PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Management

[Name ?f the Writer]

[Name ?f the Instituti?n]

Project Management

Introduction

The paper intends to explore project management, the critical path analysis s?unds very c?mplicated, but it is a very l?gical and effective meth?d f?r planning and managing c?mplex pr?jects. Project management is a well-established well area of professional expertise and academic research aimed at encouraging improvement in a system (White and Fortune, 2002). Project management offers a systematic approach to all stages of a project by ensuring that every step is carefully planned, monitored, and measured. Although initially intended for application in large organisations with complex systems that require such a process (Baccarini, 1999), modern methods of project management can be adapted and altered to suit the needs of the smaller organisations.

Project Planning & Control Techniques

Project controlling should be established as an independent function in project management. It implements verification and controlling function during the processing of a project in order to reinforce the defined performance and formal goals. The tasks of project controlling are also:

the creation of infrastructure for the supply of the right information and its update

the establishment of a way to communicate disparities of project parameters

the development of project information technology based on an intranet or the determination of a project key performance index system (KPI)

divergence analyses and generation of proposals for potential project regulations

the establishment of methods to accomplish an appropriate the project structure, project workflow organization, project control and governance

creation of transparency among the project parameters

Fulfillment and implementation of these tasks can be achieved by applying specific methods and instruments of project controlling. The following methods of project controlling can be applied:

investment analysis

cost-benefit analyses

value benefit Analysis

expert surveys

simulation calculations

target/actual-comparison (Kerzner 2003)

Project control is that element of a project that keeps it on-track, on-time and within budget. Project control begins early in the project with planning and ends late in the project with post-implementation review, having a thorough involvement of each step in the process. Each project should be assessed for the appropriate level of control needed: too much control is too time consuming, too little control is very risky. If project control is not implemented correctly, the cost to the business should be clarified in terms of errors, fixes, and additional audit fees.

Control systems are needed for cost, risk, quality, communication, time, change, procurement, and human resources. In addition, auditors should consider how important the projects are to the financial statements, how reliant the stakeholders are on controls, and how many controls exist. Auditors should review the development process and procedures for how they are implemented. The process of development and the quality of the final product may also be assessed if needed or requested. A business may want the auditing firm to be involved throughout the process to catch problems earlier on so that they can be fixed more easily. An auditor can serve as a controls consultant as part of the development team or as an independent auditor as part of an audit.

PERT/Critical Path Method

The chapter explains how networks can be used to plan ...