Category: Management

Outline

This paper is a study of problems in project management with particular reference to cost overruns. It is seen that project management is a complex undertaking and requires managerial and technical skills for the efficient completion of projects. Cost overruns are frequent in most projects irrespective of the area or industry. Government projects are the most subject to cost overruns. The fault lies with the project manager and the management of the company undertaking the project. Cost overruns can be brought down to a great extent if the above two are more vigilant and strict over the whole process.

Introduction

Management of an organization on a day-to-day basis is a complicated and responsible job. This is more so in the case of a project. Project management is quite different from ordinary management in the sense that each project has a definite start date and end date, after which the work on it is stopped. Management then begins when a new project is taken up. This could be with a different client in a different location, market, or even country. In the case of companies that are engaged in project management works on an international level, managers may find themselves working in different cultures while working for different projects. Clients will also change and their attitude and culture may vary to a large extent. Considering these factors management of projects is more complicated than regular management of an organization. This paper will be a research one major problem area or issue in the field of project management. To show the complexity of the field, general problems that can crop in project management will also be provided. An overview of the topic will also be provided to show the nature of project management and the different factors that are needed for successful project implementation.

Overview of Project management

Project management can be defined as The application of modern management techniques and systems to the execution of a project from start to finish, to achieve predetermined objectives of scope, quality, time and cost, to the equal satisfaction of those involved. (Project management framework: Project management, 2004). There are two distinct factors involved in the success of a project and the project manager. One is the human side and the other is the technical/analytical or scientific side. Like other areas of management, project management can also be called an art as well as science. The art aspect is needed concerning managing the diverse types of people that may be involved in a project. The scientific or technical side is about the management of the whole process involved in project management. (Heerkens, 2001, p.6). In most instances, there will be a client, the project management company, and a set of contractors involved in the process. The client will hand over the implementation of a project to a well-managed company. That company may or may not use the assistance of independent contractors while undertaking the project. This will depend on the individual resources available with each company. The success of any project, in general, will depend on the following factors. This section is provided here to illustrate the complexity that exists in project management. It is to be noted that problems and issues can come up in any of the factors mentioned below.

Project manager: Like all group activities, a project should also have an effective project manager. The project manager, apart from his technical skills, should also be a person who is acceptable to the team and also be able to manage the project and his team members. The person should preferably possess the necessary human and interpersonal skills involved in managing people. He should also be knowledgeable about the technical aspects of the project. If the project is about the construction of a bridge, the manager should preferably be a civil or construction engineer.

Defining the project: This is the first step in project management and is usually the job of the project manager (with the help of other company resources). The client will provide the necessary details of the project which should be used for this process. It is very important to clearly understand the needs of the client to clearly define the project. The problems that many crops up and the possible solutions should be identified. The planning and the project plan will be based on the definition of the project

Team building: In any team activity, the quality of the team will be instrumental to successfully achieve the aim of the project. In the case of a professional project management firm, there will be a ready-made team. The external contractors will also be regular companies who are trusted by the company in charge of the project. But where the project is undertaken in a new market, the company should be careful in selecting a contractual partner. In case the project is an internal one and not done by a professional company, team building is more complicated since a fresh set of people have to be assigned to the job. Finding the right contractors (if required) will also be a problem that has to be handled carefully.

Planning and estimation: Planning ahead is an essential requirement in any management process and holds good in this area also. For proper planning estimating the various resources needed to complete the project is necessary. Resources include finance, personnel, technology, machinery, and time. Once these estimates are calculated, the next step planning the steps needed to successfully complete the project. Preparation of budgets is an important element in planning.

Project Plan: The project plan will document all the details necessary to complete the project and will include the estimation and planning steps mentioned above. The project plan is the document on which the whole activity of completing the project is based. Hence the level of detail and accuracy is extremely important here. The areas covered will include the time required, the resources needed, and the costs involved.

Risk and unforeseen circumstances: In the complex modern world, the element of risk and uncertainty is a constant possibility. These factors can be both internal and external. Internal risks can be accidents, lack of resources, and poor team performance. External factors can include sabotage, governmental policies, the lack of support from or financial problems of the client. Internal factors are easier to foresee and correct. There is also more control with regard to internal factors. External factors on the other hand involves the influence of many agencies and hence more difficult to predict and control. The plans should include all possible eventualities that may arise and provide individual course of action to face and solve the issues.

Control during execution of the project: By this stage, the product is ready to be started. The activities and costs should be closely monitored and controlled to see that the project stays on schedule. In case the control is poor, costs and time taken can overshoot budgeted figures and time. Daily meeting with supervisors and reporting of the days activities are a must with regard to control.

Communication and documentation: Communication is a key factor in the success of any managerial activity. Unless there is effective communication, proper understanding of the duties and responsibilities of team members will not be there. This will result in wrong or defective work. A proper communication infrastructure will also provide the manager with information regarding any problems that have arisen in the project execution. Extensive documentation of the day to day activities, issues, and costs should be made. This is useful to convince the client of the way the project was competed and also the problems faced during the process.

Finishing the project: The Project closure phase is the last phase of the Project Life Cycle. The commencement of the Project Closure Phase is determined by the completion of all Project Objectives and acceptance of the end product by the customer. (Project closure phase, 2009). It is common for companies to prepare a closure report. Companies also undertake a post implementation review to understand the successes and failures of individual tasks in the project process. This will help in improving the overall ability of the company in undertaking future projects.

Common problems in project management

Before moving on to a particular problem area, it is proposed that a brief review of common problems that can occur during the implementation of a project. The American Management Association has published an article which details this. One of the problems shown here will be researched in detail after this section. Here are ideas from some of the project management experts American Management Association works with about overcoming ten of the most common problems you may encounter. (Overcoming project management problems, 2009).

Not being able to start the project on time is the first problem listed by the Association. Project tasks sometimes get too big or complicated to handle, resulting in the project crossing its original parameters. The third most common problem is the amount of paperwork to be done by mangers, supervisors and team members. A lot of this paperwork is quite unnecessary with regard to the project. The project usually seems to loose its momentum especially when it nears completion. It becomes necessary to make changes and revisions to the original plans. This could be because of poor planning or occurrence of unexpected incidents. Gaps in staffing or understaffing are quite frequent during the implementation of projects. Another problem area is that costs cannot be controlled and usually overshoots the budget. In many cases, the company or client may demand the project manager that the project should be completed ahead of schedule. Many company officials believe that the project is not really needed for the company. The final most common problem is that team members fear to innovate, and stick to tried and tested methods. They do not want to think out of the box when it comes to project decisions.

Cost overruns: It is proposed that the one area that is to be researched here is the area of cost overruns. Finance is an extremely crucial component in any business, and wastage of this resource is not welcomed. Another factor that should be considered that cost and time involved in a project is one of the key indicators of project performance. At present, time and cost overruns are the most commonly used indicators of project performance. It is almost taken for granted that a project completed with minimum of time and cost overruns are well-managed projects. (Choudhury, 2009).

