improving project planning in sv technologies jsc

The objective of this research is to study the current situation of project planning in SV Technologies, analysis and evaluate the effectiveness of current projectmanagement in general a

NEU BUSINESS SCHOOL

NGUYEN THI TAM HIEN

IMPROVING PROJECT PLANNING IN

SV TECHNOLOGIES JSC

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS

NEU BUSINESS SCHOOL

NGUYEN THI TAM HIEN

IMPROVING PROJECT PLANNING IN

SV TECHNOLOGIES JSC

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS

SUPERVISOR: DR DAO THANH TUNG

University (NEU) Thanks to Program Directors, Coordinators of the program andTeachers who did try their best to provide us valuable knowledge during the MBAcourse.

Through all subjects in this course, I gained and widened a lot of knowledge ingeneral, market economy and business management in particularly They are veryuseful for my current work and my future career, especially about economicfoundation

I also would like to express special thanks to my thesis supervisors, Dr Dao ThanhTung, whose helpful support has encouraged me so much and guided me from thebeginning of this study I would like to highly appreciate that Dr Dao Thanh Tunggave his time to listen and discuss many issues in the scope of this research, help me

to clarify the direction to complete it effectively

I am grateful to my colleges and managers of SV Technologies JSC Company fortheir valuable supports and providing me data during the preparation of this thesis.Thanks to all people whom kind enough to grant me an interview

Many thanks go to all those friends who were always asking me about the progress

ABBREVIATIONS 1

LIST OF TABLES 2

LIST OF FIGURES 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 6

1.1 Rationale of the research 6

1.2 Research objectives 8

1.3 Research Questions 8

1.4 Research methodology 9

1.4.1 Research process 9

1.4.2 Data collection 10

1.4.3 Data analysis 11

1.5 Scope of research 12

1.6 Thesis structure 12

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF PROJECT PLANNING 13

2.1 Overview of project management and project planning 13

2.1.1 Nature of project management 13

2.1.2 Project planning 17

2.2 Project planning process 19

2.2.1 Planning Process according to PMBOK Guide 20

2.2.2 Models of project planning 29

2.3 Factors influencing to project planning 32

2.3.1 Project Management Skills 32

2.3.2 Clarity in the scope of the project and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 34

2.3.4 Risk management 37

2.3.5 Challenges of project planning 38

CHAPTER III CURRENT SITUATION OF PROJECT PLANNING IN SV TECHNOLOGIES JSC 41

3.1 Background of SV Technologies JSC 41

3.1.1 Overview of SV Technologies JSC 41

3.1.2 Establishment and Development 42

3.1.3 Company Mission, Vision and our philosophy 43

3.1.4 Business line 44

3.1.5 Business results in recent years 45

3.1.6 SV Technologies SWOT Matrix 46

3.1.7 Characteristics of projects in SV Tech 49

3.2 Analysis on current situation of project planning in SV Tech 52

3.2.1 Steps to implement projects in SVTech 52

3.2.2 Actual performance results of project planning of some typical projects 53 3.2.3 Actual performance of project management 57

3.2.4 Actual project planning in SV Tech 57

3.2.5 Tools and techniques of planning project 62

3.3 Achievements and shortcomings of the project planning management in SV Tech 65

3.3.1 Achievements of project planning and project management in SV Tech 65 3.3.2 Shortcomings of project planning in SV Tech 66

3.3.3 Causes of shortcoming in the project planning in SV Tech 67

CHAPTER IV SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING EFFECIENCY OF PROJECT PLANNING IN SV TECHNOLOGIES JSC 71

4.1.2 Detail indexes 71

4.1.3 Requirement of projects management 72

4.2 Solutions to improve efficiency of project planning in SV Tech 72

4.2.1 Create available resources for project requirements 72

4.2.2 Build process of project planning for project team in the company 78

4.2.3 Apply tools in project planning 83

4.2.4 Recruiting project managers with sufficient skill 85

4.2.5 Improve competency and efficiency of project team 88

4.3 Recommendations to implement the above solutions 89

CONCLUSION 91

REFERENCES 93

APPENDICES 95

PMI Project Management Institute

PRINCE2 Projects IN Controlled Environments

ROI Return on investment

TM Technical Manager

WBS Work Breakdown Structure

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Data Collection methods 11

Table 3 1: Main Financial figures 45

Table 3.2: Actual implementation of some typical projects 55

Table 4.1: Target rate of operating fields till 2015 72

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: The process of the research 9

Figure 2.1: Project management process 13

Figure 2.2: Links among process groups in a phase 15

Figure 2.3: Planning Process Group 20

Figure 2.4: The processes of PRINCE2 project planning model 31

Figure 3.1: SV Tech organizational structure 42

Figure 3.2: Classification by scope of work 51

Figure 3.3: Project classification by contract value scale 52

Figure 3.4: Weak Matrix organization 68

Figure 4.1: Strong matrix organization 74

Figure 4.2: Project management process 77

Figure 4.3: Project planning process 80

Figure 4.4: Risk management planning process 82

Figure 4.5: An example of project works plan 85

Figure 4.6: Integration management 86

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A reality today is that most projects do not achieve the deadline or if it is completed

on time then the project quality does not guarantee or overestimation of costs It iseasy to see this situation in the construction projects, in other areas includinginformation technology and telecommunication sector, it is not exception Thusproject management issues becomes important than ever, especially projectplanning stage, the heartbeat of a solid project management methodology SVTechnologies JSC is a prestigious company operated for many years in the field of

