Schwalbe defines a project as “a temporary
Schwalbe defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product,
service, os result. Operations are work done in organizations to sustain the business. Projects
are different from operations in that they end when their objectives have been reached or the
project has been terminated” (Schwalbe, 2016). Projects can be any size and they can take any
amount of time. Attributes of projects include:
? Unique purpose (Schwalbe, 2016)
? Temporary (Schwalbe, 2016)
? Developed using a progressive elaboration or in an iterative fashion (Schwalbe, 2016)
? Requires resources from various areas (Schwalbe, 2016)
? Should have a primary customer or sponsor (Schwalbe, 2016)
? Involves uncertainty (Schwalbe, 2016)
Portfolio management is “a collection of projects and programs that are grouped together to
facilitate effective management to meet strategic business objectives” (Schwalbe, 2016). A
four-stage planning process for project selection is discussed by Schwalbe. One acronym
discussed is a SWOT analysis. SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and
Threats. These concepts are used in aiding in the organization’s strategic planning
process. SWOT is used to identify strategic initiatives, defined as one-time projects with a
defined beginning, tasks, and conclusion in which resources will be allocated to (Schwalbe,
2016). The Four-Stage project selection planning process flows like this:
Strategic Planning -> Business area analysis -> Project planning -> Resource allocation
Other criteria and opportunity costs to be considered to aid in selecting projects include
performing financial projections, performing a net present value analysis, determining return
on investment, performing a payback analysis, implementing a weighted scoring model, and
possibly implementing a balanced scorecard (Schwalbe, 2016).
So is DMBA620 a project? In short, my answer is NO,.I think it is a collection of smaller projects
that together creates a portfolio. To determine this answer the following criteria should be
considered: unique purpose, temporary, developed using a progressive elaboration or in an
iterative fashion, requires resources from various areas, should have a primary customer or
sponsor, and involves uncertainty. The course description for this class states that DMBA 620 is
“a study of sound decision making in business, focusing on financial analysis and operational
issues found in every enterprise. Discussion covers economics, financial reporting and analysis,
information systems, and project management in an international context. The goal is to
understand and apply the principles and techniques of effective management planning, control,
and decision making in the global environment” (UMUC, 2017).
So, just in the course description DMBA has satisfied the unique purpose and has an elaborative
development plan. Additionally, the syllabus defines the timeline from 5/22/2017 – 8/13/2017
making it a temporary program with a definite end date. Throughout the syllabus, different
resources are outlined as well as a couple of team assignments satisfying the resources from
various area criteria. The uncertainty of the project is the grade we will get and the 6 credits
awarded upon successful completion of the class. Lastly, who is the customer? I am going to
say the customer is the professor, and our classmates, and our teammates, and our families
and possibly our employers. Basically, anyone that is affected or has a dog in the fight could be
considered a customer of us taking this class. Each of us, as the student, I believe would be the
primary sponsor by taking this class. In order for us to complete the class requires timely
submission of several smaller PROJECTS over the course of 12 weeks. These smaller projects
together make a portfolio, thus DMBA 620 I am calling a portfolio.
My Example
This time last year I was on deployment. In my deployment my command was embarked
onboard the USS Harry S Truman, CVN75. My Commodore came to me (as the leading
Weapons Department representative in the command) to come up with a 4 th of July celebration
for the Carrier Strike Group. The problem with that is fireworks are considered an illegal
pyrotechnic and cannot be stored onboard U.S. Naval vessels. Including the carrier, we had five
naval vessels to consider. The plan was actually quite simple. We first needed to determine
what resources we had available. Resources included small-arms machine guns, CIWS mounts,
5” gun mounts, and various signal flares. The concept was to align all of the ships in a straight
line and fire all munitions at the same time. Some rounds included illumination rounds while
others included starburst timed explosions. Ultimately, on July 4 th , 2016, the Harry S Truman
had a 4 th of July gunnery exercise in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that provided morale
support for the 10,000 sailors that were finishing up a long eight month deployment.
Reference
Schwalbe, K. (2016). Revised: An introduction to project management (5th ed.). Boston: Course
Technology
University of Maryland University College (UMUC). (2017). DMBA 620 9044 Effective Financial and
operational Decision Making (2175). Retrieved
fromhttps://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/content/271026/viewContent/9526547/View
