Table of Contents

QUESTION ..................................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 2
PROJECT CONSTRAINTS.................................................................................................... 2
TIME AS A PROJECT CONSTRAINT ..................................................................................... 3
COST AS A PROJECT CONSTRAINT. ................................................................................ 4
SCOPE AS A PROJECT CONSTRAINT .............................................................................. 4
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT AFFECTS PROJECT ........................................... 5
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ..................................................................... 6
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ..................................... 6
LEGAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS.............................................................................. 6
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ....................................................................... 7
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 8

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QUESTION
Discuss the project constraints and Project environmental models and indicate hoe they
hamper the success of the projects.
INTRODUCTION
A project according to Baccarini, D. (1999). is defined as a complex endeavour that is
undertaken to create a unique product or service, they say it has a definite start and a completion
date and deliverables. Every project needs supervision hence and someone who takes
responsibilities of the project and as a result there is what is known as project management.

Munns, S. and Bjeirmi, R (1996) also defined project management as an activity that involves
principles, practices, technics and tools that are applied to lead and control a project, Cost,
scope and quality of deliverables.

However, Wateridge, P. (1995) defined it as the exercise of initiating, planning, executing,

controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success
standards at the specified time. He adds that the primary challenge of project management is
to achieve all of the project goals within the given constraints.

Therefore, this essay will unpack some of the common project constraints and project
environment as main factors that hider the success of a project. the essay will start by defining
key terms, a discussion of each model in relation to the negative impact they have to the success
of the project will follow every definition of each constraint.

PROJECT CONSTRAINTS
According to Pamela, M. and Peter, M. (2007) traditionally the Project Constraint Model
recognised three key constraints; Cost, Time and Scope. These constraints construct a triangle
with a geometric proportion demonstrating the strong inter-reliant relationship between these
factors. If there is a need to shift any one of these factors then at least one of the other factors
must also be manipulated.

They argued that with the mainstream acceptance of the Triangle Model, Cost and Time appear
to be represented consistently. "Scope" however is often used interchangeably given the
context of the triangle's illustration or the perception of the respective project. Increased scope
typically means increased time and increased cost, a tight time constraint could mean increased
costs and reduced scope, and a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope.

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Smith, P. G., & Reinertsen, D. G. (1998) also agrees that the discipline of project management
is about providing the tools and methods that enable the project team to shape their work to
meet these constraints. Smith and Reinertsen added that an alternative approach to project
management is to consider the three constraints as finance, time and human resources.

They proposed that for one to finish a job in a shorter time, you can toss more people at the
problem, which automatically raises the cost of the project, lest by doing this task quicker we
reduce costs elsewhere in the project by an equivalent amount.

Different constraints are listed and explained in the essays to follow.

TIME AS A PROJECT CONSTRAINT

For diagnostic purposes, Morris and Hough (1999) cited Atkinson, R. (1999). who suggested
that the time required to produce a deliverable is estimated using several techniques. They said
one method is to identify tasks needed to produce the deliverables documented in a work
breakdown structure. In addition, they said the work effort for each task is estimated and those
estimates are rolled up into the final deliverable estimate. The tasks are also prioritized,
dependences between tasks are identified, and this information is kept in a project schedule.
However, Morris and Hough (1999) argued that the dependencies between the tasks can affect
the length of the overall project and are called dependency constrained, as can the availability
of resources which are called resource constraints, he adds that time is different from all other
resources and cost categories.

According to Morris and Hough (1999) are three common types of time constrains namely,
Start No Earlier Than, Finish No Later Than and As Soon as Possible but in this study the focus
was placed only on the first two types of time constraint.

Start no Earlier than time constraint

As Morris and Hough (1999) observed and cited Atkinson, R. (1999). Start no earlier than time
constraints specify the earliest date that a project or a task within a project can start. In itself,
this constraint doesn't necessarily affect project completion, but it can affect other tasks and
thus complicate the project as a whole. For example, if you have five days to complete an out-
of-town project but the client has stated it cannot begin earlier than Thursday, your team may
have to work through the weekend or spend two days in the client's city with nothing to do.

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Finish no later than time constraint

Morris and Hough (1999) added a finish no later than time constraint, which specifies when a
task or the entire project must be completed. He adds that these tasks are often the hallmark of
time constrained projects. According to him this constraint can affect the cost of a project,
especially when unanticipated resources must be put into a task to complete it on a specified
date or a crew must work overtime to complete the job in time. Short time implies more
resources and more resources means higher costs.

COST AS A PROJECT CONSTRAINT.

Serrador & Turner, (2015) also cited Serrador, P., & Turner, R. (2015). Who proposed that to
develop an approximation of a project cost depends on several variables including: resources,
work packages such as labour rates and mitigating or controlling influencing factors that create
cost variances? They suggest that tools used in cost are, risk management, cost contingency,
cost escalation, and indirect costs.

But beyond this basic accounting approach to fixed and variable costs, the economic cost that
must be considered includes worker skill and productivity which is calculated using various
project cost estimate tools. They however argue that this is important when companies hire
temporary or contract employees or outsource work.

