Utrecht Technical University Campus Project Management Analysis

This project management assignment analyzes the construction of a new campus for Utrecht Technical University (UTU). It involves critical path analysis, Gantt chart creation, identification of critical and non-critical tasks, and float calculations. The project addresses the scheduling of building construction, including the Learning Resources Center, University Management Offices, International Business School, Science and Technology Center, The Student Village, and Student and Sports Center. It determines the latest start date for the project to meet the deadline, and evaluates whether the university president should proceed with an international conference based on building completion dates. The assignment further calculates the total number of solar panel units required, develops a month-by-month delivery schedule, estimates the cost of solar panel engineers, and compares the advantages and disadvantages of using freelance versus permanent staff. It also includes rescheduling the Gantt chart to accommodate production capacity, recalculating financial implications, and identifying the project manager's potential reluctance to accept plan changes. Finally, it implements a traffic light system for task status and cost tracking.

Operational and project
management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Part 1................................................................................................................................................1
1 a) Identification of the critical path and determine the latest date work should commence on
site................................................................................................................................................1
1 b) Gantt chart for the project....................................................................................................3
1 c) Identification of all the non-critical tasks and calculation of the float (free slack) on each
one................................................................................................................................................3
1 e) Advise the President whether or not to go ahead with the conference with justification.....4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................5
2 a) Calculation of total number of solar panel units are required in entire university campus
development.................................................................................................................................5
2 b) Month-by-month delivery schedule of solar panel for every building.................................6
2 c) Calculation of the total cost of the SP engineers according to the initial plan.....................8
2 d) compare the advantages and disadvantages of using freelance contract staff with
permanent staff members.............................................................................................................8
PART 3............................................................................................................................................9
3 a) Rescheduling of Gantt chart to accommodate the maximum production capacity of Vinci
Solar.............................................................................................................................................9
3 b) Recalculate the financial implications concerning the Solar Panel engineers that are now
required calculation of the savings or extra costs......................................................................11
3 c) From the perspective of the project manager, identify any reasons why s/he might be
reluctant to accept the changes to the plan................................................................................12
part 4..............................................................................................................................................13
4 a) A simple traffic light system according to the status of each task on the basis of planed
and budgeted completion of the project.....................................................................................13
4 b) Assigning a second color code to each task on the basis of actual and budgeted
expenditure till completion........................................................................................................13
4 c) Determination of cost color code for the entire project......................................................14
conclusion......................................................................................................................................15
references.......................................................................................................................................16

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Network diagram for critical path analysis......................................................................2
Figure 2: Project summery for start and finish date........................................................................2
Figure 3: Gantt chart for whole project...........................................................................................3
Figure 4: Identification of non-critical task and float calculation using detailed Gantt chart.........4
Figure 5: Resource histogram for solar panel for month by month.................................................7
Figure 6: Rescheduling of the Gantt chart.....................................................................................11
Figure 7: Rescheduling of the solar panel.....................................................................................11
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Start and finish date for every building.............................................................................5
Table 2: Total number of solar panel...............................................................................................5
Table 3: Calculation of month by month delivery of solar panel for every activity.......................6
Table 4: Total number of solar panel for every month....................................................................6
Table 5: Calculation of the total cost of SP engineer......................................................................8
Table 6: Rescheduled project plan...................................................................................................9
Table 7: Allocation of solar panel before and after rescheduling..................................................10
Table 8: Cost of SP engineer after rescheduling...........................................................................11
Table 9: Traffic light system according to the status of each task on the basis of planed and
budgeted completion of the project...............................................................................................13
Table 10: Color code system on the basis of planned and budged expenditure............................13

INTRODUCTION
Operation management of a business organization focuses on day to day strategic
business issues in systematic manner. In contrast, project management shed lights on planning,
organizing, implementing, monitoring and controlling different activities of the project for
attaining a specific goal and objective (Andersen, Dysvik and Vaagaasar, 2009). The current
research project is based on operation and project management and associated concepts.
