Why Donald Trump Will be able to Stop Outsourcing ?
Donald Trump has positioned himself to be a populist leader. Although in reality, he is an opportunist leader. He has promised his voters that he will stop outsourcing and protect their jobs from cheap foreign labor. Most political pundits did not believe Trump will be able to achieve anything of that sort. After all, even […]
Procurement Management – Procurement of Materials and Resources
Introduction The practice of project management has undergone a sea change in the way it is conceptualized and executed. Gone are the days when the project manager operated in silos without and larger picture focus and without any concern for the environmental and the social costs of the projects he or she was executing. In […]
P-Value in Hypothesis Test – Interpreting the Statistical Conclusion
What is the P-Value ? The P-Value is a statistical representation of the likelihood that the null hypothesis is true. Therefore the P-Value is the probability that the output (Y) will not change as a result of the variation that we are deliberately introducing in the input (X). Example: If we have a null hypothesis […]
The Benefits of Buying Local
President Trump has brought the issue of buying local to the forefront once again. He is enacting laws in support of “Buy American, Hire American” principles which he ideologically believes in. This would not be the first case wherein governments are encouraging consumers to buy locally. When government agencies procure materials for government use, a […]
The Need for Operational Definitions of Metrics
While coming up with operational metrics one must not forget to begin by first clarifying and defining what they mean. This is because there is a good chance that there may be ambiguity regarding what the metric really means. To better understand how to come up with operational definitions, the following procedure must be followed. […]
According to the PMBOK 3rd edition, A project is defined as a “temporary endeavour with a beginning and an end and it must be used to create a unique product, service or result”. Further, it is progressively elaborated. What this definition of a project means is that projects are those activities that cannot go on indefinitely and must have a defined purpose.
The art of project management calls for an increased vigil on quality and related processes. The project manager is expected to be aware of the best practices that are used for the project and is supposed to make sure that he or she adapts them to the use of project management.
One area of concern nowadays is the absence of processes in procurement and staffing. These are areas of concern not only to the project manager but also to the organisations.
There is a need to balance the requirements of the fast procurement and staffing cycle with that of proper processes to be followed. There has been much debate in many organisations about the lack of quality in recruitment and procurement.
These twin areas of quality and procurement have the aspect of ruining the chances of a successful project and hence the project manager has a responsibility to steer the course and ensure that quality does not suffer. There are several areas of project management that need quality control and there are several benchmarks of quality that can be used to meet these standards.
For instance, many organisations use Six Sigma and SEI CMM level processes to guide them in the art of quality and meeting quality specifications. These are just one instance of how the quality framework is used to differentiate between the processes that are error free and those that need revision and rework. Sampling method prescribed by Kaizen, Six Sigma etc can be used to improve the quality of the processes that are employed by the organisations.
Kaizen, in particular relates to continuous improvement, a theme that would find resonance in the uber-competitive world of today. All organisations strive for quality and to find the edge that would differentiate those from others and thus these initiatives are the ones that the project manager must look forward to and implement them diligently in the workplace.
To address the issues arising out of poor procurement and staffing practices, the project manager has to be in constant touch with one important stakeholder i.e., the procurement and staffing teams and this is where the project manager is expected to show their level of competence by managing the procurement and staffing cycle.
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Costs in Project Management – Costs associated with the Projects
February 12, 2025