IT and telecommunications; however project management issues are not paid moreattention This affects to the quality and efficiency of the project and the reputation

of the Company as well Therefore, the author has conducted this research with thehope of contributing to improve and further develop quality and effectiveness ofprojects in the company

The objective of this research is to study the current situation of project planning in

SV Technologies, analysis and evaluate the effectiveness of current projectmanagement in general and project planning phase in particular in the company,find out what is the requirements, achievements, shortcoming and cause ofconstraints then to develop a process to improve project planning in order toincrease abilities to success with IT projects ahead

Base on literature review of project planning, the theories, approaches and models

of project planning, the author would like to have a deep understanding about theproject planning stage Analysis and synthesis primary data and secondary data togive out result, limitation since then find out reasons Primary data collected by indepth interviews and secondary data mostly collected from reports, documents andchecklist about actual project performance Analysis on the fact case study of thecompany was carried out in order to verify my findings as following:

- The company doesn’t have project manager, the person in charge each project is

Technical Manager or engineers who have little skill and experience in projectmanagement.

- Poor of using of tools and techniques during the project planning stage and projectimplementation as well

- The company has no processes for project management in general and projectplanning in detail to guide the project managers and project teams in their works

- The project manager and project teams have not paid enough attention to projectplanning stage as well as shortening them

- Besides that the thesis also gives out the achievements and shortcoming of projectplanning to make the readers have a general view about the project planningmanagement in SV Technologies JSC

After analyzing the actual situation of project planning stage in the company, thethesis offers some solutions and recommendations to improve the status Thesesolutions involve in creating an available resources because the limitation of theresources giving a big influence on the projects performance Then some methods

of effective building and controlling of project planning are also suggested toprovide useful practice methods for project managers In addition, human factor isespecially cared in this part because this factor is very important to and directlyeffect to the project planning phase and the success of projects as well Solutions inthis issue will help project enhance its competency of project managers and projectteam

In the scope of this thesis, solutions are systematically researched and gone in line with the reality of projects in the company The thesis expected to help the companyimprove effectiveness of project planning then increasing project results

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the research

The importance of project management has become more and more significanttoday especially in today's market situation The current economy and downturn aswell as highly competitive market have made our market changed quickly If anorganization wants to keep up with competitiveness, its members must be effective

at project management Good project management is critical to keeping strategictargets on schedule and helps companies to thrive and remain competitive Beforestarting a project, a period of planning is necessary if we want to successfully finishthe work Project planning is considered as an essential part of project management.Developing a well project plan is one of the most critical factors for project success.The project plan not only provides a road map which directs the project manager tofollow to complete a project within a specified baseline, but also acts as the projectmanager's premier communications and control tool throughout the project Projectplanning is useful for effective project management This, in turn, enables thecompany to achieve its strategic goals

Many project managers do not recognize the importance of spending thenecessary time up front to plan appropriately and clearly define project objectivesand expectations They suppose that developing a project plan causes waste of timebecause the plan will be invalid almost from the beginning, so they are probablytempted to skip the planning and jump straight into execution Or there is such anurgency to deliver or implement a solution to gain business value that planning outthe “how” is becoming a costly oversight and administrative challenges Somemanagers, who advocate action over planning, supposed that action is interestingand planning is boring All these attitudes have doomed many projects to failure.Indeed, they fail to realize the value of a project plan in saving time, money andmany problems The project plan defines what the project really is based on therequirements gathered Once the project plan is approved, it will be used as the

baseline for all progresses throughout the project life including executing,monitoring and controlling and closing process and help to minimizes scope creep.The project plan with sufficient details allows everyone involved knows where theproject is going and helps the project manager to follow a more direct route towardproject success The project plan will almost certainly change during the course of aproject, so it should be constantly updated That running a project without planninglike working without knowing where you are going is likely to lead to problems andpossible failure So, any project that needs to be executed has to be planned Anytasks that was begun without proper planning and due diligence is almost always afailure So, the project managers have to plan the project properly to ensure that theproject will be successful.

SV Technologies joint stock company (SV Tech) was established inMar.2001, operate in Information Technology field The main businesses of thecompany are to provide IT infrastructure including network system, datacenter formany customers in different field such as telecommunication, banking,Government…, consulting and providing the integrated solution for thosecustomers Revenue in last year is over 600 billion VND and there are severaldecade projects each year But there is a truth that there is no Project Manager in SVTech, almost projects are managed by salesman and Technician, then to have thesuccess of SV Tech’s Projects, the salesman and project teams, event the Directorpaid much of effort and based on their own experience to complete the projects

Almost project owner in SV Tech think only of a Grant Chart when theythink of a project plan They didn’t pay much time to the initial stage of project,only emphasizing on what need to do and how to do it Therefore they usually jumpinto on the defensive situation when facing changing with the project In addition,these projects are less cared by the authorities or the researchers in Vietnam than theconstructional projects through the laws, regulation or instructions This gives oneencouragement for the author to carry our study

