Thesis Research Project -- A Case Study on Effective Ways to Control a Project-- Ehsanullah Najib Reg#302-061117 Term C-Evening.pdf

8/10/2019 Thesis Research Project -- A Case Study on Effective Ways to Control a Project-- Ehsanullah Najib Reg#302-06111

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A Case Study on Effective Ways to Control a

Project

By

Ehsanullah Najib


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A Case Study on Effective Ways to Control a Project

Submitted By: Ehsanullah Najib

Registration No: 302-061117

Supervised by: Mohammad Shahid Shams

This project report is submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of degree of Bachelor of Business

Administration

Department of Business Administration

KARDAN INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, KABUL

August 2010

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PROJECT APPROVAL FORM

The undersigned certify that they have read the following project report and are

satisfied with the overall performance and recommend the report to the Faculty of

business Administration for acceptance.

Project Report Title:

The Effective Ways to Control a Project_______________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Submitted By: Ehsanullah Najib

Registration #: 302-06117

Degree Name in FullBachelor of Business Administration

Name of Discipline

Finance

Name of Supervisor Signature of Supervisor Mohammad Shahid Shams ______________________________

Signature of Head of the departmentName of Head of the department

Dr. Umar Farooq ______________________________

Signature of Vice ChancellorName of Vice Chancellor

Professor Anwar Shakeel Usmani ______________________________

Date:_______________________________

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DECLARATION FORM

I Ehsanullah Najib

Daughter/ Son of Najibullah Najib

Registration # 302-061117

Student of Bachelor of Business Administration at the Kardan Institute of Higher Education

Kabul, Afghanistan do hereby declare that the Project Report titled as

Effective Ways to Control a Project

Submitted by me in partial fulfillment of BBA (Hons.) degree, is my own work, and has notbeen submitted or published earlier. I also solemnly declare that it shall not, in future, be

submitted by me for obtaining any other degree from this or any other university or

institution.

Signature:

Name: Ehsanullah Najib

Date: August 23, 2010

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Acknowledgement

Initially I am grateful to Alimigity Allah for all the power, confidence, and patients who

provided me for successful completion of this degree, also I am blessing and praying toAlmighty Allah for providing additional power, confidence, and patients for successful

completion of my future educational objectives.

I am heartily thankful to my parents, who played a vital role in gaining this degree, their

encouragements, moral and financial support, and guidance during my secondary and high

school were supportive and consequences to a route for getting this degree.

I gratefully acknowledge my assigned supervisor Mr. Mohammad Shahid Shams, AssistantProfessor Kardan Institute of Higher Education (KIHE) for his encouragement, supervision

and support from the preliminary to the concluding level that enabled me to develop an

understanding of the research subject.

I am greatly thankful to my current employer International Relief and Development (IRD)

and my supervisor Eukeni Urrechaga, Program Controls Manager for the moral support and

allowing me to utilize IRDs office facilities and equipments in preparing this project.

Many thanks go in particular to my colleague Latifa Sadat, Project Controls Specialist who

helped me in getting access to EBSCOhost online research database which was a beneficial

resource for research papers about the subject and can be considered as a backbone of this

research project.

Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect

during the completion of the project.

Ehsanullah Najib

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Executive Summary

A project is a unique endeavor to produce a set of deliverables within clearly specified time,

cost and quality constraints. Control is exercised to achieve project objectives, and we know

that there are performance, cost, time, and scope targets that are always important. Execution

of the project according to the predefined project plan can be achieved through a control

methodology. Consequently, project control is a significant issue during the project life

cycle. This research was conducted to recognize and identify the effective ways of

controlling a project.

Findings in this research realizes that most important dimensions of control in a project are

cost, time and performance and by implementing control in all these three dimensions will

consequence a project within budget, time and according to specifications, this research

encounters in finding effective methodologies to control cost, time and performance.

Cost control is equally important in all projects, the successful competition of a project

within budget is extremely necessary for all project members i.e. project managers, senior

management and other stakeholders. Earned value management, cost estimating, cost

minimizing, cash flow management, and S curves are the effective cost control

methodologies which are explored and elaborated in this research.

In addition to cost control, completion of project on time (schedule) will endeavor to

successful completion of a project, it is necessary to have considerable attention in

monitoring and controlling schedules. Most projects typically involve a deadline for work

completion, so contractual agreements will force attention to schedules; the effective time

(schedule) control methodologies are also explored and elaborated in this research.

Project performance occurs on several different levels and stages of a project, all of which

are important to the organization. At its most basic level, performance refers to conformances

with technical specifications; this research also focuses on finding effective ways of

controlling performance.

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The information in this research is manipulated from primary and secondary sources of

information, the primary source of information is the questionnaires distributed among

project managers, and the researcher used books, journals, and research papers from internet

and libraries for collecting of secondary information. The researcher analyzed and presented

information in accordance with research project template and assigned instructors

agreements.

The over all focus of this research is the exploration and elaboration of utilizing effective

project control methodologies of cost, schedule and performance that consequence to

successful completion of a project.

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Table of Content

Title Page ................................................................................................................................... i

PROJECT APPROVAL FORM ............................................................................................... iiDECLARATION FORM......................................................................................................... iii

Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... ivExecutive Summary.................................................................................................................. vTable of Content ..................................................................................................................... vii

List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ viii

List of Acronyms ..................................................................................................................... ixCHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 11.1 Background of the Study ................................................................................................ 1

1.2 Background of the problem ............................................................................................ 21.3 Research Problem Statement .......................................................................................... 3

1.4 Objective of the Research ............................................................................................... 3

1.5 Scope and limitation of the study.................................................................................... 31.6 Significance of the study................................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................. 5

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE................................................................................ 52.1 What Is a Project? ........................................................................................................... 5

2.2 What Is Project Management? ........................................................................................ 62.3 Understanding Project Management Processes .............................................................. 72.4 Initiating and planning the project .................................................................................. 7

2.5 Executing ........................................................................................................................ 82.6 Closing ............................................................................................................................ 8

2.7 Monitoring and controlling............................................................................................. 9

2.8 Literature Review.......................................................................................................... 10CHAPTER 3 ........................................................................................................................... 34METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 34

3.1 Population ..................................................................................................................... 343.2 Sample Size................................................................................................................... 34

3.3 Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 343.4 Research Tools.............................................................................................................. 35

CHAPTER 4 ........................................................................................................................... 36FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................................... 36

CHAPTER 5 ........................................................................................................................... 45CONCLUSION AND RECOMMANDATIONS................................................................... 45

5.1 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 455.2 Recommendations......................................................................................................... 59

APPENDICIES....................................................................................................................... 61BOBLIOGRAPGHY .............................................................................................................. 64

