Role of Project Management Software in the Manufacturing Sector

Academic Paper , 102 Pages

Computer Science - Commercial Information Technology

The following research questions were determined to support the research objectives: What are the challenges faced by the manufacturing industries using only conventional Gantt charts and work breakdown structure manufacturing industries in managing and optimization of data? What factors contributed to the development of automated and cloud-based project management software in the manufacturing industry? What is the role of automation in project management software? How has automated and cloud-based project management manufacturing software like Jira and Asana effectively contributed to its role in manufacturing industries ?

This study is significantly important from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically speaking, the findings of this study will review new theories in the existing literature which will help the scholars in further exploring the subject from the manufacturing perspective. Since, the past studies are mostly based on the construction, defence, and service sector and mostly on software development; this study will focus mainly on the implementation of project management in the manufacturing industry with the adoption of modern tools like Jira and Asana in this sector. Alternatively, the empirical investigation in this research could provide a reasonable rather logical overview of the strategies to practitioners and academics for the introduction of APM in the environment of traditional project management in the area of manufacturing which is still under-explored by past researchers. In addition, this research will also guide the project managers with the help of empirical research in identifying the drivers due to which APM has been introduced and the challenges the project managers would face in applying those in the manufacturing industries. This study is aimed to comprehend the role of cloud-based and automated tools, Jira and Asana in effective project management: by investigating the manufacturing sector.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Figures

Table of Charts

Table of tables

Chapter 1 – Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Problem statement

Research Question

Research Framework

Chapter 2 – Literature review and hypothesis testing
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Project management in the manufacturing industry
2.2 Project management tools
2.2.1 Gantt charts
2.2.2 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
2.3 Drivers of cloud-based and automated tools in manufacturing project management
2.3.1 Cost-saving
2.3.3 Privacy and security
2.4 Role of JIRA and Asana in project management
2.4.1 JIRA an agile project management tool and software
2.4.2 ASANA an agile project management tool and software
2.5 Research gap

Chapter 3 Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Objectives
3.2.1 Hypothesis
3.3 Research Design
3.4 Target Group
3.5 Sample
3.5.1 Sample Size
3.5.2 Sampling Method
3.6 Data Collection Method
3.6.1 Primary Data
3.6.2 Secondary Data
3.7 Conceptual Framework and Variables
3.7.1 Conceptual Framework
3.7.2 Defining Variables
3.7.3 Indirect variables (IV)
3.7.4 Control variables
3.7.5 Direct variable (y)
3.8 Questionnaire Design
3.9 The application of tools for Analysis
3.10 Application of Ms Excel for Analysis
3.11 Research limitation

Chapter 4 Results and Findings
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
4.2 Test of Association
4.2.1 Z-test:
4.2.2 Chi-Square test:
4.2.3 one way ANOVA
4.2.4 Correlation:
4.3 Regression analysis

References

Table of Figures

Figure 1 Research Framework

Figure 2: Work breakdown structure

Figure 3: Conceptual framework

Table of Charts

Chart 1: Gender

Chart 2: Age

Chart 3: Educational Background

Chart 4: Work Experience

Chart 5: GANTT is highly effective while executing the stages of project management

Chart 6: Use of Gantt chart affirms effective process management

Chart 7: Gantt chart ensures that the resource utilization is optimized

Chart 8: Gantt chart prevents material overflow and shortages thereby reducing the costs associated with manufacturing

Chart 9: Gantt charts are complex and can be confusing at times

Chart 10: Cost and time are directly proportionate to each other

Chart 11: The increase in the size of the project increases the cost & time associated with a project

Chart 12: The increase in the duration of the project enhances the cost & time associated with a project

Chart 13: The project postponement increases associated cost & time

Chart 14: The moderation in the project duration reduces the direct impact of cost & time on the postponement of the project

Chart 15: Information security objectives are considered while undertaking discussions on project objectives

Chart 16: Information security objectives are conducted while undertaking discussions on project objectives

Chart 17: Information security objectives are included while undertaking discussions on project objectives.

Chart 18: Potential risks and implementation of strategies are ensured to preserve the confidentiality of project resources

Chart 19: The risk assessment to identify threats and evaluate the probable response to attacks

Chart 20: WBS is highly effective while executing the stages of project management

Chart 21: WBS is employed for measuring the project timescale and acts as a roadmap for project

Chart 22: WBS increases productivity and transparency

Chart 23: WBS is adopted to strengthen accountability and provides a better idea regarding the progress of various tasks

Chart 24: WBS is a complex tool and might even become obsolete during the implementation of the actual process

Chart 25: A Cloud-based project management software suited for SMEs

Chart 26: Mission-critical software used for project management

Chart 27: Adopted both for knowledge and product management

Chart 28: Can be applied to any kind of business that employs a well-defined process

Chart 29: Used mostly for collaboration in a team and tracking of projects

Chart 30: A Cloud-based project management software suited for individuals, SMEs, and large companies

Chart 31: Enterprise project management software used for vigorous planning

Chart 32: Employed for tracking of project and workflow management

Chart 33: Emphasises prioritization of tasks and developing collaboration in the team

Chart 34: Used for the planning of various events in a process and portfolio management

Chart 35: Conventional tools like GANTT & WBS reduce the cost and time while implementing project management

Chart 36: Project management software reduces the workload in the course of time

Chart 37: The project management must be automated at every possible segment

Chart 38: The cloud-based system supports project management better

Chart 39: JIRA & ASANA are highly applicable to the manufacturing industry

Table of tables

Table 1: Gender

Table 2: Age

Table 3: Educational Background

Table 4: Work Experience

Table 5: GANTT is highly effective while executing the stages of project management

Table 6: Use of Gantt chart affirms effective process management

Table 7: Gantt chart ensures that the resource utilization is optimized

Table 8: Gantt chart prevents material overflow and shortages thereby reducing the costs associated with manufacturing

Table 9: Gantt charts are complex and can be confusing at times

Table 10: Cost and time are directly proportionate to each other

Table 11: The increase in the size of the project increases the cost & time associated with a project

Table 12: The increase in the duration of the project enhances the cost & time associated with a project

Table 13: The project postponement increases associated cost & time

Table 14: The moderation in the project duration reduces the direct impact of cost & time on the postponement of the project

Table 15: Information security objectives are considered while undertaking discussions on project objectives

Table 16: Information security objectives are conducted while undertaking discussions on project objectives

Table 17: Information security objectives are included while undertaking discussions on project objectives.