Last but not least, in SV Tech almost of projects have the same problems of

schedule delay and over budget This causes the financial losses due to the longcapital stagnation Sometimes the situation of stagnation put the company into thedifficult financial situation Moreover, the delays of the project also made thecustomers lose trust on our business Then the reputation of the company is affected

in bad swing Being aware of the importance of project planning process as well asthe current situation of company, SV Tech’s leaders want to build policies andprocedures to manage projects effectively However, no research on this area wasconducted in SV Tech I, myself have been working for the company over fouryears, had opportunity to work with many projects and many different departments,deeply understand the current situation of the company The board of directors aswell as my direct manager believed and supported me to carry out this research.That’s why the topic of “Improving project planning in SV Technologies JSC” hasbeen chosen by the author for the thesis

1.2 Research objectives

The research objectives are twofold First, it attempts to address its currentproblems in projects management of the SV Tech in general and projects planningstage in particular Second, it proposes some implication to make the projects ingood planning and fit its goals and objectives The specific objectives are asfollows:

- To review theories on project management, emphasizing on project planningstage

- To analyze factors influencing to project planning stage

- Analyze the current situation of project planning to find out what wronghappening in the planning process in SV Tech

- Suggest the solutions and recommendations for improving the efficiency ofplanning stage in project management of SV Tech

1.3 Research Questions

Following the research objective mentioned about, this thesis aims to answer thefollowing questions:

- What is theoretical framework of project planning?

- Which are the factors influencing to project planning?

- How is the current situation of projects planning in SV Tech and its successes

and shortcomings?

- What are the causes for poor project planning in SV Tech?

- What are the solutions and recommendations to enhance efficiency of project

In-depth interview the

Account Managers, Technical

Managers and Customers

Observation/Checklist about

the actual project management

and project planning ways

In-depth interview the

management board members

Secondary data study

Current situation of project planning in SVTech

SOLUTION

Figure 1.1: The process of the research

Source: Designed by author

Firstly, secondary data study (Literature review) provides the theoretical

background on project planning for the research

Secondly, the data would be collected from two sources: secondary data andprimary data (In-depth interview and observation) Based on analysis of these data,the requirements of project planning stage as well as the current situation of projectplanning ways in SVTech would be extracted and assessed Comparison betweenwhat is requirement and what is the current situation author define the GAPbetween them.

Finally, the recommendations and solutions would be proposed as the finalpart of the thesis to improve the project planning in SV Tech

1.4.2 Data collection

In this research, the data will be collected from two sources: primary data and secondary data.

Secondary data collection:

The secondary data was collected through the sources such as:

- Textbooks, journals, magazines, published researches …to study and identifythe theoretical background on project planning: clarify contents of a projectplan, the planning process, and models used in project planning phase, thedeterminants as well as challenges of project planning…

- Company reports like weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly reports; internalprocedure and final project reports including acceptance minutes used as thedata for a desk research These data are use to analyze the current situation ofproject planning in SVTech

Primary data collection:

Primary data source was collected from in-depth interviews with small number

of managers in SVTech and five project manager from customer Mobifone,checklist of current project management project planning way as well

The interviews were conducted at SVTech office and Mobifone office Themajor objective is to understand the requirement of project planning, to assess andanalysis the advantages and disadvantages of current situation at SVTech.Moreover, the researcher would like to know about their point of view about the

reasons of shortcoming, find out their expectations.

I brief the method as follows:

Table 1.1 Data Collection methods Data

collecting

method

Respondent / interviewer

 Exploring their views about the actualproject planning of the company, find outtheir requirements and their expectations

 Finding out their assessment about thecurrent way of project management ofSVTech According to their point ofviews, finding out weakness, strong,advantages, disadvantages of project

recommendations to help resolve remainlimitations

With the checklist, the author will take a look about the current ways of projectmanagement and project planning and took note to find out the successes andshortcomings related

To analyze the data collected, the interview sheet and its taking notes are veryimportant I also combine with my working experiences to collect full information

1.4.3 Data analysis

The quantitative and qualitative data analysis was applied to the thesis Thequantitative data analysis was used to research financial situation of the company,time performance of projects… The qualitative data was used to find out the successand shortcoming of the current project planning ways in the company as well as the

factors and causes affecting to the project planning stage of the company Base oncollected data through interview and observation, the author would like use contentanalysis method to supplement and clarify to research results.