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List of Figures

Description Page#Figure 1 Which Project Functions Need the Most Improvement ........................................... 17

Figure 2 Expenditure and Progress Measures......................................................................... 18

Figure 3 Type of Construction Project Managed by Project Managers.................................. 36Figure 4 Areas to be Controlled in a Project........................................................................... 37Figure 5 Method of Schedule Control .................................................................................... 39

Figure 6 Methods of Cost Control .......................................................................................... 40

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ix

List of Acronyms

AACE Association for the advancement of Cost Engineering

ACWP Actual Cost of Work Performed

APMBoK Association for Project Management: Body of KnowledgeASHTO American Association of State of Highway Transportation Officials

ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials

BCWP Budgeted Cost of Work Performed

BCWS Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled

BOQ Bill of Quantity

CBP Center for Business Practices

CPI Cost Performance Index

CPM Critical Path Method

ERP Enterprise Resource PlanningEV Earned Value

EVM Earned Value Management

EVMS Earned Value Management System

IPA Independent Project Analysis

IT Information Technology

MPCS Multidimensional Project Control System

NPV Net Present Value

PM Project Management

PMBOK Project Management Body of KnowledgePMIS Project Management Information System

PMQR Program Quality Monitoring Review

QA Quality Assurance

QC Quality Control

SPI Schedule Performance Index

TQM Total Quality Management

UK United Kingdom

USA United States of America

WBS Work Breakdown Structure


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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The key success factor for a successful completed project is the effective control and

management of a project, every project either it is simple or complex in their nature need a

level of control to achieve the project goal and meet the specifications according to the scope,

budget and within the time,

Project management control systems in an organization are necessary for managing projectscope, cost and schedule. They are based on carefully defined process and document

controls, metrics, performance indicators and forecasting with capability to reveal trends

toward cost overrun and/or schedule slippage. Identifying those trends early makes them

more amenable to successful management.

Project controls is indispensable for all type of projects including vertical industries

engineering and construction, public sector, aerospace and defense, utilities, oil and gas,

manufacturing and high tech, and IT and services and it currently being practiced in huge and

small industries in the world.

The effective control of a project is based on the three distinct activities: Measuring,

Evaluating and Correcting, in measuring determining through formal and informal reports the

degree to which progress toward objective is being made, in evaluating cause of and possible

ways to act upon significance deviation from planned performance and in correcting taking

control action to correct an unfavorable trend or to take advantage of an unusually favorable

trend, overall in turn these three activities are based on three resource parameters, namely

Time, Cost and Performance. These three resource parameters need to be analyzed in an

integrated way and the objective is to regulate the activities, resources and events in order to

achieve the results as defined by the project plans.

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This research was conducted to recognize the effective ways of having control on a project,

the research focuses on finding the effective ways and approaches to efficiently control time,

cost and performance that shall result a successful project outcome.

1.2 Background of the problem

Controlling is the third function of project management and it is necessary to have control all

over in each step of a project from planning to closing, all projects either they are simple or

complex in their nature need a level of control to achieve the project goal and meet the

specifications according to the scope, budget and within the time.

Lack of control in a project can cause failure to a project; the project failure can be employed

from three distinctive areas of cost, schedule and performance.

Cost control is equally important to all companies, regardless of size, small companies

generally have tighter monetary controls, mainly because of the risk with the failure of as

little as one project, but with less sophisticated control techniques, large companies may have

the luxury to spread project losses over several projects, whereas the small company may

have few projects. Too many people have a poor definition of cost control; cost control is not

only monitoring of costs and recording perhaps massive quantities of data, but also

analyzing the data in order to take corrective action before it is too late. Cost control should

be performed by personnel who incur cost, not the merely the project office.

In addition to cost control, project managers must also give considerable attention to

monitoring and controlling schedules. Most projects typically involve a deadline for work

completion, so contractual agreements will force attention to schedules. More generally,

delays in construction represent additional costs due to late facility occupancy or other

factors. Just as costs incurred are compared to budgeted costs, actual activity durations may

be compared to expected durations. In this process, forecasting the time to complete

particular activities may be required.

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1.3 Research Problem Statement

Control deficiency in a project can constitute to unsuccessful completion of a project, a

project being with the status of over budgeted, behind schedule and not met the targeted

deliverables can be caused by not having effective control on a project, it is necessary to find

and establish the effective ways to control a project.

1.4 Objective of the Research

This research will elaborate the controlling function as part of managing a project; it will

discuss the necessity of controlling function and what areas need to put control on, also this

research is objected to discover the effective control methodologies.

Identify and find role and importance of control in a project.

Recognizing the foremost areas to be controlled in a project, cost, time and performance.

The importance of project cost and what are effective ways and methodologies of having

a project within the budget and cost.

The significance of time and schedule in a project and what are the efficient and effective

ways of having project completed on time.

1.5 Scope and limitation of the study

This research is a general and has high level of importance, gathering primary data would

add great value on this research, but due to deficiency in of time this was incorporated

mostly in using secondary source of information other than primary sources of

information.

This research was conducted in Afghanistan and controlling is not applied by most

companies and organization in their projects, it was difficult to find standard controlling

methods and procedure to put in this research.

Lack of developed a well resourced libraries, and research resource centers in

Afghanistan was a major limitation to find data for this research project.

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1.6 Significance of the study

This research will provide the knowledge for Project owners and mangers to effectively

control those elements of a project that keeps the project on-track, on-time and within budget.

The main objective of this is on effective ways of controlling a project which leads to

successful completion of a project for all its assignees, members, stakeholders, customer and

owners.

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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 What Is a Project?

There are two types of work performed by organizations: operations and projects. An

operation is a series of tasks that are routine, repetitive, and ongoing throughout the life of

the organization. Operations are typically necessary to sustain the business. Examples of

operations are accounts receivable, employee performance reviews, and shipping and

receiving. Employee performance reviews might take place every six months, for example,

and although the names and circumstances of employees and supervisors might change, the

process of preparing and conducting employee reviews is always the same. In addition, its

expected that there will continue to be employee reviews throughout the life of the

organization.

On the other hand, projects are not routine or ongoing. That is, projects are unique and

temporary and are often implemented to fulfill a strategic goal of the organization. A project

is a series of tasks that will culminate in the creation or completion of some new initiative,

product, or activity by a specific end date. Some project examples include an office move, a

new product launch, the construction of a building, and a political campaign. It is never the

same project twicefor example, this years product launch is different from last years

product launch. Theres a specific end date in mind for the launch, after which the project

will be considered complete. After the project is complete, a new and unique product will be

on the market.

Projects come in all sizes. One project might consist of 100 tasks; another, 10,000. One

project might be implemented by a single resource; another by 500. One project might take

two months to complete; another might take 10 years. There can be projects within projects,

linked together with a master project consolidating them all. These subprojects, however, are

all unique and temporary, and all have a specific outcome and end date.

