This report depicts the role of project management methodologies for the successful accomplishment of any project within estimated budget and time. This is mandatory for the project manager to consider the most suitable managerial approach that is required to complete any project. The project is about a presentation on a “prestigious world conference in Asia Pacific on sustainable brand development”. Professional sales change and management program are very much crucial for the successful accomplishment of any project. A professional schedule with the help of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is also represented in this report.
For designing the project schedule the technique that has been followed is Critical Path Method (CPM). The total budget of the project and for different activities the cost divisions are also done and it is expected that if all of these aspects are accurately followed by the project team members then the organized conference will surely show successful financial profit from the business perspective. At the end of the paper the benefits and limitation of the Critical Path Scheduling technique are demonstrated. In order to address the limitation of the CPM alternative scheduling technique is also described in this paper.
WBS
Task Name
Duration
Start
Finish
Resource Names
Cost
0
Conference Schedule planning
148 days
Fri 7/6/18
Tue 1/29/19
$417,840.00
1
Initiation phase
15 days
Fri 7/6/18
Thu 7/26/18
$26,680.00
1.1
Ideation of the conference that has to be held
3 days
Fri 7/6/18
Tue 7/10/18
Project manager
$1,920.00
Identifying location
3 days
Wed 7/11/18
Fri 7/13/18
HR manager
$1,440.00
Venue selection
2 days
Mon 7/16/18
Tue 7/17/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee
$8,560.00
Identifying company outsources
3 days
Mon 7/16/18
Wed 7/18/18
Exhibit committee
$12,000.00
1.5
Confirmation of company outsourcing
3 days
Thu 7/19/18
Mon 7/23/18
Project manager
$1,920.00
Designing publishing websites
3 days
Tue 7/24/18
Thu 7/26/18
Interior decorator
$840.00
Milestone 1: Advertise conference to the contributors
0 days
Thu 7/26/18
Thu 7/26/18
$0.00
2
Planning phase
50 days
Fri 7/27/18
Thu 10/4/18
$126,080.00
2.1
Project document planning
3 days
Fri 7/27/18
Tue 7/31/18
HR manager
$1,440.00
2.2
Budget planning
5 days
Wed 8/1/18
Tue 8/7/18
$2,800.00
Feasibility study
3 days
Wed 8/1/18
Fri 8/3/18
finance manager
2.2.2
Feasibility analysis
2 days
Mon 8/6/18
Tue 8/7/18
finance manager
$1,120.00
2.3
Development and design phase
3 days
Wed 8/8/18
Fri 8/10/18
Publicity committee
$12,000.00
2.4
Communication planning
6 days
Wed 8/8/18
Wed 8/15/18
Exhibit committee
$24,000.00
2.5
Procurement plan
5 days
Thu 8/16/18
Wed 8/22/18
HR manager
$2,400.00
2.6
Contingency planning
3 days
Thu 8/23/18
Mon 8/27/18
Exhibit committee
$12,000.00
2.7
Guest listing
13 days
Tue 8/28/18
Thu 9/13/18
$49,120.00
2.7.1
List of casual guests
3 days
Tue 8/28/18
Thu 8/30/18
HR manager
$1,440.00
2.7.2
List of VIP guests
2 days
Fri 8/31/18
Mon 9/3/18
Project manager
$1,280.00
Listing the chief sponsors of the conference
3 days
Tue 9/4/18
Thu 9/6/18
HR manager
$1,440.00
2.7.4
Sending invitation
6 days
Tue 9/4/18
Tue 9/11/18
Exhibit committee
$24,000.00
2.7.5
Response consolidation
5 days
Fri 9/7/18
Thu 9/13/18
Publicity committee
$20,000.00
2.7.6
Name tagging
2 days
Wed 9/12/18
Thu 9/13/18
HR manager
$960.00
2.8
Stakeholder management plan
3 days
Fri 9/14/18
Tue 9/18/18
Project manager
$1,920.00
2.9
3 days presentation
3 days
Wed 9/19/18
Fri 9/21/18
HR manager
$1,440.00
2.10
Master’s workshop
3 days
Mon 9/24/18
Wed 9/26/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee
$12,840.00
2.11
Register of the applicants
1 day
Thu 9/27/18
Thu 9/27/18
Exhibit committee
$4,000.00
2.12
Sending the confirmation
2 days
Fri 9/28/18
Mon 10/1/18
Project manager
$1,280.00
2.13
banking arrangements
3 days
Tue 10/2/18
Thu 10/4/18
Interior decorator
$840.00
2.14
Milestone 2: Abstract of the papers (submission by the authors/contributors)
0 days
Thu 10/4/18
Thu 10/4/18
$0.00
3
Execution phase registration
confirmation
22 days
Fri 10/5/18
Mon 11/5/18
$33,000.00
3.1
Coming to final agreement
6 days
Fri 10/5/18
Fri 10/12/18
HR manager
$2,880.00
3.2
Draft preparation of the conference plan
15 days
Mon 10/15/18
Fri 11/2/18
$30,120.00
3.2.1
Social media presentation
6 days
Mon 10/15/18
Mon 10/22/18
Project manager
$3,840.00
3.2.2
Designing Facebook pages
3 days
Tue 10/23/18
Thu 10/25/18
HR manager
$1,440.00
3.2.3
Design of Instagram page
3 days
Fri 10/26/18
Tue 10/30/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee
$12,840.00
3.2.4
Creating links between the pages
3 days
Wed 10/31/18
Fri 11/2/18
Exhibit committee
$12,000.00
3.3
Milestone 3: First draft of the conference details
1 day
Mon 11/5/18
Mon 11/5/18
$0.00
4
Monitoring and control phase
19 days
Tue 11/6/18
Fri 11/30/18
$110,720.00
Draft of the speaker lists
3 days
Tue 11/6/18
Thu 11/8/18
delegates
$36,000.00
4.2
Identification the special needs
3 days
Fri 11/9/18
Tue 11/13/18
HR manager
$1,440.00
Speaker’s list confirmation
2 days
Wed 11/14/18
Thu 11/15/18
delegates ,Master class workshop owners
$36,000.00
4.4
printing
3 days
Fri 11/16/18
Tue 11/20/18
HR manager
$1,440.00
4.5
catering
3 days
Wed 11/21/18
Fri 11/23/18
caterer
$2,400.00
marketing plan
2 days
Mon 11/26/18
Tue 11/27/18
Publicity committee
$8,000.00
4.7
Music and entertainment program arrangement.
