Impact of Project Management Tools on Project Success - Research Paper Example

The Impact of Project Management Tools and Techniques on Project Success and Governance over Project Activities Table of Contents 3 2.Introduction 4 3.Background 5 3.1 Problem Statement 5 3.2 Scope of Report 7 3.3 Objectives of the Report 7 4.1 Background on IT Project Management Tools and Techniques 7 4.2 Background on IT Project Management Success 8 4.3 Background on IT Project Governance 9 5. Results of Literature Survey 9 5.1 Project Management Tools and Techniques Contribute Toward Achieving Project Success 9 5.2 Tools and Techniques Are Crucial In Achieving Success 9 5.3 Project Management Tools and Techniques Contribute Toward Ensuring Governance over Project Management Activities 10 5.4 Tools and Techniques Are Crucial In Ensuring Governance Over Project Management Activities 12 6. Interpretation 12 6.1 Interpretation of the Result in the Context of South Africa As Well As Globally 12 6.2 Recommendations 14 7. Conclusion 15 7.1 Summary of the Report 15 7.2 Learning from This Report 15 7.3 Achievement of Objectives 15 8. References 16 1. Abstract The purpose of this report is to determine the impact of project management tools and techniques on project success and governance over project activities. The report would provide a comprehension about the various challenges of project management and how the various tools as well as techniques help to sort out the different factors. In addition, this report also illustrates regarding the effectiveness and functions of project governance in terms of maintaining the project structures, accountabilities, processes and roles, which helps to ascertain a comprehensive collaboration with the stakeholders in order to optimise the performance of the organisation. Besides, the report also provides a brief idea regarding the challenges of international project management and how to undertake such activities. Keywords: Project Management, Information Technology, Project Governance, Tools and Techniques, International Project Management 2. Introduction The term ‘project’ arrives from the Latin word ‘projectum’ enumerating the meaning of ‘before an action’. A project in the business as well as science contexts is classically defined as the process of continuous research along with designing an assortment of scientific methods and tools to achieve a particular aim. A project is a momentary effort which is usually undertaken to produce a unique product as well as service. The words temporary as well as momentary are articulately related with the notion of project because every project has a specific beginning and end. Additionally, the term ‘management’ is related with the project activities for meeting the project aims as well as requirements by proper utilisation of the techniques, tools, skills and knowledge among others. Project management process is initially performed through five steps, i.e. initiating, planning, executing, controlling as well as finishing. Effectively designing and managing the project is especially required to meet with certain vital factors of an organisation as well as clients. This includes proper identification of the desires and needs of the clientele along with meeting them effectively and efficiently by taking care of time, cost and quality of the project (Choudhuri, n.d.). The term ‘Information Technology (IT)’ consists of procedures, equipment, methodologies, and related tools employed to assemble, develop as well as provide information. IT project management is a segment of project management which emphasises especially on computer technology. The method of IT project management is eventually almost same as management project systems. It only differs in the point of immensity, i.e. IT project specially deals with how information is handled through software as well as hardware. Certain important IT projects include designing and programming computer software, a mobile application, video game; web development for e-commerce specially online marketing such as buying and selling products as well as services; effective data security method in terms of online transactions and in social networking context, developing organisational customer database; designing hardware structural design for a computer platform, server and storage among others (KPMG, 2005). With these understandings, the selected topic i.e. the impact of project management tools along with techniques on project success along with governance over project activities fits into the notion of IT project management because IT project management requires the application of different tools to execute the project related aims. 3. Background 3.1 Problem Statement There are enormous problems as well as responsibilities of the IT managers in terms of effectively managing the various projects in the organisations. The various aspects of the IT project management include: IT managers are the key responsible individuals for bringing about the required changes in the organisation and successfully competing with the others. The IT project managers are not only responsible for managing the current business operations but also required to take responsibilities regarding initiating changes in the future context as well as per the needs and demands of the customers (IBM Corporation, 2010). Thus, in these endeavours of IT project managers, the role played by project management tools and techniques is impeccable. With this consideration, report intends to recognise the affect of these tools and methods on the efficient functioning of the managers. 3.2 Scope of Report Through the study of this report, the ways in which project management tools along with techniques contribute towards attaining desired success for a project can be ascertained. Moreover, the specific tools and methods that are vital for obtaining required success from an undertaken project would be determined. In addition, in which ways with the use of project management tools governance over project management activities can be ascertained would also be observed. The specific tools and methods that can facilitate in this regard would be identified in this report. 