Project Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project Managment - Essay Example According to Kerzner (2009), project managers are in charge of ‘coordinating and integrating activities across multiple, functional lines’ (p. 12). This means that they consolidate efforts to (1) develop the project plan, (2) execute the plan, and (3) make the necessary changes to the plan to ensure that the objectives are met. Project managers also operate as interface between the smaller, project organization, and the larger functional organization. They therefore are tasked with managing relationships (1) among individual members of the team , (2) between the functional organization and the project team, (3) between the senior management and the project team, and (4) between the customer’s organization (i.e., external or internal) and the project team (Kerzner, 2009, p. 13). Kerzner observes that the project manager’s role is a difficult one because he/she usually is assigned a great deal of responsibility, but actually very little power or authority. Th e greatest challenge to the skill and expertise of the project manager is the degree to which he/she is able to successfully achieve the specific objectives of the project within the constraints (of scope, time, cost, and performance) imposed upon him/her. The Edinburgh Tram System project In 2002, the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC), established the Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE) as a private limited, wholly-owned CEC subsidiary. The new system is envisioned to be a fast, clean and green, and high capacity transport service similar to those in other countries in Europe (Edinburgh Trams, 2012). The initiative began with a series of public consultations to determine the feasibility of the proposed system and in compliance with the parliamentary process. Stakeholders were invited to participate during these consultations where the feedback and suggestions to the proposed project details were garnered. By January 2004, the completed plans were submitted to Parliament, which appr oved them in March 2006. Contracts were entered into by May 2008, begun soon thereafter, and the tram network was estimated to commence operations by 2014 (Edinburgh Trams, 2012). From the project’s onset, the CEC and contractors have encountered problems related to the project. An example is the line to St. Andrew Square has proven problematic, with a project cost of ?776 million, ?200 million over the original budget. The contractor, Bilfinger Berger, of Germany, has been plagued by delays, disputes, technical problems, and unforeseen revision. According to Knox (2011), there also were other concerns such as a misunderstanding of the initial agreement, a confused and divided council, government hostility and negative public perception. These problems resulted in a reduction in the project’s scope from several lines to just one – that leading to St. Andrew’s Square – a budget overrun and extension of the completion date to 2016, and the resignatio n of the project’s chief executive after only two years (Knox, 2011; BBC, 2011). The three elements of project management Several of the nine primary elements of the PMBOK are seen to be applicable in this case, but the following three appear to have posed the greatest challenge for the project manager: (1) Managing the scope of the project in controlling the project The project scope is an explicit description of what are included in,