Project Procurement Process

Requirement

Project Management including procurement, change control, communication, and leadership

Solution

Project Procurement Process

A project procurement process is a used to order, receive, review, and approve the items required for executing any project (Dinesmore and Cabanis). It includes five major elements that are mentioned below:

  • Specification: In this step, the project manager and purchasing department decide on the items to be procured. After the approval of the list, external vendors are informed of the approved list.

  • Selection: In this step, vendor selection criteria – delivery history, service quality, cost, and part performance – is used to select potential suppliers. 

  • Contracting: The selected vendor is communicated about the payment options and date on which product need to be delivered. Few of the necessary conditions are mentioned during the negotiation that include on-time delivery schedule and also project budget is informed.

  • Control: Control of delivery and payment processes by procurement management is very important. This step focuses on elements such as the (i) arrangement of regular meetings with the vendors, (ii) delivery advancement tracker, (iii) order review, (iv) specifying products, and (v) implementing required changes.

  • Measurement: This step focuses on the success of the whole process by measuring it using different performance indicators. This step helps in assessing the performance of procurers, and their adherence to required contractual terms and conditions.

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Implementation of change controls in the information technology

According to Information Technology Project Management (Schwalbe), Following mentioned procedure should be followed to implement the changes:
Information Administrator (IA) should protect the hardware and software from any unauthorized access or changes.
The information administrator (IA) should check the risk associated with implementing any change such as the impact on the integrity of the systems or other factors like confidentiality and integrity.
IA should request for change and get approval.
Coordinate to the departments that can be directly affected by the change.
Test the implemented change
Notify users and management of the implementation schedule
Document the changes made and created a report
For any unfortunate circumstances, keep the backup ready to move the implementation to the previous version.
Emergency changes should be always kept in purview if need be.
Required element of a communication plan.
The first thing to keep in notice while preparing a communication plan is transforming the large mass of daily data into digestible chunks. More focus towards executive summary will be beneficial (Heldman and Baca). Below mentioned are the elements that are necessary for a successful communication within a project management:

  • Regular Reporting: the Team member who will be involved in a communication process should take into consideration the periodicity of the report and the person who will be reading.

  • Verification of information is important. Therefore, right person should be placed for same.

  • Event-based alerts: All the milestones and crises should be communicated in a short and concise manner. The format of alert delivery should be proper and the selection of team member who will be delivering the alerts.

  • Audience Requests: Tailoring communication message according to the audience should exist. Also, priority should exist for who will get what information and when, and when a project manager can deny access to the information.

  • Public-Facing Information: Determination of what information should be brought in public and at what time. Also, the impact of the information on public should be assessed.

Organizational structure in project management.

Functional Project Organizational Structure:

This kind of setup allows the project to be managed within the current organization hierarchical structure (Azmal)
The current functional units take over all the components of the project
Each unit is held responsible for the discharge of the required function of the chosen project
This kind of organizational structure gives enough flexibility.
Whenever any employee leaves the task in the mid of the project, the remaining task can be handled by remaining function without much difficulty.

Project-based organizational structure in project management:

Under this structure, an independent team is a setup to perform the task. The management of the team is separate from the parent, and it has its set of a team.
The project manager is recruited to conduct the whole project with the help of assigned team. He/She need not to discharge other functional duty while handling the project.
The reaction time for any particular is reduced to a great extent when a single leadership handles the project.

Matrix based organizational structure in project management:

This is a hybrid of above two forms of project management, overlapping project management structure on the hierarchical functional structure (Foster).
If power and authority are considered, then three types of setup come under consideration for matrix setup: (i) Functional matrix – functional managers are given more power than project managers, (ii) Project matrix – project managers are given more power than functional managers, and (iii) Balance matrix – both the managers are given equal powers.
In a sense, it is almost similar to the functional structure as the resources are shared in multiple projects. This resource sharing reduces the redundant staffing issues.
In this structure, the sole focus projects (as in project based), where a formally appointed manager gives his/her whole attention to the project.

Importance of project manager’s role in the organizational leadership:

The project manager with his vision can articulate things well and thrive in the times of change. Thus, he protects the project in every manner possible if any situation in the company goes vulnerable for the project (Taylor).
With the skill of good communication, he keeps everyone in the loop and maintaining a good amount of openness and directness. Thus, no confusion arises between the parent organization and the project. This protects the project members from unnecessary pressure.
The project manager, through his work and not the words, set the stage for team members. He shows them that what matters is action and not the words. This sets the culture that reflects in the work.
An enthusiastic product manager helps the team achieve their goal within a positive environment. Enthusiastic leaders are committed to their goal and responsibilities, thus help the parent organization reach the goal well within the time. 
The manager who is empathetic can put his feet in both – parent organization, and team members – and understand their specific requirements and then deliver or guide accordingly.
The project manager who is competent enough to know what he is doing or what he should be doing will help the leadership understand the need. A technology driven employee can understand the related matter clearly and can act accordingly, thus providing greater benefit to the organization.

