Regardless of the size of a project, business management (number of employees or capital cost), or category, the most significant components at the leading edge are “data” and “data analysis.” Project and business managers often find themselves in a maze of data, not knowing where to begin, what data to collect, or what significant findings are crucial to the undertaking’s success.   

Introduction

Essentially, what we do at DPBA is demystify the maze. We are a full-service Management, Consulting, and Technology firm specializing in Collecting, Disseminating, and Analysing data on diverse populations globally, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) in the diaspora and other racialized populations across Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa.

In addition, our firm is one of the global leaders in conducting Labour Market Needs Assessment surveys, statistical analysis, and cutting-edge technological solutions. With a core focus on digital transformation and IT-managed services, DPBA bridges the gap between traditional business practices and innovative tech solutions. Our commitment to excellence and forward-thinking approaches have positioned us as leaders in the industry, serving both B2B and B2C clients worldwide.

DPBA is positioning the organization to broaden its service offerings to help foster a better understanding of the integration between project and business management among project and business managers. This capacity will foster a broad base of digital educational forums, offering innovative articles and fueling the release of DPBA’s “knowledge base” of end-to-end project and business management knowledge, from ideation to business start-up, execution and closeout.[1]

When initiating a project or business, the general consensus is to begin with a feasibility study. Every business and project manager will agree with such a proposition, but Is a Business or project feasibility study sufficient as a litmus test for success?  Rather than making an empathic statement for or against, the more informed answer would be to present five foundational perspectives that provide the most significant opportunity to enable business and project success. Writers and experts may point to different perspectives consistent with their business schools of thought or experiences. DPBA puts forward the following five perspectives depicted in Figure 1:

The five elements depicted in Figure 1 (above) are generic and the sole determinant of project and business success. However, they do not represent the parameters for managing a functioning project or business. Unlike parameters for project and business development, execution, management, controls, and closeout, these five elements are prerequisites for establishing confidence among project and business managers. Fully integrated, they establish the foundation for implementing the project and business life cycle depicted in Table 1 (below).

PROJECT AND BUSINESS LIFE CYCLE PERSPECTIVES

PROJECT LIFE CYCLE:	BUSINESS LIFE CYCLE:
Initiation	Ideation
Planning	Concept
Execution	Development
Controlling	Start-up
Closeout*	Operation**

Table 1.

*Closeout may imply the discrete end of a project. However, it also signifies both a theoretical monthly closeout and its more significant meaning of the end of a project—meeting all contractual obligations, including commissioning reports, permits, licenses, warranties, and operating manuals.

**On the other hand, this article introduces an aspect of business operations that calls for a theoretical monthly business closeout to be analyzed for the Review of Variance (ROV) (Reference: Article Number 5).

Each project and project life cycle element is a prerequisite of the other, and only when integrated as a whole can practitioners achieve the desired result. Furthermore, managing projects and businesses may seem indistinct operations underpinned by nomenclature. Notwithstanding, Table 2 (below) is a comparison between the two critical areas of knowledge and skills pertinent to project and business management. This comparison underscores the need for a comprehensive understanding of both areas, highlighting the importance of continuous learning in your field.

COMPARRISON BETWEEN 10 PROJECT AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE AREAS

10 PROJECT MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE AREAS: [2]	10 VALUABLE BUSINESS [MANAGEMENT] SKILLS: [3]
1. Project Integration Management	1. Data analysis
2. Project Scope Management	2. Understanding of Economics
3. Project Schedule Management	3. Emotional Intelligence
4. Project Cost Management	4. Networking
5. Project Quality Management	5. Leadership
6. Project Resource Management	6. Business management
7. Project Communications Management	7. Project management, planning and organization
8. Project Risk Management	8. Financial management
9. Project Procurement Management	9. Communication and negotiation
10. Project Stakeholder Management	10. Financial accounting

Table 2.

The strictures of the Ten Knowledge Areas of Project Management, the PMBOK, is the foundational document of the Project Management Institute (PMI)®, providing the most significant “Body of knowledge” for understanding and successfully managing projects. [4] Likewise, from a business perspective, schools such as the Online Harvard Business School (the graduate business school of Harvard University) is a private Ivy League research university that identifies ten business management knowledge areas consistent with the foundational criteria for managing businesses. [5]

The word project, which is associated with each management category, may appear to negate the need for the association of each category’s relevance to business management. However, whether you are a practitioner, shareholder, or stakeholder, understanding the crucial association between projects and businesses is fundamental to the maze of interconnecting approaches, methodologies, policies, guidelines and procedures, and metrics used throughout the industry enterprise and among different practitioners.

While these ten project management criteria (above) may differ from the standard language in business management, understanding and integrating critical aspects of project management into the business management space significantly increases the probability of business success. For instance, this knowledge empowers you to grasp the impact of budget, cost flow versus cash flow, and monthly cost reporting, particularly in the critical area of Review of Variance (ROV), presenting monthly/yearly cost reports to project shareholders and stakeholders.

This approach to enterprise project/business cost reporting is more than just abstract numbers but a realistic representation of the business’s feasibility, viability, growth, stability, and sustainability study and analysis (Reference: Article Number 5). The preceding background information highlighted the need to develop a mindset for understanding the integrated nature of projects and businesses.

