Discussion Forum Week 1 Initial Postings:?Your initial post should be based upon the assigned reading for the week, so the textbook must be the primary source utilized and listed in your re

31 Dec Discussion Forum Week 1 Initial Postings:?Your initial post should be based upon the assigned reading for the week, so the textbook must be the primary source utilized and listed in your re

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Initial Postings: Your initial post should be based upon the assigned reading for the week, so the textbook must be the primary source utilized and listed in your reference section (and properly cited within the body of the text. Other sources are not required but feel free to use them if they aid in your discussion. This means that they support the material from the textbook. Do not use other sources to substitute for or replace the textbook.

Provide a graduate-level response to the question or questions provided within the Discussion Forum. Kloppenborg textbook must substantively support every answer.

Your post must be substantive and demonstrate insight gained from the course material. Postings must be in the student's own words – do not provide quotes!

Provide a graduate-level response to each of the following questions:

Using an example of your own, describe a project in terms that are common to most projects. Define the terms based on Kloppenborg text and then apply these to your example.
Discuss how a project could be successful in terms of some measures yet unsuccessful by others.
Compare and contrast project managers and functional managers.
Your initial post should be at least 500+ words and in APA format (written , using proper paragraph structure, sources cited within the body of the main text and Times New Roman with font size 12). FYI – Meeting the minimum for length does not meet the standard for superior scores.

Submitting the Initial Posting: Your initial post should be completed by Thursday, 11:59 p.m. EST.

Response to Other Student Postings: Respond substantively (at least 100 words) to the post of at least two peers, by Friday, 11:59 p.m. EST. A peer response such as “I agree with her,” or “I liked what he said about that” or similar comments are not considered substantive and will not be counted for course credit. Also, just repeating information from the course material or your own initial post does not satisfy these criteria.

Continue the discussion through Sunday, 11:59 p.m. EST by highlighting differences between your postings and your colleagues' postings. Provide additional insights or alternative perspectives. This means an on-going conversation in addition to the two required responses above.

Evaluation of posts and responses: Your initial posts and peer responses will be evaluated on the basis of the kind of critical thinking and engagement displayed. The grading rubric evaluates the content based on four areas: Content Knowledge & Structure, Critical Thinking, Presentation & Writing Mechanics, and Response to Other Students.

Preview for Week 2 – Problem Set #1

Preview for Week 2 – Problem Set #1Attached Files:

Business Case Exercise.docx Business Case Exercise.docx – Alternative Formats (18.251 KB)

Attached you will find the instructions in preparation for Problem Set #1 due the end of Week 2. This will provide you an opportunity to think about and identify a project you may utilize to complete this assignment and then utilize through the rest of the term as you build toward your Final Individual Project Charter.

Week 1 Discussion

Week 1 DiscussionThis week our focus is on defining data visualization. Therefore, after reviewing all of the content this week, answer all of the following questions in the initial prompt.Answer all of the following questions in the initial prompt.

What is your definition of data visualization?
What are the key components of data visualization?
What techniques do you hope to learn from this course?

Students should engage on three separate days (the initial post by Wednesday and two additional days with peers) with peers with substantive posts. Be sure to refer to the grading rubric for additional discussion board requirements. This should be a minimum of 300 words, original work, use and cite a reference, and check your work with Grammarly.

Week 1 AssignmentComplete the following assignment in one MS word document:Chapter 1 –discussion question #1 & exercise 15 (limit to one page of analysis for question 15)Chapter 2 – discussion question #1 & exercises 4, 5, and 15(limit to one page of analysis for question 15)When submitting work, be sure to include an APA cover page and include at least two APA formatted references (and APA in-text citations) to support the work this week.All work must be original (not copied from any source).

Chapter 1

Discussion Question #1: Survey the literature for the past six months to find one application of each for DSS, BI, and Analytics. Summarize the application in one page and submit it with exact sources (in-text & corresponding reference list).

Exercise #15: Find information about IBM Watson’s activities in the healthcare field. Write a one-page report. Submit it with exact source(s) (in-text & corresponding reference list).

Chapter 2

Discussion Question #1: Discuss the difficulties in measuring the intelligence of machines.

Exercise #4: In 2017, McKinsey & Company created a five-part video titled “Ask the AI Experts: What Advice Would You Give to Executives About AI? View the video and summarize the advice given to the major issue discussed.

Exercise #5: Watch the McKinsey & Company video (3:06 min.) on today’s drivers of AI at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv0IG1D-OdU and identify the major AI drivers. Write a report.

Exercise #15: Explore the AI-related products and services of Nuance Inc. (nuance.com) Explore the Dragon voice recognition product. Write a report. (limit to one page of analysis for exercise 15).

