BUS353e Project Management: Food Test Laboratory Project Assessment

This project management assignment focuses on the development of a Food Test Laboratory (FTL), addressing key aspects such as team management, project planning, and execution. The project priorities are established using a priority matrix, emphasizing time constraints and scope enhancem...Read More

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

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Table of Contents
Section 1: Managing the Project Team................................................................................2
1a) Project Priorities and the Project Priority Matrix......................................................2
1b) Three Personal Attributes of the Team members......................................................3
Section 2: Developing a Project Plan..................................................................................3
2a) Gantt chart View........................................................................................................3
2b) Total Project Cost......................................................................................................5
2c) Explanation of the Resource Conflicts Observed......................................................5
2d) Solving the Resource Conflict...................................................................................6
Section 3: Managing the Project..........................................................................................9
3a) Impact on Cost and Schedule....................................................................................9
3b) Four Important Accomplishments...........................................................................11
Section 4: Monitoring the Project’s Progress and Closing the Project..............................11
4a) Gantt chart View......................................................................................................12
4b) Cost performance Index..........................................................................................12
4c) Incidents and Actions..............................................................................................13
Bibliography......................................................................................................................15

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Section A
Section 1: Managing the Project Team
1a) Project Priorities and the Project Priority Matrix
Establishment of the project priorities is important for a project team to consider.
Prioritization of the project works, helps in better management of the risks and issues in a
project. The project aims in setting up of a Food Test Laboratory and therefore the priorities of
the project are needed to be set. The criteria associated with project priorities includes
constrained criteria, enhanced criteria and accepted criteria of the project. The project priorities
of the Food Test Laboratory project is indicated in the table below.
Time Scope Cost
Constraint X
Enhance X
Accept X
Table 1: Indicating the Priorities of the Food Test Laboratory Project
Data from the above table indicates that time is a constrained criteria of the project. Time
is considered to be a constrained criteria particularly because the launch of the Food Test
laboratory is needed to be launched on 1 July 2019. The project aims in coinciding with the Asia
Food Safety Convection’s Opening Day. The scope of the project can be enhanced while any
changes in the cost of the project is needed to be accepted. Setting the priorities of the project
will help in better management of the Food Test laboratory Project.

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1b) Three Personal Attributes of the Team members
The Food Test Laboratory (FTL) is a high priority project and therefore it is necessary to
choose the members for the project team, who have experiences, knowledge and the technical
skills that are needed to manage a project. The three personal attributes of the team members that
is identified to be vital for the Food Test Laboratory Project are discussed in the paragraphs
below.
Problem Solving: The project team members should have an ability to solve the
problems and disputes within the project team. Therefore, a team member having a strong ability
of problem solving can be considered as one of the most invaluable assets for the project.
Availability: It is needed for the project team members to remain available when
required. Therefore, availability can be considered as one of the important attributes of a team
member. The FTL project team should look for human resources in a project who would be
available when required.
Political Connections: Members having close political connection and personal
relationship with the stakeholders can act as an invaluable asset of the project.
From the above discussed points, it can be deduced that problem solving ability,
availability and political connections are three key attributes of a project team member.
Section 2: Developing a Project Plan
2a) Gantt chart View
A project schedule has been prepared as per the identified priorities and project
constraints. The figure below indicates a detailed Gantt chart view of the schedule that has been

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prepared. The figure indicates the name of the task, duration of the task, task predecessors and
the resources in the Gantt chart.
Figure 1: Indicating the Gantt chart of the FTL project
(Source: Created by Author using MS project)
The work activities that are indicated in red in the above figure represents the critical path of the
project.
From the developed Schedule, the project completion date is identified. From the figure
above, it is observed that the finish date of the project is Monday 01-07-19. This is the launch
date of the Food Test Laboratory that will be developed as a part of this project. In this context, it
can be said that certain resource conflict is observed in the project schedule which is needed to e
addressed.

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2b) Total Project Cost
Along with the presented information of the project schedule, the resource needs and
their cost are identified as well. With the help of MS project, a state of total project cost is
developed which is indicated in the figure below.
Figure 2: Representing the Total Project Cost
(Source: Created by Author using MS Project)
The figure indicates the total cost of the project by calculating the resource needs and the
resource allocated for each task of the project. From the figure above, the effort and the cost
required to conduct this project can be easily calculated or estimated.
2c) Explanation of the Resource Conflicts Observed

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As indicated earlier, the schedule that has been prepared in the MS project gives rise to
certain resource conflicts. The resource conflicts in the FTL project are indicated in the figure
below.
Figure 3: Representing the Resource Conflicts Observed
The figure above indicates that the project manager and Mary is over allocated with task
giving rise to resource conflict. This resource conflict is needed to be addressed in order to
ensure an effective management of the FTL project.
2d) Solving the Resource Conflict
The problem of resource conflict is aimed to be solved with the Auto resource levelling
feature in the MS project. The figure indicates the use of automatic resource levelling feature of
MS project.

