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Ms-52: Project Management

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Q. What is project management?

Ans. Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge and experience to
achieve specific project objectives according to the project acceptance criteria within agreed parameters.
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Project management has final deliverables that are constrained to a finite timescale and budget.
A key factor that distinguishes project management from just 'management' is that it has this final
deliverable and a finite timespan, unlike management which is an ongoing process. Because of this a
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project professional needs a wide range of skills; often technical skills, and certainly people management
skills and good business awareness.
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve goals and meet success
criteria at a specified time. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project
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goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation,
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created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope,
time, quality and budget. The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and
apply them to meet pre-defined objectives.
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The objective of project management is to produce a complete project which complies with the client's
objectives. In many cases the objective of project management is also to shape or reform the client's brief
to feasibly address the client's objectives. Once the client's objectives are clearly established they should
influence all decisions made by other people involved in the project – for example project managers,
designers, contractors and sub-contractors. Ill-defined or too tightly prescribed project management
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objectives are detrimental to decision making.

A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique product, service or result with a defined
beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or staffing) undertaken
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to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. The
temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are
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repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In

practice, the management of such distinct production approaches requires the development of distinct
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technical skills and management strategies.

In large organisations where hundreds or thousands of individuals are employed, coordinating the
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efforts of various individuals towards the fulfillment of the organization’s goal its, in a sense, the function
of the management. Even the animal world displays coordinated efforts like the ants, honey-bees, etc.
Therefore, management as a function, has existed, all along and has flourished in several human
organizations, like the army, the church, the missionary institutions, the government of a country and so
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on. However, management, as a special discipline of study, has come into the fore with the advent of the
industrial revolution.
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Q. Describe the history of PERT/CPM.

Ans. Basically, CPM (Critical Path Method) and PERT (Programmed Evaluation Review Technique) are
project management techniques, which have been created out of the need of Western industrial and
military establishments to plan, schedule and control complex projects.
CPM/PERT or Network Analysis as the technique is sometimes called, developed along two parallel
streams, one industrial and the other military.
CPM was the discovery of M.R.Walker of E.I.Du Pont de Nemours & Co. and J.E.Kelly of Remington
Rand, circa 1957. The computation was designed for the UNIVAC-I computer. The first test was made in
1958, when CPM was applied to the construction of a new chemical plant. In March 1959, the method was
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Shrichakradhar.com (Ms-52)
applied to a maintenance shut-down at the Du Pont works in Louisville, Kentucky. Unproductive time
was reduced from 125 to 93 hours.
PERT was devised in 1958 for the POLARIS missile program by the Program Evaluation Branch of the
Special Projects office of the U.S.Navy, helped by the Lockheed Missile Systems division and the
Consultant firm of Booz-Allen & Hamilton. The calculations were so arranged so that they could be
carried out on the IBM Naval Ordinance Research Computer (NORC) at Dahlgren, Virginia.
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Planning, Scheduling (or organizing) and Control are considered to be basic Managerial functions, and
CPM/PERT has been rightfully accorded due importance in the literature on Operations Research and
Quantitative Analysis.
Far more than the technical benefits, it was found that PERT/CPM provided a focus around which
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managers could brain-storm and put their ideas together. It proved to be a great communication medium
by which thinkers and planners at one level could communicate their ideas, their doubts and fears to
another level. Most important, it became a useful tool for evaluating the performance of individuals and
teams.
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Essentially, there are six steps which are common to both the techniques. The procedure is listed
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below:
1. Define the Project and all of its significant activities or tasks. The Project (made up of several
tasks) should have only a single start activity and a single finish activity.
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2. Develop the relationships among the activities. Decide which activities must precede and
which must follow others.
3. Draw the "Network" connecting all the activities. Each Activity should have unique event
numbers. Dummy arrows are used where required to avoid giving the same numbering to
two activities.
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4. Assign time and/or cost estimates to each activity

5. Compute the longest time path through the network. This is called the critical path.
6. Use the Network to help plan, schedule, and monitor and control the project.
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The Key Concept used by CPM/PERT is that a small set of activities, which make up the longest path
through the activity network control the entire project. If these "critical" activities could be identified and
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assigned to responsible persons, management resources could be optimally used by concentrating on the
few activities which determine the fate of the entire project.
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Non-critical activities can be replanted, rescheduled and resources for them can be reallocated flexibly,
without affecting the whole project.
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Some activities are serially linked. The second activity can begin only after the first activity is completed.
In certain cases, the activities are concurrent, because they are independent of each other and can start
simultaneously. This is especially the case in organizations which have supervisory resources so that
work can be delegated to various departments which will be responsible for the activities and their
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completion as planned.
When work is delegated like this, the need for constant feedback and co-ordination becomes an important
senior management pre-occupation.
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Project Management is, therefore, concerned with the management of projects, as opposed to
management of regular production and operation systems. If you are new to the field of project
management, you might wonder as to why we need a separate discipline of project management.
Couldn't the plethora of tools, techniques, principles, and concepts of management be used for managing
projects as well? If you have this question, you are on the right track. Obviously, projects existed and
were managed before the discipline of project management carne to be, and in those days, the traditional
tools of management were applied to manage projects as well. One of the major tools used was the
famous "Gantt Chart". However, you know that necessity is the mother of inventions. It so happened that
around the middle of the fifties, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of USA was
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developing the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM). Almost around the same time, the big
chemical giant: DuPont, was engaged in a massive expansion programmer requiring construction of new
chemical plants on a large scale. The managers, in charge of these projects, found the existing approach to
managing projects to be inadequate. The inadequacy stemmed from the complexities of the projects as
well as a certain degree of uncertainties associated with the ICBM project. In order to overcome these
shortcomings, NASA and DuPont independently came up with a new tool of planning and controlling
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projects. NASA called it "Programmed Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)" add DuPont called
their system "Critical Patch Method (CPM)". When their approaches were finally published and came to
be known, it turned out that both the systems of planning and control were basically similar with one key
difference. That difference arose from the fundamental difference in the situations faced by NASA and
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and Appraisal Dupont. Dupont had a vast reservoir of experience of constructing similar, if pot exactly
the same plants, earlier. It was, therefore, possible for the managers in Dupont to estimate fairly
accurately, the time required for performing a given task. However, the same was not true for NASA. No
ballistic missiles existed on earth when NASA undertook the project of developing these missiles.
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Therefore, even the task were not fully known and whenever tasks were fairly well-conceived, it was
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very difficult to estimate the time required to complete the given task. NASA adopted a simple but very
effective tool for overcoming this problem. Instead of trying to get a single estimate for the time required
for completing the given task; NASA adopted a three time estimate framework for every task. NASA
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managers and designers estimated an optimistic time, the most likely time and a pessimistic time. With
certain assumptions about the probability distribution of the time estimates (You will know more details
in the next Section); NASA was able to handle the problem of uncertainties quite elegantly. In a sense, the
new tool of planning and monitoring projects was born and is, today, widely known by the acronym
PERT/CPM. This tool enables the managers to capture complex inter-relationships between different
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tasks in large projects as well as enable them to handle uncertainties. The basic simplicity of these tools
and their contributions to successful project management were soon realized world-wide and, therefore,
the use of these tools spread very fast throughout the world. In our country also, many industries started
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making use of these tools and techniques in the early sixties.

Q. What are the different types of networking?
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Ans. Used for everything from accessing the internet or printing a document to downloading an
attachment from an email, networks are the backbone of business today. They can refer to a small handful
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of devices within a single room to millions of devices spread across the entire globe, and can be defined
based on purpose and/or size.
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We put together this handy reference guide to explain the types of networks in use today, and what
they’re used for.
Types of Networks
1. Personal Area Network (PAN)
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a. The smallest and most basic type of network, a PAN is made up of a wireless modem, a
computer or two, phones, printers, tablets, etc., and revolves around one person in one
building. These types of networks are typically found in small offices or residences, and
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are managed by one person or organization from a single device.

2. Local Area Network (LAN)
a. We’re confident that you’ve heard of these types of networks before – LANs are the most
frequently discussed networks, one of the most common, one of the most original and
one of the simplest types of networks. LANs connect groups of computers and low-
voltage devices together across short distances (within a building or between a group of
two or three buildings in close proximity to each other) to share information and
resources. Enterprises typically manage and maintain LANs.
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b. Using routers, LANs can connect to wide area networks (WANs, explained below) to
rapidly and safely transfer data.
3. Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)
a. Functioning like a LAN, WLANs make use of wireless network technology, such as Wi-
Fi. Typically seen in the same types of applications as LANs, these types of networks
don’t require that devices rely on physical cables to connect to the network.
4. Campus Area Network (CAN)
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a. Larger than LANs, but smaller than metropolitan area networks (MANs, explained
below), these types of networks are typically seen in universities, large K-12 school
districts or small businesses. They can be spread across several buildings that are fairly
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close to each other so users can share resources.
5. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
a. These types of networks are larger than LANs but smaller than WANs – and incorporate
elements from both types of networks. MANs span an entire geographic area (typically a
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town or city, but sometimes a campus). Ownership and maintenance is handled by either
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a single person or company (a local council, a large company, etc.).
6. Wide Area Network (WAN)
a. Slightly more complex than a LAN, a WAN connects computers together across longer
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connected to each other over one large network to communicate even when they’re miles
apart.
b. The Internet is the most basic example of a WAN, connecting all computers together
around the world. Because of a WAN’s vast reach, it is typically owned and maintained
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by multiple administrators or the public.

7. Storage-Area Network (SAN)
a. As a dedicated high-speed network that connects shared pools of storage devices to
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several servers, these types of networks don’t rely on a LAN or WAN. Instead, they
move storage resources away from the network and place them into their own high-
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performance network. SANs can be accessed in the same fashion as a drive attached to a
server. Types of storage-area networks include converged, virtual and unified SANs.
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8. System-Area Network (also known as SAN)

a. This term is fairly new within the past two decades. It is used to explain a relatively local
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network that is designed to provide high-speed connection in server-to-server

applications (cluster environments), storage area networks (called “SANs” as well) and
processor-to-processor applications. The computers connected on a SAN operate as a
single system at very high speeds.
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9. Passive Optical Local Area Network (POLAN)

a. As an alternative to traditional switch-based Ethernet LANs, POLAN technology can be
integrated into structured cabling to overcome concerns about supporting traditional
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Ethernet protocols and network applications such as Poe (Power over Ethernet). A point-
to-multipoint LAN architecture, POLAN uses optical splitters to split an optical signal
from one strand of single mode optical fiber into multiple signals to serve users and
devices.
10. Enterprise Private Network (EPN)
a. These types of networks are built and owned by businesses that want to securely connect
its various locations to share computer resources.
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11. Virtual Private Network (VPN)

a. By extending a private network across the Internet, a VPN lets its users send and receive
data as if their devices were connected to the private network – even if they’re not.
Through a virtual point-to-point connection, users can access a private network remotely.
Q. Describe the theory of network analysis?
Ans. Network analysis (NA) is a set of integrated techniques to depict relations among actors and to
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analyze the social structures that emerge from the recurrence of these relations. The basic assumption is
that better explanations of social phenomena are yielded by analysis of the relations among entities. This
analysis is conducted by collecting relational data organized in matrix form. If actors are depicted as
nodes, and their relations as lines among pairs of nodes, the concept of social network changes from
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being a metaphor to an operative analytical tool which utilizes the mathematical language of graph
theory and of matrix and relational algebra. Although deterministic approaches usually emphasize that
NA enables study of how the social structure of relationships around a person, group, or organization
affects behaviors and attitudes, structurally bounded purposive actions may affect the social structure
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and vice versa. NA can be regarded as a set of techniques with a shared methodological perspective,
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rather than as a new paradigm in the social sciences. NA techniques allow researchers to specify
empirical indicators and to control field hypotheses through the definition and measurement of
traditional catch-all concepts like social structure and cohesion.
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Network analysis is a set of techniques derived from network theory, which has evolved from computer
science to demonstrate the power of social network influences. Using network analysis in domain
analysis can add another layer of methodological triangulation by providing a different way to read and
interpret the same data. The use of network analysis in knowledge organization domain analysis is recent
and is just evolving. The visualization technique involves mapping relationships among entities based on
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the symmetry or asymmetry of their relative proximity. For example, the network map in Figure 4.35 was
developed using Nephi, an open source network visualization platform (http://gephi.github.io/). This
network visualization is based on an author cogitation matrix from research that cites famed Indian
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scientist S.R. Ranganathan. The map appeared in Smiraglia (2013, p. 715). The visualization was
developed using the Force Atlas 2 algorithm in Gephi 0.8.2. The technique involves changing the original
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matrix into a network file, and then using Gephi to enhance the visualization.
Network analysis can also be illustrated in a series of steps: choosing a threshold, applying the threshold
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to a correlation matrix to produce an adjacency matrix, and producing the network from the adjacency
matrix. Like factor analysis, network analysis can begin with a correlation matrix of associations among a
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set of observed variables.

