PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

The very foundation of an enterprise is the project. Hence the success

and failure of an enterprise largely depends upon the project. In simple
words, a project is an idea or plan that is intended to be carried out. The
dictionary meaning of a project is that it is a scheme, design, a proposal
of something intended or devised to be achieved.

Gillinger defines project “as the whole complex of activities involved in

using
resources to gain benefits”

Meaning of Projects: A) A Project report or a Business plan is a

written statement of what an entrepreneur proposes to take up. B) It is a
guide or course of action of what the entrepreneur hopes to achieve in
his business and how he is going to achieve it. C) It is a big road map.
D) It Is an Operating document.
Hence even though the projects differ in their size, nature, objectives,
time duration and complexity, they have the following three basic
attributes a. A course of action b. Specific Objectives c. Definite time
perspective

Concept:
To understand project management we must first understand what a
project really is.A project, therefore is not a physical objective, nor is it
the end result-it has something to do with the goings-on in between.A
project is, thus, initiated to achieve a mission-whatever the mission may
be. A project is completed as soon as the mission is fulfilled. The project
lives between these two cut-off points and therefore this times-pan is
known as Project Life Cycle.
A project, according to the institute, is a “one-shot, time-limited, goal-
directed, major undertaking, requiring the commitment of varied skills
and resources”. It also describes a project as “a combination of human
and non-human resources pooled together in a temporary organization
to achieve a specific purpose”.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROJECT
A project is undertaken to achieve a purpose. The following are the
characteristics of a project.
1) A project involves investment of money and money’s worth. • The
objective of a project is to earn profit.
2)It is concerned with production of goods and services.
3)Every project has risk and uncertainty associated with it.
4)It has a fixed set of objectives.
5) It is subjected to a lot of change.
6) It has a definite beginning and an end.
7) It has a life cycle reflected by growth, maturity and decay.
8)It is combination of various elements such as technology, equipment,
materials, machinery and people.
9) A project requires team work.

Categories of Project:

The project will comprise and consequently its management will depend
on the category it belongs to. The location, type, technology, size, scope
and speed are normally the factors which determine the effort needed in
executing a project. The below are the various categories into which
industrial projects may be fitted.

Normal Projects:
In this category of projects adequate time is allowed for implementation
of the project. All the phases in a project are allowed to take the time
they should normally take. This type of project will require minimum
capital cost and no sacrifice in terms of quality.
Crash Projects:
In this category of projects additional capital costs are incurred to gain
time. Maximum overlapping of phases is encouraged and compromises
in terms of quality are also not ruled out. Savings in time are normally
achieved in procurement and construction where time is bought from the
vendors and contractors by paying extra money to them.
Disaster Projects:
Anything needed to gain time is allowed in these projects. Engineering is
limited to make them work. Quality short of failure level is accepted. No
competitive bidding is resorted to. Round-the –clock work is done at the
construction site. Naturally, capital cost will go up very high, but project
time will get drastically reduced

Project Life Cycle Phases:

The attention that a particular project receives is again not uniformly

distributed throughout its life span, but varies from phase to phase. By
and large, all projects have to pass through the following five phases.
1. Conception Phase:
This is the phase during which the project idea germinates. The idea
may first come to the mind when one is seriously trying to overcome
certain problems. The ideas need to be put in black and white and given
some shape before they can be considered and compared with
competitive ideas. It is easy to appreciate that if this phase is avoided or
truncated, the project will have innate defects and may eventually
become a liability for the investors. In this phase, however, it is not
supposed to be considered as to how the project will be implemented.
This is understandable since at the conception stage all pertinent data
are not available and also the real life scenario may undergo
considerable change compared to what may have been assumed
initially.
2. Definition phase:
The definition phase of the project will develop the idea generated during
the conception phase and produce a document describing the project in
sufficient details covering all aspects necessary for the customer or
financial institutions to make up their minds on the project idea. The
areas to be examined during this phase are as follows.
• Raw materials
• Plant size / Capacity
• Location and site
• Technology / process selection
• Project Layout
• Plant & Machinery
• Electrical and instrumentation works
• Civil Engineering works
• Utilities
• Manpower and Organisational Pattern
• Financial Analysis
• Implementation schedule
3. Planning and Organizing Phase:
This phase can effectively start only after definition phase but in practice
it starts much earlier, almost immediately after the conception phase. By
and large, organizations, during the phase, deal with the following, and
in most cases take necessary action for realization of the same.
4. Implementation Phase:
This is a period of hectic activity for the project. It is during this period
that something starts growing in the field and people for the first time can
see the project. As far as the volume of work is concerned, 80-85% of
project work is done in this phase only.
Naturally, therefore, people want to start this phase as early as they can,
since the bulk of the work in a project is done during this phase only,
people will always want this phase to be completed in as short a time as
possible.
5. Project Clean-up phase:
This is the transition phase in which the hardware built with the active
involvement of various agencies is physically handed over for production
to a different agency who was not so involved earlier. For project
personnel this phase is basically a clean-up task. Drawing, documents,
files, operation and maintenance manuals are catalogued and handed
over to the customer.