Moreover, to reflect the current way of planning project in the company, theauthor used the case study assessment to analysis one representative project due tolack of time

1.5 Scope of research

Research Objects: Focusing on analyzing the current project planning in SV Tech

Company and try to find out some solutions in order to improve the effectiveness of

project planning stage in SV Tech

Geographical scope of the research:

Due to time constraint and the fact of the company, the thesis analyzed the planning

of projects in Ho Chi Minh Headquarter of the company and Representative officeswhich are located in Hanoi in two recent years of 2009 to 2012 although thecompany has age of 10 years in its history

Timing:

The secondary data was collected from 2009 to 2012

The primary data was collected from June, 2012

1.6 Thesis structure

The structure of the thesis includes 4 chapters as follow:

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Chapter 2 – Theoretical framework of project planning

Chapter 3 – Current situation of project planning in SV Technologies JSC

Chapter 4 – Solutions and recommendations for improving efficiency of projectplanning in SV Technologies JSC

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF

PROJECT PLANNING

2.1 Overview of project management and project planning

2.1.1 Nature of project management

2.1.1.1 Definition

Before looking into project management, it is necessary to understand the natureand characteristics of a project Projects are usually defined as having a goal andthey are time limited [4, pp 16]

A project is a set of activities intended to accomplish a specified end result ofsufficient importance to be of interest to management

“The most important difference between the management control of ongoingoperations and the management control of projects is that the ongoing operationscontinue indefinitely, whereas… A project starts, moves forward from onemilestone to the next, and then stops.”[1, pp 790]

Figure 2.1: Project management process

Source: Anthony and Govidndarajan, 2005, p.795

A project is a set of actions for which human, material and financial

resources are organized to undertake a set of time and cost constrained activities inorder to achieve specific quantitative and qualitative objectives meeting the needs of

a client (or of beneficiaries) Not ongoing and repetitive as other operations, aproject is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product and service.Temporary means that every project has a definite beginning and a definite endalthough their duration ranges from a few weeks to more than five years Uniquemeans that the product and service is different in some distinguish way from allother product and service and may involve thousands of people from various sectors

of the economy Projects are often implemented as a means of achieving anorganization’s strategies plan For many organizations, projects are a means torespond to those requests that cannot be addressed within the organization’s normaloperational limits [14]

Depending on perspectives toward what are included in a project and how toimplement it, a project management may be viewed or defined in several differentways Project Management Institute (PMI) introduced a brief meaning on the termProject Management as the application of knowledge, skill, tools, and techniques toproject activities to meet project requirement [14] Project management isaccomplished through the use of the processes such as: initiating, planning,executing, controlling, and closing The project team manages the work of theprojects, and the work typically involves competing demands for scope, time, cost,risk and quality; stake holders with differing needs and expectations; identifiedrequirements In short, to manage a project is to plan, to organize, to direct, and tocontrol resources with the aim of reaching an objective at a precise date whilerespecting a budget During the last half of the twentieth century, projectmanagement evolved from an unacknowledged skill set to a recognized profession,complete with a certification and degree As the pace of change increases projectmanagement has become an essential organizational competency

However, the definition of Project Management can be developed time by timedue to the change in the nature of the job and the impacts of the external

environment In the age of fast moving flows of cash, information and technology,companies face more challenges that come from cut-throat competitions, shorterproduct life cycle and also the required innovation In the past, a projectmanagement focused on reaching so-called quality goal, cost goal and time goalwhile these are presently defined more clearly Time is both understood to be theshortest periods for companies to introduce their product to the market, the quickerthan the competitors the better and the right time to launch the project Cost andquality somehow do not merely imply within budget or high standard of quality buttogether they create the value for the company and the best set of cost and qualityshould be always comply to business strategy.

2.1.1.2 Processes of project management

Project management has its own set of function that can be divided into fiveprocess groups, including:

 Initiating Process Group

 Planning and Design Process Group

 Executing Process Group

 Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

 Closing Process Group

Figure 2.2: Links among process groups in a phase

Source: [15]

Initiating process

The initiating process aims to define a new project or new phase of an

existing project by getting authorization approval to start the project This processdetermines the nature and initial scope of the project as well as initial committedfinancial resources so that the outcome of the project will meet the business needs.The key project controls needed in this stage are an understanding of the businessenvironment and making sure that all stakeholders impacted by the project areindentified

Planning and Design process

The planning process aims to establish the scope of project, define and refineobjectives, and develop actions required to attain the project’s objectives The mainpurpose of this process is to develop the project management plan and the projectdocuments that identify all aspects of the scope, time, costs, quality, resources,communication, risk and procurement

The project plan provides a road map with a specified baseline that directsthe project manager to follow to complete all progress throughout the project lifeincluding executing, monitoring and controlling and closing process The more theproject plan defines appropriately and clearly project objectives and expectations aswell as detail action plan, the easier other processes can be implemented to achieveexpected goals A failure to plan adequately lessens the project's chances of success

Executing process

Executing process consists of the processes performed to complete the workdefined in the project management plan in order to accomplish the project'srequirements This process involves coordinating people and resources, as well asintegrating and performing the activities of the project in accordance with theproject management plan The deliverables of the project management plan areproduced as outputs of this process

During project execution, some changes relating to activity durations,resource productivity and availability and unanticipated risks may be occurred.These change requests, if approved, may modify the project management plan andrequire planning updates and re-base lining

Monitoring and controlling process

The monitoring and controlling process performs to track, review andregulate the progress and performance of the project so that potential problems can

be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken The key benefit

is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variancesfrom the project management plan Moreover, this process helps to identify anyareas in which changes to the plan are required, initiate the corresponding changesthen

Closing process

Closing process is performed to finalize all activities for formal acceptanceand the ending of the project or project phase The project team may conduct post-project or phase-end review meeting Administrative activities include the archivingall relevant project documents, recording impacts of tailoring to any process anddocumenting lessons learned

2.1.2 Project planning

2.3.5.1 Definition of Project Planning

There are many definitions of project planning The most popular definition

in the literature is given by the PMBOK Guide (A Guide to the Project ManagementBody of Knowledge) and PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) whichdefine:

"The project plan is a formal, approved document used to guide both projectexecution and project control The primary uses of the project plan are to documentplanning assumptions and decisions, facilitate communication among stakeholders,and document approved scope, cost, and schedule baselines.”