In the first and second step, a threshold is chosen and applied to “binarize” or “dichotomize” the
correlation matrix, creating an adjacency matrix. Correlations with an absolute value above the threshold
are given a “1” and those below are given a “0.” (The binarization process is optional; an alternative,
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although a computationally more complex option, is to construct a weighted network). From the
adjacency matrix, a network can be straightforwardly constructed: each observed variable is represented
as a “node” in the network, and any pair of nodes with a “1” in the adjacency matrix is given an “edge”
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or connection between them. Note that the choice of threshold is a controversial one and could have a
significant effect on the structure of the resultant network.81 The choice of threshold may depend on
several factors: the size of the sample from which the data was drawn, the choice of type I error rate, the
density of the resulting network, and the domain from which the data was drawn. Network metrics
should ideally be applied across a range of thresholds to demonstrate the result is not based on an
arbitrary threshold determination. Fortunately, most network scientists are sensitive to this issue, and
many networks have been observed to have robust community structure across a range of thresholds.
In networks derived from real world data, it is often observed that networks can be partitioned into
groups of nodes that are more interconnected among themselves than with nodes outside those groups.
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Groups of nodes are called “communities” or “modules,” and a network is partitioned into communities
through the operation of community detection algorithms. There are many such algorithms, each with
advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps the most popular kind of community detection algorithm among
network researchers is modularity maximization algorithms. These algorithms operate by searching through
possible partitions of a network to find those partitions with the highest modularity value
(Q). Modularity is a measure designed to quantify community structure. More specifically, it is designed
to measure the quality of a particular partition of a network into modules or groups. Computationally,
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modularity (often referred to as Q) reflects the number of links between nodes within a module minus
what would be expected given a random distribution of links between all nodes regardless of
modules. This value varies from 0 to 1, with a higher value reflecting stronger community structure. It is
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also important to note that this algorithm does not allow for any overlap in its assignment of nodes to
communities, meaning that nodes are placed into only one community. In most cases this is desirable, but
there are also circumstances in which overlapping communities are more appropriate (e.g., social
networks). For example, in a friendship network, it would be expected that certain nodes (i.e., persons)
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cluster into multiple modules (i.e., friend groups), and an accurate community detection algorithm would
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partition the network into overlapping communities.
Q. What is cost control in project management?
Ans. It is the task of overseeing and managing project expenses as well as preparing for potential
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financial risks. This job is typically the project manager's responsibility. Cost control involves not only
managing the budget, but also planning, and preparing for potential risks. Risks can set projects back and
sometimes even require unexpected expenses. Preparation for these setbacks can save your team time
and potentially, money. Cost control is the practice of identifying and reducing business expenses to
increase profits, and it starts with the budgeting process. A business owner compares the company's
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actual financial results with the budgeted expectations, and if actual costs are higher than planned,
management has the information it needs to take action. As an example, a company can obtain bids from
different vendors that provide the same product or service, which can lower costs. Cost control is an
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important factor in maintaining and growing profitability.

Corporate payroll, for example, is often outsourced, because payroll tax laws change constantly, and
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employee turnover requires frequent changes to payroll records. A payroll company can calculate the net
pay and tax withholdings for each worker, which saves the employer time and expense.
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• Cost control is the practice of identifying and reducing business expenses to increase profits,
and it starts with the budgeting process.
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• Cost control is an important factor in maintaining and growing profitability.

• Outsourcing is a common method to control costs because many businesses find it cheaper to
pay a third party to perform a task than to take on the work within the company.
Factoring in Target Net Income
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Controlling costs is one way to plan for a target net income, which is computed using the following
formula:
• Sales - fixed costs - variable costs = target net income
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Assume, for example, that a retail clothing shop wants to earn $10,000 in net income from $100,000 in
sales for the month. To reach the goal, management reviews both fixed and variable costs and attempts to
reduce the expenses. Inventory is a variable cost that can be reduced by finding other suppliers that may
offer more competitive prices.It may take longer to reduce fixed costs, such as a lease payment, because
these costs are usually fixed in a contract. Reaching a target net income is particularly important for
a public company, since investors purchase the issuer’s common stock based on the expectation of
earnings growth over time.
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Cost Control and Variance Analysis at Work

A variance is defined as the difference between budgeted and actual results. Managers use variance
analysis as a tool to identify critical areas that may need change. Every month, a company should
perform variance analysis on each revenue and expense account. Management can address the largest
dollar amount variances first, since those accounts are most likely to have the biggest impact on company
results. If, for example, a toy manufacturer has a $50,000 unfavorable variance in the material expense
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account, the firm should consider obtaining bids from other material suppliers to lower costs and
eliminate the variance moving forward. Some businesses analyze variances and take action on the actual
costs that have the largest percentage difference from budgeted costs.
Q. What are the objectives and importance of material management?
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Ans. Objectives of Materials Management:
Cost is a very important factor and perhaps the most important factor for materials management. But it
will be wrong to presume that this is the only factor that induces a firm to build up materials
management. One of the primary objectives other than the objective of cost control of materials
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management is to ensure as continuous or uninterrupted a supply as possible to production. To achieve
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this objective, the materials management must set up appropriate service levels and re-order points,
consideration of sourcing, planning and contracting of long or intermediate-term supply agreements, an
effective physical distribution network with adequate number of warehouses or distribution points and
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facilities for movement. These objectives have to be achieved by the materials management.
The ultimate object of material management is to ensure supply of proper quality and quantity of all
materials as and where needed in the process of production at a minimum cost. To achieve this objective
storage and inventory controls need be emphasized. The material management must have in its view that
efficiency in handling material; and connected functions are ensured. The management must have the
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objective to provide the organization with a fool-proof management picture which will infuse confidence
in the top, management personnel that the organization is in a position to cut down costs of materials to
the maximum level and stand challenge of the competitive market. To serve the customer as pre-
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determined at the least possible cost integrated materials management concept has emerged. The
customer service objective is better achieved by integrated management through co-ordination. A
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complete harmony among different departments is aimed at to reach the optimum level of materials
management efficiency. A coordinated multipronged attack on all the loop holes o materials—right from
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its source selection up to the stage of its ultimate dispatch to the workshop, is the central theme of
material management.
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So, the objectives of materials management ate, in a nut-shall, to eliminate wastage and secure economy
in all the functions that come within the purview of materials management. The objectives of materials
management as we discussed above, aim at giving integrated view of the management of materials, a
very important item in the total mix of resources. Efficiency, effectiveness and customer’s satisfaction are
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the weapons in the armory of materials management needed to reach the pre-determined goal of the
organization.
The materials management of an organization is obviously p concerned with materials needed for
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production but to say this only is, to simplify the functions of materials management. To manage
materials means a lot of activities — a lot of objectives to realize and achieve the ultimate objective of
materials management—maximum possible utilization of materials to bring down their cost to the
minimum to ensure an enviable position for the organization.
Importance of Materials Management:
Materials management is now a very critical area of management being an integral part of production
management. Various functions involving a number of departments come within the purview of
materials management. The cost of materials has to be brought down to the minimum as it constitutes
over 65 percent of total production cost. So, the Cost factor of materials is the most important and this has
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lent materials management significance and extra importance. Only saving the cost of inventories—that
accounts for 60 per cent of the total cost, may result in the saving of 20 per cent of the total cost of
production. In the economic scenario of the present world every nation is more or less in the face of
competition and to compete in the world market, cost reduction has become an imperative necessity.
Globalization and liberalization policy of the world today has all the more made it compelling for the
manufacturing organizations to handle raw materials in the best possible way to ensure elimination of all
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wastages and minimum cost for raw materials. Materials management can be said to be a union of major
materials activities. Operationally, it utilizes an integrated management approach to planning,
acquisition, conversion, flow and distribution of production materials from the stage of raw materials to
the stage of finished product. To assess correctly the importance of materials management, we should
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have a clear idea of the vast area of functions of materials management Materials management operates
in procurement, inventory management, stores and warehousing in-plant materials handling, production
planning, scheduling and control, traffic and transportation and in surplus and salvage management.
Such being the vast area covered by materials management, its importance does not need much
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elucidation. The activities related to materials management are obviously spread over a number of
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departments but the idea of watertight compartments of these departments is unrealistic. They function
individually with a collective bias—a coordinated and integrated approach underlying the whole
operation. Materials management assumes a special significance and importance having the
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responsibility of pulling the vehicle of materials management—with all the components—enjoined,
combined, integrated and coordinated,
The importance of materials management can also be traced to logistics management concept. Logistics
management is an encompassing combination-of materials management and physical distribution
management activities. A number of similarities exist between these two management areas. In fact, as
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we have said before, with the market pressure intensifying, manufacturing organizations are forced to cut
down costs and here the materials manager steps in to play his role. In this context, the materials
management experts like Dean Amber, claim rightly that efforts for saving a rupee in materials cost is
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almost equal to the efforts made for additional sale of Rs. 10. In India, materials management plays a very
important role because of our shortage economy. “Materials form an important part of the current assets
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in any organization. The Return on Investment (ROI) depends a great deal on the manner of utilization of
materials. The relationship is represented below:
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ROI = Profit/ Sales × Sales/Fixed Assets + Current Assets

Fixed assets constitute capital already sunk and the only scope for improving the return on investment
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lies, therefore, in the efficient management of material which constitutes the bulk of the current assets.
Therefore, in this context, the control of materials assumes great importance—Krishnan & Sundanese.
Many U.S. firms to-day consider procurement in their materials management concept and integrate it in
their day to day operation. The materials management approach to supply management has also been
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accepted widely throughout American business. Responsible estimates indicate that approximately 70
per cent of the major U.S. manufacturing firms currently utilize some operating forms of the materials
management concept.
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In the day-to-day business operation, materials management looks after improved communication, co-
ordination and control of the integrated material activities. Buck-passing possibilities are minimized—as
are the possibilities for inter-departmental squabbles and the organization’s ability to plan efficiently and
to react to problem quickly is improved immensely.
Q. What are the different levels of Project Management?
Ans. Project management is a unique field. What was once thought of as a hermetic profession is now
spreading to every corner of industry. Project management exists in so many industries because the
operative word project really applies to almost anything that achieves a goal or produces a deliverable.
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This can include anything from software development to publishing a blog, or from submitting your
child’s college applications to managing a marketing campaign. They’re all projects of varying lengths
and complexities.
And, as the profession grows, so does the demand for project managers. According to the Project
Management Institute (PMI), there will be a demand for 87.7 million project managers by 2027. That’s a
lot of project managers.
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But project managers are not a monolithic group. They have a wide variety of skills, which include
technical know-how, business acumen and leadership skills. Additionally, within the field of project
management there is a range of project manager titles and roles, which we will explain further.
Different Types of Project Managers
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Across industries, if there’s a venture with a beginning, middle and end that results in a good or service,
there’s a project manager who is overseeing its progress and making sure that it meets a set of budgetary
and scheduling goals. There are roles of a project manager that are more structured, and others that are
not. These are some of the more common industries that have established project manager titles.
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• Construction Project Manager: Requires management knowledge paired with an
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understanding of design and construction process. Construction project managers also plan
construction timelines, manage contractors and track materials.
• Architectural Project Manager: Like a construction project manager (and they often work
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communicates with clients and ensures quality control.
• Insurance Claim Project Manager: Manages and oversees restoration of a client’s property or
belongings after an event, including demolition and construction if necessary. This role
requires a lot of document management and adherence to protocol.
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• Engineering Project Manager: Sees a product or device through its stages of research,
development, design and manufacturing, from concept to finished product. Engineering
project managers also coordinate with various parties to ensure satisfaction upon project
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completion, from stakeholders to suppliers to contractors.

• Software/IT Project Manager: Beyond the normal skills common to project managers, these
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managers typically have a background in software development, computer science,

information technology, management of information systems and other related
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fields. Common IT project management responsibilities include managing sprints, tracking

bugs, and planning hardware rollouts.
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5 Tiers of Project Managers

There are many different project manager titles that can exist in any industry. It can get a bit daunting.
However, there is a hierarchy as people work their way up the professional ladder, which can be
separated into five major categories.
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• Project Coordinator: This entry-level position is administrative. Project coordinators generate

and distribute reports to the project team, stakeholders and others, as well as function as a
general assistant to the management team.
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• Project Scheduler: This position is usually employed for larger projects. Schedulers use project
management software and other tools to input data and update files. It’s a technical job that
requires a great deal of familiarity with computers, but little actual management.
• Assistant Project Manager: The title can be somewhat misleading in that the assistant project
manager doesn’t always directly assist the project manager. However, they are assigned specific
tasks to manage and meet regularly with the project manager to report on progress and issues.
• Project Manager: A project manager runs the project by themselves or leads a management
team. They often delegate tasks to assistants, report to stakeholder, oversee budgets and
schedules, and are responsible for bringing projects to successful conclusions.
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• Senior Project Manager: In larger organizations, this position is like that of a program manager,
in that they are responsible for running multiple projects at the same time and determining which
should take priority.
When Recruiting Project Managers
Of course, there are many more job titles than those listed above, which can make posting a job listing
and filling a position difficult. What does the title really mean? Let’s look at some of the titles that are
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commonly used when searching for someone to join the project management team and discern what they
mean.
Support Positions
• Project Administrator: Entry-level position, working as support for a single project.
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• Project Support Officer: Assists project manager, from administrative to more managerial tasks.
• Project Planner: Supports a project or multiple projects.
• Project Controller: Mostly regulated to industries such as construction and engineering, helps
with administration and other support duties.
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• Document Controller: Responsible for controlling the numbering, filing, sorting and retrieval of
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electronic or hard copy produced by project teams.
These positions are not so different than other supporting roles in project management, and resumes or
job listings can align closely to them.
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Then there are more managerial positions. Some of them have been already.
Here are a few that didn’t fall into that category.
Senior Level Positions
• Project Leader: Just a different title for the project manager, with the same duties and
responsibilities.
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• Program Manager: Manages a program of projects or even several programs that are usually
related.
• Program/Project Director: A senior position, which manages a project or program, and often is
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the head of the department.

