The Enterprise Environmental Factors

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Political Climate: The project can be affected by the prevailing political climate. The political climate has a very close linkage to the standards set by the government for the industry (Another Enterprise Environmental Factor discussed earlier) as the standards are set by the legislators who are a product of the political environment. If the prevailing political climate is good and is stable and there is no chance of any kind of instability, then the risks of the project are minimized and its chances of success are increased. Secondly stable political climate indicates stable and long term policies, so there are no surprises for the investors.

Communication Channels Established by Organizations: It is very important for the organizations having adequate communication channels both inside and outside the organization. As far as inside communication channels are concerned, they are somewhat linked to Organizational Culture (Discussed earlier) and outside communication channels refers to the relationship with the outside agencies. For example Government agencies etc.

Commercial Databases: This refers to the data that can be available in the government or the specific industry to help and predict the profitability of the project and to have a record of the specific industry that what has happened in the past and what are the reasons of success or failure of the projects undertaken. For example Estimated cost data, study of risks in project etc.

Acceptance in the society: It is very important that the project is accepted in the society and by the masses in population. Without the public support it gets very difficult to make a project successful. If the public is against a project either it cannot start or government agencies intervene to close the project or make the project acceptable to the public. For example Establishing a Food chain offering non Halal food to Muslim community will have severe public opposition.

Security Situation: The statistics show that the investment coming into an area is directly related to the security situation of the area. Better the security situation, more projects and investment can be expected. Better security situation increases the chances of the success of the project. Although it can be said that security is the part of the Risks, but it is so important that sometimes it is the most important risk. Secondly if there is a security situation it must be dealt with a different strategy as compared to other risks. For example when the Tamil Tigers war was going on in Sri Lanka, there was a security threat to the investors, the projects got delayed and some of them never completed even.

Information Systems on Project Management: This refers to the compatible information systems that are available to minimize the efforts to manage a project. It includes but is not limited to the automated tools like scheduling software which can be interfaced with other software like for the cost so that cost and schedule can be looked at together and understood and managed in a better manner.

DETAILED EXPLANATIONOF ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT FACTORS

In the next few pages, we shall discuss in detail about the Enterprise Environmental Factors and will look into the areas where these factors have an indirect effect and how these factors are interrelated to each other and what can be done by the project manager and staff to reduce or minimize the negative effect of any of the factors. Managing these factors and specially to the advantage of the project is one of the most critical tasks of the project manager and staff and this plays an extremely critical role in the success or the failure of the project especially in developing countries where the institutions and standard operating procedures are not very well defined. Now we’ll discuss each of the factors in detail

COMMERCIAL DATABASES

These are the type of databases that are developed and then maintained by a commercial organization and provide information to the customers/ end users for free generally. Commercial databases are a very good and reliable source of getting information about a specific area. Commercial databases are made by the local industry or by the government to help the new investors and project managers to get benefit from the database. The database generally includes all the details and the history of the projects executed previously.

If you start a project, there is no need to go each and every concerned government department to know about the procedure, no need to waste precious time on undertaking research on the previous projects in the same field and even no need to get the surveys of the targeted population as all of this information can be available to the project manager and team from the database and that too for free. Secondly if one has a problem during the execution of the project, you can again refer back to the database and see whether this problem has occurred to someone else and how they dealt with it. This gives you a fair idea how to deal with the problem and generally can have a relatively stress free project execution.

For example if you want to establish a milk processing plant in the United States, you can go to the concerned database and can see all the legal requirements to start a milk processing plant in the United States. You can also know the procedures, the concerned departments, the list of manufacturers of the machinery used for milk processing and their grading, the areas where the cattle farming is done and milk is available in abundance etc. All this information can make the job of the investor and well as the project manager a lot easier. This is how commercial databases save time and money and are a must to be consulted if they are available.

GOVERNMENT STANDARDS AND REGULATION

The course of action of the project, its methodology and sometimes even the deliverables of the project are dependent upon the standards and regulations that are set by the concerned government. Generally the governments have a well established and defined set of rules and regulations for every industry and compliance all those rules and regulations is a must for everybody interested to do business in that particular area. Non conformance to the rules and regulations can result in imposing penalty from the government. The penalty can be from a minor fine to even shut down of the project depending on the nature of the nonconformity.