Hence costs should be kept within budgeted levels as much as possible. Author James P Lewis who wrote the book Team-Based Project Management and The Fundamentals of Project Management, cost control problems occur because of inaccurate budget allocations, schedule delays that demand more resources than foreseen, new technology demands, requirements unanticipated during initial planning, and changes in project mission. (Overcoming project management problems: Problem #8: Costs are over-budget, 2009). This explanation indicates that cost overruns can occur at any stage in the project management lifecycle and also be due to any of the factors mentioned in the section on overview of project management mentioned above. Robert L. Kimmons and James H Loweree, authors of a book titled Project Management: A Reference for Professionals says that cost overruns tends to increase in direct proportion to the size of the project. In other words, the likelihood of higher than planned costs increases as the project size gets bigger. (Kimmons & Loweree, 1989, p.270). But due to the volume of investment involved the ratio of cost overrun to budget will be higher for smaller projects than for larger ones. A review of industry wise breakup of occurrence of cost overruns is also worthwhile. This is based upon a study done by the above mentioned authors. It is not very surprising that the highest percentage of cost overruns occur in the government sector. Almost 40% of all government projects overshoot their original budgets. This could be because commitment and control might be lower in the government sector when compared to the private sector. The management of the project management company will put pressure on the project manager and the team to see that the work is done as per schedule and below or at cost. Industrial expansion is the next biggest culprit with 21% of projects overshooting their budget. New industrial projects and other projects take the next two places in cost overruns having 14% and 11% incidences. This is followed by apartments and office buildings (10%), power transmission projects (5%), and shopping malls (4%). This breakup is represented in the following pie chart. (Kimmons & Loweree, 1989, p.271).

The study also says that 77% of the total projects studies had substantial cost overruns while there was not a single one which was completed as per or under budget estimates. Only 23% of the total projects had minimal cost overruns. The figures may vary from time to time and also according to other factors like labor unrest, inflation, and government policies. But it is proposed that the industry wise balance with regard to the cost factor may remain more or less the same.

Another study on the Norwegian road construction industry showed that there were substantial cost overruns in this sector also. It should be remembered that road construction is primarily a government responsibility and cost overruns are not surprising as seen from the results of the above study. The findings reveal a discrepancy between estimated and actual costs, with a mean cost overrun of 7.9% ranging from 59% to +183%. In absolute terms, cost overruns amounted to a formidable 519 million Norwegian kroners. (Odeck, 2004, p.43-53). But the study also reports that a new result with regard to smaller projects. It says that smaller projects faced comparatively larger cost overruns when compared to larger projects. This is in direct contrast to what Kimmons and Loweree had mentioned earlier. The IT industry is also subject to this aberration in costs. Despite best efforts, the average IT project still overruns its budget by about 43 percent. (Affordable IT staying on budget: Whats a project to do, 2009). It can be seen that cost overruns is not limited to any industry, but to the concept of project management as a whole. A review of the different factors in project management that can result in cost overruns is provided here.

The project manager is to a large extent responsible for overshooting of budget costs. The required control over the whole process may have resulted in this state of affairs. Alternatively unrealistic budgeting by calculating low figures could also result in costs not matching with the budgeted figure. This is the fault that happens during planning and estimation stage. The quality of the team and the contractual partners will also be a factor here. An efficient team can complete the tasks as per schedule even though the compensation paid to them will be more when compared to a poor team. It is better to have a good team and good contractual partners even if they cost more, than finding that the project has overrun its cost and time parameters. Risk factors and unforeseen events cal also result in cost overruns. For example, an accident in the workplace which causes destruction of property or machinery can cause delays resulting in escalation of costs. This will affect the total cost even if the damaged items were insured. Natural and manmade disasters also play a part. Lack of proper communication and control can also result in wrong tasks being performed. Other factors include sudden change in duties of products used in the projects, increase in compensation, strike etc

Conclusion

A study of problems seen in project management with particular reference to cost overruns has been done here. It is seen that project management is a complex process and requires many management and technical skill for efficient performance. With regard to cost overruns, this phenomenon is present across all sectors of project management. The factors resulting in this happening does not have too much relation to the type of industry. The only area where cost overruns are common occurs in government run projects. It is the duty and responsibility of the project manager and the management to see that this variation is kept to the minimum.

References

Affordable IT staying on budget: Whats a project to do. (2009). Network Computing. Web.

Choudhury, Sadhan. (2009). Time and cost overruns the bane of project management. Project Monitor. Web.

Heerkens, Gary. (2001). Project management. McGraw Hill Professional. Web.

Kimmons, Robert. L., & Loweree, James. H. (1989). Project management. CRC Press. 270. Web.

Kimmons, Robert. L., & Loweree, James. H. (1989). Project management. CRC Press. 271. Web.

Odeck, James. (2004). Cost overruns in road construction what are their sizes and determinants. Transport Policy, 11 (1), 43-53. Web.

Overcoming project management problems. (2009). AMA: American Management Association. Web.

Overcoming project management problems: Problem #8: Costs are over-budget. (2009). AMA: American Management Association.

Project closure phase. (2009). Visitask: Project Management Training and Resources. Web.

Project management framework: Project management. (2004). The Ohio State University. Web.

Almost any device, piece of equipment or machinery can cause injuries or damage to property if mishandled. One of the process safety hazards that can endanger human lives and damage property for millions of dollars are pressure hazards. Michael Speegle (2012) identifies two general categories of them: rupture of pressurized vessels and dynamic pressure hazards (p. 82). Their proper explanation and exemplification may help prevent accidents and save lives.

Rupture of Pressurized Vessels

Improperly handled or undermaintained vessels that hold liquefied gas substances or other pressurized content can trigger serious destructions. Hazardous consequences can follow if structural integrity of a pressurized container is broken. For example, it can happen if workers on a construction site drop a compressed oxygen tank on the ground. Due to the fall, the tanks exterior casing may have a breach, through which the substance will escape with immense speed causing an explosion. According to Speegle (2012), an explosion of pressurized tanks can be extremely dangerous due to the metal parts pushed by the explosion in many different directions that can harm people and destroy equipment. Above that, an explosion creates a blast wave that can be even more destructive. Otherwise, the container might be damaged because of the metal casing defects or an increase in internal temperature or pressure.

Dynamic Pressure Hazards

Dangerous circumstances can also occur due to sudden or continuous release of pressurized substances. They can include a stream of gas bursting from a blown out pipe or valve. Such stream may severely burn or even cut a person standing in front of it. Another hazard may come from flexible pipelines or hoses used by firefighters. Such pipelines can cause severe traumas if they are left unattached or got loose from the improper grip. The danger of pressurized tanks failure builds up if the atmosphere of a working site contains flammable substances. Such situations are the prime concern, for instance, on oil platforms where there is a lot of high-pressure equipment in use and natural gas in the air.

Detection of Pressure Hazards

Detection of a vessel integrity disruption can be possible with the help of pressure and heat sensors that are normally installed on such equipment. In case of an explosion due to sudden ruptures, detection can rarely be possible because of the often-instant character of the blast. Hissing sound can in some cases also indicate a rupture and gas substance leakage.