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A project is a unique endeavor to produce a set of deliverables within clearly specified time,

cost and quality constraints.

2.2 What Is Project Management?

Project management is the coordinating effort to fulfill the goals of the project. The project

manager, as the leader of the project team, is responsible for this effort and its ultimate result.

Project managers use knowledge, skills, tools, and methodologies to do the following:

Identify the goals, objectives, requirements, and limitations of the project.

Coordinate the different needs and expectations of the various project

stakeholders, including team members, resource managers, senior management,

customers, and sponsors.

Plan, execute, and control the tasks, phases, and deliverables of the project based

on the identified project goals and objectives.

Close the project when completed and capture the knowledge accrued.

Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to

bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.

Project managers are also responsible for balancing and integrating competing demands to

implement all aspects of the project successfully, as follows:

2.2.1 Project scope: Specifying the specific work to be done for the project.

2.2.2 Project time: Setting the finish date of the project as well as any interim

deadlines for phases, milestones, and deliverables.

2.2.3 Project cost: Calculating and tracking the project costs and budget.

2.2.4 Project human resources: Signing on the team members who will carry out the

tasks of the project.

2.2.5 Project procurement: Acquiring the material and equipment resources with

which to carry out project tasks.

2.2.6 Project communication. Conveying assignments, updates, reports, and other

information with team members and other stakeholders.

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2.2.7 Project quality. Identifying the acceptable level of quality for the project

goals and objectives.

2.2.8 Project risk. Analyzing potential project risks and response planning.

2.3 Understanding Project Management Processes

It might seem daunting when you realize that, as a project manager, youre responsible for

such a tremendous balancing act. However, this responsibility can be broken down into four

manageable processes:

2.3.1 Initiating and planning the project

2.3.2 Executing the project

2.3.3

Controlling the project

2.3.4 Closing the project

2.4 Initiating and planning the project

The initiation processes determine the nature and scope of the project. If this stage is not

performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business

needs. The key project controls needed here are an understanding of the businessenvironment and making sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into the project.

Any deficiencies should be reported and a recommendation should be made to fix them.

The initiation stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas:

Analyzing thebusinessneeds/requirementsin measurable goals

Reviewing of the current operations

Financial analysisof the costs and benefits including abudget

Stakeholder analysis, including users, and support personnel for the project

Project charterincluding costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedule

After the initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of detail. The main

purpose is to plan time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and to

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effectively manage risk during project execution. As with the Initiation process group, a

failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the project's chances of successfully accomplishing

its goals.

Project planning generally consists of

determining how to plan (e.g. by level of detail or rolling wave);

developing the scope statement;

selecting the planning team;

identifying deliverables and creating the work breakdown structure;

identifying the activities needed to complete those deliverables and networking

the activities in their logical sequence;

estimating the resource requirements for the activities;

estimating time and cost for activities;

developing the schedule;

developing the budget;

risk planning;

Gaining formal approval to begin work.

2.5 Executing

Executing consists of the processes used to complete the work defined in the project

management plan to accomplish the project's requirements. Execution process involves

coordinating people and resources, as well as integrating and performing the activities of the

project in accordance with the project management plan. The deliverables are produced as

outputs from the processes performed as defined in the project management plan.

2.6 Closing

Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof. Administrative

activities include the archiving of the files and documenting lessons learned.

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2.7 Monitoring and controlling

Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes performed to observe project

execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective

action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project. The key benefitis that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the

project management plan.

Control is the last element in the implementation cycle planning-monitoring controlling.

Information is collected about system performance, compared with the desired (or Planned)

level, and action taken if actual and desired performance differ enough that the controller

(manager) wishes to decrease the difference. Note that reporting performance, comparing the

differences between desired and actual performance levels, and accounting for why such

differences exist are all parts of the control process. In essence control is the act of reducing

the difference between plan and reality. Control is focused of the three elements of project-

performance, cost and time. The project manager is constantly concerned with these three

aspects of the project. Is the project delivering what it promised to deliver or more? Is it

making delivery at or below the promised cost? Is it making delivery at or before the

promised time? It is strangely easy to lose sight of these fundamental targets, especially in

large projects with a wealth of detail and a great number of subprojects. Large projectsdevelop their own momentum and tend to get out of hand, going their own way independent

of the wishes of the project manager and the intent of the proposal.

In project management field, there are few things that can cause a project to require the

control performance, costs or time.

2.7.1 Performance:

Unexpected technical problems arise. Insufficient resources are available when needed.

Insurmountable technical difficulties are present.

Quality or reliability problems occur.

Client requires changes in system specifications.

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Inter functional complications arise.

Technological breakthroughs affect the project.

2.7.2 Cost:

Technical difficulties require more resources.

The scope of the work increases.

Initial bids or estimates were too low.

Reporting was poor or untimely.

Budgeting was inadequate.

Corrective control was not exercised in time.

Input price changes occurred.

2.7.3 Time:

Technical difficulties took longer than planned to solve.

Initial time estimates were optimistic.

2.8 Literature Review

1Erel and Raz (2000) state that the project control cycle consists of measuring the status of

the project, comparing to the plan, analysis of the deviations, and implementing any

appropriate corrective actions.

When a project reach the construction phase, monitor and control is critical to deliver the

project success. Project monitoring exists to establish the need to take corrective action,

whilst there is still time to take action. Through monitoring the activities, the project team

can analyze the deviations and decide what to do and actually do it ( 2Gardiner and Stewart

2000, p252). The purpose of monitor and control is to support the implementation of

corrective actions, ensure projects stay on target or get project back on target once it has gone

off target (Erel and Raz, 2000, p253).

1Erel,E. and Raz,T. ( 2000). Optimal timing of project control points. [online] European Journal of

Operational Research.127(2).pp 252-261.2Gardiner,P and Stewart,K.(1998).Revisiting the golden triangle of cost, time and quality of NPV inproject control, success and failure.[ online]International Journal of ProjectManagement.16 (5). pp258-256.

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Based on the original plan(Gantt charts), we can analyze what activities are on the critical

path, what activities with no free float and what activities with less than a specified float via

network diagram, then monitoring these activities, take control actions to avoid delay.

Once an activity on critical path is going to delay, commonly, there are the ways to avoid

delay or even can shorten the time of activities:

a) Increasing resource levels, such as adding labour.

b) Improving resource efficiency, such as transferring high skill employees to the

activity, improving efficient tools.

c) And means that can shorten critical path timescales to bring a project back on target,

such as overtime, outsourcing, etc.