"The project plan is a statement of how and when a project's objectives are to

be achieved, by showing the major products, milestones, activitiesand resources required on the project."

According to Kerzen [7], planning in general is determining what needs to bedone, by whom, and by when in order to fulfill one’s assigned responsibility

The primary function of a project plan is to serve the PM as a map of theroute from project start to finish The plan should contain sufficient informationthat, at any time, the PM knows what remains to be done, when, with whatresources, by whom, when the task will be completed, and what specifications theoutput should meet [17, P67] This information must be known at any level of detailfrom the most general overall level to the minutiae of the smallest subtask As theproject travels the route from start to finish, the PM needs also to know whether ornot any changes in project plans are contemplated and whether or not any problemsare likely to arise in the future In other words, the PM needs to know the project’scurrent state and its future expectations Because PMs are sometimes appointedafter the project has begun, the PM also needs to know the project’s history to date.

2.3.5.2 Necessity of Project Planning

If you have no plan, by definition, you have no control, because it is yourplan that tells you where you are supposed to be in the first place Furthermore, ifyou don’t know where you are you cannot have control This knowledge comesfrom your information system [10, P44]

Running a project without a plan is foolish Working without knowing whereyou are going is likely to lead to problems and possible failure Running a projectwithout a plan is like trying to find your way in a strange city without a map As thesaying has it, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail." [8]

Project planning is essential for a project's success, and as such is often consideredthe most important phase in project management

By establishing the scope, aims and objectives of a project and mapping out theprocedures, tasks, roles and responsibilities, project planning helps to reduce themain pitfalls leading to project failure, such as:

 Selecting an unimportant problem

 Not addressing the key determinants of the problem

 Not choosing the best intervention strategy to address the problemdeterminants (e.g., choosing solutions that are not supported by evidence, orreinventing the wheel)

 Choosing interventions that are not sufficiently adapted to the target group orcontext

 Poor quality of implementation

 Not performing the right kind of evaluation (e.g., wrong evaluation level orpoor evaluation methodology)

 Insufficient dissemination (e.g poor visibility of the project, or not enoughsustainability of the results)

On the other hand, establishing the scope, tasks, schedules, risks, quality andstaffing needs helps project team members to understand their responsibilities andexpectations As such, the effort spent in planning can save countless hours ofconfusion and re-work in the subsequent phases The time spent properly planningwill result in reduced cost and duration, and increased quality over the life of theproject

2.2 Project planning process

The key to a successful project is in the planning Creating a project plan isthe first thing the project team should do when undertaking any kind of project Theplanning is not only purpose of creating a set of document; this process also helpsproject team to have a deeper understanding on the project As planning, the projectteam gain greater insight into what is needed for success The plan will also helpproject team understand and keep track how goals of the project can be achieved.The project plan serves as a roadmap for the entire project team providing guidance

on the priority of activities, the scope of work, the methodologies and governance to

be used, the broad strategy to take, how costs and people will be managed, thequality standards in the project, how the project will communicate withstakeholders, how performance and benefits will be measured etc The project teamshould engage all related stakeholders when making the project planning because afailure to adequately plan greatly impact to the project's chances of successfullyaccomplishing its goals The kick-off meeting should be organized to discuss andapprove the project planning by appropriate stakeholders

2.2.1 Planning Process according to PMBOK Guide

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) is a

recognized standard for the project management profession The PMBOK Guideprovides guidelines for managing individual projects It describes the projectmanagement processes, tools and techniques used to manage a project toward asuccessful outcome

According to PMBOK Guide, the planning process consists of those processesperformed to establish the total scope of the effort, define and refine the objectives,and develop the course of action required to attain those objectives The planningprocesses develop the project management plan and the project documents that will

be used to carry out the project The Planning process includes the projectmanagement processes identified in Figure 2.3

Figure 2.3: Planning Process Group

Source: [15, P47]

The the above figure we can see main areas the project team needs to cover in theproject plan including:

 Business and Project Objectives

 Project management plan

2.2.2.1 Business and Project Objectives

The project team needs to record the business objectives, aim of project andoutputs of project in the project plan This part should include business needs andbusiness problem, then the project objectives must state what will occur within theproject to solve the business problem and benefits of completing the project, as well

as the project justification The aim of the project is a mixture of the reasons fordoing the project and the benefits that are expected from it This section of the plancan be either fulfilled by linking to the main business case Given the aim of theproject, what will the completed project are made up of? These need to be clearlydefined as project outputs

