Question

Project Management

Enabling a Customer-Centric Experience through Project Management
BACKGROUND
Throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Du Telecom provides mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services to people, homes, and businesses. When it opened for business in 2006, the company boldly entered what was already a saturated market with 100% penetration. Although du Telecom recognized that the telecom industry in the Arabian Gulf is fast growing and that the company would face ever increasing competition, it approached the market as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.
Within four years, Du Telecom had acquired almost 40% of the region’s mobile market share and was maintaining an annual growth rate of more than 32% in a saturated market.
Established in 1987, Huawei is a global leader of ICT solutions and the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world.
Their telecom network equipment, IT products and solutions, and smart devices are used in 170 countries and regions. In 2013, Du Telecom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company. With this understanding, du and Huawei are working together to better define the best practices in portfolio and project management concepts, processes and techniques for their industry, including knowledge transfer and research.
Du and Huawei are operating what they term a “distributed Project Management Office” in two countries. This requires that both understand how a Project Management Office (PMO) functions in that type of environment. The two companies decided to work together to exchange best practice industry methodologies, concepts, tools and techniques, while also better defining best practice portfolio management concepts, processes, and techniques.
THE CHALLENGE
Du Telecoms knows that every project takes place in a specific context, be it a stand-alone project or part of a greater program, or one among a portfolio of projects. A project may also involve a team whose members have never worked together before, and it may require assigning responsibilities and roles to people who are new to them. All of these factors are identified and considered as part of a project. With all of these considerations in mind, du was looking for partners who could help them overcome these challenges. This provided the trigger to initiate an engagement with Huawei.
In a region marked by fierce competition, telecom operators contend with constant change and long-term uncertainty. One key shortcoming that du explored for surmounting these challenges was the role of project leadership—a capability that delegates and facilitates faster decision making and improves time to market.
THE SOLUTION
Project leadership is a skill that requires time to develop—in a person or an organization. Achieving success requires an analysis of setbacks and failures as a roadmap for improvement. Focusing on each project’s challenges and learning from them helps build a more successful project management capability.
PMI’s in-depth report “Capturing the Value of Project Management Through Knowledge Transfer” reveals that while capturing lessons learned is critical, what an organization does with that knowledge once it is captured, is equally important.
As part of the MOU, Huawei and Du Telecoms work together to improve project management practices between the two companies through knowledge sharing, exchange visits, and other forms of collaboration.
Having robust project management capabilities gives decision makers real-time visibility on project health, trends on investment returns, and the appropriate control to enable decision making that reduces uncertainty and opens up opportunities.
As part of the process, du and Huawei use the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) model to accomplish management and control. Organizations turn to OPM3 because it helps them bridge the gap between strategy and individual projects. It provides a way to advance
strategic interests through the application of project management principles and practices. This generates consistently successful, high-quality projects that achieve their goals in a timely manner.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
As a result of their collaboration, both companies report a reduction in project failure, an appropriate level of quality, and results that meet requirements and customer expectations. Both were also able to free up staff for other assignments and increase efficiency both on the project and within the business, making things simpler and easier for staff.
Du and Huawei instituted a single point of contact responsible for the management of an overall project. This produces consistent communications among staff and suppliers and also keeps costs, timeframes, and resources within budget.
Finally, robust project management practices are all about managing customer expectations with a customer-centric vision. Within the du Telecom–Huawei collaboration, project management practices touched upon the DNA of the telecom business, which is customer experience. Project management became the enabler for that customer experience.

Question 1 [25 marks]
1.1. With reference to the case study discuss the relationship between project, programme, and portfolio management and their contribution to organisational success. (10 marks)
1.2. Successful completion of a project requires finishing the scope of work within budget and a certain time frame whilst managing resource utilization, meeting quality expectations and managing risks. All this must be done while assuring customer satisfaction.
With reference to the case study identify and explain the project constraints that Du and Huawei may encounter using the Triple Constraint Theory. (15 marks)

Answer 1

1.1. With reference to the case study discuss the relationship between project, program, and portfolio management and their contribution to organisational success. (10 marks)

Ans. A project is initiated with the aim of achieving a unique and specific objective whereas a program is a group of related projects which are generally interdependent and therefore managing them leads to a reduction in risks, economy of scale and increased value realization by virtue of handling these projects together as a program rather than individually. Portfolio is a combination of programs, projects which may or may not be related, however managing them together helps in better achieving the strategic objective of the organization.

1.2. Successful completion of a project requires finishing the scope of work within budget and a certain time frame whilst managing resource utilization, meeting quality expectations and managing risks. All this must be done while assuring customer satisfaction.
With reference to the case study identify and explain the project constraints that Du and Huawei may encounter using the Triple Constraint Theory. (15 marks)

Ans. The projects constraints that Du and Huawei may encounter using the Triple Constraint Theory are:

1. Time
2. Cost
3. Scope

All the above constraint influences the quality of delivery.

In the context of Du and Huawei all the three will be a challenge to control and will need a very strong project management practice to drive the projects successfully. Due to the fact that Du and Huawei have global teams working in different culture, time zones and reporting hierarchy and hence priorities, driving the project such that the importance of scoping the project correctly while avoid scope creep and gold plating along with meeting time and cost is imperative.

They will need to use the all relevant knowledge areas and process groups thoroughly to achieve the stated objectives.

Process groups:

1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Monitoring and Controlling
5. Closing

Knowledge Areas:

1. Integration Management
2. Scope Management
3. Time Management
4. Cost Management
5. Quality Management
6. Human Resources Management
7. Communications Management
8. Risk Management
9. Procurement Management
10. Stakeholders Management