In addition, for shortening project time, it is still required to use early start or as soon as

possible approach for those activities having slack (float) time. Through this method, it is

more flexible for a project to adjust various resources when urgency burst into the activity on

the critical path. For example, an activity is on the critical path, it will delay inevitably if

there is no more people work on it. In most of this case, the people can move from non-

critical task to the urgent work. The non-delay concept was found to be more efficient in

reducing project risk, reducing project duration (6

Cohen, Sadeh and Zwikael, 2006).

Reconsidering activities precedence is another important control way for getting project back

on target (7Cotterell and Hughes,1995). Because the original project network will probably

have been produced for an ideal situation, with the project going, many issues will affect the

activity implement, the actual result is quite different with the imagination. The manager

should always combine the reality and think about the following questions:

a) Do unstarted activities really have to await the completion of other activities before

they can start? If no, start the activities

6Cohen,Y. Sadeh,A .and Zwikael,O.( 2006). Non-delay scheduling as a managerial approach for

managing projects. [online]International Journal of Project Management.24(4).pp330-3367Cotterell,M. and Hughes,B.Monitoring and control. [online] .Available from:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MouseNous/spm/Spm.pdf. [28 January 2009]

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b) If an activity has to wait for the completion of other activities, can that activity be

broken down into sub-activities and some of the sub activities completed at an earlier

date? If no, breakdown the activity into sub-activities and start the urgent one at once.

8Herroelen and Reyck (1999) also state that managers have to tackle the challenging problem

of scheduling activities to minimize the project duration, in which the activities (a) are

subject to generalized precedence relations, (b) require units of multiple renewable, non-

renewable and doubly constrained resources for which a limited availability is imposed, and

(c) can be performed in one of several different ways, refected in multiple activity scenarios

or modes.

Considering optimal timing of project monitoring and control points is significant to success(

9Falco and Macchiaroli, 1998). Falco and Macchiaroli suggest that we should determine the

optimal frequency of the monitoring and reviewing to different activities in different stages.

It can help us to efficient monitor and correct control so as to reach time and cost target.

The main cost of a project includes staff cost, material cost and delay cost. To control these

cost, managers should first set up a cost control system to:

a) Allocate responsibilities for administration and analysis of financial data

b) Ensure all costs are properly allocated against project codes

c) Ensure all costs are genuinely in pursuit of project activities

d) Ensure contractors payments are authorized

e) Check that other projects are not using the budget.

Then, managers should monitor and control change to the project budget. It means the

following things:

8Herroelen,W. and Reyck,B.(1999). The multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problem

with generalized precedence relations. [online]European Journal of OperationalResearch .119.pp538-556.9Falco,M. and Macchiaroli, R.(1998).Timing of control activities in project planning. [online]

International Journal of Project Mnagement.16 (1).pp51-58.

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b) Changes should take place once it is approved and be monitored to check whether it

worked as expected

c) All changes in project should be recorded in the project documentation (Voropajev,

1998,p18).

Project management and project control are not always synonymous. Many companies are

not handling project control functions as well as they should because control functions

sometimes are lumped into project management duties, according to Project Control

Functions: A Benchmark of Current Business Practice, from Havertown, Pa., USA-based

Center for Business Practices (CBP). The report, based on a survey designed to investigate

best practices in performing project control functions, found that half of the respondents

perform project control functions in the average to poor range. The report also indicates that

the most challenging control functions for organizations involve educating project teams

about proper project management processes, estimating project costs, and managing issue,

risk and change control. The failure to recognize project control as a specific job is a key

organizational mistake, according to the report, which notes that project managers generally

perform project control functions as part of their overall duties.

These findings confirm what many companies have begun to accept: Day-to-day project

control functions suffer when theyre assimilated into other project management duties, says

James Pennypacker, CBP director. Mr. Pennypacker says organizations will derive benefits

more quickly by giving intensive planning and control work to a person designated as a

project controller. In addition, the project manager is able to spend more quality time with

executives in explaining status, gaining insight into political and budgetary issues and

selling the project, Mr. Pennypacker says. The project management profession has made

significant advancements new industry trends surfaced, organizations flattened out and

information technology allowed people to communicate more effectively and reduce cycle-

times across all business processes, according to Reining in Your Project Controls by

Havertown, Pa., USA-based PM Solutions. As a result, management began pushing more

projects onto an increasingly complex organization, and the project manager suddenly

became the Jack-of-All-Trades, forced to be everything to everyone, the white paper

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reports. The role of project manager is now very demanding, and requires an ever-

expanding arsenal of skills, especially soft or interpersonal skills.

Bloomington, Ill., USA-based State Farm Insurance Co. has had project controllers (whom

they refer to as project planners) in place for six years with positive results. What our

project managers are finding most helpful is that they can delegate time-consuming yet

critical tasks, like updating and analyzing schedules, says Jeanne Childers, director of State

Farms Systems project office. By utilizing this role weve been able to expand the capacity

of our project managers to handle more projects concurrently. Some organizations are

looking to outside specialists to help manage their project control functions, CBP says. More

than half of the respondents to its survey reported that they plan to use augmented services,

such as consulting, staffing and outsourcing, to perform project control functions in thefuture.

Educate the Project Team on

PROJECT CONTROL FUNCTIONS

Processes

Educate the Project Team on Proper Project Management Processes

Facilitate and/or Oversee Project Planning and Control Sessions

Develop the Project Schedule and Work Breakdown Structure

Manage the Critical Path to Ensure That Schedules are met

Estimate Project Costs

Track and Analyze Project Costs

Manage the Process of Issue, Risk and Change Control

Document and Deliver Project status Information.

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Figure 1 Which Project Functions Need the Most Improvement

Independent Project Analysis (IPA) research, as reported in industry literature in 1994, had

shown that average cost growth (the ratio of actual/estimated costs) for projects was

declining. However, more recent research has shown that since 1994, neither average cost

growth nor variability (the plus or minus range) has improved. Past improvements in average

cost growth were largely driven by improved upfront project definition, prior to full

authorization of project funds (i.e., frontend loading or FEL). However, good FEL can

improve the cost outcome only so much before weaknesses in other practices becomes a

constraint. Owner cost engineering/project control practices used during the FEL and

execution phases of a project are one such constraint and an opportunity for improvement.

Project system benchmarking is used to identify industry trends and best practices, including

those for cost engineering. The benchmarking process compares a companys project system

performance with that of its competitors. To support benchmarking, data about actual project

practices (inputs) and results (outcomes) are collected. Using the empirical data in an

industry database, we perform statistical analysis to identify those inputs that drive the bestoutcomes.

We use an empirical industry database to research cost engineering practices and determine

which are best at improving cost and schedule outcomes. Many of our research findings

about cost engineering are common sense, but it is too easy for management to reject

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common sense when other cost reduction options (often counter-productive) look so much

more attractive on paper. The practices discussed in this article have been empirically

demonstrated to work.