3.3 Objectives of the Report The various objectives of the report are given below: To determine the impact of project management tools and techniques on the success of project To observe the success factors of the IT project management. To recognise the crucial notion of IT project management governance To analyse the results related to IT project management tools and techniques in the broader context of South Africa as well as internationally 4.1 Background on IT Project Management Tools and Techniques Project management is one of the high responsibility tasks in the modern organisations in order to execute a project successfully along with meeting the required time constraint and limit. Therefore, a project manager should be supported through a set of tools and methods, such as Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Critical Path Method (CPM), Program Evaluation And Review Technique (PERT), Lighthouse, Spring Loops, Base Camp, Microsoft Project Server (2010), Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS), Gantt Chart, Earned Value Management (EVM) and activeCollab among others (ACORN, n.d.). The technique of IT project management is to integrate the business management process with the software development process effectively and efficiently for the maximum utilisation of resources i.e. people, process as well as technology. Through the enormous development of technology in the last decade of 20th and in the first decade of 21st century, every organisation either in small or in large scale has been endeavouring to computerise the various functions and operations. This is because the proper utilisation of technology is immensely helpful to increase the productivity of the organisation. Therefore, it is also a challenge for the project leaders to identify properly the objectives and requirements of the projects along with taking decisions regarding which tools and techniques can be fruitfully used within the organisational context. 4.2 Background on IT Project Management Success The success of the IT project management only can come through proper identification of the purposes as well as objectives of the project. The parameters of IT project management success can be determined by following SMART objectives, such as: Firstly, project should be ’specific’ in terms of goal that is the project leader should be clear about exactly what he/she is going to do. Secondly, the dimension of measurable is imperative which entails the work process towards achieving each goal which is set for the project. Thirdly, in terms of budget project also should be achievable as per the financial power of the organisation. Therefore, financial analysis also a big part in the IT project management success as it ensures and provides security from any financial risk relating to the ongoing project. Fourthly, the project should be realistic in terms of key factors as well as goals and it should be ascertained that these goals can be met in both short and long run perspectives. Lastly, the dimension of time management is one of the vital factors regarding IT project management success. The project should be completed within the assigned time, for this reason every project should be divided into the various parts as well as time frames or milestones for completion of every section in a timely manner. This will in turn ensure timely completion of the entire project. This is because any kind of delays in a particular sub-section of the project can hamper the timeline of the whole project (Lock, 2007). 4.3 Background on IT Project Governance Project governance is a set of structures, accountabilities, processes and roles, which requires a wide association with the stakeholders in order to optimise the performance of the organisation. The function of project governance is to provide an effective decision making framework that is rational as well as robust. The main three pillars of the project management are structure, people as well as information. There are also certain core project governance principles for the success of the project, i.e. ensuring a single point of responsibility and making segregation in terms of stakeholder management as well as project decision making process among others (Lock, 2007). 5. Results of Literature Survey 5.1 Project Management Tools and Techniques Contribute Toward Achieving Project Success Project management tools and techniques are very crucial factors of the project management regarding finding out the proper specification as well as objective of the project. There are various tools including Critical Path Method (CPM), Program Evaluation And Review Technique (PERT), Gantt chart, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Lighthouse, Spring Loops, Base Camp, Microsoft Project Server (2010), Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS), Earned Value Management (EVM) and activeCollab among others (ACORN, n.d.). These tools are proficiently helpful to clarify about the whole project regarding what is going to be achieved. In addition with the fulfilment of the objectives, project management facilitates in continuous improvement of the various processes with tools and techniques which are ultimately related with the business operation as well as products along with services. This is because the project management process enables to efficiently execute the method of implementing and leading which effectively helps to maintain the communication flow with team members and high level management (Lock, 2007). These various tools and techniques can effectively help in the process of project management in terms of communication outflow with high level management to the team members, tracking, financial analysis, maintaining workflow and project testing before submission of the final project among others. 