The government standards are present in every relevant area of the project. Let us take an example of construction of a high rise building in a town. The following can be some of the major standards that are set by the government that must be adhered to

Human Resource: Different countries have different rules but some of the common rules in this manner are protection of minimum salary. The company cannot pay any of its employees less than the minimum wage prescribed by the government. Similarly some social security like medical of all the employees has to be born by the company.

Construction Codes: Different areas have different code for construction. For example it is necessary to have a free space on all four sides of the plot in India. Secondly after the 2005 Earth Quake in Pakistan, all the new buildings have to be earthquake resistant of minimum of intensity of 7.5 on rector scale. Also necessary No Objection Certificates have to be taken from all relevant authorities before starting of the project. There are many other codes like

A building must have a fire prevention system.

Must have an approved map from the relevant authority of the building.

Construction must not disturb the public living in surrounding areas.

Energy conservation approach.

Must have designated parking area.

Must have emergency exits etc.

If these codes are not met, then the company is liable to heavy fines and even to the termination of the project.

Quality of Construction: There are certain quality parameters that one has to follow during the course of construction of a building. For example all the material used like iron, concrete etc. Must be of approved quality and quantity per square feet area which will ensure the life and the strength of the building. For this purpose the relevant government agency undertakes quality audits regularly.

Environment Health and Safety: It is extremely important that the project adheres to Environment Health and Safety (EHS). In come areas it is known as SHE) standards set by the government. These standards include the following

i) Environment: It refers to the point that the project should not be damaging the environment and if it is then necessary remedial measures must be taken as per the standards set by the government to take it into a permissible range.

ii) Health: That the health of all the employees should be looked after. For example there can be an in house dispensary or if the workers are working in a dusty environment,, they can be given face masks etc.

iii) Safety: As the construction area is not safe and there are always chances of any kind of accidents happening, the employees and visitors must have safety equipment to protect them from harmful effects of any accident like helmets, gloves, glasses, safety shoes etc.

These are some of the regulations by the government towards a specific industry. Adherence to these standards is a must and it changes the cost, time and scope of the project. Hence all these factors must be kept in mind in planning phase of the project.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESOURCES OF THE COMPANY

The infrastructure of the company and resources at the disposal of the company plays a very important role in the project life span. In fact they directly influence almost all the critical areas of project management. It is therefore said that infrastructure and resources available must be analyzed very thoroughly before and during the project, so that no hiccups are faced afterwards.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Before the start of the project infrastructure is to be developed for the project to be carried out. In most of the cases where a company is launching itself in a new area or a new company is being setup, then the infrastructure development is the part of the project itself and in those cases where the company is less established than required infrastructure is added.

The infrastructure requirement of the company may vary from time to time and project to project. The infrastructure may include buildings, roads, electricity provision, sales and marketing team. Let us try and understand this by having an example. It is extremely important to have the basic infrastructure in place before the physical work can start on the project. For example there is project of construction of a dam at a remote location. Firstly you have to build a road to that area so that the heavy traffic and machinery can reach the dam site. Without the machinery the work cannot start. Secondly the residential colony for staff is to be established and constructed so that they can live there and not only residential area but facilities like health, sports must also be provided. Then there must be shed and parking areas for the machinery to park and store and warehouses for the storages of the raw material is also necessary. You would have appreciated that as it was a project in the new area so the company needed to have the basic infrastructure in place before the start of the project.

RESOURCES

It is very important to understand that the resources at the disposal of the company are always limited. One cannot have the luxury of having unlimited resources. One of the major job responsibilities of the project manager is to complete the project in minimum resources. The resources available have its impact of the time, quality and scope of the project

Some of the important resources that a company/organization has are as follows

Financial Resources: That refers to the financial capital or financial strength of the organization. It is the most important resource of the company as without money no project can even start. The financial situation of the company has its effects on each and every aspect of the project.

Machinery and Equipment: To carry out a technical job or some physical work is to be done, then the machinery at the disposal of the company is very critical for the execution of the project. At this stage the project manager and the organization have to decide whether to go for the procurement of the machinery or to have the machinery on rent to undertake the work.

Human Resource: human resource is also one of the very important resources of the company and the fate of the project is dependent on that. We’ll discuss in detail about human resource later.