Before describing which practices are best, we need to explain the scope of the cost

engineering practices studied by IPA and the typical practices used in industry. The

practices studied include cost estimating, planning and scheduling, and cost/schedule control;

these practices collectively are often referred to as project control, which is a core subset of

the cost engineering field. Figure 2 illustrates the primary steps in the project control process,

as documented by AACE Internationals Total Cost Management Framework.

Source: Cost Engineering Vol. 45/No. 9 SEPTEMBER 2003

Figure 2 Expenditure and Progress Measures

Starting at the top-center of the process map in figure 1, the cost engineer estimates the

project cost and establishes the cost budget for the project. The cost engineer uses the

planning and scheduling step to translate the projects scope into a logical sequence of work

activities. The project activities are then executed while the cost engineer measures and

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assesses the projects performance against the plan (i.e., cost/schedule control). On the left

side of the process map, the cost engineer identifies corrective actions when deviations from

the plans occur. Finally, the control cycle loop is closed when the cost engineer updates

project plans to address project trends and changes.

Through benchmarking, we have identified typical industry project control practices, both

good and bad. Typically, engineering and construction contractors perform most day-to-day

project control functions during project execution. Owners generally set project control

requirements, evaluate contractor estimates and proposals, review contractor progress

reports, and negotiate contract changes. If the project scope is well defined at the time of

project funds authorization (i.e., during FEL), then an engineering contractor prepares the

cost estimate and critical-path schedule to support both authorization and control. However,in many projects, definition is lacking in some way and owners will prepare a conceptual or

preliminary estimate and milestone schedule for funds authorization, and an engineering

contractor then prepares a detailed estimate and schedule later on (often too late) that will

serve as a basis for control.

For small projects (i.e.,


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The estimate structure needs to be able to support physical progressing. During engineering

and construction, many project managers rely on subjective measures of progress and then

fall prey to over-optimism. Even worse are project managers who use the percentage of

budget hours or dollars consumed as an indication of progress. One all too common scenario

of poor progressing is the project manager who thinks the project n is 95 percent complete

and discovers while developing the punch list that only 75 percent of the work has been

completed. The project managers immediate reaction is to pile more people on the job to

accelerate the progress, but the crowding then causes a complete breakdown of discipline and

control. Another scenario is the project manager who ramps up construction crews too early;

the crews hang around waiting for drawings or materials that have been promised but not

delivered.

Project managers have plenty to handle in leading the project without performing all the tasks

of project control. Even if the heroic project manager can handle it all, the project is at risk of

disruption (particularly schedule slip) if the project manager is pulled off or otherwise leaves

the project (heroes are in great demand). The project control specialist does not need to be

assigned full time; in fact, it is common for one project control specialist to handle multiple

small projects (just as the project manager might).\ Owners who have project control

specialists to assign tend to have a project control process and an overall stronger project

system.

The historical cost database is where the owner closes the loop on the project control process.

To quantitatively validate an estimate, the cost specialist must have something against which

the estimate can be compared. A historical database provides absolute comparison project

data (estimated and actual), cost metrics, and ratios. External benchmarks should be obtained

as well. Another benefit of developing an historical database is that the practice of asking for

detailed cost proposals and detailed final closeout data shows the contractor that the owner

understands project costs and is not likely to be fooled. In fact, our research shows that

owners who quantitatively validates estimates and collects detailed cost data does obtain

better fixed-price proposals.

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If your company has been deficientin project control practices, start now on building (or

rebuilding) your in-house functional knowledge and capabilities. As discussed, most day-to-

day project control activity is the responsibility of project contractors, but some tasks should

not be outsourced. Your company needs in-house personnel to quantitatively validate cost

estimates and bids based on cogent, up-to date knowledge of what asset and project costs

should be. In-house project control expertise is needed for establishing project control

procedures and requirements for contracts. During project execution, in house cost and

project control expertise supports the project managers efforts to effectively spot and

respond to project trends, address potential changes, negotiate change orders, and otherwise

control the project.

As described by

12

Mr. George B. Bradshaw, PE CCE 2008 establishing the project controlsorganization and functions early in the project life cycle of a large complex project. The

many technical aspects of project controls must be skillfully developed in order to implement

a strong project management approach for managing a highly complex project, such as

designing and constructing a nuclear power plant. Management cannot simply impose a

project controls system and expect good results. It must develop the project control function

in a manner that demonstrates its commitment and conviction that the investment is essential

for meeting cost and schedule objectives, while minimizing risk.

Management commitment to establishing a project controls program early in the life of a

large project can help manage and control the multitude of conflicts that will ultimately arise

because of constraints, choices, scarcity of resources, personalities, stakeholder requests,

regulations, turf battles, contracts, supplier problems, etc. Additionally, a strong project

controls organization provides investors the assurance needed for control of costs and

completion forecasts. However, the project controls function cannot, by itself, lead to a

projects success, but it is an essential ingredient for success.

Selection and commitment to a planning and scheduling system is one of the most important

decisions to be made on a large complex project. Frequently, the selection is based on the

12Mr. George B. Bradshaw, PE CCE Establishing a First Class Project Controls Organization for ManagingLarge Complex Projects, 2008

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systems that exist within the AE/Constructors organization. However, a superior approach is

for the owner to evaluate, select, or design the control system in order to be flexible in

responding to changing needs and for promoting understanding and acceptance by the entire

project team. Over reliance on the AEs control system can result in conflicts and other

issues, such as feeling a loss of control. From a project management perspective, establishing

achievable project schedule goals is a key ingredient for obtaining commitment of the project

team.

A project schedule must be built step by step based on the best available information

available from all of the major project participants. For example, an integrated scheduling

system (engineering, procurement, construction and start-up) used on a large nuclear project

had the following levels and characteristics:

Level 1: Milestone Schedule (~200 activities including the total project)

Level 2: Master Project Schedule (~ 20,000 activities; half for construction)

Level 3: Detail Construction Schedule (~ 40,000 activities; expandedyearly;

replaces Level 2)

Level 4: Work Packages (~400,000; work planning tool to capture all work within

a defined cubic, or volumetric section of a building)

Level 5: Rolling Two-Week Look Ahead (daily scheduling tool)

This is a proven structure for planning and schedule control, for identifying resource

requirements and hazards, and for maintaining stability. It is designed to provide timely

feedback on performance problems and the tools for effecting corrective actions. A

scheduling system such as that described, requires a relatively large organization to

implement and maintain. These costs can be justified in terms of costs saved by driving the

schedule, and by demonstrating the project teams commitment in meeting objectives. Overthe past ten years more advanced planning and scheduling tools have been developed, such

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as that described by 13M.Y. You l and J.H. Han [6]. Without full conviction on

managements part, even the best systems will not ensure success.

