Task 1:

Q1:

The project management lifecycle is a set of best practises that are used to guide a project from
the start to the finish. It gives project managers a way to plan, run, and finish a project in a
structured way. This process for managing a project usually has four steps: initiating, planning,
executing, and closing. Some may also have a fifth "monitoring and controlling" phase between
the executing and closing stages. By doing each step, a project team makes it more likely that it
will reach its goals.

The first stage of a project's lifecycle is the "Initiation" phase, which is all about figuring out the
project's scope, what needs to be done, and what the manager hopes to achieve.

The second step is planning. In this step, the project manager will build the project's
infrastructure so that it can reach the vision and goals set in the first step. This step focuses on
making a schedule and plans for the project, such as choosing team members, making a scope
baseline, and making a master plan.

The third step of the project lifecycle is the implementation phase. This is when the project
manager started working on the project according to the plan made in the second step. During
this step, the manager needs to monitor and control the project to make sure it stays on schedule
and that the quality of the work meets the goals set in the plan.

The closing phase is the last step in the project's life cycle. In this step, the manager will check to
see if the project is done. If it is, the manager will review and accept, transfer project
responsibility, create a document result, and then let the team close the project.

Q2:

I. What is the scope of a project and why is it essential ?

In the planning process for a project, the project scope is a list of specific goals, deliverables,
features, and budgets. The scope document has a list of everything that needs to be done to finish
the project successfully.
One of the hardest things for a project manager to do is keep track of what stakeholders and
clients want. With a clear project scope, managers can easily stay on track and make sure that all
deadlines are met throughout the life cycle of the project. Effective project scope management
lets you know how much time, work, and money the project will take. It helps you figure out
what you need and what you don't need to finish the project. Scope also sets up the project's
control factors, which are used to deal with things that might change during the project's life
cycle.

II. How would you have defined the scope in Task 2; case study (Concrete Masonery
Corporation)

The Project The Project included transferring eight pre-stressed concrete assembly machines and
ancillary equipment into Eastern Europe in 6 months

Q3:

Project 1

Critical path: A->B->C->F->H->J->L (32 days)

1 5 1
 3 8

2 2
9
2 7

1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3
0 4 4 4 6 3 4 3 3 5
0 0 3 3 7 7 0 0 3 7 2

A B C F H J L

1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3
0 0 4 4 0 4 4 4 4 0
0 4 7 7 1 1 4 4 7 7 2

1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2
6 2 5 4
0 6 6 8 8 3 3 7

D G I K

1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2
0 0 0 0
0 6 6 8 8 3 3 7

Project 2

Critical path: A->C->F->H->G->K->L (28 days)

1 1
5
2 7

1 1
2
4 9
1
0 3 3 3 5 8 8 4
2
A B D 1 2 1
 2 4
1 1 1 2
0 0 3 5 2 2 G 6 28
0 0 4 2
2 2
8 L
0 2
1 2
3 3 6 6 4 0 28
0 2
1 1 1 1 1 2
C F 3 6 3
0 3 3 9 9 2
1
3 0 6 6 0 H J K
0
1 1 1 1 1 2
0 0 0
0 3 3 9 9 2

Project 3

Critical path: A->B->C->F->H->J->K (25 days)

12 5 17
E
 18 6 23

9 3 12 12 4 16 16 3 19 19 4 23 23 2 25

C F H J K

0 3 3 3 6 9 9 0 12 12 0 16 16 0 19 19 0 23 23 0 25

A B

0 0 3 3 0 9 9 4 13 13 6 19

D G

13 4 17 17 4 23

Q4:

I. Net present value (NPV)

Net present value (NPV) is the difference between how much money a project spends and how
much money it brings in over time (Vanila, 2020). NPV helps the project manager figure out how
much money the project will actually bring in by changing the cash inflows and cash outflows
from future value to present value based on a discount rate. The manager can then choose the
project with the highest NPV to work on.

