WIXLIB

Application of statistical analysis from start to finish. It is in this scenario that projectmanagement comes into existence.Project management means applying skills,knowledge, and techniques for the effective andefficient execution of the project to meet the desiredresults (Heldman, 2005; PMI, 2016). It can also bedefined as the planning, scheduling, and control ofconnected activities with the purpose of achievinggoals (Kerzner, 2006).According to Vargas (2005), project management is aset of managerial tools that control single, non-repetitiveand complex events, within a predetermined contextin relation to time, cost, and quality. For this controlto exist, the managerial tools allow the organizationto develop a set of skills, knowledge, and individualcapabilities.Project management is a way of meeting projectgoals through planning, execution, monitoring, andcontrol of activities (Lewis, 2000). It is considered acomplex and challenging activity that has unlimitedpotential, but with predictable patterns, despitethese characteristics (Duffy, 2006). It can detectand control costs and deadlines while maintainingcompetitiveness to exceed the expectations ofcustomers (Bomfin et al., 2012).The objective of project management is to trace,disseminate, monitor, and fix the path the projectswill take, considering the risks, uncertainties,contingencies, failures, and changes that may occurin this period. It covers the identification of needs; theestablishment of goals; the balance between quality,time, scope, and cost; the adaptation to changes; andthe expectations of stakeholders (Jordão et al., 2015).Project management is performed through theappropriate application and integration of someprocesses belonging to five groups defined by thePMBOK Guide: Initiating; Planning; Executing;Controlling; and Closing (PMI, 2013). These processgroups are phases that comprise the life cycle ofthe project. Each process produces results that willbecome inputs for the next process group by meansof successive interactions as shown in Figure 1(Heldman, 2005).The objective of the initiating process groupis to define a new project or a new project phase,confirming their start after the identification andsurvey of physical, financial, staff, and stakeholdersneeds, and giving the necessary permissions aftera thorough feasibility study (Candido et al., 2012;PMI, 2013).The initiating process group will become an inputto the planning process group. The goal of this secondgroup is to consolidate a project plan that includescustomer requirements, the scope of the project,schedule, budgets, and communication plan amongother items (PMI, 2013). Planning is not static and canundergo modifications throughout the life cycle of theGest. Prod., São Carlos, v. 26, n. 4, e3945, 2019project. Therefore the project manager, with the helpof the team, must be attentive to the documentationand its updates (Candido et al., 2012).The planning process group will provide inputfor the executing process group, which will have thepurpose of implementing what was defined to meetthe established specifications. It must constantly beupdated with the input from the controlling processgroup. This last group is characterized by processesof monitoring, analysis, and control of the progressand performance of the project. It establishes thenecessary changes by comparing what was executedto how it was planned (PMI, 2013). Controlling isfundamental to the success of the project as theyallow the identification of problems in enough timeto be solved (Candido et al., 2012).Lastly, the closing process group aims to concludeall activities of all process groups for a formalclosure of the project or phase using records thatwill contribute to increase the know-how of theorganization (Candido et al., 2012; PMI, 2013).The PMBOK Guide mentions a total offorty‑seven (47) processes grouped into ten (10)areas of knowledge. Twenty-four (24) of these groupsbelong to the planning process group, making it themain operational guideline of project management(Jugend et al., 2014).In a study conducted by Terribili (2013), the fivemain problems raised by Brazilian organizations aredirectly related to four disciplines included in thePMBOK Guide: time management, scope management,communication management, and cost management.Of the participating organizations, 60.2% reportthat they are “not meeting deadlines”, i.e., in everyfive organizations surveyed, three have problemsFigure 1. Project Management Process Groups. Source:Heldman (2005).3/12

