Master of Business Administration-MBA Semester 2 Project Management MB0049 - 4 Credits

(Book ID: B1138) Assignment Set- 2 (60 Marks)

\ Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions.

Q1.Providing adequate resources are key to productivity comment.

Ans1. Key elements of a Productivity Improvement Program: 1. Obtain Upper Management Support. Without top management support, experience shows a PIP likely will fail. The Chief Executive Officer should issue a clear, comprehensive policy statement. The statement should be communicated to everyone in the company. Top management also must be willing to allocate adequate resources to permit success. 2. Create New Organizational Components. A Steering Committee to oversee the PIP and Productivity Managers to implement it are essential. The Committee should be staffed by top departmental executives with the responsibilities of goal setting, guidance, advice, and general control. The Productivity Managers are responsible for the day-to-day activities of measurement and analysis. The responsibilities of all organizational components must be clear and well established. 3. Plan Systematically. Success doesn't just happen. Goals and objectives should be set, problems targeted and rank ordered, reporting and monitoring requirements developed, and feedback channels established. 4. Open Communications. Increasing productivity means changing the way things are done. Desired changes must be communicated. Communication should flow up and down the business organization. Through publications, meetings, and films, employees must be told what is going on and how they will benefit. 5. Involve Employees. This is a very broad element encompassing the quality of work life, worker motivation, training, worker attitudes, job enrichment, quality circles, incentive systems and much more. Studies show a characteristic of successful, growing businesses is that they develop a "corporate culture" where employees strongly identify with and are an important part of company life.

This sense of belonging is not easy to engender. Through basic fairness, employee involvement, and equitable incentives, the corporate culture and productivity both can grow. 6. Measure and Analyze. This is the technical key to success for a PIP. Productivity must be defined, formulas and worksheets developed, sources of data identified, benchmark studies performed, and personnel assigned. Measuring productivity can be a highly complex task. The goal, however, is to keep it as simple as possible without distorting and depreciating the data. Measurement is so critical to success, a more detailed analysis is helpful

Q.2 Compare the following: Traditional Vs. Projectised Organization.

Comparison between traditional and projectised organization Traditional organisations Projectised organizations They have the formal organization structure, with departments, functions, They have teams comprising members sections having a hierarchy of managers who are responsible for completing and their assistants. one entire deliverable product. All of the managers function on a continuous basis catering to a series of requirements issued by the planning The teams will have all the resources department. required to finish the jobs. An assembly of various units of their production forms a products and a They have a time schedule within variety of such products make up the which all the elements of the projects business of the company. have to be completed. No particular member or a department or a team is responsible for the completion of any particular product. There is greater accountability among Their creativity and innovation is in team members and everyone is particular respect of their jobs. responsible for the delivery. Most of the members do not get exposed It is found that a sense of ownership to other areas of operations in the of the project motivates team members organisation. They become specialists to be creative, cooperative among them and insular. to achieve high productivity.

Q3. List out the macro issues in project management and explain each.

Ans3. The macro issues in project management: a) Evolving key success factors (KSF) upfront: In order to provide complete stability to fulfillment of goals, one need to constantly evaluate from time to time, the consideration of what will constitute the success of completing a project and assessing its success before completion. The KSF should be evolved based on a basic consensus document (BCD). KSF will also provide an input to effective exit strategy (EES). Exit here does not mean exit from the project but from any of the drilled down elemental activities which may prove to be hurdles rather than contributors. B) Empowerment Title (ET): ET reflects the relative importance of members of the organization at three levels. i) Team members empowered to work within limits of their respective allocated responsibilities the major change from bureaucratic systems is an expectation from theses members to innovate and contribute to tome and cost. ii) Group leaders are empowered additionally to act independently towards client expectation and are also vested with some limited financial powers. iii) Managers are empowered further to act independently but to maintain a scientific balance among time, cost, expectation and perception, apart from being a virtual advisor to the top management. a)Partnering Decision making (PDM): PDM is a substitute to monitoring and control a senior with better decision making process with work closely with the project managers as well as members to plan what based can be done to manage the future better from past experience. The key here is the active participation of members in the decision making process. The ownership is distributed among all irrespective of levels the term equally should be avoided here since ownership is not quantifiable. The right feeling of ownership is important. The PD process is made scientific through: Earned Value management system (EVMS) Budgeted Cost of work scheduled (BCWS) Budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) Actual cost of work performed (ACWP) a) Management by exception (MBE): No news is good news. If a member wants help he or she located a source and proposed to the manager only if such help is not accessible for free. Similarly a member should believe that a team leaders silence is a sign of approval should not provoke comments through excessive seeking of opinions. In short leave people alone and let situation perform the demanding act. The bond limit of MBE can be evolved depending on the sensitivity of the nature and size of the project.