Table 18: Potential risks and implementation of strategies are ensured to preserve the confidentiality of project resources

Table 19: The risk assessment to identify threats and evaluate the probable response to attacks

Table 20: WBS is highly effective while executing the stages of project S

Table 21: WBS is employed for measuring the project timescale and acts as a roadmap for the project

Table 22: WBS increases productivity and transparency

Table 23: WBS is adopted to strengthen accountability and provides better idea regarding the progress of various tasks

Table 24: WBS is a complex tool and might even become obsolete during the implementation of the actual process

Table 25: A Cloud-based project management software suited for SMEs

Table 26: Mission-critical software used for project management

Table 27: Adopted both for knowledge and product management

Table 28: Can be applied to any kind of business that employs a well-defined process

Table 29: Used mostly for collaboration in a team and tracking of projects

Table 30: A Cloud-based project management software suited for individuals, SMEs, and large companies

Table 31: Enterprise project management software used for vigorous planning

Table 32: Employed for tracking of project and workflow management

Table 33: Emphasises prioritization of tasks and developing collaboration in the team

Table 34: Used for the planning of various events in a process and portfolio management

Table 35: Conventional tools like GANTT & WBS reduce the cost and time while implementing project management

Table 36: Project management software reduces the workload in the course of time

Table 37: The project management must be automated at every possible segment

Table 38: The cloud-based system supports project management better

Table 39: JIRA & ASANA are highly applicable to the manufacturing industry

Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.1 Background

The study on agile and web-based project management as well as its extensive adoption beyond the software industry has expeditiously emerged in past decades, owing to the fact that project management has become more complex with changing goals and undefined outcomes over time (Ćirić & Gračanin, 2017). Enterprises have transformed their mode of operations in order to remain competitive in the market. In the 1950s, when wide information was required to deal with through computers; it led to the emergence of project management (Varajão, et al., 2017). Project management was first applied on large projects by the U.S. government-related in defence with a focus on cost and schedule management, and then business organisations gradually adopted this idea, and at present, even the smallest manufacturing firm knows how to operate the project management tools (Fleming & Koppelman, 2010). Delivering the project within a specific time and with minimum cost is the fundamental objective of project management. Yet, scholars believe that many projects exceed their time schedule and budgets (KPMG, 2013). Project management is said to be successful if it includes management of a group of people, knowing how to avoid problems, efficient and quick achievement of clear objectives and tackling new grounds. For a generic project, the idea or concept on which the project was based will differ from its status due to the studies done on its likelihood, its implementation and finally its completion. From launching a project to shutting it down, product life cycle activities often get narrowed down by traditional project management tools. Nonetheless, currently, the complexity of projects has increased. Modern projects have comparatively tight schedules, work on many disciplines in the project, quality standards are very rigid, members are distributed over a wide area, and capital requirements are also very high, to name a few (Verzuh, 2015). Therefore, the companies to remain competitive are forced to diagnose changes and become flexible when facing them. Accordingly, using agile methods is advantageous for any organisation, in this ever-challenging and fast-changing business environment.

The factors discussed above have given rise to the advancement in the practices of project management by combining these factors of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with latest technology and newly developed project management tools. This paper focuses mainly on the comparison between traditional project management and Agile Project Management (APM) methods so that the applicability of agile methodologies in the manufacturing sector can be examined (Grebić, 2019). Keeping in mind the fundamental characteristics of traditional methods like Gantt chart and Work Breakdown Structure as well as the specifics of agile methodologies like Jira and Asana, a comparative analysis of agile and traditional methodologies has been done in this study considering their theoretical aspects. Thus, a comparison between the applications of these methodologies is performed to understand the impact of agile project management on manufacturing industries. Further, the research also explains how project management has evolved, and the problems and challenges faced by the practice of current project management. Also, how the project management is affected due to the latest advancements in technology and the reasons for the implementation of web-based tools like Jira and Asana.

An important element that separates the traditional approach of project management from agile project management is adaptability. Considering the businesses of the 21stcentury, the ideology of agile is said to be a good fit for project managers working in the digital and ever changing environment (Denning, 2015). The success criteria like quality, cost and time practised according to the traditional project management methods have become ineffective (Serrador & Pinto, 2015). The reason for the deviation of organisations from the traditional approach of project management to innovation is due to the changing requirements of customers and stiff competition in the industry (Young, et al., 2012). However, the literature available nowadays mostly refers to agile software development and valuable knowledge about the effectiveness of APM is in the software industry, provided by practitioners and scholars, even so, the community of project management knows very little about the applicability of agile project management beyond software development.. Thus, this research proposes to examine the implementation of agile tools, like Jira and Asana over traditional Gantt Chart and Work Breakdown Structure systems in the manufacturing industry, as it has a complex management structure which the traditional approach fails to overcome. Accordingly, a key focus in this study is to determine drivers stimulating managers to prefer modern tools over traditional methods in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

Further, this study will demonstrate the merits of agile or web-based automation in project management.