Pressure Hazard Prevention

To prevent pressure-related hazardous events safety procedures are to be elaborated. Such procedures can include accident prevention manuals that contain a set of actions that each employee working with pressurized containers must do to eliminate a possibility of hazardous consequences. For instance, constant monitoring of the pressure equipment or wearing protective gear. In addition, in companies that work with pressure-hazardous machinery a periodical safety inspection is usually needed to check its condition. Should an emergency arise, each employee needs to follow a special protocol to mitigate the outcomes. Furthermore, each piece of machinery that contains or transmits pressurized substances must be constructed according to a special design code. This code usually implicates an installment of various safety mechanisms like relief valves. Working with flammable substances under pressure usually supposes a high degree of explosion protection for both employees and equipment.

All things considered, both rupture and dynamic pressure hazards pose a serious threat to health, life, and capital. Steam, natural gas, and other pressurized substances must be treated with caution at any time. Therefore, there is a need for constant monitoring, maintenance, and advancement of fail-safe technologies to prevent a disaster.

Mechanical Integrity in the Context of Process Safety Management

Process safety management (PSM) is a vital aspect of any organization code because it helps develop low-risk conditions even in hazardous environments provided all employees would comply. Ensuring all equipment works properly is one of the most critical conditions of safe work environment. Mechanical integrity (MI) that encompasses that idea is an essential component of PSM, a guarantee of a proper functioning and installment of equipment.

Human Factor Hazard

The human factor is one of the most common sources of dangerous situations that cause various leakages, explosions, power cutoffs, and mechanical integrity violations. Those who operate, maintain, and inspect hazardous machinery are subject to various imperfections leading to adverse outcomes. Among them are fatigue, lack of knowledge or training, inattention to detail, carelessness, and many others. Any of that may result in seemingly small error that, however, could have catastrophic consequences. For instance, tuning the gas pressure to a slightly different value from normal could become the reason of an explosion in a gas storage. A more common example would be a mechanic who did not properly tighten a bolt in a car wheel after changing a tire, which resulted in a car crash. In both cases, mechanical integrity of a gas tank or a car was violated because of the human actions. Human errors are typically minimized with the help of automatic equipment, strict code with sizable fines, multiple levels of quality control, various inspections, and hiring professionals with many years of experience.

Natural Hazards

Natural hazards can also harm mechanical integrity of the equipment and sometimes cause millions of dollars worth of damage. A relatively recent tragedy in Fukushima nuclear power plant can be a vivid example of such hazards. An earthquake and tsunami have damaged the reserve generators undermining the work of cooling systems, which resulted in the melting of reactor cores. From the PSM point of view, the plant had an automatic emergency shutdown system, which responded as it should have. However, it was not prepared for the second disaster in the form of a tsunami. According to official sources, necessary precautions have been taken to prevent such catastrophes from happening again.

Hazards of Pressure

Mechanical integrity may be quite sensitive to pressure changes. Explosions caused by excessive pressure can sometimes break and blow off even the thickest metal components. Metal pieces are torn apart and thrown in various directions causing grave injuries. The situation may become even worse if the substance from an exploded vessel is flammable. Various precautions are taken to ensure safety of the personnel and to preserve the mechanical integrity and stable operation of the equipment. Since many accidents happen due to human error, companies tend to install automatic fail-safe systems to monitor pressure-hazardous equipment. Different sensors inform operators of any changes in mechanical integrity, pressure, temperature and can even automatically take emergency actions.

All three types of hazards can significantly undermine or break mechanical integrity of the equipment. Since violation of MI leads to significant losses, companies take steps to prevent or mitigate their equipment from hazardous consequences. Both human and nature can be quite unpredictable, so process safety and mechanical integrity are constantly evolving.

References

Speegle, M. (2012). Safety, health, and environmental concepts for the process industry. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.

Introduction

Technological advances have been credited for most of the new trends in the contemporary economy, including employment relations. Peoples daily lives have been affected by innovations where tasks are either re-invented or reassigned from humans to machines. Around the workplace, similar changes have been reported where worker relations are becoming more technology-driven. For example, the concept of E-HRM has emerged, which entails the planning, implementing, and applying modern information technologies (IT) for such functions as networking and supporting the performance of human resource management (HRM) activities. Another trend shaping modern workplaces is the rise of the gig economy, which can be described as a labor market characterized by short-term contracts, often comprising freelancers. The focus of this paper is to critically explore the statement that the developments in technology are changing how we work, which necessitates new ways of managing the employment relationship.

Position

The position argued in this paper is that new technologies have revolutionized contemporary workplaces, and organizations should take advantage of the benefits and opportunities availed by the innovations. To support this argument, the benefits and opportunities of the gig economy and E-RHM will be explored using examples and case studies. However, any disruptions and their effects will also be outlined as and if applicable in the context of workplace relationships. Additionally, an overview of employment relationships kickstarts the critical evaluation, after which the changes caused by the two technologies will be examined.

Employment relationship

Modern corporations strive to sustain good management-employee relationships, which is critical for the firms positive growth. According to Das et al. (2020), employment relationships can be described as a special interpersonal relationship whose origins date back to the 20th century. The concept mainly entails how the internal relations between an organization and its employees, often focusing on human behavior. There are five elements of employment relations, as discussed by (Budd & Bhave, 2019): employees, employers, states, and contracts. An employee is an individual who sells labor and is often conceptualized as a behavioral or economic being. The employers are purchasers of the labor offered by workers and often comprise organizations of different types. States comprise the government, whole role in employment management is majorly regulatory. Markets comprise buyers and sellers of labor in capitalist societies where each of these parties seeks to maximize the rewards. Lastly, contracts are the documentations that capture the purchase and sale of labor in the market.

The employment relationship is managed by the HRM function, sometimes through an employment relationship management (ERM) role. According to Harney et al. (2018), the concerns for ERM in HRM emerged during the industrial revolution, when attention was turned to employee and management issues. However, the tendency towards these practices was solidified through the scientific method spreadhead Frederick Taylor, who is effectively regarded as the father of modern management. The primary objective of the ERM is to ensure that the workers are happy and satisfied with their jobs. The HR managers are often in charge of the ERM activities, which include building cross-functional teams, encouraging social interactions, and equipping workers with the necessary communication tools (Dutta, 202). From a scientific management perspective, improving the welfare of the workers makes them more productive, which then benefits the employer. ERM should address all issues and conflicts in the employer-employee relationship for the ERM efforts to be fruitful.

ERM faces multiple challenges, especially for modern HR managers who operate in a rapidly changing environment. For example, the labor market is widening to encompass full-time and part-time workers, as well as contractors (Rothschild, 2021). The HRM function has to have a clear view of who works for the company and how each of these categories can be aligned with the corporate purpose. The changes in the labor market force companies to change their approaches to ERM. Additionally, employment relationship management experiences a situation where employees hardly trust the HR staff (Segal, 2021). In such situations, the employees may not respond as expected towards the ERM activities, which hinders their success. ERM has also been conceptualized using different theories and models that define paradigm-level perspectives. Unitarism versus pluralism. For unitarists, the perspective held is that interests are shared among the members. On the contrary, pluralism is founded on the belief that a firm comprises divergent groups with a distinct legitimate set of interests Kaufman et al. (2021). Therefore, the HRM function has to decide which approach works best for the organization based on the composition of its workforce.

