Online Custom «PMOK and ISO 9000» Essay Sample

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is considered to be a collection of knowledge areas and processes which are generally accepted as best practice within the discipline of project management. It was developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and is used around the world.  Being a standard that is internationally recognized (IEEE Std 1490-2003), PMOK provides the project management fundamentals, irrespective of the project type be it software, engineering, construction, automotive etc. The standard recognizes 5 basic process groups (initiating, planning, executing,controlling and closing) and 9 knowledge areas that are typical for almost all projects. The knowledge areas include Project Integration Management, Project Time Management, Project Time Management, Project Scope Management, Project Human Resource Management, Project Cost Management, Project Quality Management, Project Risk Management, Project Communications Management and Project Procurement Management. They are grouped into core functions and are subdivided into a number of processes which amount to 39. Each area of knowledge includes some processes of project management. For instance, the area of Project Procurement Management contains Solicitation Planning, Procurement Planning, Solicitation, Contract Administration, Source Selection and Contract Closeout. These processes should be carried out within its discipline to achieve the effective program of project management. They fall into one basic process group and create a matrix structure making every process relevant to one knowledge area and one process group.

The basic concepts of PMOK are applicable to programs, projects and operations. The PMBOK® is becoming the cornerstone of new professional organizations. Its changes should be developed carefully as the impact may be felt on the overall professional program of the organizations which implements it. PMBOK contains proven and traditional practices, has a wide application as well as innovative and advanced practices which may have more limited use. Among other benefits for the organizations that implement PMOK methodology are as follows: increased profitability of projects, improved productivity, and standardized system across industries and companies, reduced resources that are applied in non-value added projects, Standardized practices across departments, awareness of managing the lifecycle of program, project or portfolio. 

The PMBOK software has helped a lot of companies to introduce the procedures of project portfolio management in line with in-house and industry standard methodologies. It also allowed to build a more coherent internal structure. PMBOK was used as the basis for the development of standard project management templates for different types of proposals and project scale.

ISO 9000

The ISO 9000 family of standards is linked to the systems of quality management. The standard was designed to businesses ensure that they are able to meet the customers’ and stakeholders’ needs as well as regulatory and statutory and regulatory requirements that are related to the product. These standards are published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and are available through National standards bodies. It deals with the quality management system fundamentals including management principles which are the basis of the family of standards.

ISO 9000 is considered to present guidelines intended to increase customer satisfaction and business efficiency of businesses. Its goal is to embed the system of quality management within an organization while reducing unnecessary costs, increasing productivity, and ensuring quality of products and processes. It is worth knowing that ISO 9000 is not a rigid requirements set and organizations have flexibility in its implementation. This freedom makes the ISO 9000 standard to be available and widely used by large and small businesses.

The ISO 9000 family includes such standards as:

-        ISO 9000:2005. It covers language and the basic concepts.

-        ISO 9001:2008. It sets out the quality management system requirements.

-        ISO 9004:2009. It focuses on how to make the system of quality management more effective and efficient.

-        ISO 19011:2011. It sets out guidance on external and internal audits of quality management systems.

One important feature of ISO 9000 family is its approach that is process-oriented. The standard requires to look at the departments and individual processes of a company as a big picture.

As a rule, project portfolio management includes certain one-time objectives that should be carefully organized and planned. The use of ISO 9000 as a project management tool means that the company or organization has the opportunity to apply those quality management standards to the projects. In cases when the ISO 9000 is implemented in the proper way, it shows a high quality level for the completed projects.