However, Figure 1 is the common link at the inception of a business or project undertaking, which is the underlying purpose of this Article Number 6. The brief definition of each of the five overlapping elements will help practitioners better understand how to navigate the world of projects and business management from philosophical and innovative perspectives (see Figure 1), briefly defined below as follows:

1. Feasibility Study

What is Project and Business Feasibility?

Feasibility is essential to project and business management. It is the study and analysis of the foundational elements of a project or a business idea. Although the feasibility study is predicated on foundational elements of the project plan or business idea, such as design, engineering, development, architecture, procurement, construction, manufacturing, publicity, marketing, and delivery, these studies may be theoretical regarding business viability.

Although a feasibility study may determine the likelihood of project or business success, measured in Return on Investment (RIO), the specific measures and anticipated outcomes for projects and business success vary. For instance, project managers strive to achieve profitability for their organizations by delivering the project to their clients on time, quality, and budget as the principal objectives. On the other hand, business managers measure success by the net profit for sales of materials, goods and services.

2. Viability undergirded by Feasibility Study

What is Project and Business Viability?

Business viability is a study and analysis that goes beyond the theoretical and strives to answer the questions demonstrated by the feasibility study. Viable helps to answer more profound questions regarding the capacity to achieve the outcomes of a project or business viability. For instance, capital cost budgets, contingency finances, resources (human and material), tools, and technology to engender the stated outcomes, objectives, and return on investments (RIO) as a guard against project failure.

3. Growth and Profitability Undergirded by Viability

What is Project and Business Growth and Profitability?

Business growth and profitability are desirable and validate the viability of the project or business. From a project perspective, growth and profitability mean delivering projects according to the legal contract definition. The benefits are new contract opportunities for growth and possibilities. On the other hand, business growth and profitability are punctuated by the scale of the growth of small, medium, and large corporations. Moreover, the number of new businesses launching regionally and internationally, expanded product lines, and annual sales volume.

4. Stability Undergirded by Growth and Profitability

What is Project and Business Stability?

Project stability is a desirable requirement for project success, meaning that the project resources (time, resource, cost, procurement, delivery, and deliverables) occur on time and according to requirements and specifications. Notwithstanding, external circumstances might disrupt the stability of the project, such as environmental circumstances, social unrest, strikes, work stoppages due to labour negotiations, or procurement delays.

Business stability is also a desirable requirement for project success and is more crucial to functioning businesses with a base of customers that rely on the daily production of the company, particularly for critical products that go to hospitals, fuel for transportation, or produce for groceries. Hence, security of supply becomes a significant factor in planning and running their businesses.

5. Sustainability Undergirded by Stability

What is Project and Business Sustainability?  

Project and business sustainability is most desirable for project and business managers. It implies that managers strive to sustain their projects and businesses throughout the life cycles, undergirded by routine “sustainability audits.” Project sustainability helps ensure that the essential policies, guidelines, procedures, and metrics are used throughout the enterprise to maintain stability and sustainability, including the foundational elements of the project such as vision, mission, goals and objectives, critical resources (human, material, and technological), cost, risk, and quality management, competencies, on-time-delivery, integrity, civic-mindedness, and philanthropy.

From a business perspective, businesses are sustained by financial stability as a first imperative, underpinned by the above-mentioned elements of project sustainability. However, the approach or methodology might differ in execution. Paradoxically, rapid growth is a double-edged sword for business in today’s competitive environments unless the company has a strong s foundation predicated on applying contingency planning in all critical projects and business areas.

Finally

The success of a project or business begins with feasibility and viability. Cost Engineers, certified by the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE), [6] are the most indispensable resource for assisting Project and Business Managers in determining the actual cost of a project or business undertaking, a systematic approach that is key to managing cost throughout the life cycle of any enterprise, program, facility, project, product, or service.

The highest’ value proposition’ (subject for a future article) is the application of principles of Review of Variance (ROV) across all significant aspects of projects and businesses. The benefits of ROV are critical to project and business cost management. It is the ‘force multiplier’ for successful cost and financial management.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Dunn, Pierre, Barnett & Company Canada Ltd
First Canadian Place
100 King Street West
Suite 5700, Toronto, ON
M5X 1C7, CANADA
Cell: 647-966-4783  Fax: 416.915.4260
Email: jpierre@dpbglobal.com Email: cjustinepierre@gmail.com  

Website: http://www.dpbglobal.com

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Footnotes

[1] Dunn, Pierre, Barnett & Company Canada Ltd (DPBA) (https://dpbglobal.com/associates/).

[2] Project Management Institute (PMI)® [The Project Management Institute is an accredited based not-for-profit professional organization, for certifying individuals interested in a career in project management] (pmi.org). Project Management Professional (PMP)® Demonstrate your ability to lead projects in any industry with this globally recognized certification and open the door to a world of opportunities (https://www.pmi.org/certifications/project-management-pmp).

[3] Harvard business School: By Matt Gavin:23 May 2019: 10Important Skills Every Professional Needs (https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/business-skills-every-professional-needs).

[4] Project Management Institute (PMI®) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), a book whose seventh edition was released in 2021 (pmi.org).

[5] Online Harvard Business School (the graduate business school of Harvard University) (https://online.hbs.edu/).

[6] AACE International was founded in 1956 by 59 cost estimators and cost engineers during the organizational meeting of the American Association of Cost Engineering (AACE)) at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire. AACE International Headquarters is located in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. (https://web.aacei.org/).