Project Management

This document provides comprehensive study material on project management, covering topics such as managing project team, developing project plan, managing the project, monitoring project's progress, and closing the project. It includes detailed explanations, examples, and case studies. The document also includes solved assignments, essays, and dissertations on project management. Suitable for students studying project management courses in various colleges and universities.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Section A.............................................................................................................................3
Section 1: Managing the Project Team- Answer 1..........................................................3
1a) Project Priority Matrix...........................................................................................3
1b) Critical Personal Attributes of the Team Members...............................................4
Section 2: Developing Project Plan- Answer 2...............................................................4
2a) Gantt Chart View...................................................................................................4
2b) Total Project Cost..................................................................................................5
2c) Resource Conflicts in FTL Project........................................................................6
2d) Auto Resource Levelling.......................................................................................7
Section 3: Managing the Project: Answer 3..................................................................10
3a) Impact on Schedule and Cost..............................................................................10
3b) Accomplishments................................................................................................11
Section 4: Monitoring Project’s Progress and Closing the Project-Answer 4...............12
4a) Gantt Chart View.................................................................................................12
4b) Cost Performance Index......................................................................................12
4c) Preventive Actions...............................................................................................13
Section B............................................................................................................................14
Answer 1........................................................................................................................14
Answer 2........................................................................................................................15

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Answer 3........................................................................................................................17
Answer 4........................................................................................................................17
References..........................................................................................................................19

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Section A
Section 1: Managing the Project Team- Answer 1
1a) Project Priority Matrix
A project priority matrix is mainly designed to discern the major tasks that can be termed
as critical and urgent (Milosevic & Martinelli, 2016). The project is a high priority project
because as per the decision of the CEO, the project of developing a Food Test Laboratory (FTL)
should start on 1 April 2019. The project work is needed to be scheduled in an appropriate
manner so that the lab can be launched on 1St July, 2019. A project priority matrix generally
defines the constraint, accept and enhance criteria of a project. The constrained criteria cannot be
changed while enhance criteria can be changed. The project prioritization for FTL project is
evaluated in the following matrix-
Table 1: Project Priority Matrix
The project prioritization matrix in the table above indicates that the time of the project is
a constraint. This is because as per the direction of CEO, the project has a fixed start data and
launch date. The performance of the project can be enhanced considering the resources available
Time Performance Cost
Constrain
Enhance
Accept

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and time allocated for the project. However, any changes in project cost should be accepted,
considering the fact that the project is needed to be completed within the set time.
1b) Critical Personal Attributes of the Team Members
The FTL project is a high priority project and for that a well competent project team is
needed to be chosen. The team members should be skilled and efficient. The team members will
be chosen on basis of their personal competencies (Lock, 2017). The personal attributes that the
team members of FTL project should possess are discussed in the paragraphs below.
Problem Solving Ability: A perfect and well collaborated teamwork is essential for any
project (Larson & Gray, 2018). For that, the team members should have good communication
skills. Apart from that, the team members should have a string problem solving ability as well,
since the project is complex.
Availability: Since the project is particularly complex, the project needs people who are
available most of the time The members who are already overcommitted to other projects or
tasks are not needed in this project.
Political Connections: People having close personal relationships with the stakeholders
of the project can act as an invaluable project asset.
The above discussed personal attributes of the team members are most critical for the
success of the FTL project.
Section 2: Developing Project Plan- Answer 2
2a) Gantt Chart View

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The picture below indicates the Gantt chart view after clear levelling, information of task
mode, task name, duration, predecessor, start date, finish data and resource name column.
Figure 1: Representing Gantt Chart of FTL project
(The work activities in red indicates the critical path)
The picture above indicates task mode as auto scheduled, the task name, duration of
tasks, their predecessors, start date, finish date and names of the resources. The project
completion date is identified as Monday, 1 July 2019.
2b) Total Project Cost
The figure below indicates the project cost after clear levelling.

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Figure 2: Indicating total project cost
The project indicates that the total cost of the FTL project is $183,560.00. This has been
calculated in MS project with the help of variable cost of each resources.
2c) Resource Conflicts in FTL Project
Resource conflicts occurs when a particular resource is assigned with a multiple task.
Scarcity of resources can also result in resource conflict. The FTL project currently indicates
resource conflict in six cases. The resource conflict mainly occurred because of making use of
shared resources. The scenario of resource conflict in indicated in the picture below-

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Figure 3: Indicating Resource Conflict
From the figure above, it can be observed that the Mary, project manager, Peter and the
technician has been over-allocated with tasks, thus giving rise to resource conflict (Larson &
Gray, 2018). The resource conflict in scheduling can be managed by the auto resource levelling
feature in MS Project.
2d) Auto Resource Levelling
The previous section of the report has identified the resource conflicts associated with the
Food Test Lab Project. This resource conflict problem can be solved by making use of the auto
resource levelling feature.
The resource conflict problem is solved with the auto levelling feature of MS project.
After auto levelling the resources, a change in the critical path of the project is observed.

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Figure 4: Resource Auto Levelling
The figure 4 indicates that the problems associated with resource conflict is solved by
making use of the auto levelling feature of the MS Project. A significant change in the critical
path of the project is however observed. The auto levelling feature resolved all the resource
conflicts of the FTL project.
After auto levelling, the status date is changed to 2 April 2019.

