ASSIGNMENT - 2

Unit 2: The Projects life Cycle

1. Discuss about the concept of Project Management.

Answer:

Project management is a formal discipline for managing projects. Project management has been
developed over the past few decades as it has become apparent that without a structured approach
people are not very good at completing projects successfully. The aim of project management is to
ensure that projects are completed and that the end point (the new house, computer system or new
product) is achieved. More than this, project management is about reaching that end point
predictably, which usually means to a given cost and within a planned amount of time. The
successful project management is all about structure, control, sufficient attention to detail and
continuously driving action. The role of the project manager is to understand enough project
management to apply its structure and ensure that project is successfully completed within the time
and cost required. The things you must do as a project manager are: 1. Ensure there is a clear
understanding why a project is being done, and what it will produce. 2. Plan the project – to
understand how long it will take and how much it will cost. 3. Manage the project – to ensure that as
the project progresses, it achieves the objectives you have defined within the time and cost
specified. 4. Complete the project properly – to make sure everything produced by the project is of
the quality expected and works as required. Project Management has emerged because the
characteristics of our turn-of-the-century society demand the development of the new methods of
management. Of the many forces involved, three are paramount: 1. The exponential expansion of
the human knowledge; 2. The growing demand for a broad range of complex, sophistically,
customized goods and services; 3. The evolution of worldwide competitive markets for the
production and consumption of goods and services. All three forces combine to mandate the use of
terms to solve problems that used to be solvable by individuals. These three forces combine to
increase greatly the complexity of goods and services produced plus the complexity of the process
used to produced them and all this in turn leads to the need for more sophisticated systems to
control both outcomes and processes. As the techniques of project management were developed,
the use of project organization began to spread. Private construction firms found that project
organization was helpful on smaller projects, such as the building of a warehouse or an apartment
complex. Automotive companies used project organization to develop new automobile models. Both
General Electric and Pratt &Whitney used project organization to develop new jet aircraft engines for
airlines, as well as the Air Force. Project management has even been used to develop new models
of shoes and ships. More recently, the use of project management by international organizations,
and especially organizations producing services rather than products, has grown rapidly. Advertising
campaigns, global mergers, and capital acquisitions are often handled as projects, and the methods
have spread to the non-profit sector. Functions, weddings, fund drives, election campaigns, parties,
recitals etc all make use of the principles of project management. Most striking has been the
widespread adoption of project management techniques for the development of computer software.
Did u know? Each project phase is marked by completion of one or more deliverables. A deliverable
is a tangible, verifiable work product. The conclusion of a project phase is generally marked by (a)
completion and review of both key deliverables and project performance to date, to (b) determine if
the project should continue into its next phase and(c) detect and correct errors cost effectively.
 2. What do you know about Project Life Cycle?

Answer:
Like organic entities, projects have life cycles. From a slow beginning they progress to a build-up of
size, then peak, begin a decline, and finally must be terminated. Some projects end by being phased
into the normal, ongoing operations of the parent organization.
Although projects are unique and highly unpredictable, their standard framework consists of same
generic lifecycle structure, consisting of following phases:

1. The Initiation Phase: Starting of the project

2. The Planning Phase: Organizing and Preparing
3. The Execution Phase: Carrying out the project
4. The Termination Phase: Closing the project

1. The Initiation Phase: The initiation phase aims to define and authorize the project. The project
manager takes the given information and creates a Project Charter. The Project Charter authorizes
the project and documents the primary requirements for the project.
It includes information such as:
o Project’s purpose, vision, and mission
o Measurable objectives and success criteria
o Elaborated project description, conditions, and risks
o Name and authority of the project sponsor
o Concerned stakeholders