Regarding this it will focus on project of Utrecht Technical University (UTU). As per the given
information, UTU has planned to develop a brand new campus for entire university and for
developing campus for university contractor needs to construct six buildings. Project report
applies different tools and techniques of project management for determining different facts and
figures of whole project. It will resolve different issues of the project using Gantt chart, network
diagram and other tools.
PART 1
For developing the campus building, contractor needs to construct six building; Learning
Resources center, University management offices, International Business School, Science and
Technology center, The Student Village and Student and Sports center.
1 a) Identification of the critical path and determine the latest date work should commence on
site
Critical path can be defined as a sequence of the different stages for determining the
minimum time for completing the whole project. It is also represents the longest path for the
project. It can be presented by the network diagram (Dey, Clegg and Bennett, 2010). Critical
path for the current project is as under:
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Figure 1: Network diagram for critical path analysis
Figure 2: Project summery for start and finish date
As per the above figures critical path of the project is A-C-F = 6+8+4= 18 months.
Therefore, it has reflected that development of the campus building will be completed in 18
months. As per the given information and requirements of UTU project must be completed till
31st August 2017. Using this information and above calculation it can be said that latest date
work should commence on site by 15th April 2016. Therefore, at this start date the whole project
will be completed in 18 months till 31st August 2017 (Hobbs, 2009).
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1 b) Gantt chart for the project
Figure 3: Gantt chart for whole project
1 c) Identification of all the non-critical tasks and calculation of the float (free slack) on each one
As per the above calculation A, C and F have included in the critical task for the project
of campus development. So, remaining tasks B, D, E can be included in non-critical task for the
current project. These tasks are not included in the critical path of the project. Delay in non-
critical activity does not affect the calculation of critical path. Total float can be defined as
amount of duration by which non-critical activity can be delayed without delaying the project
completion date. Total float for all critical activity is zero (Darren, 2012). As per the
requirements, calculation of the total float for noncritical activities is described as under:
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Figure 4: Identification of non-critical task and float calculation using detailed Gantt chart
Float calculation
Activity Early Start Early Finish Late Start Late Finish Float or
Slack
A 0 6 0 6 0
B 0 3 5 8 5
C 6 14 6 14 0
D 6 12 8 14 2
E 0 5 3 8 3
F 14 18 14 18 0
Project 18
As per the above calculation of float, B activity can be delayed by 5 months and D
activity can be delayed by 2 months. Similarly, delay of 3 months in F activity will also not
affect critical path of the UTU project (Levy, 2009).
1 e) Advise the President whether or not to go ahead with the conference with justification
As per the given information, President of the university is going to host a major
international conference on climate change. It will take place in early September. For this
conference UTU will require two major buildings which are new Learning Resources center and
the new Student Village (Kloppenborg, 2011). Start and finish date for every building of the
campus project is presented as under:
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Table 1: Start and finish date for every building
S. No. Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
1 Learning Resources Centre 6 months Fri 4/15/16 Thu 9/29/16
2 University management offices 3 months Fri 4/15/16 Thu 7/7/16
3 International Business School 8 months Fri 9/30/16 Thu 5/11/17 1
4 Science and Technology Centre 6 months Fri 9/30/16 Thu 3/16/17 1,2,5
5 The Student Village 5 months Fri 4/15/16 Thu 9/1/16
6 Student and Sports Centre 4 months Fri 5/12/17 Thu 8/31/17 3,4
Above calculation have reflected that construction of Learning Resource Centre will start
on 15th April 2016 and finish on 29th September 2016. On the other hand, Building Student
Village will be completed till 1st September 2016. So, start and finish dates of both these
buildings have reflected that president of the university should not go ahead with this
international conference on climate change because both buildings will not be completed till
early September. So, due to the in progress construction, university will not able to make
arrangements for 1000+ delegates from all over the Europe (Chiu-Chi and et.al, 2013). It can
create probability of unsuccessful conferences for UTU. So, president should not go ahead with
the hosting of this conference.
