This International Standard identifies the recommended project management processes to be used during a project as a whole, for individual phases or both. These project management processes are appropriate to projects in all organizations. Project management requires significant coordination and, as such, requires each process used to be appropriately aligned and connected with other processes. Some processes may be repeated to fully define and meet stakeholder requirements and reach agreement on the project objectives

 

Introduction

The “Q” RENAISSANCE Management Consultants offers research and consultancy services for a great number of policy areas. Central to these services is a clear ‘feel’ and understanding of the way policy processes work. This partially depends on skills to map and fathom problems. But our clients are not only expecting a list of problems. Much more important is helping them in pinpointing the main bottlenecks and finding solutions to cope with them. Research and policy advice are the tools we use to do his.

Besides this, comparative benchmark studies are important to acquire the necessary knowledge on policy issues, placing them in their context and analyzing and understanding them. When we do policy analysis, the “Q” RENAISSANCE Management Consultants use experience, gained in various policy areas and in projects for other institutions and governments. If a project is about monitoring, collecting (statistic) data is essential to be able to follow and guide policies. Policy research is not only about looking back or taking stock. The “Q” RENAISSANCE Management Consultants makes well founded proposals and uses scenarios as a means to create an image of the near or more distant future.
 

Project Management- Strategy and Policy Consultancy

Even the most sophisticated and well-conceived policy concepts and strategies will fall short if inadequate consideration is given at an early stage to the identification of measurable outputs, the consideration of risk and volatile environments and delivery mechanisms. Too often strategy is limited by lack of capacity to see the “big picture” and the inability to provide adequate quantitative supporting evidence. This is particularly the case for decisions that relate to choice of strategic options, such as expansion in particular markets, mergers and acquisitions or new policy responses. Management and decision makers will often look for outside expertise offering independent judgment.

A key strength of “Q” RENAISSANCE is our ability to provide research and consulting services in support of policy and strategy development and implementation. We have the capacity to provide skills which may include detailed economic modeling for feasibility studies, major economic and social impact analysis deploying both quantitative and qualitative survey techniques and “softer” facilitation or stakeholder consultation skills. We can support policy or project implementation with communication and public relation skills. We are regularly called upon to play an intermediary or negotiator role where complex programme or project development issues require resolution.

Our skills cover both content and process. Change management programmes for public sector organizations, in particular, form an increasing proportion of our work. Whether it concerns the privatization or outsourcing of government services or the development of a new business opportunity we can provide the appropriate experts for the task. Issues addressed may range from the development of a major public policy initiative in the transport or urban regeneration field to a strategy for market entry for a major corporate client.
 

Project Management - Our areas of work include the following:

• Policy and strategy development
• Master plan development
• Management advice and support
• Technical assistance
• Institutional development and capacity building
• Evaluation and self-evaluation
• Advice on partnership and networking
• Exchange of experience
 

Project Management - Competition and Regulation

How do competition rules influence individual firms market opportunities? Can one plan for a merger or acquisition or would it lead to a dominant position in a market and be prevented by the Competition Authority? In what way can performance in regulated markets be improved? These are the kind of issues with which corporate organizations and policymakers are regularly confronted. Economic analysis and state-of-the-art knowledge of competition rules and competition policies are required to address them. Our analytical skills cover the full range of services from sectoral market analysis, pricing policy studies to competition analysis and anti-trust analysis of merger proposals. Our knowledge base offers in-depth understanding of SADC and member state regulatory regimes. We provide state-of-the-art understanding of the most recent economic and legal developments in regulatory policy.
Our areas of work include the following:

• Antitrust evaluation of mergers
• Abuse of dominant position
• Cartels and collusion
• Vertical restraints
• Assessment of competitiveness of markets
• Market performance analyses
• Economic regulation analyses
• Regulatory policy support
 

Project Management - Marketing and Financial Advisory Services

The development of major real estate or infrastructure projects poses substantial risk and uncertainty for all the stakeholders, individual private investors, public authorities and contractors alike. Limiting risk requires a clear identification and distribution of the uncertainties and a balancing of risk and reward across all partners’ interests. Moreover, as a result of the internationalization and diversification of the financial sector, a growing range of financial products are on offer. Matching these products with the “project” demands a detailed understanding of the role of each contracting partner. Tailor-made financing solutions are the order of the day. We can advise on customized financing packages and provide full financial risk assessment to corporates, real estate developers or infrastructure sponsors. We also assist investors and corporates in asset management. We are able to provide complementary “in-house” services in marketing, legal advice, management and communications services.
Our areas of work include the following:

• Feasibility studies
• Marketing studies
• Benchmarking and performance measurement
• Strategic action plans
• Operational policies and guidelines
• Financial sector studies
• Financial restructuring and privatization
• Institutional assessment and strengthening
• Financial modeling and engineering
• Identification of financiers and deal-making
• Risk analysis and risk weighting/allocation
• Organization, structuring and implementation of PPPs
• Concession financing and tendering
• Asset management
 