5.2 Tools and Techniques Are Crucial In Achieving Success The project management tool i.e. Critical Path Method (CPM) created by Morgan R. Walker, and Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT) developed by U.S. Navy are very significant tools in terms of time management of the project. These tools are used for preparing a set of project activities, and designing an accountability of time for each activity. The timeline objective is firstly taken into the consideration because in case of a late completed project at times the client does not want to purchase it as well as it can also have fatal impact on the budget in terms of excessive usage of resources. Time management is one of the critical constituents for ensuring desired success from a project. Proper time management of a project can be addressed by the help of different tools and techniques. According to Charvat (2002), in this context, Henry Gantt also developed a chart that is well known as Gantt chart. It is also effectively used in projects for understanding the extent of time required for completing varied activities associated with a project. These charts also define the start and end of every activity in the project (Charvat, 2002). According to the observation of Bainey (2004), ensuring the delivery of the projects within budget is another concerning factor in project management. Therefore, various tools as well as techniques are used in this concern comprising Earned Value Management (EVM), Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) among others. It is a very concerning factor because if the budget exceeds from the authorised capital then at times the ultimate motive of the project cannot be attained. Besides, in terms of budget, project also should be achievable as per the financial competency of the organisation. Therefore, financial analysis is also a major part in project management for dealing with any kind of difficulties in completion of a project (Bainey, 2004). Moreover, another concerning factor is providing quality solution, the end result as well as aim of the project is substantially dependent on meeting the ultimate requirements of the client. In case of IT project management, for the development of software and the platform of hardware there are also certain important tools as well as techniques, entailing Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), activeCollab, Microsoft Project Server (2010), Lighthouse, Spring Loops and Base Camp among others. The quality factors in terms of IT project are effectively related with finding out the actual requirements, analysing and designing the project, developing the system as well as software, testing the whole design, reducing the bugs and errors, taking feedback of the ultimate users and then building the final project. Maintaining these steps is very important to produce quality product because it ensures to reduce the chances of failure of a project (Doraiswamy, 2011). 5.3 Project Management Tools and Techniques Contribute Toward Ensuring Governance over Project Management Activities As observed by Gray & et. al. (2001), in terms of project governance, it can be observed that without constant development and growth, the notions of accomplishment and achievement have no meaning. Project governance is a set of philosophy as well as progression to direct and make enhancement of project management. The project management tools and techniques regarding project governance are targeted to ensure compliance with the organisational standards, accountability, processes, allocation of resources and continuous improvement through directing the project (Gray & et. al., 2011). 5.4 Tools and Techniques Are Crucial In Ensuring Governance Over Project Management Activities According to Muller (2009), the implementation of the tools as well as the techniques over project management activities regarding project governance can be done in terms of two dimensions i.e. at the organisational level and in the project level. At the organisational level, which techniques and tools are to be followed for the success of the project can be determined by analysing the objective and project selection, portfolio management of the whole project, along with improving the way that all the projects can be managed on time as well as tracking and evaluating continuously the whole project up to completion the process. At the project level, the important functions are re-examining project objectives, making a chart about the requirements of the resources, along with tracking and reviewing the project status from the project manager and auditing (Muller, 2009). 6. Interpretation 6.1 Interpretation of the Result in the Context of South Africa As Well As Globally With regard to deriving desired successful results from a project, there is a requirement of fulfilling enormous objectives in the global context which need to be focused. In the international context, the cross-cultural factor is one of the most concerning issues. In the international projects, the political, environmental, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) factors are vital to comprehend in order to find out the scopes for achieving the organisational goals. However, a question arises here in relation to how to define the project scopes in the international level. Therefore, for the international projects every project manager should understand how to define the project scope and there are certain steps that can be followed when performing such task (Gray & et. al., 2011). Therefore, firstly there is a need to research by taking care of the various factors of the host country along with creating an outline of the organisational resources in relation to the products as well as services. In addition, there is a need to find out the project objectives, targets, sub-phases, tasks, financial plan as well as schedule of the project. However, in the time of establishing these parameters, there is a need to clarify properly about the limitations of the various parameters. The senior management and the team members of the project should be very conscious regarding the selection of the parameters in accordance with the products along with services. This is because regarding the products and services, the requirements as well as demands of the customers always vary from country to country (Elonen & Artto, 2003). In the next step, it is required to highlight the project operating