TASK 2
2 a) Calculation of total number of solar panel units are required in entire university campus
development
Table 2: Total number of solar panel
Task Building Total Solar Panel units required
A Learning Resources centre 210
B University management offices 30
C International Business School 160
D Science and Technology centre 180
E The Student Village 75
F Student and Sports centre 200
Total number of solar panel 855
As per the given information total 855 number of solar panel units are required in entire
university campus development. Therefore, project manager needs to decide project budget on
the basis of the total investment in solar panel (Martin and Guerin, 2006).
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2 b) Month-by-month delivery schedule of solar panel for every building
Table 3: Calculation of month by month delivery of solar panel for every activity
Building Total Solar Panel
units required
Duration
(months)
Total number of
solar panel unit
per month
Learning Resources centre 210 6 35
University management
offices 30 3 10
International Business
School 160 8 20
Science and Technology
centre 180 6 30
The Student Village 75 5 15
Student and Sports centre 200 4 50
855
Resource histogram:
Table 4: Total number of solar panel for every month
Months Resource histogram for total Solar panel in each month
April 33
May 66
June 66
July 55
August 57.5
September 40
October 52.5
November 55
December 55
January 55
February 50
March 41
April 20
May 44
June 55
July 52.5
August 57.5
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April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
33
66 66
55 57.5
40
52.5 55 55 55
50
41
20
44
55 52.5
57.5
R esource histogram for total Solar panel in each
month
Figure 5: Resource histogram for solar panel for month by month
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2 c) Calculation of the total cost of the SP engineers according to the initial plan
Table 5: Calculation of the total cost of SP engineer
Months SP engineer Total cost of SP engineer
April 2 30000
May 2 30000
June 2 30000
July 2 30000
August 1 15000
September 1 15000
October 1 15000
November 1 15000
December 1 15000
January 1 15000
February 1 15000
March 1 15000
April 1 15000
May 1 15000
June 1 15000
July 1 15000
August 1 15000
Total cost £315000
As per the above calculation, in month of April, May, June and July more than two
activities are work in progress. So, in these month manager needs to allocate two SP engineers.
Total cost of the SP engineers will be £315000 (Walker, 2007).
2 d) compare the advantages and disadvantages of using freelance contract staff with permanent
staff members
As per the given case study, it has been identified that the freelance staff has hired by the
contractor for complete the project within the given time scale (Andersen, Dysvik and
Vaagaasar, 2009). The advantages and disadvantages of the using freelance contract staff and
permanent staff members are as follows.
Advantages of using freelance contract staff
 Help in complete the work within the given time period.
 Decrease the burden of hiring more and more new staff for the work.
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 Provide greater flexibility of working.
Disadvantages of using freelance contract staff
 Lose some control over the monitoring of the work.
 Not showing loyalty towards the firm.
 Not promote the brands
Advantages of using permanent staff
 Not required to train the staff
 Giving the job security to them.
 Paying less wages as compare to freelance contract staff
Disadvantages of using permanent staff
 Always expecting benefits from the company (Zwikael, 2009).
 Increase the legal work while paying the wages.