2.2.2.2 Project Scope

In the planning stage, the project team needs to develop the project scope toensure that the project fulfill all the works required to satisfy stakeholders’expectations To do that, the project team carries out three processes in the scopemanagement knowledge:

 Collect requirements: The process aims to define and document all

stakeholders’ needs to meet the project objectives In order to collect

information and understand their expectations, the project team mayinterview related stakeholders, discuss interactively with focus groups,hold facilitated workshops, organize group activities, distributequestionnaires and surveys, perform observations…

 Define scope: In order to manage the scope, the project team has to define

the scope which deliverables will be included and excluded from theproject that is called project scope statement Defining the scope of theproject refers to develop a detail description of product scope and projectscope; product scope describes features and functions of the product orservice; project scope documents the work that needs to be accomplished

to deliver a product or service with features and functions specified in theproduct scope The detailed project scope statement includes product andproject scope description and acceptance criteria, project deliverables andthe work required to create those deliverables, project constraints andproject assumptions The scope statement is the most important document

in the project plan It is used to get common agreement among thestakeholders about the project definition and decreases the likelihood ofmiscommunication

 Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): For ease of executing,

monitoring, verifying and controlling the scope, it is essential to createWBS which subdivides project deliverables and project work into smaller,more manageable components The WBS is a hierarchical logical structurethat represents all the work necessary to produce all the projectdeliverables By doing so it organizes and defines the total scope of theproject The project team applies decomposition technique to break downthe work and deliverables to a sufficient level of details so that the ownercan be assigned responsibility for planning and managing each activity atthe lowest level By understanding the deliverables for assigned activities,

by having clear completion criteria, each activity owner can successfullydevelop realistic and reliable time, budget and resources estimates

2.2.2.3 Project Schedule

A project schedule is a vital tool and complements the project managementplan Such schedules would include an overall timeline, a test schedule, animplementation schedule, the critical path analysis, a resource allocation scheduleetc The project team needs to perform following progresses to produce the projectschedule in the planning stage:

 Define activities: This process identifies activities and tasks to be

performed to produce each of the deliverables identified in the scopebaseline Unless it is very small, it makes sense to break the project up intodiscrete activities, where related tasks can be lumped together, with asensible milestone at the end of them The results of this process areactivity list, activity attribute and milestone list which define and plan foreach activity in sufficient detail to ensure that all project membersunderstand what work is required to be completed to meet the project’sobjectives

 Sequence activities: The process identifies and documents logical

relationship among the project activities to produce project schedulenetwork diagrams The project team needs to identify which tasks aredependent on other tasks during the process of sequencing activities Forexample, in an IT project, we cannot install software without hardwaredelivery When the project team determines the dependencies, they canunderstand the impact of changes in any part of the project and define thelogical relationship more accurately

 Estimate activity resources: This process estimates the type and quantities of

material, people, equipment, or supplies required to perform each activity.After considering activity list and attributes and resource calendars such asresource experience and/or skills level as well as geographical locations,availability and capabilities during planned activity period, the project teamestimates resource utilization required for each activity

 Estimate activity duration: This process approximates the number of work

periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources

By using information on activity scope of work, estimated resource typeand quantities and resource calendars in combination with estimatingtechniques such as analogous estimating, parametric estimating, three-point estimating and reserve analysis, the project team estimates durationfor each activity

 Develop schedule: This process analyzes activity sequences, durations,

resource requirements and schedule constraints to create project schedule.Developing schedule puts all tasks and estimates in a calendar The projectschedule shows which resource is doing which tasks, how much time eachtask is expected to take, and when each task is scheduled to begin and end.The approved project schedule is used as a baseline to track progressthrough project life cycle This process is not a one-time effort, if theproject management plans changes, the project team need to revise andupdate the schedule The project team applies scheduling tools to generateproject schedule The best known methodologies which define the rulesand approaches for the scheduling process are critical path method (CPM)and critical chain Besides, other analytical techniques such as resourceleveling, what-if scenario analysis, leads and lags, schedule compressionalso applied to calculate the start and end dates of each activity

One of the most common problems that project managers face up with isunrealistic timeline or there are occurrences in the duration of a project when a staffmember is sitting idly, waiting for a colleague to finish so he can start his own task.The basic foundation of managing a project is creating an efficient and realisticproject schedule During project planning, the project manager is given the chance

to give it some fine-tuning This is the best time for him to be creative as heidentifies the best strategy to optimize trade-offs to deliver the best results in theshortest time without sacrificing its scope and quality A good project manager

know how to consider resource constraints and how to determine the dependenciesthat may require a time buffer to accurately define the logical relationship and focushis attention on the critical path which greatly contributes to determining itsdelivery schedule Besides, the project manager needs to build a time contingency

in the plan for any project however large or small So, he can produce a valid andrealistic time-scale that helps to implement and manage the project timely