Project Management- Programme management and realization

Corporate and public agencies seeking to control risk and introduce ‘leaner’ product or project delivery are increasingly looking to third parties to provide management services. The most effective response is provided by those companies capable of deploying both management skills and sectorial/product knowledge and covering the whole programme/project cycle from inception to evaluation. We have special expertise in delivering management services in direct support of programmes and projects. This draws heavily on our research and consulting experiences in the fields of policy formation, implementation and evaluation. Our services range from support to a project sponsor at the proposal and feasibility stage of an initiative, which may involve drafting terms of references or applications for financial support, to full multi-annual management of a complete programme.

We can help project funding organisations with the selection of executive agencies, contractors or specialist consultants. We support, for example, the Commission of the Some parts of Africaan Union in the management of a number of technical assistance programmes. We also advise and secure funding for projects from both public and private sources. We provide ongoing managment support for project or programme delivery wherever required and act as project managers, often where multi-agency partnerships are required. We may be involved at all stages of the process, drawing up terms of references, monitoring contractors and ensuring targets and outputs are achieved.
Our areas of work include the following:

• Project appraisal and selection
• Project development and management
• Management of and assistance with calls for applications
• Project funding and allocation of funding sources
• Project and programme management
• Process management and interim management
• Budget and financial management
 

Project Management - Monitoring and evaluation

Policies, programmes and projects are delivered in an increasingly dynamic environment. Monitoring has become an essential tool for early warning of the need to adjust and fine tune whether this be in terms of working methods, staff establishments, budgets or indeed fundamental objectives. Similarly organizations have recognized the need for greater emphasis on evaluation. No longer are stakeholders prepared to accept crude accounting ratios as measures of achievement but rather now demand full and transparent measurement of output and deliverables.

We seek to respond to your needs through comprehensive understanding of the nature and scale of your problem. We use various research techniques to offer a carefully structured menu of information, analysis and recommendations to address specific problems in a targeted way.

Appropriate instruments and methods are selected for each assignment. These may include sophisticated models and forecasting methods, cost-benefit analyses, organizational mapping, questionnaires and so on. We also have the capacity to store relevant data in extensive databases, which can serve as valuable sources for complementary assignments.

• Monitoring

Monitoring and evaluation form an essential stage of the project and we are able to provide an independent viewpoint, where it is needed, of both the performance and impact of interventions. “We can tell you what is working well and ‘how’ and ‘why’ things are as they are”. The companies of the “Q” RENAISSANCE Management Consultants are able to use a range of monitoring and evaluation tools to answer our clients’ questions such as “Will it work?”, “How is it doing?” and “What difference has it made?”. “It” might be one of a number of things: a project, an entire funding programme, an action plan, a strategy or a policy. Whichever it is, we have a vast experience upon which to draw, and can develop an approach that meets the particular needs of each individual situation. What is more, we can tell you what is working well (and not so well) and “how” and “why” things are as they are. We hope our clients will be able to use our findings to inform their future work, and we are often asked to formulate recommendations on this basis.

• Evaluation

There are several different forms of evaluation: ex-anta evaluations, interim evaluations, ex-post evaluations, impact studies and specific spin-off studies. In general evaluations have two goals: learning from past experience and justifying (expected) results and expenditures to stakeholders. The emphasis can vary for each type of evaluation. Ex-anta evaluations are mainly focused on adjusting execution, while ex-post evaluations are more about learning and justifying. The validity of our analysis and the reliability of our findings lead to well-founded conclusions and specific, useful recommendations. These aspects of the quality of our work go hand in hand with attention for the interests of parties involved: policymakers, executors and target groups. The results of our work are always thoroughly and interactively discussed. This way we keep track of the interests of the organizations, who want to have their goals met as efficiently as possible. We continue with our activities until the real effects of policy and/or activities are clear and we find the means necessary to reach set targets.

• Auditing

Audits come in different shapes: financial audits, organization audits, quality audits, etc. Auditing is directly related to evaluation and monitoring and, like monitoring, is especially a management instrument. “Q” RENAISSANCE offers various auditing services. In auditing, the connection between input and output is key. With these, process aspects are also taken in to account. We are continuously developing our research techniques by means of our “in-house” research programme. We also maintain close working relations with many research departments of universities, institutes and organizations worldwide. As a result we are able to renew our “intellectual capital”, exchange knowledge and experience and provide the latest methods, techniques and ideas to our clients.

Our areas of work include the following:

• Market research
• Benchmarking and comparative research
• Feasibility studies and needs assessments
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Organizational and behavioral studies
• Applied research and analysis
• Quantitative and qualitative surveys
• Data analysis and reviews
• Forecasting, scenario building and projections
• Modeling
• Management of international research networks
 

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