Globalization has opened many options to manage business projects exploiting destination-specific opportunities. However, global competition in business has created a critical chain of business functions for firms to succeed in the competitive marketplace. Thus, most companies develop skills in carrying out the work dynamics over the given time and space. This book extends the business theory to the realm of project management. Whether a production process or a new-product-development project is at issue, this book guides managers to focus on managing business projects efficiently to increase the performance. The book argues that companies need to take a broader perspective into account in order to manage the most innovative projects.
New business projects involving high technology are prone to cost overruns against original estimates if not accomplished within the predetermined time frame. An inadequate project design is often the cause for cost escalation and low performance of project tasks. Corporate environments should encourage honest project appraisals and drive their project managers to align with the requirements of best project management practices. The book suggests that verifying the nature of the problem, reengineering the project, and identifying underestimated areas would help the companies to manage business projects successfully. If the business projects fail a large amount of investment is drained as sunk cost turning the financial health of the companies substantially weak. This book also offers strategies for developing a recovery plan, refining the scope of the troubled project, and reevaluating the leadership of the project team as the most important actions that must be pursued in a comprehensive recovery effort. The rules of the game are subject to change without notice, amidst increasing market competition, which jeopardizes the business projects seriously. Effective project management begins with selecting and prioritizing the projects that support the company’s mission and strategy. Successful project implementation requires both technical and social skills. This book builds knowledge and skills on the technical aspects of the project life cycle, the tools to plan project activities and budget, and tools to accurately determine the status of business projects. Business projects are different from the construction or engineering projects that entail a sequential process. The business projects face enormous uncertainty and demand localized treatment in carrying the project tasks. Equally important and challenging is the goal of satisfying a wide variety of stakeholder demands. Project managers must therefore understand the detailed technical tools, as well as leadership, accountability, organizational structures, and alliances with external organizations. Hence, this book also discusses the systems thinking approach in planning and implementation of business projects.
While developing business projects companies need to understand the market ambience, resources, society, and culture, and analyze the competitive choices on production and business operations to determine its posture in the marketplace. An intriguing aspect in the business is that the nature of competition can change over time and cloud uncertainty in marketing its products. Business projects with focus on innovation and technology-driven manufacturing, marketing, and customer services face many challenges of increased complexity in project operations due to time and cost limitations and inadequacy of risk management competencies. But it is observed that intuitively such business projects often yield high returns. Hence, it is necessary for the companies to train their managers on various tools and techniques to manage the business projects of various dimensions. The secret is a willingness to redefine the process of managing business projects on the basis of the changing business environment and the growing uncertainties at the global and local marketplaces. This book emerges as a managerial guide with the new techniques of managing business projects protecting the interest of the company and stakeholders against potential uncertainties in markets.
Business project management is the pivot to business growth in a growing competitive market dynamics. Management of business projects is carried out with several tasks like stage-gate presentations, executive dashboards, and complex task reports. This book bridges the myths and realities on management of business projects and suggests cost effective and goal-oriented tools and techniques. In today’s dynamic and competitive world, a project manager’s key challenge is coping with frequent unexpected preferences of consumers and market demand. The traditional approach to project management emphasizes that success of a project depends on stability of performance of the project across the predefined stages. The success of a project can be achieved by focusing on planning and on controlling and managing risks. This book describes the key roles successful project managers can play such as developing collaboration during the project, integrating planning and review of the tasks scheduled in the business projects, preventing major disruptions during the project implementation, and maintaining the stakeholder value while carrying out the business projects.
Evolving any idea for developing a business project is essentially a set of key decisions that collectively determine how a business earns its revenue, incurs its costs, and manages its risks. This book argues innovations to the business as a driver for business growth in a competitive marketplace and addresses several pertinent questions that include:
What mix of tools and techniques should be considered for managing business projects?
What business decisions should companies make based on the project performance?
How to take right decision in business projects? and
Why do key decision makers choose to stay conventional?
This book is the second volume of the principal subject of discussion—“Managing Innovative Business Projects” and addresses the topics on financials, new insights, and sustainability of innovation projects. This volume is divided in to five chapters and the core arguments, new insights, and contemporary approaches in managing innovative business projects have been discussed in reference to recent literature on innovation research, best practices followed by the international innovation companies, and graphic illustrations. Chapter 1 discusses approaches that demonstrate accuracy in estimation of costs in innovation projects and delineates the use of earned value management approach in driving cost efficiency in the projects. This chapter also discusses the new developments in project planning process, project budgeting and control, and factors affecting budgeting control and project administration. The project risk management and stakeholder value management also constitute the core discussions in this chapter. Chapter 2 presents new designs for innovative business projects by building contemporary discussions on the attributes of commercialization of innovation adapting to new project designs. This chapter also raises debate over the standardization versus customization perspectives for introducing new products in the competitive markets. Besides, this chapter delivers insights on managing lean projects and benefitting innovation organizations through systems thinking. Many new propositions and approaches have been discussed on breakthrough in innovation projects in Chapter 3, in reference to managing reverse innovations through the developing the cost effective and customer centric business projects. The attributes of innovation breakthrough projects and driving the outreach of butterfly effects by making small changes for larger benefits in the markets have also been addressed in this chapter. Among many new insights on innovation, lean thinking in innovation projects, and constituting project teams also contribute significantly to this chapter. Chapter 4 contemplates analytical insights on the complexities in innovation management projects in reference to increasing market chaos across the markets and rapid technology growth, which is creating a wide gap between the diffusion and adaptation of innovative products. This chapter argues that complexities in technology marketing are driven by the temporal and spatial factors besides lack of adequate management vision for the innovative products at low-end market segments. Chapter 5 discusses the globalization factors in managing innovation business projects using consumer analytics and developing customer oriented product strategies. The synergy of technology and customer value, and growing global perspectives of innovations have also been discussed in this chapter.
The thought process in evolving this book originated from the course on Innovation, Technology and National Economic Development, which I have been teaching at Boston University since 2013. Consequent upon teaching this course I have authored the book “Architecting Enterprise: Managing Innovation, Technology, and Global Competitiveness” and over a short span another book on “The Butterfly Effect in Competitive Markets: Driving Small Changes for Larger Differences” was authored by me in 2015. This book on “Innovative Business Projects: Breaking Complexities, Building Performance” in two volumes is an outgrowth of all the above reading, writings, deliveries and learning. This book reviews categorically the project management theories, concepts, and previous researches, and discusses the applied tools and techniques for business projects. The book discusses contemporary project management approaches for the companies to grow competitive along with the market players and consumers. This book significantly contributes to the existing literature and serves as a learning post and a think tank for students, researchers, and business managers.
Rajagopal
July 31, 2016
Boston