Work packages can be an essential element of a construction control system. A work package

is a group of documents, which identifies all work in detail within a cubic for a manageable

and identifiable time frame as established by an Area Director. Typically, a work package

will contain work plans, bill of material, open engineering and material summaries and a

control sheet. Work package preparation begins as Level 3 of the schedule logic is developed

and follows a predetermined development schedule, a minimum of three months prior to the

start of construction of the work described.

A detailed cost estimate is one of the most important tools that the project manager has for

implementing an effective project controls system and maintaining stakeholder confidence

that the project can be completed. Continual updates of the estimate, as the basis for the

controls system, are required due to the many uncertainties facing a large project such as

design changes, labor problems, and technical problems, mistakes in materials or

specifications, and interference from outside the project. These uncertainties require that the

estimate be expressed as a probability distribution, and serve as the basis for contingency, or

a management reserve account. Failure to provide timely updates results in large drops in the

incremental percent completes of a project and undermines confidence in the project

reporting tools.

A mainstay for construction cost control on large projects is the project quantity and worker-

hour Reporting (PQMR) system. This system is based on the project work breakdown

structure (linked to the code of accounts) and is initially populated with quantity information

from the detailed estimate and ultimately the definitive estimate. It is updated periodically as

the project estimate is reforecast to reflect new engineering detail and productivity

experience. These reports provide both a weekly and monthly measure of the productivity

being experienced on the project and are a vital indicator of potential problems. Causes of

productivity declines are required to identify root causes and corrective actions. The cost

13 Yoon, M.Y. and J.H. Han,A Study of Advanced Project Control System for Korean Nuclear Power PlantConstruction Project, AACE International Transactions (2006) :CSC.12.

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reporting systems primary role is to provide feedback that the plans for effective utilization

of resources are being properly implemented.

Benchmarking can be a very useful tool for independently verifying estimates and schedules

and motivating the project team. One of the key virtues of project controls is the continual

emphasis on incremental progress.

One of the project managers most challenging tasks is to manage scope creep. Scope creep

emanates from many sources: engineers desire to improve their designs beyond

requirements; owners desire to correct an oversight; regulators tendency to impose standards

beyond those initially required; stakeholders need to be involved; innovations; imposition of

continuous performance improvements; etc. The role of project control is to assess and make

visible the impact on existing cost and schedule and other planned work activities if these

changes are approved. On a large complex project, whose execution has been carefully

planned, there is no such thing as a small change. Any change must be planned and

controlled using the same standards as the original work scope. One of the key roles of

project controls is to support the project manager in his efforts to control scope by ensuring

all of the technical and contractual requirements are met and by implementing a formal

change control process.

One of the more difficult tasks is to establish an agreed upon basis for the amount of

contingency when setting project forecasts. In the past environment of regulatory ratchets

and high inflation, history has demonstrated that it is a problematic task. Pre-defined decision

rules governing the use of contingency funds can segregate risk-based uses; especially those

that occur late in the project life cycle, from discretionary uses of contingency funds which

tend to occur earlier in the project life cycle. Whatever contingency amount and method is

selected, it should be owned by the project manager and should be based on a risk type

assessment of all of the possible impacts to the project. A value of 20 percent or more would

be expected in the early phases of construction. This amount would be adjusted based on

project progress and experience.

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The physical progress of the job should be monitored on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

The monthly report is typically based on a summary of the PQMR and is organized by the

project WBS and major budget categories. Earned value reports are frequently used, but need

to be supplemented by more detailed quantity status reports, system test and turnover status,

startup system status, material status, quality reports, cost trends, and others. The list of

project reports should be established early in the life of the project, but remain flexible

enough to respond to current needs and priority concerns, On large projects, a group should

be dedicated to the detailed analysis of project data in order to interpret trends and provide an

early warning of problems that need management attention. Analysis of project performance

data is a critical function for supporting sound management decisions. Progress reporting

should also include design, procurement, and material tracking and status. The material and

equipment expediting reports can provide valuable input to the progress reporting system.

It may sound trite, but the purpose of a critical path method (CPM) of scheduling is to

determine the critical path of the job. This is one of the project managers primary tools for

focusing management attention. The CPM schedule should be used as one of the primary

tools for determining the impact of any change to the project. On a well-designed schedule

around 15 percent of the project activities will fall on the critical path. Analysis of project

float on a monthly basis is also a valuable tool for evaluating trends.

The APMBoK takes a broad view of what is meant by the word control (APM, 2000).

Planning, measuring, monitoring, and taking corrective action are all usually included in the

control cycle. Typically, projects utilize a control system, which monitors the difference or

gap between the planning variables and the actual results. Project control systems indicate the

direction of change in preliminary planning variables compared with actual performance.

The successful performance of a project depends on appropriate planning. The PMBOK

Guide defines the use of 21 processes that relate to planning, out of the 39 processes required

for proper project management (14Globerson & Zwikael, 2002). Execution of the project

14Globerson, S., & Zwikael, O. (2002). The impact of the project manager on project management planning

processes.Project Management Journal 33(3), 5865.

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according to the predefined project plan can be achieved through a control methodology.

Consequently, project control is a significant issue during the project life cycle.

The design of a project control system is an important part of the project management effort

(15Shtub, Bard, & Globerson, 2005). Furthermore, it is widely recognized that planning and

monitoring plays a major role as the cause of project failures. Despite the continuous

evolution in the project management field, it appears evident that the traditional approaches

still show a lack of appropriate methodologies for project control (De Falco & Macchiaroli,

1998). Many articles have supported the importance of control in the achievement of the

project aims and objectives. Project performance can be improved if more attention is given

to the issue of control (Avison, Baskerville, & Myers, 2001). The successful implementation

of a concurrent engineering methodology within a cross-country petroleum pipeline

construction project in India strongly recommends controlling projects through risk

management, quality monitoring, and an integrated information management system (Dey,

2000).

Another way of tackling the issue of the importance of control is by examining project

failures in order to identify the most effective project control rules. For example, a survey

was carried out among 1,450 companies in the public and private sectors (Whittaker, 1999).

The main conclusion was that lack of risk management was the most highly ranked factor

contributing to project failure. Other contributing factors were lack of required team skills

and lack of control.

Researchers surveyed construction projects in Jordan with the objective of identifying the

major causes of delay in the construction industry (Odeh & Battaineh, 2002).Findings

indicated that owner interference, inadequate constructor experience, financing and

payments, labor productivity, slow decision-making, improper planning, and subcontractors

were among the top 10 most important causes for delay.

15Shtub, A. (1997). Project segmentation a tool for project management. International Journal of Project

Management15(1), 1519.