1.2 Problem statement

The focus of project managers in the increasingly competitive and changing business environment lies in attempting to anticipate changes and have details of the project before its realisation. But in this rapidly changing environment, due to the limitations of the traditional project management approach, the discipline of project management is subjective so as to make the changes acceptable for the successful management of dynamic projects (Ciric, et al., 2019). Organisations must identify the changes and must be more capable of adapting them to remain competitive in the market. In the given context, an extension of APM beyond the development of software is considered a preferable response in this challenging and fast-growing business environment. Agility is said to be a relevant issue nowadays owing to its relation to current events, however software development related literature is an effective source. But studies have identified that APM is said to be more efficient and effective in manufacturing industries considering the greater aspect of the project, as it helps in saving time and cost and reduces the risk of over-budgeting. The fact is that there is a scarcity of empirical studies focusing on agile and cloud-based tools, like Jira and Asana in the context of the manufacturing sector, which has motivated the researcher here to explore the research phenomena in this relatively unexplored field to provide new findings.

This study is significantly important from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically speaking, the findings of this study will review new theories in the existing literature which will help the scholars in further exploring the subject from the manufacturing perspective. Since, the past studies are mostly based on the construction, defence, and service sector and mostly on software development; this study will focus mainly on the implementation of project management in the manufacturing industry with the adoption of modern tools like Jira and Asana in this sector. Alternatively, the empirical investigation in this research could provide a reasonable rather logical overview of the strategies to practitioners and academics for the introduction of APM in the environment of traditional project management in the area of manufacturing which is still under-explored by past researchers. In addition, this research will also guide the project managers with the help of empirical research in identifying the drivers due to which APM has been introduced and the challenges the project managers would face in applying those in the manufacturing industries. This study is aimed to comprehend the role of cloud-based and automated tools, Jira and Asana in effective project management: by investigating the manufacturing sector. The aim can be attained by answering the following research questions:

Research Question

The following research questions were determined to support the research objectives:

1. What are the challenges faced by the manufacturing industries using only conventional Gantt charts and work breakdown structure manufacturing industries in managing and optimization of data?
2. What factors contributed to the development of automated and cloud-based project management software in the manufacturing industry?
3. What is the role of automation in project management software?
4. How has automated and cloud-based project management manufacturing software like Jira and Asana effectively contributed to its role in manufacturing industries ?

Research Framework

The following Research framework is proposed illustrated in Figure 1:

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 1Research framework

Chapter 2 – Literature review and hypothesis testing

2.1 Introduction

In the era of digitalization and automation, enterprises are forced to adopt various software in order to remain competitive in the global market. Project management performs multiple tasks like tracking and management of every single piece of work and makes sure that resources are used effectively and appropriately throughout the organization within their designated time- period thus, making things difficult for the managers. To prevent issues related to completing projects on time, vendors have adopted automated project management software to make optimum use of the project management process. The automated tool allows scheduling, collaborating, managing, planning and organising all the project resources and workflow by the software within a given period of time. Additionally, vendors get encouraged to adopt various project management software attributable to the features like status updates, real-time monitoring and feedback sharing. Online software for project management is employed to accomplish various projects together with a minimum investment of time and process of installation which makes it favourable for the organisation. Wherein, the system demand gets increased due to project data centralization, mobility and enhanced storage capacity of cloud-based online software of project management. Cloud-based project management tools are considered more favourable as it gets easily integrated with other applications. In addition to this, to minimize the risk and cost of the project, medium and small enterprises are adopting cloud-based software (Fortune Business Insight, 2021). Thus, it can be reiterated that in the coming time the demand for project management software will increase due to industries’ customised offerings. Based on this information the literature on automated and cloud-based project management will be reviewed in this chapter, to understand the effectiveness of automated software over traditional project management tools.

2.2 Project management in the manufacturing industry

Managing inventory and resources is crucial for the manufacturing industry. These industries need to be conscious of the rising demands of the market and supplies to the market. However, resource management is considered one of the main dimensions of expertise in manufacturing project management software. In project management, anything that is referred to as materials, knowledge, equipment, time and people required for the completion of the project is identified as a resource. Customarily, when we talk about resources, they are termed as limiting factors as no company or industry has a limitless amount of people, time or money. Therefore, a resource allocation plan is drawn which is said to be the most comprehensive way of addressing resource management. This resource allocation plan when gets paired with any project schedule, which includes dependencies on the task induces the project manager to assign resources to particular tasks that can be performed in the project at certain points. This allows managers to find out where they can face risks due to limited available resources. Similarly, this type of plan can also be drawn for inventory management. Although, project management and manufacturing also consider dealing with unknowns as their part, so as to cope with the upcoming and unknown risks these comprehensive plans can help the organisations in planning ahead (Louie, 2022).

Application of methods, processes, knowledge, experience and skills to achieve specific objectives of the project within approved parameters in keeping with the project acceptance criteria can be designated as project management (Schwalbe, 2009). The systems, software, methodologies and other aspects of a particular project are assessed by the manufacturing project management team and, they meet a set of established goals by undergoing a process of analysing, planning, coordination and execution. Morgan et al. (2007) have pointed out that project management can initiate successful implementation of the most challenging corporate strategies by ensuring two-way communication between strategy makers and strategy implementers. As per Vrchota and Řehoř (2019), the exercising project approach to solving a business problem is becoming popular. The authors empirically found that around 70% of surveyed enterprises use the project approach to solve their business issues. It is for this reason that all industries cannot solve all the changes in the same way and subsequently, are required to develop and innovate projects that flexibly respond to the requirements of both target and current state.