OBJECTIVES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The ultimate objective of project management is to attain the objectives
for
which the project has been undertaken. The other objectives of project
management are as follows:
1) To achieve maximum productivity at minimum cost.
2) To maximize income and return.
3) To minimize risk and uncertainty.
4) To eliminate waste and improve efficiency.
5) To make the most efficient and effective use of resources- manpower,
money, materials, technology etc.

NEED OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The need for project management arises due to the following reasons:
1) Complexity of Project: Project involve time, effort, money etc. If
there is any fault in planning or implementation of projects, the resources
put in the projects would be a waste.
2) Achievement of Objectives: Unless projects are managed well, the
objective for which the projects are undertaken cannot be achieved.
3) Environmental Changes: A project should be well equipped to meet
the environmental challenges .The success of the project depends upon
how the project is able to cope with the changing environment.
4) Competition: To face out the competition provision of a good or a
service is not sufficient. It must provide a package which meets an entire
need rather than just part of that need .
5) Constraints: The constraints relate to time, materials, demand,
labour etc. The success of a project depends on how well it is possible
to manage the so called constraints.
6) Risk and Uncertainty: At every stage of project life cycle there are
challenges and problems. As the project moves new challenges and
problems may arise. The risks and uncertainties cannot be eliminated
but can be minimized through proper management of project.
7) Time Overrun and Cost Overrun: If a project takes more time than
the scheduled time, it is known as time overrun. If a project incurs more
costs than budgeted, it is called cost overrun.
8) Project Control and Evaluation: It is done either at the end of the
project or few years after the completion of the project. This enables to
learn lessons from the projects.

IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT REPORT

Project report is a written plan of the project to be undertaken for the

attainment of objective. It enables an entrepreneur to know the inputs
required and confirms that he is proceeding in the right direction. It spells
out the reasons of allocating resources of the firm for the production of
goods and services during a specific period. An important aspect of the
project report lies in determining the profitability of the project with
minimum risks in the execution of the project. The important uses of
Project report are summarized as follows:

1) It helps the entrepreneur in establishing techno-economic viability of

the
project.
2) It helps in getting term loan from banks and financial institutions.
3) It helps in approaching bank for getting working capital loan.
4) It helps in securing supply of scarce raw materials also.
5) It gives a general idea of resource requirements and means of
procuring them.
6)It shows the feasibility of the project and possibility of achieving profits.

Who is a Project Manager?

A project manager is a professional who takes charge of the overall

planning and execution of a particular project. He/she works closely with
the upper management of an organisation to make sure that the scope
and schedule of a project are in the right direction.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PROJECT MANAGER

The following are the roles and responsibilities of a project manager:

1. Managing personnel.
2) Satisfy government, customer, promoters and public.
3) Coordinating and integrating activities across multiple functional lines.
4) Defining and maintaining the integrity of the project.
5) Setting targets and development of systems and procedures for
accomplishment of project objectives.
6) Developing project execution plan.
7) Coping with risk associated with project management.
8) Managing human interrelationships.
9) Maintaining the balance between technical and managerial project
functions.