Project Success - A Critical Examination Of The Statement In An Essay.

Discuss about the Statement - Project Success Is A Matter Of Opinion.

Project management can be defined as the proper practice for the initiation, planning, execution, control as well as closing of the work of the project for achieving all the goals and objectives of the project and thus gaining success for the project (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). There are specific criteria of success in the project and within a specific time constraint. A project is the temporary endeavour that is eventually designed for producing unique products or services. The goals as well as the objectives of this project completely depend on the various project constraints either primary or secondary (Burke, 2013). These specific goals of the project are responsible for bringing out all the beneficial changes or alterations in the project. The business operations of any particular business are permanent, repetitive or even semi permanent activities of functions for producing the results.

The following report outlines a brief discussion on the popular statement that “Project success is a matter of opinion”. This report eventually provides a critical examination of this statement after taking into consideration of the project stakeholders’ perspectives and the various influence of the constraint of project.

The discipline of utilizing various established principles, policies and procedures for successfully managing and controlling any specific project right from the conception stage to the completion stage is known as project management. It substantially oversees all the planning, organization and implementation of any project (Larson & Gray, 2013). The project is the undertaking that comprises of a distinct starting and an ending parameter, which is solely designed for producing a definite outcome like a brand new computer system. This project is completely different from the all other ongoing processes like the programs of asset management and governance.

The plan of the  project management is supposed to efficiently and promptly guide every aspect of the project from the starting point to the finishing point with project goals to deliver the product on time and within budget (Schwalbe, 2015). The plan of any project usually starts with a project charter. This plan is thus expected in the successful identification of all the potential challenges and also handling of every constraint for keeping the project on time and budget. The project manager is responsible for making the project successful and there are few steps in a project (Fleming & Koppelman, 2016). The steps mainly include definition of project goals, outlining steps for achieving the project goals, identification of the resources that are needed for the accomplishment of the steps, determination of the time and budget needed for the steps, overseeing real implementation as well as execution of the project and finally delivering the project result.

The project managers are responsible for implementing controls for assessing the progress and performance against the decided objectives, budget and schedule that are parts of the project plan (Walker, 2015). All these together are termed as project scope. The primary challenge of the  project management is the achievement of each and every goal of the project within provided time and budget.

Project Success

The success of any project refers to all the factors that have made the project successful or is helping the project to become successful. The project success criterion depends on the facts that whether the project would become successful or not (Harrison & Lock, 2017). It is completely dependent on various important factors like stakeholders’ perspectives or the influence of all the project constraints. This success of the project is completely a matter of opinion as several authors have demonstrated several factors or theories on this.

The complete success of project does not depend on any one factor and rather a series of factors are responsible for the successful completion of the project (Heagney, 2016). The critical success factors or the CSFs of any project can be mainly depicted as the success of the market, morale of the organization, technological reputation with all the clients, perspectives of the stakeholders, influence of the project constraints, risk recognition or identification in important segments, proper risk management, image in the financial markets, margins of the profit, performance to the budget of the project and many more. The success of the project also depends on the technical performance, personal growth, managerial implications, organizational implications, and efficiency in execution, manufacturability performances and even the business performances (Snyder, 2014). The success of the project can also be assessed by various groups of interest like managers, clients, stakeholders, stockholders, employees, staff members and many more.

The project management success also focuses on the process of project and the proper accomplishment of time, cost or any other quality objectives. It even takes into consideration the manner through which the process of project management is conducted. Solving the problems or the risks associated with the project is also responsible for the successful project result (Mir & Pinnington, 2014). These are the key factors of success only to focus on making the significant difference in the project management effectiveness. The project plans should be upgraded regularly so that the project is completely properly.

The stakeholders are the most important factors in any specific project. These stakeholders are referred to any person or individual associated with the project (Turner, 2016). They can either be an accountant, a group, an organization, members, or even the system that is affected by the execution of the project or rather the project becomes successful with the help of the stakeholders. The project stakeholders are the group of members or individuals who directly affects or manages the project. The project goals or objectives are set by these stakeholders or the goals and objectives of the project are set for the benefit of the stakeholders (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Even the policies and procedures of the project are affected and set by the stakeholders of that particular project. There are some of the major and significant examples of stakeholders in any typical project. They are the creditors, directors, governments, agencies, owners or the shareholders, unions, suppliers and also the employees of the project. Even the communities from where the project is getting all of its resources fall under the category of project stakeholders. The client of any project is entitled to trading practices that are absolutely fair. Each and every decision of the project is taken by the stakeholders of the project and without their permission; no change or alteration is done within the project (Kerzner, 2018). The example of the negative impact on the stakeholders is the moment when the project owner cuts off the costs and expenses of the project and thus plans a typical round of layoff. This negativity or the negative impact on the stakeholders strongly affects the workers community, who are working in the project and hence the budget of the project is affected.

