PROJECT LIFE CYCLE AND THE ORGANIZATION

PROJECT LIFE CYCLE AND THE ORGANIZATION

Overview of a Project Life Cycle
Project Life Cycle – simply defined as a collection of project phases
Project life cycle identify the following:
Activities performed in each phase
Output produced
People involved in each phase
Management control and approval of work produced in each phase
Project Phases
Divisions within a project where extra control is needed to effectively manage the completion of a major deliverables.
Completed in sequential manner, but can overlap depending on thee situation of the project
Deliverables can be tangible or intangible parts of the development process, and are often specified functions or characteristics of the project.
Vary by project or industry
Concept, development, implementation, and close-out.
A project should successfully pass through each of the project phases before continuing to the next.
Because the organization usually commits more money as a project continues, a management review should occur after each phase to evaluate progress, likely success, and continued compatibility with organizational goals.
Different Project Phases :
Concept phase
Managers describe the project briefly – they create a summary plan for the project.
Preliminary cost estimate (or rough cost estimate) is developed, and an overview of the work involved is created
Project work is usually defined in a work breakdown structure.
Development Phase
More detailed project plan
More accurate cost estimate
More through WBS
Implementation Phase
Creates definitive or very accurate cost estimate
Delivers the required work
Provides performance reports to stakeholders
Close-out phase
All of the work is completed
There should be customer acceptance of the entire project
Project team should document their experiences on the project in a lessons – learned report

Product Life Cycle
Systems development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Framework for describing the phases involved in developing and maintaining information systems.
Include waterfall model, spiral model, incremental build model, the Rapid Application Development Model, and prototyping model
Predictive Life Cycle
The scope of the project can be clearly communicated and the schedule and cost can be predicted.
Adaptive software development (ASD) life cycle
Presumes that software development follows an adaptive approach since the requirements cannot be predicted early in the life cycle
Includes attributes such as:
Mission driven and component-based projects
Use of time-based cycles to meet target dates
Use of iterative approach in developing requirements
Risk driven development
4 organizational frame
Structural
Human resources
Political
Symbolic
Organizational Frames
Structural Frames
Focuses on the groups’ various roles and responsibilities to be able to achieve the goals and policies set by top management, and on coordination and control.
Organizational charts help define this frame.
Human Resources
Focuses on providing agreement between the needs of the people.
Identifies the mismatches between the needs of individuals and groups, and works to resolve any potential problems.
Political Frame
Attends to the organizational and personal politics which take in the form of competition among groups or individuals.
Assumes that organizations are coalitions composed of mixed individuals and interest groups.
Key issues are conflict and power
Emphasize on the tactics and strategies
Symbolic Frame
Focuses on symbols and meanings related to events
Issues related are the meaning of work in high technology environment and the image of IT workers as being either key patterns in the business or a necessary cost.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES
Functional organization
Used for routine work functions and maintenance of quality and work standards
Main criticism is the lack of built-in employee recognition, measurement, and reward for project performance.
Project organization
Designed for executing project
Specifically customized to meet the demands of complex projects through isolating unique work and maintaining a strong focus on completing the project
Main criticisms are its inefficient in technology and the use of resources.
Matrix Organization
Represents the middle ground between functional and project structures
Used when there are multiple projects being coordinated at once.
ORGNIZATIONAL CULTURES AND STYLES
Cultures and styles are referred to as cultural norms.
Common knowledge on how to approach the work that needs to be done, what ways are acceptable to get the work done, and who has influence in facilitating the work getting done.