3 days
Mon 11/26/18
Wed 11/28/18
show organizer
$1,440.00
4.8
Arrangement of presentation speech
2 days
Thu 11/29/18
Fri 11/30/18
delegates
$24,000.00
Milestone 4: Completion of peer review of the papers
0 days
Fri 11/30/18
Fri 11/30/18
$0.00
5
Academic review and validation of the papres
26 days
Mon 12/3/18
Mon 1/7/19
$48,480.00
change management program implementation
3 days
Mon 12/3/18
Wed 12/5/18
Project manager
$1,920.00
5.2
Stakeholder management plan
2 days
Thu 12/6/18
Fri 12/7/18
HR manager
$960.00
Risk management planning
2 days
Mon 12/10/18
Tue 12/11/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee
$8,560.00
5.4
Organizing event register
2 days
Mon 12/10/18
Tue 12/11/18
Exhibit committee
$8,000.00
Other planning
3 days
Wed 12/12/18
Fri 12/14/18
Project manager
$1,920.00
Accommodation planning
6 days
Mon 12/17/18
Mon 12/24/18
$10,960.00
Listing complete possible accommodation
3 days
Mon 12/17/18
Wed 12/19/18
Project manager
$1,920.00
Identification of special lists
1 day
Thu 12/20/18
Thu 12/20/18
HR manager
$480.00
Confirming accommodation
2 days
Fri 12/21/18
Mon 12/24/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee
$8,560.00
Other transformation
10 days
Tue 12/25/18
Mon 1/7/19
$16,160.00
5.7.1
Transport company names listing
2 days
Tue 12/25/18
Wed 12/26/18
Project manager
$1,280.00
5.7.2
Checking price
2 days
Thu 12/27/18
Fri 12/28/18
HR manager
$960.00
5.7.3
Total time arrangement
1 day
Mon 12/31/18
Mon 12/31/18
Publicity committee
$4,000.00
Timing arrangement
2 days
Tue 1/1/19
Wed 1/2/19
Exhibit committee
$8,000.00
Choosing company with best price range
3 days
Thu 1/3/19
Mon 1/7/19
Project manager
$1,920.00
Milestone 5: Registration for the open delegates
0 days
Wed 1/2/19
Wed 1/2/19
$0.00
Closure phase
16 days
Tue 1/8/19
Tue 1/29/19
$72,880.00
final catering contract
2 days
Tue 1/8/19
Wed 1/9/19
Project manager
$1,280.00
Dinner for delegates
3 days
Thu 1/10/19
Mon 1/14/19
caterer, Project manager
$4,320.00
stakeholder’s contract
3 days
Tue 1/15/19
Thu 1/17/19
Project manager
$1,920.00
Stakeholder signoff
2 days
Fri 1/18/19
Mon 1/21/19
Exhibit committee
$8,000.00
Final documentation
3 days
Tue 1/22/19
Thu 1/24/19
Project manager, delegates ,Master class workshop owners
$55,920.00
Final kickoff meeting
3 days
Fri 1/25/19
Tue 1/29/19
HR manager
$1,440.00
6.7
Milestone 6: Final submission of the papers
0 days
Tue 1/29/19
Tue 1/29/19
$0.00
In order to achieve the original planned dates and to accelerate the relevant activitie project baseline should be set for the project. According to the project complexity and activity details it has been defined that the total time will be required for the successful accomplishment of the conference program is 148 days. It is a 3-days conference which is comprises of 2 days optional master class workshop also. According to the current situation of the project it is found that, before the starting of the conference the clients are willing to undertake a health check of the program. Du to extreme staff turnover the authority has faced serious issues. Du to this delay they also have to change the booking venue also this will cause loss for the project development authority. On the other hand, different venues are also available but it will cost additional 50% to is initial estimation. In order to maintain the original planned dates, baseline schedule is required to be maintained. The ways through which this can be maintained is as follows:
In order to achieve the original budget of the project it is mandatory for the finance manager to design a feasibility study at this phase to ensure that whether the project will be beneficial or to check any further additions are required. The ways through which his can be achieved re as follows:
The Critical Path Method is also defined as a time management tool implemented in United States and most of the companies use this mechanism for reducing the time related issues that may interrupt the estimated budget of any project also. In order to track and monitor the progress of the projects the project managers use this technique in their application field. However for all the projects the Critical Path Method may not be appropriate therefore, Therefore, the project manager should have to be aware of the capabilities and the limitation of the Critical Path Method (CPM) technique.
