Project Management Fundamentals Quiz

Course Information

• Course Title: Project Management
• Course Code: COMP 025
• Instructor: Prof. Camilo P. Abogado
• Department: MM-Public Service Management
• Institution: Polytechnic University of the Philippines Institute of Technology

Unit 1: Project Management Fundamentals

• Lesson 1: Project, Project Examples, and Constraints
• Learning Objectives:
  • Articulate the need for better project management, especially for IT projects.
  • Explain what a project is.
  • Provide examples of IT projects and their attributes.
  • Describe project management constraints.

Course Materials

• The need for better project management
• Advantages of modern project management techniques:
  • Better control of financial, physical, and human resources
  • Improved customer relations
  • Shorter development times
  • Lower costs and improved productivity
  • Higher quality and increased reliability
  • Higher profit margins
  • Better internal coordination
  • Positive impact on meeting strategic goals
  • Higher worker morale

What is a Project?

• A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

Examples of IT Projects

• Developing a new product, service, or result.
• Effecting a change in the structure, processes, staffing, or style of an organization.
• Developing or acquiring a new or modified information system (hardware or software).
• Conducting a research effort whose outcome will be aptly recorded.
• Constructing a building, industrial plant, or infrastructure.
• Implementing, improving, or enhancing existing business processes and procedures.
• Examples of IT projects:
  • PPA Attendance Record Monitoring System
  • PPA e-Payment Portal
  • PPA Online Recruitment Portal
  • Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. Dynamic Pay
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
  • eFPS, eBIRForms, ePAY, CAFS
  • Strategic Healthcare IT Advanced Research Projects on Security (SHARPS)

Attributes of Projects

• A project has a unique purpose.
• Every project should have a well-defined objective.
• A project is temporary.
• A project has a definite beginning and end.
• A project is developed using progressive elaboration.
• Projects are often defined broadly when they begin; as time passes, the specific details of the project become clearer.
• A project requires resources (people, hardware, software, and other assets).
• A project should have a primary customer or sponsor.
• A project involves uncertainty.

What is Project Management?

• Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.
• Project management is accomplished through appropriate application and integration of the 47 logically grouped project management processes, which are categorized into five Process Groups.

Constraints of Project

• Scope, Time, and cost
• Managing the triple constraint involves making trade-offs between scope, time, and cost goals for a project
• For example, to meet scope and time goals, you may need to increase the budget.
• Alternatively, to meet time and cost goals, you may need to reduce the scope of the project.

Activities/Assessment

• Activity 1: Answer the following questions about projects, project management, project attributes, IT project examples, and project constraints.
• Activity 2: Evaluate students' understanding of project constraints using a scenario of upgrading university technology infrastructure.
• Activity 3: Group project proposal presentation on a simulated IT project.

Additional Instructions/References

• See MS Teams for activities for back-up, and send copies of answers through email.
• References:
  • Chapter 1 of the 9th edition of Information Technology Project Management by Kathy Schwalbe
  • Chapters 1.2, 1.3 of the 6th edition of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide).