Geographical boundaries do not hold any more as new organizations are entering into the global space and coming up with global projects that have teams from a variety of different locations and cultures. A project manager not just has to deal with culturally diverse people but also with the differences in their time zones. Thus, a project manager needs to adapt the old methodology to suit the needs of a global culture. Conventional project management systems used a systematic approach beginning from scope definition to implementation but over the years, many new standards have emerged through the methodologies that can help a project manager deal with the challenges of the modern world in global projects ( Project Management Institute, 2016). Project management takes care of a number of different management areas as per the PMBOK methodology that include scope, quality, resource, risks, cost, communication, time, integration, procurement, and more. In this report, the quality management area would be investigated in detail to explore if project management standards and procedures, provided by different methodologies that exist today, are sufficient in handling quality dimensions in a global project. For this, a number of different project management standards would be evaluated from the perspective of quality management (Agarwal, 2007).
PMBOK is one of the most popular standards defined by PMI which is used for managing projects. It defines five process groups and 10 knowledge areas that include project scope, time, cost, integration, quality, human resource, risk, communications, and procurement management. In the field of construction, the methodology has some extended knowledge areas that include safety, environment, claim management, and financials. As per the PMBOK guide, quality can be defined as the degree to which some inherent characteristics of a project can fulfil its requirements. The requirements are defined by stakeholders who take part in planning and delivering project (APM, 2006).
Quality management is one of the major knowledge areas in the PMBOK guide which involves quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control as key processes. In the quality management area, the guide recognizes the importance of inspection, customer satisfaction, management responsibility, and continuous improvement. Quality planning takes care of documentation of requirements and demonstration of compliance. QA audits the requirements and measurements of quality to ensure that quality standards have been followed. Quality control involves monitoring of quality activities, their assessment, and provision of recommendations for improvement (McClintock, 2017).
Quality management processes have their roles in the entire project management life cycle in different ways using a number of different tools and techniques beginning from initiation till closing of the project. In the initiation stage, pre-project quality considerations are made to ensure that quality of the products that emerge as the output of the project is maintained. A feasibility study may be done in construction projects in the initiation stage to ensure that the project would be constructed with least wastage and would operate at maximum efficiency (BENAIJA1 & KJIRI, 2013).
PMBOK provides a number of different structures for portfolio and program management that can be used in project-based organizations. The maturity of project management practice in these organizations can be assessed using Organisational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) defined by the guide. A number of different standards have been formed that provide different ways for managing quality on a project. Each of these can be explored to understand if they are also taking care of the needs of a global project. These standards include (Baguley, 2008):
APM’s PMBoK: It is a project management approach defined by the UK-based Association for Project Management (APM) and it has a collection of 52 project management topics that have been categorized in seven headers. As per this guide, the approach to managing quality is similar to PMBOK and it covers the three processes of quality management including planning, QA, and QC (APM, 2006).
ISO 10006:2003: ISO has defined standards that are devoted to quality management such as ISO 10006: 2003 which covers general principles for quality management that include customer focus, people involvement, management responsibility, system, and process approach. As per this standard, project management processes can fall into either of the two categories that are resource management and product realization. Time and people management comes into resource management while integration, scope, time, cost, communication, risk, and purchase come in the realization category (ISO, 2003).
AIPM’s Competency Standards: It is a competency standard which is used to define competencies needed for certification for project management professionals. The knowledge areas defined in PMBOK are termed as competencies in this standard. They form the basis of assessment for project managers and the formation of the competence map for certification. Certification is provided for three levels that include practitioner, manager, and director. Units of competences as defined in the framework are divided into certain elements and each element is assigned a criterion for performance. For specific areas where these elements can be applied, the competency of a professional can be explained. Evidence of performance needs to be collected for each unit of competence to pass the certification by the professional. Just as quality management serves as one knowledge area in PMBOK guide, it acts as a competency unit in the AIPM competency standard (Zafarani, 2011 ).