Different Leadership approach and when to utilize them

According to leveraging your leadership style (Jackson and Bosse-Smith), below mentioned are leadership styles that can be found within different organizations:

  • I.The pacesetting leader: This kind of leadership expects that the team needs no direction from the senior, and the leader assumes that everyone in the team is excellent and pro-active. This style works only when the team is already skillful and motivated. This style has one demerit that it can crush innovative ideas in the run to reach the goal as soon as possible 

  • II.The authoritative leader: This kind of leader forces the team toward the goal in unison. This style indicates the team to follow the leader. This kind of leadership works best when the team needs new purpose under the changed circumstances. The authoritative leaders help the team bring out their entrepreneur skills and enthusiasm to achieve the goals. This leadership style can't work in the team where team members are more expert than the leader.

  • III.The affiliative leader: This kind of leadership brings bonding between the leader and among the team members. This style is well suited to the situation when the team is going under stress, and they need some emotional support. This builds trust among the team member. This style can't rely on every time because all time pampering of the staffs may lead to mediocre results and directionless achievement. 

  • IV.The coercive leader: This type of leadership focuses on getting done what leader is saying and that too on an immediate basis. This kind of leadership is most effective in situations when any emergency takes place or company is being taken over. This style can also be used to control a team that is problematic. This style can't be used every time because it can kill inventiveness and disperse people on the emotional ground.

  • V.The Democratic leader: This kind of leadership seeks participation from the team. This style takes opinion from the team member and then come up with a common view to complete a task. This kind of leadership is most effective when the leader needs support on his ideas from the team. The democratic leadership styles can't be used when there is an emergency situation or when the team is not informed enough to help the leader in his decision making.

Conflict resolution techniques

Three conflict resolution techniques that project managers can utilize to keep team members productive are mentioned below:

  • I.Accommodate Conflict Management: Under this technique, the areas of agreement are emphasized instead of focusing on areas of difference. This approach uses professional relationship for the success of a project. This requires a clear understanding of the parties that are involved in the conflict. Understanding the source of conflict is more important (Sisko). 

  • II.Reconcile Conflict Management: This approach focuses on the meeting mutual solution that will be satisfactory to both the party, and tries to resolve the conflict temporarily. This technique takes into consideration that there are some conflicts that can never be resolved permanently, thus relies on temporary solutions. This approach calls for a proper understanding of the parties involved.

  • III.Direct Conflict Management: This kind of approach is used during the time of emergency. Under this, only one of the party wins and other losses. When using this approach, the leader takes a stand and applies the authority to resolve the situation. However, if this kind of approach is applied now and then, then it will harm the relationship of project manager and the team in the longer term. This approach should be used only when it required and were the only solution left for the conflict resolution. 

Ethical situations faced by the project managers

Below mentioned are the ethical situations that project managers can face in their role:

  • Lack of Authority:
    There can be situations where responsibility is given to somebody with the required authority to conduct it. This may lead to mischarging to move the project rather than following the established rules and regulations. The only solution would be to provide the right amount of authority to the concerned member while executing any responsibility (Kliem).

  • Limited Time:
    Immense pressure on team members to complete the task in a relatively short period may push them to cut corners. This may degrade the project quality and leads to ethical situations. It will be a prudent decision to give a better time frame for each assigned task.

  • Short-term Project, Long-term Consequences:
    Most of the time managers ignore the impact of their short-term decisions on long-term projects. This might impact the whole project and ultimate result. This situation can be handled by maintaining clear communication about the progress and planning that are being changed or made.

  • Temporary Relationships:
    If relationship among the collaborated teams is not strong, then they will assume that the consequences of their actions don’t matter for them as an individual. This will hamper the whole project. The suggestion will be to build a strong relationship with them.  

  • Role of technology in project management
    There is various project management software that facilitatesthe tasks at hand. It helps handle the task efficiently and effectively by proper planning, managing and scheduling the tasks. Technology allows quick and easy access to view the project development, check current position, and forecast the future associated risks. Then help in adjusting the current project settings to realize the goal on time.

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References

  • Azmal, Mian. Managing Knowledge In Project-Based Organizations: A Cultural Perspective. 2009. Print.

  • Dinesmore, Paul, and Jeannette Cabanis. The AMA Handbook Of Project Management. 3rd ed. Newyork: Amacon Books, 2011. Print.

  • Foster, Philip. The Open Organization: A New Era Of Leadership And Organizational Development. Burlington: Gower Publishing Company, 2015. Print.

  • Heldmen, Kim, and Claudia Baca. PMP Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide. 2nd ed. Canada: Wiley Publishing, 2007. Print.

  • Jackson, John, and Lorrainne Bosse-Smith. Leveraging Your Leadership Style. USA: Abingdone Press, 2007. Print.

  • Kliem, Ralph. Ethics And Project Management. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2012. Print.

  • Schwalbe, Kathy. Information Technology Project Management. 7th ed. USA: Cengage Learning, 2014. Print.

  • Sisko, Aiden. The Ultimate Guide On Developing Conflict Resolution Techniques For Workplae Conflict. Chicago: JNR Publishing Books, 2014. Print.

  • Taylor, James. A Survival Guide For Project Managers. 2nd ed. NewYork: AMACOM, 2015. Print.

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