2.2.2.4 Project Budget

In planning phase, the cost estimation and budget of the project needs to beproduced Firstly, the project team identifies and estimates costs to complete eachtask of the project including labor, materials, equipment, services, facilities andspecial categories such as inflation allowance or contingency costs based onactivities and tasks needed to produce each of the deliverables identified in thescope baseline The accuracy of estimation depends on many factors, including theexperience of the team, project risk and uncertainties, ambiguity of specifications,amount of buy-in expected, etc Cost trade-off and risks must be considered toachieve optimal cost for the project Then the project team aggregates the estimatedcosts of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized costbaseline This budget will be the basis for constituting the fund authorized toexecute the project and the project cost performance will be measured against theauthorized budget The prudent project manager incorporates budget contingencybuffers to accommodate the unforeseen

2.2.2.5 Project Quality Plan

In planning stage, the project team needs to set up quality planning whichdefines quality requirements and standards for the project output These targetsdefine what success is, what completion of the project is so that the project meetsthe stakeholders’ needs and project’s objectives The quality planning must be inparallel with the other project goals including cost and time and there are noarguments over the quality criteria among stakeholders The quality plan needs to beSMART:

 Specific: Clearly defined and precise.

 Measurable: Concrete criteria for measuring progress toward theattainment of the goals

 Attainable: The goals are realistic

 Relevant: The quality criteria actually related to the aim of the project

 Time-based: Enough time to achieve this

2.2.2.6 Project Human Resource Plan

Developing human resource planning needs to be implemented in parallelwith time, budget, and scope planning because the change in project team membersand their competency level may be subject to change the schedule of the project.The human resources management plan identifies roles, responsibilities andrequired skills of all team members throughout the project, project organizationchart to show reporting relationship among all members of the project team andstaffing management plan The human resources management plan should give animportant consideration on the availability of scare resources both from inside andoutside the organization to ensure project’s success It is important for the projectmanager to get clarity and agreement on what work needs to be done by whom andget approval from management or sponsor for human resources planning, especiallyfor project team which its members belong to many different groups/departmentsand act in the interest of different functional managers A good project managerunderstands the requirements for each task well and knows who are right resources

at the right time, so he can utilize and assign scare resources for best results

2.2.2.7 Project Communications Plan

Project Communications Management includes the processes required toensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrievaland ultimate disposition of project information In the planning phase, it isnecessary to develop communication plan which determines the project stakeholderinformation needs and defines a communication approach The project team creates

a document showing who needs to be kept informed about the project and how they

will receive the information The most common mechanism is a weekly or monthly

progress report and/or regular project team meetings, describing and updating howthe project is performing, milestones achieved and work planned for the nextperiod The communication plan helps the project manager to communicate withstakeholders in most efficiently and effectively in right time with informationneeded Effective communication creates a bridge between diverse stakeholdersinvolved in a project to achieve project’s objectives

2.2.2.8 Project Risks Management Plan

Risks are uncertain events that have impacted on one or more projectobjectives including scope, schedule, cost and quality The goals of project risksmanagement are to minimize the probability and impact of project threats and seizethe opportunities Developing risk management planning includes identifying risks,analyzing perform qualitative risk and perform quantitative risk, developing riskresponses plan, in which:

 Identify risks: This process determines which risks may be present and

affect the project and document their characteristics This process requires

an open mind set that focuses on future scenarios that may occur Besidesgathering ideas from all project team members, it is essential to talk toother stakeholders as well as experts outside the project to collect theirpersonal experiences and expertise Identify risks is an iterative processbecause new risks may evolve or become known as the project progressthrough its life cycle

 Perform Qualitative and Quantitative Risk Analysis: Firstly, the project

team performs Qualitative Risk Analysis to prioritize risks for furtheranalysis or action by assessing and combining their probability ofoccurrence and impact The criteria for prioritizing risks most projectteams use is to consider the effects of a risk on project objectives and therelative probability or likelihood of occurrence Then, the project teamshould more focus on high priority risks that can cause the biggest losses

and gains by performing Quantitative Risk Analysis In this process, theproject team must understand the nature of a risk and risk causes, so theycan analyze what effects take place after a risk and estimate impact onoverall project objectives.

 Plan Risk Responses: This process develops options and actions to

enhance opportunities and to minimize threats to project objectives Thereare four strategies for negative risks including risk avoidance, transfer,mitigation and acceptance Responses for risk opportunities are the reverse

of the ones for threats; it focuses on four options of seeking, sharing,enhancing and acceptance In this process, the project team has to assignone responsible person for each agreed risk response Which options thatwill be chosen are depend on the effort of project team which may addvalue to the project

To be successful, the project team needs to address risk managementproactively and consistently, review occurred risks and add new risks with responseplan during the life of the project

2.2.2.9 Project Procurement Plan

Project Procurement Management includes the processes necessary topurchase or acquire products, services or results needed from outside the projectteam Basing on some main theories such as transaction cost, contingency, agencyand core competence theory and risks assessment, the project team must analyzeand decide make-or-buy from single or multiple vendors and procurement method

to meet the specific needs of the project in the planning stage In case, the projectteam decides to acquire the products or services, they need to create a procurementplan which documents project purchasing decisions, specifies the approach (what,how and when to acquire it), and identifies potential sellers In this process, theproject team also considers the risk shared between the buyer and the seller andjustifies the cost – benefit analysis to determine the contract type which will besigned with each vendor