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Figure 5: Project Status Date
Followed by that, the baseline of the project is set to “entire project”-

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Figure 6: Setting Project Baseline
Section 3: Managing the Project: Answer 3
3a) Impact on Schedule and Cost
The changes in the scope of the project (additional Fipronil Testing in FTL lab) has
hampered the normal schedule of the project. Since with the added change, Peter will need four
more days for designing the food test program (Activity 4), a significant change in schedule and
cost is observed. A scheduling conflict and increase in project cost is observed, which are
indicated in the figures below-
Figure 7: Scheduling Conflict as a result of change in activity 4 from 13 days to 17 days

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Figure 8: Change in Cost
Due to the changes, the project cost increased from $183,560.00 to $185,640.00.
3b) Accomplishments
Four important accomplishments of the FTL project due to the incorporated change are as
follows-
1. It has been observed that the project team member Peter has been available in times of
need. Thus, one accomplishment is that, the project was successful in choosing an effective team.
2. The incorporation of Fipronil testing in FTL project indicates that AVA has trust on
the working principle of Reliance Product Services (RPS) and it is an important accomplishment
of RPS.
3. Although there have been a change in project schedule and cost, the priorities of the
project is not compromised even with the incorporation of Fipronil Testing.
4. Since the project could incorporate Fipronil Testing as indicated by AVA, it can be
expected that funding from AVA can be easily obtained in times of need.

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Section 4: Monitoring Project’s Progress and Closing the Project-Answer 4
4a) Gantt Chart View
The Gantt chart view of the project after incorporation of changes is indicated below-
Figure 9: Indicating Gantt Chart View
From the figure above, it is observed that the completion date of the project is Thursday
04-07-19.
4b) Cost Performance Index
The CPI is calculated by formula Earned Value / Actual Cost (Kerzner & Kerzner,
2017). The earned value of the project is $183,560.00, while the actual cost is $190,140.00.
Therefore, the CPI is $183,560/$190,140 = 0.96539
The CPI is calculated in MS project as well. The CPI calculated with the help of MS
project is indicated in the figure below.

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Figure 10: Representing the CPI
The above figure indicates that the CPI is 0.97. Thus, it matches with the calculated CPI,
which is 0.96539. The total final cost of the project is $190,140.00.
4c) Preventive Actions
Situation Action
Situation 1- Case of Fipronil Peter was only expertise to handle the situation.
However, appointment of more such skilled team
members could have reduced the impact on project
schedule and cost (Heagney, 2016).
Situation 2- Change in cost of Test Equipment This change could not be controlled, however, its
impacts could be possibly reduced if the test
equipment were bought in advance
Situation 3- Increase in Cable cost This was a result of improper calculation of the
length and could have been avoided with a more
detailed project plan (Harrison & Lock, 2017).

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Section B
Answer 1
The main objective of the project was to launch the FTL project on 1 July 2019, to
coincide with the Asia’s Food Safety Convention’s Opening Day. This objective is successfully
achieved in this project.
The main priority of the project was to launch the FTL project no sooner than 1 July
2019, which is met. Another priority was to incorporate Fipronil testing in project
implementation, which is met as well.
The picture below indicates the scheduling of the project. The scheduling has been done
in such a way that the launch of the FTL project coincides with the Asia’s Food Safety
Convention’s Opening Day and testing of Fipronil is done by Peter.

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Figure 11: Representing the achievement of the objectives
Answer 2
Yes, there has been a change in the schedule of the project. The Fipronil testing has
resulted in a change in project schedule. The project was initially set to complete in 62 days.
However, with the incorporation of Fipronil Testing, the time required for project completion
changed from 62 days to 65 days.
This is particularly because the activity, design of the food test program needed more
time to implementation as a result of Fipronil testing. Therefore, the contributing event for this
change was the outbreak of egg contamination in Europe and acute resource shortage in FTL
project.
The pictures below represents the changes that have been made on the schedule as a
result of incorporation of Fipronil Testing on the FTL project.

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Figure 12: Representing the change in duration of activity 4
Answer 3
Yes, the project is associated with certain cost overruns. The contributor of cost overruns
include incorporation of additional work due to Fipronil Testing, increase in cost of test
equipment due to appreciation of Euro and increase in cable cost due to improper estimation. The
cost overrun report is indicated in the picture below-
Figure 12: Indicating Cost Overrun
(Source: Generated from MS Project)
Answer 4

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Lesson Learnt: The project indicates that it is very essential to plan a project accurately in
order to eliminate the chances of scheduling conflict, change in project cost and resource
conflict. A more detailed planning could have saved FTL project from the cost overrun.
Accurate cost estimation is another lesson learnt is this context. The inappropriate
estimation of the project cost has resulted in cost overrun in the project. This type of issues
should be avoided while developing a project plan. Furthermore, it is quite essential to develop a
project plan considering the slips and delays that a particular project might face. The lesson
learnt from this project can help in better management of the similar projects in future.
Suggestion: While working on similar types of projects in future, it is quite essential to set the
priority of the project in an appropriate manner. This project had its priority set that helped in its
successful completion. However, it is necessary to develop a project plan in such a manner that it
is able to incorporate certain unavoidable situations, without impacting the project.
Another suggestion in implementation of this similar type of project in future is that, it is
necessary to properly estimate the resources required in the project. Apart from that, it is
necessary to check whether the chosen resources will be available throughput the project
implementation phase. The delay in this particular project could have been avoided if another
resource with the expertise of Peter was available to address the problem associated with Fipronil
Testing.

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References
Harrison, F., & Lock, D. (2017). Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Larson, E.W, & Gray, C.F. (2018). Project Management: The Managerial Process, Seventh
Edition.[VitalSource]. Retrieved
from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781307202243/
Lock, D. (2017). The essentials of project management. Routledge.
Milosevic, D. Z., & Martinelli, R. J. (2016). Project management toolbox: tools and techniques
for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons.