Project Management Case Study: Willowbrook School System Development

This project management assignment presents a comprehensive case study focusing on the development of an information system for Willowbrook School. The assignment includes a detailed breakdown of tasks, their durations, start and finish dates, and the creation of a Gantt chart and a PERT chart to visualize the project's timeline and dependencies. The document analyzes the differences between PERT and Gantt charts, highlighting their respective strengths and weaknesses in terms of visualization, simplification, and accuracy. It also explores the advantages and disadvantages of each chart type, ultimately concluding with a preference for Gantt charts due to their superior visualization capabilities. Furthermore, the assignment explains the concept of the critical path, detailing how it is determined and how it can be used for project scheduling, controlling, and identifying critical elements. The document concludes with a bibliography of relevant project management resources.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Case Study- Willowbrook School
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Task 3:
1. Creation of list of tasks
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Development of information system for
Willowbrook School
63 days Mon 10/30/17 Wed 1/24/18
Analysis phase of development 28 days Mon 10/30/17 Wed 12/6/17
Analyzing system requirements 22 days Mon 10/30/17 Tue 11/28/17
Conduction of interviews 4 days Mon 10/30/17 Thu 11/2/17
Conduction of documentation 7 days Fri 11/3/17 Mon 11/13/17
Conducting reviews 8 days Fri 11/3/17 Tue 11/14/17
Conducting surveys 9 days Tue 11/14/17 Fri 11/24/17
Conducting research 10 days Wed 11/15/17 Tue 11/28/17
Modeling data and processes 9 days Wed 11/15/17 Mon 11/27/17
Building in house of the system 8 days Mon 11/27/17 Wed 12/6/17
System design phase 22 days Wed 11/29/17 Thu 12/28/17
Developing user interface 10 days Wed 11/29/17 Tue 12/12/17
Data design 14 days Wed 11/29/17 Mon 12/18/17
Designing new system architecture 12 days Thu 12/7/17 Fri 12/22/17
Outsourcing the system to cloud service 16 days Thu 12/7/17 Thu 12/28/17
Implementation phase 27 days Tue 12/19/17 Wed 1/24/18
Installation of hardware 18 days Fri 12/29/17 Tue 1/23/18

2
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Software installation 19 days Fri 12/29/17 Wed 1/24/18
Training the users 21 days Tue 12/19/17 Tue 1/16/18
Go live 24 days Tue 12/19/17 Fri 1/19/18
Ongoing support and maintenance phase 2 days Mon 12/25/17 Tue 12/26/17
Stakeholder sign off 2 days Mon 12/25/17 Tue 12/26/17
Project closure 2 days Mon 12/25/17 Tue 12/26/17
2. Gantt chart
Figure 1: Gantt chart
(Source: Created by Author)

3
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
3. Pert Chart
Figure 2: Network Diagram
(Source: Created by Author)
3.1 Difference between Pert chart and Gantt chart
Characteristics Pert Chart Gantt Chart
Visualization Pert chart as those which helps
in displaying information in the
form of network model.
It is identified that Gantt chart
is present in the format of bar
chart and thus this
presentation is quite helpful in
showing the percentage of
work which is completed.
Simplification Gantt charts are the project that
has very much less interlinking
tasks. In addition to this, it is
found that Gantt charts are easier
Pert chart include tasks as
well as time allocation and
also the display dependency
that makes it little bit

4
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
to change. complex. Thus it is quite
difficult to change.
Accuracy Gantt chart are quite simpler to
read and they are more accurate.
It is identified that PERT
chart helps in extending
elements of detail within the
schedule with the ability of the
network model for displaying
various types of dependency.
3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of pert chart and Gantt chart
Advantages
Pert Chart Gantt chart
1. Useful for large project
planning: Pert chart helps in
making large project planning
much easier.
2. Visible critical path: The
critical path generally includes
all the activities which are
generally not delayed
affecting the date of project
completion. Thus Pert helps in
making the critical path visible
clearly.
1. Highly visible: The Gantt
charts are clearly visible and
they clearly evaluate the
activity that needs to be
undertaken for achieving the
objectives.
3. Set realistic timeframes:
The bar helps in indicating the
period in which the activity or
task will be completed

5
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Disadvantages
1. Complicated: Pert chart are
generally considered as
complicated as well as
confusing
2. Inaccurate prediction: In
larger project pert chart does
not provide accurate estimate.
1. The bar size does not
indicate the work amount:
The bar reflects the time
period that is needed for
completing the task
2. They are required to be
updated constantly: Gantt
chart must be updated
regularly.
3.2 Preference between Gantt chart and pert chart
It is identified that Gantt chart are more preferred in comparison to pert chart. This is
because the visualization of Gantt chart is quite higher and therefore they are utilized for
presenting the amount of percentage of work completed. Gantt chart are very much simple and
provide accurate as well as realistic estimation for the project. It is identified that with the help of
the Gantt charts, the resources are allocated properly within the project.

6
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
4. Critical path
Figure 3: Critical Path
(Source: Created by Author)
4.1 Explanation how critical path is determined
The critical path of the project can be determined with the help of the steps that are
provided below:
Break down the work: The first most important step is to break down the project into
different operations.
Arranging tasks by prerequisites: The various tasks of the project must be arranged
properly depending upon the perquisites.
Estimating task duration: The duration of the task must be estimated properly so that
scheduling of the project is completed correctly.

7
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Finding the longest path: Critical path is the longest path from the first column through
the lines that generally perquisites to the last column.
4.2 How critical path is used
As a project manager critical path can be utilized for number of ways that are elaborated
below:
Used for scheduling and controlling project: Critical path will be utilized in planning,
scheduling as well as controlling the project of information system development for the
Willowbrook School.
Identification of critical elements: It helps in identifying the critical elements of the
project which are found to be more constraining on the schedule.
Evaluation of technical effects: The technical impacts are elaborated easily with the
help of critical path.