Management and Service Science (MASS), 2011 International Conference on
Management and Service Science, Wuhan, China
Project Management and Project Integration Management
In Relationship with Service Marketing
Rashad Yazdanifard 1
Faculty of Information & Communication Technology,
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology,
Cyberjaya, Malaysia
rashadyazdanifard@yahoo.com
Abstract– The ne w economy made it necessary for
researchers to focus on service marketing due to products
not being successful on their own. Marketing techniques
have changed from traditional which was based mostly on
goods only, goods and services to services only which make
it even easier for service marketing to succeed since its
ne w and have higher demand. Therefore this article
e xplains what service marketing is, factors leading to
projects success. It explains the project processes and gives
re asons why projects fail . The article is based on a
literature review that presents the relationship between
se rvice marketing, project management and project
integration management.
Keywords – Service Marketing, Project Management,
Project Integration Management, Project Processes, project
failure.
I. INTRODUCTION
Economy has made business organizations
marketing format to change from products only to either
both products and services or services only. Therefore
to start with what a service exactly is; a definition from
American Marketing Association, Committee of
Definitions [1, p. 21]defines service as activities,
benefits and satisfactions, offered for sale or provided in
connection with the sale of goods whereas Quinn,
Baruch and Paquette [16] refers to it as all economic
activities whose outputs are not physical products or
construction. According to Jeffrey Tarter [8], the sale of
services generally means buying the time and skills of a
live person such as a lawyer, an accountant, an auto
mechanic. Therefore personal chemistry quite
reasonably plays a role in our choice of service
providers, to make judgments among services’ quality,
according to Parasuraman A, Zeithaml V.A, and
L.L.Berry [14], customers use five dimensions such as,
reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and
tangibles which are based on the comparison between
the expected and perceived quality.
Tshepo Molamu 2
Faculty of Information & Communication Technology,
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology,
Cyberjaya, Malaysia
tshepomolamu@yahoo.com
Bitner, Fisk and Brown [4] suggest that the major
output from the services marketing literature up to 1980
was the definition of four services characteristics:
intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and
perishability of which made services marketing
different from the marketing of products. Service
marketing projects is a venture undertaken to
accomplish a service within a specific duration of time
and following specific objectives.
II. SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGIES
Studies of service firms suggest that the exporting
behavior of service operators is influenced by a number
of environmental factors, but that the impact of these
factors is likely to be stronger for service firms than for
manufacturing firms, also indicate that barriers to the
international marketing of services are mostly due to the
close cultural relationships between a society and the
services offered in that society’ [7]. Services firms
should apply a customization on performance strategy
since it is not costly due to its benefits being more
higher compared to products.
There are several strategies that if a service firm
follows them, they can find their way through a market
place. According to An-Shin Shia and Jason C. Hung
[2], here are some of them; Pricing strategy, Channel
strategy, Promotional strategies, Human capital
strategy, Service cost strategy.
III. PROJECTS PROCESSES
Rebecca Dozier [17] indicates the five project
processes as; The Initiating process, Planning processes,
Executing processes, Control processes and Closing
processes.
A. Project Initiation
Rebecca Dozier [17] indentifies the initiating process
as a process which identifies that a project should begin
and that resources should be committed to it. According
to Upravljanje projektima [20], project initiation are
processes carried out to approve and define the scope of
a new phase or project or that can result in the
continuation of halted project work.
B. Project Planning
Projects need to be planned for better results,
therefore to test the value of a project plan, the PMPQ
(Project Management Planning Quality) model is used
which evaluates the overall quality of the project
planning. The model is based on the processes to be
performed during the planning stages of a project, by
both the project manager and the organization to which
the project manager belongs to [13]. According to
Simon Buehring [19], a good planning is lead by
understanding the projects objectives. An abstract plan
can be produced which can serve as the starting point
for all planning problems that differ only in the number
or amount of resources present and thereafter, based on
the actual resource availability will be allocated
resources to produce an executable plan [3]. According
to Rebecca Dozier [17], planning processes involves
devising and maintaining a workable s cheme to
accomplish the project objectives.
C. Project Execution
Executing processes is where the actual project
work is done. It involves people coordination and other
resources to carry out the plan [15].
D. Project Control Process
Control processes monitors, measures and takes
corrective action when necessary to ensure project
objectives are met. These processes focus on
influencing future results rather than fixing past
mistakes [17]. According to PMBOK3 [15, p. 28], it
means guaranteeing that project objectives are met by
monitoring and measuring progress and taking
corrective action when necessary.
E. Project Closure
Rebecca Dozier [17], Closing processes to formalize
project acceptance and bring it to an end. It is during
this process where significant historical information
about the project is generated, PMBOK3 [15, p. 28]
defines it as formalizing acceptance of the project or
phase and bringing it to an orderly end.
IV. PROJECT SUCCESS AND PERFORMANCE
Project management and project integration
management are very important roles in project success,
Shai Rozenes, Gad Vitner, Stuart Spraggett[18],
explains the control measures technique while Simon
Buehring [19] gives the top 7 project management
success practices. Furthermore, Merrill S.K, PMP [11]
and Marc Hirshfield and Peggy Daniels Lee [10], gives
their views on project success and performance issues.