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During the past decade, leading projects in many industries were enterprise resource planning

(ERP) implementation projects. It was found that the recommended actions needed to bring

troubled ERP projects under control are as follows ( 16Motwani, Mirchandani, Madan, &

Gunasekaran, 2002): (a) redefining or subdividing the project; (b) improving project

management through the use of formal tools and techniques; and (c) using a team-based

approach to solve specific project problems. The key element is to somehow link these

factors to the project control system.

Another study showed that a useful control tool applied in the software industry to reduce

project failure is the identification and analysis of threats to success (17

Schmit, Lyytinen,

Keil, & Cule, 2001). This control process, developed in the USA, Finland, and Hong Kong

using the Delphi methodology, and control techniques for the analysis and presentation of all

possible resource requirements and outcomes were discussed in another study ( 18Lorance &

Wendling, 2001). The successful completion of a project within budgeted time, cost, and

perceived parameters depends to a great extent on the early identification and control of

immediate risks to the project (19Datta & Mukherjee, 2001).

Another project management approach refers to factors that lead to success in meeting the

entire range of multidimensional objectives. Much research has been conducted in order to

examine project success factors. A survey was carried out among a sample of Fortune 1000

companies that examined project success (20Pinto & Slevin, 1987). Another survey was

conducted on research and development project management in the Spanish industry

(21Snches & Prez, 2002), while yet another was done to capture the real world

16Motwani, J., Mirchandani, D., Madan, M., & Gunasekaran, A. (2002). Successful implementation of ERP

projects: Evidence from two case studies.International Journal of Production Economics 75(12), 8396.17Schmit, R., Lyytinen, K., Keil, M., & Cule, P. (2001). Identifying software project risks: An internationalDelphistudy.Journal of Management Information Systems 17(4), 536.18Lorance, R. B., & Wendling, R. V. (2001). Basic techniques for analyzing and presentation of cost riskanalysis. CostEngineering 43(1), 2531.19Datta, S., & Mukherjee, S. K. (2001). Developing a risk management matrix for effective project planningan empiricalstudy. Project Management Journal 32(2), 4557.20

Pinto, J. K., & Slevin, D. P. (1987). Critical factors in successful project implementation. IEEE TransactionsonEngineering Management 34(1), 2228.21

Snches, A. M., & Prez, M. P. (2002). R&D project managementin Spanish industry.International Journalof ProjectManagement 20(7), 545560.

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experiences of people active in project management (22White & Fortune, 2002). This survey

took the form of a questionnaire that was sent to 995 project managers. Another survey

covered approximately 100 defense projects (23Sadeh, Dvir, & Shenhar, 2000), and another

survey was conducted among organizations with inter/intradepartmental projects (24

Fricke &

Shenhar, 2000). The common denominator resulting from all of the above-mentioned surveys

was a common checklist representing project success factors. This list included clear goals,

management support, ownership, a control mechanism, and communication. A great deal of

variation exists, however, among these success factors, which do not always have the same

dimensions.

Project control systems can be classified as: (1) one-dimensional control systems, and (2)

multidimensional control systems. Both one-dimensional and multidimensional control

systems execute one or more predefined project control objectives. In one-dimensional

control systems, such objectives are not integrated in any way, whereas multidimensional

control systems integrate several project control objectives.

The earned value (EV) methodology is probably the most commonly used multidimensional

project control method, integrating time and cost. Variations of multidimensional control

systems exist that are associated with risk management, theory of constraint, statistical

process control, and so on. These will be discussed later under their specific titles.

Another important factor in both project control systems is the ability to determine when to

perform the control activity. This point was addressed by a study that proposed an analytical

framework, based on dynamic programming, for determining the optimal timing of project

control points throughout the life cycle of the project (25

Raz & Erel, 2000).

22White, D., & Fortune, J. (2002). Current practice in project managementAn empirical study.International

Journal ofProject Management 20(2), 111.23Sadeh, A., Dvir, D., & Shenhar, A. J. (2000). The role of contract type in the success of R&D defenseprojects underincreasing uncertainty. Project Management Journal 31(3), 1422.24Fricke, S., & Shenhar, A. J. (2000). Managing multiple engineering projects in a manufacturing supportenvironment.IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 47(2),258268.25

Dvir, D., Raz, T., & Shenhar, A. J. (2003). An empirical analysis of the relationship between projectplanning and project success.International Journal of Project Management21(2), 8995.

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A survey, conducted on the integration of project control systems in clean-room construction

projects, emphasizes the importance of the multidimensional project control system (26El-

Mashaleh & Chasey, 1999).

Project management researchers and practitioners state that existing project control systems

have several deficiencies. One study reviewed an extensive array of research on various

aspects of project scheduling (27Kolisch & Padman, 2001). An important conclusion was that

matching project objectives with the appropriate methodology is an important goal that

remains to be explored. In the U.K., performance evaluation of new product developments

was surveyed (28

Driva, Pawar, & Meno, 2001). Without exception, all companies wished to

improve their use of performance measures. This implies that the methodologies used by

these companies were not satisfactory.

Another researcher supports this view and describes the need to use performance

measurements in project management, suggesting a list of preferred metrics (29

Bauly, 1994).

The deficiency of current project control systems is also presented in additional work

(30

Tukel & Rom, 1998). A thorough literature review regarding the contribution of

mathematical modeling to the practice of project management was conducted (31Williams,

2003). It was found that the synthesis of project management principles and operational

research principles could lead to a new managerial theory.

Surveying the literature regarding existing control systems suggests the following: The

project management world uses one-dimensional control systems although these do not

26ElMashaleh, M. S., & Chasey, A. D. (1999). Improving the cost and schedule control system. CostEngineering 41(7), 3941.

27Kolisch, R., & Padman, R. (2001). An integrated survey of deterministic project scheduling. Omega, TheInternationalJournal of Management Science 29(3), 249272.28Driva, H., Pawar, K. S., & Meno, U. (2001). Performance evaluation of new product development fromcompany perspective.Integrated Manufacturing Systems 12(5), 368378.29

Bauly, J. (1994). Measures of performance. World Class Design to Manufacture 1(3), 3740.30

Tukel, O. I., & Rom, W. O. (1998). Analysis of the characteristics of project in diverse industries.Journal ofOperations Management 16(1), 4361.31

Williams, T. M. (1999). The need for new paradigms for complex projects.International Journal of ProjectManagement17(5), 269273.

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integrate project objectives in any way. The main reason for using the one-dimensional

control systems is its simplicity of implementation.

The dominant multidimensional project control system is the EV system, which is used

worldwide. This system integrates cost and scheduling and is simple to implement with many

computerized programs available in the marketplace. The main disadvantage of EV is that

other projects control dimensions, such as quality, design, and technology, are not integrated.

