Project Management Tools

A study of Project Management Tools ? promoting the successful delivery of a project
Project Title: A study of Project Management Tools ? promoting the successful delivery of a project.
————————————–
Working Title could be: (Project Management Planning tools – for successful project delivery)
OR:
Working Title could be: (Project Management Risk tools – for successful project delivery)
—————————————————————————-
As per my supervisor requirements, he told me that I need to narrow my topic to be covered only specific tools. There are many Method like Plannig, Risk, Financial and Qaulity and each one of them have its tools. for example, he want me to choose the tools which are related to either risk or planning which related to Project management tools.
Example:
For Planning tools: Brainstorming, Fishbone/Ishikawa Diagrams, Critical Path Analysis Flow Diagrams, Gantt Charts, etc ?.
For Risk tools it may include: Information gathering, Documentation reviews, Risk Identification, Checklist analysis, Diagramming techniques, PDRI?.
** For me I prefer planning tools which relate to Project Management Tools?
The Title above is general and I need new title for the research you will do which is based on planning tools for the project management.

————————————–

Assignment details
The purpose of the assignment is to ensure that students have developed an understanding and some relevant knowledge of the literature related to their dissertation topic, as well as assessing their ability to: conduct a literature search, summaries and critically assess journal papers and apply their literature findings to their own specific project.
There are 4 main sections to the assignment plus references.

1. A working title, synopsis (including beneficiaries) and aim & 3-5 objectives (1 page maximum-around 450 words, 15 % mark).

Your project topic may change a little as the work develops but at this stage you should give your ?working title?. Its purpose is to give the reader a broad indication of the topic of the assignment. The synopsis is a short summary, outlining the importance and significance of the topic you are proposing to investigate in your dissertation. It should state the nature and purpose of the research and who the potential beneficiaries will be. The aim and objectives outline your intended area and focus of research and help the reader to get a more detailed picture of your proposed project as well as some indication of its structure. The aim and objectives should be in the form of a list. It is appreciated that, at the moment, the focus of the research may not be established and so this section may still be quite broad. That is fine at this stage, although clearly the research will need to become more focused later.
References should be used in this section if appropriate.
The list of references should be included in the references pages at the end of the coursework and need not be included in the one page allocated to this section. The requirements for references are explained later in this document

2. Search strategy (1 page maximum- around 350 words, 10 % mark)

In this section you should set out the search strategy you have used to find appropriate journal papers ? this should include such aspects as key words (and why these are relevant) and search engines used. You should include explanation of how you selected the 4-6 core papers that you chose to include in your review i.e. How did you judge their importance/relevance? It should also include an explanation of how and why you selected any other papers and additional sources of information. Other sources of information include web-sites, industry reports etc.

3. Literature Review (3 pages maximum- around 1700 words, 60 % mark)

Your brief literature review should provide a background and critical analysis of a particular area of academic research related to your dissertation topic. It is up to you to decide which area you wish to focus on and you may wish to discuss this with your supervisor. You may take a broad approach or a very narrowly focused one ? this is up to you.
You should summarise the key findings from the 4-6 core papers1 that you have selected (including how the papers came to their conclusions). Your core papers must be peer reviewed journal papers. The review should be primarily based these 4-6 core papers and should include critical comparison and evaluation. It is appreciated that it is often very difficult to critique a refereed journal paper which has already been through a rigorous evaluation process. So the ?critique? may focus on the scope and limitations of particular papers or areas/approaches that you propose this area of research should focus on. You may use additional papers to help critique or provide context for your review. We recommend that the total number of papers you use does not exceed 12. This suggested limit is given in order to assist you in giving an in-depth account of the literature in the space permitted. You may also use ?additional sources? such as: websites, industry reports, newspaper articles etc (i.e. any source that is not a peer reviewed journal paper) if you wish.
Asking yourself the following questions may assist you in developing your brief literature review:

– What are the key findings of the paper and how have the conclusions been arrived at?
– Does the work described in one paper build on the work described in another paper?
– Do the papers arrive at the same conclusions or different conclusions?
– If the papers contradict each other, why, and which conclusion has most validity/applicability to your area of research?

4. Conclusions from the literature review, implications for your own project and next steps (1 page maximum – around 350 words, 15 % marks).

You should summaries the key findings from your literature review (including relevant critical comparison) and discuss how these relate to your own project. You should outline and discuss the implications from the literature review for your own project (this could include, for example: the implications for the focus of your research, your methodological approach, your conceptual/theoretical framework, the relevance of the project to industry etc). You should indicate the next steps for your own project which result from your findings.
References: (at least 10 ? use Harvard Style):
You must provide a full bibliographic reference for all of the sources cited in your submission at the end of your coursework (not just the url/weblink). References for your core papers must be given on a page titled ?Core References?. Additional references (journal papers and other sources) must be included on a separate page(s) titled ?Additional References?. The pages of references do not count towards the page limits set for each component of the assignment. Submissions that do not have a Core References page will be given a mark of zero.

