Problem 1. Creating a report based on a network flow model.
The managing directors of an accounting firm has decided to construct a local area network in one of its large offices so that its employees can share databases, printers and other required materials and equipment. This project has 15 activities, labelled A through O and is listed in the table below. The table indicates the immediate predecessors of each activity along with each activity’s expected duration, in days.
Data on LAN activities
Description
Activity
Immediate Predecessor(s)
Duration (days)
Perform needs analysis
A
None
10
Develop specifications
B
A
6
Select server
C
B
6
Select software
D
B
12
Select cables
E
C
4
Purchase equipment
F
D, E
3
Develop user manuals
G
C, D
6
Wire offices
H
F
12
Set up server
I
F
3
Develop training program
J
G
14
Install software
K
I
4
Connect network
L
H, K
3
Train users
M
J, L
8
Test and debug system
N
L
12
Get management acceptance
O
M, N
4
The directors want answers to the following questions.
a) Project network diagram.
b) How long the project will take to be completed.
c) Which activities cannot be delayed.
d) What would be the consequence of delaying the start of activity C only, by two days.
e) What will happen to the project duration time if the duration of only the activity D will have to
be increased by one day.
Project Management in Science_ 60903
Assessment Task 1 (Individual assessment), Spring 2016
(Worth 20% of the final result for this subject)
Due Date and Time: Friday, 9th September 2016 by 11:59 pm
f) In this project, activities C and D can be done concurrently. Suppose instead that activity C is an
immediate predecessor of activity D. (the same employees to be used due to cost restrictions,
and these employees can perform only one activity at a time.)
Will this affect the project completion time you obtained in part b)?
Will there be a change in the critical path?
(You can assume that activity E is still an immediate successor of activity C. That is, it doesn’t
need to wait for activity D to finish.)
g) How difficult is it to add new activities to an existing project scheduling model? Answer this
question by assuming that there are two other activities, labelled P and Q. Activity P moves
selected employees to temporary offices while installation occurs, and activity Q moves them
back after installation is finished. Activity P has immediate predecessors D and E, immediate
successor H, and duration three days. Activity Q has immediate predecessor L, immediate
successor O, and duration three days. Will these changes affect the duration of the project
and/or the critical path you obtained in part b)?
h) Due to work commitments employees cannot go for training on the schedule date expected in
part b). Training of users, activity M cannot start until three weeks after the start of activity J,
which is the development of training program. What effect will this have on the project?
Your answer to this problem should be in the form of a report.
The report should include a title, background information, objective(s), methodology used (diagrams, if any used) with expected results and recommendations. Any references used should be clearly documented.
Problem 2. Creating a WBS and reflections on its use.
Inner City Youth Soccer Club
Inner city youth soccer club was started in Summer Hill in 1992 as a way of bringing recreational players to a higher level of competition and preparing them for the Olympic Development Program and/or A-League tournaments. The club currently has 123 boys and girls (ranging in age from 5 to 16). The club’s board of directors decided to sponsor a winter invitational soccer tournament to generate revenue. Given the boom in youth soccer, hosting winter tournaments has become a popular method for raising funds. The club needs funds to refurbish and expand the number of soccer fields in their home ground in Summer Hill. Funds would also be used to provide partial or full scholarships to youths who need financial assistance in paying the annual club membership fee of $450.
Jane a soccer enthusiast and a long-time associate of the club had been elected as the tournament director and is responsible for organising the club’s first winter tournament. A committee meeting planned for a two-hour duration, was held on a Thursday evening at 6 pm, after her election to gather the members’ opinion.
She started the meeting by having everyone introduce themselves and by proclaiming how excited she was that the club was going to sponsor its own tournament. She then suggested that the committee brainstorm what needed to be done to pull off the event; she would record their ideas on a flipchart.
What emerged was a free-for-all of ideas and suggestions. One member immediately stressed the importance of having qualified referees and spent several minutes describing in detail how his son’s team was robbed in a poorly officiated championship game. This was followed by other stories of
injustice on the soccer field. Another member suggested that they needed to quickly contact the local colleges to see if they could use their fields. The committee spent more than 30 minutes
talking about how they should screen teams and how much they should charge as an entry fee. An argument broke out over whether they should reward the winning teams in each age bracket with medals or trophies. Many members felt that medals were too cheap, while others thought the trophies would be too expensive. Someone suggested that they seek local corporate sponsors to help fund the tournament.
The proposed sale of tournament T-shirts and sweatshirts was followed by a general critique of the different shirts parents had acquired at different tournaments.
One member advocated that they recruit an artist he knew to develop a unique silk-screen design for the tournament. The meeting adjourned 30 minutes late with only half of the members remaining until the end. Jane drove home with seven sheets of ideas and a headache.
She realised that organising this tournament would be a big project and will need proper planning.
The first thing she wanted to do was to develop a WBS for the project.
i) Make a list of the major deliverables for the project and use them to develop a draft of the work
breakdown structure for the tournament that contains at least three levels of detail.
j) How would developing a WBS alleviate some of the problems that occurred during the first
meeting and help Jane organise and plan the project?
k) Where can Jane find additional information to help her develop a WBS for the tournament?
l) How could Jane and her committee members use the WBS to generate cost estimates for the
tournament? Why would this be useful information?
Note: Only short answers are expected for parts j), k) and l).
ASSESSMENT ELEMENT
• Individual assessment coversheet;
• One pdf document with answers to the given two problems;
• If you had used Excel or Microsoft project to develop network models in Problem 1, please attach that file with your name and student ID clearly stated on the worksheet.