Q.4 Describe the traits of a professional manager in details?

Ans4. Traits of a professional manager

The following list contains traits you should exemplify if you are a leader. Reference this list as needed when fulfilling your leadership responsibilities. Motivating: The inner drive that motivates followers to achieve goals is an important aspect of leadership. You need to possess the ability to inspire followers and compel them to reach their goals. Unless you can motivate them, any attempts to reach goals will fail. Optimistic: Demonstrating a good attitude goes a long way toward goal achievement. If you adopt a positive attitude, you will become a source of motivation and an asset to the entire team. An optimistic outlook is contagious-if you are optimistic, your followers will tend to assume the same attitude, which is beneficial for the group as they strive to reach goals. Set a solid example for followers by always maintaining a positive demeanor. Supportive: Expressing confidence in your followers' abilities is vital to successful leadership. Followers will be more committed to accomplishing goals if they know they have your full support. You should also be willing to demonstrate support by making personal sacrifices for your followers' well being. Your followers' needs should always be a top priority. When you show that you support their needs, your followers will appreciate your concern and respond with mutual support. Knowledgeable: Knowledge is crucial to successful leadership. You need to be knowledgeable in order to recognize and understand all the possibilities available in a situation and to make the best possible decisions. You should also make an effort to continually learn new information--the more knowledge you possess, the more capable you will be to make sound decisions. Flexible: Being rigid and narrow-minded can be a leader's downfall. If you are flexible and open to new ideas, followers will feel encouraged to contribute their expertise. This communication will help you achieve goals, since others may have suggestions that you had never considered. Being flexible also requires you to change set courses of action when needed. You must be able to make modifications to decisions when necessary, and not merely stick to a set plan of action for the sake of continuity. Empowering: You must be willing to grant responsibilities to your followers. Followers appreciate being trusted and will be more motivated to perform well when given the opportunity to complete tasks on their own. To successfully empower your followers, you need to accurately assess their skills and personalities. By understanding the potential of your followers, you will be able to allot each follower an appropriate amount of responsibility. Otherwise, you risk assigning tasks that are either too difficult or too simple for followers to complete. Trustworthy: As a leader, you must create a high level of mutual trust with your followers. You build trust through your actions, by demonstrating fairness, integrity, and dependability. Without the presence of

trust, it will be difficult to establish the positive leader-follower relationships necessary for the achievement of goals. Encourages growth: A certain level of excellence needs to be established in order to encourage your followers to improve their performance. Measure the performance levels of your followers by setting standards that will drive them to grow professionally. Efficient: Since you are responsible for coordinating the efforts of any number of followers, it is essential that you utilize solid time management skills. Organization is the key to successfully accomplishing goals in an allotted amount of time. You will need to organize your own efforts, as well as those of your followers, to ensure that all tasks are completed by the set deadlines. Communicates clearly: In order to lead successfully, you must maintain an open channel of communication with your followers. Open communication requires you to clearly specify your thoughts and concerns, as well as encourage and recognize feedback from followers. A relationship that fosters open communication will be beneficial to both you and your followers. Confusion regarding what is expected from one another will be minimized, and conflicts will be easier to resolve when they arise. Fosters relationships: Being a good leader requires that you develop and utilize strong interpersonal skills. Treat your followers with respect and courtesy to help promote positive interactions. Building a solid relationship with followers will encourage them to become more comfortable working with you. Maintaining the leader-follower relationship is critical, since its status influences the achievement of goals.