2.2.2.10 Project Management Plan

There are many individual processes interacting with each others in a project,the project integration management helps to unify and coordinate the variousprocesses to meet the project’s requirements In planning process, project team mustdevelop project management plan to define, prepare, integrate and consolidate allsubsidiary plans and baselines The project management plan defines how theproject is executed, monitored and controlled, and closed This plan is developedthrough a series of integrated processes until project closure and needs to beupdated if change request is occurred and approved

Based on inputs including project charter which documents the businessneeds, understanding of the customer’s needs and the new proposed product, service

in initiating process and outputs from planning processes such as project scope,schedule, cost, quality plan, human resource plan, risk management plan…, theproject management plan describes at least following information:

 The life cycle of the project and the processes which will be applied toeach phase

 Descriptions of the tools and techniques to be used for completing theseprocesses

 Work needs to be executed to accomplish the project’s objectives

 The change management plan

 Performance measurement baselines including scope, schedule and costbaseline

In the next, the author will discuss two more project planning models, Tregoe and PRINCE2 Models, to find out what are advantages and disadvantages ofeach model and chose the most suitable one

Kepner-2.2.2 Models of project planning

2.2.3.1 Kepner-Tregoe

This model is a comprehensive systematic step-by-step approach to problemsolving and decision-making It was developed by Dr Charles Kepner and

Dr.Benjamin Tregoe in the 1960s based on their research into critical thinking Themodel is broken down into four distinct processes, each designed to address aspecific aspect of project management:

 Definition: is used to appraise the need for the project It clarifies timing, cost,

and performance parameters It also identifies specific results and the value thatthe project should produce, balanced against the appropriate level of availableresources

 Planning: is used to determine who will do what and when It combines

technical sequencing and scheduling of deliverables and resources with oriented tasks (such as gathering the right people for project work and gainingtheir commitment to success) It also includes managing project risk by using the

people-KT Potential Problem Analysis process

 Implementation: addresses the controlled and effective use of resources to

achieve project results It overcomes the common pitfalls that befall manyprojects, including monitoring and responding to project issues Implementationensures project goals are achieved while also leveraging new opportunities

 Project management communication: this process is woven throughout

definition, planning, and implementation It includes people management andaddressing stakeholder involvement and satisfaction

The Kepner-Tregoe approach is designed to enable decision makers to respond tocomplex, repetitive challenges So it’s particularly useful for ‘closed’ projects –which are essentially repeat projects – where the outcome can be clearly definedfrom the beginning

2.2.3.2 PRINCE2

PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments) was launched as a project

management tool in 1996 but it first originated as PRINCE 1 in the 1970s as aframework for the development and support of Information Technology systemsthrough a structured project management approach The PRINCE approach isrigorous, with much formalized roles, responsibilities and channels of

communication for each aspect of the project It is ideal for breaking down largeand complex projects, which run over a period of time into manageable stages Thestrong responsibility element ensures resource commitment from management aspart of the approval to proceed It is now the UK’s standard model for projectmanagement widely used by Local Authorities and the NHS

Figure 2.4: The processes of PRINCE2 project planning model

Source: [13]

The model consists of eight processes, which detail what must be done tobring about a particular outcome including; making decisions, gatheringinformation and identifying results:

 Starting Up a Project (SU): Setting objectives, establishing an approach

and setting up the project team

 Initiating a Project (IP): Planning the whole project in terms of time and

resources

 Directing a Project (DP): Determines who authorizes each project stage.

 Controlling a Stage (CS): Basic project management with a focus on

monitoring and reporting

 Managing Product Delivery (DP): Creating, delivering and reviewing

the products

 Managing Stage Boundaries (SB): Reporting on the current

management stage and planning for the next stage

 Closing a Project (CP): Preparing for the end of the project, evaluation

review and sign off

 Planning (PL): Used during all other processes above.

A useful feature of PRINCE2 is the business case – the justification behindthe project though this is really only explored at the start of a project

PRINCE2 can only work if organizations abide by the key principles – theycannot pick and choose from the methodology Because of this, use of this model is

a more major organizational undertaking than working with less prescriptive projectmanagement tools

The advantage of PRINCE2 is that the output and deliverables are clearly defined,with organizational benefits and risks outlined explicitly However, PRINCE2

serves better as a project implementation tool because it does not necessarily

prompt you to consider the business case systematically The focus inevitablymoves to the deliverables and this can result in a lack of big picture or strategicthinking In addition, the strong focus on documentation can also lead to documentsbecoming an end, while the project itself falters There is a danger that the processcan become bureaucratic and so is often too labor intensive for smaller projects

After studying three project planning models above, I come up with PMBOKGuide is fully addressed aspects of the project management as well as projectplanning processes with sufficient skills, tools and techniques can have a significantimpact on project success and it is most suitable for all types of projects in SVTech

2.3 Factors influencing to project planning

Every year thousands of projects are completed over budget, out of scopeand past deadline So how can project managers efficiently develop a project planand below are some critical success factors for any project manager to improveproject results

2.3.1 Project Management Skills

As a good project manager, it is necessary to have the competency of subjectmatter experts from the business with the skill set necessary to complete the project