BUS353 Project Management: Food Test Lab Project at SUSS, Singapore

This project management assignment focuses on the development of a Food Test Laboratory (FTL) and covers various aspects of project planning, execution, and monitoring. The project begins with managing the project team, including the creation of a project priority matrix and identifying critical personal attributes of team members. It then delves into developing the project plan, featuring a Gantt chart view, total project cost calculation, identification and resolution of resource conflicts using auto resource leveling. The assignment also addresses managing the project scope by incorporating additional Fipronil testing, analyzing its impact on the schedule and cost, and highlighting key accomplishments. Finally, it covers monitoring the project's progress, calculating the Cost Performance Index (CPI), and suggesting preventive actions for potential issues. The project aims to launch the FTL by a specific date, incorporate Fipronil testing, and manage resources effectively, providing valuable lessons learned and suggestions for future projects. Desklib provides access to this and many other solved assignments.

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

1
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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

2
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Answer 3........................................................................................................................17
Answer 4........................................................................................................................17
References..........................................................................................................................19

3
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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

4
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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

5
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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.

6
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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-

7
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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.

8
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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.

9
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Figure 5: Project Status Date
Followed by that, the baseline of the project is set to “entire project”-

10
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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

11
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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.