Project management mainly focuses on making a balance between the project constraints which are cost, quality, scope, and time. If one variable goes through any change (say, cost), there will be an automatic impact on other variables. According to Petro and Gardiner (2015), important challenges for organisations are represented by projects and one of their key success factors is to ensure that projects and strategies are properly aligned with each other. Moreover, as project management is a complex and broad discipline there is no guarantee that what works on one project will also work on another one. In addition, there are many browser-based or automated tools have been developed for effective management but even they are criticised for their drawbacks, like lack of communication and teamwork (Raith, et al., 2017). Accordingly, throughout this literature review, the researcher will attempt to comprehend the benefits and drawbacks of using both traditional and automated tools of project management to have deep insights into the topic.

2.2 Project management tools

Project management tools also termed as ‘munitions’ help a team or an individual in accomplishing the work in an organized way with the help of project managers Schwalbe (2009). These tools are used to manage tasks and projects in such a way that they achieve success. these tools are useful in project development, not only for the project managers but also for stakeholders. To facilitate the requirements of the teams and their members with different goals and sizes, these tools are dynamic in nature and can be completely altered. According to Adams, et al. (2006), with the help of different tools based on the evaluation procedures and instruments, the efficiency of the project management can be measured, these are extensively covered in the following sub-sections.

2.2.1 Gantt charts

The selection of the Gannt chart for this study can be attributed to the fact that this tool is the fourth most used project management tool, this fact was established by (Besner & Hobbs, 2008). In their study, a survey was conducted on 750 project managers and 70 tools and techniques were evaluated before establishing the relevance of the Gannt chart as one of the most competent tools in project management. Even though the Gantt chart was developed nearly about 100 years ago Wilson (2003), it has been reinstated that no matter how much innovation takes place, it survives till today, in spite of many innovations in the area (Littlejohn & Margaryan, 2014). As more sophisticated techniques like Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) have been introduced in the field of project management. These tools unlike the Gantt chart support analysing the relationship between any given task, uncertainty connected with the duration of each task and needed resources. With this precision, any crucial path could be better understood and calculated (Geraldi & Lechter, 2012). However, Wilson (2003) asserted that these alternative tools did not substitute Gantt chart uses, nor did they supersede the tool and even the utilisation of the Gantt chart in managing products has increased over time. This project management tool though initially established as a common method of production planning for repetitive actions has been applied to a range of roles, including project management.

Initially, the project-based illustration of the Gantt chart was determined in the study by Koepke (1941). Then the second version of the Gantt chart was used for the purpose of production network coordination. With changing times, an updated version of the tool has been utilised for scheduling project activities (Geraldi & Lechter, 2012). Nonetheless, Mishra and Mishra (2013) were of the view that the Gantt chart can be entirely used for small projects whose entries can be easily fitted into a single sheet, but they are considered ineffective in longer projects where the project contains more than 30 activities. Even though a sizable Gantt chart can be developed subsequently, it will not be suitable for computer displays. Moreover, Geraldi and Lechter (2012) have indicated some constraints in predicting and monitoring projects using the Gantt chart. They have stated that the Gantt chart fails to explain the reason for which the project is planned and that the project manager can regulate the planning process as this tool uses a one-step approach. Besides, Ang . ( 2022)Witty has noted the dominant role of the Gantt chart in project management visualization. In the above context, we can say that although the Gantt chart was developed in the earlier years of the twentieth century in a very different context and has some inherent limitations, they are still considered appropriate in certain phases of the project and project settings.

2.2.2 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

WBS a project management tool undertakes a stepwise method to complete larger projects. The methodology adopted is to initially break the larger projects into small sections, moreover, WBS can integrate all three elements namely “scope, cost and deliverables” while it functions as a tool. Even though most of WBSs are based on deliverables they can also be “phase-based” (Organ & Bottorff, 2022). The main task is firstly incorporated into WBS, which eventually is broken down into sub-tasks, this is then coded to be integrated into the “project cost coding system”. These sub-tasks help in the identification of the relationships from operative to individual levels. Therefore, WBS can be stated as the coherent starting block for the forthcoming planning links. Another most relevant advantage of using WBS is the allocation of cost to every task and the addition of risk factors. This helps in assessing total cost and risk assessment. The tasks vary as per the type of project, and the tool helps in attaining various benchmarks. Moreover, as the tool helps in the dissemination of information and delivery of reports from management to all stakeholders, it can be stated as an ideal instrument for reporting the progress of projects upwards to the upper levels of management. Nonetheless, there are a few conflicting points like the as WBS is developed at the initial stages of the project, all the tasks are not reflected, so “draughting” is incorporated to explore up the missing items, which eventually results in the formation of convenient tasks (Grist Project Management, 2022).

With regard to the manufacturing sector, Skander, et al. (2008) have found that one of the important factors in the interface between design and the manufacturing process is the product design information. Cohen (2018) has also stated that the decomposition of products in manufacturing shown in one level of the WBS is considered as input for the subsequent level. To determine the overall production schedule, a WBS of functional components is created from customer order by following the input in which the functional components like design engineering, production engineering, purchasing and manufacturing are mapped (Gries & Restrepo, 2011). As shown in figure 1, the WBS in manufacturing sites typically resembles the product breakdown structure (PBS) and it is considered more oriented toward the manufacturing of products. Moreover, Perdicoúlis (2013) has stated concerning PBS that it is a hierarchical representation of the project whose outcomes can be physical products and/or services which permit the detailing of products through aggregation. In the manufacturing sector, this style of upper stream breakdown is said to be the key methodology as it also comes under the scope of the project management methodology (Skander, et al., 2008). We can also consider this type of WBS as a deliverable oriented WBS from the project management perspective.

This image was removed by the editorial team due to copyright reasons.

