Abstract
Aviation is an advanced industry consisting of several interconnected processes that manage the industry. These interconnected departments must constantly work in harmony to achieve the objectives of the organization. In order to adapt to the rapidly changing world of technology and industry, aviation has incorporated project management practices as an integral part of their industry. Project management is a process that applies knowledge, skill, and experience toward the achievement of the objectives of a project. Project management utilizes tools that assist in the efficiency and concise completion of projects. Integrated Change Control is a tool that oversees the integration of changes with significant influence into the project. The key decision analysis tool governs how these changes are integrated into the project and the project stakeholders decide whether the changes are of significant impact and at which point they should be implemented. The example of the Concorde airplane used in this research paper depicts the consequences of failing to follow through project management tools.
Aviation has adopted project management practice as an integral part of industry. A project is a temporary investment into planning activities with the objective of fulfilling a goal. Projects usually exhibit a concisely defined time of beginning and ending it. Management on the other hand, refers to activities that rally people together toward achieving a common goal. Therefore, project management is inclusive of said elements: planning and co-ordination. According to the Association for project management, project management is the application of knowledge, experience, skills, method and process for the achievement of objectives. Project management is a valued process assimilated into most business, organizational and industrial practices. It is important since it works within the framework of time allocated, quality desired and cost of achieving these goals. An aviation industry is a classic example of an industry that makes use of project management to accomplish objectives of the industry.
The aviation industry is dynamic to change and will, from time to time, embark on projects that carter for their expansion and renovations. These projects further the agenda of the organization. They may be abrupt or occur at a time of budgetary constraints. As a result, there is a need to make use of project management to accomplish the goals of such projects. Project management practice employs the use of tools that assist the achievement of the set goals. This paper will focus on three tools of project management: Integrated Change control, Key decisions in project initiation and project stakeholders.
This research paper aims to explore project management in aviation. The main topiv of discussion is to link project management practices in aviation. What is project management? Why use project management? What qualifies events in aviation industry to utilize project management? And lastly, what are the tools of project management and how are they utilized in aviation?
Introduction
Project management is simply defined as a process with an aim. The elements of project management define the scope of project management. A project is any activity aimed at improving output or increasing benefits. Projects are typically governed by three prevailing issues: time, quality and cost. A project usually has time constraints that greatly influence what objectives are fulfilled in which order and how best to fulfill them. Finances also greatly influence a project. Commercial aviation industries are in the business of making profits. If they were to design a new ramp that relieves human traffic within the airport, the airline stands at an advantage to handle more customers. The benefit will therefore be the ability of the facility to handle more clients which translates to more revenue. However, given the fact that it is a commercial industry; it is in the business of minimizing costs of input and maximizing output costs. The allocation of funds will therefore be logically constrained. The other half of project management is management. A manager is a person who evaluates the scope of a project and designs a method of executing the plan. A project scope of defined by time allocated for the project, finances available for the purposes of the project and quality of the project done. A manager uses skill and experience to execute the plan and coordinate the work force in such a way that fulfills the objects of the project within time constrains, cost constraints and quality demand. This can be achieved by the application of tools incorporated in the practice of project management. Project management relies on techniques or tools that address varying issues in the course of fulfilling the objectives.
History
Aviation industry has experienced leaps in development throughout the 20th century. After the World War II, air transport started to become popular. The first commercial aircrafts were used by Britain and consisted of the DC-3’s: that could sustain long flights. The major challenge experienced by the commercial planes was the framework of their construction. As economies changed and the industry grew to face competition, it became apparent to assimilate a process for achieving results within time and cost constraints: hence project management. It is an integral system especially utilized by civil aviation authorities in most countries. Civil aviation ensures safety of flights and as such, are tasked with designing the aerodrome frame utilized by planes. This involves evaluating costs that make them affordable to all aviation industries and time constraints especially when dealing with a design flaw. The Concorde is classic example of how project management was utilized to quickly phase out flaws. However, due to changes prevailing at the time, the project was abandoned and the Concorde decommissioned as a commercial vessel.
Project Management Tools
Change is inevitable in the course of a project. The impact of the change can influence the success and failure of the project. It can also render the design for executing the plan invalid. Given the serious implications of ignoring the impact of change in the course of a project, a tool is adopted to help identify and manage changes and their impact. Integrated change control in project management is a four step process that deals with the impact of change. The first step receiving a change request: a document identifying the change that may impact the project: For instance, a change request to correct the design flaw in Concorde. The next step involves a review of the impact the change might bring – if not corrected, more lives will be claimed through aviation accidents. Will it impact the project significantly or not? Yes it will. Is it of any benefit to pursue it? Yes, safety of the passenger. At this stage, it can be approved for integration into the project if approved. The approval of a change request is subject to the findings of the review. If a change request is ignored, as in the case of Concorde, the results are usually disastrous. Following the review, key decisions have to be made on how to integrate changes.
‘Key decisions’ in project management are of importance to project managers in the course of discharging their duties. Key decision is an analysis tool used in project management to make and decide when to execute decisions evaluated in the plan. For instance, if a change in the plan was foreseen and a change request made, the decision analysis tool will rely on the information delivered by the review team handling integrated change control aspects of the project. This information will be utilized to implement key decisions on how and when to integrate the changes into the project. In the case of Concorde, the implementation of the change request on the design was recommended to be done before the launch of the aircraft. This would have ensured safer flights. However, the project stakeholders bowed to political pressure and the plane was launched for commercial use anyway.
Project stakeholders are integral to any project. They recommend whether a project should be pursued or not, approve or reject change requests and decide the scope of the project. The Project Management Institute defines a project stakeholder as ‘an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project’. In the aviation industry, the stakeholders in most projects undertaken generally include the Civil Aviation Authority, the Nation Transport and Safety Board and the affiliated airline industry affected or benefitting from the project.
Conclusion
Project management is therefore a process that has become compulsory for the implementation of any major projects in the 21st century. It has become deeply embedded in our daily lives as a reliable system that designs an approach and steps to implement in the course of pursuing objectives of a project.
Aviation is an established and technologically advanced industry. It caters for air transport of people and cargo from place to place over air. Given that it is an industry that incorporates extreme degrees of dynamics in terms of design changes to the planes - subject to speed, ability to ferry heavy weights and sustainability - it has therefore adopted project management practices to deal with the time constraints and budgetary constraints all the while delivering quality final products. The example used in the paper, of Concorde and the events that influenced Concorde decommission, stresses the importance of project management in the aviation industry. It also reiterates how civil aviation – a body tasked with safety of designs and flights – is a key stakeholder in all aviation projects.
Project management uses tools to define processes and deal with emerging challenges. Integrated change control is a tool that deals with change integration into the project and its impact. The change is integrated into the project by evaluating key decisions based on information provided in the change review process. This document, with all these prevailing issues and recommendation are reviewed by project stakeholder, who either accept or reject them.
References
Association for Project Management. (2012). What is project management? Retrieved May 13, 2016, from Association for Project Management: https://www.apm.org.uk/WhatIsPM
Gillman, P. (1977, January). SuperSoni Bust: The Story of Concorde. The Atlantic Monthly, pp. 72-81.
Miller, D., & Olive, M. (2015). Engagine Stakeholders for Project Success. Changefirst Ltd.