1. Control measures
The use of control procedures is an important factor
in the project’s success. According to Shai Rozenes,
Gad Vitner, Stuart Spraggett[18], findings showed that
the success level of a project implementing a specific
control method is related to the level of risk measured
by situational factors. Another factor is risks; they must
always be taken care of as they can cause project
collapse. Shai Rozenes, Gad Vitner, and Stuart
Spraggett [18] indicate the two common risks that have
a major significant impact on project effectiveness: (1)
the team’s lack of general expertise; and (2) lack of
clear role definitions for team members. The success
performance of a project depends on appropriate
planning.
Control cycle include, planning, measuring,
monitoring and taking corrective action. Typically,
projects utilize a control system, which monitors the
difference between the planning variables and the actual
results. Project control systems show the direction of
change in preliminary planning variables compared
with actual performance [18].
2 .Project management Techniques
Simon Buehring [19] indicates the top 7 project
management success practices as follows, define the
Scope and Objectives, Define the Deliverables, Project
Planning, Communication, Tracking and Reporting
Project Progress, Change Management, Risk
Management. According to Merrill S.K, PMP [11],
Project integration management refers to the processes
and activities needed to integrate the various elements
of project management, which are identified, defined,
combined, unified, and coordinated within the Project
Management Process Groups. Marc Hirshfield and
Peggy Daniels Lee [10] states that; gaining physician
and administrative commitment to the project and
ensuring that enough time is spent on project planning
improves the chances of project success.
V. WHY PROJECTS FAIL?
Nadim F. Matta and Ronald N. Ashkenas [12], if
managers fail to predict everything that might fall
through the cracks, those tracks will not converge
successfully at the end to reach the goal. Respondents
of a research carried out by the Coverdale Organization,
Cushing [6], identifies key factors in project failures as
the estimation mistakes, unclear project goals and
objectives, and project objectives changing during the
project. Cynthia K. West [6] identified the four
common risks as; Lack of Visibility of all Projects,
Unclear Project Objectives, No Visibility into Resource
Workload and Gaps in Communication. According to
Lisa Anderson [10] there are three stumbling blocks to
project success as; lack of clearly designated project
leader, lack of clear expectations and goals and lastly
common communication challenges.
 VI. DISCUSSION
For an organization to go global or worldwide it
starts with good marketing strategies and service
business just like product one needs those for a good
business foundation. A service marketing project is a
temporary enterprise undertaken to create a unique
service within a specific duration. Therefore for the
project to succeed it has to enforce project management
factors, such as the control measure and planning
techniques, project integration management
Project planning is the backbone of the whole
project; this gives project managers the responsibility to
have main focus on it. From planning, managers can
identify the risks that might happen and be able to
provide alternatives to avoid them or reduce the chances
thereby reducing the changes of product failure. A good
project planning leads to a project success.
Every project carried out undergoes five project
processes. Project initiation is done for beginning and
defining project objectives and for establishment of the
appropriate and quality environment required to
complete a certain project. After understanding the
project objectives, project planning must be done by
project managers, presenting all aspects needed for the
project such as the people, environment and materials
needed as well as the time required. Most work is done
in executing process where activities are now
performed. It will then pass to control process to
monitor and correct any necessary mistakes and finally
the closing project that ends the whole project once the
deliverable is produced. Project integration
management and project management are very
important roles in every project success. They include
the role of skilled project managers working together
with stakeholders as well as project team to ensure that
projects objectives are met.
VII. CONCLUSION
Service marketing is very important in the society to
enhance human life. This means buying and selling of
deliverables that are hired and used within a specific
time, cannot be touched or felt (intangible), cannot be
taken away from the provider, last for a specific time
and cannot be stored like products for later use. These
deliverables needs good marketing strategies and
customer service to reach many customers and for the
provider to keep in trend.
Service marketing just like any marketing strategies,
it has projects of which they undergoes the project
processes such as; the initiating process which the first
process , followed by planning processes, executing
processes, controlling processes and closing processes
to bring the project to an end. In every project there is a
possibility of failures and risks, therefore due to this,
planning is required for a successful result. Project
planning as the second project process contributes
highly in projects success and so is risk management
and project integration management; this result from
good and well skilled project managers working
together with project team members.
Project integration management is an important role
in any project's success. It ensures that all of the
elements that are necessary to complete a successful
project come together. On the other hand project
management is also an important and a basic aspect in
every project for its success. It covers all the five
projects processes of which if correctly followed, leads
to projects success. From project process, project
managers manage risks during planning process which
is one of the main factors leading to project failure,
hence showing the importance of the project planning
phase.
The overall responsibility of the project, whether it
fails or succeed is based on the project managers. They
are the one to define the project objectives, make the
plan, ensure the work is done by demanding for process
report and make corrections where necessary well in
time. They have to make sure both stakeholders and
team members as well as team leaders are involved in
every step.
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