E-HRM

The widespread use of IT in organizations means that all organizational functions have to adapt accordingly. The origins of E-HRM go back to the 1990s with the emergence of e-commerce, which resulted in the emergence of the E-HRM concept (Berber et al., 2018). By definition, E-HRM entails the use of HRM information systems to improve HRM performance. As explained earlier, HRM is largely responsible for ERM activities, which raises the question of how the information systems help improve both the ERM and HRM outcomes. Much of the current literature seeks to answer this question by examining how E-HRM links to HRM outcomes. Trust between the employees and the HRM staff was described earlier as one of the key challenges facing ERM. In a study by Iqbal et al. (2019), the social exchange theory is used to explore the role of impersonal trust in the relationship between E-HRM and productivity. The findings indicate that technology in HRM improves both productivity and organizational trust.

The findings of the above study may have hinted at the possibility of e-HRM improving trust between the employee and employer. However, even more questions may arise regarding how the relationship works and what the antecedents are. One of the hypotheses explored by Al-Harazneh (2021) highlights that E-HRM has a direct positive effect on the HRM systems effectiveness at the philosophical level. The explanation offered for this argument is that the worker-management policy criteria are made more transparent, which helps improve employees perception of fairness. If the employees feel fairly treated, they begin to trust the HRM department. Additionally, the information systems used in HRM tend to improve communication, including a greater exchange of information related to the companys HR policy. Therefore, the antecedents to the trust and E-HRM relationship include transparency and knowledge sharing, as well as improved awareness of the corporate policy.

In addition to building trust, it can be argued that deploying E-HRM improves overall employee engagement within a company since the information systems increase the connectivity between line managers, top managers, HR staff, and employees (Al-Harazneh, 2021). The social exchange theory, leader-member exchange, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology have been used to explain this position. In essence, the success of the employees depends on several corporate factors, which include support from top management. With the EHRM systems, line managers can solicit the support they need to help the workers with their jobs. Therefore, the E-HRM systems not only improve the trust between workers and management but also ensure that the increased connectivity increases vertical feedback and management support. In this case, the E-HRM systems play a critical role in supporting corporate objectives by aligning the interests of the leaders with those of the workers.

The current literature on E-HRM can be critiqued for focusing almost exclusively on the effects of this technology on corporate outcomes. For example, Iqbal et al. (2019) express that E-HRM improves HR service quality and employee productivity. However, it can be argued that employee productivity is the intended outcome of the ERM efforts using the scientific management perspective. The links between E-HRM and ERM are not clearly drawn, which means that inferences will have to be made from the available literature. Therefore, the knowledge of ERM activities and issues can help figure out how the information systems impact ERM. Similar to the issue of trust explained above, ERM requires the implementation of effective communication tools and the development of teams. As an information system, it can be argued that the first outcome of the E-HRM implementation will be better channels of communication between the workers and the management. Regarding team building, improved connectivity means more cooperation and feedback, which allows teams to function effectively.

Therefore, the E-HRM systems can be considered enablers to the ERM efforts within an organization. Overall, E-HRM can be conceptualized as the use of information systems to help improve the performance of HRM functions. ER is managed by the HR staff, which means that the HRM function also incorporates and integrates ERM activities in the E-HRM. With this conceptualization, it follows that IT applications help resolve most of the ERM challenges. Relationships are built and maintained when the parties involved have a fruitful interaction characterized by effective and seamless communication and feedback between them. The E-HRM improves communication and engagement across all corporate levels, which helps boost ER activities.

Technology Apps and the Gig Economy

Technology apps and the gig economy can be viewed differently from the E-HRM since the impacts on the ERM functions are varied. While the E-HRM is seen as an enabler to the ERM, the technology apps and the gig economy could be conceptualized as posing a challenge to the ERM since they may require companies to rethink their entire ER policies, approaches, and practices. According to Wood and Lehdonvirta (2021), gig economy workers tend to perceive themselves as self-employed freelancers. However, they continue to be part of the traditional or regular employment that has to be managed effectively. If the company perceives freelancers as part of the normal workforce, the ERM activities are extended to them to improve performance outcomes. However, antagonism appears in these arrangements due to the conflicts created by the gig economy. For instance, disagreements over fees, worker voices, and competition may emerge, which tend to negate the overall HRM activities, including the ERM efforts. The main argument is that companies could be forced to adopt new approaches altogether for all the workers in the gig economy.

The challenges posed by the technology apps and the gig economy could be beyond a companys control, which means that the organization is forced to adapt and adjust to the trends. For example, technology apps help workers to work remotely, which means that a firm has little room to inspect the quality of work while it is in progress. Therefore, the quality could be checked upon delivery or accomplishment, at which stage the workers will be expected to be paid. The question that HRM managers have to ask themselves is how to extend quality policies to a group of workers who are loosely attached to the company (Wood et al., 2019). Additionally, businesses tend to take advantage of the competition to offer lower pay than regular employees. The workers may respond in a similar manner and offer lower quality than what they would offer for better-paying companies. As freelancers seek to maximize their income, they may encounter such difficulties as sleep deprivation, long work hours, exhaustion, and irregular work hours. All these are elements that could be detrimental to both the performance and quality outcomes.

Even with these dangers posed by app work in the gig economy, new possibilities for ERM are presented through the concept of algorithmic management. This term has been used by scholars to imply the automation of HRM functions and duties that were traditionally undertaken by humans. Therefore, HRM managers do not have to be actively involved in managing remote workers in the gig economy. At this stage, the challenges posed by the gig economy can be eased by designing the algorithms to meet the necessary specs desired by the technology apps. The algorithms may manage workloads, task assignments, quality checks, and time management (Meijerink & Keegan, 2019). However, these aspects are not the most important components of ERM, which might still require the input of a human manager.

This argument may not hold for long since algorithmic management is also seen as a tool for managing ER activities. It all depends on the perceptions of the workers and how they perceive their relationship with the firm. For example, those who see the relationship as purely transactional may not need further and deeper connections. According to Duggan et al. (2020), some freelancers tend to feel that digital platforms offer them a more relational sense. In such cases, the HRM should ensure that the algorithms do not fully replace the interpersonal relationships between the firm and the gig worker. As long as there is a contractual arrangement, the HR staff has to extend ER activities to the gig economy.

Conclusion

The essay has offered a critical analysis of how changes in technology necessitate new ways of managing employee relationships. Two technologies have been used, E-HRM and apps and the gig economy. The E-HRM has been conceptualized as an enabler of ERM, considering its role in building and facilitating corporate communication. On the contrary, work apps and the gig economy present a challenge to ERM efforts due to the conflicts of interest arising between freelancers and management. However, algorithmic management has offered a potential solution that allows HR staff to extend ER activities to remote workers.

References

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Iqbal, N., Ahmad, M., & Allen, M. (2019). Unveiling the relationship between e-HRM, impersonal trust, and employee productivity. Management Research Review, 42(7), 879-899. Web.

Iqbal, N., Ahmad, M., Raziq, M., & Borini, F. (2019). Linking e-hrm practices and organizational outcomes: empirical analysis of line managers perception. Review of Business Management, 21(1), 48-69. Web.