SCOPE AS A PROJECT CONSTRAINT

Serrador, P., & Turner, R. (2015). says the scope is the overall definition of what the project is
supposed to accomplish, and a specific description of what the end result should be or
accomplish. They proposed that a major component of scope is the quality of the final product.
And the amount of time put into individual tasks determines the overall quality of the project.

However, they proposed that some tasks may require a given amount of time to complete
adequately, but given more time could be completed exceptionally. In addition, Serrador, P.,
& Turner, R. (2015). says in the course of a large project, quality can have a significant impact
on time and cost or vice versa, together, these three constraints have given rise to the phrase
"On Time, On Spec, On Budget." They added that in this case, the term "scope" is substituted
with specification.

Below is a simple diagram to illustrate the above three main project constraints.

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As shown in the diagram above, Serrador & Turner, (2015) says changing any of the three means a
change to the rest of the project hence the need for project management such that the three
constraints can be properly managed to archive the projected outcome of a project.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT AFFECTS PROJECT

The study of environmental factors affecting project success was narrowed down to
construction projects in this assignment, the factors are listed and explained below in a
chronological order.

According to Faniran, O. O., Love, P. E. D., & Smith, J. (2000) The project environmental
factors that have been generally identified include; political, legal, institutional, cultural,
sociological, technological resource, economic, financial, and physical infrastructure.

Bennett, J. (1991) also adds that these challenges arise mainly from inherent risks such as
political instability, excessive bureaucratic contract procedures such as situations where by the
project manager may have to wait for long just to have some stages of the project approved
also hinders the success of the project, while agreeing to the fact that lack of adequate
infrastructure such as transportation networks electricity supply,
and telecommunications systems will expressively delay the completion of any project but
more significantly any construction projects.

In acknowledgement of these unique problems, preceding research studies by Navon, R. (2005)

have recommended that there is a need to develop suitable management tools and methods
specifically custom-made to the project environment of developing countries.

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POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Faniran, O. O., Love, P. E. D., & Smith, J. (2000) proposed that the political environment is
concerned with government policy and the effect of political decisions upon construction
projects. They added that the significant roles played by the government in the construction
industry are mostly clients, regulators of the national economy, and regulators of the
construction environment such as laws that guide ethics and construction practices and many
others.

Faniran, O. O., Love, P. E. D., & Smith, J. (2000) noted that in its capacity as regulators of the
construction environment, governments influence the development and building approval
processes and enforce compliance with Acts and Regulations.

ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

The economic and financial characteristic zeroed on the level of general economic activity, as
well as the resources available to carry out the work and it contains the economic competition
of numerous degrees around the nomination of all the parties of the building project. Financial
limits always seem to exist on building projects according to Navon, R. (2005) whose study
clarified that financial environment forces are distinguished from economic ones on the basis
that economics is to do with the deployment of resources, whereas financial limitations are
strictly to do with money.

More importantly Navon, R. (2005) concluded that the most challenging task for any project
manager is to ensure that a project is financially feasible within a changing economic
environment.

LEGAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

According to Bennett, J. (1991) the legal environment facing organizations is becoming more
complicated and affecting businesses more directly. It has become increasingly difficult for
businesses to take action without meeting laws and regulations. The construction operates
within the covers of planning and environment regulations, codes of practice, safety
regulations, licensing, insurances and taxation laws.

These laws, codes and regulations are generally well-defined, making it probable to predict
their bearing on construction projects with reasonable accuracy. However, Bennett, J.
(1991). stressed that changes to industrial, safety, taxation and environmental laws are not
uncommon and problems may arise when the law changes during the life of a project.

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 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
In the research findings of Navon, R. (2005) The physical environment within which a
construction project is sited may impact considerably on its development as construction
projects are always affected by physical influences. The geographical location of a project,
ground conditions and weather patterns are the most common examples of physical influences.

Navon, R. (2005) adds that they are unpredictable and as such management actions have not
been able to prevent their occurrence. Nevertheless Faniran, O. O., Love, P. E. D., & Smith, J.
(2000) orated that managers of construction works will take significant consideration of
physical effects when planning the management strategies to sidestep excesses which can take
advantage of accessible resources.

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CONCLUSION
In review of the above essays, project management becomes a complex activity when all the
project constraints and environmental models that hinder the success of a project are brought
into the scene, however with the researches that has be done by many schoolers there are many
possible ways that the project managers can engage to try and cushion the impact of these
constraints to the success of the project

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REFERENCES
Atkinson, R. (1999). International journal of project management, 17(6), 337-342.

Baccarini, D. (1999). The logical framework method for defining project success 30(4), 25-32.

Bennett, J. (1991). International construction project management: general theory and practice.
Butterworth-Heinemann.

Faniran, O. O., Love, P. E. D., & Smith, J. (2000, June). In Proceedings of Construction
Development Conference

Serrador, P., & Turner, R. (2015). The relationship between project success and project
efficiency. Project Management Journal, 46(1), 30-39.

Navon, R. (2005). Automated project performance control of construction

projects. Automation in construction, 14(4), 467-476.

Wateridge, J. (1995). International journal of project management, 13(3), 169-172.

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