The benefits that can be achieved from the appropriate usage of the CPM are as follows:
Helps in detail process analysis: With the help of the Critical Path Method the entire process can be analyzed in details. Though, the total time spend for combining the activities altogether is quite long. If the project plan is accurately prepared then the project will run all smoothly throughout the development period. It is expected that if the project run without any sort of interruption then definitely the project will lead to cost and time savings in later cases. Apart from this, it also helps to ascertain the time schedule of different activities have sequential relationship between each other.
Easy control: The project manager can easily control the entire project with the proper application of the critical Path Method technique.
Critical element identification: The critical elements associated to the projects can be easily identified with the help of the critical Path Method (CPM). In other words the management gives additional attention to these activities to avoid unwanted interruptions. Moreover, it supports to create more detailed and planning possible while developing any project.
In case of Critical Path Method a large project is broken down into small segments rather into discriminated activities. Apart from this, based on the complexity of the activities the time and cost ate also allotted. All the assigned activities are also linked to their graphical views in order to represent the possible direction towards the completion of the project. It is found that many directions will be available for successfully reaching the ultimate destination but the shortest path is known as the critical path. The limitations associated to CPM are as follows:
Time consuming approach: It has been assumed that this approach takes lots of time for the identification of the activities. Not only this but also for inter relating these activities it take numerous time and as it creates multiple numbers of paths thus the confusion also increases. These are the reasons for which the users lose their temper during the project development period.
Shift of the project resources: In case of any practical situation the CPM approach fails to work and as a result the employees are re located throughout the activities associated to the project which is very haphazard. The previously allocated time and budget also distrusted due to this reallocation and overall the CPM also gets interrupted highly.
Issues of parallel path: CPM creates many similar looking paths with same time duration and thus it become difficult for the users to identify the critical project path. Internal conflicts occur during the section of the critical path. Not only this but also the activities become more critical than the initial phase.
Many alternative techniques such as Gantt chart, Schedule network analysis, PER chart etc are there that can be widely used by the project managers to avoid the issues of Critical Path Method technique. Project managers are allowed to use range of techniques and tools for developing, monitoring and controlling project schedules. However, many if these tools can also be applied in digitized format such as Microsoft Project, Excel sheet etc.
The most suitable alternative scheduling technique for managing the project time is the Gantt chart. This is a horizontal bar cart which is plotted over the time that is either based on days, weeks or month. The bars may run in parallel manner or can show sequential stages based on the dependency of the tasks and the assigned resources. Each of these bars are plotted to the start at the very earlier possible date of starting. The planned time duration and the actual time can be compared through this tool Not only this but also the difference between the actual cost and the planned cost can also be determined with the help of the Gantt chart.
Gantt chart gives clarity and possible visualization ability to the project team members. Multiple tasks can be formalized in a single document with this Gantt chart and also the stakeholders can easily understand the process progress in details during the grasping on ways. In this process all the independent elements can also come together to the success of the project. It gives error free communication capabilities to the project team members. In order to replace any meeting or to update the status documents the application of Gantt chart is very helpful. The positions of the team members become clearer to the project team members as they become familiar to their role, responsibilities and current progress updates of the project. In addition to this, it helps to create external motivation among the project manager and the project team members.
In the overall project schedule if the project team members plug their own roles then the complexity of the project activities will be reduced. The chance of overrunning cost, over allocation of resource and budget will be also reduced if the time management tool Gantt chart is accurately utilized by the project manager and the project team members. According to most of the project managers the time scheduling is one of the most important benefits served by the Gantt chart technique. The chances of project delay and its negative impact on the project team members can be easily identified through this application. Therefore, instead of CPM if Gantt chart is used by then the limitation of the CPM can be addressed and resolved accordingly.
References
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Costantino, F., Di Gravio, G. and Nonino, F., 2015. Project selection in project portfolio management: An artificial neural network model based on critical success factors. International Journal of Project Management, 33(8), pp.1744-1754.
Fleming, Q.W. and Koppelman, J.M., 2016, December. Earned value project management. Project Management Institute.
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Kucharska, W. and Kowalczyk, R., 2016. Trust, Collaborative Culture and Tacit Knowledge Sharing in Project Management–a Relationship Model.
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