PM 102 According to the Olde Curmudgeon: An Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Modern Project Management

354 Pages·2002·7.57 MB·English

by  Francis Marion Webster Jr.

According to the
Olde Curmudgeon

According to the
Olde Curmudgeon
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE
BASIC CONCEPTS OF
MODERN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationD ata
Webster, Francis Marion.
PM 102, according to the Olde Curmudgeon : an introduction to the basic concepts
of modern project management I Francis M. Webster, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 1-880410-78-8
1. Project management. I. Title.
ISBN: 1-880410-78-8
Published by: Project Management Institute, Inc.
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Dedication
To my wife of now almost fifty years, who
continued to stick with me through both
PM 101 and PM 102. Also to our children,
all professionals in their own fields now,
who have put up with my discussions of
MPM over the years and are, in varying
degrees, practicing MPM today.

Figures ix
Tables x
Foreword xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xhr
Chapter X--Estimating 1
Characteristics of an A m 5
Essential Variables of an Activity 6
A Conceptual Model of an Activity 10
Summary 21
Chapter XC-Basic Calculations for Scheduling: The Critical Path Method (CPM)
The Basic Calculations 27
Ways to Reduce Project Duration 40
Summary 44
Chapter XII-Resource Management 49
Introduction 49
A Taxonomy of Resources 50
Managing Managelial Resources 59
Managing Human Resources 68
Managing Financial Resources 77
Managing Physical Resources 80
Managing Intangibles 94
Summary 96
Appendix XI1.A-Mars Pathfinder Project 98
Appendix E.X%IIM-asr Pathfinder Project 101
Chapter XIIl-Project Scheduling 103
Introduction 103
What is Scheduling? 105
Objectives of Scheduling 106
Types of Scheduling 108
Considerations in Scheduling 120
Summary 138
Appendix XII1.A--Computer Scheduling of Resources 141
Appendix XII1.B-Mars Pathfinder Project 155
Appendix XIII.CMars Pathfinder Project 157
vii
Chapter XIV-TimelCost Tradeoff in Scheduling 159
Introduction 159
History 160
The Basic Concepts of CPPS 161
Factors Affectingt he Opportunity Cost 170
Factors Affecting the Activity's Costs 170
Some htensions 174
Summary 174
Chapter XV-Cost Management 177
Scope Cost Management 178
Design Cost Control 180
Schedule Cost Management 181
Subcontract Cost Management 182
Materials Cost Management 183
Labor Cost Management 188
Equipment Cost Management 196
Change Cost Control 199
Overall Cost Management 202
Cost Systems 212
Summary 212
Appendix XV.A-Mars Pathfinder Project 214
Chapter XVCQualii in Projects 215
Four Aspects of Quality 217
Achieving Quality 232
Who Benefits from QM? 234
Appendix XVI.A--Mars Pathfinder Project 237
Chapter XVII-Uncertainty and Risk Management 239
Understanding Uncertainty and Risk 241
Project Risk Management 250
A Taxonomy of Risks 254
Uncertainty 261
Summary 268
Appendix XVI1.A-Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) 272
AppendixXVII.5-Monte Carlo PERT 277
Appendix XVII.CDecision Theory 281
Appendix XVI1.D-Mars Pathfinder Project 283
Chapter XVI11-Reporting & Control 285
Who Can You Really Manage? 286
Managing the Manageable 287
System Design 310
Management Style 315
Managing Your Management 318
Surnmary 320
Appendix XVII1.A-Mars Pathfinder Project 321
Appendix XVIII.5-Mars Pathfinder Project 322
Chapter XW-An Epilogue 325
References 327
Index 329
Figures
Figure X.l Cost as a Dependent Variable 7
Figure X.2 A Conceptual Model of an Actii 11
Figure Xl.ld Slack 28
Figure Xl.lc The latest Start and Finish Times 28
Figure Xl.lb The Earliest Start and Finish Times 28
Figure Xl.la The AOA PND 28
Figure X1.2 The AON PND 34
Figure X1.3a A More Complex Project 36
Figure X1.3b The Critical Path on a More Complex Project 39
Figure XIII.l A Project for Scheduling 109
Figure X111.2 A Typical Resource Profile 110
Figure X111.3 Early Schedule Resource Profile 111
Figure X111.4 Late Schedule Resource Profile 113
Figure X111.5 Leveled Resource Requirements-Time Constrained 114
Figure X111.6 Resource-Constrained Schedule 116
Sam's Resource Analysis
Figure XIII.A.l Activity Rank 143
Figure Xlll.A.2 Availability List 144
Figure Xlll.A.3 Lower Envelope 146
Figure Xlll.A.4 Upper Envelope 147
Figure Xlll.A.5 Combined Upper and Lower Envelopes with Average Resource Requirements 148
Figure Xlll.A.6 Logic for a Time-Constrained Resource Requirement 150
Figure Xlll.A.7 Logic for a Resource-Constrained Schedule 152
Figure XIV.1 Activity Cost Data for a Simple Project 162
Figure XIV.2 Cost Curves for a Simple Project 163
Figure XIV.3 Least Cost Curve for a Simple Project 164
Figure XIV.4 Cost Data for a More Realistic Project 165
Figure XIV.5 Cost Curves for a More Complex Project 166
Figure XIV.6 Least Cost Curve for a More Complex Project 167
Figure XIV.7 Cost Curve of a Typical Activity 171
Figure XV.l Cost versus Volume 197
Figure XV.2 Cost versus Time 198
Figure XV.3 Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled 206
Figure XV.4 BCWS versus BCWP 207
Figure XV.5 BCWS versus BCWP versus ACWP 208
Figure XVI.l The Rework Cycle 231
Figure XVII.A.l Example Project for IllustratingP ERT and Monte Carlo PERT 275
Figure xv111.1 The Progressive Elaboration of a Project 291
Tables
Table X.2 Cost Estimating 3
Table X.l Activity Duration Estimating 3
Table Xl.lc Tabular Calculations for an AOA PND--Early Times 31
Table Xl.lb Tabular Calculations for an AOA PND-The Data 31
Table Xl.1a Tabular Calculations for an AOA PND-The Activitjes 31
Table X1.d Tabular Calculations for an AOA PND-Late Times 32
Table Xl.lf Tabular Calculations for an AOA PND-Negative Slack 33
Table Xl.le Tabular Calculations for an AOA PND-Slack 33
Table X1.2~ Tabular Calculations of an AON PND-Late Times and Slack 35
Table X1.2b Tabular Calculations for an AON PND-Early Times 35
Table X1.2a Tabular Calculations for an AON PND-The Data 35
Table X1.3a Calculations of a More Complex PND-Early Times 37
Table X1.3b Calculations of a More Complex PNMteT imes and Slack 38
Table XII.l Taxonomy of Resources 51
Table XIII.l Some Concepts of Critical Chain 117
Table X111.2 Probability That at Least One Activity Will be Late for Varying Numbers of
Predecesson of a Merge Node 136
Table XIV.l Crashing a More Complex Project 166
Table XIV.2 Crash Alternatives with Two Critical Paths 168
Table XV.l Product Breakdown Structure of Physical Features 179
Table XV.2 Product Design Characteristics (Abbreviated from PM 101, Chapter VII) 180
Table XV.3 Analysis of Variances 209
Table XVII.1 States of Knowledge of an Event 241
Table XVII.A.l PERT Calculations 276
Table XVII.B.l Random Samples from the Duration Estimates 278
Table XVII.B.2 Results of Simplified Monte Carlo Simulation 279