• Head of Program/Project: Manages entirety of project organization, a senior, C-level executive.
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• Manager of Project Managers: A senior position, in larger organizations they might be referred
to as VP of project management, responsible for overall direction and management of projects.
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• Chief Project Officer: Leads group and provides organization, prioritization, resource supply,
support and internal consulting.
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• Project Portfolio Manager: Like a program manager, but oversees a larger collection of projects,
programs, sub-portfolios and operations to achieve strategic objectives.
• Project Portfolio Office Executive: Develops and leads a strategically oriented project portfolio
management office.
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• Program Management Office (PMO) Executive: Leads the program management office, with the
objective of greater value from the program.
Project manager positions aren’t always so clear-cut. The lines between them are often fuzzy and many of
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the positions that organizations are looking to fill are more like a hybrid of two or more of the formal
distinctions.
Related: Program Manager vs Project Manager—What’s the Difference?
For example, there might be an IT director, who is also responsible for managing a program and runs the
entire department. The title should correspond with the major responsibilities the person is tasked with,
so a subset of the IT director’s duties is the program management.
Besides hybrid positions, there are many roles that support the project manager that are unique to
industries, organizations or even specific projects. These can dive down into the minutia of the
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management of a project. For example, a position might be established as a stakeholder representative, a

user representative or a customer representative.
The needs of your company and your clients will dictate how you parse the duties of project management
and spread them over a team and organization. This overview of project manager titles should help you
prioritize which project management positions you need to fill at your company.
ProjectManager.com Has Features for Every PM Role
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Now that we’ve parsed the many project management titles, let’s take a moment to show you how they
can do their jobs better with the right project management software. ProjectManager.com is a cloud-based
project management software that can manage a project from initiation to close, and helps every kind of
project manager fulfill their duties.
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Project managers, regardless of their field, plan and schedule projects. ProjectManager.com has online
Gantt charts that facilitate this task. Whether you want to import an MPP, CSV or XLS file, or start with
one of our templates, ProjectManager.com has you covered. With our Gantt you can link dependencies,
set milestones and assign work to team members—planning and scheduling has never been easier.
.
Once the team starts to execute their assigned tasks, the duration bar fills in to show you how much
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progress they’ve made. Plus, you can export your Gantt and share with your stakeholders, so everyone is
aware of the plan’s state.
Managing tasks is one of the prime roles for project managers and their teams, and ProjectManager.com
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has tools that make it easy to assign, track time and keep the team productive. There are multiple project
views, from the aforementioned Gantt to the visual workflow of Kanban boards, which give you
transparency into production. There’s also a calendar and task list view, so you can work how you want
to work.
Project managers need to monitor the progress of the project, and ProjectManager.com has more than one
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way for them to get all the project data they need. Because the software is cloud-based, status updates are
instantly reflected on the easy-to-read dashboard graphs and charts. These provide a high-level view of
progress across six project metrics.
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Q. What are the process involved in project monitoring and controlling?

Ans. Monitoring and Controlling Project Work involves tracking the actual project performance with the
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planned project management activities. It can mainly be looked as a Control function that takes place at
all stages of a project i.e. from Initiation through Closing. For small projects, monitoring and control
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project work is comparatively an easy task. However, as you are aware, Project Management is more
stringently required for large projects where the project manager requires a formal effort to monitor and
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control how the processes are going. He or she will not be personally involved in performing project
work in large projects.
Please note the confusing terms. In the exam, Monitoring and Controlling Project Work may just be
referring to the integration process and may NOT be talking about the entire monitoring and controlling
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process group.
This process of monitoring and controlling project work is extremely important as it can happen that you
are able to complete the project on-time, however, have not been able to meet the desired quality levels.
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Similarly, your project has increased scope, however, have exceeded limits of time and cost. The project
manager must balance the requirements of different knowledge areas to control the project through
Monitor and Control project work. Project Managers create performance measures or use existing
organizational performance measures to identify project performance at regular intervals during the
course of the project. Monitoring and Controlling project work involve monitoring any other
performance measure that the project manager has created or used for this project.
Change Requests: Changes are inevitable. In spite of planning the project to the minutest detail, a project
manager will come across changes during the course of the project. These changes are additions to the
projects. They may also be changes to the existing policies and procedures used on the project.
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Preventive Action: Taking corrective actions is a reactive approach whereas taking preventive actions is a
proactive approach. It means dealing with anticipated or possible deviations from the performance
measurement baseline. Knowing when to take preventive actions requires more experience than a mere
understanding of the project management framework, hence, the process of taking preventive actions is
not as clear as corrective actions. Some of the examples of preventive actions include:
Changing a vendor because their products nearly failed to meet the acceptance criteria
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Cross-skilling the team members on certain specialized tasks to manage to staff and work in case the
specialized staff inadvertently falls ill or misses work
Perform Integrated Change Control will also be applicable to any preventive action. Preventive actions
could change the project management plan, baselines, policies or procedures, charter, contract, or
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statement of work.
Defect Repair: Another word for Defect Repair is “Rework”. When a component of the project does not
produce the required output or does not meet the required specifications, a defect repair may be
requested. A defect repair may change the project management plan, baselines, policies or procedures,
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charter, contract, or statement of work, hence, it has to go through a Perform Integrated Change Control
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Process.
The project management monitoring and controlling starts as soon as a project begins. Monitoring and
controlling project work is the process of tracking, reviewing, and regulating the progress in order to
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meet the performance objectives. It is the fourth process group in Project Management. From the
perspective of Knowledge Management Area, this involves the management tasks, such as tracking,
reviewing, and reporting the progress of a project. Moreover, this process is majorly concerned with:
• Measuring the actual performance against the planned performance
• Assessing performance to determine whether or not any corrective or preventive actions are
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indicated, the status is reported and/or appropriate risk response plans are being executed.
• Maintaining an accurate, timely information base concerned with the project output and its
associated documentation till project completion
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• Providing information to support status reporting, progress measurement and forecasting

• Providing forecasts to update current cost and current schedule information
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• Monitoring implementation of approved changes as they occur

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Guess Paper-II
Q. What is demand forecasting?

Ans. Demand forecasting is a process of predicting the demand for an organization’s products or services
in a specified time period in the future. Demand forecasting is helpful for both new as well as existing
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organizations in the market
For example, a new organization needs to anticipate demand to expand its scale of production. On the
other hand, an existing organization requires demand forecasts to avoid problems, such as
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overproduction and underproduction.
Demand forecasting enables an organization to arrange for the required inputs as per the predicted
demand, without any wastage of materials and time.
Organizations forecast demand in short term or long term depending on their requirements.
.
Short-term forecasting is done for coordinating routine activities, such as scheduling production
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activities, formulating pricing policy, and developing an appropriate sales strategy.
On the contrary, long-term forecasting is performed for planning a new project, expansion, and
upgradation of production plant, etc.
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There are a number of techniques for forecasting demand. Some of the popular techniques of demand
forecasting are survey methods and statistical methods.
Concept of Demand Forecasting: In order to mitigate risks, it is of paramount importance for
organizations to determine the future prospects of their products and services in the market. This
knowledge of the future demand for a product or service in the market is gained through the process of
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demand forecasting.
Demand forecasting can be defined as a process of predicting the future demand for an organization’s
goods or services.
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It is also referred to as sales forecasting as it involves anticipating the future sales figures of an
organization.
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Components of a Demand Forecasting

Let us discuss the basis components of demand forecasting in detail:
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1. Level of forecasting
2. Time period involved
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3. Nature of products
Level of forecasting: Demand forecasting can be done at the firm level, industry level, or economy level.
At the firm level, the demand is forecasted for the products and services of an individual organization in
the future. At the industry level, the collective demand for the products and services of all organizations
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in a particular industry is forecasted. On the other hand, at the economy level, the aggregate demand for
products and services in the economy as a whole is anticipated.
Time period involved: On the basis of the duration, demand is forecasted in the short run and long term,
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which is explained as follows:

• Short-term forecasting: It involves anticipating demand for a period not exceeding one year. It is
focused on the short-term decisions (for example, arranging finance, formulating production
policy, making promotional strategies, etc.) of an organization.
• Long-term forecasting: It involves predicting demand for a period of 5-7 years and may extend
for a period of 10 to 20 years. It is focused on the long-term decisions (for example, deciding the
production capacity, replacing machinery, etc.) of an organization.
Nature of products: Products can be categorized into consumer goods or capital goods on the basis of
their nature. Demand forecasting differs for these two types of products, which is discussed as follows:
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• Consumer goods: The goods that are meant for final consumption by end users are called
consumer goods. These goods have a direct demand. Generally, demand forecasting for these
goods is done while introducing a new product or replacing the existing product with an
improved one.
• Capital goods: These goods are required to produce consumer goods; for example, raw material.
Thus, these goods have a derived demand. The demand forecasting of capital goods depends on
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the demand for consumer goods. For example, prediction of higher demand for consumer goods
would result in the anticipation of higher demand for capital goods too.
Q. Why You Need Demand Forecasting Solutions Using Machine Learning?
Ans. A Gartner survey indicates that demand volatility is the top pain point for business executives —
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irrespective of the industry they are in. It indicates how the demand forecasting has become a critical part
of growth strategies for businesses.
According to the Institute of Business Forecasting and Planning, demand planning refers to the “forecasts
and experience to estimate the demand for various items at various points in the supply chain”. Simply
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put, it enables the organization to plan their inventory better, ensure the availability of products as per
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market need and monitor the difference between actual sales and predicted sales to optimize their
production. The results from a demand forecasting solution define the anticipated customer needs and
are often taken as the starting point for supply planning and optimization, warehousing, price
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forecasting, and shipping. But for an accurate forecast, the organization needs to ensure that its data is
up-to-date across the entire supply chain and take-to-market strategy, at all times.
Now the traditional statistical methods (TSM) have been in use for decades. But it involved having to
manually add and analyses data from across the supply chain, leading to delayed or inaccurate forecasts.
In addition to the manual labor, it was also difficult for organizations with a volatile market to add
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variables and sources into the forecast continually. The prediction would then have to be made right from
scratch, doubling the effort and the time it takes to get actionable data to plan supply chain, inventory
and more. But with an increased market demand volatility today and the need for being consumer-
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friendly, organizations need a more efficient way to make demand forecasts on an ongoing basis. That’s
where demand forecasting solutions fueled by machine learning come in.
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Machine Learning In Demand Forecasting Solutions: Machine learning has been implemented across
different industries in various ways. Its application depends on the availability of data, task complexity
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and what the organization wants to achieve from the demand forecast. Is it building a market for an
upcoming product, predicting the change in sales for an existing product as the season changes or simply
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planning the change in prices — the use case of demand forecasts often vary from one organization to the
other. But the two demand planning solutions and methods that seem to be a common use-case across
different industries, and have proven to help improve supply chain, market capture, profits, and revenue,
include:
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1. Predictive sales analytics: One of the most common applications of machine learning in a demand
forecasting solution is being able to model the future. Predictive analytics allows the organization to
estimate the demand for their products or services, and also understand what will drive the sales and
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how consumer behavior is likely to change under certain conditions like trend alerts or seasonal changes.
A demand forecasting solution using machine learning aggregates your historical and new data from
different sources. This includes data from your ERP (enterprise resource planning system), CRM
(customer relationship management system), POSs (point of sales), customer demand studies, marketing
surveys, social media engagement and more. It then cleanses this data to identify data variables that are
relevant to the organization and can impact its sales. The algorithm uses this cleansed data to build
predictive models to help organizations identify possible take-to-market outcomes and also discover
opportunities. But more importantly, unlike the traditional demand forecasting method, a demand
planning solution that uses machine learning, continually monitors the predictive analytics model. It
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helps the business compare the actuals with the prediction, and improve the forecast accuracy in the
future.
For predictive modelling to work, an organization needs to combine its own data with on-ground
actualities. Right from economic indicators to things like weather changes that can affect customer
preferences and purchase decisions, every little detail needs to be taken into account and fed to the
demand planning solution for the machine learning algorithms to make accurate market predictions.
2. Demand sensing: Demand sensing is another application of machine learning that focuses on
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capturing real-time fluctuations in market demand and consumer purchase behavior. With this demand
planning solutions, organizations are able to optimize their forecasts or predictions better on-the-go to
match anticipated needs. This is a critical demand forecasting method in industries that have a fast-
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changing market. Take, for instance, the fashion industry. What might be trending in the market today,
could completely change within a few days simply because a celebrity was seen donning a different
trend. In demand sensing, the data is aggregated from point-of-sale systems and warehouses and is
backed by marketing data that highlights customer engagement, trending content and more. Basically, a
.
demand sensing solution captures demand trends on a short term basis and the factors that cause
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fluctuations in it, enabling the organization to build a data-driven supply chain. Simply put, in a
competitive market, it is becoming increasingly important for organizations to understand their target
consumers and needs better. But to be able to do so, they need the technology to analyze their historical
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data and the existing market trends and use the actionable to predict future demand. This is where
implementing the right demand planning solution comes into play.
Implementing the Right Demand Forecasting Solution: Not every business out there requires
implementing a costly demand forecasting solution that is enabled by machine learning. But if your
market is known to be highly volatile or has absolutely no historical data and requires you to look into a
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number of variables, a demand planning solution is exactly what you need. Some of the industries and
scenarios in which demand forecasting solutions using machine learning have proven to be successful
include new product introduction, products with a short life cycle, weather-sensitive products, and
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similar. It all comes down to understanding what demand forecasting is, its importance for your business
growth, its possible impact on the bottom-line, the resources available for implementing a machine
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learning solution and then, choosing the right demand planning solution to cater to your existing as well
as changing needs.
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Q. What is the importance of material handling equipment?

