Reference no: EM133647633

Assignment: Business Finance - Management

Part I

Work breakdown structures (WBS) provide a framework on which costs, time, and schedule/performance can be compared against the budget for each level of the WBS. It's important to understand that a WBS is commonly used to measure business value and reducing waste (Kerzner, 2022). There are several ways to create a WBS, depending on the components of your project. For example, your WBS can be outline structure, hierarchical, tabular, Gantt chart, or tree diagram. It may depend on the timeline, amount of repetitive units, or amount of project elements.

Select one of the following projects and complete a WBS for it, in the structure of your choice.

A. An everyday or frequent personal task (getting ready for work, exercise routine, etc.)
B. Planning an overseas vacation (flight, hotel, transportation, directions/guides, etc.)
C. Buying a new (or new to you) car

Upload an image or link to your WBS to your post. Within your post, support your structure decision and explain why you broke the project down like you did.

Part II

A large part of project planning is scheduling, but not just a timeline. It also includes estimating the approximation of cost on a project, determining the schedule approach, policies, procedures, and the roles and responsibilities. According to the PMI: Scheduling Professional Exam Outline, scheduling is divided into five domains:

A. Schedule Strategy
B. Schedule Planning and Development
C. Schedule Monitoring and Controlling
D. Schedule Closeout
E. Stakeholder Communications Management

Review the Exam Outline and select a domain. Choose a task from that domain and explain why that task is important to the overall project planning. What tools or resources could assist with this task?

Part III

Measuring project progression is often done through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) because the items measured are often the tasks that are completed. Kerzner (2022) says that in an earned-value measurement system, KPIs are essential because they focus on future outcomes and provide more accurate information on what can happen if existing trends continue. Kerzner continues explaining the differences between metrics and KPIs, of which there are five types (section 15.5):

A. Basic project management (PM 1.0)
B. Business-driven project management (PM 2.0)
C. Value-driven project management (PM 3.0)
D. Specialized project management (PM 4.0)
E. Strategic project management (PM 5.0)

Review the discussion of Metrics (15.3) and KPIs (15.5).

A. Where are metrics and KPIs more appropriate to use in managing a project?

B. What is one way that metrics and KPIs are similar? What is one way they are different?

C. What is one technique that can be used to determine which metrics to use? What is one technique that can be used to determine what KPI values should be used?

Give an example from your research or personal experience where a project used metrics and KPIs. This can be a successful or unsuccessful project.

Some metric examples: throughput performance time at the local drive-thru, airline flight on-time arrival percentage, number of new car defects in the first 30 days (JD Power measures it).

Reference

Kerzner, H. (2022). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling (13th ed.). Wiley & Sons.

Part IV

Kerzner (2022) defines earned value management (EVM) as a systematic process that uses earned value as the primary tool for integrating cost, schedule, technical performance management, and risk management. The EVM focuses on identifying and resolving issues before they become a problem.

Read through the Franklin Electronics Case Study on p 643 of Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. Answer the following questions with support from additional resources.

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

A. What additional information should have been included in the status report?

B. Does Franklin Electronics understand earned value measurement? Why? If not, what went wrong?

C. Does proper earned value measurement serve as a replacement for interchange meetings? Why or why not?

Reference

Kerzner, H. (2022). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling (13th ed.). Wiley & Sons.

Part V

Business value is a way for project managers to realize their contribution. It is important for project managers to understand how project success relates to the overall health of their organization through business value. Project managers need to see how their efforts contribute to the business' bottom line.

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

A. What are two elements of a project process that can be used by a project manager to improve business value? Describe how you would apply these processes in a project management situation of your own.

Part VI

Individuals and groups can learn a lot from their successes and failures. Many organizations document their lessons learned to help with project management of future projects. These lessons can be derived from reflections, meetings, interviews, or documentation.

Review materials from the course. Treat this course as a project. Reflect on the past few weeks and identify your personal lessons learned in your coursework.

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

A. What are some best practices you feel others should know?
B. Looking back, how would you measure success in this course?