Kaufman, B., Barry, M., Wilkinson, A., Lomas, G., & Gomez, R. (2021). Using unitarist, pluralist, and radical frames to map the cross-section distribution of employment relations across workplaces: A four-country empirical investigation of patterns and determinants. Journal of Industrial Relations, 63(2), 204-234. Web.

Meijerink, J., & Keegan, A. (2019). Conceptualizing human resource management in the gig economy: Toward a platform ecosystem perspective. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34(4). Web.

Rothschild, L. (2021). The evolution of the business-employee relationship: How purpose fits in. Forbes. Web.

Segal, E. (2021). Why employees dont trust HR staff  And what can be done about it. Forbes. Web.

Wood, A., & Lehdonvirta, V. (2021). Antagonism beyond employment: How the subordinated agency of labor platforms generates conflict in the remote gig economy. Socio-Economic Review, 19(4), 1369-1396. Web.

Wood, A., Graham, M., & Hjorth, I. (2019). Good gig, bad gig: Autonomy and algorithmic control in the global gid economy. Work, Employment and Society, 33(1), 56-75. Web.

The PM Network is a magazine that publishes articles on project management offices or officers (PMO), proving to be a valuable resource for every successful project manager or beginner. The articles discuss various subjects but are mostly linked to project management (PM) principles and may include case studies of actual projects and organizations. I sampled five articles, each discussing a different topic, but all featured PM project failures while offering suggestions for improvement. One article focuses on a successful case study based in Canada to encourage an essential aspect of PM. The specific topics explored in these articles include connecting strategy and PM, phasing concept, stakeholder support, outsourcing PMO services, and PMO failures.

These topic areas are crucial for complex PMs as most managers struggle with them. All the articles cite the high failure rates associated with PMOs, citing the importance of incorporating this knowledge in PM. For instance, a lack of connecting strategy to project prowess leads to 44% unsuccessful projects and 58% completed projects that do not align with the organizational plan (Bridging the Chasm, 2014). The phasing concept is introduced as a suitable PM principle in managing substantial public investment, where each phase is treated as a project with its scopes, budgets, and schedules (Cabanis-Brewin, 2014). Cabanis-Brewin details how Infoway used the technique to roll out a transforming project across Canadas healthcare sector.

Gaining full stakeholder support for PMOs has been challenging owing to the previous failures in the field. Fister Gale (2011) highlights two actions as critical in gaining administrative support: measuring progress and broadcasting successes. Projects that all the stakeholders do not support are destined to fail or stray away from organizational objectives. She suggests that PMOs create a value statement that defines quantifiable measurements, sets realistic timeframes, and helps to establish their credibility. Mustafa (2013) introduces PMO outsourcing as an effective method of reducing costs and improving efficiency in PM. He suggests that project managers use proven vendor selection models to ensure success. Mustafa insists on the significance of keeping costs and quality concerns in check for offshore outsourcing.

The last article discusses some of the reasons why PMOs fail and the pressure they experience while offering recommendations on avoiding failure. OBrochta and Robertson (2012) believe that failed projects emanate from input-focused rather than output-driven plans, lack of executive support, and inability to match outcomes to business goals and strategy. The authors feel that top management must change and appreciate PMOs perceptions more to resolve these problems.

My experience has shown me that almost half of PMOs fail due to a lack of executive support. Regardless of how experienced and knowledgeable the project manager is, stakeholder support provides other external resources necessary for success. For example, top managers cannot allocate substantial amounts of money to an office they deem not instrumental to its success. The lack of budget and time constraints imposed on the PMO creates unnecessary pressure that leads to project failure or delay. Regrettably, PMOs have often failed to garner enough stakeholder support from the projects onset, increasing fail rates in the field.

Most project managers are frustrated by their employers with insufficient resources, but in the end, they take the blame for failed projects. Any companies that would want their PMOs to be effective must support the offices projects.

Outsourcing of PMO services and phasing strategy were exciting topics for me. Phasing allows proper management of voluminous projects carried out by the government and large corporations. The strategy also enables a project manager to work with manageable budgets, scopes, and schedules. The PMO also measures success for every phase, which confirms the projects feasibility to stakeholders at every level. The phasing strategy would be practical for most projects spreading over a long period. Outsourcing was interesting to me because I had not encountered the practice in PMO before reading the article. However, if project managers can cut costs and improve efficiency through the technique, it is worth trying out in the future. The author cited vendor selection as key in outsourcing success, and it is something I will explore further and explore real-world case studies.

I took several personal lessons from the articles, but most importantly, how I realized the failure rate among PMOs. When the world perceives PMOs as something that will fail, project managers have to make every effort to succeed. I have learned that the first step towards success is gaining executive support and approval from day one. This support will ensure that I have enough resources at my disposal to affect the project and implement necessary changes to ensure its completion.

I would also want to implement outsourcing and phasing strategies with complex projects in the future. While reading Cabanis-Brewins article, I planned to handle my life as a vast project with various phases that I can manage as projects. Although this is a great starting point, I intend to use the phasing strategy and other lessons I learned in the PMO field during my practice.

References

Cabanis-Brewin, J. (2014). Connected care. PM Network, 28(5), 4851. Web.

Bridging the chasm (2014). PM Network, 28(4), 5963. Web.

Fister Gale, S. (2011). The PMO: something of value. PM Network, 25(8), 3439. Web.

Mustafa, A. (2013). Inside the PMO: Hired help. PM Network, 27(8), 28. Web.

OBrochta, M. & Robertson, C. (2012). Peer to peer: PMOs under pressure. PM Network, 26(4), 2627. Web.

Introduction

Recently I was involved in a product promotion project as a project manager. The project involved personal selling, sales promotion, direct marketing, publicity, and public relations. The sales department directed the project towards increasing the number of sales and attracting new customers by creating awareness about the products existence in the market. As the project manager, I identified various constraints that affected the delivery of the expected outcomes. Constraints jeopardize the departments accuracy in meeting the objectives and effectiveness in the delivery process. These constraints include time, cost, scope, quality, resources, risks, and customers that affect the accuracy of delivering the projected objectives. All seven constraints are dependent on each other since an effect on one of them alters with the other. This essay discusses the impacts of each constraint and how we addressed them to meet the desired sequel.

Types of Constraints

Time Constraint

Time constraint is one of the seven constraints affecting the efficiency of the project. The time constraint indicates how the team can complete the project within a specific deadline. Time constraint is the projects scheduling on its completion and dictates a timeline by which the final deadline by which the team should hand over their work (Lotfi et al., 2022). However, some activities may hinder the projects timely completion, affecting its delivery. In the product promotion project, time constraints often affected the completion of the project because some of the team members failed to complete some activities within the stipulated time. To solve the time constraint problem, we had to appropriately recreate a project schedule and budget time for each phase. For instance, we regulated the personal selling timeline for ten minutes per client. We used time tracking to ensure that each member used the ten minutes on each client to ensure that all new clients received services. We also set alerts to alarm on completing the personal selling timeline.