Ans. Material handling is an integral part of the manufacturing industry. The protection, movement,
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control of materials, and end products throughout the process of manufacturing, disposal, distribution,
warehousing, and storage comes under material handling. That is how crucial material handling is to any
industry. Everything from delivering the raw materials to the end product out of the factory is dependent
on the material handling equipment. It incorporates several types of machinery that are automated, semi-
hr
automated, and manual that supports the network of supply. Here are some essential functions of this
equipment in history.
1. Applications of Material handling: Material handling helps many other processes in the industry. This
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includes product planning, flow and process management, resource allocation, forecasting, customer
delivery, control and management of inventories, and after-sales services and support. Proper planning
of material handling results in shortening the delivery time, lower overall costs of manufacturing,
improve customer service and reduce inventory. Distribution and transportation are other significant
areas where changes affect.
2. Material handling Functions: For the primary function is to select the safest and efficient material
handling equipment like conveyor rollers which help to be delivered on time to fulfil the needs. It also
focuses on bringing down the overall cost on and do plant layout assisting for production machinery.
Material handling costs need elimination. Good material handling functions are:
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(a) To speed up the movement of equipment, assist with mechanical aids, and eliminate manual
labor.
(b) Reduce the transport involved in the production of a material.
(c) To move the maximum number of pieces as possible in one unit. Done by using principles of
cartelization, unit load, or centralization.
(d) Regular check-up, maintenance, and repair of material handling equipment.
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(e) Reduce the distance that the material has to be transported using the shortest route possible.
(f) Optimum use of gravity for movement of materials wherever it is possible.
(g) To minimize duplicate handling and backtracking of materials by changing the production
sequence.
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(h) New packages, drums, and containers are needed. It is used to reduce the cost as well as to
prevent damage to any damage to the product.
a. arrange the process so that the distance the product needs to move is less without
disturbing the line of production.
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3. Principles used in material handling: In material handling, all the equipment that is semi-automatic,
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automatic, and manual is required to be a single unified system in the facility. Here are the principles
followed in this process.
• Unit Load: It is easier to move several items as a single unit. It requires very little effort and labor
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because of being one unit.
• Planning: A team approach is expected in planning. It includes suppliers, consultants, finance,
engineering, management, and operations. Defining the needs, supporting technologies,
proposed systems, strategic performance, and design outset.
• Work: Material handling is for simplifying, shortening, eliminating, reducing, combining, etc., of
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several processes for maximizing productivity. For example, the technology of gravity assists in
the movement of material and thus increasing productivity.
• Standardization: Standardization of material handling methods is a need of the hour. It can help
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all the equipment and controls to perform various tasks than doing a specific one.
• Space Utilization: Keep the areas organized and clutter-free for the use of storage space within
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the facility.
• System: Digitalizing the whole process from receiving, storage, inspection, assembly, production,
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packaging, shipping, transportation, and handling will help for smooth processing.
• Automation: Deploying automated material handling technology is important for efficiency,
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predictability, response, and consistency.

• Environment: Reusability and recyclability should be a top concern when energy usage matters.
Environmental impact is crucial while handling materials.
Q. What is material requirement planning system?
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Ans. Material requirements planning (MRP) is a computer-based inventory management system

designed to improve productivity for businesses. Companies use material requirements-
planning systems to estimate quantities of raw materials and schedule their deliveries. MRP is designed
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to answer three questions: What is needed? How much is needed? When is it needed?" MRP works
backward from a production plan for finished goods, which is converted into a list of requirements for
the subassemblies, component parts, and raw materials that are needed to produce the final product
within the established schedule. By parsing raw data—like bills of lading and shelf life of stored
materials—this technology provides meaningful information to managers about their need for labor and
supplies, which can help companies improve their production efficiency.
Material requirements planning was the earliest of the integrated information technology (IT) systems
that aimed to improve productivity for businesses by using computers and software technology. The first
MRP systems of inventory management evolved in the 1940s and 1950s. They used mainframe computers
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to extrapolate information from a bill of materials for a specific finished product into a production and
purchasing plan. Soon, MRP systems expanded to include information feedback loops so that production
managers could change and update the system inputs as needed. The next generation of MRP,
manufacturing resources planning (MRP II), also incorporated marketing, finance, accounting,
engineering, and human resources aspects into the planning process. A related concept that expands on
MRP is enterprise resources planning (ERP), which uses computer technology to link the various
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functional areas across an entire business enterprise. As data analysis and technology became more
sophisticated, more comprehensive systems were developed to integrate MRP with other aspects of the
manufacturing process.
• Material requirements planning (MRP) is the earliest computer-based inventory management
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system.
• Businesses use MRP to improve their productivity.
• MRP works backward from a production plan for finished goods to develop inventory
requirements for components and raw materials.
.
A critical input for material requirements planning is a bill of materials (BOM)—an extensive list of raw
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materials, components, and assemblies required to construct, manufacture or repair a product or service.
BOM specifies the relationship between the end product (independent demand) and the components
(dependent demand). Independent demand originates outside the plant or production system, and
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dependent demand refers to components. Companies need to manage the types and quantities of
materials they purchase strategically; plan which products to manufacture and in what quantities; and
ensure that they are able to meet current and future customer demand—all at the lowest possible cost.
MRP helps companies maintain low inventory levels. Making a bad decision in any area of the
production cycle will cause the company to lose money. By maintaining appropriate levels of inventory,
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manufacturers can better align their production with rising and falling demand.
Types of Data Considered by MRP
The data that must be considered in an MRP scheme include:
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• Name of the final product that's being created. This is sometimes called independent demand or
Level "0" on BOM.
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• What and when info. How much quantity is required to meet demand? When is it needed?
• The shelf life of stored materials.
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• Inventory status records. Records of net materials available for use that are already in stock (on
hand) and materials on order from suppliers.
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• Bills of materials. Details of the materials, components, and sub-assemblies required to make each
product.
• Planning data. This includes all the restraints and directions to produce such items as routing,
labor and machine standards, quality and testing standards, lot sizing techniques, and other
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inputs.
Q. What are the material used for construction?
Ans. Building material is any material used for construction purpose such as materials for house
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building. Wood, cement, aggregates, metals, bricks, concrete, clay are the most common type of building
material used in construction. The choice of these are based on their cost effectiveness for building
projects. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, sand, wood and rocks, even twigs and leaves
have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made
products are in use, some more and some less synthetic. The manufacture of building materials is an
established industry in many countries and the use of these materials is typically segmented into specific
specialty trades, such as carpentry, plumbing, roofing and insulation work. This reference deals with
habitats and structures including homes.
Types of Building Materials Used in Construction
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1. Natural Construction Materials: Construction materials can be generally categorized into two sources,
natural and synthetic. Natural materials are those that are unprocessed or minimally processed by
industry, such as lumber or glass. Synthetic materials are made in industrial settings after much human
manipulations, such as plastics and petroleum based paints. Both have their uses. Mud, stone, and
fibrous plants are the most basic materials, aside from tents made of flexible materials such as cloth or
skins. People all over the world have used these three materials together to create homes to suit their local
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weather conditions. In general stone and/or brush are used as basic structural components in these
buildings, while mud is used to fill in the space between, acting as a type of concrete and insulation. A
basic example is wattle and daub mostly used as permanent housing in tropical countries or as summer
structures by ancient northern peoples.
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2. Fabric: The tent used to be the home of choice among nomadic groups the world over. Two well-
known types include the conical teepee and the circular yurt. It has been revived as a major construction
technique with the development of tensile architecture and synthetic fabrics. Modern buildings can be
made of flexible material such as fabric membranes, and supported by a system of steel cables or internal
.
(air pressure.)
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3. Mud and clay: The amount of each material used leads to different styles of buildings. The deciding
factor is usually connected with the quality of the soil being used. Larger amounts of clay usually mean
using the cob/adobe style, while low clay soil is usually associated with sod building. The other main
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ingredients include more or less sand/gravel and straw/grasses. Rammed earth is both an old and newer
take on creating walls, once made by compacting clay soils between planks by hand, now forms and
mechanical pneumatic compressors are used. Soil and especially clay is good thermal mass; it is very
good at keeping temperatures at a constant level. Homes built with earth tend to be naturally cool in the
summer heat and warm in cold weather. Clay holds heat or cold, releasing it over a period of time like
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stone. Earthen walls change temperature slowly, so artificially raising or lowering the temperature can
use more resources than in say a wood built house, but the heat/coolness stays longer. Peoples building
with mostly dirt and clay, such as cob, sod, and adobe, resulted in homes that have been built for
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centuries in western and northern Europe as well as the rest of the world, and continue to be built,
though on a smaller scale. Some of these buildings have remained habitable for hundreds of years.
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4. Rock: Rock structures have existed for as long as history can recall. It is the longest lasting building
material available, and is usually readily available. There are many types of rock throughout the world all
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with differing attributes that make them better or worse for particular uses. Rock is a very dense material
so it gives a lot of protection too, its main draw-back as a material is its weight and awkwardness. Its
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energy density is also considered a big draw-back, as stone is hard to keep warm without using large
amounts of heating resources. Dry-stone walls have been built for as long as humans have put one stone
on top of another. Eventually different forms of mortar were used to hold the stones together, cement
being the most commonplace now. The granite-strewn uplands of Dartmoor National Park, United
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Kingdom, for example, provided ample resources for early settlers. Circular huts were constructed from
loose granite rocks throughout the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, and the remains of an estimated 5,000
can still be seen today. Granite continued to be used throughout the Medieval period (see Dartmoor
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longhouse) and into modern times. Slate is another stone type, commonly used as roofing material in the
United Kingdom and other parts of the world where it is found. Mostly stone buildings can be seen in
most major cities, some civilizations built entirely with stone such as the Pyramids in Egypt, the Aztec
pyramids and the remains of the Inca civilization.
5. Thatch: Thatch is one of the oldest of materials known; grass is a good insulator and easily harvested.
Many African tribes have lived in homes made completely of grasses year round. In Europe, thatch roofs
on homes were once prevalent but the material fell out of favor as industrialization and improved
transport increased the availability of other materials. Today, though, the practice is undergoing a
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revival. In the Netherlands, for instance, many of new builds too have thatched roofs with special ridge
tiles on top.
6. Brush: Brush structures are built entirely from plant parts and are generally found in tropical and
subtropical areas, such as rainforests, where very large leaves can be used in the building. Native
Americans often built brush structures for resting and living in, too. These are built mostly with branches,
twigs and leaves, and bark, similar to a beaver’s lodge. These were variously named wickiups, lean-tos,
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and so forth.
7. Ice: Ice was used by the Inuit for igloos, but has also been used for ice hotels as a tourist attraction in
northern areas that might not otherwise see many winter tourists.
8. Wood: Wood is a product of trees, and sometimes other fibrous plants, used for construction purposes
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when cut or pressed into lumber and timber, such as boards, planks and similar materials. It is a generic
building material and is used in building just about any type of structure in most climates. Wood can be
very flexible under loads, keeping strength while bending, and is incredibly strong when compressed
vertically. There are many differing qualities to the different types of wood, even among same tree
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species. This means specific species are better for various uses than others. And growing conditions are
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important for deciding quality. Historically, wood for building large structures was used in its
unprocessed form as logs. The trees were just cut to the needed length, sometimes stripped of bark, and
then notched or lashed into place. In earlier times, and in some parts of the world, many country homes
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or communities had a personal wood-lot from which the family or community would grow and harvest
trees to build with. These lots would be tended to like a garden. With the invention of mechanizing saws
came the mass production of dimensional lumber. This made buildings quicker to put up and more
uniform. Thus the modern western style home was made.
9. Brick and Block: A brick is a block made of kiln-fired material, usually clay or shale, but also may be of
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lower quality mud, etc. Clay bricks are formed in a molding (the soft mud method), or in commercial
manufacture more frequently by extruding clay through a die and then wire-cutting them to the proper
size (the stiff mud process). Bricks were widely used as a construction material in the 1700, 1800 and
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1900s. This was probably due to the fact that it was much more flame retardant than wood in the ever
crowding cities, and fairly cheap to produce. Another type of block replaced clay bricks in the late 20th
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century. It was the Cinder block. Made mostly with concrete.