PMAJ’s Guidebook: Project Management Association of Japan had published a guidebook in 2005 which forms a basis for the accreditation for project management professionals. As per this guide, quality is a part of project objectives. It puts quality with other project management knowledge areas that include time and cost. Quality is defined as the degree to which the project requirements are met by the way project is delivered and the product it delivers. These requirements can be related to time, safety, humans, material, sensory, and functions. This guidebook does include a major consideration of humans in the quality management area. The needs of project teams that come from different cultures and geographical locations would need to be taken care of if the quality standards have to be met on the project as per the PMAJ guidelines (PMAJ, 2005).
OGC’s PRINCE2: This framework explores project management by covering seven aspects that are dressed into themes. Quality is one of these themes and the methodology provides step-wise management process for quality management throughout the project life cycle. As per PRINCE2 framework, any project should have a continued business justification throughout the project and must implement lessons learned from previous projects (Michigan Department of Transportation, 2005). Quality is defined in the methodology as product characteristics that can meet the expectations, needs, requirements and specifications defined for the project. Coordinated activities can be used for managing quality throughout that include planning, assurance, and control. The project life cycle as per this methodology has four key stages that include pre-project, initiation, subsequent delivery, and final delivery. Quality has to be maintained at each stage and the boundaries of each stage have to be managed (OGC, 2009).
IPMA’s ICB: This standard is defined by an international body called International Project Management Association (IPMA) for promoting project management practices internationally. It provides a guidance on the competencies of a project manager that can be categorized into 3 areas including contextual, behavioural, and technical. Quality is also seen as one of the competencies within these areas and is defined as a set of characteristics that can help fulfil project requirements. Project quality can be managed with the use of quality processes like planning, assurance, and control. As per this standard, a project manager needs to have contextual competencies that include understanding legal and financial matters in project portfolio management as well as behavioural qualities of the project such as creativity, efficiency, and openness (IPMA, 2006).
Definitions of quality are more or less similar in all the standards identified which is the degree to which project management characteristic can fulfil the project requirements, specifications, and needs. Quality management is defined as a set of activities that can be used for directing and managing project quality. The key elements in the quality management processes are also same in all standards and these include quality planning, assurance, and control. The differences are found in their targets, structures, and focus (PMAJ, 2005). As per PMBOK guideline, quality management is one knowledge area and planning, QA, and QA are the processes within this area. In the APM guide, quality is a part of planning of a project management strategy. ISO does not provide any separate section for quality but does give guideline on managing quality throughout the project life cycle. AIPM sees quality as a unit of competence and identified associated elements like background knowledge, performance criteria, and demonstration as the evidence of competence. As per PMAJ, quality management stands as a major objective of the project and thus, carry a great importance. In PRINCE 2 framework also, quality stands as one of the major themes of project management. As per IPMA, quality is one of the competence elements categorized under technical competencies of a professional (Cleland & Gareis, 2006).
Globalization is based on the free market system and it has changed the ways organizations operate today. Competition is tough and companies are pushed to keep producing better and more cost-effective goods and services faster than ever. Global forces have also affected the way projects are managed today on the international landscape. Virtual teams are employed to work on large global projects and it is becoming a very common practice now. This reflects the importance of considerations of cultures in project management. The awareness of the cultural differences and the legal issues are not any major part of the quality management as per project management standards. However, the global framework for the project management does cover cultural elements as a major part of project management (Anantatmula & Thomas, 2008).
While PMBOK reflects upon the 10 key knowledge areas to work with, the modern global environment has more in its project framework. Thus, a project manager may have to deal with 25 different areas for managing projects if the new framework has to be followed. As shown in the framework for global projects below, project management processes can be represented using five key categories that include team management, communication, organizations, tools, and techniques (PMI, 2016).
Figure 1: Global project management framework
Global Team Management: It would need a project manager to develop coordination between virtual and multicultural teams working on a single project for which he or she has to take into consideration factors like time zones, language differences, and cultural differences. A sound understanding of cultural differences is required as it can help in development of strong and positive relationships with different stakeholders of the project. Within the team management category would come different knowledge areas of project management including cross-cultural collaboration, global leadership, trust building, conflict resolution, and coaching (Burke & Barron, 2014).