HUMAN RESOURCE

It is now very well realized globally that human resource is one of the most important resources of the organization and now for good and fast growing organizations, a good human resource at the disposal is a must. Because at the end of the day human are the driving force of the organization. As they say that it doesn’t matter how good the machinery is, if the operator operating the machine is not good, one cannot have a good product at the end of the day.

MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCE AND ITS IMPORTANCE

Managing human beings is one of the most difficult jobs in the world as a human being is the most difficult machine. Although human resource management is an independent full subject and we’ll touch upon it later, all I want to say at this point is that it is a very tricky business.

Following are some of the points mentioning that the human resource is essential for organizations

Ambassador of Organization: Human resource is only the ambassador of the organization. If it is impressive, then the company will have a good name and vice versa.

Technical Expertise and Knowledge: Its emphasis on the point that the people are the technical experts and know how to do things and manage them. All the other things like tools, techniques, machines etc. are just there to help the people working. If the people have adequate technical skills and knowledge, only then they can take correct decisions and only by correct decisions a company/organization can prosper and projects can be made successful.

INVESTMENT IN HUMAN RESOURCE

Understanding the importance of the human resource, the organizations have started to invest in human resource.

Recruitment: Now the companies and market heavily to attract people to their organization. For this they conduct open houses and awareness sessions in universities and institutes. Also the recruitment process is very extensive and the organizations are willing to pay for that so that they can have better human resources at their disposal.

Capacity Building: Companies are emphasizing more and more on the capacity building of the people working for them and this is so because it has proved to be beneficial in the last two decades. Most common methods of capacity buildings are as follows

In house training: This refers to the training being given to be employee during the job. This is also called as on the job training. In this during the work people are taught methods to do work more efficiently.

Classroom training: This refers to the type of training where a classroom type environment is created and bookish knowledge is transferred in most of the cases. These types of trainings can be organized within the organization or outside the organization. Generally in these types of training an expert on the subject is called to give training.

Seminars: Companies arrange seminars or send their employees to seminars to increase their knowledge in the area related to their job.

Conferences: Again the companies like seminars conduct conferences or sent their people to attend the conferences to improve their knowledge in the area related to their job and keep them abreast with the latest advancements in their field.

Exhibitions: To improve knowledge of the employees and to keep informed about the new technologies, companies send their employees to exhibitions and also by this it is easier for them to propose solutions to the problems

Visits to the industry: The organization arranges visits for their employees to visit different well reputed and advanced companies to see how work is done and to identify where they can improve the practices and procedures of the company.

COMPANY SYSTEMS

Since last 2 or 3 decades, it is a big catch in the industry that there must be well defined systems in place in each and every organization. These systems are the backbone of an organization and without the systems a company cannot run efficiently and it’s almost impossible to manage an organization.

Well, to an extent it is absolutely right. Well defined systems are very important. All the checks and balances and all the management are done through a system. At the same time it is also very important to understand that if complex systems are introduced in an organization, it can cause hindrance in the day to day working of an organization. Systems are present to help an organization not to create hurdles in the working of an organization. This is where systems of an organization are a constraint that a project manager has to face and manage.

Generally the biggest problem is that the people involved in the execution of the project are not involved in the financial and policy matters of the project. Now if there is some change required in the project that can have a financial impact, then there is a long procedure to get the approval of that and the case might go to the level of the Board of Governors/Directors of the company. This causes delay and sometimes the project manager has not that much time at his disposal to wait for the decision.

In my view although systems are extremely important for any organization and they must be there, yet any system in actual causes delay. The systems are present to minimize the chances of errors and wrong decisions and secondly to have a check and balance on the people.

For example, if an engineer of an organization working on a technical project has to buy some equipment for the project but doesn’t have any financial power, then he has to write it to the competent authority which will give its approval and the case will be forwarded to purchase department which will procure the material after fulfilling all the necessary formalities. After that the accounts department will pay the bill which must have the audit clearance. Now this whole exercise in which at least four to five offices were involved, only two offices could have done the job. The issue is that what if during the execution of the project some unexpected thing happens and the equipment required in very urgent and without which the project cannot go further. In this case either the system has to be bypassed, which is wrong or alternatively let the system take its time and the project is put on hold. The example above is one of the worst case scenarios but it does happen.