An important low-cost material in developing countries is the Sand Crete block, which is weaker but
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cheaper than fired clay bricks.

10. Concrete: Concrete is a composite building material made from the combination of aggregate
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(composite) and a binder such as cement. The most common form of concrete is Portland cement
concrete, which consists of mineral aggregate (generally gravel and sand), Portland cement and water.
After mixing, the cement hydrates and eventually hardens into a stone-like material. When used in the
generic sense, this is the material referred to by the term concrete. For a concrete construction of any size,
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as concrete has a rather low tensile strength, it is generally strengthened using steel rods or bars (known
as rebar). This strengthened concrete is then referred to as reinforced concrete. In order to minimize any
air bubbles that would weaken the structure, a vibrator is used to eliminate any air that has been
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entrained when the liquid concrete mix is poured around the ironwork. Concrete has been the
predominant material in this modern age due to its longevity, formability, and ease of transport.
11. Metal: Metal is used as structural framework for larger buildings such as skyscrapers, or as an
external surface covering. There are many types of metals used for building. Steel is a metal alloy whose
major component is iron, and is the usual choice for metal structural construction. It is strong, flexible,
and if refined well and/or treated lasts a long time. Corrosion is metal’s prime enemy when it comes to
longevity. The lower density and better corrosion resistance of aluminum alloys and tin sometimes
overcome their greater cost. Brass was more common in the past, but is usually restricted to specific uses
or specialty items today. Metal figures quite prominently in prefabricated structures such as the Quonset
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hut, and can be seen used in most cosmopolitan cities. It requires a great deal of human labor to produce
metal, especially in the large amounts needed for the building industries. Other metals used include
titanium, chrome, and gold, silver. Titanium can be used for structural purposes, but it is much more
expensive than steel. Chrome, gold, and silver are used as decoration, because these materials are
expensive and lack structural qualities such as tensile strength or hardness.
12. Glass: Clear windows have been used since the invention of glass to cover small openings in a
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building. They provided humans with the ability to both let light into rooms while at the same time
keeping inclement weather outside. Glass is generally made from mixtures of sand and silicates, and is
very brittle. Modern glass “curtain walls” can be used to cover the entire facade of a building. Glass can
also be used to span over a wide roof structure in a “space frame”.
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13. Ceramics: Ceramics are such things as tiles, fixtures, etc. Ceramics are mostly used as fixtures or
coverings in buildings. Ceramic floors, walls, counter-tops, even ceilings. Many countries use ceramic
roofing tiles to cover many buildings. Ceramics used to be just a specialized form of clay-pottery firing in
kilns, but it has evolved into more technical areas.
.
14. Plastic: Plastic pipes penetrating a concrete floor in a Canadian high-rise apartment building The term
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plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic condensation or polymerization products
that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or fibers. Their name is derived from the fact that in
their semi-liquid state they are malleable, or have the property of plasticity. Plastics vary immensely in
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heat tolerance, hardness, and resiliency. Combined with this adaptability, the general uniformity of
composition and lightness of plastics ensures their use in almost all industrial applications today
15. Foam: Foamed plastic sheet to be used as backing for firestop mortar at CIBC bank in Toronto. More
recently synthetic polystyrene or polyurethane foam has been used on a limited scale. It is light weight,
easily shaped and an excellent insulator. It is usually used as part of a structural insulated panel where
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the foam is sandwiched between wood and cement.

16. Cement composites: Cement bonded composites are an important class of construction material.
These products are made of hydrated cement paste that binds wood or alike particles or fibers to make
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precast building components. Various fibrous materials including paper and fiberglass have been used as
binders. Wood and natural fibers are composed of various soluble organic compounds like
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carbohydrates, glycosides and phenolic. These compounds are known to retard cement setting. Therefore,
before using a wood in making cement boned composites, its compatibility with cement is assessed.
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Wood-cement compatibility is the ratio of a parameter related to the property of a wood-cement

composite to that of a neat cement paste. The compatibility is often expressed as a percentage value. To
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determine wood-cement compatibility, methods based on different properties are used, such as,
hydration characteristics, strength, interfacial bond and morphology. Various methods are used by
researchers such as the measurement of hydration characteristics of a cement-aggregate mix; the
comparison of the mechanical properties of cement-aggregate mixes and the visual assessment of
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microstructural properties of the wood-cement mixes. It has been found that the hydration test by
measuring the change in hydration temperature with time is the most convenient method. Recently,
Karade et al. have reviewed these methods of compatibility assessment and suggested a method based on
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the ‘maturity concept’ i.e. taking in consideration both time and temperature of cement hydration
reaction.
17. Building Materials in Modern Industry: Modern building is a multibillion dollar industry, and the
production and harvesting of raw materials for building purposes is on a worldwide scale. Often being a
primary governmental and trade key point between nations. Environmental concerns are also becoming a
major world topic concerning the availability and sustainability of certain materials, and the extraction of
such large quantities needed for the human habitat.
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18. Virtual Building Materials: Certain materials like photographs, images, text may be considered
virtual. While, they usually exist on a substrate of natural material themselves, they acquire a different
quality of salience to natural materials through the process of representation.
19. Building Products: When we talk about building products we refer to the ready-made particles that
are fitted in different architectural hardware and decorative hardware parts of a building. The list of
building products exclusively exclude the materials, which are used to construct the building architecture
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and supporting fixtures like windows, doors, cabinets, etc. Building products do not make any part of a
building rather they support and make them working.
Q. Explain the purpose of a Commissioning Plan.
Ans. The general purpose of a commissioning plan is to give direction for the entire construction process.
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It basically acts as a road map for entire construction team. It lays out roles and responsibilities of
individuals and teams, includes lines of communication and reporting, provides a resolution process for
issues, and provides overall coordination.
Included in a commissioning plan are:
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• General Building Information. This section of the commissioning plan lays out the basic
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information detailing the project, including the project name, address, building type, building
description, owner agency, and scheduled completion date.
• The Commissioning Scope. This section of the plan will document the official equipment checks
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for the building project. These systems will need to be commissioned in any general construction
project: HVAC system, electrical system, and any other systems and equipment.
• Commissioning Team Information. The plan will include documentation of every person and
company involved in the construction process. Information includes: the owner, project manager,
commissioning provider, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, general contractor, etc.
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• Project Schedule. This section includes the entire project schedule, from initial design to the final
commissioning report.
• Roles and Responsibilities. This section of the plan will lay out each of the roles of the teams and
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their descriptions. This will include every role listed in the Team Information section, followed by
a detailed description of each team’s role and how that role in the construction project.
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• General Management Plan and Protocols. Every project needs specified protocols for handling
various situations, because protocols ensure the project runs more smoothly. For example, this
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section of the commissioning plan will include the protocol for requesting information (RFI) or
for requesting formal documentation during the construction process.
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The Commissioning Process

1. The initial scope meeting. All members of the design, construction, and operations teams will
come together to agree upon the scope of work required, tasks, schedules, and responsibilities for
the implementation of the commissioning plan.
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2. Finalize the plan. The agent will finalize the commissioning plan draft using the information
gathered from the scope meeting. The timeline is also fine-tuned in this step as the construction
progresses.
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3. Design intent documentation. All design requirements for the building system must be
documented to establish a baseline of performance expectations. These expectations will then need
to align with the actual performance of the systems once they’re actually installed.
4. Submittals. The commissioning agent will be provided with the equipment and system submittals
by the general contractor. The submittal data includes the installation and startup procedures,
performance data, temperature control drawings, and more.
5. Site observation. The official commissioning agent needs to make regular site visits to witness
equipment and system installations to ensure everything is running according to the plan.
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6. Parafunctional checklists and procedures. Initial inspection checklists are developed and filled out
for all mechanical equipment being commissioned. This is to ensure the systems are complete and
operating.
7. Execution of testing procedures. At this step, the commissioning agent will schedule functional
tests through the general contractor and subcontractors. When it’s time to run performance tests,
the commissioning agent will need to witness and record these test outcomes.
8. Short-term diagnostic monitoring. For a two-to-three week period, the commissioner will monitor
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diagnostic tests to ensure all systems are performing under natural occupancy.
9. Operations manuals and training. Operation and maintenance manuals are prepared by the
contractors and are then used to train the owner personnel and occupants if necessary.
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10. Warranty period. The building’s mechanical systems may experience variations in performance
during different seasons. Therefore, they may be required additional testing during peak heating
and cooling seasons. If any issues arise, the general contractor’s warranty team will troubleshoot
during the warranty period.
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11. Commissioning report. The final commissioning report will summarize all tasks, findings, and
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include any documentation from the commissioning process.
The objective of the commissioning process in a new building project is to ensure all building
systems perform optimally, according to their design intent and the building owner’s requirements.
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Laying out a project’s plan is the necessary step to help make for a seamless construction process.
Q. What is cybernetics theory?
Ans. There are many different definitions of Cybernetics and many individuals who have influenced the
direction of Cybernetics. Cybernetics takes as its domain the discovery or design and application of
principles of regulation and communication. Cybernetics treats ways of behaving and not things.
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Cybernetics does not ask "what is this thing?" but "what does it do?" and "what can it do?" However,
questions may also be posed concerning "how it does what it does" which is reflected in higher orders of
cybernetics. Because numerous systems in the living, technological and social world may be understood
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in this way, Cybernetics is a combination of many traditional disciplines. The concepts which
Cyberneticists develop thus form a met disciplinary language through which we may better understand
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and modify complex systems.

Deriving from the Greek word for steersman (kybernetes), Cybernetics was first introduced by the
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mathematician Wiener, as the science of communication and control in the animal and the machine (to
which we now might add: in society and in individual human beings). It grew out of Shannon's
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information theory, which was designed to optimize the transfer of information through communication
channels (e.g. telephone lines), and the feedback concept used in engineering control systems. A more
philosophical definition, suggested in 1958 by Louis Couffignal, one of the pioneers of Cybernetics in the
1930s, considers Cybernetics as "the art of assuring efficiency of action". Cybernetics in General Systems
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Theory is defined as the study of control within a system, typically using combinations of feedback loops.
This can be within machines or living structures. First order Cybernetics relates to closed systems, second
order includes the observer perspective and third order looks to how these co evolve.
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Cybernetics and systems theory study basically the same problem, that of organization independent of
the substrate in which it is embodied. Insofar as it is meaningful to make a distinction between the two
approaches, we might say that systems theory has focused more on the structure of systems and their
models, whereas Cybernetics has focused on how systems function, that is to say how they control their
actions, how they communicate with other systems or with their own components. Since structure and
function of a system cannot be understood in separation, it is clear that systems theory and Cybernetics
should be viewed as two facets of a single approach.
Cybernetics Contributions: The early contributions of Cybernetics were mainly technological, and gave
rise to communication technology, feedback control devices, automation of production processes and
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computers. Another tradition, which emerged from human and social concerns, emphasizes
epistemology, how we come to know, and explores theories of self-reference to understand such
phenomena as identity, autonomy, and purpose. Some Cyberneticists seek to create a more humane
world, while others seek merely to understand how people and their environment have co-evolved. Some
Cyberneticists are interested in systems as we observe them, others in systems that do the observing.
Some try to develop methods for modelling the relationships among measurable variables. Others seek to
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understand the dialogue that occurs between models or theories and social systems. Early efforts sought
to define and apply principles by which systems may be controlled. More recently, Cyberneticists try to
understand how systems describe themselves, control themselves, and organize themselves. Despite its
short history, Cybernetics has developed a concern with a wide range of processes involving people as
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active organizers, as autonomous, and as sharing communicators, responsible individuals. Interest
moved soon to numerous sciences, applying Cybernetics to processes of cognition, to such practical
pursuits such as psychiatry, family therapy, the development of information and decision systems,
government, management, and to efforts to understand complex forms of social organization including
.
communication and computer networks.
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Pillars of Cybernetics: Cybernetics theories tend to rest on four basic pillars: circularity, variety, process
and observation. Circularity occurs in its earliest theories of circular causation or feedback, later in
theories of recursion and of iteration in computing and now involving self-reference in cognitive
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organization and in autonomous systems of production. This circular form enables Cybernetics to explain
systems from within, making no recourse to higher principles or a priori purposes, expressing no
preferences for hierarchy. Variety is fundamental to its communication, information and control theories
and emphasizes multiplicity, alternatives, differences, choices, networks, and intelligence rather than
force and singular necessity. Almost all Cybernetic theories involve process and change, from its notion
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of information, as the difference between two states of uncertainty, to theories of adaptation, evolution
and growth processes. A feature of Cybernetics is that it explains such processes in terms of the
organization of the system manifesting it, e.g., the circular causality of feedback loops is taken to account
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for processes of regulation and a system's effort to maintain equilibrium or to reach a goal. Observation
including decision making is the process underlying Cybernetic theories of information processing and
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computing. By extending theories of self-reference to processes of observation including cognition and

