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2. Deliver a product that meets the requirements of the
delivery schedule (by plan within a Governmental organiza
tion or by contract within a Private organization). ( Time
Constraint).
3. Meet the organization's fiscal objectives (budgetary limita
tions or profit objectives as the case may be). (Cost Constraint).
The manager has the dominant role in establishing or influencing these
objectives because he is responsible for the production, delivery, and
accounting operations. There are certain prerequisites that will have
to be satisfied if the objectives (within associated constraints) are to
be achieved. These are as follows:
A. The organization must have the particular technical resources
(Material, Equipment , Hardware/Software, and human resources)
required for meeting the specification objectives.
B. The organization must have adequate facilities (both material
and human) and fiscal and other resources to meet the
delivery schedule.
C. The terms of the fiscal objectives, rates, etc. should be
realistic and adequate to cover the performance of the organiza
tion.
The achievement of the basic objectives requires that the manager be pro
ficient in disciplines which cover all of his (managerial and engineering)
functions. The foremost amongst these are:
i) Engineering: By its nature, a project oriented task covers
several areas of engineering. The manager cannot be expected
to be an expert in each of the other technical areas. However,
he must be familiar enough with the basics of all of those areas
to be able to consider alternatives and to be able to evaluate
procedures. He has to make correct decisions involving com
plex scheduling problems also, sometimes involving the sponsor.
ii) Economics : In most cases, particularly in the areas of
industrial applications, all the various aspects can be ultimately
reduced to one common factor -- money. Thus, cost manage
ment is one most important function of the manager. Cost-
effectiveness is his final goal in this respect.
iii) Law (or Rules and Regulations) : Most projects involve a con
tract (can be of various types) between two or more parties.
In the public organizations, the contract is in the form of
commitments and obligations. In all these, however, the
implications of legal and contractual terms must be fully under
stood in order to fulfill the contractual obligations. The
employer's obligations to not only the sponsor of the project
but also to the employees who carry out such obligations become
ultimately the manager's responsibility.