Generally in day to day matters because of the systems in place, things get delayed and the project manager has to plan accordingly. He should be smart enough to apprehend and identify the issues that can come in future causing hurdles in the success of the project and keeping in view the procedures and systems of the organization, the matter should be taken well in time and all necessary approvals should be taken so that the no delays are faced. However, it is easier said than done.

PERSONAL ADMINISTRATION

Personal Administration is one of the very important factors to successfully manage the workforce. It is generally observed that in most of the areas of the world, people do not take responsibility and are in general having evasive attitude towards work. This attitude is always not in favor of the organization and organizations try their level best to ensure that the people are well managed and they are administered properly.

It is very important to make a point here that there is a difference between human resource management and personal administration. Although one can argue that personal administration is a part of human resource management, yet these are two separate things and should be dealt separately. In a broader prospect, human resource management is about defining policies and strategies and to implement those strategies related to human resource management. In these matters human resource department is involved. On the other hand the personal administration includes the way an employee is handled by his superiors/bosses or managers. This is the way the boss treats its employees. It has nothing to do with the policies and procedures of the organization and human resource. For example it is at the discretion of the manager to give leave to the employee or not or to recommend him for the bonus etc.

When it comes to the personal administration there are no hard and fast rules that can be applied. This is all at the disposal of the manager how he deals with the situation. For personal administration, the organization gives certain authorities to the managers so that they can effectively manage their subordinates. In general the personal administration includes but is not limited to the following

Timekeeping: Keeping the record of when people are coming to work and when they are leaving. This is also important in cases where the overtime of the employees in important. Secondly by this the manager can keep the discipline and adherence to office timings and also leaves taken by the employee can be administered.

Training requirements: Identifying the training requirements of the employees and to recommend them for trainings relevant tot their jobs and skills.

Addressing Personal issues: This refers to the personal attention to the employee. For example if somebody has some kind of a domestic problem or is facing health problems, accommodating him at work place for a little period of time and giving him emotional help can be very beneficial for the employee to recover from the problem.

Realistic annual targets: This is one of the very controversial areas. Generally the employees complain that their boss has given them some unrealistic targets which cannot be met. This is a source of dissatisfaction for the employee. Again this is a matter that cannot be challenged and is in the hands of the manager.

The role of the manager is extremely important when it comes to personal administration and also it is very difficult to challenge it. The manager must try his utmost to keep morale of his subordinates high as much as he can and try to solve their problems because at the end of the day if the employees are satisfied, one can expect better output from them.

MARKET PLACE SITUATION

The trends and situation of the market are a very important consideration of any project. Basing on this the feasibility of the project is judged. Following are some of the methods by which market place situation can be examined and analyzed

Historical data: Historic data is analyzed by the company so that they can estimate the success or the failure of the project. For example if you want to launch a new car in small sized car category in a region, firstly you have to analyze that how many such efforts have been made of the same nature and whether they have been successful or not. If they have been successful then is the market too saturated to launch another small sized car? Secondly if the previous launches have not been successful then identify the reasons and also identify that how this car launch will be different from previous launches and how it can be successful. Lastly identify that is there demand for small sized car in that region.

Current situation: Historic data are always helpful in analyzing the feasibility of a project but as the marketplace situation is always changing and the dynamics of the market are very variable, the current situation must be analyzed before taking any decision. Taking the example of launch of small sized cars, if the historical data shows that the previous launches have not been successful but one thing is to be kept in mind and that what was the cost of the fuel when previous cars were launched. It might be the factor that previously people afforded the fuel for cars but in the last three to five years as the cost of fuel has gone up very rapidly, people might choose to go for the smaller cars. Secondly the traffic in the city might have increased in the past few years and driving the big cars might now be difficult in cities than smaller cars. This can also persuade the buyers to go for smaller cars. This is why the analysis of the current situation is very important.

Public surveys: Public surveys are also very important tool to analyze the perception of the people. In these surveys, the company tries to engage the likely customer and take their views on the product. The surveys can be of many types. In case of the example of a small sized car, firstly the question can be asked that whether they are interested in buying a small sized car and what are the essential features they desire that must be present in the car. By this one can get the idea that what people think about a small sized car and what are their expectations out of it. It is obvious that in case of a small sized car the target audience will be the middle class and firstly the definition of the middle class is to be classified.