Formula: Rt: Cash inflow or outflow of the project in a single t

r: Discounted rate

t: Number of time
n

∑ (1+Rtr)t
t =1

NPV is helpful because it shows how much money is worth over time and makes NPV reliable
(Brooks, 2020). Next, it helps the project manager see the whole cash flow of the project, not just
the point where the project breaks even or starts making money. This way, the project manager
won't miss any chance to lose money on a big project.

Jessica, Vinicius, and Herbert (2018) say that they show IRR as the discounted rate that makes
the project's net present value (NPV) equal to zero. The company's manager will pick the project
with the highest IRR. Also, with the help of IRR, managers won't have to worry about the hurdle
rate. This makes it less likely that they'll calculate the wrong hurdle rate and miss the chance to
invest in a good project.

II. The payback period

Reniers, Talarico, and Paltrinier (2016) say that the payback period is the time it takes for a
project to reach the breakeven point, which means that the project manager can get back all of
the money they put into the project. The manager will choose projects that pay for themselves
quickly. This is how to figure out payback period:

Initrial investment −opening cumalative cash flow

Closing cumalative cash flow−opening cumalative cash flow

Q5: There are three risks that I identified on Concrete Masonry Corporation as below:

List of risks Rating (Level from 1-3; with 3 is the high

risk)
Environment risk 2
Budget shortfall 2
Personnel capacity 1
Firstly, by buying an insurance package, the company's manager can share the risk with the
insurance company and lessen its effect.

Secondly, identify all accounts receivable and expenses in the planning stage.

Finally, training staff so that they understand the weather conditions as well as their abilities.

Q6:
Quality auditing is a thorough look at a company's quality management system (QMS). Usually,
a quality auditor or audit team from inside or outside the company does a quality audit. It is one
of the most important parts of the ISO 9001 standard for quality systems.

Audits are important for figuring out how well processes, products, and systems are working,
whether they have been around for a while or are brand new. They are also an important part of
compliance and regulatory requirements. They are also a vital tool for verifying objective
evidence of processes and providing evidence for reducing and getting rid of any problem areas.

For an organisation to get the most out of a quality audit, it should show examples of good
practise instead of just finding non-conformance, process problems, and corrective actions. This
will let other departments share information and change how they do their jobs, which will lead
to continuous improvement.

Task 2:

Abtraction

1. Initiation phase
1.1. Project objective

A project's goal can be thought of as what the project manager wants to get done by the end of
the project (Martines, 2020). This also includes deliverable, tangible, or intangible goals, such as
getting the company's employees to work harder. The goal of the project should be to come up
with smart rules that are clear, measurable, doable, relevant, and have a time limit.

SMART is a model that helps businesses or marketing professionals set and evaluate the
specificity, feasibility, and reasonableness of the Marketing plan's goals. This model also helps
businesses make sure that their marketing goals are sometimes in line with their business
strategies (Fastdo, 2023). SMART will evaluate marketing objectives based on the following 5
criteria: S – Specific; M – Measurable; A – Actionable; R - Relevant; T - Time-Bound.

In this project, the main objective is:

 Specific: transfer eight pre-stressed concrete assembly machines and ancillary equipment
into Eastern Europe
  Measurable: Kevin's team's goals must be implemented exactly as they set out in the
Activities Plan Table (Appendix 3)
 Achievable: Kevin has to run his team in a systematic way, based on an investment of £
900,000, Kevin's team must complete the project in 6 months from September
 Relevant: Helps Concrete Masonry Corporation to remain competitive in its market.
 Time-bound: 6 months from September during the winter
1.2. Project priorities

The project priorities matrix can be thought of as a tool that helps the project manager rank and
figure out how important each part of the project is. This way, the manager can see what part of
the project is most important and focus on that part, while other parts don't need as much
attention (Carol, 2012).

