551 Course Notes

By:
Dr. Apongnde Pasker
(Senior Lecturer)

Section 1: Approaches and Methods of Creating Enterprises:

Generalities on Concepts

This section focuses on an overview of key concepts that center on the course in its
entirety. This is because most of the concepts are usually used in a confused and in an
interchangeable manner in the project management domain as well as in that of enterprise
creation.
Portfolio
It is a framework/scope within which a program or projects are inscribed. E.g, poverty
alleviation.
Program
A program is a group of related projects that are carried out towards the achievement
of a common benefit in the long-term. E.g: the education of the girl child.

Project
Project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service with
available means. A project can also be considered as a unique process that consists of a set of
coordinated and controlled activities with start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve an
objective confirming to specific requirements, including the constraints of time cost and
resource. E.g: the construction of a girls’ dormitory. Projects however differ in composition,
type, scope, size and time, depending on the objectives to be attained and of deliverable(s).

Some characteristics of a project include: Uniqueness in nature, have definite

objectives (goals) to achieve, requires set of resources, have a specific time frame for
completion with a definite start and finish, involves risk and uncertainty and requires cross-
functional teams and interdisciplinary approach.

The project life cycle is comprised of:

- Conceptualization phase,
- Planning phase,
 - Execution phase,
- Termination phase.

Differences between project and program

Projects are focused on delivering defined outputs while programs are focused on
realizing benefits.

A project represents a single, focused effort while a program is a collection of

projects that constitute a complete package of work. The program’s overall objectives are
achieved through the complementarily of the various projects.

Projects vary in duration, while a program is generally of longer duration, since the
start of the program will be the start of its first project, and the end of the program will be the
end of its last project.

Projects focus on desired results or outputs, whereas programs focus on desired

outcomes or benefits.

The efficiency and effectiveness of the project can be measured based on metrics like
budget, schedule, quality, etc while that of a program is measured in terms of the benefits.

Project management

Project management is a distinct area of management that helps in handling projects. It

is an application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to
meet project requirements. Challenges in project management include: meeting programmed
objectives, dealing with resource availability, respecting governmental regulations and policy
restrictions, providing feedback and revision of objectives. There are software such as
Microsoft Projects, Primavera, etc that can be used to effectively and efficiently manage
projects.

The Project Management process consists of 5 processes; namely:

- Initiation Process: Defining and authorizing the Project;
- Planning Process: Defining objectives and choosing from alternatives for successful
conduction of the project;
 - Execution Process: Coordinating people and resources in order to implement the plan
and realize project objectives;
- Monitoring and Control Process: Tracking the progress of the project and ensuring
that its objectives are met;
- Closing Process: Formalizing the acceptance of project deliverables.
What to manage in a project:

- Project Integration,
- Project Scope,
- Project Time,
- Project Cost,
- Project Quality,
- Project Human Resource,
- Project Communications,
- Project Risk,
- Project Procurement,
- Project Stakeholder.

Activity

An activity is a stage in a project management plan. Each activity consists of one or

more actions that, upon completion, will lead to the next project stage. It is the lowest level of
the Project Work Breakdown Structure and is a sub-division of work packages.

An Activity contains a list of tasks or actions to be taken in a particular order to

convert an input into the appropriate output. It is characterized by a distinct beginning and an
end, which marks the commencement and completion of the activity.

Several activities can be combined to form a summary activity. The duration of an

activity is determined by the effort it takes to complete each of its designated tasks. The start
or end of an activity can also be determined by constraints, so called dependencies, between
activities. Milestones, too, can determine the start or end date of an activity. Such
dependencies between activities and other planning elements are visualized in a Gantt
diagram/chart which is used by project managers to plan projects and monitor their progress.
 So, activities are the fundamental work elements of a project. They have durations,
costs, and resource or role requirements.

Task

A task is a single unit of work. It is a single step in a multi-step project. A task is

accomplished by a set deadline and must contribute towards work-related objectives. Just as
project management is the coordination of individual tasks, a task can be further broken down
into subtasks, which should also have clear start and end dates for completion.

Milestones

Project milestones are checkpoints in a plan that marks important events, dates,
decisions, and deliverables so it's easy for a team and stakeholders to map forward progress
on the project. It is a project planning tool that is used to mark a point in a project schedule.
Project milestones can note the start and finish of a project, mark the completion of a major
phase of work or anything that is worth highlighting in a project, such as the production of
project deliverables. Milestones help project teams coordinate their efforts. This is usually
done via a milestone chart. Just as tasks break a larger project into manageable parts,
milestones break down project phases to help project managers plan, schedule and execute
them.

Project designing

Project designing is an early phase of the project lifecycle where ideas, processes,
resources, and deliverables are planned out. A project design comes before a project plan
as it is a broad overview; whereas, a project plan includes more detailed information.

Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring is the systematic and routine collection of information from projects

and programmes. The purposes are to learn from experiences to improve practices and
activities in the future; to have internal and external accountability of the resources used and
the results obtained; to take informed decisions on the future of the initiative; and to promote
empowerment of beneficiaries of the initiative.
 Monitoring is a periodically recurring task already beginning in the planning stage
of a project or programme. Monitoring allows results, processes and experiences to be
documented and used as a basis to steer decision-making and learning processes. Monitoring
is checking progress against plans. The data acquired through monitoring is used for
evaluation.

Evaluation is assessing, as systematically and objectively as possible, a completed

project or programme (or a phase of an ongoing project or programme that has been
completed). Evaluations appraise data and information that inform strategic decisions, thus
improving the project or programme in the future. Evaluations help to draw conclusions on:
relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability.

Enterprise

An enterprise is an organization, especially a business, or a difficult and important

plan, especially one that generates income. The word comes from a French word entreprendre
(from prendre), meaning ‘to undertake’, which in turn comes from the Latin word “inter
prehendere” (seize with the hand).

Types of Entreprises include:

 Sole Proprietorship (one person),

 Partnership (Group),
 Private Limited Companies (Private Share holders) ,
 Public Limited Companies (Public, Multinational & Private Share holders).
Some reasons for creating enterprises are:

- Problem-solving: They see a particular issue that they feel they can solve.
- Exploit ideas: They have a new idea or product they believe will be successful.
- Filling a gap: They see a gap in the market they believe they can fill.
- Competitive pricing: They believe they can produce something on the market
cheaper and offer it at a lower price.
- Knowledge-based: Where they believe they can supply specialist knowledge that
customers will pay for.

Entrepreneurship
 It is the ability and readiness to develop, organize and run a business, along with any
of its uncertainties in order to make profit.