Global Communication: Global communication happens through information distribution that can happen in the form of status reports. Challenges exist because of differences in time zones, cultures, and languages between teams. An effective communication strategy has to be formulated involving people from different cultures and geographies such that together they use similar rules, templates, and techniques for communication. Within the communication category can come project management knowledge areas like stakeholder communication, rules and templates, global strategy, communication techniques, and creativity (Anantatmula & Thomas, 2010).
Global Organizations: On global projects, organizations come together forming coalitions from across boundaries so the differences in their cultures and sub-cultures affect the project structures. These structures have to be designed effectively respecting both cultural and geographical differences between people. The management areas that are needed to be taken care of in this category include project structures, human resource selection, Global PMOs, collaborative networks. and organizational support (Cheah, 2016).
Conclusions
The project management methodologies are more focused on the deliverables of the project even when involving considerations of quality, some legal aspects and communication among people. These methodologies are not tailored to address the concerns of global projects like multiple cultures, different geographies, and differences in time zones. Even when considering professional competences, the focus remains on the project processes and individual competencies of the managers who are practicing project management discipline. Although, a global framework has been defined for global projects that includes 25 knowledge areas that have considerations of global cultural differences, the popular standards and methodologies still fail to incorporate these. The level of professional guidance provided by a project management standard cannot be easy to follow in the global framework defined for global project management unless it integrated some of the elements of the project management methodologies such as quality management. The use of global framework would mean taking care of 25 knowledge areas but if integrated with other methodologies, some of the knowledge areas can get refined paving a way for better management of international projects and multicultural teams working across globe on different projects. Some recommendations have been made here to align the project management methodologies with the global project management structure so that an integration can be achieved to bring better results for global project management. This would help in overcoming culture and time zone challenges. These recommendations include:
With the integration of the new global project framework identified knowledge areas, traditional methodologies can be modified to better suit the needs of modern projects in the global space. This could help project managers to overcome multiple culture challenges through a formalized guidance that would be available to them for managing global projects.
References
Project Management Institute. (2016). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Project Management Institute.
Agarwal, V. (2007). Project Quality Management for IT Company. JAMK University.
Anantatmula, V. S., & Thomas, M. (2008). Global projects: how to manage them successfully? PMI® Research Conference: Defining the Future of Project Management (pp. 1-5). Warsaw, Poland. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Anantatmula, V., & Thomas, M. (2010). Managing global projects: a structured approach for better performance. Project Management Journal.
APM. (2006). Project Management Body of Knowledge (5th ed.). APM.
Baguley, P. (2008). Project management. London: Hodder Education.
BENAIJA1, K., & KJIRI, L. (2013). Project portfolio selection: Multi-criteria analysis and interactions between projects. ENSIAS.
Burke, R., & Barron, S. (2014). Project Management Leadership: Building Creative Teams. John Wiley & Sons.
Cheah, A. (2016). PROJECT MANAGEMENT OF A GLOBAL TEAM. Project Smart.
Cleland, D. I., & Gareis, R. (2006). Global Project Management Handbook: Planning, Organizing, and Controlling International Projects. McGraw-Hill Professional publication.
IPMA. (2006). International Competence Baseline, Version 3.0. IPMA.
ISO. (2003). ISO 10006:2003 Quality Management Systems – Guidelines for Quality Management in Projects, . ISO.
McClintock, T. (2017). What is Project Quality Management? Global Knowledge.
Michigan Department of Transportation. (2005). Quality Assurance and Quality Control Process Guide For Project Managers. MDOT Trunkline Projects.
OGC. (2009). Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2™,. OGC.
PMAJ. (2005). A Guidebook of Project and Program Management for Enterprise Innovation. PMAJ.
PMI. (2016). Project Communications Management. PMI.
Zafarani, E. (2011 ). Project Quality Management Approaches: A Comparative Evaluation of International Standards. 2nd International Conference on Construction and Project Management, (pp. 37-43).
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download