Figure 2: Work breakdown structure

(Source: Sutrisna, et al. (2018))

The existing literature has defined WBS in different ways. For instance, Sutrisna, et al. (2018)have claimed that while performing the major tasks in creating the product, WBS is considered to be the combination of PBS, the WBS by authors is illustrated in Figure 2. Moreover, project management is not a part of the product but is considered an essential process in creation. While Archibald (2003) almost two decades back considered WBS as PBS based on its capacity of combining both product and process. But some other scholars are of the view that the projects that use different elements in their top levels have been broken down through WBS and they named it Contract Breakdown Structure (CBS), Organisation Breakdown Structure (OBS), Project Life Cycle Structure, Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) and Location Breakdown Structure (Ren, et al., 2014).

WBS plays an integrative role in project management. It can be used by the project managers within the organisation for obtaining the information they want. For example, for gaining an overall perspective on the project, the top management will be interested in the top level while managers at the middle level are concerned with their accountability, they will use only the information regarding the items for which they are considered responsible. “WBS is an excellent tool for measuring project completion, identifying milestones and allocating budget resources” (Organ & Bottorff, 2022) . Additionally, the application of the Gantt chart in project management has increased widely with the modern project management development.. This reflects that the use of the Gantt chart is universal and can be used in many settings. By obtaining a multidimensional approach, the WBS is combined with frameworks like CBS and OBS so that it can represent different approaches or views regarding project structuring and management. Tasks associated with lower levels are also integrated with the tasks of higher levels (Harrison & Lock, 2017). Moreover, the Gantt chart is still considered as an important tool when it comes to planning and controlling the projects schedules. The few popular project management software like MS Project and Primavera also use Gantt chart to plan and manage projects by using these tools as its central platform (Nyandongo & Lubisi, 2019). On the basis of the recommendations following hypothesis is proposed:

H1: The collaborative impact of the conventional methods and tools of PM like GANTT & WBS.

Some of the problems associated with the traditional methods of managing projects are: First, the teams are made according to the project requirements and so, as soon as the project gets completed, knowledge in the context of that project also gets lost. Second, members who work from different locations experience difficulty in communicating with project team members (AltexSoft, 2016). The project team members need to be communicated regarding changes in schedule of project , meetings and issues related to tasks and risks. The changing status of project and notifications cannot be communicated to the project team in case non automated tools of project management are used. These changes and other important issues need to be communication to the project team, thereby reducing the communication gaps so that the chances of errors can be substantially reduced with dealing with stakeholders, thereby affirming the role of automated tools in project management. Additionally, as project management is a complex process various factors like cost, timely delivery and quality of project align with various other factors need to be considered, prior to delivery of successful project (Zilicus Solutions, 2014), on the basis of these recommendations following hypothesis is proposed:

H2: The adoption of effective tools to deal with challenges and impact of conventional methods in project management

In the above context, Kandias, et al. (2011) asserted that though cloud-based automated tools and software assesses the project managers in achieving the efficiency of the tasks, but it is impossible for them to predict ‘what if’ and the future scenarios by providing notifications to the project managers regarding any major issue. According to the report published by PWC (2019), it was found that 73% of people think that the human minds cannot adapt to the advancement in the technology. This fact can be challenged by the fact that the data processed by the modern cloud-based tools are input in the system by project managers, and it is impossible for the system to perform clearly without their guidance. On the contrary, decision-making has become more accurate as cloud-based project management tools have made the work centralized (Braglia & Frosolini, 2014). Additionally, centralisation has enhanced the human capital optimisation by allocating the best resources, identifying the correct skill for a job, notifying when the resources are excess or in shortage, veracious training required for each employee, providing feedback regarding the ability and behaviour of project managers in performing the task efficiently. Time and again, it has been felt that project managers fail to understand and execute the main goals and objectives of the project thereby resulting in project failure. This failure can be prevented by adopting centralised management for the project and the use of the automated tool can be an effective solution (Özkan & Mishra, 2019) . The authors further asserted that agile project management tools enable centralised management with communication and feedback thereby supporting clients. Also, it facilitates planning for development, improving process steps, appropriate collaboration for the developers, and resolving and detecting issues on time before reaching the final stage of delivery. Therefore, it can be stated that agile and automated tools support project managers and even team members to coordinate, contribute and deal efficiently with the project development (Deen, 2022). these important factors designated as drivers will be dealt with in the forthcoming sections

2.3 Drivers of cloud-based and automated tools in manufacturing project management

2.3.1 Cost-saving

The cost of a project life cycle includes the cost of creating, cost of operating and cost of dismantling the project. The reason for shifting from traditional tools to the automated ones was mainly considered to avoid the high cost that was being incurred for the project information system because of the geographical gap between the head office and site (Scott, 2020). The major change in project management alike all other business practices was catalysed by the advent of internet. Specifically, the “development of Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud systems have allowed stakeholders to access and navigate project information, dashboards and reports at any time and from anywhere, with an increasing emphasis on real-time data displays” (PwC, 2019, p. 6). The project management software automation is basically software that completes the fundamental project management undertakings and operates without human intervention. Automation can be stated as the process wherein machines and technology are employed to finish tasks unaided without any assistance from humans. The main purpose behind automation is offloading various arduous and physical tasks from any project team thereby increasing efficiency and adding value to the work. Fundamentally automation helps in removing monotonous and inefficient works thereby helping in removing challenges, the leading companies are using automation in project management to attain more in less time (Bridges, 2022).

The automated project management tools, unlike traditional tools, have the capability to electronically track any changes in the project and also it does not require timely prints of drawing and specifications which helps a lot in cost savings. Also, purchasing of materials requires identification of suppliers, considerable resources and evaluation of quotes. Automated project management software which is used in this stage helps in reducing the administrative costs of handling the document and also in its distribution to various parties (Carr, 2022). In this regard, PWC (2019) also reported that the tools of project management must be automated in such a manner that stakeholders can be made aware about the progress of the project, its deadline and other factors in the cycle of product development. Thus, this feature improves the efficiency of the project by helping the team in organising the resources, analysing the progress of the project and also in maintaining the overall cost of the project.

