1.

0:

The network diagram for the project plan reveals that whilst the deployment off the project is in a controlled manner, the parallel execution of the tasks Building prepared for installation, Software written and Hardware developed, increases the concentration of the resources in the project simultaneously. Although two software programmers perform the software development task, the fact that the other two tasks Building prepared for installation and Hardware developed are in-charge of the electronics engineer increases the workload on the electronics engineer greatly. Even though, Ms Slovo has been help by an experienced electronics engineer, his/her nonavailability on a full-time basis is the critical element that increases the workload on the electronics engineer. The assumption that the task Hardware Tested can commence after the completion of the task Building prepared for installation is mainly because of the fact that the task Hardware Developed is assumed to be completed within the time period for completing the former. This assumption can be effectively realised through appointing an assistant to the electronics engineer who can share the workload to complete the project by the deadline.

2.0: From the network Diagram the earliest completion date for the project is perceived to be 14th December 2006. This date is derived through the tight scheduling of the tasks and strict deadlines. In the real-world scenario the costs and the duration for the completion of the tasks are affected by various external and internal factors. Particularly the simultaneous execution of the tasks Building prepared for installation and Hardware Developed, which are performed by the electronics engineer, is the critical element for the successful accomplishment of the deadline for the project. This was discussed extensively in the previous section. The delay in any of these tasks will drastically affect the subsequent tasks since they cannot commence until the completion of the three tasks executed in parallel. The delay in the task Building prepared for installation by a month will affect the completion of the task Hardware tested apparently delaying the start of the task by a month whilst a 3 months delay in the task Software written will have a greater effect on the project deadline since the task Software Tested can commence only after the completion of this

task. The aforementioned delays will delay the commencement of the final task by a month whilst a 2 weeks delay in the completion of the final task will postpone the completion date for the project to 17th January 2007. This delay in the project will affect the costs involved with the project since the maintenance of the resources and their allocation will result in higher costs to the project that estimated.

3.0:

The project status report is presented in Table 1 below Table 1: Project status report
Task Durat Total ion Budget 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2 1 3 4 4 4 3 %co Planned mplet Value e (BCWP) 20 100% 12 100% 10 5 80% 20% 0% 0% 0% Actual Costs (ACWP) 20 12 2 4 0 0 0 Earne SV CV CPI SPI EAC d Value 30 20 0 -10 0.666 1 30 67 12 12 0 0 1 1 12 12 2 8 1 0 0 0 6 -3 0 0 0 -4 0.666 4 67 -1 0.5 0.25 0 0 0 PCI PCI ( (B) C )

100 100 % % 100 100 % % 15 20% 80% 8 80% 25% 8 0% 16 0% 9 0%

The project cost graph is presented in fig 1 below

Project Cost Graph

35 30 25 Total Budget Planned Value (BCWP) Actual Costs (ACWP)

Cost

20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 Duration 5 6 7

Fig 1: Project cost Graph

4.0: Schedule of the project

From the information in Table 1 it is clear that BCWP < BCWS which signifies that the project is behind schedule. This is evident from the tasks 3 and 4. the project is thus behind schedule by 60,000.

5.0:

The forecasted completion date for the project with the delays introduced as per the arguments in section 2 is expected to be 17th January 2007. This date is arrived through the re-scheduling of the tasks with the given conditions applied. The argument of Harold Kerzwer (2005)1 that the project completion date through forecasting can be agreed only through applying the constraints agreed to the initial project plan whilst re-scheduling the tasks in the project network. Furthermore, the delay in tasks 3 and 4 that are in the critical path will influence the commencement of the final task 7, which depends upon the completion of all the preceding tasks. Alongside, the completion date is forecast not only using the constraints but also incorporating the delays and the costs associated with the delays in utilizing the resources. In this project since the electronics engineer is a valuable resource and is in the critical path of the project, the deadline forecast should take into account the tasks on hand with the electronics engineer and their expected completion. This method of resource based forecasting the completion date is also justified by Alan Jackson et al (2005)2.

6.0:

The Cost Performance Index signifies the quality of spending by the project as argued by Keith G Lockyer and James Gordon (2005)3. The fact that the cost performance index of the project reveals the performance level of the task with respect to its spending and the value added to the overall project makes the CPI a critical performance measuring element to the project. Alongside, it is also interesting to note that the Cost Performance index is also the tracking tool for the project managers and the decision makers to effectively manage the project and allocate the resources to complete the project within the agreed budget limits.

The Schedule performance Index on the other hand is the factor that signifies the extent to which a given task in the project is on target as well as the schedule level of the overall project. This approach further makes it clear that the Schedule Performance Index a vital element to the project since it is a direct measure of the schedule of the project with respect to
1

Harold Kerzwer (2005), Project management: a systems approach to planning , scheduling & controlling., UK: Weily, 2 Alan Jackson, Harold L. Sirkin and Perry Keenan (2005), THE HARD SIDE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT. Harvard Business Review, Oct2005, Vol. 83 Issue 10, p108-118 3 Keith G Lockyer and James Gordon (2005), Project management and project network techniques 7 th edition, UK: Prentice Hall Financial Times

the costs involved. It is further interesting to note that the SPI is not only the indicator of the project schedule but also provides the effects of the costs to the schedule of the project thus assisting the project manager to identify the critical tasks that requires additional resource allocation to accomplish the project on time. Nick J. Lavingia (2004)4 further argues that the Schedule Performance Index in a project is critical to the Cost Performance Index since it signifies the actual amount work completed to the expected amount of work to be completed with respect to the cost. This measure is the essential element in deciding the quality of the performance of the project and the viability for further investment. Alongside, both the Cost Performance Index and the Schedule Performance Index influence the decision on the crashing of the project at a given point.

