What are some of the key environmental forces that have changed the way projects are managed? What has been the effect of these forces on the management of projects?
> Schedule variance (SV) is in dollars and does not directly represent time. Why is it still useful?
> How does earned value give a clearer picture of project schedule and cost status than a simple plan versus actual system?
> On day 51 a project has an earned value of $600, an actual cost of $650, and a planned cost of $560. Compute the SV, CV, and CPI for the project. What is your assessment of the project on day 51?
> In month 9 the following project information is available: actual cost is $2,000, earned value is $2,100, and planned cost is $2,400. Compute the SV and CV for the project.
> How would a project manager use the CPI?
> Hector Gaming Company Hector Gaming Company (HGC) is an educational gaming company specializing in young children’s educational games. HGC has just completed their fourth year of operation. This year was a banner year for HGC. The company received a larg
> Fatma settled down for lunch at the Yank Sing Chinese restaurant. She was early and took the time to catch up on her e-mail. Soon she would be joined by Jasper and Viktoria, two fellow 2014 grads from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Jasper worke
> Why is it important for project managers to resist changes to the project baseline? Under what conditions would a project manager make changes to a baseline? When would a project manager not allow changes to a baseline?
> What are the differences between BAC and EAC?
> Given the following project network, baseline, and status information, develop status reports for periods 2, 4, 6, 8 and complete the performance indexes table. Calculate the EACf and the VACf. Based on your data, what is your assessment of the current s
> Given the project network and baseline information below, complete the form to develop a status report for the project at the end of period 4 and the end of period 8. From the data you have collected and computed for periods 4 and 8, what information are
> * Part A. You are in charge of the Aurora Project. Given the following project network, baseline, and status information, develop status reports for periods 1–8 and complete the performance indexes table. Calculate the EACf and VACf. Ba
> The following data have been collected for a British health care IT project for two week reporting periods 2 through 12. Compute the SV, CV, SPI, and CPI for each period. Plot the EV and the AC on the summary graph provided. Plot the SPI, CPI, and PCIB o
> The following labor hours data have been collected for a nanotechnology project for periods 1 through 6. Compute the SV, CV, SPI, and CPI for each period. Plot the EV and the AC on the summary graph provided (or a similar one). Plot the SPI, CPI, and PCI
> Wil Fence is a large timber and Christmas tree farmer who is attending a project management class in the spring, his off season. When the class topic came to earned value, he was perplexed. Isn’t he using EV? Each summer Wil hires crews to shear fields o
> Scanner Project You have been serving as Electroscan’s project manager and are now well along in the project. Develop a narrative status report for the board of directors of the chain store that discusses the status of the project to da
> Assume you are a member of a class on project management. Each student will join a team of 5–7 students who will be responsible for creating, planning, and executing a fund raising project for a designated charity. The fund raising proj
> You are an assistant to Percival Young, president of G&L Construction. He has asked you to prepare a brief report on the status of the Shoreline Stadium project. Shoreline stadium is a 47,000-seat professional baseball stadium. Construction started
> Given the information provided for development of a catalog product return process for periods 1 through 5, assign the PV values (using the rules) to develop a baseline for the project. Compute the SV, CV, SPI, and CPI for each period. Explain to the own
> Given the information provided for development of a product warranty project for periods 1 through 7, compute the SV, CV, SPI, and CPI for each period. Plot the EV and the AC on the PV graph provided. Explain to the owner your assessment of the project a
> What does the term “escalate” refer to, and why is it essential to project success?
> What are the best practices used by firms to outsource project work?
> Why do firms outsource project work?
> How can a project manager influence customer expectations and perceptions?
> What does the acronym BATNA refer to and why is it important to being a successful negotiator?
> Why is the principled negotiation approach recommended for negotiating agreements on projects?
> Break into groups of four to five students. Assign half of the groups the role of Owner and the other half the role of Contractor. Owners: After saving for many years you are about to hire a contractor to build your “dream home.” What are your objective
> The National Oceanic Research Institute is planning a research study on global warming in Antarctica. The 16-month network schedule is presented below. It is followed by budgets for each activity. Create a time-phased budget for the research project in t
> Sitting in her office, Karin Chung is reviewing the past four months of the large corporate accounting software installation project she has been managing. Everything seemed so well planned before the project started. Each company division had a task for
> Shell Case Fabricators (SCF) designs and builds shell casings that enclose electronic products such as calculators, cell phones, modems. Typically the cases are plastic or plastic compounds. SCF has six different production lines that cover different ty
> Goldrush Electronics (GE) produces a range of electronic products. GE has a strong commitment to project management. GE operates as a projectized organization with each project organized as a fully dedicated team. The compensation system is based on a 40
> Chad Cromwell, head of university housing, gazed up at the tower at Buxton Hall and smiled as he walked toward the landmark building. Buxton Hall was built in 1927 as a residential complex for over 350 students at Pacifica State University. At the time B
> For what kinds of projects would you recommend that a fixed-price contract be used? For what kinds of projects would you recommend that a cost-plus contract be used?
> What are the fundamental differences between fixed-price and cost-plus contracts?
> What are the elements of an effective project vision? Why are they important?
> What are the differences between the five-stage model of team development and the punctuated equilibrium model?
> What can a project manager do to avoid some of the pitfalls of a highly cohesive project team?
> What are the unique challenges of managing a virtual project team?
> The technical and sociocultural dimensions of project management are two sides to the same coin. Explain.
> When would it be appropriate to hold a formal team-building session on a project?
> What is the difference between functional and dysfunctional conflict on a project?
> Why should a project manager emphasize group rewards over individual rewards?
> Assume that you have the following decision-making options: (1) make the decision on your own with available information, (2) consult others before making a decision, and (3) call a meeting and reach a consensus, seeking to arrive at a final decision eve
> Amber Briggs looked nervously at her watch as she sat at the front of a large table in the cafeteria at Kerzner Office Equipment. It was now 10 minutes after 3:00 and only 10 of the 14 members had arrived for the first meeting of the Kerzner anniversary
> Franklin Equipment, Ltd. (FEL), with headquarters and main fabrication facilities in Saint John, New Brunswick, was founded 75 years ago to fabricate custom-designed large machines for construction businesses in the Maritime Provinces. Over the years its
> Tran was taking his dog Callie on her evening walk as the sun began to set over the coastal range. He looked forward to this time of the day. It was an opportunity to enjoy some peace and quiet. It was also a time to review events on the Ajax project an
> Why is it critical to keep the project sponsor informed?
> What does the exchange model of influence suggest you do to build cooperative relationships to complete a project?
> Why is a conductor of an orchestra an appropriate metaphor for being a project manager? What aspects of project managing are not reflected by this metaphor? Can you think of other metaphors that would be appropriate?
> What is the difference between leading and managing a project?
> Why is trust a function of both character and competence?
> Why is it important to build a relationship before you need it?
> What differences would you expect to see between the kinds of influence currencies that a project manager in a functional matrix would use and the influence a project manager of a dedicated project team would use?
> You are the project manager for the Seaburst construction project. So far the project is progressing ahead of schedule and below budget. You attribute this in part to the good working relationship you have with the carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and
> You returned from a project staffing meeting in which future project assignments were finalized. Despite your best efforts, you were unable to persuade the director of project management to promote one of your best assistants, Jack Nietzche, to a project
> You are managing the renovation of the Old Princeton Landing Bar and Grill. The project is on schedule despite receiving a late shipment of paint. The paint was supposed to arrive on 1/30, but instead arrived on 2/1. The assistant store manager apologize
> You are a test engineer on the Bridge project at Ryman Pharmaceuticals in Nashville, Tennessee. You have just completed conductivity tests of a new electrochemical compound. The results exceeded expectations. This new compound should revolutionize the in
> You are responsible for installing the new Double E production line. Your team has collected estimates and used the WBS to generate a project schedule. You have confidence in the schedule and the work your team has done. You report to top management that
> You work for a large consulting firm and were assigned to the Gold Star LAN project. Work on the project is nearly completed and your clients at Gold Star appear to be pleased with your performance. During the course of the project, changes in the origin
> Define a project. What are five characteristics that help differentiate projects from other functions carried out in the daily operations of the organization?
> You are driving to a project status report meeting with your client. You encountered a significant technical problem on the project that has put your project behind schedule. This is not good news because completion time is the number one priority for th
> Garth Hudson was a 29-year-old graduate of Eastern State University (ESU) with a B.S. degree in management information systems. After graduation he worked for seven years at Bluegrass Systems in Louisville, Kentucky. While at ESU he worked part time for
> Cerberus is a successful producer of specialty chemicals. It operates nine large campus sites in the United States, with a number of different business units on each site. These business units operate independently, with direct reporting to corporate he
> Tom Bray was mulling over today’s work schedule as he looked across the bay at the storm that was rolling in. It was the second official day of the Pegasus project and now the real work was about to begin. Pegasus was a two-month renovation project for
> How can a cost-duration graph be used by the project manager? Explain.
