Project Management

Accurately estimating a project's cost is a difficult task. The difficulty stems from the fact that the estimate is based on expected task duration and resources from previous projects, rather than on actual information from the current project. Initially, it may be easy to construct a budget based on resource estimates; this simply involves assigning a price to elements such as materials and labor. As the project progresses, however, project managers find that changing resource requirements may render previous budgets obsolete.

Assignment Details

Read the journal article by Swikael and Globerson (2006) titled "The Benchmarking of Project Planning and Success in Selected Industries."

The authors analyze four industries in this article"construction and engineering (CE), services (SE), software and communications (SC), and production and maintenance (PM)"to determine which industry is best suited to plan and execute projects. Study the authors' findings, and use their results as a benchmark for improving project planning in the industry in which you work or in an industry with which you are familiar. Analyze your findings. Be sure to address the following elements: task duration estimates, resource and cost allocation, and how the degree of accuracy of these estimates is linked to project success

Accurately estimating a project's cost is a difficult task. The difficulty stems from the fact that the estimate is based on expected task duration and resources from previous projects, rather than on actual information from the current project. Initially, it may be easy to construct a budget based on resource estimates; this simply involves assigning a price to elements such as materials and labor. As the project progresses, however, project managers find that changing resource requirements may render previous budgets obsolete.

Assignment Details

Read the journal article by Swikael and Globerson (2006) titled "The Benchmarking of Project Planning and Success in Selected Industries."

The authors analyze four industries in this article"construction and engineering (CE), services (SE), software and communications (SC), and production and maintenance (PM)"to determine which industry is best suited to plan and execute projects. Study the authors' findings, and use their results as a benchmark for improving project planning in the industry in which you work or in an industry with which you are familiar. Analyze your findings. Be sure to address the following elements: task duration estimates, resource and cost allocation, and how the degree of accuracy of these estimates is linked to project success

Accurately estimating a project's cost is a difficult task. The difficulty stems