Cost Constraint

Another constraint was the cost constraint that involved budgeting for the events underway. Cost can be a constraint in cases where the total budget that the management had planned for is altered by some activities unaccounted for in the initial plan. For example, in the product promotion project, the cost often changes due to alterations from effects of other constraints like time. When time constraint occurs, the costs of the activities rise due to an increase in the costs. Costs increase due to increased demand for other activities like increased labor (Relich & Swic, 2020). An increase in the budget limits effectiveness since the budget team must redirect money from one activity to another. We addressed the cost constraints by revisiting the projects planning phase to update the cost of some of the critical activities that the project cannot function without involving in its plans. We also reevaluated the workflow and invested in budget management to correct some emerging flows in the future.

Scope Constraint

Additionally, the scope constraint is another problem we experienced. In every project, the initial plan chatters for the specific goals, deliverable features, and functions that deliberate on the projects future objectives. These projections on the projects future expectations are known as the scope. The work done on the project may change based on the employees reaction in responding to various emergent issues and adherence to the activities procedures. Our projects experienced some challenges in understanding the projects scope. Still, we solved the problems by creating a project scope statement that identified what was to be part of the project to meet the clients satisfaction (Zhang, Hu, & Zhang, 2018). Clients become more satisfied when the project manager and the team members understand the demands within the project and gather all necessary resources to meet the desired scope.

Quality Constraint

Quality is also a part of the constraints we faced in our project. At times the quality of the product promotion project was not satisfying. The quality of such a project is measurable by the number of new customers registered and the number of sales we made. The quality may differ from the one expected by the management due to failure to meet the desired cost, failure to allocate maximum time, and lack of enough resources. Quality is essential in all projects because it indicates a firms commitment to fulfilling the employees satisfaction. A quality constraint is how the performed work meets the requirements. Since our project had experienced some shortcomings through the time constraint and the cost constraint, its quality became questionable, leading to our review of alternatives to maintain high quality at the overall timeline and costs.

Uncertainties as Project Constraint

Uncertainties may affect the delivery of an expected outcome in a project. These uncertainties contribute immensely to the risk constraint where the project planner does not have any information about the occurrence of a specific risk (Chen, Demeulemeester & Guo, 2018). Thus, risk management strategies are essential for every project in plan. Risk management is an activity that involves the prediction of uncertainties that may occur and finding the possible remedies that are applicable to minimize the adversities. Essentially, in our project, we set aside a precautionary kitty to boost the project in case of financial risk.

Consumer Satisfaction

Every business targets having a satisfied consumer base by providing quality services and offering credible customer care services. In some instances, consumer satisfaction can be a constraint when a business fails to meet consumers demands. The value provided to customers must be of the highest quality. Consumer satisfaction maintains good relationships between the company and its customers and keeps attracting more customers to the company. Our project was well equipped to ensure that the customers had the best experience interacting with us. We had trained our team members on skills to handle and communicate with the customers.

Resources as Constraints

Resources are also part of the constraints we faced in the project. Resources are the people, capital, equipment, and technology involved in the project to deliver the desired outcome. Project planners must distribute resources effectively by ensuring that every unit receives the perfect share to conduct its plans (Mehanna et al., 2020). Businesses cannot prosper without resources, hence the need for better strategies. Therefore, the project should utilize employees fully to maximize the utilization and provide robust analytics for timely decision-making. Our product promotion project used the proper planning to ensure that the project moved smoothly.

Conclusion

Constraints are activities that hinder companies from reaching their goals. Constraints include time, cost, scope, quality, risk, customer satisfaction, and resources. The primary purpose of every business is to make profits; however, they may fail due to increased production costs resulting from the constraints above. Some of the solutions for the constraints include prior planning, creating a project schedule to allocate time to every activity, reevaluating the workforce, and maximizing the use of the available resources. Solution of business constraints aids the business in proper planning and allocation of resources such as labor and capital on productive activities. Every business must manage its constraints to regulate the high cost that reduces profits.

References

Chen, Z., Demeulemeester, E., Bai, S., & Guo, Y. (2018). Efficient priority rules for the stochastic resource-constrained project scheduling problem. European Journal of Operational Research, 270(3), 957-967. Web.

Lotfi, R., Yadegari, Z., Hosseini, S. H., Khameneh, A. H., Tirkolaee, E. B., & Weber, G. W. (2022). A robust time-cost-quality-energy-environment trade-off with resource-constrained in project management: A case study for a bridge construction project. Journal of Industrial & Management Optimization, 18(1), 375. Web.

Mehanna, H., Hardman, J. C., Shenson, J. A., Abou-Foul, A. K., Topf, M. C., AlFalasi, M.,& & Holsinger, F. C. (2020). Recommendations for head and neck surgical oncology practice in a setting of acute severe resource constraint during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international consensus. The Lancet Oncology, 21(7), e350-e359. Web.

Relich, M., & Zwi, A. (2020). Parametric estimation and constraint programming-based planning and simulation of production cost of a new product. Applied Sciences, 10(18), 6330. Web.

Zhang, Z., Hu, F., & Zhang, N. (2018). Ant colony algorithm for satellite control resource scheduling problem. Applied Intelligence, 48(10), 3295-3305. Web.

Introduction

Technology has already affected all spheres of peoples lives. It is impossible to imagine todays world without different machines, computers, and the Internet. As technologies continue to develop and enter different areas, it is necessary to mention one field that their usage has significantly influenced the area of global transportation. The development of any transport company is impossible without the informational infrastructure as it enhances information exchange between the involved countries and companies. In order to do that, many businesses implement modern technologies in order to store and transmit information about the cargo and transport units into the production process. The Internet is one of the technologies that help this process. It has become an irreplaceable companion of logistics companies because it is widely used in the sphere for different purposes.

Main body

First of all, it gives people the ability to order goods online. When customers do shopping online, they give the companies opportunities to plan their work and optimize costs. Apart from that, the fast development of the Internet and navigation systems enables companies to control the position of goods transported in real time. In addition, the customer may control their parcels and know the exact time of their delivery as well, which increases the degree of the clients trust in the transport company or service.

In addition, with the help of the Internet, customers may get access to special databases where all transport companies are listed together with their ratios. They help the clients to choose the most suitable company for transporting their goods. Retail companies may use these databases because they will help them find reliable transport companies that can deliver goods without delay. Thus, the companies will minimize the risks of emergencies during transportation as well as its costs. The development of global Net technologies leads to an increase in the efficacy of different spheres of production and retail.

The implementation of Internet technologies may be quite a time- and effort-consuming, but the result is worth it. Informational technologies lead to the automation of the transportation process, which impacts the sphere of transportation management. Thus, the work may soon require digital competence and knowledge of all programs and databases used to provide safe and secure delivery of goods to customers. Hence, those who work as transportation managers may soon need to have wide knowledge in the sphere of technologies used in logistics. However, despite all complications and difficulties, the implementation of modern technologies enhances the process of product delivery, receiving, and managing the car parks. The faster the process, the lower the costs and the probability of mistakes.

Conclusion

Taking into account all mentioned above, it is possible to conclude that the process of implementation of modern technologies into the sphere of global transportation management is necessary and inevitable. It is caused mostly by the increased amount of data that needs to be processed. The Internet has the most significant impact on the sphere, as its usage facilitates the process of transporting and delivering goods. Customers are able to order goods online or choose the shipping company and monitor the process of transportation due to the development of the Internet. When it comes to companies, the Net helps them reduce the time and costs of transportation. However, the later development of the sphere may require special knowledge and digital competence from the managers.