Gest. Prod., São Carlos, v. 26, n. 4, e3945, 2019Pereira, M. M. et al.with time management (Terribili, 2013). The delaysin a project may be unavoidable, but, at the sametime, they can be mitigated by a good control ofthe progress of the project, which will readjust theschedule to accommodate the delays and bottlenecksthat happen during execution (Duffy, 2008).After conducting a root cause analysis, we canconclude that the reason for delays in projects stemsfrom several variables, many of which transcend thebehavioral characteristics of the project manager andmaterialize in aspects of administration, managerialskills, and non-technical expertise (Terribili, 2013).Terribili (2011) identifies eight groups of potentialcauses of delays in projects: poorly defined scope,badly estimated deadlines, insufficient humanresources, delays in the execution of activities,delays in deliveries from suppliers, tested qualitybelow expectations, excessive bureaucracy in theorganization, and risks that become a reality.Kerzner (2010) emphasizes that the successfulimplementation of processes and methodologies isnecessary to achieve excellence in project management.The managerial level of the company cannot ignorehow the organization uses information. It is thisinformation that will help the manager make decisions,find solutions, and deal with customer satisfaction(Bomfin et al., 2012). According to Fonseca (2006,p. 35), “[ ] well managed projects reduce uncertaintiesand achieve customer satisfaction.”Numerous problems arise during management.If treated in a static manner, they result in theincidence of delays in the schedule and unwantedcosts, regardless of the advances in technologyand management techniques. It takes a huge effortin planning and control of project management tomitigate these chronic symptoms (Lee et al., 2005).3 MethodologyThis research can be classified as a case studyof exploratory and quantitative nature. We usedsome working documents containing sensitive dataas support to find a conclusive result and reach theobjectives of the article.The research is exploratory since its goal is to provideinformation about the object and guide the formulationof hypotheses (Cervo et al., 2007). Furthermore,according to Gonçalves (2014), exploratory researchaims to discover, to find, to elucidate phenomena orto explain those that were not accepted despite beingevident. That way, it reiterates the objective of thisstudy to investigate a phenomenon that will directlyaffect the work routine.Regarding technical procedures, the research is acase study as it is applied directly to the reality of oneproject. Yin (1984) posits that a case study consistsof an intensive analysis of a particular situation4/12investigated, without significant interference fromthe researcher.In this case, the site of analysis was a researchproject that started with a cooperation agreementbetween federal institutions - the University of Brasilia(UnB) - and a security organization. The requiredresult was the modeling of logistic processes, in orderto assist in the modernization of a control system forthe management of materials.Several supporting documents served as managementcontrol and were used as input for the development ofthis article, such as general spreadsheet of processes,update control tool, team data spreadsheet amongothers. In this regard, the case study had the aidof documentary research and statistical analysis toachieve its goal.The study has a quantitative nature, which,according to George & Bennett (2005), is based onstatistical techniques to describe the reality beinginvestigated. The statistical analysis used demonstratesthe relationship between the delays at work and sixselected variables (Duration of the Project, Stageof Material, Systematic Version, Team, Number ofModifications, and Number of Elements). In thisrespect, one of the ways to evaluate the effectivenessand efficiency of the monitoring process is throughthe application of statistical methods.3.1 Statistical analysesWe conducted statistical analyses to verify thesimilarity between the selected variables and theexecution time of activities, thus determining theeffectiveness of the project management process.To this end, we used the test of independence andthe test of correlation, explained, respectively, ontopics 3.1.1 and 3.1.2.3.1.1 Test of IndependenceThe Test of Independence between two qualitativevariables is performed using data available in acontingency table (double entry). The cells of thistable contain the respective frequencies observed,as presented in Table 1.In this test, we consider the independence betweenthe variables A and B as a null hypothesis, that is,the marginal proportion of variable A in the i-th class( ni. / n. ) can be found in any class of variable B, nij / n.j .Similarly, the marginal proportion of variable B inthe i-th class n.j / n. can be found in any class of((()))variable A n ij / n i. .Formally, we could consider pij as the probabilityof an element being classified in categories i and j atthe same time, with pi. and p.j as marginal probabilities.Consequently, we could write the hypothesis ofindependence as follows:

Gest. Prod., São Carlos, v. 26, n. 4, e3945, 2019Application of statistical analysis Table 1. Contingency table of categorical variables A and B.Variable iable H0: pij pi. . p.j, for each pair (i, j);1 1 ρ01 µξln and σξ2.(4)2 1 ρ0n 3H1: pij pi. . p.j, for any pair (i, j).We could describe such hypotheses literally as:with n as the sample size (X1, Y1), ., (Xn, Yn) and ρ0 asH0: The variables (A, B) are independent;the value of the population parameter. The approachH1: The variabl

Project management means applying skills, knowledge, and techniques for the effective and efficient execution of the project to meet the desired results (Heldman, 2005; PMI, 2016). It can also be defined as the planning, scheduling, and control of connected activities with the purpose of