Week 1: Discussion 1Create a discussion thread (with your name) and answer the following question:Discussion 1 (Chapter 1): Compare and contrast predictive analytics with prescriptive and descriptive analytics. Use examples.Note: The first post should be made by Wednesday 11:59 p.m., EST. I am looking for active engagement in the discussion. Please engage early and often.Your response should be 250-300 words. Respond to two postings provided by your classmates.There must be at least one APA formatted reference (and APA in-text citation) to support the thoughts in the post. Do not use direct quotes, rather rephrase the author's words and continue to use in-text citations.
Week 1: Discussion 2
Week 1: Discussion 2Create a discussion thread (with your name) and answer the following question:
Discussion 2 (Chapter 2): Discuss the process that generates the power of AI and discuss the differences between machine learning and deep learning.Note: The first post should be made by Wednesday 11:59 p.m., EST. I am looking for active engagement in the discussion. Please engage early and often.Your response should be 250-300 words. Respond to two postings provided by your classmates.There must be at least one APA formatted reference (and APA in-text citation) to support the thoughts in the post. Do not use direct quotes, rather rephrase the author's words and continue to use in-text citations.

BUSINESS CASE

Identify a project that is of interest to you. The best source would be through a general internet search and/or local media sources. When selecting a project of interest to you, avoid picking one that is either too big or too small. For example, do not decide to build a new stadium for your local sports team (too big) or to plant your summer garden (too small). Select a project that you can relate to and have some experience with or that may be ongoing or recently completed in your hometown. Projects must be within the budget range of $500,000 to $5,000,000. Project time frame must be between 6 months and 3 years. To ensure you are on the right track, you can ask your instructor's advice in selecting an appropriate project. You will be using this project throughout the course to complete future Problem Sets.

Part 1: Provide a brief overview of the selected project. This will include an explanation of how the project specifically fits the four (4) elements of the Kloppenborg definition. The specific definition to utilize is as follows: “A project is a 1) new, 2) time-bound effort that has a definite beginning and a definite ending with 3) several related and/or interdependent tasks to 4) create a unique product or service” (Kloppenborg 2019, p. 4). This essay should be five (5) paragraphs long with the first paragraph providing the project overview and then one paragraph each explaining specifically how your selection fits each of the four (4) identified elements of a project. Do not just state that it does fit these four (4) elements you must thoroughly demonstrate that it does. Use examples from the project. This essay should be single-spaced and each paragraph indented. Do not number the paragraphs.

Part 2: Upon completion of the essay, you will draft a descriptive title for your project. The Project Title should be a descriptive statement of your project. This is not like a book title which is usually short and very simple. For example, in 1985 the I-71/I-75 Brent Spence Bridge, which spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, had the emergency lanes removed to add traffic lanes due to an increase in traffic over this bridge (third busiest bridge in the US). So, to ensure a descriptive project title, a simple title like “Brent Spence Bridge Project” would not be sufficient. This provides no information on the project scope. A more descriptive title would be “I-71/I-75 Brent Spence Bridge project to expand northbound and southbound traffic lanes from three lanes to four lanes (1985)”.

After creating a descriptive title for your project, you will draft a Business Case for your project. Using exactly one hundred (100) words you will provide a brief overview of the project including important scope information. The Business Case is the “bridge” between the high-level and very general Background and the more specific Project Scope Statement. It will include both why the project is needed and what, specifically, is going to be completed during the project. This should incorporate what work (or Deliverables/sub-projects) are going to be done during the project and does not mean what objectives the project hopes to achieve. For example, a bridge renovation project would need to state “solidify bridge pier structure” (a deliverable/sub-project) and not “increase vehicle traffic” (an objective).

Also, it needs to provide some scope elements to allow the reader to “picture” the project in their head. This includes items such as budget, size, time frame, and other specific and measurable elements of the project.

Assignment should be single-spaced. Do not change formatting of this template.

How does the selected project fit the four (4) elements of a project provided in the instructions? (400+ word, five paragraph essay):

Descriptive Project Title:

Business Case ( exactly 100 words):

CONTEMPORARY PROJECT MANAGEMENT, 4E

Timothy J. Kloppenborg

Vittal Anantatmula

Kathryn N. Wells

© 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

‹#›

Introduction to Project Management

Chapter 1

‹#›

The Element of Discipline

“A key to success in project management, as well as in mountain climbing, is to identify the pillars that will be practiced with discipline…I believe that project management is about applying common sense with uncommon discipline.”