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Figure 4: Resource Levelling in MS project
The figure above indicates that the problems of resource conflict is aimed to be solved
with the auto resource levelling feature in MS project. However, it is seen that certain conflicts
cannot be resolved with the Auto Resource Levelling feature. The picture below indicates the
schedule of the project after auto resource levelling.
Figure 5: Representing Resource Conflict after Auto resource levelling

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The resource conflict could not be solved mainly because the project manager has been
allocated with majority of the important tasks in the project. Since the resource conflict cannot be
resolved with the auto resource levelling feature, certain alternatives to solve the resource
allocation problem is needed to be identified. Two approaches that can solve this resource
conflict problem are as follows-
1. It is within the FTL project scope to appoint an Ad-hoc Admin who can assist the
project manager when required.
2. The activities in the project cannot be fast paced and therefore, more resources can be
added to project to reduce the working time. Temp Engineers can be hired to assist Mary in her
work.
From the above two options, it can be concluded that for the FTL project, the option of
appointing ad-hoc admin to assist the project manager in the FTL project is considered to be a
more feasible option.
From the cost perspective as well, the first option seems to be more feasible. The cost of
the ad-hoc admin is $600, while that of the temp engineer is $700. Therefore, appointment of ad-
hoc admin as a solution of solving the problem of resource conflict is justified in this case.
After solving the resource conflict problem, the status date and the baseline of the project
is changed. The figures below indicate the change in status data and the baseline of the project.

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Figure 6: Representing the change in Status Date
Along with the change in status date, the baseline of the project is updated as well. The
figure below indicates the set baseline of the project.
Figure 7: Representing the Set Baseline of the Project
Section 3: Managing the Project
3a) Impact on Cost and Schedule

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A change in the schedule of the project is observed due to incorporation of Fipronil
Testing. The Activity 4, that is designing of the Food Test Programs have increased from 13 days
to 17 days resulting in change in the cost and schedule. There is a scheduling conflict as well,
which in indicated in the picture below.
Figure 8: Representing change in schedule and Scheduling Conflict
The change in the total cost of the project is indicated in the picture below.

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Figure 9: Indicating the Cost variance
The figure above indicates the change in the cost of the project. There have been a slight
increase in the cost of the project due to change in schedule.
3b) Four Important Accomplishments
The important achievements associated with the Food Test launch Project is indicated in
the points below-
1. The most significant accomplishment of the project is that the project is able to fulfil
its aim. The aim of the project was to launch a Food Test Laboratory on 1st July 2019. The
scheduling is done on basis of that, which is an important accomplishment.
2. On request of AVA, the FTL project team incorporated Fipronil testing in their FTL
project. The incorporation of testing of Fipronil in the FTL project is another important
accomplishment of the FTL project team.
3. Although there was a conflict of resources in the project, the project could incorporate
Fipronil Testing with the help of Peter. Therefore, ensuring resource availability is another
important accomplishment associated with the FTL project.
4. The Fipronil Testing is incorporated in the project on request of AVA. Since the FTL
team was able to incorporate Fipronil testing in the project, it can be expected that the requested
funding for the FTL project from AVA will be allowed. This is another important
accomplishment of the FTL project.
Section 4: Monitoring the Project’s Progress and Closing the Project

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4a) Gantt chart View
The figure below indicates the Gantt chart view of the project indicating the task mode,
task name, duration, predecessor, start date and finish date.
Figure 10: Indicating the Gantt chart view of the Project
The figure above indicates the Gantt chart view of the MS project schedule indicating the
Task Mode, Task Name, duration, predecessor, start dare and finish date of the project. From the
figure above the date of completion of the project is found to be Tuesday 02-07-19.
4b) Cost performance Index
The cost performance index of the project is needed to be computed. The CPI can be
computed in the MS project as well. The cost performance index of a project can be calculated
with the formula is Earned value/ Actual Cost. The cost performance index of this project is ->
$182,860/ $189,440 = 0.9652 ~ 0.97.

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The CPI of the project as calculated by the MS project is indicated in the figure below-
Figure 11: The calculated CPI
The figure above indicates the CPI of the project. The CPI generated from the MS project
indicates that the CPI of the project is 0.97, which matches the CPI calculated manually.
4c) Incidents and Actions
Incidents Actions
Resource Conflict in project scheduling The problem of resource conflict could have
been avoided if appropriate resource
availability was ensured prior to the
beginning of the project.
Egg Contamination and Test of Fipronil
Insecticide
It is a part of change management and
therefore a planned changed management
approach could have eliminated the problem.

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Appreciation and change in project cost Effective budget estimation could have
eliminated the problem of budget overshoot in
the project.
The table above indicates the controlling approach of the incidents that have occurred in
the project.

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Bibliography
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Crawford, J. K. (2014). Project management maturity model. Auerbach Publications.
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Project Management Institute.
Harrison, F., & Lock, D. (2017). Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Kerzner, H. (2018). Project management best practices: Achieving global excellence. John
Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
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Marchewka, J. T. (2014). Information technology project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Mir, F. A., & Pinnington, A. H. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: linking
project management performance and project success. International journal of project
management, 32(2), 202-217.

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Sears, S. K., Sears, G. A., Clough, R. H., Rounds, J. L., & Segner, R. O. (2015). Construction
project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Too, E. G., & Weaver, P. (2014). The management of project management: A conceptual
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1382-1394.
Verzuh, E. (2015). The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Walker, A. (2015). Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons.