Project Management
Assignment
Instructions: You may use the software tools available to you, including Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Project, as needed. Please include your answers and other results in this document in a different color.
1. The following are data for two IT projects for a new database system. Prepare a spreadsheet for two projects, using the following data. Amounts are in thousands of dollars. Calculate the NPV for each. (Please assume a Discount Rate of 10%)
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Year 1
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Year 2
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Year 3
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Year 4
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Year 5
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Total
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Project 1
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Benefits
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$0
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$2,000
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$3,000
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$4,000
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$5,000
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tbd
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Costs
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$5,000
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$1,000
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$1,000
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$1,000
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$1,000
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tbd
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Cashflow
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($5,000)
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$1,000
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$2,000
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$3,000
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$4,000
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$5,000
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Project 2
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Benefits
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$2,000
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$3,000
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$5,000
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$3,000
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$1,000
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tbd
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Costs
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$2,000
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$2,000
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$2,000
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$2,000
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$1,000
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tbd
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Cashflow
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$0
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$1,000
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$3,000
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$1,000
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$0
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$5,000
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2. Prepare a precedence diagram for the following tasks. All tasks have a finish-to-start relationship.
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Task
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Duration
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Preceded By
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Followed By
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A
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1
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None
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B, C, D
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B
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2
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A
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E
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C
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3
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A
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E, F
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D
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4
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A
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G
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E
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5
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B, C
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F
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F
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6
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C
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H
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G
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7
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D
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H
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H
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8
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E, F, G
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None
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3. Prepare a Gantt chart for the tasks shown for question 2. (This can be hand drawn if you have no software to make it, and then you can take a picture of your drawing and included it in this document as an image).
4. Determine the critical path for the tasks shown for question 2.
5. Your company is planning to launch a new IT project starting July 1 that will last one year. You estimate that you will need one full-time project manager, two full-time business analysts for the first six months, two full-time senior systems analysts for the whole year, four programmers for the months of February-May, and one full-time technical writer for the last three months. Create a stacked column chart using Excel that shows resources by month. Provide appropriate titles, axes labels, and legends.
6. Take the MBTI. There are several websites you can use: www.humanmetrics.com, www.personalitytype.com, and www.kiersey.com. Write a one-page summary discussing your MBTI type and its opposite MBTI type. For example, if you are an INTJ, then its opposite is ESFP. What challenges would you see working with this person on a project? What you think about the MBTI as a team-building tool?
7. Your IT consulting company is trying to decide which of four projects to bid. Information on each is in the table below. Assume that all up-front investments are not recovered, so they are shown as negative profits. Draw a diagram and calculate the expected monetary value (EMV) for each project. Write a paragraph explaining which project(s) you would choose to bid.
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Project
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Chance of Outcome
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Estimated Profit
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Project 1
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50%?50%
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$120,000?-$50,000
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Project 2
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30%?40%?30%
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$100,000?$50,000?-$60,000
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Project 3
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70%?30%
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$20,000?-$5,000
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Project 4
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30%?30%?20%?20%
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$40,000?$30,000?$20,000?-$50,000
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8. Your company has a technical support line for customers to call. Create a Pareto diagram based on the information in the following table. Create a spreadsheet using these data. List the most frequent complaint first. Then add a column labeled "% of Total" and another labeled "Cumulative %". Then enter formulas to calculate these items. Then use the Excel Chart Wizard to create a Pareto diagram based on the data. Use the Line - Column on 2 Axis custom type chart so that your resulting chart looks similar to the one in Figure 8-1.
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Customer Complaints
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Frequency/Week
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Customer is on hold too long
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90
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Customer gets transferred to wrong number
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20
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Customer gets cut off
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50
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Service rep cannot answer customer's question
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120
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Service rep does not follow through as promised
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40
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Service rep is rude
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10
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9. Use the following WBS and duration information for a project to build a new website. Prepare a Gantt chart and a precedence diagram. Determine the critical path.
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1.
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Initiating
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1 week
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2.
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Planning
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4 weeks, starting after Initiating ends
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3.
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Executing
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3.1 Conduct User Interview
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6 weeks, starts after Initiating ends
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3.2 Conduct User Survey
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4 weeks, starts midway through User Interviews
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3.3 Site Content
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3.3.1 Develop Templates
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12 weeks, starts after User Interviews and User Survey end
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3.3.2 Write Articles
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8 weeks, stats anytime after Site Content begins
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3.3.3 Prepare FAQ
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2 weeks, starts after User Interviews and User Survey ends
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3.4 Design Site
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8 weeks, starts after User Interviews and User Survey end
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3.5 Build Site
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16 weeks, starts after Design Site ends
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3.6 Perform Integration Testing
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2 weeks, starts after Build Site ends
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3.7 Conduct Acceptance Tests
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2 weeks, starts after Integration Testing ends
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4.
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Controlling
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runs for entire duration of project
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5.
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Closing
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1 weeks, follows Acceptance Testing
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10. Using the following information for a one-year software development project, answer the following four questions.
- PV = $23,000
- EV = $20,000
- AC = $25,000
- BAC = $120,000
a. What are the cost variance, schedule variance, cost performance index, and schedule performance index for the project?
b. How is the project doing? Is it ahead of schedule or behind? Is it under budget or over?
c. Use CPI to calculate the estimate at completion (EAC)? Is the project performing better or worse than planned?
d. Use SPI as your guide, how long will it take to finish the project?