Role of Project Managers in the Wembley Project - Essay Example

? Assessment Summary Table of Contents Project Management: A brief overview 3 Role of Project Managers 3 Background - Sector & PM Knowledge Area 3 Project Human Resource Management: A Brief Overview 6 The Wembley Project 7 Project Human Resource Management of Wembley Stadium 8 Evaluation 8 Observations 8 Recommendations 9 Conclusion 10 Comparative Study 11 Works Cited 14 Bibliography 17 Project Management: A brief overview Project management is an important and specialized task which requires a set of specific knowledge and expertise. The important aspects of project management includes initiating, planning, systematizing, organizing, guiding and monitoring of the associated resources (“What is Project Management?”). The primary rationale behind initiating project management is to meet the objectives of a particular project in a controlled way and also within the given deadline. It is therefore defined as a process by which an organization plans, organizes, manages and controls its resources for the purpose of achieving specific goals (Melvin and Wilshusen 22). Most of the organizations use project management for implementing any new system either internally or external to the organization. Project management is a broader area and has a larger scope. Project management embraces project budget, timeframe, and identification of logical framework (PM4DEV 13). The most important function of project management is to help the organization avoid problems associated with the project (Reiss 2). In general any project is faced with three constraints result, budget and time (Thomsett 7). Therefore to overcome these precincts the control process must have to be strong. Role of Project Managers Now in order to accomplish a project successfully, the role of a project manager is imperative (Gido and Clements 303). A project manager thus needs to have in-depth knowledge and proficiency in some of the specified areas of project management (Houston 27). Some of these essential skills include preparation, financial management and planning, forecasting and also the most important task of assessing the risk associated with the project. According to Schwalbe, the duty of a project manager is not only confined to meet the specified time, budget, scope, quality and requirements of a project, but also to hold the liability of making the entire process of the project smoother (Schwalbe 8). Furthermore, project managers are also liable to satisfy the demands and other functional requirements of the people associated with the project. They should also counterbalance the challenges of a project (Heerkens 1). The activities of project may also impact or affect some of the communities; therefore the duty of a project manager is also to look after such issues (Haughey). Background - Sector & PM Knowledge Area The project management body of knowledge can be defined as a group of procedures and knowledge that are accepted as the best alternative within the discipline of project management (“Mhprofessional”). It is mainly responsible for providing the essentials of project management. Moreover the type of project is also not that much essential. The Project Management Body of Knowledge or the PMBOK mainly recognizes 9 knowledge areas and 5 primary processes. These basic concepts are fully applicable to the operations, program and also project management. The five basic areas include Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and Controlling Closing (“Project Management Best Practices”). Figure 1 (Source: Project Management) Also it is necessary to mention that processes interact and overlie throughout a phase or project. The processes are therefore described as follows:- Tools and Techniques (methods employed to inputs) Inputs (plans, documents, designs, etc.) Outputs (products, documents, etc.). The nine knowledge areas are Project Integration Management, Project Scope Management, Project Time Management, Project Cost Management, Project Quality Management, Project Human Resource Management, Project Communications Management, Project Risk Management and Project Procurement Management (“Introduction to The Nine Project Management Knowledge Areas”). Figure 2 (Source: Warner) All the areas pertaining to knowledge or each of the knowledge areas contains some or all the processes of project management (Haughey). In order to cite an example the project procurement project embraces:- Procurement Planning Solicitation Planning Solicitation Source Selection Contract Administration Contract Closeout Now according to the context of the study, the area of project management chosen for the purpose of evaluating and comparing it within the given sectors is Project Human Resource Management. The industries on which this aspect will be evaluated includes:- Education Sector Retail Sector Health Sector Entertainment Sector Construction Sector Service Sector Automotive & Manufacturing Sector IT Sector. Now before discussing about the impact of project human resource management on each of these sectors, it is extremely important to provide a brief introduction of project human resource management. Project Human Resource Management: A Brief Overview Project human resource management can be defined as the process of making use of every individual, who are associated with the project. In simple words project human resource management is the art of effectively using the human resource in a particular project, so that the best results are obtained from the project. However the primary rationale behind the adoption of project human resource management is to ensure that the projects which are presently underway should get complete successfully (Nguyen and Kleiner). It is also important to mention that in project human resource management, it does not only means to effective utilize the employees of the company in order to complete the project successfully, but the management of other groups, also falls in this category. The list contains all the stakeholders of the project and embraces the investors, individual contributors, customers and all others (Garg, Sharma and Pandey). An effective project human resource management consists of three steps. The steps are highlighted below:- Organizational Planning: Organizational planning is basically the process of recognizing, documenting, and handing over the duties and responsibilities of the project. It is also the initial phase of the PHRM or project human resource management. The various functions of