Analysis of Amazon’s Supply Chain Management Practices
Analysis To start with, Amazon’s SCM has a strategic fit with its competitive strategy of being the retailer of choice for its customers. The combination of multi-tier inventory management, superlative transportation, and highly efficient use of IT (Information Technology), and its wide network of warehouses are all geared towards aligning its SCM with its competitive […]
How China Destroyed its Electric Vehicle Market
The Chinese government has given a major shock to companies selling electric vehicles in the country. China has announced a sudden rollback of the billions of dollars which were being paid in subsidies to makers of electric companies. This sudden move has left many of these companies high and dry. Many of these companies had […]
Digital Payments: What they are, How they Work, and their Benefits and Problems
In recent months, all of us have heard extensively about the “war on cash”, the move to make India and other countries “cashless economies” and the general trend among policymakers worldwide to move the economies of the world to a digital and information enabled paradigm. In this context, it is worth noting that the emphasis […]
Operational Transparency
As children, we have always had to prove to our teachers or our parents that we have been working. The homework book was proof that we have spent our time productively and would often calm down angry parents and teachers. It seems like the same principles also apply in corporate life! Harvard Business Review has […]
Warehouse and Materials Management – Need and Scope
Introduction Purchase of raw materials is an integral part of any business, i.e. manufacturing organization or service organization. Purpose of raw material is to be converted into finished goods for selling, but after purchase and before selling, they need to keep in safety and good care. The timeframe of storage can be short period or […]
It is often said that project management is both an art and a science. It is a science because project managers have to estimate time and cost that it takes to actualize the deliverables.
It is an art, as they have to manage resources, people, and other stakeholders. In this context, it is very important for project managers to balance the needs of all stakeholder and especially the needs of the clients. Often, it is the case that project managers have to budget for the project and give the client an estimate of how long the project takes and how much it would cost. This means that they have to be adept at estimating the time and the cost of the project.
In many cases, it is often the practice to overpromise wherein the project managers with the hope of pleasing the client often promise more than they could actually deliver. This is the reason why many projects go haywire, as the initial estimates often are very tight leaving no scope for course correction midway.
Further, there is lot of pressure from marketing, the delivery managers, and the group heads in the organization who want the client to be pleased at any cost. This is the case with many Indian software companies where the project managers under pressure from organizational imperatives often overpromise to the client and once the project is underway, they realize that they cannot possibly meet the deadlines.
On the other hand, project managers must not underestimate their capacity to deliver as well. Even though overpromising is often the case, there are instances where vendors hesitate to bid for a project because they feel that either they do not have the resources to complete the project or they do not have the capabilities to actualize the outcomes.
Of course, it is not the practice in many vendors who take outsourced projects to not bid for the same as many marketing heads never let go of the chance for new business. Rather the point here is that most project managers who are not confident of himself or herself or their teams balk from accepting these projects, as they are afraid of failure.
Moreover, in established and market leading companies, there is a false sense of complacency that arises from having a broad base of achievements which makes the vendors drop projects because they cannot risk their reputations because of failure on a single project. While this can be good business sense, the converse is also true wherein not taking up projects sometimes leads to the perceptions among clients that the vendor is not serious enough about their needs or is too arrogant to take on the project.
Especially when one considers the present gloomy economic scenario, it is our opinion that not taking on projects that are viable is not a good idea. The operative term here is viable meaning that we are not suggesting that vendors take on unviable projects. On the contrary, the recommendation is that the project managers should overcome the fear of failure and take the step towards moving up the value chain.
The points made in this article propose that while overpromising is bad, underestimating is equally bad and hence; project managers must develop the knack of estimating and budgeting that would ensure that their projects meet client specifications and are on schedule.
Considering the fact that more than half of all projects are usually behind schedule, it is indeed a tough ask for project managers to manage the projects. Therefore, as mentioned in the introduction, project managers have to adopt a scientific approach and practice the art of walking a tightrope.
In conclusion, project management is to be practiced with a rigorous understanding of the concepts and an artistic means of managing the outcomes.
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Costs in Project Management – Costs associated with the Projects
February 12, 2025
