22.9 Project Management in Practice
22.9.1 Scope of Management
We have seen from the above that the Promoter first started with an idea, got a
Consultant to study it and develop it into a feasibility study suitable for obtaining
funding and producing tender documents for soliciting tenders from Contractors,
after which the project gets implemented. A Consultant supervises the construction/
implementation.
All these procedures involve some forecasting, planning, monitoring which form
part of managerial activities. In fact, somebody is managing the project. But who
exactly? Is it the Consultant, the Contractor or is it the Promoter?
It is evident to everybody that the Contactor is loaded with a Project: something
that has to be implemented within a certain time limit to a given cost, etc. He has to
plan his activities such that he finishes on time.
The Consultant is acting on behalf of the Promoter. He also has to see that
everything goes well with respect to time schedules, that the Contractor does not
request for unreasonable time extensions or price increases, etc. Thus, he is also
managing the Project on behalf of the Promoter.
Given that the Contractor is busy implementing the Project, the Consultant
managing it for the Promoter or owner, one could be led to believe that there is
nothing left for the Promoter to do except sign the cheques for payment to both the
Contractor and the Consultant.
But, what about making sure that the money is available before signing the
cheques? What about engaging a Consultant and the Contractor? What about regular
meetings with the Consultant or Contractor to monitor progress? What about
keeping track of the delivery date of the project? What about recruiting, training
the staff required for operating the project? Surely all this and other sundry items are
the Promoter’s responsibilities. Thus, even the Promoter has to carry out some
project management.
We thus find that on the same Project, there are many Project Managers, each
with different responsibilities. On top of that, some managers may delegate some or
all of their responsibilities.
22.9.2 Project Within Project
It sometimes happens that a project can be divided into several smaller projects. A
typical example is the Water Supply to the North Project, which was divided into the
projects given in Table 22.2.
In this project, the different sub-projects were under the responsibility of a
different organisation, which engaged its own Consultant and Contractor to implement the Works under its own budget and so on.
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22.9.1 Scope of Management
We have seen from the above that the Promoter first started with an idea, got a
Consultant to study it and develop it into a feasibility study suitable for obtaining
funding and producing tender documents for soliciting tenders from Contractors,
after which the project gets implemented. A Consultant supervises the construction/
implementation.
All these procedures involve some forecasting, planning, monitoring which form
part of managerial activities. In fact, somebody is managing the project. But who
exactly? Is it the Consultant, the Contractor or is it the Promoter?
It is evident to everybody that the Contactor is loaded with a Project: something
that has to be implemented within a certain time limit to a given cost, etc. He has to
plan his activities such that he finishes on time.
The Consultant is acting on behalf of the Promoter. He also has to see that
everything goes well with respect to time schedules, that the Contractor does not
request for unreasonable time extensions or price increases, etc. Thus, he is also
managing the Project on behalf of the Promoter.
Given that the Contractor is busy implementing the Project, the Consultant
managing it for the Promoter or owner, one could be led to believe that there is
nothing left for the Promoter to do except sign the cheques for payment to both the
Contractor and the Consultant.
But, what about making sure that the money is available before signing the
cheques? What about engaging a Consultant and the Contractor? What about regular
meetings with the Consultant or Contractor to monitor progress? What about
keeping track of the delivery date of the project? What about recruiting, training
the staff required for operating the project? Surely all this and other sundry items are
the Promoter’s responsibilities. Thus, even the Promoter has to carry out some
project management.
We thus find that on the same Project, there are many Project Managers, each
with different responsibilities. On top of that, some managers may delegate some or
all of their responsibilities.
22.9.2 Project Within Project
It sometimes happens that a project can be divided into several smaller projects. A
typical example is the Water Supply to the North Project, which was divided into the
projects given in Table 22.2.
In this project, the different sub-projects were under the responsibility of a
different organisation, which engaged its own Consultant and Contractor to implement the Works under its own budget and so on.
646
22 Infrastructure Implementation