HEATH ROBINSON'S NETWORK INSTALLATION PROJECT

Heath Robinson's Network Installation Project

Heath Robinson's Network Installation Project

Introduction

The past several decades have been marked by a rapid growth in the use of project management (PM) as a means by which The Heath Robinson Web hosting company achieve their objectives. Project management provides an The Heath Robinson Web hosting company with powerful tools that improve its ability to plan, implement and control its activities as well as the ways in which it utilizes its people and resources. It has emerged because the characteristics of our late 20th century society demand the development of new methods of management (Meredith and Mantel, 1995). One of these methods developed over a period of 20 years starting from 1970 (Anderson et al., 1999; Grude, 1997) but rapidly adopted by companies all over the world, is goal directed project management (GDPM).

Heath Robinson's Network Installation Project

The GDPM method is developed mainly for the needs of PSO projects (people, systems, The Heath Robinson Web hosting company ). PSO projects are projects where development of a “system” and development of people and The Heath Robinson Web hosting company will occur simultaneously (Anderson et al., 1999). In this category belong the projects of implementation and optimal adaptation (IOA) of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (Pawlowski and Boudreau, 1999; Chung and Synder, 1999; Shtub, 1999).

An ERP is constituted by many subsystems, which collaborate aiming at the complete cooperation and interaction of the enterprise departments and at the leveling of the proper company operation (Shtub, 1999; Markus and Tanis, 2000; Davenport, 2000; Laudon and Laudon, 2000; Soh et al., 2000; Kennerley and Neely, 2001; Laughlin, 1999; Rosemann, 1999). The complete implementation of an ERP system is a very difficult and important task and includes the optimal adaptation and installation of all the subsystems in the respective departments of the enterprise.

In the following sections it will be shown in which way GDPM can support the complex process of IOA of an ERP system and there will be presented a methodology for this process.

2 GDPM: a brief introduction

An increasing number of The Heath Robinson Web hosting company is faced with the task of managing complex projects. GDPM is a comprehensive philosophy, process and method for managing projects, and has proven applicable to all kinds of projects ranging from behavioral change to large technical endeavors. The big difference between GDPM and other PM methods is its simple and scalable approach (Cleland, 1994; King, 1991; Weiss and Wysocki, 1992; Baruer and Longman, n.d.; Welti, 1999). It fits for large programs as well as for small projects. The method is based upon layered planning (Grude, 1997):

* A management level focusing on controllable results (milestones) throughout the project and how to organize to achieve these.

* A detail level outlining the activities and responsibility for achieving a milestone.

Separating the big picture from the details is a prerequisite for management to obtain and keep a stable overview of progress and results, and at the same time ensures control on a sufficient level of ...