Supply chain; Project Management

A series of related jobs usually directed toward some major
output and requiring a significant period of time to
perform

• Unique item – often a single unit.
• Often located on one place. The unit does not move during production.
• Resources are brought to the project.
• May be of any size.

The management activities of planning, directing, and
controlling resources (people, equipment, material) to meet the technical, cost, and time constraints of a project.

• A self-contained team works full time on the project.

• The project manager has full authority over the project
• Team members report to one boss
• Shortened communication lines
• Team pride, motivation, and commitment are high

• Duplication of resources
• Organizational goals and policies are ignored
• Lack of technology transfer
• Team members have no functional area “home”

• Responsibility for the project lies within one functional area of the firm. Employees from that area work on the project, usually only part
time.

• A team member can work on several projects
• Technical expertise is maintained within the
functional area
• The functional area is a “home” after the
project is completed
• Critical mass of specialized knowledge

• Aspects of the project that are not directly
related to the functional area get short-changed
• Motivation of team members is often weak
• Needs of the client are secondary and are
responded to slowly

• A blend of pure and functional project structures – people from different functional areas work on the project, possibly only part time.

• Enhanced communications between functional areas
• Pinpointed responsibility
• Duplication of resources is minimized
• Functional “home” for team members
• Policies of the parent organization are followed

• Too many bosses
• Depends on project manager’s negotiating skills
• Potential for sub-optimization

A written description of the objectives to be achieved. Provides a high level view of the project

Contains information about:
– Objectives
– Description of work to be completed
– Task breakup – the high level work breakdown structure
– Proposed schedule
– Milestones
– Performance measures
– Acceptance/Signoff criteria

A chart that has:
Activities or jobs on the vertical axis
Time on the horizontal Axis

-Helps to identify the critical path(s) in the project networks
– Used when activity times are known with certainty
– Used to determine timing estimates for the project, each activity in the project, and slack time for activities

A project must have:
(1) well-defined activities whose completion marks the
end of the project;
(2) independent activities;
(3) activities that follow a given sequence

– Used when cost trade-off information is a major consideration in planning
– Used to determine the least cost in reducing total project time