innovation activity; improving investment attractiveness. The current problems of project management are highlighted: management of limited resources to achieve goals; funding and weighted evaluation of potential criteria; integration of tasks on the main business processes; distribution of roles and responsibilities of all performers and stakeholders; project portfolio management; project management software. The interests of the main stakeholders of the projects are classified: increase of profits and dividends, improvement of reputation (business owners): efficiency and effectiveness, self-realization, authority (managers); proper wages and social guarantees, self-realization, recognition of work results (employees of the enterprise); fulfillment of contract conditions and refund, solvency of the enterprise (investors); optimal ratio of price and quality of goods, compliance with the terms of the order (consumers); increase in order volumes, timely payments under the terms of contracts, long-term relationships (suppliers); activities that meet the requirements of the law, payment of taxes, job creation, implementation of volunteer social and cultural projects (public authorities); growth of cooperation agreements (intermediaries); availability of competitive advantages, market leadership (competitors). In order to develop skills in the formation of hybrid project management systems, the features of approaches to project management have been studied: cascade project management; Agile; Six Sigma; PRINCE2. Systematized priority areas for solving project management problems: training of enterprise managers by programs: project management software; team leadership; project portfolio management; change management; increasing the stress resistance of managers; conflict resolution; talent management; project management information support; team building; Public Relations; attracting various sources of project funding; planning enterprise development programs and updating business models; reconciling the interests of project stakeholders. Which in turn will optimally solve the problems of project management and improve the results of the enterprise. These issues are for further research: studying the peculiarities of attracting various investors to finance enterprise projects and concluding investment agreements.

The increasing integration between digital transformation and sustainability values profoundly influences project management. Not only does digitalisation make processes more efficient, but it also enables ESG objectives to be attained. In our study, we conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) to examine the impact of digital technology and sustainability on the field of project management. Drawing on keyword networks and text mining analysis, we reveal the most significant trends in terms of research and pinpoint the areas in which digitalization enables sustainable development in projects. Using the PRISMA methodology, we reviewed English-language articles from 2018 to 2023 in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. With VOSviewer’s network analysis and text mining, we investigated the intersection of digital innovation, sustainability, and project management. Keyword clustering identified seven prevailing thematic topics, including key terms such as “change management,” “sustainable development,” and “agile,” highlighting the increasing importance of ESG considerations in project management practices. As a continuation of our previous research, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the 5th and 6th topics and aim to address the following research questions: ● What are the main trends and patterns emerging in the international literature regarding the integration of ESG principles into project management? ● Based on keyword network analyses, which keywords play a key role in the relationship between ESG and project management? ● According to the results of text mining analyses, which thematic areas deserve special attention in the context of sustainability, organizational change, and change management within project management? The research outcomes indicate that corporate strategies increasingly adopt methods that consider ESG compliance at the organizational level, particularly in in supply chain management, digitalization in construction, and risk management. ESG compliance is becoming more widely integrated into project management to establish sustainable and competitive corporate operations. The research has the potential to pave the way for exploring the practical application of ESG approaches in industries and project environments.

The aim of this research is to examine the level of adoption and application of project management practices in a not-for-profit organization within a case study of performance for all northwest. The growing competition for limited resources amongst organizations, both profit making and not-for-profit, continues to be a major driver for these organizations to adopt project management practices that can improve project performance efficiency and increase project success. Many research activities carried out on application of project management principles have been focused on profit-making organization especially the large companies. However, this research attempts to investigate the level of project management application within a not-for-profit company in the United Kingdom. This research was conducted based on Performance for All Northwest (PFA) as a case study. The company is a small social enterprise in the Northwest of England. A review of literature on project management framework, methodology and best practices across various disciplines was conducted. A qualitative method was adopted in the research and semi structured interview was conducted with the founder and a selected employee. The data obtained were subjected to qualitative evaluation, review of literature and a comparative analysis of the current project management practices within the organization with project management best practices was also conducted. The study utilized purposive sampling; a targeted selection process deemed suitable for its focus on individuals with specific insights into the organization. Purposive, or judgmental sampling, is preferred when researchers aim to engage a particular segment of the population that meets predefined criteria. Despite the limited sample size due to company size constraints, two respondents were identified as fitting the criteria based on their substantial experience within the organization. The result of the analysis shows that project management best practices regarding scope, time, and cost management are still lacking within the not-for-profit industry. It also reveals that inadequate knowledge of the importance of project management to organizational efficiency and project performance exists within the organization. The research further made recommendations for Performance for All Northwest and other not-for-profit organizations. The study confirms that although an increasing number of organizations are beginning to adopt modern project management methodologies, many are still using the conventional style of managing projects. The research has highlighted some important issues relating to project management practices at PFA. The research findings have identified some crucial gaps in the adoption of project management practices and will therefore recommend project planning, training, development, and lessons learned strategies to help improve project outcomes. While other studies on project management practices are centered on profits organizations, this study goes on to indicate specifically that not-for-profit organizations have not fully understood and appreciated how project management principles and methodologies can assist them in project performance and easier attainment of organizational objectives.

This article uses the results of a survey of 56 American construction project managers to identify some risks and improvement opportunities pertaining to the practice of effective project management. In the process, the most and least important project management variables are identified and ranked. Next, the extent of knowledge, extent of use, and extent of relevance to project success are examined for project managers with and without international project management experience. Results of these analyses suggest improvement opportunity for business and higher learning in terms of training and educating future project managers. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that both higher learning and business must approach the art and practice of project management from a global open system perspective. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.