2. The Planning Phase: The purpose of this phase is to lay down a detailed strategy of
how the project has to be performed and how to make it a success.
Project Planning consists of two parts:
o Strategic Planning
o Implementation Planning
In strategic planning, the overall approach to the project is developed. In implementation planning, the
ways to apply those decisions are sought.
3. The Execution Phase: In this phase, the decisions and activities defined during the
planning phase are implemented. During this phase, the project manager has to
supervise the project and prevent any errors from taking place. This process is also
termed as monitoring and controlling. After satisfaction from the customer, sponsor,
and stakeholder’s end, he takes the process to the next step.
4. The Termination Phase: This is the last phase of any project, and it marks the
official closure of the project.
This general lifecycle structure is used when dealing with upper management or other people
less familiar with the project. Some people might confuse it with the project management
process groups, but the latter contains activities specific to the project. The project lifecycle,
on the other hand, is independent of the life cycle of the particular outcome of the project.
However, it is beneficial to take the current life-cycle phase of the product into account. It
can provide a common frame of reference for comparing different projects

The Project Management Lifecycle: 4 Steps

1. Initiating
In the initiation phase, you’ll define the project. You’ll sort out the project goals, scope, and resources of
the project, and what roles are needed on the team. Clarifying what stakeholders expect out of the
 project, and what exactly the project is aiming to achieve (and why) will give the project and team clear
direction.
This is a crucial phase to the project’s success. Without clarity around what needs to be achieved and
why, the project runs the risk of not accomplishing the end goals and meeting the expectations of
stakeholders.
Some steps in the initiation phase include:
 Communicating with stakeholders to understand the purpose and desired outcomes of the project
 Identifying project scope
 Determining SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound)
 Clarifying resources like budget and time constraints
 Confirming team size and roles required
 Determining how often and which stakeholders will be involved throughout the project
 Compiling a project proposal and project charter
Tools and documents used in the initiation phase can include:
 Project proposal: The project proposal defines a project and outlines key dates, requirements, and
goals.
 Project charter: This is a definitive document that describes the project and main details necessary to
reach its goals. This can include potential risks, benefits, constraints, and key stakeholders.
 RACI chart: A RACI chart plots the roles and responsibilities of members on a Average time: 6
month(s)
Learn at your own pace
2. Planning
In the planning phase, you’ll determine the steps to actually achieve the project goals—the “how” of
completing a project.
You’ll establish budgets, timelines, and milestones, and source materials and necessary documents.
This step also involves calculating and predicting risk, putting change processes into place, and outlining
communication protocols. If the initiation phase is assembling your troops, the planning phase is
deciding what to do with them.
The planning phase can include the following steps:
 Deciding on milestones that lead up to goal completion
 Developing a schedule for tasks and milestones, including time estimates and potential time buffers
 Establishing change processes
 Determining how and how often to communicate with team members and stakeholders
 Creating and signing documents such as non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) or requests for proposal
(RFPs)
 Assessing and managing risk by creating a risk register
 Holding a kick-off meeting to start project
Tools you might use in a this phase include:
 Gantt chart: A horizontal bar chart in which members can see what tasks must be completed in what
order, and how long each is expected to take
 Risk register: A chart that lists risks associated with the project, along with their probability, potential
impact, risk level, and mitigation plans
3. Execute and complete tasks
Executing a project means putting your plan into action and keeping the team on track. Generally this
means tracking and measuring progress, managing quality, mitigating risk, managing the budget, and
using data to inform your decisions.
Specific steps might include:
 Using tools like GANTT or burndown charts to track progress on tasks
 Responding to risks when they manifest
 Recording costs
 Keeping team members motivated and on task
 Keeping stakeholders informed of progress
 Incorporating changes via change requests
Some tools you might use include:
 Change requests: These are documents used to propose changes to a project’s scope or goals
 Burndown chart: This chart breaks down tasks on a granular level and visualizes the amount of time
remaining
4. Close projects
In the closing phase of the project management lifecycle, you’ll conclude project activities, turn the
finished product or service over to its new owners, and assess the things that went well and didn’t go so
well. It’ll also be a time to celebrate your hard work.
Steps in the closing phase can include:
 Conducting retrospectives and take notes of changes you can implement in the future
 Communicating to stakeholders of the end of the project and providing an impact report
 Communicating with the new owners of a project
 Creating a project closeout report
 Celebrating the end of the project and your successes
Tools used in the closing phase include:
 Impact report: This report compiles a series of metrics that showcase how your project made a
difference and is presented to your stakeholders.
 Project closeout report: A project closeout report provides a summary of your project’s
accomplishments, and provides key learnings for future project managers to reference.
 3. Explain about Interdependencies.