7.0:

Team management in a project environment is a much difficult issue compared to the team management in a day-to-day business operation environment. This is not only because of the defined duration of the project but also because of the diverse skill set of the project members which affects the level of communication and expertise o the entire project. The role of the project manager in managing the team is the critical element for the successful completion of the project. The essential element in the team management in a project management environment is the fact that the project manager should not only possess effective people skills but also the ability to organize the work packages for the members of the project in a cohesive fashion as argued by Stephen J. McNally et al (2005)5. The fact that the team members in a project are often referred to as resources further makes the team management sensitive since the lack of efficient team management will result in loss of resources affecting the project itself.

Apart from the management issues, the major element that should be identified is the time constraint and the allocation of resources in the critical path of the project as argued by Mark

4 5

Nick J. Lavingia (2004), Best Practices in Cost Engineering. Transactions of AACE International, Stephen J. McNally (2005), Hard Climb is Done, But Trek Continues: Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance in Year Two and Beyond. Pennsylvania CPA Journal, Fall2005, Vol. 76 Issue 3, p1-4

A Ward (2005)6. This is not only because of the definite duration of the project but also due to the need for effective performance of the project in order to achieve the desired results.

8.0:

Crashing in a project can be accomplished effectively without compromising the overall quality and efficiency of the project through identifying the tasks that are critical as well as the costs associated with the crashing of the task.

From the network diagram it is identified that the tasks 2 and 3 are critical for the effectiveness or the quality of the project. With the costs not applicable for the task 4 (i.e.) Software Written, the crashing can be applied to the final three tasks as per the specifications provided in Table (2) of the task sheet.

With a four-week crashing period for the project, the crashing can be accomplished through applying the crashing period applicable for tasks 5, 6 and 7 of the project. The total crashing cost for the aforementioned tasks is 47,000.

9.0:

Resource constraint is the critical issue faced by any project as argued by Keith G Lockyer and James Gordon (2005). This is merely due to the fact that the lack of resources to perform the critical tasks in the project will affect the target for completion of the project. In the project under consideration, the tasks 2 and 3, which are performed simultaneously, share the critical resource Electronics Engineer. The fact that the electronics engineer is in charge of the completion of the tasks that are critical for the commencement of the subsequent tasks that depend on them makes it clear that the resource leveling is a critical element in projects. Apart from the above-mentioned, the lack of resource in the tasks 2 and 3 will not only delay the completion of the project but also affect the performance indicators of the project that reflect upon the overall achievement of the project.

An Empirical Assessment of Peer Review Reliability: The Ipsitive Instrument Paradox. By: Ward, Mark A.. Journal of Education for Business, Sep/Oct2005, Vol. 81 Issue 1, p35-40, 6p; (AN 18741389)

Another example from the project under consideration is the lack of resource for the task Software Tested that relies upon the Systems Analyst. The fact that the systems analyst does not involve in the tasks 2,3 and 4 after completion of task 1 makes it clear that the effective usage of this resource can be accomplished only through the completion of the parallel tasks on time. Furthermore, the final task System Integration Hardware and Software also the depends upon the resource Systems Analyst on further making it critical that the critical tasks of the project can be accomplished through the efficient resource leveling in the critical path of the project.

10.0:

Estimation in the project is a critical element to effectively identify the completion date and the costs associated with the project as argued by Keith G Lockyer and James Gordon (2005). The fact that the current project was estimated without professional consultation is a critical element that can affect the performance of the project either positively or in a negative manner.

Since the project plan is drafted using Microsoft Project 2003 software, the built in elements of time duration and estimation can be utilized for the effective estimation of the completion of the tasks. Furthermore, it is also advised to use the work breakdown structure to identify the sub-tasks for each task and the scope definition method for the tasks to estimate their duration. This approach will provide a rational derivation of the estimated time to complete the tasks, which will be more realistic to the estimation without objective analysis of the tasks.

References:

Books

Harold Kerzwer (2005), Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling & controlling., UK: Weily,

Keith G Lockyer and James Gordon (2005), Project management and project network techniques 7th edition, UK: Prentice Hall Financial Times

Journals

Alan Jackson, Harold L. Sirkin and Perry Keenan (2005), THE HARD SIDE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT. Harvard Business Review, Oct2005, Vol. 83 Issue 10, p108-118

Nick J. Lavingia (2004), Best Practices in Cost Engineering. Transactions of AACE International

Stephen J. McNally (2005), Hard Climb is Done, But Trek Continues: Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance in Year Two and Beyond. Pennsylvania CPA Journal, Fall2005, Vol. 76 Issue 3, p1-4