2.3.3 Privacy and security

Privacy refers to safeguarding the identity of users, whereas security is about safeguarding the data. Earlier, in 1980s and 1990s when computer systems and internet were becoming popular, security was not considered as a major concern. Also, security is said to be a post-development activity, as organisations concentrates more on minimising the time it takes to market their applications. In some cases, security considerations even get ignored when the focus lies mainly on bringing the resources into effective action (Ramireddy, et al., 2010). However, in 2021 this practice was not considered sufficient enough. Organisations could not ignore security considerations as threats related to cybercrime were evolving at an exceeding rate. As a result, emergence of privacy by default and privacy by design principles have been on rise since the last few years. Guidelines for this implementation control specify that information security should be integrated into the organisations project management methods. Identification of various risks and taking necessary steps to address those risks is part of that integration process (Saura, et al., 2021). Hence, security is applied to every project category including those whose where focus area is core business processes, facility management, development, IT, etc. An ideal project management methodology should keep in mind some important points. For instance, (a) considering the objectives of information security while discussing the project objectives as a whole, (b) for identification of necessary controls of the project in early stage, information security risk assessment should be conducted; (c) information security should be included in each and every phase of the project (Esposito, et al., 2016).

In addition to the above, reviews need to be conducted regularly by the organisations and they need to address their projects about the implications of information security. Consequently, individuals with whom information security responsibilities are allocated should be designated with relevant roles in the organisations project management methods. In this manner, incorporation of privacy considerations by the organisation is required by the norm of privacy by design throughout its engineering project (Hamza, et al., 2019). This is designated as the value-sensitive design where human values are considered more throughout the process in the organisation. Privacy by default and privacy by design principles are incorporated by GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) under article 25. There is another methodology which is called ‘DevSecOps’ which stands for development, security and operations. While, DevOps is a popular software development approach, DevSecOps is a new concept in this area. This approach aims to implement security practices with same speed and scale as it is in development and operations. As a result, the attention of the organisation is drawn toward security considerations throughout the process of development (Lifars., 2021). The core capabilities provided by the modern tools have helped in making a centralized management within the organization and also the management teams, thereby helping them in making key strategic decisions with the help of greater insights. It has, therefore, enhancing the quality of and increased the possible outcomes of a project (actiTIME, 2019). Hence, organisations can make sure that their outputs is associated with the highest level of possible security, attained by incorporation of information security practices in project management, thereby affirming the role of effective tools in initiating automation in project management, and based on the recommendations following hypothesis is proposed:

H3 Role of effective tools in instigating automation

On the basis of the above recommendations and understanding the application of automated and agile project management tools, this research proposes to take up the two most preferred project management software: JIRA and ASANA and discuss their application in the manufacturing industry.

2.4 Role of JIRA and Asana in project management

2.4.1 JIRA an agile project management tool and software

JIRA software was developed by Atlassian in 2015. It is one of the agile project managements tools that focuses mainly on feature and issue tracking. This project management tool can be used in two ways i.e., either it can be hosted through cloud or it can also be self-hosted. When a firm chooses self-hosting, this tool is considered to be useful in accordance with the architecture of the enterprise as it supports multiple platforms. In addition to above, this tool not only focuses on issue tracking and agile development but also allows management of tasks. Combination of agile development method such as SCRUM and JIRA works well together (Mishra & Mishra, 2013). An important characteristic of this project management tool are its wide and unique features. JIRA not only focuses on agile issue tracking but it also provides fundamental set of any project management tool. Few other features include notifications, bug reports, feature requests and other reporting. With the help of JIRA, the project manager can easily keep track of their tasks and progress of other team members. For an easy understanding of the issues which arises while performing any task and addressing the tasks, pie chart is considered as an additional comparison that provides visual understanding about the tasks. At present, many functions are added in the software of the enterprise according to their needs. However, an important factor about these extensions is that they are mostly enterprise based and need to be acquired from the distributors (Özkan & Mishra, 2019). Along these lines, it can be stated that the main features are provided by the core JIRA software from its manufacturer.

JIRA is a tracking tool adopted by the manufacturing industry for the project management and agile testing. This tool was initially developed for issue and bug tracking, project management software and employed in various mobile development procedures. As already mentioned project teams use JIRA to create a customised workflow, the admin has customised permission to administer the achieving and performance of actions. This project management software “provides scrum and Kanban boards out-of-the-box. Boards are task management hubs, where tasks are mapped to customizable workflows. Time tracking capabilities and real-time performance reports (burn-up/down charts, sprint reports, velocity charts) enable teams to closely monitor their productivity over time” (Atlassian, 2022).

JIRA is very popular with engineering communities and companies into product development software and is a completely functional software. Nonetheless, JIRA cannot be integrated with all applications of the firms, but it has integrated with apps like “Miro or GitHub” for product development. To attain the integration of apps of any size or to connect with any app, another agile software tool ASANA is recommended (White & Watts, 2022), covered in the forthcoming sub-section.