Answers:

Projects often interact with other projects being carried out simultaneously by their parent
organization; but projects always interact with the parent organization’s standard, ongoing
operations. Although the functional departments of an organization (marketing, finance,
manufacturing, and the like) interact with one another in regular, patterned ways, the patterns
of interaction between projects and these departments tend to be changeable. Marketing may
be involved at the beginning and end of a project, but not in the middle. Manufacturing may
have major involvement throughout. Finance is often involved at the beginning and
accounting at the end, as well as at periodic reporting times. The PM must keep all these
interactions clear and maintain the appropriate interrelationships with all external groups.

In interdependence, there are more than one party involved, the one-party will have resources that
the other party need to fulfil its requirement and the transfer works both ways. Both parties need to
meet their need, and both can assist each other in fulfilling the need.
The relationship of dependence can be found almost everywhere because we need other people to
survive. Looking at the four relationships mentioned:

People – People depend on other people to acquire the relevant resources to survive, this could be
as basic as a farmer selling his potatoes to a client.

Regions – Different regions in a country depend on each other for resources. For example, one
area can have fields that can be planted and harvested for food, and the other region would buy the
food from the first region.

Nations – Different nations depend on each other for resources that are not available in that
nation. China could manufacture computer parts that are needed in America to build a computer.

Businesses – Businesses need each other to make money and to get resources. A company
could depend on another business to supply them with the raw materials to produce their product.

These are just some of the interdependent relationships that can be found, you can look at people
to a business, region to business, nation to companies, and so much more. Interdependence can
be found all over society.
The nature of the relationship will determine the degree of interdependence. If the dependence is
high and the one-party disappear, the other party will likely disappear as well. Client and supplier
relationships are a form of reliance. A client is dependent on the supplier to supply raw materials,
and the supplier is dependent on the client to pay for these raw materials. The client will use the
raw material to manufacture their product. The supplier will make use of the money to buy more
raw materials.
Businesses can have interdependence with financial institutions where a business needs to loan
money from the financial institutions to leverage itself to grow the business. Where the financial
institution needs to lend money to be financially profitable.
Interdependence Example

Jimmy bought an Uber franchise and has two cars that he operates in New York. Jimmy has two
drivers that drive the Uber cars for him. From the perspective of interdependence, we can identify
two essential relationships between Jimmy’s business and the other parties.

Firstly, Jimmy has an interdependent relationship with his two drivers. Jimmy needs the drivers to
drive the cars and pick up his clients and drop them off at the correct location. The drivers are
dependent on Jimmy to pay them for the work that they are doing for him.

Secondly, Jimmy has an interdependence with his clients, he needs to make sure the clients are
picked up and dropped off at the correct location at the right time. In doing this, the client will pay,
and Jimmy will be able to maintain his cars to keep offering the service. The clients are dependent
on transport and need to pay money for the service. In both these situations, the client and the
business are dependent on keeping each other running, if the clients don’t need the Uber service or
don’t want to pay for it then Jimmy’s company will not be able to survive.

Interdependence Conclusion
Interdependence can be defined as the relationship between two or more parties that depend on
each other for survival.
The connection can be between people, regions, nations, or businesses.
Economic interdependence occurs when a party specialize in the fulfilment of a good or service
and the parties need to trade with each other to meet the other’s requirements.
The nature of the relationship will determine the degree of interdependence.
If the dependence is high and the one-party disappears, the other party will likely disappear as well.
 4. Give an example of extended life cycle.

Answers:

1. Differentiate your product

A goal of a differentiation strategy is to highlight the quality and characteristics of your product that
make your product stand out from the rest. Highlight the differences that set your product apart from
market competitor products.
Focus on the unique selling points of your product, the things that differentiate it from the rest.
Differentiate the product from others by emphasising its functionality and benefits such as ease of
use, safety features, reliability, and performance or a combination of these qualities.

