EXTERNAL RESEARCH REPORT Keeping in touch with the Project Management field's latest developments is key for grounded and relevant research. As managers, it is essential to know the latest research...

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EXTERNAL RESEARCH REPORT




Keeping in touch with the Project Management field's latest developments is key for grounded and relevant research. As managers, it is essential to know the latest research findings and the implications of such research to practice. You are required to demonstrate your expertise by the following: Write a research report on the chosen topic after conducting extensive external research using practitioner journals such as Project Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Sloan Management Review, Case studies from PMI, Cases studies from U.S. Government and Accountability Office (

https://www.gao.gov

).






The list of topics is given below:







1. Scheduling in Agile Projects



Explain the differences between scheduling in traditional projects and agile projects. Give examples from real-life agile projects. What are some of the critical issues that need to be taken care of for better project schedule performance? How can we effectively use MS-Project software to perform scheduling in agile projects? Perform research from practitioner journals such as PM Network (from PMI), Project Management Journal (from PMI), Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, blogs (such as ProjectTimes.com), case studies (from

https://www.gao.gov/ (Links to an external site.)

). Please write a report (with a table of contents) and cite all sources according to APA format. Use at least 12 references, excluding the PMBOK.







2. Cost Estimation Techniques and Budgeting in Agile Projects



What are the differences between traditional and agile projects? What are the commonly used cost estimation techniques and Budgeting methods used in Agile Projects? Give examples from real-life agile projects. Perform research from practitioner journals such as PM Network (from PMI), Project Management Journal (from PMI), Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, blogs (such as ProjectTimes.com), case studies (from

https://www.gao.gov/ (Links to an external site.)

). Please write a report (with a table of contents) and cite all sources according to APA format. Use at least 12 references, excluding the PMBOK.







3. Use of Schedule Compression Techniques such as Crashing and Fast-Tracking and their impact on project schedule/project cost.




Evaluate how they affect labor productivity, worker morale, and project team performance. Give examples from real-life projects. Perform research from practitioner journals such as PM Network (from PMI), Project Management Journal (from PMI), Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, blogs (such as ProjectTimes.com), case studies (from

https://www.gao.gov/ (Links to an external site.)

). Please write a report (with a table of contents) and cite all sources according to APA format. Use at least 12 references, excluding the PMBOK.







4. Use of Resource Optimization techniques such as resource leveling and resource smoothing and their impact on project schedule/project cost and resource utilization.

Evaluate how they affect labor productivity, worker morale, and project team performance. Give examples from real-life projects. Perform research from practitioner journals such as PM Network (from PMI), Project Management Journal (from PMI), Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, blogs (such as ProjectTimes.com), case studies (from

https://www.gao.gov/ (Links to an external site.)

). Please write a report (with a table of contents) and cite all sources according to APA format. Use at least 12 references, excluding the PMBOK.







5. Use of Earned Value Analysis in performance reporting.




What are the different metrics used? What is the significance of these metrics? Has usage of EVA analysis improved project performance? Have organizations successfully used EVA? Give examples from real-world projects. Are there failures? What are some of the challenges in the adoption and usage of EVA analysis in different industry settings? Perform research from practitioner journals such as PM Network (from PMI), Project Management Journal (from PMI), Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, blogs (such as ProjectTimes.com), case studies (from

https://www.gao.gov/ (Links to an external site.)

). Please write a report (with a table of contents) and cite all sources according to APA format. Use at least 12 references, excluding the PMBOK.




Answered 3 days AfterSep 23, 2022

Answer To: EXTERNAL RESEARCH REPORT Keeping in touch with the Project Management field's latest developments...

Tanmoy answered on Sep 27 2022
49 Votes
Project Management Latest Development        4
PROJECT MANAGEMENT LATEST DEVELOPMENT
Table of Contents
External Research Report    3
Introduction    10
Measurements in EVA    10
Benefits of EVA Use    11
References    12
External Research Report
1. Scheduling in Agile Projects
In case of agile project methodology, everything available in such projects are transparent and clear. There are several steps which are followed by the clients and the decision makers such as commencement, scheduling, appraisal and testing process. But in the case of a traditio
nal approach, it’s the project manager who is the ultimate owner of the project and reins the project. The other team members are unable to make decisions which may be beneficial for the development of the project. It’s the agile process which helps in facilitating the team members for viewing the correct project from the initiation to the end. In such case, the level or degree of transparency plays a crucial role in forming a well-integrated and congenial work environment (Kashyap, 2022). Further, the traditional project management are generally linear. As per this approach, the project is being segregated into different phases. Each of these phases have a set of unique goals. Also, the project manager of a traditional project is able to implement a comprehensive timetable, who are able to assign resources to each specific jobs and finally they are able to list all the tasks which must be completed in all the phases. Hence, for the larger projects which are divided into discrete phases such as the building projects, it is this strategy which is a great success. Therefore, the project which are more flexible like the ones in software development process, do not have much benefits derived from it. On the contrary, the agile process with respect to project scheduling is iterative in nature. Further, it’s the project which are segregated into manageable halves, or sprints under this process. Each of the sprints have a different objective and it’s the project manager who develops a thorough plan which is able to list all the tasks which should be completed during each of the sprints. For the project which have a more flexible character such as software development projects, it is this strategy which is a great success.
In order to make the project schedule to be accomplished in a better manner, there is a need to resolve the important snags. Further, the project manager should have a thorough awareness with respect to the objectives of the project. Secondly, it’s the project managers who needs to develop a realistic timeline which needs to be considered.
The critical issues which need to be addressed for a better project schedule performance are communication, accountability and unrealistic deadlines and planning fallacies. Due to poor communication the managers are unable to allocate the project, delegate tasks, deliver instructions and clarify the roles and responsibilities making confusion for the stakeholders. It’s the communication issues which can be regulated with a well-structured communication plan through emails, meetings, memos and telephonic or online conversation. Poor or lack of accountability is essential for a successful project outcome. Hence, accountability must be implemented for each project members in a project. If there is no proper accountability displayed by each employee of the organization, then it can cause rippling effect which may affect the phases of workflow. In order to resolve this issue, the project manager must communicate ways to complete a specific task which is dependent on the completion of others. One of the biggest issues which may impact the project are setting unrealistic goals which is especially due to improper estimation techniques, poor estimation, optimum bias and extreme pressure from the leadership. The project manager in such situation can acquire inputs from the employees, team members and various stakeholders on the timeline required to complete a specific task, the duration of reviewing it and finally approving the specific deliverable. Hence, it is essential to use a project management tool which will allow the project manage to monitor and regulate the schedules of the project along with the timelines and helps the team members to keep a track of the schedules (Faust, 2021).
2. Cost Estimation Techniques and Budgeting in Agile Projects
The cost estimation required for an Agile project is more iterative, well-integrated and collaborative in nature in comparison to the acquisition method. There is a misconception in Agile that it is not a long-term plan. There is a long-term plan along with estimation of costs necessary for the Agile programs. For planning a project, the programs must provide high-level answers to the questions on the plan to deliver, the cost required, the timeline of the project and the benefits which can be acquired from the project. The projects must use the cost estimation process and evaluation benefits in different types of products and for various purposes in the acquisition phase which consists of the trade-off analysis, economic and business case evaluation and estimation of the life-cycle costs. Hence, it’s the cost estimation and the valuation of benefits which matures gradually as we are able to acquire sufficient information with respect to the program.
There may be increase or decrease in the costs observed in the Agile development...
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