other manifestations of intelligence, Cybernetics has been applied to itself and is developing an
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epistemology of systems involving their observers (second-order Cybernetics) qualitatively unlike the
earlier interest in the ontology of systems which are observed from the outside (first-order cybernetics).
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Focus: While as a meta-theory, the principles and ideas of Cybernetics and Systems Science are intended
to be applicable to anything, the "interesting" objects of study that Cybernetics and Systems Science tends
to focus on are complex systems such as organisms, ecologies, minds, societies, and machines.
Cybernetics and Systems Science regards these systems as complex, multi-dimensional networks of
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information systems. Cybernetics presumes that there are underlying laws and principles which can be
used to unify the understanding of such seemingly disparate types of systems. The characteristics of these
systems directly affect the nature of cybernetic theory, resulting in serious challenges to traditional
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methodology. Some of these characteristics are complexity, mutuality, complementarity, evaluability,

constructively and reflexivity (for additional information consult the appendix). The domain of
computing applications has grown so rapidly that labelling anything that uses a computer as "cybernetic"
is more obscuring than enlightening. Therefore we would limit the label "cybernetic technology" to those
information processing and transmitting tools that somehow increase the general purpose "intelligence"
of the user, that is to say the control the user has over information and communication.
The systemic and the analytic approaches are more complementary than opposed, yet neither one is
reducible to the other. The analytic approach seeks to reduce a system to its basic elements in order to
study in detail and understand the types of interaction that exist between them. By modifying one
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variable at a time, it tries to conclude general laws that will enable one to predict the properties of a
system under very different conditions. To make this forecast possible, the laws of the additivity of
elementary properties must be invoked. This is the case in homogeneous systems, those composed of
analogous elements and having weak interactions among them. Here the laws of statistics readily apply,
enabling one to understand the behavior of the multitude of disorganized complexity. The laws of the
additivity of elementary properties do not apply in very complex systems composed of a large diversity
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of elements linked together by strong interactions. These systems must be approached by methods such
as those which the systemic approach groups together. The purpose of the new methods is to consider a
system in its complexity, its totality, and its own dynamics. Through simulation one can "animate" a
system and observe in real time the effects of the different kinds of relations among its elements. The
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study of this behavior leads in time to the determination of rules that can modify the system or design
other systems.
Q. Why is teamwork important in projects?
.
Ans. Great teamwork in project management achieves three very important goals:
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• Projects are completed on time and in full
• Individual team members feel more satisfied with their roles which gives them extra motivation
to perform
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• A well-oiled team contributes to a healthy work environment.
And when you combine all three, you get a recipe for long-term success. A great team is especially
important if you haven’t had a lot of formal project management education, they can help you to work
through the process and bring home a successful project.
When you implement some of the project management teamwork practices we’ll outline below, you’ll
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notice that:
• You’ll be able to take more risks that lead to positive outcomes. When you can rely on your
team to communicate and work together effectively, mitigating risks becomes a piece of cake.
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• Conflicts? What conflicts? Project management for small teams and big teams alike means you’ll
be able to resolve conflicts to everyone’s satisfaction more often. In fact, you’ll also notice that
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conflicts happen less often because…

• It improves trust. If your team can exchange their opinions honestly, and if you encourage them
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to rely on each other to succeed, they’ll start trusting each other. And just like a family, they’ll
know that they need to compromise to get along and finish the project successfully.
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• Teamwork in project management leads to increased efficiency and productivity. Everyone’s

putting their strengths forward, holding themselves accountable, and they’re not afraid to ask for
help since they respect one another. You’ll notice less friction and more can-do attitudes all
around.
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• As the team works together, they’ll be more open to giving feedback that ultimately leads
to improvement. This is especially important if you work on projects regularly.
• Finally, teamwork in project management doesn’t negate everyone’s individual strengths and
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needs. You’ll be giving everyone a chance to shine and you’ll be allowing them to develop their
own skills and grow their careers.
The first thing to understand is that you’re working with a diverse group of people. Everyone’s coming
from a different perspective, and they all believe they have the project’s best interests at heart. What can
seem like a bad course of action from a designer’s perspective can seem like the best possible thing to a
marketer. And as a leader, you need to know how to help them work together, instead of working against
one another. In this case, honesty really is the best policy. For example, a good leader would find time for
the two team members to sit down and talk out their disagreements. Conversely, you could focus on
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meeting the deadline, skip that conversation and say: “We’ll do it this way”. However, that doesn’t help
the two team members communicate and collaborate. Chances are, they’ll be sniping at each other.
Another way of facilitating teamwork can be found in scheduling and delegating tasks. When no one’s
100% sure what they should be doing, the lines get blurred. Team members constantly butt heads and try
to veto another team member’s decision. Good project managers know that the best way to help their
team work together is by delegating tasks and responsibilities clearly. For example, if your team has to
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create an app and you have two front-end developers, you should make the tasks and responsibilities
very clear. Mary should know that she has to create the wireframes, and Mark has to know that defining
interaction models is his responsibility. This way, they can’t shift the blame. Instead, they’ll hold
themselves accountable and the entire team can keep doing their best work. This is why teamwork in
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project management relies on your leadership skills. And while it can take some time to get to a place
where you say: “I’m an excellent leader,” you can start with a few simple tricks that will help you lead by
example and show your people how to collaborate effectively. In the first stage, your priority should be
helping teammates trust one another.
.
If you’re dealing with a team that hasn’t worked together before, you can start with the tried and true ice-
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breaking method “Hello, my name is…”
Help your team members find similarities by inviting them to share what:
• They like working on the most
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• Their interests are (both at work and outside of work)
• They find challenging at their job
• Inspires them.
If you have a bit more time for the team to get acquainted and connect, you can even try a kickoff ice
breaker game like “Tell me something good” or simply schedule a happy hour.
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Teamwork can be best defined as “the process of working collaboratively with a group in order to
achieve a goal.” It is about gathering together a group of individuals from different backgrounds in hopes
that their collective talents, skills, and experiences will provide a more efficient and successful outcome.
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A crucial aspect of any workplace, not only does successful teamwork benefit the group as a whole, but it
can also enhance personal development for the individuals involved. Essential attributes of teamwork
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such as communication, commitment, providing support, and sharing ideas and responsibility are
exercised and reinforced when working on teamwork projects. Once the project has been accomplished,
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members of the team can walk away with their improved skills and apply them elsewhere in their work
or even personal life.
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For teamwork to be achieved, there has to be great leadership in command. Teamwork can’t work
without someone guiding the group, ensuring that everyone knows their role, and is on the same page. A
leader, who is also usually the project manager as well, is also be responsible for coordinating the activity
amongst the group, as well as encourage communication and collaboration.
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Teamwork in project management

We all know that for teamwork projects to succeed, good project management needs to be implemented.
While the practice of project management can be done solo, in order to achieve the plan’s purpose, it can’t
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happen without a team. Even after the initial project plans have been created, and the project activity has
started, the project manager, too, has to engage in teamwork to accomplish a successful delivery. (You
can see how one cannot work without the other)
The part that a project manager plays is that of a leader’s: to facilitate activity, delegate tasks, instruct the
team, offer support, and ensure communication and collaboration is on point. A great way to coordinate
all of this is to use project management software, as this not only allows the project manager to keep on
top of things, but it also works as a teamwork app to ensure everyone on the team is doing their bit and is
working towards the same goal.
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Teamwork & project management software: Using a project management software not only streamlines
the overall project process, but it can have an effective influence on teamwork. Software comes in various
shapes and sizes that can cater to any type of team, regardless of the teamwork pricing allowance given
for the tool or the type of project you are embarking on.
The advantage of using project management tools is that it can enhance productivity within your team.
Most, if not all, tools offer a centralized platform where project documents and data can be kept and
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easily accessible for team members. This makes collaboration easier as you no longer have to send files
back and forth via email or chat app.
Progress visibility is another benefit to using project management software. Because everyone’s tasks are
displayed, accountability becomes evident as everyone can see who’s responsible for what. Gantt
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charts are especially good for this as they feature task dependencies, which is what manages the links
between activities, setting them up in sequential order. Team members will have to communicate and
work together to ensure that tasks are completed in the right order so as to avoid project disruption and
delay.
.
Tick these off your lists, and your team is on its way to making the dream work:
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1) Ensure everyone is familiar with who they’re working with: If the project team consists
of people from different departments, or individuals who were newly recruited and
placed together, set aside a time before the project starts for everyone to get to know each
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with the process. Knowing the people you are working with creates a better work
environment, and it also means that people are less likely to be self-conscious to ask for
assistance and/or advice.
2) …and that they know their value: Commitment plays a huge role in teamwork (and
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project management) success, and it can be an easy thing to neglect if you feel that your
involvement holds no value. While there will be different roles with various levels and
responsibility, ensuring that every team member is aware of how important their job, and
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everyone else’s, is to the project can strengthen commitment towards the team and the
project’s objectives.
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3) Teamwork overview is transparent: Unless people know what the project’s objectives
are, then working towards something en masse may be a bit of a challenge. A clear
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overview of what is expected from everyone individually and as a group not only
highlights their obligations, but also gives meaning to the project.
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4) Communication is accessible: Using project management software means that there is a

teamwork app available for members to utilize and connect with each other. Access to
instant communication provides quick assistance for anyone needing help with their
work, and also ensures that any bumps on the road can be swiftly taken care of. A
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common key attribute for both teamwork and project management, neither would be
accomplished without communication.
5) Sufficient training is provided: Making sure everyone involved in the project is
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adequately trained in using the chosen project management software is imperative to the
delivery. A tool like Zenkit is not only user-friendly with its customizable views, and add-
ons that help you cut through the clutter and collaborate better, but it includes customer
service so you have assistance whenever it is needed. Ensuring that the whole team is
well-versed in the centralized project software means that progress can be tracked,
updates and changes are notified, any issues can be rectified promptly, and
communication between team members is accessible.
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Guess Paper-III
Q. Explain the Advantages of Monitoring Employee Motivation.

Ans. Business owners can use incentive programs, rewards, changes in the work environment and
company policy changes to improve the motivation and morale among workers. Incentive programs can
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include company outings and parties, bonuses, gifts and awards for recognition. Additional methods for
motivating a workforce include training programs and employee improvement teams.
Monitoring employee motivation allows business owners to determine if incentive programs are working
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effectively. Businesses invest time and money in incentive programs, which should provide benefits to
the company. Businesses can use surveys through research agencies to calculate the results of an
incentive program. The assessment should allow employees to remain anonymous to promote openness
and trust in the survey. Telephone and online surveys allow workers to express their opinions without
.
fear.
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• Change Reward Programs: Assessing an incentive program allows the employer to change the
reward system. When a business invests in an incentive or bonus program, it is necessary to
ensure the investment pays off. When the expected increases in employee motivation and morale
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do not occur, the business owner has an opportunity to modify or discontinue the program.
Monitoring the motivation of employees also provides the business owner with a chance to
determine which aspects of an incentive and morale-boosting program work. For example, the
assessment may find that training programs provide more motivation among workers than
monetary rewards.
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• Employee Feedback: Assessments that monitor employee motivation allow workers to weigh in
on incentive programs. Allowing workers to participate in the incentive programs a business
offers can give workers motivation, as well. While workers provide the business with valuable
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information on incentive programs, the assessments also show workers their opinion matters to
the company.
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• Gain Motivation Benefits: Monitoring and tweaking incentive programs designed to improve
worker motivation allows a business to gain the benefits of a motivated workforce. A motivated
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workforce can increase productivity, lower absenteeism and reduce employee turnover, which
can increase the profits for business owners. Keeping track of the motivation of the workforce can
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ensure the business reaps the rewards of an inspired group of workers.

