2. Suppose you now wanted to calculate duration estimates for these activities. How would you make use of the following approaches? Are some more useful than others? i. Expert opinion ii. Past history iii. Mathematical derivation

Residency Project #2

Case Study 10.1 & 10.2—Project Scheduling at Blanque Cheque Construction

Requirements:

· Restate each question followed by its corresponding answer (answers to questions should be a minimum of 500 words or ½ page.)

· Submitted through SafeAssign for originality, scores must be below 40%.

· Follow APA formatting guidelines (i.e. include a reference page)

· Develop a PowerPoint presentation to present to the class. Each question should be presented by a different person. Each team group will ask at least one question for each presentation.

Part (A)

The general nature of the project, developing a strip mall with four stores of roughly equal size, is intended to challenge students to identify a variety of activities necessary to accomplish the project. The first step is to create a simple WBS of the various project activities and deliverables that will be required. Instructors can decide in advance how much detail they want students to go into for this assignment; for example, they may wish to leave all elements at the Deliverable level and not get down to specific Work Packages.

Questions

1. Develop a project network consisting of at least 20 steps that should be done to complete the project. As the case suggests, keep the level of detail for these activities general, rather than specific. Be sure to indicate some degree of precedence relationship among the activities.

2. Suppose you now wanted to calculate duration estimates for these activities. How would you make use of the following approaches? Are some more useful than others?

i. Expert opinion

ii. Past history

iii. Mathematical derivation

3. Joe is trying to decide which scheduling format to employ for his planning: AON or AOA. What are some of the issues that Joe should first consider prior to choosing between these methods?

Part B

This case identifies a situation in which the project manager is facing a late project with serious consequences as a result. He is trying to decide whether or not to crash activities from this point to the end of the project and the focus is intended to make students understand the benefits and drawbacks of crashing. Because it should not be done without serious consideration of the escalating costs, crashing a project typically comes down to a benefits and drawbacks analysis, such as is the case here.

4. What are some of the issues that weigh in favor of and against crashing the project?

5. Suppose you were the site supervisor for this project. How would you advise Joe to proceed? Before deciding whether or not to crash the project, what questions should you consider and how should you evaluate your options?