MBA642 Kaplan Project: Initiation, Planning & Execution Report

This report details the changes incorporated into a family's relocation project due to unforeseen events. The original project plan, designed for a move to Perth by January 27, 2019, was disrupted by a flu epidemic affecting a family member and a breakdown of the moving truck. The report discusses adjustments made to the schedule, including canceling a rented apartment and booking a hotel, to accommodate the family member's need for bed rest and the delayed arrival of their belongings. While these changes ensure critical milestones are met, such as the children starting school on time and Jeff beginning his new job, they also result in an increased project cost. The report reflects on the importance of project scope and change management, highlighting the need for adaptable project plans. Updated milestones, task lists, and a revised Gantt chart are included to illustrate the changes made.

Running head: PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Project Initiation, Planning and Execution
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Table of Contents
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................2
2. The Project Status............................................................................................................2
3. Implications on the changes made on resources..............................................................3
4. Details of all adjustments made on the schedule.............................................................4
5. Personal Reflection..........................................................................................................5
6. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................6
Bibliography........................................................................................................................7
Appendices..........................................................................................................................8
Appendix 1: Updated Milestone......................................................................................8
Appendix 2: Updated Task List.......................................................................................8
Appendix 3: A revised Gantt chart................................................................................11

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
1. Introduction
The aim of the report is to discuss the changes that are needed to be incorporated in the
shifting project. Jeff with his family was scheduled to move to Perth within 27th January 2019.
Accordingly, a project plan had been prepared. However, the project could not be completed as
per schedule mainly because of certain unforeseen sequences. Australia is hit by a flu epidemic
in which Kelly has become ill. Now all the tasks that had been assigned to Kelly is needed to be
assigned to someone else, Furthermore, Kelly has to be in bed rest for two weeks commencing
from 15th January. Therefore, arrival of the family to Perth might be delayed. Initially, it was
planned that the family would be shifted to Perth within 27th January, which is needed to be
changed. Along with this, certain other changes in the project is observed. The truck of the
packers and movers company that was carrying the belongings of the family has broken down
and therefore the arrival of the furniture will be delayed as well. The report will be discussing the
changes that are to be made to the schedule and the implications of the changes that are to be
made.
2. The Project Status
Currently, the project is delayed. The completion date of the project was estimated to be
5th February. Although there is will be no change in project completion date, the different
activities in the project will be delayed. Furthermore, Kelly is not allowed to undertake any task
which will increase the work load of Jeff. It is expected that Jeff will undertake all the works of
Kelly.
Doctors have advised Kelly to take bed rest for two weeks starting from 15th January.
However, as per the condition, the old house is needed to be vacated by 20th January. Since

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
doctor has advised complete bed rest for Kelly, Jeff needs to cancel their stay at the rented
apartment and needs to book a hotel near to his old house so that Kelly can easily shift to there.
This will involve an increase in the cost of the project.
Kelly will be at bed rest till 29th January and therefore, they cannot move to Perth on
27th. However, since their house in Perth is already secure, there would be no problem in
moving in to the house after 2 days (the move in was initially scheduled to be on 27th January).
However, with the breakdown of the truck that was carrying the belongings of the family to
Perth, the arrival of the goods will be delayed till 30th January.
Therefore, it can be observed that the changes and the variances in the project schedule
can be managed with slight changes in the schedule of the project. However, the changes made
to the project schedule will most probably increase the cost of the project.
3. Implications on the changes made on resources
There is no additional requirement of the resources in this project. There will be no major
changes in the resources mainly because the family has hired a makers and movers company to
take care of the belongings. Apart from that, the tasks that have been previously assigned to
Kelly will be undertaken by Jeff.
The family had planned to stay at a rented apartment in Perth for a few days. However,
since Kelly needs bed rest till 29th, the family cannot move to Perth prior to that and therefore
cancellation of the rented apartment is needed. Along with that, Jeff needs to book a hotel in
Maroochydore to stay there from 20th January to 29th January.

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Apart from that, certain other changes are made on the resources of the project. Although
the renting cost of the apartment is reduced, there is an added cost of the cancellation fee. The
cost of hotel booking in Maroochydore is further added to the resource cost. Since Kelly is not
allowed to undertake any work, the resource of Kelly is removed from all the assigned task till
29th January. Kelly can work with Jeff after moving to Perth. Although Jeff is carrying out all the
tasks of Kelly, no resource conflict has been observed in the schedule. Therefore, it can be said
that the initial schedule that was prepared for the project had scope for required changes.
However, with the changes that have been made on the schedule, certain tasks are needed to be
completed in a constricted time. This is particularly because although there are slips and delays
in the initial project plan, the plan is updated in such a manner so that Will and Lexie can attend
their school on 31st January and Jeff can join his new job from 5th February. However, with the
incorporated changes, the cost of the project has increased to $17,570 and it is not possible to
complete the project within $15,000.
4. Details of all adjustments made on the schedule
For ensuring that the completion date of the project remains unchanged as the previous
schedule, certain major changes have been brought to the schedule. This changes include
changes in the duration of each task, addition of certain extra tasks and activities in the schedule
and addition of the resources in the project schedule. The detailed adjustments that have been
made on the schedule and the resources of the shifting project is discussed in the following
paragraphs.
The family had originally decided to stay in a rented apartment in Perth from 21st January
to 26th January. However, doctor has advices Kelly to take a complete bed rest till 29th January.