> It is possible to shorten the critical path and save money. Explain how.
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of reducing project scope to accelerate a project? What can be done to reduce the disadvantages?
> What are five common reasons for crashing a project?
> Reducing the project duration increases the risk of being late. Explain.
> Identify four indirect costs you might find on a moderately complex project. Why are these costs classified as indirect?
> What is the impact of governance on managing an individual project? Why is this approach important in today’s environment?
> Why is scheduling overtime a popular choice for getting projects back on schedule? What are the potential problems for relying on this option?
> Given the data and information that follow, compute the total direct cost for each project duration. If the indirect costs for each project duration are $90 (15 time units), $70 (14), $50 (13), $40 (12), and $30 (11), compute the total project cost for e
> Use the information contained below to compress one time unit per move using the least cost method. Reduce the schedule until you reach the crash point of the network. For each move identify what activity (ies) was crashed and the adjusted total cost.
> Use the information contained below to compress one time unit per move using the least cost method. Reduce the schedule until you reach the crash point of the network. For each move identify what activity (ies) was crashed and the adjusted total cost. N
> Use the information contained below to compress one time unit per move using the least cost method. Reduce the schedule until you reach the crash point of the network. For each move identify what activity (ies) was crashed and the adjusted total cost. N
> Use the information contained below to compress one time unit per move using the least cost method. Reduce the schedule until you reach the crash point of the network. For each move identify what activity (ies) was crashed, the adjusted total cost, and e
> Use the information contained below to compress one time unit per move using the least cost method. Assume the total indirect cost for the project is $2,000 and there is a savings of $100 per time unit reduced. Calculate the total direct, indirect, and p
> If the indirect costs for each duration are $300 for 27 days, $240 for 26 days, $180 for 25 days, $120 for 24 days, $60 for 23 days, and $50 for 22 days, compute the direct, indirect and total costs for each duration. What is the optimum cost-time schedu
> Use the information contained below to compress one time unit per move using the least cost method. Assume the total indirect cost for the project is $700 and there is a savings of $50 per time unit reduced. Record the total direct, indirect, and project
> You are the assistant project manager to Rassy Brown, who is in charge of the Nightingale project. Nightingale was the code name given to the development of a handheld electronic medical reference guide. Nightingale would be designed for emergency medic
> Go to an Internet search engine (e.g., Google) and type in “project communication plan.” Check three or four that have “.gov” as their source. How are they similar or dissimilar? What would be your conclusion concerning the importance of an internal comm
> Each year countries enter their sailing vessels in the nine-month Round the World Whitbread Sailboat Race. In recent years, about 14 countries entered sailboats in the race. Each year’s sailboat entries represent the latest technologie
> Given the project network derived in Part A of the case from Chapter 7, Brown also wants to be prepared to answer any questions concerning compressing the project duration. This question will almost always be entertained by the accounting department, rev
> Several complications arose during the course of trying to meet the deadline of January 20 for the “Now” Wedding rehearsal. Since Lauren was adamant on having the wedding on January 21 (as was Connor for obvious reasons), the implications of each of the
> On December 31 of last year, Lauren burst into the family living room and announced that she and Connor (her college boyfriend) were going to be married. After recovering from the shock, her mother hugged her and asked, “When?” The following conversatio
> Rassy and the team were concerned with the results of your analysis. They spent the afternoon brainstorming alternative ways for shortening the project duration. They rejected outsourcing activities because most of the work was developmental in nature a
> How does resource scheduling tie to project priority?
> Why is it critical to develop a time-phased baseline?
> How does resource scheduling reduce flexibility in managing projects?
> Explain how time is wasted in management of projects.
> Buffers are not the same as slack. Explain.
> Why is the implementation of projects important to strategic planning and the project manager?
> Distinguish between project and feeder buffers.
> Present six reasons scheduling resources is an important task.
> Explain the risks associated with leveling resources, compressing or crashing projects, and imposed durations or “catch-up” as the project is being implemented.
> How can outsourcing project work alleviate the three most common problems associated with multiproject resource scheduling?
> We have smashing systems for reporting, tracking, and controlling costs on design projects. Our planning of projects is better than any I have seen at other companies. Our scheduling seemed to serve us well when we were small and we had only a few projec
> Jack and Jill Smith have just retired and want to build a small, basic cabin in the Blue Mountains of Vermont. They have hired Daryl Hannah as the general contractor for the project. She has assembled a team of three workers to complete the project: Tom
> Check out the Goldratt Institute’s homepage at http://www.goldratt.com for current information on the application of critical-chain techniques to project management.