Economic Situation of the region: Lastly and most importantly, the economic situation of the region is to be analyzed. Whether the environment is conducive for making an investment in the region and secondly do the targeted customers have the finances to buy smaller sized cars.

READINESS TO TAKE RISKS BY STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholders are the people and the agencies/organizations that are affected directly or indirectly, positively or negatively by the execution of the project. Some of the stakeholders are sponsors of the project, local population, government, project manager and staff, organizations involved in the project, concerned industry etc.

Now the issue is that every project has some risks involved and elimination and mitigation of the risks will be discussed later in detail. Do the stakeholders are ready to take those risks and go ahead with the project or these risks are too high and keeping in view the risks, the stakeholders decide not to execute the project. These are the decisions that are to be taken by the consensus of all the stakeholders.

The risks in the project can be of many types. Some of them are listed below

Natural calamity: Before or after the completion of the project any natural calamity like earthquake, floods can occur which can even destroy the project. For example as Japan is on the seismic zone, therefore all the buildings are made earthquake proof. Similarly after the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, the building codes have been changed and earthquake structures are mandatory.

Uncertainty: All the projects have uncertainty associated to it till the time it is completed. Uncertainty that the project will be successful or not, whether it would be finished in due cost and time etc. As they say that higher the risks higher are the returns. This is the reason why whenever the project is completed, its old at a higher price than its original cost.

Economic situation: Risk that the economic situation of the region may get worsened and the project might get delayed or may not get the desired benefits that were expected. For example from 2008-2010 during the international recession, the property prices in Dubai dropped by more than 50 percent. Most of the high rise building projects get delayed or were cancelled because of the recession.

Other risks include the political situation, security situation which will be discussed later.

All such risks must be analyzed and identified first and then all the stakeholders should sit together and decide that considering all the risks whether the project is feasible or not. It is also very important that the stakeholders try to understand each others point of view and agree on a point and must try to avoid any conflicts amongst the stakeholders. For example Kalabagh dam project in Pakistan is ready to be constructed but the provinces that are stakeholders in the project have objections that certain cities will get drowned in the lake of the dam and the second province has an objection that the upper riparian province will not give the share of water and they’ll be badly affected. Despite there are as such no technical issues but because of the stakeholders have arisen risks, the project has yet not started.

POLITICAL CLIMATE

The political climate in the region where the project is to be executed is one of the important considerations for any project sponsor/investor. If there is good political climate then there are lesser risks of the policies being changed. Also as the political stability is directly related to the economic stability of the region, therefore it must be very closely watched.

It is also important to mention here is that the political stability is directly related to the security situation in the country as well as the economic situation. All these three go hand in hand. If one of the three factors is disturbed, it is most likely that the other two factors will be affected. The most important of all the three factors is the political factor as it has the most effect on the other factors. The bad economic situation can be settled with the implementation of good policies and also security situation can also be dealt with political intervention but once there is political instability, there is only one way out and that is to get the political stability.

If there is political stability in a region, people will be confident of investing in the region and vice versa. For example since the political instability has increased in Egypt, the number of projects initiated have decreased drastically. This is because of the political instability, both the security as well as the economic situation has been hit very badly and the risks of failure of the project have increased drastically.

This is the reason why in the 90’s, it was observed that whenever the government of India was dissolved and elections were called without the completion of the term of the government, business used to go down and when a new government was formed, it again used to catch up. But in the last decade or so as the political stability is present and the governments tend to complete their terms, despite the fact that in 2013 India is going into elections and there will be a change in government, still the investors are ready to invest and initiate projects as they know that since the political stability is there, elections and change of governments doesn’t matter much.

In general it can be said that the investors prefer investing in the countries where political stability is present and is the reason why we see that all of the developed world have stability in their political system and this is the reason why they have consistent policies and hardly any U-turns are seen when it comes to policy making.

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS ESTABLSIHED BY ORGANIZATIONS

For any organization to survive, it must have good communication channels. There are two kinds of communication channels, one that are established for inside communication of the organization and second that is built and designed to communicate with the people outside the organization. Both the communication systems are extremely important for the organization.