2.4.2 ASANA an agile project management tool and software

Asana is the project management tool developed with main focus is on communication and collaboration of the team. The co-founder of Facebook, Dustin Moskovitz created this software in 2008. This project management tool aims at linking all the important features in a single software by providing a full messaging system which reduces the use of email. This workspace helps in bringing together similar projects to make one main group out of them. Different tasks which are filled with tags, comments and attachments are created so that it becomes easy to track a project. If any team member subscribes for notifications in a project, then with every change in the tasks, the member will receive notifications in his/her inbox (Ferreira, et al., 2018). Asana has a system where the team gets notifications according to the due dates of each task automatically so that it gets easy to track the scheduling of the tasks. Apart from the basic features of project management, Asana can also combine with other software tools, for instance, Dropbox. Nowadays many people choose to store their data on the cloud and Dropbox is considered to be one of the most used tools for the storage of the files. Hence, with the help of Dropbox, files can be directly attached to the tasks. Some other available tools with which Asana can integrate are: “Slack, Zapier, Google Chrome, HipChat, Okta, Google Drive” etc. (Marques & Bernardino, 2019). Asana can also be considered as an application for mobile and supports both Android and iOS, in addition to being a web-based project management tool in desktop environment. The mobile compatibility helps in updating the project managers and team members in the form of notifications about the due dates of the tasks and about the overall status of the project (Belando-Montoro & Carrasco-Temiño, 2014). ASANA can therefore be stated as the best tool for communication that reminds the team member about project and makes them well engaged to complete the activities on time.

The rising demand of the automated project management software like JIRA and ASANA has been discussed in sub-sections 2.4.1 and 2.4.2, however the acceptance of the two software has been critiqued by Ramachandran (2016). The scholar was of the view that no matter how much the demand for cloud-based automated tools rises, it cannot eliminate the use of traditional tools in project management. These tools are still used in many enterprises with fixed budgets or deadline for a particular project. Also, traditional tools are considered over web-based tools due to many reasons. First, the traditional tools though consume a lot of time in preparing a detailed project timeline for the client, but it also helps the client in knowing what to expect so, that they can plan accordingly. Another benefit is that knowledge gets easily transfer among the members of the team and if any member wishes to move from the organization, the information does not get lost with it, due to extensive documentation by the enterprise (Chin & Spowage, 2010). Furthermore, Elsayed et al. (2015) also proclaimed that cloud-based tools, such as JIRA and Asana cannot eliminate the use of traditional methods but they surely have reduced their use in the organizations. Despite being useful, traditional methods lacks in many areas where cloud-based tools have excelled. For instance, automated tools can achieve more in less time without acquiring much resources, increasing the team’s productivity. Work such as preparing the project report, reminding about the deadlines and checking the status of the tasks is being taken care by the software. With automation, work is performed consistently which helps in maintaining the quality and even control the cost of project. Not only the project managers but also the executives make use of automation to make more accurate forecasts and also long-term strategic decisions (Mishra, 2021). Also, involvement of client is very high in cloud-based project management tools as compared to the traditional tools. Moreover, for large and complex projects, like construction, cloud-based tools are most preferred because these projects contain many interconnected phases and rather depending on a single phase, each stage depends on many others (Arefazar, et al., 2022). Recently , a survey of IT and development professionals was conducted online, proving that for a project's success, cloud-based automation is considered the new formula for organisations (Carr, 2022). Furthermore, JIRA and ASANA have been designed as the best project management software for 2022, this is based on the report published by Forbes (2022) confirming the selection of the two software for my work, consequently following hypothesis is proposed:.

H4: The automation in the Projects Management by use of Jira and Asana

With the passing of time, the complexity of project work is also increasing and project managers are taking IT interfaces into account keeping in mind the day to day work of the company. Also, when different systems in a project grow together, their technological complexity also increases, for instance, when systems such as technical and administrative merge together then data are expected to flow between them (San Cristóbal, et al., 2018). Consequently, knowledge sharing within a project is critical as incidents for instance defining plans, innovation of ideas, coping with crises and making decisions get affected by it (Gallagher, 2015). Nevertheless, in the context of the project, knowledge sharing is influenced by a different culture in each organization keeping in mind the values, norms and procedures associated with the members and its organization (Kucharska & Wildowicz, 2017). Incidentally, Some barriers considered in sharing of knowledge within an organization are inadequate Information Technology (IT), less initiative taken by workers, inadequacy in time and resources etc. Also issues in communication between the people in the organization have been seen as a barrier to Research and Development (R&D) activities (Santos, et al., 2012). The introduction of cloud-based automation has resulted in maximum output, resulting in significant changes in business practices including project management. Perhaps, stakeholders are now able to access project information and its reports anytime and anywhere with the development of cloud systems and Software as a Service (SaaS) which emphasizes more on real-time display of the data. Also, cloud-based tools have made the organizations more efficient and effective by employing faster and simpler working methods in the process of project management, by improving collaboration between different functions within the organization (Alemu, et al., 2020) . Based on the review of literature following hypothesis is proposed:

H5: Role of Automation in redefining the role of Project management in manufacturing industries

2.5 Research gap

The above literature concludes that agile project management tools support project managers to acquire desired outcomes in terms of resource allocation and team communication when needed. These tools are more effective as compared to traditional tools, like Gantt Chart and WBS to cope with budgets, schedules, competitive environment and new challenges on daily basis. Particularly JIRA and ASANA have facilitated more centralised management, reduced project costs and improved privacy and security as well as allowed better coordination and communication between the team members. Despite this, studies are lacking on particularly focusing on these agile project management tools importance in operating a project process. It is because scholars have extensively discussed all the agile tools together, which creates doubt related to which particular tool is best suitable in which type of industry (Özkan & Mishra, 2019). Accordingly, to fill the existing literature gap, conceptual framework illustrated in Figure 3; is devised to be followed in this study to determine limitations attached with traditional methods and at the same time, benefits of using JIRA and ASANA as project management software’s specifically in the context of manufacturing.