Following are some top benefits of employee monitoring:
• Take control over unwanted behavior: A team of all efficient, hardworking and creative team is
an ideal imagination. Certainly, there will be one or more employees in the staff who don’t follow
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the corporate policy and work as per their conditions. Weeding out such workers as soon as
possible save organization’s cost, effort and time. With the help of employee monitoring
software, the manager gets all the real-time update of the employees and calculated how engaged
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they are in the workplace. Thus the process helps to filter out those who work unethically in the
term of their employment.
• Resolve the mistakes as soon as possible: Mistakes are not always intentional even the best
workers can also do the mistake. Sometimes, some members of the team can misinterpret the
instructions given by the supervisor and proceed accordingly. Now, if the manager doesn’t
monitor the ongoing activities at the regular intervals, the overall effort will go in vain. While the
monitoring software solution aids the manager to figure out the negative issues and get them all
sorted out and in the flow as soon as possible.
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• Search for strengths: It is easy to notice in someone’s behavior if he is expert in something.

Creativity can’t be gauged in one or two conversations rather employers can estimate it by
regular monitoring of employee assignment and how they approach the assigned tasks. With the
help of this software, managers are able to look at the big picture and can figure out who is
thinking beyond the box. This would help them in future for which individuals will be good for
answering the specific set of questions. Finding creativity helps in compelling business growth.
• Increased Productivity: It is true that employees work more efficiently and deliver high
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productivity under monitored network as they keep their whole focus on the work and don’t get
distracted by other unnecessary or personal tasks. In the absence of monitoring, the manager will
have no idea about whether their employees are engaged with the official work or personal work.
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• Protection against data leak: The trade secrets give the edge to the organization over the
competition. To gain the personal profit, employees may become selfish sometimes and try to
send the secretive data of the organization to the outsider or other company. Under the strict
monitoring environment, the employees will not be able to send any confidential data of the
.
company to the outsider. Hence, the company processes can be done protectively under
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monitored network.
Q. What are project reports?
Ans. A project management report is a summary overview of the current status of the project. It is a
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formal record of the state of a project at a given time. (The exact form and details may vary depending on
your company and project management office requirements, as many businesses now have their own
templates for all their PMs to adhere to.) Depending on the size and complexity of your project, the
project management report may be required weekly or monthly. It is provided to all project stakeholders
to help keep them up to date on the progress of the project and any pressing challenges the project may
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be facing. The majority of project management reports are single pagers, but may have appendices or
links to more information for anyone who wishes to delve into the details. However, in some
circumstances, it can be much more in-depth. For example, there is a government template that is ten
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pages in length.
Project management reports should include the following key characteristics no matter which business,
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industry, or even type of project the report is for:

All of the identifying project information:
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1. The project name

2. The project number (if you have one)
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3. Name of the project manager

4. Project sponsor
5. Start date of the project
6. Expected end date
hr
7. Customer name and information

8. The date the report is released
The key metrics of project success:
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1. Schedule progress against plan. Is the project ahead of or behind schedule?

2. Current cost versus budget. Are you under budget or over?
3. Current scope compared to plan. Has the scope changed since the project began? If so, how?
4. Planned versus actual resourcing. Are any resources missing or over allocated?
5. An overview of risks. Are there any high risks that need to be managed?
6. Current quality findings. Has quality testing been done? Were there any issues?
Additional information to include:
1. Project change management. This is usually an update of any pending and approved change
requests for the project.
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2. Actions taken. This provides a high-level summary of key actions taken and decisions made since
the last report. It can also include accomplishments, such as milestones recently met.
3. Decisions required. If there is a key decision that needs to be made, this is a common place to call
out what it is, who it’s waiting on and when it’s due. An example could be sponsor approval of
the project management plan.
4. Upcoming milestones. Deliverables due soon and milestones approaching may be communicated
m
for awareness.
When writing a project management report, it is important to keep the following in mind:
• Be concise and share results and outcomes. Don’t focus on details your stakeholders don’t need
to know. Try to use bullet points, not paragraphs. If you create a ten-page document every week,
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no one is likely to read it, and you won’t have time to manage the actual project.
• Understand your audience. Make sure that the report is not too technical and avoid any jargon.
Otherwise, your stakeholders won’t be able to understand it.
• Provide context. Don’t just say a deliverable will be two weeks late. How will this impact the rest
.
of the project and what actions are being taken to resolve it? Stakeholders need to know how
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significant the problem truly is.
• Be clear about any asks. If you require any of your stakeholders to do something, make sure you
explicitly call out who is responsible, what it is they are responsible for, and when it needs to be
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done.
• Make it visual. Use a project management software that offers project management report
templates. This allows stakeholders to quickly identify which projects are struggling and what
areas they are struggling with, before reading further into the report. Executives may receive
dozens of reports (or more) every week, so making the reports easy to read is critical.
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Here is an outline of five of the more common types of project reports, but are nonetheless crucial to the
successful running of a project.
1. Status Reports: “Can I have that status report in an hour?” It’s the kind of question project managers
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hear a lot. Maybe it’s from the project sponsor, or your Project Office manager, or a colleague. This is the
most common type of project report and the one that you probably find yourself working on most
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regularly.
You can produce status reports weekly or monthly – and on one project recently I ended up producing
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daily status reports during the implementation phase. The frequency depends on where you are in the
project and how much there is to say. There’s not much point reporting daily if your tasks all take over a
ic
week, as you won’t have any progress to report from day to day.
2. Risk Reports: Many PMs report on risks at least monthly, and the report is normally the output that
comes after a risk review meeting. Of course, you can update your risk log at any time, and you should
be encouraging all your project team members to contribute risks to the log whenever they feel
hr
something needs recording. The risk report should include a summary of the risk profile of the project,
but how you present this is up to you. A good approach would be to only include the details for the risks
that have the potential to create the most problems for your project. Then, include a statement on the
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lower-level risks, perhaps summarizing how you are managing all of these. You will also want the
possibility of producing a report about all your risks, regardless of how significant they are. It’s probably
easiest to do this as an automated download from your project management software, or if you keep your
risk log in another format like a spreadsheet, by issuing a complete copy of that document.
3. Board/Executive Reports: Reports need to be tailored to the people who are going to read them. So the
report you produce for the project board will have a different level of detail in it compared to the weekly
status update that goes to your project team and key business stakeholders. For the project board reports,
think high level. They will want to read about things that are important to them, like issues they can help
resolve, a summary of the budget position, and whether or not you are on track to hit key milestones.
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Make sure that your board report is in a format that they can easily read. For example, if your executives
are always on the road and use their smartphones to check emails, don’t produce your report in the form
of a complicated spreadsheet that won’t display correctly, or include loads of large graphics that will take
ages to download. A pdf will render across devices if you’re emailing a static report. Or you can grant
licenses for board members or senior leadership so they can see real-time dashboard reports on the go.
ProjectManager.com features live dashboards that always have up-to-date information.
4. Resource Reports: How do you know who is doing what when? You could go through the entire
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project plan and work out the resource allocations by hand. That would take a lot of time, and be mind-
numbingly dull as well. Or you could use your project management planning software to work it all out
for you. Most software tools, whether they are a standalone Gantt chart software or fully-featured project
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tools with integrated timesheets, will have the option to create a resource report. The resource report will
show you the breakdown of which project team member is allocated to which task on which day. They
can also be used to pinpoint over allocation problems – where a team member is allocated to more than
one task. Obviously they can’t work on two things at once, so if you don’t pick up these problems you’ll
.
find that your project plan slips behind schedule. Use the resource report to ensure that you haven’t got
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clashes for individuals and reschedule those tasks as necessary. Resource reports can also be useful for
scheduling more than one person. You’ll be able to see when someone becomes available, and that is a
good sign that they can be given more project tasks at that point. If you compare the resource availability
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to the project’s timeline you can also plan more efficiently. As one task done by one person ends, you can
make sure that someone else is available to pick up the next thing that needs to be done, so that tasks
don’t stop halfway through waiting for the next person to become available. Overall, resource reports are
one of the most useful types of project reports to be had as a project manager, although they can be a bit
difficult to interpret at first. It really is worth spending the time getting to know how to read the reports
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so that you can make changes to your project schedule as appropriate.

5. Variance Reports: How can you tell if the project is in fact progressing as planned? That’s the beauty of
a variance report: it compares the planned against the actual outcome, giving you a metric to measure if
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you’re on track, ahead of schedule or running behind. The variance report will collect and organize the
data on what you’re comparing, whether it be the budget, schedule or scope of the project variable you’re
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measuring. The variance report gives you the tool to many a variance analysis or a measurable change
from the baseline. There are several variance reports, such as cost variance, variance at completion
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(budget surplus or deficit), scheduled variance and others. Mostly, variance reporting is used in
budgetary analysis, trend reporting and spending analysis. The variance report is a great tool for the
ic
project manager, who needs a lens into the project’s progress so as to make intelligence decisions on
allocating resources. But not only project managers benefit from the reporting. Stakeholders are
interested in high-level reporting, and variance reports give them a thumb’s up or thumbs down as to the
progress of the project and whether it meet its schedule and budget.
hr
Q. What are the factors which control the cost of a project?

Ans. Almost all the projects need to be guided right throughout in order to receive the required and
expected output at the end of the project. It is the team that is responsible for the project and most
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importantly the project manager that needs to be able to carry out effective controlling of the costs. There
are, however, several techniques that can be used for this purpose.
In addition to the project goals that the project manager has to oversee, the control of various costs is also
a very important task for any project. Project management would not be effective at all if a project
manager fails in this respect, as it would essentially determine whether or not your organization would
make a profit or loss.
Cost Control Techniques
Following are some of the valuable and essential techniques used for efficient project cost control:
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1) Planning the Project Budget: You would need to ideally make a budget at the beginning of
the planning session with regard to the project at hand. It is this budget that you would have
to help you for all payments that need to be made and costs that you will incur during the
project life cycle. The making of this budget therefore entails a lot of research and critical
thinking.
Like any other budget, you would always have to leave room for adjustments as the costs may
m
not remain the same right through the period of the project. Adhering to the project budget at
all times is key to the profit from project.
2) Keeping a Track of Costs: Keeping track of all actual costs is also equally important as any
other technique. Here, it is best to prepare a budget that is time-based. This will help you keep
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track of the budget of a project in each of its phases. The actual costs will have to be tracked
against the periodic targets that have been set out in the budget. These targets could be on a
monthly or weekly basis or even yearly if the project will go on for long.
This is much easier to work with rather than having one complete budget for the entire period
.
of the project. If any new work is required to be carried out, you would need to make
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estimations for this and see if it can be accommodated with the final amount in the budget. If
not, you may have to work on necessary arrangements for 'Change Requests', where the client
will pay for the new work or the changes.
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3) Effective Time Management: Another effective technique would be effective time
management. Although this technique does apply to various management areas, it is very
important with regard to project cost control. The reason for this is that the cost of your project
could keep rising if you are unable to meet the project deadlines; the longer the project is
dragged on for, the higher the costs incurred which effectively means that the budget will be
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exceeded. The project manager would need to constantly remind his/her team of the
important deadlines of the project in order to ensure that work is completed on time.
4) Project Change Control: Project change control is yet another vital technique. Change control
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systems are essential to take into account any potential changes that could occur during the
course of the project. This is due to the fact that each change to the scope of the project will
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have an impact on the deadlines of the deliverables, so the changes may increase project cost
by increasing the effort needed for the project.
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5) Use of Earned Value: Similarly, in order to identify the value of the work that has been
carried out thus far, it is very helpful to use the accounting technique commonly known as
ic
'Earned Value'. This is particularly helpful for large projects and will help you make any quick
changes that are absolutely essential for the success of the project.
The Additional Steps for Project Cost Control: It is advisable to constantly review the budget as well as
the trends and other financial information. Providing reports on project financials at regular intervals will
hr
also help keep track of the progress of the project. This will ensure that overspending does not take place,
as you would not want to find out when it is too late. The earlier the problem is found, the more easily
and quickly it could be remedied. All documents should also be provided at regular intervals to auditors,
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who would also be able to point out to you any potential cost risks.
Conclusion: Simply coming up with a project budget is not adequate during your project planning
sessions. You and your team would have to keep a watchful eye on whether the costs remain close to the
figures in the initial budget. You need to always keep in mind the risks that come with cost escalation and
need to prevent this as best as you can. For this, use the above techniques explained and constantly
monitor the project costs.
Q. Explain the accounting system.
Ans. An accounting system is a system that is employed in a company to organize financial information.
It can be either manual or computerized. The main reason why you should be using an accounting
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system is to keep track of expenses, income, and other activities. Basically keep an eye on all data
that affect the finances of a business organization.
Accounting system helps businesses to keep track and manage their financial transactions. That
includes sales, purchases, assets and liabilities. Business accounting system is particularly helpful when
you need to generate reports. As a business owner you probably already know that proper data reports
impact greatly the process of decision making. In the past all data where gathered manually. Luckily
m
today we are living in a computerized age. And that allows us to store the financial records easily. Now
you can enter all the data, change them and interpret simply by logging into your accounting system on
your computer or mobile phone. The past, loads of manual calculations, would be involved to balance
out the ledgers.
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Types of Accounting Systems
1. Managerial Accounting: This type of accounting provides managers with necessary
information for planning and operations control. Under managerial is cost accounting and lean
accounting. Cost accounting records the cost incurred by the business for various transactions
.
and operations. Lean accounting is for process examinations to determine how to reduce cost and
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eliminate wasting resources while increasing value.
2. Inventory Accounting: These provide a means to track and plan inventory levels and
other activities that are related. Barcode tracking and RFID are some of the common inventory
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accounting systems available.
3. Industry Specific Accounting: This refers to a system tailored for a specific industry. For
example, a system for a sales business and legal accounting have significant differences. Each has
their specific requirements suited for the different industries.
4. Not-for-Profit Accounting: This type of accounting has its unique requirements too. It
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mainly involves ensuring that finances are channeled to the right direction. The system should be
able to produce expenditure reports.
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Q. What is hierarchical organizational structure?