Q.5 List the major participants of project review process. Also highlight roles and responsibilities of each. Ans5. This Project Review defines a process for conducting a cross-functional, project-level review of
a team's implementation of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). A Project Review Report documents learning points for future development teams and SDLC improvement. The Software Development Life Cycle and the Project Review information contained in this document apply to all cross-functional product development projects. It may apply to a single project of five to nine team members or a full cross-functional product line involving 50 to 70 group members. A commitment of one or two hours for each meeting is needed. Meetings may be held separately or in parallel as part of a large group workshop. This Project Review Process uses a three-stage model based on a search for common ground and building a shared vision of the future. The process stages are: 1. Examine the past to determine what went well and what could have been better. Everyone votes on the three most important items in each list. 2. Determine current positive and negative forces. Everyone votes on top three. 3. Build a shared action plan for future improvements. Everyone votes on the top three priorities.

The outcome expected of this process is a prioritized list of improvement actions based on a common vision and a shared commitment. The process is designed to (stage one) let go of past difficulties and build energy from past strengths while (stage two) seeking alignment with current positive forces for success. The visioning (stage three) explores new methods, work simplification, and/or technology opportunities to improve project performance Project Review Project Review Meetings provide an opportunity to analyze and document project successes and difficulties, thereby providing a better foundation for future development teams. A final review of all development phases must be completed prior to disbanding of the team. Each functional unit prepares a summary of learning points relevant to their functional area, and conducts one or more "public" meetings to review findings and teach others. Meeting minutes documenting discussion and summarize learning points are published within one (1) week after each Project Review Meeting. A final Project Review Report combines all review meeting minutes and functional reports into a single document for review by future teams. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) changes will be submitted to the Process team to initiate changes to the SDLC. Scheduling: The Project Review Meeting is part of the lessons learned and improvement recommendation activity. Despite being a deliverable late in the product development process, the team is encouraged to hold one or more Project Review Meetings during earlier phases of development. The final Project Review Meeting occurs after the system is operational. A meeting announcement memo for each Project Review Meeting will be distributed to all potential attendees a minimum of two (2) weeks prior to the meeting Responsibility: The responsible executive or designate (usually the process team leader) will be responsible for scheduling, moderating, note-taking, meeting minutes, summarizing learning points, and preparing a final Project Review Report. Team members and functional representatives may be called upon to lead portions of the presentation/discussion and may be asked by the responsible executive to assist in the preparation of meeting minutes or the final Project Review Report. Roles and responsibility of project review process

Program Charter provides an overall vision of the program goals and objectives to the team members; Work Plans lay down detailed schedules of activities, milestones, and deliverables of the project team, and identifies the resources available; Governance Plan identifies the roles and responsibilities of each member of the project team; Work Breakdown Structure defines the specific deliverables due from each team member, at each stage of the project; Communication Plan establishes the protocol, procedure, and methods to communicate project information and issues among members of the team;

Forms and Templates simplify communication, record-keeping and reporting; Risk Analysis lists out potential problems and chances of deviance from the project methodology, the probability of such occurrences, the possible impact, and possible solutions.