The use of drones in disaster relief is becoming increasingly important. Drones can capture images, film videos, and deliver objects. The imagery and mapping technology in drones can be used to survey the damage and assist in allocating victims in emergencies. Unmanned aero planes can also be used to deliver critical tools in disaster response. Drones speed and cost efficiency make them very serviceable in emergency response. Emergency managers can use drones for emergency response for surveillance and delivery services.

The unmanned planes provide successful tracking information and resolution in emergency rescue. Drones can scan a wide affected area with more accuracy and speed. Natural and man-made disasters destroy the environment, derailing and challenging relief works to gain total access. Drones access and provide aerial images to enable emergency respondents to identify evacuation areas to be prioritized in flood situations. Moreover, it is vital that missing persons can be located early to increase their chances of survival. The surveillance feature of drones is used for complex assessments like collapsing and potential explosions due to chemical leaks. For instance, drones were used to assess structural damage in a critically damaged structure after an F-5 tornado in Wichita, Kansas. Rapid response can mean a difference between life and death; hence emergency managers should apply drone technology.

Emergency management can deliver infrastructure and supplies using drones. Often, infrastructural supply lines are cut after terrorist attacks hence challenging the delivery of essential items. For example, drones can deliver medicine and emergency kits in a wide area hit by an earthquake. Drone delivery has the advantages of speed and cost-efficiency. In medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest, ambulance drones are the fastest delivery of medical supplies.

Projects are the driving force behind change for any organization, especially when it comes to organizing and operating a collaborative event. Accordingly, the way to create business value of an organization through the implementation of project activities depends on the capabilities and resources of the organization, as well as on its project management strategy. According to Geraldi and Söderlund (2017), project management traditionally refers to the processes, tools, techniques, and concepts to manage the execution of the project (p. 57). Thus, the initial phase of the Lucky Me Animal Rescue adoption should begin with a comprehensive analysis: what goals this project strives to achieve and what means are there to support them. A professional, well-designed team is crucial for any initiative  the scope of tasks and responsibilities calls for a diversified approach only a cooperation of skilled individuals can employ. Therefore, it is imperative to determine who will be working on the project and what formation should the team implement, as the events success will depend on the effectivity of its collaborative efforts.

The project team should be formed after the initial phase analysis is complete to begin preparations for the event. It is expected that the team will be comprised of individuals who have already worked together before to lower the risks of conflicts and increase cooperation. To prepare for the event, the team will be asked to come and work at the Lucky Me Animal Rescue for a day in order to gain better understanding of the organizations challenges and goals. Sylvius (2017) emphasizes that the collaboration of sustainability and project management creates a new way of thinking in the field of PM. This will also help unify the team, as cooperative work would help the members establish positive contact and develop a communication flow. Considering all of the above, the team will have to operate both in reality and online. The members will need to group together to discuss the process of preparations, and online meetings will help with communicating small tasks and details.

In terms of members, the team will need a social media marketing specialist to provide a high-quality coverage of the event in Internet, as well as a designer and a copywriter to create unique content for it. Seeing as they will work closely together on the same task, all three will need to have a significant level of expertise to be able to align their visions into a well-developed product. The SMM-manager will have to execute leadership skills to communicate their ideas to the designer and the copywriter, and guide them throughout the whole process of preparing media coverage.

Next, a communication specialist will be needed: they will have to constantly communicate with press and rescue representatives to manage the flow of public information about the event. A small sub-group of sanitation experts will be necessary to develop the guest welcoming and hygiene managing routine in the light of latest pandemic. Finally, another sub-group consisting of event-managers from the company and animal specialists from the rescue will work together on the general event planning and provision. They will need to exercise good leadership and time-management competencies, as well as expertise in budgeting. Each team member is important, as they will have to take on specific tasks that will require special skills and knowledge. Only by joining together the professional abilities of every employee, it will be possible to design a successful event.

An important part of project planning is keeping stakeholders updated to ensure the consistency of the work. The team will schedule weekly meetings with the main stakeholders  the companys managing lead, the rescue and the state/citys representatives  to provide them with the information on the event progress. Larsson and Larsson (2020) add that extensive collaborative business arrangement has promoted sustainable deliveries based upon organizational learning and continuous improvements (p. 585). During these meetings, the stakeholders will evaluate what has already been done and discuss what is planned ahead to ensure the teams adherence to the plan and policies.

References

Geraldi, J., & Söderlund, J. (2018). Project studies: What it is, where it is going. International Journal of Project Management, 36(1), 5570. Web.

Larsson, J., & Larsson, L. (2020). Integration, application and importance of collaboration in Sustainable Project Management. Sustainability, 12(2), 585. Web.

Silvius, G. (2017). Sustainability as a new school of thought in Project Management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 166, 14791493. Web.

Every organization has a hierarchy of purpose, which helps it determine the projects to prioritize. In addition, it helps organizations allocate resources adequately and guarantee they go where they are needed the most. Resources allocation is essential at the operational land strategic level because it determines the success or failure of a business (Kharzi et al., 2020). Many models are used to determine the prioritization of the projects; however, this study will analyze the MoSCoW method.

The MoSCoW method is quick and simple for deciding what is important to the stakeholders. It is an acronym for must-have, should-have, could-have, and wont-have elements (Kharzi et al., 2020). The must-have elements represent the initiatives that the company cannot do without. These are the things that an organization needs to complete its mandatory tasks (Kharzi et al., 2020). Should-have initiatives are below the must-have and include essential elements for a product or project to release but are not vital. The function will still work out if not there, but they add significant value to the project.

Could-have initiatives can be termed as nice-to-have because they are not necessary to the main function of the process or project. In addition, they have a much smaller effect than the could-have initiatives when left out (Kharzi et al., 2020). Finally, there are will-not-have initiatives the team chooses not to have in a specific release. These initiatives are not highly needed during the specific time of release. Some of the will-not-have initiatives become a priority in future releases due to technological advancements.

This study shows that it is essential to prioritize resources to ensure that a company meets its objectives using the available resources. The MoSCoW methods provide a clear guideline for classifying the products to meet these specific needs using the must-have, should-have, could-have, and wont-have elements. When used strategically, this model can lead to the success of a business; however, when not utilized, it can cause failure.

Reference

Kharzi, R., Chaib, R., & Akni, A. (2020). Prioritizing the actions to be undertaken in health and safety at work: case study region of Tiaret. International Journal of Law and Management, 62(3), 267275.

Abstract

Any substantial goal requires the appropriate project to be developed in order to achieve it. Only the well-structured and thoroughly prepared plan of actions can give the chance to implement the ideas and achieve the desired goals. The paper is aimed at exploring the project management and its key factors doing a project to fail. Additionally, it assesses the importance of the evaluation of the customers needs to make a project successful.

Finally, the paper evaluates and discusses the tools and methods used in project management as well as the importance of the tools, used to store, retrieve, and reuse project knowledge produced by the previous project, both successful and failed.