PART 3
3 a) Rescheduling of Gantt chart to accommodate the maximum production capacity of Vinci
Solar
Rescheduling in start and finish dates of non-critical activities:
Table 6: Rescheduled project plan
Name
Leveling
Delay
Durati
on Start Finish
Success
ors
Resource
Names
Learning Resources
center 0 edays
6
month
s
Fri
4/15/16
Thu
9/29/16 3,4
Solar panel
[210]
University
management offices 0 edays
3
month
s
Fri
9/2/16
Thu
11/24/16 4
Solar panel
[30]
International Business
School 0 edays
8
month
s
Fri
9/30/16
Thu
5/11/17 6
Solar panel
[160]
Science and
Technology center 0 edays
6
month
s
Fri
11/25/16
Thu
5/11/17 6
Solar panel
[180]
The Student Village 0 edays
5
month
s
Fri
4/15/16
Thu
9/1/16 4
Solar panel
[75]
Student and Sports
center 0 edays
4
month
s
Fri
5/12/17
Thu
8/31/17
Solar panel
[200]
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Changes in the allocation of solar panel in each month:
Table 7: Allocation of solar panel before and after rescheduling
Months
Resource allocation of Solar
panel in each month before
rescheduling
Resource allocation of Solar
panel in each month after
rescheduling
April 33 27.5
May 66 55
June 66 55
July 55 52.5
August 57.5 57.5
September 40 49
October 52.5 31.5
November 55 37
December 55 55
January 55 55
February 50 50
March 41 57.5
April 20 50
May 44 57.5
June 55 55
July 52.5 52.5
August 57.5 57.5
Proposed changes as a new Gantt chart with month by month solar panel quantities shown
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Figure 6: Rescheduling of the Gantt chart
Figure 7: Rescheduling of the solar panel
3 b) Recalculate the financial implications concerning the Solar Panel engineers that are now
required calculation of the savings or extra costs
Table 8: Cost of SP engineer after rescheduling
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Months SP engineer Total cost of SP engineer
April 1 15000
May 1 15000
June 1 15000
July 1 15000
August 1 15000
September 1 15000
October 1 15000
November 1 15000
December 1 15000
January 1 15000
February 1 15000
March 1 15000
April 1 15000
May 1 15000
June 1 15000
July 1 15000
August 1 15000
Total cost £255000
Cost of saving:
Cost ofSaving=£ 315000−£ 255000=£ 60000
Therefore, saving cost of Solar panel engineers will be £60000.
3 c) From the perspective of the project manager, identify any reasons why s/he might be
reluctant to accept the changes to the plan
As per the above calculations of the financial implications project manager needs to
accept all the proposed changes in schedule because it will help in reducing the cost of the whole
project by £60000. But, as per the project manager perspective all these changes can affect the
whole project plan and relationship between different activities with each other which needs to
require strong communication (Resource Leveling dialog box, 2015). So, project manager might
reluctant to accept the changes to the plan. Along with this, managing all these activities after
rescheduling can be more time consuming which can affect the whole project also. So, project
manager might be reluctant to accept the changes to the plan.
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PART 4
4 a) A simple traffic light system according to the status of each task on the basis of planed and
budgeted completion of the project
Red – Task in progress falling more than 5% behind plan
Amber – Task in progress (broadly in line with the plan) or not yet started
Green – Task completed or at least 5% ahead of plan
Table 9: Traffic light system according to the status of each task on the basis of planed and
budgeted completion of the project
Building Actual Planned Differences
Learning Resources centre 100% 100% 0.00%
University management offices 80% 100% -20.00%
International Business School 45% 14% 31.00%
Science and Technology centre 10% 18% -8.00%
The Student Village 100% 100% 0.00%
Student and Sports centre 0% 0% 0.00%
As per the above table and color codes, Status of different tasks have reflected that
University management office and Science and Technology center will not complete as per the
project plan till 1st November. So, these are included in the red color traffic light system. But, on
the other hand, planning and budgeted progress for Learning resource center and the student
village is same, so, these tasks are highlighted with green color (Kloppenborg, 2011). Likewise,
International Business School is also completed 31% ahead as compare to the project plan, so, it
is also included in the green color system. In contrast, Student and Sports Centre is not started
yet so, it is considered as Amber color.