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Thus, it is not possible for the family to move to Perth on 20th and stay at the rented apartment till
27th with Kelly. Therefore, certain changes in the initial schedule plan is needed to be enforced.
The changes that have been incorporated in the schedule include cancellation of the bookings of
the rented apartment. A cancellation fee is added to the cost of resources that led to the increase
in project budget. In order to ensure that Kelly does not face much problem in shifting, Jeff has
arranged a hotel in Maroochydore to stay there till 29th January. Thus, the cost of booking of the
hotel and staying in the hotel is added to the cost of resources. This is one significant change that
is brought to the schedule of the project.
Since Kelly is not allowed to undertake any work till 29th, the resources Kelly is
unassigned with all the tasks that Kelly was supposed to perform.
Initially, the move in to the new house was planned to be on 27th January. However with
the need of providing a complete bed rest to Kelly, the move in to the new house is postponed to
30th January. This in turn solves the problem of truck breakdown as well. The truck carrying
belongings of the family had broken down. The truck was carrying the furniture. Without the
furniture, it would have been difficult for the family to stay in the new house. Hence, arrival to
the new house has been postponed to 30th January.
The family is moving in to the new house on 30th January. Thus the children will be able
to attend their school on 31st January and Jeff will be able to join his new office on 5th February.
However, since the move in to the new place has been delayed, the tasks that were scheduled
after the move in, had to be adjusted accordingly. For example, the time allocated for
arrangement of the goods has been reduced from 3 days to 2 days. Accordingly, certain other
adjustments are made as well (refer to appendix 2).

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
5. Personal Reflection
The changes that were incorporated in an already prepared project plan has helped me in
understanding the need of project scope and change management in project management. I have
updated the initially prepared project plan according to the new requirements. I have understood
the importance change management and incorporation of the changes in a project in times of
need. I have understood the importance of developing a feasible project plan while working on
scheduling the project.
6. Conclusion
The report discusses the changes that are incorporated in the shifting project. The
occurrence of certain unforeseen and unpredicted event have resulted in delays in completion of
certain activities in the project. The changes have been incorporated in such a manner so that the
family does not miss any important events. The changes that have been incorporated ensures that
Kelly gets the bed rest as indicated and advised by her doctor. The changes that have been
incorporated delayed the arrival of the family to Perth. The delayed arrival in Perth however,
helped in solving the problem of the truck breakdown. The updated schedule that have been
prepared will ensure that Jeff will be joining his new office on 5th of February 2019. However,
changes that have been incorporated in the project have resulted in increase of the project cost
from $14,720 to $17,570.00

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Bibliography
Crawford, J.K., 2014. Project management maturity model. Auerbach Publications.
Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2018. Project management best practices: Achieving global excellence. John Wiley
& Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2019. Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project
management. Wiley.
Leach, L.P., 2014. Critical chain project management. Artech House.
Lock, D., 2017. The essentials of project management. Routledge.
Milosevic, D.Z. and Martinelli, R.J., 2016. Project management toolbox: tools and techniques
for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons.
Richardson, G.L., 2014. Project management theory and practice. Auerbach Publications.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Too, E.G. and Weaver, P., 2014. The management of project management: A conceptual
framework for project governance. International Journal of Project Management, 32(8),
pp.1382-1394.
Verzuh, E., 2015. The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons.

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Appendices
Appendix 1: Updated Milestone
The updated milestone contains change in the date of achieving the milestones.
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish
2.6
M1: Completion of Planning for
Relocation
0 days Tue 01-01-19 Tue 01-01-19
3.8
M2: Completion of Relocation
Preparation
0 days Fri 11-01-19 Fri 11-01-19
4.6 M3: Vacating the old Apartment 0 days Sun 20-01-19 Sun 20-01-19
4.9
M4: Moving into the new house
at Perth
0 days Tue 29-01-19 Tue 29-01-19
5 M5: Project ends 0 days Tue 05-02-19 Tue 05-02-19
Appendix 2: Updated Task List

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Figure 1: Representing updated Task list
(The highlighted tasks indicate the changes)

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Appendix 3: A revised Gantt chart
Figure 2: Revised Gantt chart

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PROJECT INITIATION, PLANNING AND EXECUTION
(Work activities marked in red indicates the Gantt chart)