Chapter 3 Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

The research on “Role of project management software in the manufacturing sector” has been a nuance in the project management sector where new software like (i) Jira (Atlassian, 2016) and (ii) Asana (Asana Inc, 2022) have been used for the progress of the project management execution. The study follows a scientific approach to arrive at a conclusion. It has been proved in the past how a project management has been executed taking many aspects into consideration. There are many supporting tools like, GANTT, Network techniques that uses PERT and CPM, and its success had been proved. However, in the era of information technology it is of no surprise to utilize the software for the same. The study watches and records all the changes both positive and the negative where the new software contributes in the field of project management. The chapter 3, Research Methodology records the sequence of scientific methods that has been adapted throughout the study. The chapter ensures the study has drawn conclusion by taking all the necessary steps that right from the research design and the conclusion after the data has been carefully analysed with the pre-destined tools that matches the requirements of the hypotheses that has been framed based on the objectives.

3.2 Objectives

1. Id entifying the impact of the conventional methods over the project management implementation
2. Scrutinizing every challenge that has been dealt in the course of action while executing the project management using conventional tools or techniques
3. Understand how effective are the tools of automation in the course of project management
4. The new software Jira and Asana and its effectiveness in the execution
5. Identifying and recording the role of the project management in the manufacturing industries.

3.2.1 Hypothesis

-H1: The collaborative impact of the conventional methods and tools of PM like GANTT & WBS.
-H2: The adoption of effective tools to deal with challenges and impact of conventional methods in project management
-H3 Role of effective tools in instigating automation
-H4: The automation in the Projects Management by use of Jira and Asana
-H5: Role of Automation in redefining the role of Project management in manufacturing industries

3.3 Research Design

The major decision for a researcher to follow scientific research is based on the choice of the research design. A research design (Goundar, 2012) directs the path where the research has to go throughout up till conclusion. The study has applied, “Experimental Research Design”, the research design has been utilized in the study since it applies the software being implemented in the project management, i.e., Jira (Mohapatra, 2017) and Asana. The design has been split into two sets where one set is kept as constant and the other checks the impact on the constant due to significant change that has been notified in the research work. The following chapters clearly explains the number of constant set and the number of other variables that affects the constant set that has been chosen. It has been presumed that the study applies the software that has been considered as an experiment carried on. The relevant data has been collected to test the evidences and the results thereof. The research design also well suits to the quantitative research methodologies. Therefore, it has been understood that the required data has to be collected to conclude the study. While discussion about the data a specific target has to be chosen from where the required data can be collected. The chosen target must be well suitable and aptly supports the conclusion of the study. The following topic describes (OECD, 2020) the target group and its validity.

3.4 Target Group

The study requires the right group from where all the relevant data can be collected that would suit for the complete research and the conclusion. The study defines the target group as the country that has been chosen to collect the data. We need to choose country where more industries are located. The industries represent the application of the project management since the study tests the application and the impact of the new supporting software Jira and Asana in the project management (Aaltola, 2017) process. It has been understood that any project cannot be considered as such given (Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, 2021) that it has been done for the first time, and every time it has been implemented it delivers a new result, this involves both time and money at a larger scale. Under this circumstance if we look and try to identify a country which resolves or meets all the above requirements are the countries that aptly applies the project management as a culture. It is certain to choose (Dräger & Müller, 2020) Germany as one among the available countries that has the project management as its culture. It has been also certain that Germany develops much great software particularly ERP, for example SAP hails from Germany. Therefore, it has been decided to choose Germany as the target group country from where the data has been collected and it would meet the requirement of the study in whole.

3.5 Sample

A sample represents the entire population of the data (Mahajan, 2018) that has been collected to test and draw right conclusion. The sample has to be, (i) as size that denotes the number of data that has been intended to collect for application, here the study has chosen the size of the sample through a scientific method that has been well explained in the further headings in the chapter. (ii) The method by which the chosen number of data can be identified and collected,

3.5.1 Sample Size

It is good to have a sample size of 100 that will represent the entire community but proving them scientifically will add more value, therefore the study have used the following method (Qualtrics, 2022) to arrive at the sample size.

Step 1: Identify the right sample size using the Z Score.
Step 2: Using the sample size formula as follows.

Necessary Sample Size = (Z-score)2 * StdDev*(1-StdDev) / (margin of error)2

There is little information that is most important and we take that into consideration for the study that is,

Step 3: Substitute the data required for the formula.

(i) Confidence level: I have used the confidence level to 95% and the Z-Score for the 95% confidence level is 1.96.
(ii) Standard Deviation: The identified standard deviation in the study is 0.5. The standard deviation of 0.5 will be a minimum deviation a process can be allowed beyond which it will not have a control over the process and also the research.
(iii) Margin of error or the confidence interval: It means that there could be a possibility of a few errors in the process of research especially while using the collected data. Completing a research study without an error in the field of humanities and social sciences will be a lie, therefore accepting the fact that the new software Jira and Asana while executing the project management will have an error of +/- 8% in connection with the standard deviation. Having said that the 95% is going to be the confidence level and allowable 8% as the margin of error is significant. The 8% has been determined by the researcher with a reason that since the standard error is of 0.5 and having 8% along with the standard deviation that is 0.08 is little closely associated with the standard deviation.

Step 4: Apply the formula and substitute the information

Required Sample Size = (Z-score)2 * StdDev*(1-StdDev) / (margin of error)2

= (1.96)2 X (0.5 X (1-0.5)) / (.10^2)

= 3.92 X 0.25 / 0.01

= 0.98 / 0.01 = 98

= 100

Therefore, we take 100 as the sample size scientifically that satisfies the requirement and it is also evident it represent the entire population and it also justifies the analysis and interpretation thereto. The population being mentioned here represents industry, product, process and the management techniques that have been supported while executing the project management to achieve the organization goals.

[...]

• Author: Shweta Singh (Author)
• Pages: 102
• Catalog Number: V1300980
• ISBN (PDF): 9783346776754
• ISBN (Book): 9783346776761
• Language: English
• Tags: role, project, management, software, manufacturing, sector