Michael O’Brochta, PMP

founder of Zozer Inc.

previously senior project manager at the Central Intelligence Agency

Deaths climbing Mt. Aconcagua are an extreme example of consequences associated with a lack of discipline

Discipline to act on the earlier decision to curtain summit attempts after the agreed-to-turn-around time or in severe weather

Avoid pressure to cast aside or shortcut project management practices

Practices, like planning, are the pillars of project management discipline

Managing projects at the CIA involved short notice to acquire unspent funds

Discipline required needed planning and quick action

The top 2 percent of project managers spend twice as much time planning as the other 98 percent

Identify those pillars that we will decide to practice with the required levels of discipline

Chapter 1 Core Objectives

Define a project and project management and tell why organizations would use them

Describe major activities and deliverables, at each project life cycle stage

List the 10 knowledge areas and 5 process groups of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

Describe project success and failure, as well as reasons both may occur

Contrast predictive and adaptive project life cycles

Chapter 1 Behavioral Objectives:

Identify project roles and key responsibilities for project team members

Describe the importance of collaborative effort throughout a project

What is a project?

Projects require:

an organized set of work efforts.

progressively elaborated detail.

a defined beginning and ending.

a unique combination of stakeholders.

Projects are subject to time and resource limitations

project – “a temporary endeavor undertaken to

create a unique product, service, or result.” PMBOK® Guide

stakeholders – “an individual, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project.” PMBOK® Guide

A project requires an organized set of work efforts.

Projects require a level of detail that is progressively elaborated upon as more information is discovered.

Projects are subject to limitations of time and resources such as money and people.

Projects have a defined beginning and ending.

A project has a unique combination of stakeholders

Project Management (PM)

Work processes

Tradeoffs among

Project management – “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.” PMBOK® Guide

initiate, plan, execute, monitor/control, close

Scope Schedule

Quality Resources

Cost Risks

PM includes work processes that initiate, plan, execute, and close work

Work processes require tradeoffs among the scope, quality, cost, and schedule of the project

PM includes administrative tasks for planning, documenting, and controlling work

PM includes leadership tasks for visioning, motivating, and promoting work associates.

PM knowledge, skills, and methods apply for most projects

Project Management (PM)

Administrative tasks

Leadership tasks for work associates

Knowledge, skills, and methods apply for most projects

Planning, documenting controlling

Visioning, motivating, promoting

PM includes administrative tasks for planning, documenting, and controlling work

PM includes leadership tasks for visioning, motivating, and promoting work associates.

PM knowledge, skills, and methods apply for most projects

History of PM

Emerged as a formal discipline in the 1950s

Developed for aerospace and construction

Involved determining and controlling project schedules

In 2001, Agile was created for adaptive project planning, originally for software projects

In recent years, more focus has been given to the “soft skills” of communications, leadership, and teamwork

PM emerged as a formal discipline in the 1950s

Techniques for planning and controlling schedules and costs were developed for huge aerospace and construction projects in the 1950s and 1960s

Early PM involved determining project schedules based on order of project activities

Manufacturing, research and development, government, and construction projects used and refined management techniques

Software companies offered software for planning and controlling project costs and schedules in the 1980s and 1990s

Risk management techniques for complex projects have been applied to less complex projects

Communication and leadership playa major role in project success

Rapid growth and change in information technology and telecommunications fueled use of PM in the 1990s and 2000s

How Can Project Work Be Described?

Projects versus operations

Soft skills and hard skills

Authority and responsibility

Project Life Cycle

Agile (adaptive) vs. Waterfall (predictive) approach

Projects are temporary and unique; operations are more continuous.

Project managers need “soft skills” and “hard skills” to be effective.

Project managers frequently have more responsibility than authority.

Projects go through predictable stages called a life cycle.

Projects Versus Operations

Projects are temporary

Projects have routine and unique characteristics

Operations are ongoing work

Operations consist of the ongoing work needed to ensure that an organization continues to function effectively

Soft Skills and Hard Skills

Soft skills activities

Communication

Leadership

Conflict resolution

Hard skills activities

Risk analysis

Quality control

Scheduling work

Budgeting work

A successful project manager needs both soft and hard skills along with the judgment of when each is more necessary.

Training, experience, and mentoring are instrumental in developing necessary skills.

Authority and Responsibility

One person being assigned accountability

Project managers negotiate with functional managers

Strong communication and leadership skills to persuade subordinates

Functional manager – “someone with management authority over an organizational unit.…the manager of any group that actually makes a product or performs a service.” PMBOK® Guide

Projects are most effectively managed with one person being assigned accountability

Project managers negotiate with functional managers

A project manager needs to develop strong communication and leadership skills to persuade subordinates to focus on the project when other work beckons.

Project Life Cycle (PLC)

Project life cycles vary among different disciplines but generally are comprised of the same general stages

Project life cycle – “the series of phases that a project goes through from its initiation to its closure.” PMBOK® Guide

Life cycle allows for control to assure that the project is proceeding in a satisfactory manner and that the results are likely to serve its customer’s intended purpose

Project Life Cycle Stages

Selecting and initiating

Planning

Executing (includes monitoring/controlling)

Closing and realizing

Selecting and initiating— a project is selected from an emerging idea, planned at a high level, and key participants commit to it in broad terms

Planning—starts after the initial commitment, includes detailed planning, and ends when all stakeholders accept the entire detailed plan.

