problrm

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

used primarily by city and state municipalities. The construction process involves developing legal docu- ments, drafting feasibility studies, obtaining bond rat- ings, and so forth. Recently, Bradshaw was given a request to submit a proposal for the construction of a municipal building. The first step is to develop legal documents and to perform all steps neces- sary before the construction contract is signed. This requires more than 20 separate activities that must be completed. These activities, their immediate pre- decessors, and optimistic (a), most likely (m), and pessimistic (b) time estimates are given in the table on the next page.

Determine the total project completion time for this preliminary step, the critical path, and slack time for all activities involved.

35 Getting a degree from a college or university can be a long and difficult task. Certain courses must be completed before other courses may be taken. De- velop a network diagram in which every activity is a particular course that you must take for your degree program. The immediate predecessors will be course prerequisites. Don't forget to include all university, college, and departmental course requirements. Then try to group these courses into semesters or quarters for your particular school. How long do you think it will take you to graduate? Which courses, if not taken in the proper sequence, could delay your graduation?

36 Dream Team Productions is in the final design phases of its new film, Killer Worms, to be released next summer. Market Wise, the firm hired to coordi- nate the release of Killer Worms toys, has identified 16 activities to be completed before the release of the film. These activities, their immediate predeces- sors, and optimistic (a), most likely (m), and pessi- mistic (b) time estimates are given in the table on the next page. (a) How many weeks in advance of the film release

should Market Wise start its marketing cam- paign? What are the critical paths?

(b) If activities I and J were not necessary, what im- pact would this have on the critical path and the number of weeks needed to complete the mar- keting campaign?

37 Sager Products has been in the business of manufac- turing and marketing toys for toddlers for the past two decades. Jim Sager, president of the firm, is con- sidering the development of a new manufacturing line to allow it to produce high-quality plastic toys at reasonable prices. The development process is long and complex. Jim estimates that there are five phases involved and multiple activities for each phase.

Phase I of the development process involves the completion of four activities. These activities have no immediate predecessors. Activity A has an optimistic completion time of 2 weeks, a most likely completion time of 3 weeks, and a pessimistic

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Activities 5 and 6 involve writing detailed pro- gram specifications and developing file specifications. The three time estimates for activity 5 are 6, 7, and 8 weeks, and the three time estimates for activity 6 are 3, 4, and 5 weeks. Activity 7 involves specifying system test data. Before this is done, activity 6, involv- ing fjle specifications, must be completed. The time estimates for activity 7 are 2, 3, and 7 weeks. Activity 8 involves reviewing forms. Before activity 8 can be conducted, detailed forms design must be completed. The time estimates for activity 8 are 3, 3, and 9 weeks. The next activity, activity 9, is reviewing the detailed report design. This requires that the detailed report design, activity 3, be completed first. The time esti- mates for activity 9 are 1,3, and 5 weeks, respectively.

Activity 10 involves reviewing procedures de- sign. Time estimates are 1,2, and 9 weeks. Of course, procedures design must be done before activity 10 can be started. Activity II involves the system de- sign checkpoint review. A number of activities must be completed before this is done. These activities include reviewing the forms, reviewing the detailed report design, reviewing the procedures design, writ- ing detailed program specs, and specifying system test data. The opti mistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates for activity II are 3, 4, and 5 weeks. Performing program logic design is activity 12. This can be started only after the system design checkpoint review is completed. The time estimates for activity 12 are 4, 5, and 6 weeks.

Activity 13, coding the programs, is done only after the program logic design is completed. TIle time estimates for this activity are 6, 10, and 14 weeks. Ac- tivity 14 is involved in developing test programs. Activ- ity 13 is the immediate predecessor. Time estimates for activity 14 are 3, 4, and I I weeks. Developing a system test plan is activity IS. A number of activities must be completed before activity 15 can be started. These ac- tivities include specifying system test data, writing de- tailed program specifications, and reviewing procedure designs, the detailed report design, and forms. The time estimates for activity 15 are 3,4, and 5 weeks.

Activity 16, creating system test data, has time estimates of 2,4, and 6 weeks. Activity 15 must be done before activity 16 can be started. Activity 17 is reviewing program test results. The immedi- ate predecessor to activity 17 is to test the programs (activity 14). The three time estimates for activity 17 are 2, 3, and 4 weeks. The final activity is conducting system tests. This is activity 18. Before activity 18 can be started, activities 16 and 17 must be complete. The three time estimates for conducting these system tests are 2, 6, and 7 weeks.

How long will it take for team A to complete its programming assignment?

34 Bradshaw Construction is involved in construct- ing municipal buildings and other structures that are