Perspectives of Stakeholders

The complete success of the project depends of the perspectives of the stakeholders or how the stakeholders are behaving during the project duration. The stakeholders of the project can either be inside or can be outside of the organization (Binder, 2016). They have the following tasks:

1. i) Sponsoring of the project: The entire project is sponsored by them and the even the budget is decided by them.
2. ii) Interest in the Project: They have an interest in the project and want the project to be successful.
3. iii) Positive as well as Negative Influence: The stakeholders might have a positive or a negative influence on the project (Pemsel & Wiewiora, 2013).

The examples of the project stakeholders are given below:

1. i) Project Leader
2. ii) Senior Management
3. iii) Project Team Members

1. iv) Project Clients
2. v) Resource Managers
3. vi) Line Managers
4. vii) Project Testers
5. viii) Project Subcontractors

1. ix) Project Consultants
2. x) Project Groups

The above mentioned project stakeholders’ perspectives are thus extremely vital and important for the successful completion of the project (Martinelli & Milosevic, 2016). These stakeholders play the most vital role in the success of the project and project management.

Project constraints can be defined as the problems or barriers that stop any particular project to reach to its success points. These barriers or constraints often become major problems in the success route of the project and thus the project might face significant losses (Kerzner, 2018). There are various types of constraints in any specific project. Following are the six important constraints of a particular project.

1. i) Project Risk: This is the first and the foremost project constraint in any typical project. There is always a high chance of risk in any project and this can bring out the most dangerous situations within the project. There is a lot of uncertainty that when and where the project can fail and how that failure could be overcome (Binder, 2016). If this project risk is not properly managed with the help of the risk management techniques, the project risk can bring out major problems within the project and the project can turn out to be a failure.
2. ii) Project Scope: This is the second important project constraint in any project. The scope refers to the future outcome or future result of the project. The expected outcome of the project is again one of the most significant constraints in any project. If the project scope is not clear in the beginning, it is evident that the project could become a major failure in future (Turner, 2016). All the members of the projects should have a clear view of the project scope during the entire period of project.
3. iii) Project Quality: The third important constraint in any project is the quality of the project. If the quality of the project is hampered in any aspect, the entire project would be at stake (Snyder, 2014). The client will not like the project and thus the project would be a failure.

1. iv) Project Cost: Another significant constraint in the project success is the cost or expenses of the project. Before any project is started, a fixed plan or budget is set for it. If the project does not follow the previously planned budget, there is a high chance that the project would incur huge costs and the client would be facing losses and lack of resources (Walker, 2015). Thus, project cost should be maintained throughout the project so that the project does not incur any extra expense.
2. v) Project Resources: The fifth important constraint of a successful project is the project resource. Various resources are required in a project and if any of them are not present in the project, it would turn out to be a major failure (Schwalbe, 2015). Therefore, the project should be executed according to the list of project resources.
3. vi) Project Time: The final constraint in the path of a successful project is the scheduled time. An estimated time is mentioned to the client before the project is started. When this time exceeds, extra cost is incurred (Burke, 2013). Project time has significant influence on the success of the project.

Thus, the above mentioned six constraints clearly depict that they have important influence on the success of any project.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that, project management is the proper and significant practice or procedure for the successful beginning, planning, completion, management and even closing the team work of any project to achieve each and every objective and goal of that particular project and hence obtaining success in the project. Several important success criteria within the project are present and the project is to be completed within a given constraint of time. Any project is a temporary attempt, which is eventually calculated for the production of various unique services and products. The distinct objectives as well as goals of the project significantly are dependent on several constraint of a project irrespective of the fact that they primary or secondary. These significant objectives of a project are absolutely responsible to bring out each and every advantageous alterations or changes within the project. The longevity of the various operations of business of any specific business is long and they are repetitive, permanent, or semi permanent actions of functionalities to produce significant results. The above report has outlined a detailed discussion on the very famous statement of “Project success is a matter of opinion”. This report has eventually provided the critical examination of the above mentioned statement when the project stakeholders’ perspectives are considered. Moreover, the several project constraints are also taken into consideration while describing this particular statement.  

References

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Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.

Fleming, Q. W., & Koppelman, J. M. (2016, December). Earned value project management. Project Management Institute.

Harrison, F., & Lock, D. (2017). Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge.

Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.

Hwang, B. G., & Ng, W. J. (2013). Project management knowledge and skills for green construction: Overcoming challenges. International Journal of Project Management, 31(2), 272-284.

Kerzner, H. (2018). Project management best practices: Achieving global excellence. John Wiley & Sons.

Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

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Pemsel, S., & Wiewiora, A. (2013). Project management office a knowledge broker in project-based organisations. International Journal of Project Management, 31(1), 31-42.

Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.

Snyder, C. S. (2014). A guide to the project management body of knowledge: PMBOK (®) guide. Project Management Institute: Newtown Square, PA, USA.

Turner, R. (2016). Gower handbook of project management. Routledge.

Walker, A. (2015). Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons.