Project Managaement-AW-Q231

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SECTION A
 

Question 1
 

(a) Propose and appraise a project management structure for the PWatch development. Justify your proposal with three (3) reasons.
(5 marks)
(b) You are asked to recruit team members, either internally or externally. List down three (3) personal attributes (excluding technical expertise) of team members most desirable for PWatch. Discuss the reason for each attribute.
(6 marks)
 
Question 2 

After some searching, the following highly capable members came onboard
 
1. Jess Chin: A smart phone designer.
2. Sam Tan: A watch designer.
(a) As the team is new, classify and discuss three (3) ways you can adopt to establish a team identity.
(6 marks)
The project team had a meeting with EVP Jason Lim. He set the following objectives
 
 IWS has a very good reputation in delivering quality product. PWatch must be able to perform with high reliability according to its specifications.
 The project is to start on 1st September 2015, and the new PWatch to be officially launched in the market by 20th November 2015. However, a little change in the schedule will be allowed in order to make sure that the product is reliable, as IWS cannot afford to recall product after launch.
 A tentative budget of $120,000 will be given. EVP hopes that the team will minimize the cost further. Any increment would have to be justified and approved by him. A Cost Performance Index (CPI) of at least 1.0 would be good.
(b) To reflect on the EVP’s points, you are to appraise the priority of the project and construct a project priority matrix.
(5 marks)
 
The team came up with a preliminary activities list as shown in Table 1 and budget as shown in Table 2.
 
Table 1 – Activity List & Project Team
Activity No.
Descriptions
Resource
Dura
-tion (days)
Predecessors
1 PWatch Project (Top level Activity)
2 Overall Design Jess
5
3 Design watch chassis Sam
10
2
4 Design phone software Jess
20
2
5 Purchase processor, memory and display PM
5
2
6 Purchase watch movement parts PM
5
2
7 Create watch moulding Sam
15
3
8 Design circuit board Sam
7
3
9 Purchase circuit board PM
12
8
10 Test Software Jess
8
4,5
 
Activity No.
Descriptions
Resource
 
Dura
-tion (days)
Predecessors
11 Test Phone-Watch Integration Jess Sam
7
5,6,7,9,10
12 Radiation Testing at Approval Lab Jess
5
11
13 Prepare marketing materials PM
5
2
14 Run pilot production Sam
10
12
15 Prepare documentation Jess
5
11
16 Launch PWatch PM
1
13,14,15
Table 2 – Budgeted Cost
Activity No.
Descriptions
Estimated Cost S$
Cost Accrual

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1 PWatch Project (Top level Activity)
Nil
N.A
2 Overall Design
2,000
Prorated
3 Design watch chassis
5,000
Prorated
4 Design phone software
4,000
Prorated
5 Purchase processor, memory and display
14,000
Prorated
6 Purchase watch movement parts
12,000
Prorated
7 Create watch moulding
20,000
Prorated
8 Design circuit board
2,000
Prorated
9 Purchase circuit board
9,000
Prorated
10 Test Software
10,000
Prorated
11 Test Phone-Watch Integration
6,000
 
Prorated
12 Radiation Testing at Approval Lab
14,000
Prorated
13 Prepare marketing materials
1,000
Prorated
14 Run pilot production
18,000
Prorated
15 Prepare documentation
500
Prorated
16 Launch PWatch
2,500
Prorated
Total
120,000
 
Note on using MS Project for Q3 & Q4
 
1. Before entering the information into MS Project, make sure the Resource Levelling Option is in Manual Mode. (Choose Resource-> Resource Levelling window, click Manual). This will allow you to observe the intricacies of resource Levelling. You will only use Auto Resource Levelling at a later step.
 
2. The above schedule and budget is based on a 5-day work-week. Each working day is 8 hours. No work will be performed on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays unless otherwise stated.
 
3. The relevant public holidays which may fall into the project period are Hari Raja Haji 24th Sep 2015, Deepavali on 10nd Nov 2015 and Christmas on 25th Dec 2015. Set them as non-working days. There will be no leave-in-lieu if the Public Holiday falls on Saturday.
 
4. Do not change any duration, predecessor relationship or the resources assignment.
5. Set Activity 1: PWatch Project as the Higher Level Activities. All other activities below are second level which is to be right-indented. Right click on Activity 1 to access Information, set its Start Date as 1 Sep 2015, and Deadline as 20 Nov 2015.
 
6. As the project members are IWS staff, their salaries are sunk but not variable costs. Hence you just need to key in the cost in Table 2 into Fixed Cost in the MS Project Cost Table.
7. Perform Auto Schedule (not auto Levelling) after entering all the information.

 
1. The final project file “.mpp” shall be inserted as an Appendix after answers to Q4 as evidence of the student’s ability to create a project model in MS Project.
(Step: Insert->Object -> Create from File -> Browse and select file. Click Display as icon)
2. Diagrams, charts, tables, graphs and relevant project outputs may be shown as images in Q3 & Q4. These must be appropriately formatted and presented so that they are legible and can be comfortably viewed. The answers shall not refer the examiner to open and view contents of any inserted files. Such reports will appear unprofessional.
3. Maximum marks to be deducted for any unprofessional reporting practices can be up to 10 marks.
 
Question 3
 
(a) (i) Prepare a single diagram to show the MS Project view of Gantt Chart, columns for Information (i), Task Name, Duration, Start Date, Finish Date, Predecessor and Resource. State the completion date and any resource conflicts observed.
(5 marks)
(ii) You are aware of the need to keep to the schedule. Hence you must first do a resource Levelling within the schedule (i.e. within available slack). Identify and report on what has changed. What is the project completion date?
(3 marks)
 
 
(iii) You recall that there is some flexibility in the schedule to ensure the product is well designed. If there is still any resource conflict that cannot be solved within the original schedule, do a resource levelling beyond the deadline, i.e. uncheck “within available slack”. Identify and report what has changed. State any new project completion date.
(3 marks)
 
Update the Deadline for Activity 1 to the new completion date. EVP approved the changes.
Set the status date as 1 Sep 2015 and save this as a Baseline Plan, which will be used to evaluate the project performance at the later stage.
(b) Show and evaluate the MS Project Budgeted Cash Flow report with the outflow of cash on weekly basis. Comment on the cash flow.
(4 marks)
 
The project has progressed from 1 Sep 2015. Along the way, several issues occurred
 
1. Due to appreciation of US dollars, the processor, memory and display cost (Activity 5) increased by 20%.
2. One of the radiation tests (Activity 12) failed. The test was extended by 3 days. Additional $3,000 need to be spent.
 
3. Sam managed to negotiate with the mould manufacturer to lower the cost by $2,000.
4. The production department was not familiar with the product. Some production modifications were required. There was a delay of 2 days and a cost increase of $1,200.
 
To move the project forward, EVP approved all the changes.
Modify the MS Project file. Set the Status Date to 3 days after the final launch date. Update the project.
 
Question 4
 
(a) (i) Prepare a single diagram to show the MS Project view of Tracking Gantt Chart, the columns for Information, Task Name, Duration, Start Date and Finish Date. State and comment on the completion date.
(5 marks)
(ii) Recall and plot the Cumulative Actual Cost Curve vs Cumulative Budgeted Cost Curve. Both Cumulative Cost Curves are to be shown on the same graph. Comment on the curves.
(6 marks)
 

(iii) Propose a relevant MS Project cost report or table to show Cost Performance Index (CPI). You must also quote the CPI formula, and calculate to verify the correctness of the CPI on the report.
(5 marks)
PWatch was launched on the date your team has worked out. It was probably the next best breakthrough Made-and Designed-in-Singapore electronic product after Sound Blaster. Production was subsequently ramped up to meet the enormous customer demands.
(b) (i) Discuss whether the project has met the objectives set by the EVP. Do you consider the project a success?
(6 marks)
 
(ii) For the issues that occurred during the project, appraise what could have been done earlier to prevent or minimize their occurrences and impacts.
(6 marks)
 
SECTION B (Total 25 marks)
 
Prepare and practice a video presentation by you to the company’s board of management one month after the product launch. It should address the following issues
 
1. What are the objectives and priorities of the project, and are they met?
2. What was the choice and reasons of the project management structure? (You must be subtle in this item)
3. Were there changes in schedule and what are the contributing events?
4. Was there a cost overrun and what were the contributors for the cost overruns if any?
5. Lessons learnt and suggestions for future project.
The video should be at least 3 minutes but not exceeding 6 minutes. Your file size should be no more than 50MB and the format is in either .wmv or .mov.
(25 marks)
 
SECTION C (Total 10 marks)
Prepare a set of PowerPoint presentation upon which the video presentation is based. Please note that the PowerPoint must be converted to PDF before submission to MyUniSIM (Blackboard).
(10 marks)
 
Product Code-Project Managaement-AW-Q231
 
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