What would pe a thoughtful responese to each of the below disscusions?

The Top-down approach to project management starts with the end goal of the project and fills in the tasks and details once that is determined (Daradkah et al, 2018). The bottom-up approach to project management involves individuals at various levels of an organization each participating in the decision-making process to determine the end goal (Barcelona et al, 2018). For my portfolio project, I am working towards the end goal of raising $10 million in three years for a hospital by creating a program that will lead to grateful patient monetary donations. Because I already know the end goal of the project, a top-down strategy will likely work well, but since this is an add-on program to an already existing structure that will impact the ways that the staff will work with some patients, a mix of the bottom-up and top-down approach may be necessary. Each team may be needed to help the project manager understand specific timelines that are typical in the patient process and to understand when patients may be able to be approached about the new program. The top down approach may also be used to determine the project flow to ensure that critical dates are set in place to ensure the project meets its end goal on time. I think that having a collaborative approach is important in most projects, which makes me lean more towards a bottom-up approach for projects. I do believe that working backwards from the end goal is also important because it gives a the finish line: something to work towards. A hybrid approach is ideal for my situation because I want to utilize the best parts of each strategy. 

Barcelona, M. A., Garca-Borgon, L., Escalona, M. J., & Ramos, I. (2018). CBG-framework: A bottom-up model-based approach for Collaborative Business Process Management. Computers in Industry, 102, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2018.06.002

Daradkah, M., Al Jounidy, E., & Qusef, A. (2018). Top-down vs. bottom-up in project management. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Engineering & MIS 2018. https://doi.org/10.1145/3234698.3234709

2.Estimating project time and costs is a critical aspect of project management. Different approaches exist, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. In the context of the Portfolio Project, the top-down approach was chosen as the preferred estimating model, while the bottom-up approach and the hybrid phase estimating approach were eliminated from consideration. This section explains the rationale behind selecting the top-down approach and eliminating the other models.

Reasons for Choosing the Top-Down Approach:

High-Level View: The top-down approach provides a high-level view of the project, allowing for initial estimates based on broad assumptions and historical data. This approach is suitable when there is limited detailed information available early in the project lifecycle, as is often the case with large-scale and complex projects.

Time and Resource Efficiency: The top-down approach is generally faster and requires fewer resources compared to the bottom-up approach. By focusing on broader estimations, it allows project managers to quickly assess the feasibility and viability of a project before investing significant time and effort in detailed estimations.

Early Decision-Making: The top-down approach enables project stakeholders to make informed decisions about project initiation, resource allocation, and budgeting early on. It provides a preliminary estimate that helps determine whether the project aligns with the organization's strategic goals and financial constraints.

Risk Assessment: The top-down approach allows for the identification and assessment of potential risks and uncertainties at an early stage. By analyzing high-level cost and time estimates, project managers can identify major risk areas and develop appropriate risk mitigation strategies.

Reasons for Eliminating the Other Models:

Bottom-Up Approach: The bottom-up approach involves estimating project time and costs by breaking down the project into smaller tasks and estimating each one individually. While this approach offers a high level of accuracy, it requires detailed information and a comprehensive understanding of the project's intricacies, making it time-consuming and resource-intensive. Given the complexity of the Tyson Food processing plant expansion project, using the bottom-up approach would have been impractical within the given time and resource constraints.

Hybrid: Phase Estimating Approach: The hybrid phase estimating approach combines elements of both the top-down and bottom-up approaches. It involves developing estimates for different project phases based on high-level assumptions and refining them as more detailed information becomes available. Although this approach provides a balance between accuracy and efficiency, it still requires significant effort to develop estimates for each project phase. Given the limited availability of detailed information early in the project, the hybrid approach would have been less suitable for the initial estimation stage of the Portfolio Project.

The top-down approach was chosen for the Portfolio Project due to its ability to provide quick, high-level estimates, support early decision-making, and facilitate risk assessment. The elimination of the bottom-up approach and the hybrid phase estimating approach was primarily driven by considerations of time and resource efficiency, as well as the availability of detailed information at the initial stages of the project.