Budget Performance Time

Restriction
Optimization
Accept
Table of Concrete Masonry Corporation project

Time

In the project goal, the transport machine needs to be done in 6 months during the winter. This is
why Kevin, the leader of the project, made time a restriction and said that this was the most
important thing to work on first.
Performance
For the project's performance, it makes sense to put this element in optimisation so that the
project's goal can be reached (With an investment of £900,000 and completion in 6 months
during the winter, plans were made to move several manufacturing machines to a new site in
Eastern Europe. This would give them more flexibility and efficiency in their manufacturing
supply). The manager should pay attention to this part after the time part.
Budget
To stay competitive, the company moved some of its production machinery to a new location in
Eastern Europe. This gave the company more flexibility and efficiency in its manufacturing
sourcing. Because shipping overseas is so expensive, the company and the person in charge of
the project need to think about all of the costs. However, none of the costs can be more than the
initial investment.
1.3. Stakeholder identification
McGrath and Whitty (2017) showed that a stakeholder is a party that can affect or be affected by
a company's business and has an interest in the business. Also, as social response has grown, the
government, communities, or trade associations have become known as "stakeholders" of the
company. They separate stakeholders into two smaller groups: internal and external.
In this project, internal stakeholers are affeted directly on the project including manager,
shareholder, employees (Lewis’s team), suppliers and customers.
Level of interest
High Low
Level of High Manager Employees
power
Low Shareholder
Supplier
Customer

1.4. Management skill

Management skills are very important to the success of a project. According to Nakayama and
Sutcliffe (2004), a manager of a project should have certain skills or traits in order to do certain
jobs in an organisation. It includes being able to take on executive roles in an organisation while
avoiding crises and solving problems quickly when they come up. After finishing a project, you
can learn and try things out to improve your management skills. Planning, motivating, making
quick decisions, and solving problems are all good examples of skills that a manager of a project
can learn.

In this case, planning is one of the most important skills Kevin needs to have in order for the
project to be a success. When he has good planning skills, the project will be planned perfectly,
making it easy and on time for everyone to finish their work. Also, a well-planned project can
reduce a lot of risk and make it easier to reach the goal that was set at the start of the project.
 1.5. Team skill

Fransen, Weinberger, and Kirshner (2013) say that team development creates an interesting
atmosphere by encouraging cooperation, teamwork, interdependence, and the growth of trust
among team members.

In this project, team management is done in the following ways:

 Forming: At the start of the project, Kevin had a part-time team of five assistants on
placement from the department within Concrete Masonry Corporation. Kevin need to
choose members, who will lead 5 main part of the project: Planing part, contruction part,
controlling part, Human resources part and financial part.
 Storming: In this step, there should be disagreements between the manager and the leader
of each team, as well as disagreements between the different employees in each part of
the project.
 Norming: Every disagreement and problem has been resolved, and the work is back on
track. Based on what the project manager decides, the goals of the project manager and
the leaders of each team are the same.
 Performing: Because the manager made the right choice, all the tasks that meet the
project's goals are done and the team's output goes up.
 Adjourning: Based on all the problems that came up during the storming phase, the
manager now knows how to avoid them and keep the team in line for the next project.
1.6. Investment appraisal technique: payback, NPV, IRR
Assuming that from 2028, the project obtains 5-year profits. The cash flow of the project is
showed in the Appendix…

Payback period
Based on the project's cash flow, the manager of Concrete Masonry Corporation needs 3 years to
get all of their money back. This is acceptable to Concrete Masonry Corporation because another
project of the same type needs at least 3.5 years to get their money back, while this project only
needs 3. So, this project will pay for itself in a short amount of time, giving Concrete Masonry
Corporation money to put towards another project.
NPV and IRR
 250,000 250,000 400,000 450,000 500,000
NPV= −900,000+ + + + + =452,226.93 (£ )
( 1+10 % ) ( 1+10 % ) ( 1+10 % ) ( 1+10 % ) (1+10 % )5
2 3 4