2. Repackage and refresh

Packaging plays a significant role in consumer purchasing decisions. By refreshing product
packaging or changing the style you can help to broaden its appeal. Fresh packaging can attract
new customers while making a product appear new and improved to existing customers.
Research shows that packaging influences a third of buying decisions. One study suggests 40% of
buyers will post images of a product with attractive packaging on social media. Over 50% of
consumers in the US said they would buy more products it was in sustainable packaging that didn’t
cost more.

3. Introduce new sizing options

Changing or introducing new sizes is an excellent extension strategy to draw new interest in your
product.
While product appearance is fundamental to winning the consumer’s attention, product assortment
is particularly beneficial to retailers.
This means that offering your product in a variety of sizes is beneficial for B2B organisations.
Varying the size of your product can be attractive to both new and existing customers. For example,
travel-sized coffee products that are easy to pack, carry or store appeal to consumers on the move.
Larger sizes will appeal to a different target market such as consumers that prefer to buy in bulk or
ones that are on monthly salaries. Australasian beer drinkers might prefer a six-pack while Asian
consumers prefer to share a larger bottle of beer in social settings.
product life extension
Introducing new variants of an old product, such as size or colour, can help to extend its life cycle.

4. Product improvement
Products tend to go stale once they’ve been in the market for a long time and contemporary
consumers are easily bored.
Adding new features to an old product provides customers with the product’s familiarity by improving
it and adding a new spin.
Product improvements can be intangible such as using more sustainable materials or using 100%
ethical supply chains.
There are multiple ways to add new features to an existing product. Bike manufacturers, for
example, can add any number of accessories, such as lighter frames, or tubeless tires.
Learn more: Lean Logistics – Improving Efficiency in the Supply Chain

5. Identify new markets

Globalisation and eCommerce have opened up the world. Your business now has access to
international markets 24/7 to sell your products in different states or countries.
Finding new markets is an easy way to extend the life cycle of your product.
However, it is still important to focus your efforts on your target customer when expanding online or
into new markets. The core difference here is that those target customers are a much larger group.

6. Bundle products
Grouping or pairing products and selling as a bundle can increase the sale and profits of individual
items over time.
Look for opportunities to group certain products and sell them at a slightly reduced price. By
grouping products, customers are buying more than one item during a single purchase, increasing
your average order value.
Bundling products not only offers an opportunity to extend the life of one product it can also help
introduce companion products.
For the consumer, this offers a chance to try a new product along with an old favourite.
Putting different products together is often perceived by the consumer as greater value for their
money. Bundling also enables you to sell more with lower marketing and distribution costs.

7. Reduce product prices

Once a product has reached the maturity phase of its lifecycle there are generally several other
competitors in the market. Many of these may be offering similar products at lower prices.
One of the most common strategies then is for companies to reduce their product price to increase
sales. By cutting profit margins to boost sales, you can maintain brand loyalty, increase sales and
extend the life cycle of your product.
When the price is reduced, your existing customers are liable to continue buying it, while other
consumers may switch from competing products to yours. At the maturity phase of a product life
cycle, you will generally see a drop in your production and marketing costs due to greater
economies of scale.
product life cycle strategies
Pricing can impact a product’s ability to sell – lower prices can help extend their life cycle and keep
consumers interested.

8. Increase your marketing

Companies can often increase sales and extend the product life cycle purely through advertising
and promotions.
Distinctive advertising and promotional activities can give your product a new image, differentiate it
from competitor products and prolong its life. You can switch up the marketing mix, giving an old
product a fresh image to increase awareness and create greater demand.
Growing product and brand awareness through consumer engagement campaigns and promotions
improve its popularity, helping to extend the life cycle of the product.
By running fresh advertising campaigns, you can drive higher demand while retaining existing
customers. Invest in marketing campaigns that aim to achieve higher brand recall and maintain
brand loyalty.