this stage are either assigned to an individual or a group of individuals. The assignment of work is mainly carried out on the basis of the requirement of the work. Staff Acquisition: Staff acquisition is the process of attracting and retaining the best possible employees for the project. Therefore embracing the adequate or required numbers of individual is extremely important for the purpose of successfully accomplishing the project. A number of factors are considered in this Team Development: Once the required staff members are obtained, it is important to segregate the available human resource into departments as per knowledge and skills of the employees. This will hugely help the company as well as the staff members to improve the productivity and enhance the performance level. Now the evaluation of the impact of project human resource management on the aforementioned areas will be carried out. Therefore the next section will highlight the same. The Wembley Project In the context of the study, the project which has been chosen to carry out the study is Wembley stadium. Wembley stadium is a football stadium, which is situated at the Wembley Park, London, England. The stadium was opened in the year 2007 and was built on its previous site. Presently the stadium has a capacity of 90,000 people. Hence in the context of construction industry, Wembley stadium is considered as one of the largest project of all time. The stadium was designed by Populous, Foster & Partners and Mott McDonald, Aurecon and Sinclair Knight & Merz acted as the consulting partner. On the other hand the construction of the project was carried out by Brookfield Multiplex, an Australian company. Brookfield Multiplex is one of the world’s largest contracting companies. The company is involved in the process of building, maintaining and designing infrastructure and property assets. The company was founded by John Roberts in the year 1962. The company is presently headquartered at Perth, Western Australia. Apart from constructing the famous Wembley stadium some of the other noteworthy works of the company includes King Street Wharf in Sydney, Bank West Tower, Perth, Central Park, Perth, Old Swan Brewery, Perth and Federation Square, Melbourne etc. The company is listed at the Australian Stock Exchange. Brookfield Multiplex employs around 7,800 people throughout the country. Apart from doing business in Australia, the company has presence in United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and the Middle East (“About Brookfield Multiplex”). Project Human Resource Management of Wembley Stadium Among all the projects, that they have completed Human Resource management played an essential role. Moreover in construction industry human resource management is one of the challenging tasks. It is also a fact that the industry is also highly dependent upon the manpower. Construction industry consists of a diverse labour force, which contributes towards the continuing and long process of creation and development (“Alberta”). According to Gerald Finkel, the author of the book titled “The Economics of the Construction Industry” has highlighted that the construction industry employs millions of people. Especially in USA, the construction industry alone employs around five million people. Furthermore it also provides additional jobs related to the same field (Transition to green economy could yield up to 60 million jobs, ILO says”). Similarly the construction of Wembley stadium was carried out using a large number of people. It also contained large diversities among the workforce. Hence managing large number of diverse workfare was a challenging task for the company. Moreover such construction projects are highly dependent upon the manpower. The total cost associated with the project was € 912 million and per seat development cost was € 10,137. The sitting capacity is 90,000. Evaluation The construction industry is considered as one of the most problematic as well as complex arenas of the business environment. The management of people is also therefore is complex in these organizations. Due to this reason the application of human resource management theory is restricted to this industry. One of the important aspects is related to the operational realities. In construction industry, organizations often the needs of employees are subjugated by performance concerns. However, the consequences are outrageous for the workers, organizations and also the industry as a whole (Dainty and Loosemore). Construction industry employs large number of people in the main operational department and also in some related department as well. The employment is not only on the basis of single criteria, but considers various other factors as well. Most of the companies belonging to the construction industry, embraces diversity in their workforce. However, even after all such offering the industry is still not considered as lucrative. Observations It has been observed that although the construction industry offers a wide range of benefits, but still it is not considered as one of the lucrative industries. According to a number of individuals construction industry is not considered as lucrative due to the following reason. Peripatetic work schedule: - The work schedule of construction industry is extremely drifting. There is hardly any fixed working schedule. The shifts keep on rotating from time to time. Moreover travelling is one more issue which makes the industry less attractive for the workers. The sites for the new construction keeps on changing and the similarly, the workers also need to change their bases to the new place. Job insecurity: - The construction sector is also characterized by high job insecurity. Since it is work which requires efficiency, workers need to be at their best while performing their duties. However if the quality and efficiency of a worker is diminishing he/she may face various types of consequences. Job cut is another common practise in this sector for which, workers considers it to be least lucrative. Poor working conditions: - The working condition of the construction industry is extremely poor. The workers have to work on the site, where there is no office environment. The workers sometimes even need to stand in the mud throughout the day. Apart from that similar kind of issues are faced by the workers of the industry. Issues pertaining to employee health and safety: - The workers of the construction industry are highly exposed to health hazards. A number of health concerns are present