The project has a positive net present value, which the project manager can accept. In detail, the
project can make money for 5 years, and the manager of the project can almost double their
money. Also, the project's IRR is 25.6%, which means that it can make a profit margin of 25.6%
over its useful life.
2. Project planning
2.1. Project scope
Alutbi (2020) says that WBS, which stands for "work breakdown structure," is a tool that can
help the project manager break the project into smaller tasks that are easier to handle. It
combines baselines for scope, cost, and schedule on its own, making sure that project plans are
on the right track.
In the Concrete Masonry Corporation project, the WBS is based on phased based in the table
below:
1 Planning
1.1 Define scope
1.2 Detail drawing
1.3 Plan budget and schedule
2 Execution
2.1 Topographic survey
2.2 Choose a shipping unit
2.3 Transporting machinery to the port
2.4 Transport it to the surveyed area
2.5 Check the machine after shipping
2.6 Assembling machines
2.7 Start producing
3 Control
3.1 Monitoring
3.2 Cost accounting
3.3 Contract compliance
4 Close-out
 4.1 Clean up
4.2 Check the equipment
4.3 Document handover and close the project

2.2. Project schedule

2.3. Cost management
2.4. Risk management
Threats to a company's resources and profits are identified, evaluated, and managed through risk
management. Financial uncertainty, legal liability, technology problems, strategic management
mistakes, accidents, and natural disasters are just some of the sources of these dangers (Linda,
2023).

In this project, the manager needs to identify the following risks as below:

Categories Risk identification Probability Impact Rank Response

Environment risk The occurrence of 1 3 3 By buying an insurance package,
natural disasters the company's manager can share
like wind, rain and the risk with the insurance
snow. company and lessen its effect.

Employee Lack of 3 2 6 Project managers need to

behaviour risk communication facilitate more cross-departmental
meetings to get their teams
talking to one another.
Work delayed 3 3 9 Project managers need to
implement stricter rules and
consequences for workers who
consistently miss deadlines.
Internal risk Project schedule is 2 3 6 If the project schedule is unclear,
not clearly or the manager must fix it or hold a
understood meeting to explain it to all
relevant departments.
 Errors in estimates 2 3 6 The best way for the project
cost manager to mitigate this threat is
to increase staffing in audits,
monitoring, and control of costs.

3. Project implementation
3.1. Project monitoring and control
Kumar and Bansai (2010) say that project monitoring and control is a project management
function that involves comparing actual performance to planned performance and taking (or
telling others to take) the corrective action that will get the project to the endpoint that was
planned. It is very important to the success of the project because it keeps the project on track,
makes sure the work gets done on time, and makes sure the project meets the quality standards
that the project manager set out in the objective.
PDCA, which stands for Plan, Do, Check, and Act, is the method used for this project.
Chakraborty (2016) says that PDCA is a four-step process that helps the project manager keep
track of and fix problems with cost, time, or quality to improve the project's performance. In
detail, in this project, this method helps Kevin, the leader of the project in the case, to keep price
of all activities of project on budget (on £900,000), complete the project in time (6 months
during the winter) and increase the performance of team members.

3.2. Quality management

According to Adobe (2022), project quality management is the process of measuring the quality
of every activity and making changes until the team gets to the level of quality they want.
Quality management processes help to keep a project's costs in check; to set goals and standards;
and to figure out how to reach those goals and standards.

In project management, it can not say enough about how important quality management is.
Effective project quality management makes sure that the team always delivers products and
services that are of high quality. Customers will notice and continue to work with you because
you are honest, quick, and do good work.
In particular, at the step of transporting machinery for the project, the manager monitors if his
employees are meeting the set goals and, if not, they need to make changes to avoid any risks
that could happen at this step of the project. PMBOK (2013) says that a quality audit is an
independent process that checks to see if the project's policies, procedures, and processes are
being met by the project's activities. When the planning phase is over, the project manager will
look over the planning document to make sure that the project has been planned well and meets
all of the requirements for this step.

4. Project closure