Project Management Terms and Concepts
Post University
Professor: Dr. Kathy Milhauser
Introduction
Project management involves a process that leads a team to achieve a project’s goals and objectives. It is the use of particular techniques, tools, skills, and knowledge in delivering a valuable aspect to the customers. Implementation of a project entails numerous stakeholders with respective roles to play in successfully completing the process. It also encompasses risks that affect the outcome of the implementation process. The impact risk factors might have on the process heavily relies on the techniques the project management will decide to utilize.
The Project Overview
The article chosen is about the project that Samsung recently unveiled. The project involves the construction of Samsung’s first semiconductor fabrication facility in Taylor, Texas. The facility, which is intended to be located near Austin, Texas, is estimated to amount to a budget of $17 billion. It was set to begin this year and be completed by 2024 (The Guardian, 2021). The project cost estimation covers the buildings, machinery and equipment, and property improvement. Once completed, the project is said to be the substantial leading investment of the South Korean project in the United States. Samsung has operated a chip manufacturing entity in Austin since the late 1990s and has consistently shown its need to advance its chip operations within the country to curb stiff competition offered by larger entities like Apple, Google, and Amazon located within the geographical region. The company aims to take advantage of its technical experience to earn a significant share in the market of chip manufacturers globally. It is one of the leading technology-based organizations globally that drives the global market’s largest share.
Components of the Project
The Project Qualification
In essence, a project is termed to be a project if it is a temporary endeavor and the entity responsible undertakes it for the creation of a unique product or service intending to solve a problem in the market. The first qualification that qualifies for the Samsung project is its satisfying qualities in a set of requirements. Following the rapid increase of chips’ demand across the globe as technology continues to advance and expand, the company intends to fill the gap of needing more products to satisfy the market needs. Another qualification trait is its sequenced schedule of activities (San Cristóbal et al., 2018). Samsung has highlighted the sequence of when and how different tasks will be carried out within a certain period. The project also has a well-stated scope, time, and cost estimate that defines its starting and completion points.
Project Objectives
The company’s objective with the project is to diversify its manufacturing operations globally geographically. Currently, the company is known for its diversified products and services it supplies to the marketplace. It aims at widening the range of its products and services by venturing into different industries to earn its market share, with the chip industry being one of its targets.
Role of Managers, Sponsors, and Team Members
The company’s project manager is responsible for controlling the development and production of the facility’s deliverables. He is assigned the role of managing, planning, and monitoring the project’s implementation process until its completion is achieved. Project sponsors are responsible for financing the project’s operations and activities and supporting its implementation process. On the other hand, project team members are obligated to contribute to the project’s overall objectives (San Cristóbal et al., 2018). Their role is to ensure they successfully complete their respective deliverables and provide their expertise based on the area of their specialization.
Project Scope
The company also states the project scope clearly in its project planning management. It intends to continue with its objective of diversifying its products and services in various industries. The primary goal is to increase its revenue share and wealth from a wide range of customer bases it obtained in various industries. Also, the project is estimated to cost about $17 billion by the end of its completion (The Guardian, 2021). It is set to begin in 2022 and to have been completed or in operation by 2024, taking a duration period of approximately two years.
Project Risks/Uncertainty and Outcome
The company’s project is more likely to encounter numerous risks and uncertainty connected to its development in the United States. Most importantly, following the concerns of chips being a serious threat to the United States national security, the project may encounter stiff restrictions that will hinder its implementation process. Also, uncertainties such as the recent covid-19 pandemic may cause a barrier to its implementation process and also its future operations once it is completed. Once the project is completed, the outcome will boost the production of hi-tech chips, especially for mobile communication of 5G. The outcome will also enhance advanced computing processes and artificial intelligence. The project will help improve supply chain resilience, especially in the highly competitive environment of advanced technology and innovative strategies.
Conclusion and Lesson Learned
In conclusion, project management involves complex activities that are meant to guide a project implementation process from its starting point to its completion. A project is not a project until it attains certain requirements that give it meaning. For instance, the project to be undertaken by Samsung in the United States has defined deliverables such as the budget report, progress report, scope, and time and tasks schedule, which qualify it as a project. Project management is a process that involves planning, executing, and monitoring the process of project implementation to completion.
References
San Cristóbal, J. R., Carral, L., Diaz, E., Fraguela, J. A., & Iglesias, G. (2018). Complexity and project management: A general overview. Complexity, 2018.
The Guardian. (2021). Samsung to build $17bn semiconductor factory in Texas. Retrieved from;