Consequently, a broader control picture is lacking, because project managers must have more

than two dimensions to achieve project objectives that go beyond time and cost. Much

research is needed in order to integrate additional control dimensions into the EV approach

and this would be fertile ground for future investigation.

The inclusion of an additional project control dimension defines a need for a

multidimensional control system such as MPCS. It has already been demonstrated that the

MPCS is fairly simple to use and understand. This tool still remains, however, at the research

and development phase and although a computerized version has recently become available,

there is little likelihood that the approach will be widely implemented. Nevertheless, this

multidimensional approach offers great potential for further research.

TOC has been shown to have a positive impact on project control. It is still in its

development stage and its applicability has yet to be demonstrated. Much research is needed

to identify these applications.

TQM principles were shown to be applicable to virtually every organization and its use in

project control can undoubtedly increase the added value of the system performance. Much

more research must; however, be done in this specific project area in order to extract the

principles for its effective application.

Finally, project risk management has been shown to be a controlling parameter for many

types of projects. Although nations still suffer from an inability to forecast major world

events, it is still expected that project managers will develop the means to forecast those

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events that could eventually affect their projects. Hence, this too constitutes a potentially

fruitful area of research on project control.

Project plans have little value if they are not executed in a controlled way that holds

performance to plan. By 32Jeffrey K pinto and have little value if they are not executed in a

controlled way that holds performance to plan Jeffrey k pinot and Jeffrey w. Trailer have

addressed this critical requirement in their second offering of the project management

institutes Editors choice series Essentials of project control

The current volume comprises 13 articles reprinted from project management journal or PM

network. Each is a classic; selected for its lasting value to project management practitioners.

Together, the articles cover a broad range of topics that constitute a core knowledge set ofcontrol theories and techniques.

Earned value management is a central subject as the link among four related articles. Michael

A. Hatfield makes a case for earned value in a folksy article that describes it as the best and

only means of answering the question, ``How are we doing? ``33

Daniel A. Brandon

describes a mean of implementing earned value tools that Overcomes traditional problems

related do data acquisition, reporting methods, and employee/contractor resistance and

integrates it into executive information systems.

Daniel S. Christensen presents an analysis of cost overruns on deference acquisition contracts

using an earned value view. His research confirms previous observations that project are not

likely to recover from overruns once they reach 15- 20% completion. His preventive

prescription calls for more realistic projections of final costs that avoid distortion that may

arise from organization culture influences such as shoot the messenger responses, ``can

do`` optimism, and face-saving escalation.

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34Stephen A. Devaux goes beyond the traditional numbers association with earned value and

presents an easy-to-use index managements view to projected value of eventual product

sales compared to estimated costs to complete the project. This broader view link decisions

to deployment sales values and isolates them from shorter-sight financial or irrelevant

emotional considerations. Critical success factors across the project life cycle are presented

by pinto and co-author Dennis p. Slevin. Their research identifies 10 such factors and four

additional factors that are important, but often beyond the control of the project team. All are

predictive of project success. the project distribute the factors across the four phases of the

project life cycle and present implications related to the project mission client

communication ,schedules technical tasks leadership, and project urgency or importance.

35Erwin v. Martinez takes another view of basics by stressing fundamentals to avoid failures

in large scale information systems project. He briefly describes five mini cases and then

presents an extensive set of fundamental project management Functions organized by

executive, project team, and individual/support levels .each Function is associated with a

purpose and an effect on the project, if ignored. He discusses the functions by level and

suggests how they might be beneficially applied in both scoping and planning, and culture

and values assessment

Rework that is not sufficiently considered in project plans can be a cost and schedule buster.

36Kenneth G. cooper hits this head-on with two separate articles. One addresses quality and

rework discovery data, describing how it may be used to improve project progress

assessments, the other is a more comprehensive treatment of the rework issue. It describes

shortcomings of the critical path method and earned value tool and the fallacy that adding

overtime or additional staff is a remedy for schedule shortfalls .in the end, cooper warns that

the approach he suggests often runs counter to conventional wisdom and can be very difficult

to implement.

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Best practices for controlling technology based projects offered by 37Hans. Thamhain include

a variety of new analytical, procedural, and people oriented tools and techniques. Although

the need for these tools arises from changing work environments managers are often slow to

embrace them .Thamhain Presents 12 recommendations for effectively implementing

improved managerial controls.

Tabletop exercises are a powerful technique for crisis planning described in an article by

38Larry A. mallak,H .A. kurstedt, and G.A. Patzak. These exercises are versatile tools that

guide managers in thinking through decisions before a real crisis occurs.

Control has been described as the evil twin of paining: it is much less enjoyable, fraught with

problems and just plain hard work .Pinto and Trailer diver out the fear of conflict and

deadlines with enabling information that builds confidence and surety.

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CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Population

The purpose of this research is to study and find effective ways of control over projects, since

projects are broader area of study and can be of different types, the researcher choose

construction projects as a targeted population, the study has been conducted in five best

construction companies who are currently holding construction projects in Afghanistan , the

targeted construction projects are both vertical and horizontal structures which includes, road

construction, buildings, bridges and energy infrastructure projects.

3.2 Sample Size

A Questionnaire designed consists of 10 questions asking the respondents giving their ideas

on what project control is. What areas to be controlled in a project? And what methodologies

to be used to control cost, schedule and performance also it includes finding the effective

ways to control cost, schedule and performance; the questionnaire contains both multiple

choice and short descriptive questions. A sample of questionnaire is attached in appendix

section of this research.

The questionnaire is distributed among 20 project managers with construction experience

from different construction companies who are currently holding construction projects in

Afghanistan, the respondents of questionnaires are qualified project managers with 4 to 42

years of project management experience and with the experience of managing of both

vertical and horizontal construction projects with the highest project value of $1.2 billion.

3.3 Procedure

The information in this research is manipulated from primary and secondary sources of

information, the primary source of information is the questionnaires distributed among

project managers from different large construction companies, the researcher disseminated

questionnaires via emails and personnel visits, and later than the researcher had a timely

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visits with respondents to recollect the questionnaires, the time period for dissemination and

recollection of questionnaires was planned 15 days. The researcher used books, journals, and

research papers from internet and libraries for collecting of secondary information and the

time period for secondary information was planned 30 days.

3.4 Research Tools

3.4.1 Primary Data: The primary data of this research is the information collected

form 20 project managers; this information was generated from a questionnaire with

10 specific questions of both close and open ended on the research topic, the

researcher distributed the questionnaires for pr

Documents

Thesis Research Project -- A Case Study on Effective Ways to Control a Project-- Ehsanullah Najib Reg#302-061117 Term C-Evening.pdf