Q.6 ABC organization has been in software business since last 20 years. The senior management feels that although they are making profits, but the profit on an average is the same each year. They decide that they would make some additions to the business and decided to go ahead with development of some high technology for better profits. Can you suggest some guidelines, which the management should follow in this venture? Ans. Every business aims to commence its activities in the foreign market. The foreign market provides with both opportunities and risks. Therefore some prefer to enter in to strategic relationships and one such is the Joint Ventures. A Joint Venture is an entity formed between two or more parties to undertake economic activity together. The JV parties agree to create, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They then share in the revenues, expenses, and assets and the control of the enterprise. Therefore the basic characteristics of joint venture can be summed up as: 1) Based on a Contractual Agreement. 2) Specific limited purpose and duration. 3) Joint Property Interest 4) Common Financial and Intangible goals and objectives. 5) Shared profits, losses, management and control. Reasons for setting Joint Ventures abroad The reasons for setting up joint ventures can be contributed to three main factors and they are: 1. Internal Reasons. 2. Competitive Goals. 3. Strategic Goals. 1. The Internal reasons are as follows: Building on companys strength. Spreading on costs and risks. Improving access to financial resources. Economies of scale and advantages of size. Access to new technologies and customers. Access to innovative managerial practices. 2. The Competitive Goals are as follows: Influencing structural evolution of the industry. Defensive response to blurring industry boundaries.

Creation of stronger competitive units. Speed to market. Improved Agility.

3. The Strategic Goals are as follows: Diversification Synergies. Transfer of technology/skill Indian Joint Ventures Abroad India started opening its economy a decade ago to integrate with global economy. The business ventures abroad are not a new phenomenon in the independent India. The initiatives were taken way back in the 1960s with the first ventures of Birlas in Ethopia in the year 1964. However, it has assumed specific significance after the Indian government started economic reforms in the year 1991, making globalization of Indian business an integral part of economic reforms. Significance of Indian Joint Ventures Abroad International trade is considered to be imperative for economic development. Economic borders of various countries have been opened on this premise under the aegis of world trade organization. In countries, whose economy has moved from the lev el of necessity to comforts and luxuries levels, there are increasing pressures for newer, better and superior products with consistent quality, high reliability and attractive finish etc. Further, with the labour becoming increasingly costly, the firms have to go for development of capital intensive technologies. The huge investments in new product and technology development demands higher levels of production to ensure operations of the firms above the breakeven point. The scale of operations required over a period of time reaches a level that is well above the entire domestic demand in most of the developed countries, which generally have small population. The firms thus face the problem of searching new markets and cheaper sources of raw material, labour and other resources. Their growth and development, thus, depends upon internationalization of the business. Advantages and Disadvantages A business while deciding upon whether to go for a joint venture should make a thorough analysis on its business goals. Advantages Financial resources can be shared. Allows for Investor diversification. Reduces local Friction. Reduce Fixed costs per product. Direct management of business activities. Competitive strengths of two parties can be combined. A local JV partner knows the market.

Economic incentives add value to JVs.

Disadvantages JV profits are shared. Shared technologies can be used beyond JV. Local Management of a JV can be unknown Broadly there are two schemes under which an Indian Party can set up a JV abr oad, namely the Automatic Route and the Normal Route/Approval Route. Automatic Route Under the Automatic Route, an Indian Party does not require any prior approval from the Reserve Bank for setting up a JV abroad (in case of investment in the financial sec tor, however, prior approval is required from the concerned regulatory authority both in India and abroad). The criteria for direct investment under the Automatic Route are as under: The total financial commitment of the Indian Party in JVs in any country other than Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan is up to 100% of its net worth and the investment is in a lawful activity permitted by the host country The Indian Party is not on the Reserve Banks exporters caution list / list of defaulters to the banking system published/ circulated by the Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd. (CIBIL)/RBI or under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate or any investigative agency or regulatory authority; The Indian Party routes all the transactions relating to the investment in a JV through only one branch of an authorized dealer to be designated by it. N ormal Route Proposals not covered by the conditions under the automatic route require the prior clearance of the Reserve Bank for which a specific application in f orm ODI with the documents prescribed therein is required to be made to RBI. Requests under the normal route are considered by taking into account inter alias the prima facie viability of the proposal, business track record of the promoters, experience and expertise of the promoters, benefits to the country, etc.