Introduction

Projects are essential for any organized activities, would it be business processes, government initiatives, or school science fair. The success or failure of a project depends on the variety of reasons and their combinations. Sometimes, even the smallest details that were not considered by the project management team could become the key factors of its failure. It is very important to know the reasons of the projects failures as well as to understand the importance of the careful assessment of the needs and requirements of the party that orders the project (the stakeholders). There is a need for tools that facilitate project management and help companies and organizations to manage a variety of ongoing projects.

Finally, it is highly important to know how the priceless knowledge and experiences drawn from the completed projects can be stored, reused, and shared in the process of future projects development and implementation. Projects require careful attention and thorough approach to their initiation, development, closure, and maintenance to provide the required results.

Project Failure: Reasons

There are many reasons why projects fail. They could fail even because of the small details that were addressed properly during one of such projects stages. It can be something unusual or a force of nature. However, there are several reasons that can be called common for the projects failures. The first reason is the fact of addressing the business requirements that appeared to be incorrect from the first place. In other words, if a project is focused on the wrong goal, it will fail in most cases (Hill, 2009; Maley, 2012).

Such a reason is very common, and it has a direct connection with the next issue that causes project failure: the inability to provide the required business case. It is the case when a project has not been carefully planned and thought out at the initiation stage.

The next major reason for failures is inappropriate governance. Some projects start without the careful choice of the project team, adequate sponsor, or clear goals. The projects with lack of the appropriate governance are doomed from the start if not to fail then to provide mediocre results (Hill, 2009; Maley, 2012). The need for such projects is rather questionable. The quality of the implementation of a project is very important, as well. Bad practices lead to the subsequently poor results of the projects implementation. It may seem easy to implement a well-planned and prepared project, but the real process of the implementation has numerous unexpected issues that need to be resolved, such as risks or stakeholders communication, as well as team management.

Another substantial issue that can lead to the projects failure is the problems with focus. Project team members can get distracted from the initial benefits that the project they work on should bring (Reschke & Schelle, 2013). People start to work on the other deliverables than were initially determined as the projects benefit requirements. Finally, the environment of a project can change. In this case, it is utterly important to make critical decisions on time, manage expectations properly, and consider breaking the project that needs drastic changes to the smaller sub-projects. It would help to adapt to the changing environment appropriately.

Project Planning: Importance of the Needs Evaluation

Projects may fail due to different reasons. However, inappropriate assessment of the needs of a customer automatically leads to the inevitable holdups, change of the budget and schedule, and can cause project failure. The requirements provided by a customer are the core of the project. It is the major focus of the projects team efforts (Reschke & Schelle, 2013; Maley, 2012). The clear understanding of the requirements can provide the project management team with a solid background that can be used for creating an effective plan of the project development, implementation, closure, and maintenance.

Customers requirements can change over time, and a team manager should be ready for the implementation of these changes if they are appropriate and realistic. Planning, in this case, is of the highest importance. Therefore, the effective planning of the meetings is beneficial for the project. It is the case when the possible implementation of changes must comply with the key millstones of the projects schedule (Reschke & Schelle, 2013; Maley, 2012). Change of the requirements should coincide with the potential changes of the environment or be this changing environment, so the project management team would be able to work on the change of the projects course without holdups and the excessive budgeting.

Another important issue regarding the importance of the evaluation of the customers needs is the viability of the project. The planning of the efforts to keep a project with changing initial requirements on track is very important because only the systematic approach to the implementation of the realistic changes can help to close such project successfully. Any chaos is inappropriate in project management planning. However, it should be said that chaos is inevitable in any project, but its extent can be controlled by the careful evaluation of the customers needs.

Project Management: Tools and Methods

Effective project management would not be possible without modern information technologies. Microsoft Project, Basecamp, SpiraPlan, and many others provide the project teams with numerous opportunities. Among the most significant advantages, the following can be named: collaboration, delegation, scheduling, tracking, bigger picture, and communication. Thus, project management tools allow collaborating on different tasks disregarding the distances, for example. A project team can share documents, track the updates, and check the current schedule of the project from the variety of places at the same time (Reschke & Schelle, 2013; Maley, 2012).

Then, project management software provides a project manager with the opportunity to delegate different assignments to the most qualified employees easily. It is possible to assign roles that each team member has in the project, and employees will have access only to the data they need, not a bit more. Project management tools have everything needed to follow the completion of the project appropriately, including powerful scheduling methods. The software is capable of notifying the personnel about approaching deadlines and helping employees in the planning of their activities within the projects requirements.

Another benefit of the project management software is the opportunity to track the changes in a project. The appropriate modules record and store information about the completed tasks and those that are in the to-do list only; project team members responsible for each task is stated as well. In other words, such software makes it unnecessary to schedule a meeting, for example, to check the status of the current updates, made to the project.

One should also mention the usability of such software solutions that allow the new members of a project team to see the full picture about the project using the feature of snapshotting the project. The team can see the project from start to finish, including milestones and other important information (Reschke & Schelle, 2013; Hill, 2009). Finally, project management software facilitates the communication of the project team with the clients and suppliers involved in the project.

Project Knowledge and the Tools to Store, Reuse, and Share It

Modern information technologies provide the project management field with numerous opportunities to store project information, share it with the stakeholders and the interested parties, and reuse this information in the case of necessity. Any online tool can be used (Basecamp, for example, or any similar web-based system) to accumulate projects information for the stated purposes. Such knowledge base is crucial for the future projects success because it allows exploring the projects process, determine the gaps in planning, and learn the original and beneficial methods used by the team of an examined project to make the project work as it was supposed to work (Reschke & Schelle, 2013; Hill, 2009).

It is necessary to mention the important requirement that such a project knowledge base should have: it has to be online. In other words, such a system must be Web-based or must have access to the internet and the developed user-friendly online interface. Otherwise, the usefulness of the knowledge base that cannot provide the interested parties with the required data would be very low.

Another important requirement for such a system is credible sources with up-to-date information about the most recent projects in the required field (Reschke & Schelle, 2013; Hill, 2009). It helps to keep the knowledge base updated and free from the common mistakes made in the previous projects. Finally, such a knowledge base must have examples of the real projects that have failed due to a variety of reasons. Such bad examples should help project managers to learn how projects must not be planned, developed, implemented, and closed (Reschke & Schelle, 2013; Hill, 2009). It would be the priceless experience for any interested parties as there are many ways to work on a project considerably well, but there are only a few ways to make everything wrong, and these ways must be explored in detail.

Conclusion

Summing, the paper explored the importance of having careful attention and thorough approach to the projects initiation, development, closure, and maintenance, so the projects could provide the required results. Additionally, the following issues were explored and evaluated. The importance of the evaluation of the customers needs to make the project to provide the desired deliverables was assessed. The use of the project management tools and methods to make the project to be effectively planned was explored as well. Finally, the paper evaluated the need for the project knowledge and the tools to store, reuse, and share it for future projects success.

References

Hill, G.M. (2009). The complete project management methodology and toolkit. New York, NY: CRC Press.

Maley, C.H. (2012). Project management concepts, methods, and techniques. New York, NY: CRC Press.

Reschke, H., & Schelle, H. (2013). Dimensions of project management: Fundamentals, techniques, organization, applications. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.