Module 11 Closure

***Q. I think the major disadvantage of a computerized system is the "hands-off" approach that PM's might take. Since the computer does all the work for you, it is very easy to enter all the project data into the computer and then ignore the results, where as a manual approach forces you to study the results because you formulate them yourself. Using a computerized approach it is also much easier to miss mistakes or shortcomings if you don't carefully study the computer output.
A. Good answer and very true. One important way to bridge the gap is to have the PM always write a cover letter or executive summary to the computerized report. At least then the PM will usually read the material.

***Q. About using the existing company MIS and setting up a PMIS.
A. The alternative to the PMIS is to use the company's existing MIS. These are often accounting systems for generating financial statement, not reports useful for controlling projects. See (Module 7 Cost Accounting ). The existence of a "project" almost always indicates it is separate from the companies standard accounting systems (unless the company only does projects).

**Q. The muddiest part of this chapter was the discussion of variances and indices. I still have a difficult time differentiating between budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) and budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS). I thought the book did not explain very well how to differentiate between these two values.
A. Your book presents a number of different techniques for wresting with the problem of a three-dimensional problem (cost, schedule, production) into a two dimensional representation, usually time vs. cost or production. Many projects will have hundreds of work tasks, each with a budget. As the project goes on, each individual task will have its cost. If you had all discrete tasks and the nature of the tasks were that they were either 0% or 100% complete, you would sum up all the costs for the tasks done (ACWP) and their budgets (BCWP). (Note that the foregoing says nothing about schedule.) Now if you took the schedule for these tasks you could determine a cumulative budget that was planned to be spent. This is the BCWS. Look at Figure 10-6 after you have worked with the problems that may clarify things.

***Q. Dr. Perkins: Obviously, withholding negative information is mostly wrong and unethical but what about delaying such news? At what point does delaying bad news in an effort to soften the blow become unethical?
A. Wow. (This will not be on the final) There is a big difference between telling a lie and not telling the truth. It is never right to lie by writing or saying something you know is not true, or expressing something a fact that you are not sure is a fact. Not telling the truth means keeping your mouth shut. This is often quite appropriate. The dilemma comes when I have some sort of obligation to report something that I don't want to. The question often is, can I delay this without falsifying something? As a young engineer, I worked for a superintendent, Harry, who was a pretty good fellow, but from time to time would ask me to tell a lie on his behalf. I handled it by telling the client the lie, but expressing it as, "Harry told me to tell you…." Which was the truth. When the sharp client perceived the problem and asked me, "Perkins what do you think?" I answered, "I can't tell you that." Today, I would simply tell Harry to get someone else to tell it. I should mention that the lies were not significant nor an attempt to steal or fraud, just to get the client off our backs while we scrambled to fix what was broken.

Q. Do you think that with the increasing focus toward computers that we will see a larger emphasis toward mathematical optimization approaches?
A. It depends on the industry. In many industries, optimization is the rule. In the construction industry it has always been done a low level and advanced OR was not needed. The cases where optimization was most often used in construction were, unfortunately, in lawsuits where one side was trying to prove that the other side did not use the best methods or make the correct decisions.

Q. I need some remedial instruction on milestone reporting. The figures the author uses (pg 435 and 436) are strange. I don't see the management benefit of this report or diagram. Perhaps you could elaborate in the closure module.
A. Yes, it is very elaborate and is in fact a different system, analogous to Gantt charts. Here the company apparently does "projects" but the projects have very similar steps. Note that someone initials the completion of each step. Also, revisions are dated. Hence this is a method of controlling work, as well as charting milestones.