Ans. A hierarchical organizational structure contains a direct chain of command from the top of the
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organization to the bottom. Senior management makes all critical decisions, which are then passed down
through subsidiary levels of management. If someone at the bottom of this organizational pyramid wants
h
to make a decision, they pass the request up through the chain of command for approval, for which a
decision will eventually be returned. A hierarchical structure operates well when there are few products
ic
that are sold in high volume, so that tight control can be maintained over the design, quality, production,
and distribution of goods.
For example, Horton Corporation develops a wildly popular super widget that is in strong demand in
many countries. This widget is the only product that Horton sells. The president decides to tightly control
hr
the quality of this super widget by producing it in a single, large-scale facility, and selling it through a
chain of distributors. This calls for a hierarchical structure to control all aspects of production and
distribution. The distributors are allowed to engage in their own marketing activities, so this portion of
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the business is essentially localized and not under the control of Horton.
Advantages of the Hierarchical Structure: A hierarchical system allows a few people to control all
aspects of an organization, which has the following advantages:
• Control orientation. When there are just a few key products being sold, or there is a specific
marketing message to be distributed, the hierarchical system works well. For example, a high-
end women’s handbag manufacturer will likely need to employ a hierarchical system in order to
closely monitor the design and production of handbags. Similarly, a high-volume consumer
products company needs to maintain a consistent worldwide brand image, and so needs to
control all aspects of production, distribution, and marketing.
32
• Career path. There is a clear career path through this type of organization, with employees
gradually advancing through the various levels of management over a number of years. Those
reaching senior positions tend to have built up massive experience with the company.
• Clear reporting. Since power is so centralized, it is easy to determine who is authorized to make a
decision.
• Specialization. Employees are more likely to have niche positions that allow them to become in-
m
depth specialists. If their expertise is used effectively, this means that a company can have a
number of centers within the organization where best practices are employed.
Disadvantages of the Hierarchical Structure: Though the higher level of coordination associated with the
hierarchical system is useful in some instances, there are also a number of problems with it relating to the
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flow of information, the speed of decision making, and added costs. Consider the following issues:
• Restricted information. Information tends to flow toward the top of the organizational structure, so
that the management team has a complete set of information with which to run the business.
However, the reverse is not the case. There is very little downward flow of information to the
.
lower levels of the organization, which tends to cramp any initiatives that might otherwise
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originate in these areas.
• Slow decision making. The hierarchical system takes time for management decisions to percolate
down through the various levels of management and be enacted. If a company operates in a
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swiftly-changing environment, this can mean that the business is slow to react to competitive and
environmental pressures, and so can lose market share.
• Added costs. A hierarchical system requires a considerable amount of corporate overhead to
support the senior management group, including extra layers of management, internal auditors,
budgeting and control departments, and so forth. This can be an excessive burden
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on profits when the bureaucracy is especially bloated.

In general, there is a trend away from the hierarchical system and toward a decentralized organizational
structure. This trend is primarily driven by the speed with which decisions must be made, since many
k
markets are now highly competitive and require lightning-fast decision making. This does not mean that
the hierarchical system is entirely outmoded – on the contrary, there are a number of businesses that
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require tight control over limited product lines, and which therefore continue to operate well within this
structure.
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Q. What are the types of organizing?

Ans. Every organization has a structure which defines the hierarchy, the distribution of roles or the
ic
responsibilities within the organization. The organizational structure of a company affects which
department is powerful, which department takes more decisions or which department has less power.
Therefore, organizational structure is one of the main factors which affects the projects in an
organization. Depending on the market conditions, competition, industry, and history of the company,
hr
different organizational structures can be adopted by companies at different times. So we cannot name a
particular type of an organizational structure as the best practice. They all have advantages or
disadvantages according to the situation. Here are three types of organizations in terms of project
S
management in a company. These are Functional Organization, Projectile Organization, and Matrix
Organization. We will be going over each type of organizational structures one by one.
In Functional Organization, people are grouped by areas of specialization. For instance, marketing
professionals are grouped under marketing department, human resources professionals are grouped
under human resources department, technical people are grouped under IT department etc. Depending
on their size, these groups are managed by managers, directors or vice presidents. In Functional
Organization, the team members do both project work and departmental or operational work at the same
time. For instance, if a software engineer from the IT department is also assigned to a project, he has to
complete his assignments in this project. On the other hand, if there are defects or problems that need to
33
be resolved, this should be under the responsibility of the IT department, therefore he has to deal with
these issues as well.
Types of organizational structures
• Hierarchical org structure
• Functional org structure
• Horizontal or flat org structure
m
• Divisional org structures (market-based, product-based, geographic)
• Matrix org structure
• Team-based org structure
• Network org structure
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At some point, you have likely seen an organizational chart for your company. And we can probably
guess what it looked like. The typical org chart looks like a pyramid, your C-level executives at the top
with lines stretching down to middle management and finally staff-level employees. But not every
company functions best with a hierarchical organizational structure. Many types of organizational charts
.
exist because many types of organizational structures exist. Let’s go through the seven common types of
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org structures and reasons why you might consider each of them.
Q. What are the types of marketing planning?
Ans. Marketing strategy is used by different companies to collaborate with their consumers. It is also
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employed to aware the customers about the features, specifications and benefits of company’s products.
It is basically focused on encouraging target population to buy those specific products and services. The
marketing strategies might be totally innovative or they can be previously tried or tested strategies.
Effective marketing strategies help to get ahead in the competition.
Types of marketing strategies: There are different types of marketing strategies available. Picking up a
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marketing strategy includes analyzing the needs of your business, your target audience and specifications
of your products.
The two main types of marketing strategy are:
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• 1. Business to business (B2B) marketing

• 2. Business to consumer (B2C) marketing
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The most common form of marketing is business to consumer (B2C) marketing. Let’s explore a bit more.
Following are the different types of marketing strategies available.
h
• Paid advertising
This includes multiple approaches for marketing. It includes traditional approaches like TVCs
ic
and print media advertising. Also, one of the most well-known marketing approach is internet
marketing. It includes various methods like PPC (Pay per click) and paid advertising.
• Cause marketing
Cause marketing links the services and products of a company to a social cause or issue. It is also
hr
well known as cause related marketing.

• Relationship marketing
This type of marketing is basically focused on customer building. Enhancing existing
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relationships with customers and improving customer loyalty.

• Undercover marketing
This type of marketing strategy focuses on marketing the product while customers remain
unaware of the marketing strategy. It is also known as stealth marketing.
• Word of mouth
It totally relies on what impression you leave on people. It is traditionally the most important
type of marketing strategy. Being heard is important in business world. When you give quality
services to customers, it is likely that they’d promote you.
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• Internet marketing
It is also known as cloud marketing. It usually happens over the internet. All the marketing items
are shared on the internet and promoted on various platforms via multiple approaches.
• Transactional marketing
Sales is particularly the most challenging work. Even for the largest retailers, selling is always
tough especially when there are high volume targets. However with the new marketing
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strategies, selling isn’t as difficult as it was. In transactional marketing the retailers encourage
customers to buy with shopping coupons, discounts and huge events. It enhances the chances of
sales and motivates the target audience to buy the promoted products.
• Diversity marketing
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It caters diverse audience by customizing and integrating different marketing strategies. It covers
different aspects like cultural, beliefs, attitudes, views and other specific needs.
Q. What are the discounted cash flow techniques?
Ans. Discounted cash flow (DCF) is a valuation method used to estimate the value of an investment
.
based on its future cash flows. DCF analysis attempts to figure out the value of an investment today,
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based on projections of how much money it will generate in the future. This applies to both financial
investments for investors and for business owners looking to make changes to their businesses, such as
purchasing new equipment.
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• Discounted cash flow (DCF) helps determine the value of an investment based on its future cash
flows.
• The present value of expected future cash flows is arrived at by using a discount rate to calculate
the discounted cash flow (DCF).
• If the discounted cash flow (DCF) is above the current cost of the investment, the opportunity
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could result in positive returns.

• Companies typically use the weighted average cost of capital for the discount rate, as it takes into
consideration the rate of return expected by shareholders.
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• The DCF has limitations, primarily that it relies on estimations on future cash flows, which could
prove to be inaccurate.
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Discounted Cash Flow Works

The purpose of DCF analysis is to estimate the money an investor would receive from an investment,
h
adjusted for the time value of money. The time value of money assumes that a dollar today is worth more
than a dollar tomorrow because it can be invested. As such, a DCF analysis is appropriate in any situation
ic
where a person is paying money in the present with expectations of receiving more money in the future.
For example, assuming a 5% annual interest rate, $1.00 in a savings account will be worth $1.05 in a year.
Similarly, if a $1 payment is delayed for a year, its present value is $.95 because it cannot be put in your
savings account to earn interest. DCF analysis finds the present value of expected future cash flows using
hr
a discount rate. Investors can use the concept of the present value of money to determine whether future
cash flows of an investment or project are equal to or greater than the value of the initial investment. If
the value calculated through DCF is higher than the current cost of the investment, the opportunity
S
should be considered.
In order to conduct a DCF analysis, an investor must make estimates about future cash flows and the
ending value of the investment, equipment, or other asset. The investor must also determine an
appropriate discount rate for the DCF model, which will vary depending on the project or investment
under consideration. If the investor cannot access the future cash flows, or the project is very complex,
DCF will not have much value and alternative models should be employed.
35

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Shrichakradhar.

Ms-52: Project Management

Q. What is project management?

objectives are detrimental to decision making.

repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In

technical skills and management strategies.

Q. Describe the history of PERT/CPM.

4. Assign time and/or cost estimates to each activity

making use of these tools and techniques in the early sixties.

are managed by one person or organization from a single device.

by multiple administrators or the public.

8. System-Area Network (also known as SAN)

network that is designed to provide high-speed connection in server-to-server

9. Passive Optical Local Area Network (POLAN)

11. Virtual Private Network (VPN)

set of observed variables.

important factor in maintaining and growing profitability.

• Cost control is an important factor in maintaining and growing profitability.

Cost Control and Variance Analysis at Work

ROI = Profit/ Sales × Sales/Fixed Assets + Current Assets

completion, from stakeholders to suppliers to contractors.

managers typically have a background in software development, computer science,

fields. Common IT project management responsibilities include managing sprints, tracking

5 Tiers of Project Managers

• Project Coordinator: This entry-level position is administrative. Project coordinators generate

the head of the department.

management of a project. For example, a position might be established as a stakeholder representative, a

Q. What are the process involved in project monitoring and controlling?

• Providing information to support status reporting, progress measurement and forecasting

• Monitoring implementation of approved changes as they occur

Ms-52: Project Management

Q. What is demand forecasting?

Components of a Demand Forecasting

which is explained as follows:

Q. What is the importance of material handling equipment?

predictability, response, and consistency.

Ans. Material requirements planning (MRP) is a computer-based inventory management system

century. It was the Cinder block. Made mostly with concrete.

cheaper than fired clay bricks.

the foam is sandwiched between wood and cement.

Wood-cement compatibility is the ratio of a parameter related to the property of a wood-cement

The Commissioning Process

and modify complex systems.

computing. By extending theories of self-reference to processes of observation including cognition and

methodology. Some of these characteristics are complexity, mutuality, complementarity, evaluability,

Q. Why is teamwork important in projects?

conflicts happen less often because…

• Teamwork in project management leads to increased efficiency and productivity. Everyone’s

Teamwork in project management

4) Communication is accessible: Using project management software means that there is a

Ms-52: Project Management

Q. Explain the Advantages of Monitoring Employee Motivation.

ensure the business reaps the rewards of an inspired group of workers.

• Search for strengths: It is easy to notice in someone’s behavior if he is expert in something.

industry, or even type of project the report is for:

1. The project name

3. Name of the project manager

7. Customer name and information

1. Schedule progress against plan. Is the project ahead of or behind schedule?

so that you can make changes to your project schedule as appropriate.