Executing—includes authorizing, executing, monitoring, and controlling work until the customer accepts the project deliverables.

Closing and realizing—all activities after customer acceptance to ensure project is completed, lessons are learned, resources are reassigned, contributions are recognized, and benefits are realized.

Project Life Cycle (PLC)

A project must gain approval to move from one stage to the next

Projects are measured at additional points

Selection

Progress reporting

Benefits realization

Predictive (Plan-Driven) PLC

Predictive extreme        waterfall

Product is well-understood

All planning precedes all executing

Adaptive (Change-Driven) PLC

Adaptive extreme        agile

Early results lead into planning later work

Midland Insurance PLC for Quality Improvement Projects

Understanding Projects

Project Management Institute (PMI)

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

PMI Talent Triangle

Selecting and Prioritizing Projects

Understanding Projects

Project Goals and Constraints

Defining Project Success and Failure

Using MS Project

Types of Projects

Scalability of Project Tools

The Project Management Institute (PMI)

The largest professional organization

Produces A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)

Talent Triangle—Technical PM, Leadership, & Strategic and Business Management

Over 650,000 members and credential holders in 185 countries

Publishes and regularly updates A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)

The Project Management Institute (PMI)

Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®)

Project Life Cycle

5 process groups

10 knowledge areas

Project management process group – “a logical grouping of the project management inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs.” PMBOK® Guide

PMBOK® Process Groups

Initiating— “define a project or a new phase by obtaining authorization”

Planning— “establish the project scope, refine objectives and define actions to attain objectives”

Executing— “complete the work defined to satisfy project specifications”

Monitoring and controlling— “track, review, and regulate progress and performance, identify changes required, and initiate changes”

Closing— “finalize all activities to formally close project of phase”

PMBOK®’s 10 Knowledge Areas

Integration management – “processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities”

Scope management – “processes to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully”

Schedule management – “processes to manage timely completion of the project”

PMBOK® Knowledge Areas

Cost management – “processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget”

Quality management – “processes and activities of the performing organization that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken”

Resource management – “processes that organize, manage, and lead the project team”

PMBOK® Knowledge Areas

Communications management – “processes to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring, and ultimate disposition of project information”

Risk management – “processes of conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, and control…to increase the likelihood and impact of positive events and decrease the likelihood and impact of negative events in the project”

PMBOK® Knowledge Areas

Procurement management – “processes to purchase or acquire products, services, or results from outside the project team”

Stakeholder management – “processes to identify the people, groups, or organizations, that could impact or be impacted by the project, analyze their expectations and impact, and develop strategies for engaging them and managing conflicting interests”

Selecting and Prioritizing Projects

Identify potential projects

All parts of the organization are involved

Determine which projects align best with organizational goals

Organizational priorities:

Understood

Communicated

Accepted

Selecting and Prioritizing Projects

What value does each potential project bring to the organization?

Are the demands of performing each project understood?

Are the resources needed to perform the project available?

Is there enthusiastic support both from the external customers and from one or more internal champions?

Which projects will best help the organization achieve its goals?

Project Goals and Constraints

Projects are undertaken to accomplish specific goals

Scope and quality are performance goals

Subject to constraints of time and cost

Scope – “the sum of the products, services, and results to be provided as a project.” PMBOK® Guide

Quality – “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.” PMBOK® Guide

Scope and quality measure performance and should result in outputs that satisfy customers

Consider scope and quality subject to constraints of time and cost

Project Goals and Constraints

Obstacles or challenges may limit ability to perform

Opportunities may allow projects to exceed original expectations.

Project Managers (PMs) decide which goals and constraints take precedence

Additional constraints

Amount of resources available

Decision maker’s risk tolerance

Project Customer Tradeoff Matrix

Break-out Session!

How do YOU define project success and failure?

What are some common reasons for project success or failure?

Project Success and Failure

Deliverables include all agreed-upon features

Outputs please customers

Customers use the outputs effectively

Completed on schedule and on budget

Project success is creating deliverables that include all of the agreed upon features

Outputs please the project’s customers.

Customers use the outputs effectively as they do their work (meet quality goals)

The project should be completed on schedule and on budget (meet time and cost constraints).

Project Success and Failure

Completed without heroics

Learn new and/or refine skills

Organizational learning

Reap business-level benefits

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31 Dec Discussion Forum Week 1 Initial Postings:?Your initial post should be based upon the assigned reading for the week, so the textbook must be the primary source utilized and listed in your re

Preview for Week 2 – Problem Set #1

Week 1 Discussion

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