Project Selection Methods and Initial Documents

Introduction

Project management is a process through which a company can manage different kinds of projects that needs to be conducted in order to achieve goals and objectives. Project management cycle is a model that shows the different stages of a project process that is to be completed in order to successfully achieve the project objective in an evident manner. Project selection is the initial stage of the project life cycle and should be completed in a successful manner so that a viable and profitable project is slated for completion. In the current assessment there will be discussion over the project selection that can be used to select viable and feasible projects. The assessment will also show information and detail regarding the project helps in the initiation of the project operations.

Background of the project

The current project is an IT development project for Westpac, Australia it includes the development of its internet banking process and customer service hub. Technological development in the firm's banking practices is a goal that the firm wants to achieve in its operational. The firm wants to develop its customer service hub so that it is able to provide digital service to its customers in an efficient manner. It is to revolutionize the technological operations of the firm to make sure that the firm is able to operate in an technically advanced manner while providing high quality and safe banking services to its customers.  Westpac is an Australian based banking and ficial company that is one of the biggest banks in the country with huge financial and operational size. Recently the firm has identified gaps and weaknesses in its IT process and digital operation and this has made the management of the firm to stay committed to develop its digital operations and to meet the growing technological demands of the customers in the market (Westpac, 2020).

Project selection method that should be used

Project selection methods are systematic tools and techniques that can be used by the project managers in order to filter out projects that are the most feasible and viable based on which the project manager can make decisions on which one to choose for future operations. As per the PMBOK study guidance the project selection method provides sound and logical methods of reasoning based on which selection of a viable project can be done by the project manager. First of all it can be mentioned that there are two categories of project selection method under which there are different kinds of project selection model and they are as:

1. Benefit measurement method

Benefit measurement method of project selection is a method in which the benefits that the project team will get by completing the project are measured. The economic benefits of the projects is forecasted and measured which includes the calculation of total cash outflow and inflow.  Under these methods there are several techniques that can be used by the project manager in order to analyze and select a project in an efficient manner and they are as follows;

• Economic model:  The economic model of project selection is a project selection metrics in which the economic value created by the project is calculated to know its worth creation as the return of capital that has been invested in the project.  In this way the value of the project that it will provide to the firm is understood and identified based on which the project selection is done.  Either the Economic values are compared between two projects or it is assessed based on the criteria of the firm to get the returns (Monnappa,  2020).
• Net present Value: Net present value is a project selection method in which the total cash inflow and outflow of cash is calculated and the net present value of the firm is calculated to show the return that it will provide in the future. It also shows whether the project will be profitable or not. In this way the project manager is able to decide the fiscal feasibility and profitability of the project based on which future selection of the project is done.
• Opportunity cost: Opportunity cost is a cost that is given up by the firm to gain opportunity for future financial development. The lower the opportunity cost the more feasible and viable the project is. The opportunity cost is calculated by the project management team and when the following is determined the project management decides whether to select the project or not. In this way the firm is able to identify whether the project will be feasible in the future or not.

2. Constrained optimization methods: 

Constrained optimization methods are methods of project selection that are used for projects that are of huge scale such as for infrastructure development projects (Karaman & Kurt, 2015). It is also called as the mathematical model of project selection as this uses mathematical procedure to evaluate the feasibility of the project. In this method of project selection the constraints and their optimized values are calculated to determine which projects are favourable and viable in nature.

• Linear programming: Linear programming is a project selection method in which the project manager reduces the cost of the project by reducing the duration of the project. The lower the cost gets with duration the more feasible is the project for the selection. In this way the project manager is able to decide the viability of the project either by comparing it with other projects or with standard criteria of the firm. 
• Dynamic programming: Dynamic programming is a project selection method in which a complex project is divided into segments demonstrating the issues and problems that are there in the project in different operations. Based on these problems and barrer the decision over project selection is made. A Project with lower problems and barriers is selected by the project manager (Sepasgozar et al. 2019).
• Integer programming: In this method the overall problems and risks are considered in the project process. These problems are compared to each other based on which the selection of the project is done by the project manager.

As discussed above there are variou methods that can be used by the project manager while choosing the IT development project of Westpac. Although it is important to understand that the method of Benefit measurement will be an effective project measurement and selection process through which the financial and operational viability of the project can be determined based on which the selection of the project can be done in an efficient manner. Through the use of Economic value, net present value and opportunity costing the project manager will be able to make decisions in an effective manner.

Describing the initial process group and project documents that are created or used as inputs for a new project

In order to properly conduct the project operations it is important to consider that the initiation of the project is done in an efficient manner. After the selection of the project the initiation of the project becomes a very important part of the project life cycle and is the first phase of this cycle (MORRIS & EDKINS, 2014). Now the image below shows the project process and documentation that is conducted in the project initiate stage is displayed:

Figure 1: Initiation phase

(Source: Rosenberger & Tick, 2018)

In the initial phase of the project there is documentation of project information and creation of project structure and plan that will be used in future project operations. In the first step of initiation process the business or project case is developed in which the purpose of project is communicated and stated. In the second step the feasibility study is done to determine whether the project will be a success or not and this is documented. Then a project charter is created which is a document showing information related to how the project will be structured and executed. Then the team is created and documented in which people with suitable skills are hired for example or IT project IT professional with relevant IT skills are recruited and the team is formed and documented in which their roles and responsibilities are delegated. The project team office is declared where the project team will be operating on the project (Rosenberger & Tick, 2018). Review of the documentation and the initiation process is done in the last steps of the initiation phase. In this way the initiation of the project is done in an efficient manner through creation of documents and gathering of information which is further used in conducting the project work.

Conclusion

Concluding in the light of above context it can be said that through the use of effective project selection methods the project managers will be able to select viable, feasible and profitable ventures that will provide better return on being completed. It can also be stated that proper documentation and initiation of project process provides good direction to the overall project operations that is conducted by the project manager in order to achive project objectives. 

References

Karaman, E., & Kurt, M. (2015). Comparison of project management methodologies: prince 2 versus PMBOK for it projects. Int. Journal of Applied Sciences and Engineering Research, 4(4).

Monnappa, A. (2020). Project Selection Methods for Project Management Professionals.

MORRIS, P. W., & EDKINS, A. (2014). Project Initiation. The AMA handbook of project management.

Rosenberger, P., & Tick, J. (2018, November). Suitability of PMBOK 6 th edition for agile-developed IT Projects. In 2018 IEEE 18th International Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Informatics (CINTI) (pp. 000241-000246). IEEE.

Sepasgozar, S. M., Karimi, R., Shirowzhan, S., Mojtahedi, M., Ebrahimzadeh, S., & McCarthy, D. (2019). Delay causes and emerging digital tools: A novel model of delay analysis, including integrated project delivery and PMBOK. Buildings, 9(9), 191.

Westpac, B. (2020). Designing for the digital future. Retrieved 27 July 2020, from https://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/sustainability/news-resources-and-ratings/designing-for-the-digital-future/