Communication methods are used to communicate with each other and get to know the ideas and viewpoints of others and secondly to distribute and gather information. The information is distributed to all the stakeholders so that they are well aware and up to date about the happening on the project. By this the necessary information that the project manager and the Chief Executive Officer of the company needs, so that they can take correct decisions can also be obtained directly by the head of the company or its staff.

As far as the communication outside the organization is concerned, it is also very important. One has to have very good relations with the related government agencies so that one has the first hand information about any proposed changes in the field in which project is being executed. Secondly, one has to have very good communication channels with the suppliers and transporters so that one is one hundred percent aware that when the goods will be supplied so that the scheduling of the tasks can be done in a better way.

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Following are some of the methods by which communication channels can be established

Individual and group meetings: Regular individual and group meeting should be conducted so that the perspective of an individual (Head of the department) and the perspective of the group (All managerial staff plus some members of worker class of the department) about the matter can be taken. By this the whole department can be taken into confidence and is abreast with what is happening.

Video and audio conferencing: This is also a very essential tool for establishing communication with the people who are working at different locations. By this a lot of precious time and money can be saved. It is somewhat an alternative to meetings although the face to face meetings are a better way of communication but has its drawbacks as well.

Informal Computer chats: Informal computer chats can also be a source of communication. They can also be formal. Many organizations have developed portals so that the people within the organization can have a chat, can give and ask for suggestions and try and solve problems as quickly as possible.

INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION

It is also very important to distribute information to all stakeholders. Information distribution can be done by the following ways

Hardcopy system: Information is dissipated through printed hard copies to the stakeholders. The example of this can be a newsletter published after a set periodic time.

Manual filing system: Manual filing system can be an option to dissipate information although it is an old method and most organizations are shifting from it.

Press releases: These are done where the audience is huge or located at different locations. Generally this is used for information dissipation outside the organization. For example information to the local community is given by newspapers, tenders are published in newspapers etc.

Shared access electronic databases: This is for inside the organization. One can share the data or ideas in the shared electronic database of the organization.

Email, fax, telephone, voice mail websites, web publishing: These are all information dissipation and communication channels which can be formal or official. They are easier methods and are also cheap and convenient. Now the companies are moving towards these types of communication and trying to have a paperless environment in their organizations.

ACCEPTANCE IN THE SOCIETY

Before the start of the project, it is to be determined that whether the project will be acceptable to the society and all the other stakeholders. It has been learnt through various examples that the project that don’t have the acceptance in the society doesn’t reach the execution stage, if they do reach the execution then they face tremendous resistance and never get completed and at the best if the project is completed, it is a failure and the benefits of the project cannot be taken to its fullest. It is therefore necessary that all the stakeholders especially the society as a whole should be analyzed before starting of a project.

The community or the population is very powerful in general. Firstly they are good in numbers and through manpower they can always influence the project and can always go to the court of law which can delay the project. Secondly as they have good numbers, they can persuade the political leadership in their favor and at the end of the day the people do matter. In general public sees their own interests or the project is against their principals, culture and faith. Generally the community is right when they are opposing any project as communities welcome any economic activity coming into their area as it brings jobs and as a result prosperity. However, it cannot be said that the community decisions are always right.

Launching and executing a gay marriages awareness program in a country where there is majority of Muslim majority country is not a good idea. As gay marriages are against the teachings of Islam, the Muslims in the region will resist to the launch and execution of the program. This was an example of a project that is against the beliefs, faith and culture of the community.

Another example can be that of the Kalabagh dam project in Pakistan. This is a project in the province of Punjab in Pakistan but the people of all other three provinces (Sindh, KPK and Balochistan) are against the execution of the project. This is because that the people of other provinces think that the project is not in their interest. The people of KPK think that one of their important and populated towns named Nowshehra will get drowned in the lake of the dam and the people of Sindh think that the upper riparian province will get the control of water releases and they’ll not get their due share of water. This is the reason why the project is pending for the last two decades and has not yet even started.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Information system generally known as "IS" is also a very important source of managing a project and its presence is essential. It is the establishment of networks of which can be both hardware and software which organizations use to manage data more effectively. Information systems are targeted to process data within the organizations and to share results with all the concerned. Following are some of the stages to manage data

Collect: Firstly the data is collected from the end user and source. The data provider must make sure that the data is correct.