4 b) Assigning a second color code to each task on the basis of actual and budgeted expenditure
till completion
Red – Task – when complete - likely to spend more than 10% over budget
Amber – Task – when complete - likely to incur cost broadly in line with the budget (or not yet
started)
Green – Task – when complete - likely to spend at least 10% less than budget
Table 10: Color code system on the basis of planned and budged expenditure
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Building
Actual
expendit
ure to
date
Budg
et
total
for
task
Actual
expendit
ure at the
time of
total
completi
on
Differen
ce
between
actual
and
planned
cost
after
completi
on
Reason behind the color
Learning
Resource
s centre
12.6 13 12.6 -0.4 likely to incur cost broadly in line with
the budget
Universit
y
managem
ent
offices
31 50 38.75 -11.25 likely to spend at least 10% less than
budget
Internatio
nal
Business
School
29 60 64.44 4.44 likely to spend more than 10% over
budget
Science
and
Technolo
gy centre
16.7 25 167 142 likely to spend more than 10% over
budget
The
Student
Village
8.2 20 8.2 -11.8 likely to spend at least 10% less than
budget
Student
and
Sports
centre
0 12 0 -12 likely to spend at least 10% less than
budget
Grand
Total for
project
97.5 180 302.99 122.99 likely to spend more than 10% over
budget
4 c) Determination of cost color code for the entire project
As per the above calculation of the actual and planned expenditure for whole project of
UTU campus will be 302.99 and 180 respectively. It has reflected that development of campus
will be an over budget project for whole university. It means university campus project will be
over budget by 122.99. It will affect the total cost and finance requirement for UTU. At this point
will continue at exactly the same rate throughout the project because at this point two tasks have
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already completed and work in progress status of two task is 50%. But, UTU organization can
reduce its spending by controlling cost on last activity because it has not started yet as well as
project manager can also reduce the cost of Science and Technology center because its actual
completion is 10% so, project manager can cut the cost or spending of this activity which will
help in reducing the total cost of the project (Martin and Guerin, 2006).
CONCLUSION
Findings and results of the current research project have articulated that critical path of
UTU campus development project is A-C-F = 6+8+4= 18 months. So, this project will take 18
months in completion. So, project manager needs to start this project by 15th April 2016. As per
the above findings, president of the university should not go to ahead with hosting international
conferences in early September because both Learning Resource Centre and Building of Student
Village will not complete till September. Along with this, project report has also found that total
855 number of solar panel units are required in entire university campus development. For
managing the different activities in project, UTU organization needs to spend £315000 in terms
of SP engineer salary during the completion of the project. Along with this, findings have also
concluded that university campus project will be over budget by 122.99 because of the delay in
the actual project progress.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Andersen, S. E., Dysvik, A. and Vaagaasar, L. A., 2009. Organizational rationality and project
management. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business. 2(4). pp.479 –
498.
Chiu-Chi, W. and et.al, 2013. Assignment of project members considering capability and
personality balance. Kybernetes. 42(7).Pp.1016 - 1028.
Darren, D., 2012. The nature of project management: A reflection on The Anatomy of Major
Projects by Morris and Hough. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
5(4). Pp. 643 - 660.
Dey, K. P., Clegg, T., and Bennett, J. D., 2010. Managing enterprise resource planning projects.
Business Process Management Journal. 16(2). pp.282 – 296.
Hobbs, P., 2009. Project Management. Dorling Kindersley Limited.
Kloppenborg, T., 2011. Contemporary Project Management. 2nd ed. Cengage Learning
Levy, B., 2009. Legal Project Management: Control Costs, Meet Schedules. Manage Risks, and
Maintain Sanity.
Martin, S. C., and Guerin, A. D., 2006. Using research to inform design solutions. Journal of
Facilities Management. 4(3). pp.167 – 180.
Walker, A., 2007. Project Management in Construction. Wiley.
Zwikael, O., 2009. Critical planning processes in construction projects. Construction Innovation:
Information. Process, Management. 9(4). pp.372 – 387.
Online
Resource Leveling dialog box. 2015. [Online]. Available through: <
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Resource-Leveling-dialog-box-7fcff5d6-2176-
4ce3-8b70-8ec2fe46fc7d >. [Accessed on 16th December 2015].
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