This textbook teaches the basic concepts and methods of project
management but also explains how to convert them to useful results
in practice. Project management offers a promising working area for
theoretical and practical applications, and developing software and
decision support systems (DSS). This book specifically focuses on
project planning and control, with an emphasis on mathematical
modeling. Models and algorithms establish a good starting point for
students to study the relevant literature and support pursuing
academic work in related fields. The book provides an introduction
to theoretical concepts, and it also provides detailed
explanations, application examples, and case studies that deal with
real-life problems. The chapter topics include questions that
underlie critical thinking, interpretation, analytics, and making
comparisons. Learning outcomes are defined and the content of the
book is structured following these goals. Chapter 1 begins by
introducing the basic concepts, methods, and processes of project
management. This Chapter constitutes the base for defining and
modeling project management problems. Chapter 2 explores the
fundamentals of organizing and managing projects from an
organization's perspective. Issues related to project team
formation, the role of project managers, and organization types are
discussed. Chapter 3 is devoted to project planning and network
modeling of projects, covering fundamental concepts such as project
scope, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Organizational Breakdown
Structure (OBS), Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS), project network
modeling, activity duration, and cost estimating, activity-based
costing (ABC), data and knowledge management. Chapter 4 introduces
deterministic scheduling models, which can be used in constructing
the time schedules. Models employing time-based and finance-based
objectives are introduced. The CPM is covered. The unconstrained
version of maximizing Net Present Value (NPV) is also treated here
together with the case of time-dependent cash flows. Chapter 5
focuses on the time/cost trade-off problem, explaining how to
reduce the duration of some of the activities and therefore reduce
the project duration at the expense of additional costs. This topic
is addressed for both continuous and discrete cases. Chapter 6
discusses models and methods of scheduling under uncertain activity
durations. PERT is introduced for minimizing the expected project
duration and extended to the PERT-Costing method for minimizing the
expected project cost. Simulation is presented as another approach
for dealing with the uncertainty in activity durations and costs.
To demonstrate the use of the PERT, a case study on constructing an
earthquake-resistant residential house is presented.
Classifications of resource and schedule types are given in Chapter
7, and exact and heuristic solution procedures for the single- and
multi-mode resource constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP)
are presented. The objective of maximizing NPV under resource
constraints is addressed, and the capital-constrained project
scheduling model is introduced. In Chapter 8, resource leveling,
and further resource management problems are introduced. Total
adjustment cost and resource availability cost problems are
introduced. Various exact models are investigated. A heuristic
solution procedure for the resource leveling problem is presented
in detail. Also, resource portfolio management policies and the
resource portfolio management problem are discussed. A case study
on resource leveling dealing with the annual audit project of a
major corporation is presented. Project contract types and payment
schedules constitute the topics of Chapter 9. Contracts are legal
documents reflecting the results of some form of client-contractor
negotiations and sometimes of a bidding process, which deserve
closer attention. Identification and allocation of risk in
contracts, project control issues, disputes, and resolution
management are further topics covered in this Chapter. A bidding
model is presented to investigate client-contractor negotiations
and the bidding process from different aspects. Chapter 10 focuses
on processes and methods for project monitoring and control. Earned
Value Management is studied to measure the project performance
throughout the life of a project and to estimate the expected
project time and cost based on the current status of the project.
How to incorporate inflation into the analysis is presented. In
Chapter 11, qualitative and quantitative techniques including
decision trees, simulation, and software applications are
introduced. Risk phases are defined and building a risk register is
addressed. An example risk breakdown structure is presented. The
design of risk management processes is introduced, and risk
response planning strategies are discussed. At the end of the
Chapter, the quantitative risk analysis is demonstrated at the hand
of a team discussion case study. Chapter 12 covers several models
and approaches dealing with various stochastic aspects of the
decision environment. Stochastic models, generation of robust
schedules, use of reactive and fuzzy approaches are presented.
Sensitivity and scenario analysis are introduced. Also, simulation
analysis, which is widely used to analyze the impacts of
uncertainty on project goals, is presented. Chapter 13 addresses
repetitive projects that involve the production or construction of
similar units in batches such as railway cars or residential
houses. Particularly in the construction industry repetitive
projects represent a large portion of the work accomplished in this
sector of the economy. A case study on the 50 km section of a
motorway project is used for demonstrating the handling of
repetitive project management. How best to select one or more of a
set of candidate projects to maintain a project portfolio is an
important problem for project-based organizations with limited
resources. The project selection problem is inherently a
multi-objective problem and is treated as such in Chapter 14.
Several models and solution techniques are introduced. A
multi-objective, multi-period project selection and scheduling
model is presented. A case study that addresses a project portfolio
selection and scheduling problem for the construction of a set of
dams in a region is presented. Finally, Chapter 15 discusses three
promising research areas in project management in detail: (i)
Sustainability and Project Management, (ii) Project Management in
the Era of Big Data, and (iii) the Fourth Industrial Revolution and
the New Age Project Management. We elaborate on the importance of
sustainability in project management practices, discuss how
developments in data analytics might impact project life cycle
management, and speculate how the infinite possibilities of the
Fourth Industrial Revolution and the new technologies will
transform project management practices.
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