9. Reposition
Consumer preferences and demand patterns continually change, so marketers should revisit their
positioning strategies occasionally to maintain sales and growth.
Brand repositioning is not a complete makeover of your company’s identity, it’s a deliberate and
determined adjustment.
Repositioning a product involves exploring new markets.
This doesn’t necessarily mean targeting the same consumer in a new location. It takes the same
product to a new target market or adds value to appeal to a different audience.
Your goal with a repositioning strategy is to update your brand’s personality, associations, and
reputation while retaining a permanent, recognisable brand identity.
For example, men’s grooming products Old Spice went from being something for elderly folk to a
popular option for a younger market. The brand doubled its sales within a few months of the
campaign launch to reposition it.

10. Rebrand the business

Good products that are designed to meet consumer needs may enjoy long life cycles, but over time
interest in the product can still wane. Customers can be put off by boring packaging and branding
and attracted to the many substitute products available due to increased competition.
While repackaging is one strategy to attract new customers and convince long-standing customers
to continue using the same product again, rebranding is a more comprehensive approach.
A rebrand could involve many of the strategies already mentioned as well as changing your brand
name, logo, core product, and entire business model.
Businesses generally rebrand to get a fresh start.
Many times, the only thing marketers need to do to increase the product life cycle is to reignite
people’s interest in the product.

11. Run a relaunch

If all else fails, change the product sufficiently enough to release it as a new and improved version.
With new formulas and new features, you can extend the product lifecycle by releasing the product
as version 2.0
 5. Explain about Delivery and Deliverables.

Answers:
There is a word that project managers and people involved regularly in projects use all the
time; it is delivery. Delivery in the context of projects simply means getting the things done
you set out to do. The role of a project manager is therefore to deliver the project. Delivery is
a useful piece of jargon as it saves having to write ‘completing the project to the expected
time and cost with the desired outcome’ again and again!

Deliverables are what is delivered by a project so taking the examples above; the deliverables
from the respective projects are a new house, a new computer system or a new product. In a
project the deliverables wanted are defined at the start of the project, and your success as a project
manager is in delivering them in the planned time and to the expected cost. Did u know? The aim of
project management is to ensure that projects are completed and that the end point (the new house,
computer system or new product) is achieved. A deliverable is any product, service, or result that must
be completed to finish a project. Some projects need to develop capabilities to complete a project.
These capabilities are also called deliverables. For instance, let us assume that we manufacture the
iPhone. In our project, we might need to develop a new manufacturing technique before we can
manufacture the product, i.e., iPhone. In this case, the capability that the team develops can also be
considered as a deliverable. As per the PMBOK Guide, deliverables are an important output of the
Direct and Manage Project Execution in the Project Integration Management knowledge area.
The writers of the current PMBOK Guide and many other project management professionals across
the globe, advocate that the Work Breakdown Structure should be based on these project deliverables
rather than the tasks needed to create these deliverables. While creating a Work Breakdown
Structure, these deliverables are further broken down into smaller pieces. This process of
decomposition continues until all deliverables are small enough to be considered as work packages.

 The word "deliverables" is a project management term describing the quantifiable goods or
services that must be provided upon the completion of a project.
 Deliverables can be tangible in nature, such as the acquisition of a dozen new computers, or
they can be intangible, like the implementation of a computer program aimed at improving a
company's accounts receivable computational efficiency.
 A deliverable may refer to in-person or online training programs, as well as design samples
for products in the process of being developed.
 In many cases, deliverables are accompanied by instruction manuals.
 In film production, deliverables refer to the range of audio, visual, and paperwork files that
producers must furnish to distributors.
Type of Deliverables
Deliverables are usually classified as internal deliverables and external deliverables.
Internal Deliverables
Internal deliverables are usually deliverables that make a project run, but they are not a part of the
product that the end-users would like to see. They are deliverables which the project generates
internally. Project Management, Configuration Management, Training, and Testing are some
examples of internal deliverables.
External Deliverables
External deliverables are usually those that the project delivers to the users or the client. An external
deliverable could be an IT system and subsystems that make it up or the resulting organizational
transition and benefits from a project to reduce the turnaround time of a process.