Project Management Tools

Project:
Your job at Shosheam Logistics located in Denver, Colorado requires you (and family) to move to Thailand in 6-months time.
Part 1 – Project Scheduling
1.    Using MS Project develop a Gantt chart with the activities necessary to accomplish the move project and order the activities in a precedence (logical sequential) manner.
2.    Explain and describe (in writing) the number of tasks/activities you have outlined and the order in which you have placed the tasks/activities for project completion.
If you don’t have access to MS Project, you will need to develop the pieces MS Project does automatically, independently as separate documents in MS Excel.
o    Using MS Excel, create a Gantt chart by entering the project dates and events into a table
o    Next create a bar chart depicting the events based on the Gantt chart that you created.
o    For assistance on creating a Gantt chart in excel visit the MS office help files online and search: “Creating a Gant chart in MS Excel.”
Part 2 – Monitor, Organize, Analyze
1.    Develop an estimation chart showing each activity, the preceding activity required, and associated costs, with a 3 months, 4.5 months, and 6 months scenario.
2.    Compare the costs of crashing the project from a 6-month timeline into a 4.5-month timeline:
a. Explain and defend (in writing) the pros/cons of crashing the project schedule.
b. What is the impact on personnel and resources to crashing the project?
c. What are the associated risks of crashing the project and how will you manage the risks?
If you don’t have access to MS Project, you will need to develop the pieces MS Project does automatically, independently as separate documents in MS Excel.
o    First create a table with the variables in MS Excel.
o    Next create a table that highlights the critical path.
o    Then create a table that highlights the critical path that you feel is the best candidate for crashing and explain why you selected this path.
Part 3 – Project Control and Closeout
1.    Explain and defend the processes and procedures you suggest for closing the project. Include the handoffs, benefits, and lag required to begin operation at your new location.
2.    Your assessment should be well structured. Make good use of bulleted lists, numbered lists, and tables to further provide structure and clearly communicate information.
The Portfolio Project must be submitted in a single document of 7-10 pages in length, not including the title and reference pages. The three parts, above, must be included with a detailed explanation of each required component.
In your submission include at least five outside supportive references, not including the course textbook, course materials, or other information resources provided as part of the course materials. These must be cited and integrated into your paper. These are expected to provide information and support for assertions made in your writing.
Formatting of your paper must comply with APA guidelines

Project Management Tools

Project:
Your job at Shosheam Logistics located in Denver, Colorado requires you (and family) to move to Thailand in 6-months time.
Part 1 – Project Scheduling
1.    Using MS Project develop a Gantt chart with the activities necessary to accomplish the move project and order the activities in a precedence (logical sequential) manner.
2.    Explain and describe (in writing) the number of tasks/activities you have outlined and the order in which you have placed the tasks/activities for project completion.
If you don’t have access to MS Project, you will need to develop the pieces MS Project does automatically, independently as separate documents in MS Excel.
o    Using MS Excel, create a Gantt chart by entering the project dates and events into a table
o    Next create a bar chart depicting the events based on the Gantt chart that you created.
o    For assistance on creating a Gantt chart in excel visit the MS office help files online and search: “Creating a Gant chart in MS Excel.”
Part 2 – Monitor, Organize, Analyze
1.    Develop an estimation chart showing each activity, the preceding activity required, and associated costs, with a 3 months, 4.5 months, and 6 months scenario.
2.    Compare the costs of crashing the project from a 6-month timeline into a 4.5-month timeline:
a. Explain and defend (in writing) the pros/cons of crashing the project schedule.
b. What is the impact on personnel and resources to crashing the project?
c. What are the associated risks of crashing the project and how will you manage the risks?
If you don’t have access to MS Project, you will need to develop the pieces MS Project does automatically, independently as separate documents in MS Excel.
o    First create a table with the variables in MS Excel.
o    Next create a table that highlights the critical path.
o    Then create a table that highlights the critical path that you feel is the best candidate for crashing and explain why you selected this path.
Part 3 – Project Control and Closeout
1.    Explain and defend the processes and procedures you suggest for closing the project. Include the handoffs, benefits, and lag required to begin operation at your new location.
2.    Your assessment should be well structured. Make good use of bulleted lists, numbered lists, and tables to further provide structure and clearly communicate information.
The Portfolio Project must be submitted in a single document of 7-10 pages in length, not including the title and reference pages. The three parts, above, must be included with a detailed explanation of each required component.
In your submission include at least five outside supportive references, not including the course textbook, course materials, or other information resources provided as part of the course materials. These must be cited and integrated into your paper. These are expected to provide information and support for assertions made in your writing.
Formatting of your paper must comply with APA guidelines