Filter: After collection of the data, it is filtered as only essential and relevant data is presented for further processing.

Process: Further the data are processed and through different software it is analyzed and adequate information is extracted from the data as per the directions of the higher management or as per the format in practice.

Distribute: After processing and extracting required results, the data is distributed and circulated to all concerns so that the decision making can be made easier.

History

The history of the information system is as old as the history of the computers and the companies are using information technology to manage data as soon as the inception of computers.

Types of Information System

There are different types of information systems. Some of them are as follows

Data warehouses: These are the databases used for the purpose of analyzing and reporting data. It is the database built from collecting information from different sources and then is deposited in sort of a central library

Enterprise systems: These are generally large scale application software that is used to support different processes in business and manage data. Enterprise systems can further be classified into Resource Planning, Customer relationship management and Enterprise Planning systems software.

Expert systems: These are the types of systems in which artificial intelligence is used. The software can analyze data and give results and recommendations basing on the data as an expert. The accuracy of the results is conditional.

Search engines: These are the software codes that have the facility to search the World Wide Web and collect information, photographs etc. for the user.

Geographic information systems: These systems are designed to manage the data related to the geography of the world and any information can be accessed through these information systems.

Global information system: These information systems are used when something related to the global setting is to be done.

Office automation: Office automation is used to get the data and apply all stages of data management on it so that basic day to day tasks can be done easily through computer and software which can be custom made. The office automation is helped by a LAN system without which it is of no use and some of the communication is done through LAN. Office automation was very popular since the desktop computers have hit the market. Some of its advantages are as follows

Tasks can be completed faster with the help of office automation system

For office management, large staff is not required. This is very helpful in small and medium sized companies

As the data is collected at a central location only, less data storage space is required.

More than one person can upload and edit data simultaneously.

As the times are changing and information technology is growing at a very fast pace, the information system for a company are very important. In case the company is doing its business in project management, then project management information systems are essential for doing it in a professional and effective manner.

SECURITY SITUATION

The security situation of a region where a project is planned must be analyzed in depth. It has previously been discussed in detail that the political situation, the economic situation and security situation are directly related to each other. It is obvious that the areas where there are security issues, making an investment and initiating projects can cause loss to the organization.

The securities can be of two types i.e. financial security and law and order situation in the region. We’ll discuss both of them.

Financial Security

This refers to the financial security that the government or the organization for which the project is being implemented is ready to offer. For example in many cases the government gives the guarantee that in cases where the project has not been able to complete because of some unavoidable circumstances, then the company or the investor will be paid according to the settled formula so that no ambiguity is present. By this the company gets the financial security that if the situation is out of control of the company, then the government or any agency will compensate for the loss or the cost incurred by the company. This can also be treated as risk sharing that instead of one entity bearing the full load of the loss, there will be two or more entities that will bear the loss. This gives confidence to the investor and it feels confident. For example in Pakistan independent power producers were introduced in mid 90’s generating electricity from furnace oil. As Pakistan imports furnace oil, it was decided that the supply of fuel will be the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan and if the supply of fuel is not made, then the company will be paid as per the agreed formula by the government.

Law and Order Situation

Law and order situation is also a very key factor that investors and project initiators think of before the start of the project. As the level of the risk is high in the areas where law and order situation is not stable, then it is a point of concern for the investor. Now it comes to the point of readiness of the stakeholder or the sponsor of the project either to initiate the project or not. A big question is that whether the sponsor is ready to take the risk or not. Generally at this stage certain securities are taken and then the expected returns are calculated and basing on those results risks are taken.

For example, planning to make an investment and then executing a project in areas like Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq is a big challenge these days. The people and the properties are not safe and there is a serious law and order situation in these countries. They all are almost in the state of war and attacks and fights are a daily routine. In these circumstances, initiating a project and then executing a project are a big challenge. As only because of the closing of the supply route, the project team will not get the raw material for the execution of the project and the project will get delayed. Also finding the adequate human resource in these areas is very difficult which can also be a factor causing delay and bad quality work execution.

So, the project sponsor and project manager, considering all these points in mind, decide whether to go for the project or not and if yes then what will be the time, scope and cost of the project.