environment. There is a number of IT software present not only in the organisational life cycle but also in day-to-day life of individuals. Consequently, it is a very important factor to be conscious about the possibilities as well as changes in the IT. On behalf of sustaining in this changing and dynamic world, every organisation always seeks to attain technological improvement as well as innovation. Therefore, the IT managers always should aim to be research oriented to create a new product or service for deriving competitive advantage in the market. Simultaneously, the IT managers also need to update their own-self continually to cope up with the changing environment in terms of new software and platform of the hardware (Resch, 2011). In terms of governance, the country of South Africa is a well functioned democratic country, respecting the rule of law which ensures peace and stability of the country. The key challenges of this country are reducing the income inequality and ensuring sustainable as well as potential growth. Besides, presently they are associates with BRICS nations for boosting the growth in the manufacturing and energy sectors and creating more employment in the country. Therefore, the multinational organisations (MNCs) are immensely focused towards this country to establish a successful business and increase the market share. Consequently, the incorporation of PESTLE analysis and setting up of international projects based on the implementation of project management tools and techniques will be enormously helpful (African Development Bank Group, 2012). 6.2 Recommendations The current business environment in the global context is very complex. For this reason, the project managers should be concerned in terms of selecting project objectives, making prompt decisions, ensuring efficient allocation of the scare assets and overall demonstrating a clear focus about the organisational capability and the business environment of the host country. The project managers need to work in different projects with varied scopes, complexities as well as timelines. Thus, they should be very conscious about the functions of various project management tools along with implementing them properly in the project to meet the required deadlines successfully. 7. Conclusion 7.1 Summary of the Report From the conducted report, it has been determined that to sustain in the dynamic business world there are certain vital factors which required to be focused upon by an organisation in terms of project as well as operation of the varied tasks. These include finding out the scope and making a clear set of objectives, preparing financial analysis, maintaining the project deadline and developing a proper communication outflow among others. For these factors, the utilisation of different project management tools is quite effective. 7.2 Learning from This Report Through this report, there have been certain vital learning aspects determined which include firstly, about the tools and techniques which are helpful in project management. Secondly, various problems which the IT managers have to face and deal with in the aspect of project, organisational as well as global parameters have been learnt. Thirdly, technique of deriving the scope as well as objectives of a project has also been observed. Fourthly, the way in which varied project management tools and techniques contribute towards ensuring governance over project management activities is learnt. Fifthly, the implementation of the project management tools in the global level and a country specific context is ascertained. 7.3 Achievement of Objectives Conclusively, it can be stated that the objective of the report i.e. the impact of the project management tools and techniques and how it can bring desired success in the IT projects have been clearly explained in the report. In the section of project governance, the benefits that can be achieved for the overall project through the use of IT project governance notions has also been determined.. 8. References ACORN, No Date. Example 7.2. Tools and Techniques of Project Management. [Online] Available at: http://www.acornlive.com/demos/pdf/E2_EM_Chapter_7.pdf [Accessed May 12, 2013]. African Development Bank Group, 2012. Country Context and Prospects. Republic of South Africa Country Strategy Paper 2013-2017. [Online] Available at: http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/2013-2017%20-%20South%20Africa%20-%20Country%20Strategy%20Paper.pdf [Accessed May 12, 2013]. Bainey, K. R., 2004. Integrated IT Project Management: A Model-Centric Approach. Artech House. Charvat, J., 2002. Project Management Nation: Tools, Techniques, and Goals for the New and Practicing IT Project Manage. John Wiley & Sons. Choudhuri, N. M., No Date. What is Project Management? Project Management Fundamentals. [Online] Available at: http://www.giorgiogiussani.it/project-managemet_EN.pdf [Accessed May 12, 2013]. Doraiswamy, P., 2011. IT project Management: 30 Steps to Success. IT Governance Ltd. Elonen, S. & Artto, K. A., 2003. Problems In Managing Internal Development Projects In Multi-Project Environments. International Journal of Project Management, Vol.21, No. 6, pp. 395-402. Gray, C. E. & et. al., 2011. Project Management 4E (Sie). Tata McGraw-Hill Education. IBM Corporation, 2010. Continuous improvement in the enterprise. Continuous improvement with Business Process Management and Enterprise Architecture together. [Online] Available at: ftp://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/en/wsw14122usen/WSW14122USEN.PDF [Accessed May 12, 2013]. KPMG, 2005. The Findings at a Glance. Global IT Project Management Survey. [Online] Available at: http://www.kpmg.com/CN/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/Global-IT-Project-Management-Survey-0508.pdf [Accessed May 12, 2013]. Lock, D., 2007. The Essentials of the Project Management. Gower Publishing, Ltd. Muller, R., 2009. Project Governance: Fundamentals of Project Management Series. Gower Publishing, Ltd. Resch, M., 2011. Strategic Project Management Transformation: Delivering Maximum ROI & Sustainable Business Value. J. Ross Publishing. Read More