in the construction industry. When the construction works are carried out at a specific site, most of the time labours have to work on high altitudes and thus there are high risks. Even life risks also exist in this industry (“Human resource planning in the construction industry; can it ever work?”). Less employee welfare provisions: - The industry is characterised by high chances of health hazards. However there are less safety measures. Furthermore the industry has less employee welfare provision, which is considered as one of the primary reasons for less attractiveness of the industry. Apart from the aforementioned reasons, one more factors for which the industry is poorly regarded is the nature of the work and also the terms and condition on the basis of which a worker is recruited. In most of the cases the companies outsources their labour force to the subcontractors and therefore the labour force looses all the opportunities and advantages of the employment schemes of the company. The employees are also recruited on a temporary basis. Recommendations The recommendation section will provide few suggestions by which the human resource management from the project management knowledge area can be improved. In simple words the recommendations will be about how the human resource of a particular project can be handled and utilized properly. The recommendations are provided below:- The company should designate an official from the senior management, who can act as an in charge of the entire human resource management. It is believed that prior handling the human resources of a project, the actual human resource managers should be trained properly. Proper training to the HR people can certainly increase their efficiencies and they will also perform better. The company should offer various facilities to the labour force. Since the labour force remains outsourced, they do not get the facilities or benefits of the company. Thus in order to motivate them, few benefits such as leaves, bonuses and insurance or medical benefits should be provided. Supervision must be strengthened in order to ensure effective performance of the employees (“Supervision modalities in IFAD supported projects”). Various security measures should be taken in order to provide adequate security to the labour force. The company should consider implementing performance measurement techniques. Hence trackers should be implemented in order to track the performance of the employees. Since construction industry is characterized by a diverse workforce, the management is also complex. Hence the company should practise activities that discourage any biasness. A feel of “everybody is equal” must spread throughout the organization. In construction industry it is a common thing, where employee stops their duties in order to protest against any change or to demand something. Hence to curb such happenings labours should be provided with benefits, in order to minimize the risk of unionization and work stoppages. The recruitment policy must be developed properly as it is imperative to recruit the right people for the right job. Apart from recruiting the right people it is also important to keep the performing employees with the system. This can be done by rewarding the employees. Hence the employees should be treated accordingly (“Recruitment & Selection”). Conclusion The report was about the identification of the factors that leads a project towards the success. On doing the study it has been found that project management is a vast area and has a number of sectors, which are equally important towards the success of the project. The project management knowledge areas are human resource, integration, communications, quality, scope, risk, procurement, time and cost. Hence for a project to be successful all the aforementioned areas need to function properly. However the present study has discussed about the importance of human resource management in a project. The project that was chosen to depict the importance of human resource management was the construction of Wembley stadium. The study revealed that the construction of Wembley stadium has been carried out by the Australian construction giant Brookfield Multiplex. The study also revealed that during the entire course of the project, the company has focused highly on the management of its human resources. The company takes various initiatives to motivate their labour force. Some time they offers bonus payments or offer extra benefits to the employees. The study also highlighted that there are six factors related to the HRM influences the project performance. The factors are team management, leadership, and ethical treatment with the staffs, HRM strategy, motivation and communication. Thus it can be concluded that human resource management plays a significant role in enhancing the performance of the project. Moreover the construction industry is characterized by low technicalities and mostly labour intensive. Therefore effective management of the labour force of the organization is obligatory and will also help in improving the performance of the organization (Kokkaew and Koompai 1-5). Comparative Study This section will be highlighting a comparative study of the two large constructions project of all time. The comparative study will be mainly carried out on the basis of cost. The comparison will be made between the chosen project Wembley stadium and the similar project form the same environment can be chosen as the Emirates stadium. The emirates stadium is the home ground of the English Premier League football club, Arsenal which was build on the Ashburton Grove (“Emirates Stadium, United Kingdom”). It is situated at the heart of London. The stadium has a sitting capacity of 60,335 (“The Five Biggest Premier League Stadiums”). It is one of the largest European stadiums and also holds a rank among the most expensive stadiums of the world (“World's Most Expensive Stadiums”). The construction of the stadium was fully sponsored by the Emirates Airways. The stadium was opened in the year 2006. According to the reports the total cost for constructing the stadium was a whopping €440 million and the development cost of per seat was around €7,292. The construction has been done in such a way that it divides the stadium into four equal parts. Later the parts were named as clock end, west stand, and east stand and north bank. The project management aspect of the construction was also considered from the initial phases. 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