International Project Management Flashcards
What are the most important steps in the history of project management?
- it is a human activity and has become a discipline in the 20th century
- 4 phases according to Young Hoon Kwak
- end of 19th century to 1958: telegraph, telephone, automobile, plane, Taylor, Gantt, Fayol, Gantt chart, PERT diagram, Critical Path method; East-West railway, Hoover Dam, Polaris project, Manhattan project
- 1959 to 1979: computers, operating systems; quality management, ISO norms, PMI guidelines; Apollo 11, Arpanet
- 1980 to 1994: PC, internet browser; risk management; PM softwares for PC; Boeing 777, Challenger space shuttle
- 1995 to date: Internet; ERP, PMBOK
Why is Project Management necessary, if everyone can be seen as a Project Manager?
- because projects are often complex
- need coordination of:
- multiple people, resources, tasks, decision points (approvals), phased expenditure of funds, matching of people/ resources to tasks
What is a project?
- “temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result” (PMBOK)
- requires an organized set of work efforts
- is subject to limitations: defined beginning and ending, specific outputs –> delivrables; unique combination of stakeholders
- in other words: projects reuire variety of people to work together for limited time, all participants need to understand that completing the project will require effort in addition to other assigned work
How does a project differ from an operation?
Projects:
- output: unique
- temporary, specific due date
- pirpose: attain objective and terminate
- conclides when its specific objectives have been attained
Operations:
- don’t produce anything new
- are ongoing
- define ordinary work of an organization
- output: repetitive
- do not end when objectives are met –> work continues
What is the context of international projects?
- diversity: heterogeneity of culture, people, organisations etc.
- complexity: very large amount of factors impacting projects
- ambiguity: more than one possible cause of problems
- volatilityf: ast changing economic and social context
What is project management?
- the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
What are the main constraints of projects?
objective: achieving projects
- within time, cost, at the desired performance/ technology level, while utilizing the assigned ressources effectively and efficiently, accepted by the customer
- -> not realistic, there are mostly trafeoffs:
- speec, (time), cost, quality –> main tradeoffs
–> Porter: You can have it good, fast, or cheap: pick any two.
What is international project management?
- the leadership of projects that are conducted in multiple countries and cultures (Grisham)
- international projects typically are simultaneously multicultural projects relating to diverse cultures, be it national, organizational, or functional cultures. (Koester)
- -> international aspects add complexity
What are the differences between standard and international projects?
- purpose: new geographical presence or new international stakeholders
- scope: broader due to locations in various countries
- stakeholders: more and more diverse stakeholders –> nationality, culturel, institutional and legal nature
- risk intensity: greater due to more institutional interfaces and more stakeholders
What are the factors of success in international projects?
- the triple contraint: time, cost and scope + new constraints
new: - customer satisfaction
- quality
- sustainability
What are the different phases of the project lifecycle?
- Initiation: deining project, obtaining authorization
- Planning: establish scope, refine objectives, define course of action
- Execution: complete work defined in plan
- Monitoring & Controlling: track, review, regulate process and performance
- Closing: conclude all activities
What are the two main Project Management Approaches?
- waterfall approach (traditional apprach)
- agile apprach
Why is the project initiation phase so important?
- many things established here:
- project objectives
- various understandings of the project
- how succes in defined
- schedule (large phases)
- stakeholders/ risks
- other processes such as executing/ monitoring project
(often defined in project charter)
What is a Project Charter? Who defines it?
- agreement between many parties
- created at beginning of project, approved by stakeholders, signed before work can begin
- grands the team the right to continue
- PMBOK: document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and privdes the project manager with the authority to apply organizational ressources to project activities
- defined by sponsor, client or project manager
What are the purporses of a Project Charter?
- authorization to proceed
- develop common understanding between project team and sponsor (–> trust, communication, commitment)
- helps project team and sponsor to commit
- allows to screen out obviously poor projects
