Description
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The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via the
allocated folder.
Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be
reduced for poor presentation. This includes filling in your information on the cover
page.
Students must mention the question number clearly in their answers.
Late submissions will NOT be accepted. Peer-reviewed journals are required as
references.
Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or
other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
All answers must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font.
No pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.
• Do not make any changes to the cover page.
Assignment Workload:
• This Assignment comprises of a Case Study and discussion questions.
• Assignment is to be submitted by each student individually.
Assignment Purposes/Learning Outcomes:
After completion of Assignment 2 students will be able to understand the
1. Recognize the steps of the planning process in the project management. (L.O1.2)
2. Estimate the project budget and cost control. (L.O-2.2)
3. Analyze to work effectively and efficiently as a team member for projectrelated cases. (L.O-3.1)
Assignment-2
Assignment Case Study:
(Marks-6)
Please read the Case-5.2 “Post-Graduation Adventure.” from Chapter 5
“Estimating Project Times and Costs” given in your textbook – Project Management:
The Managerial Process 8th edition by Larson and Gray page no: 164 also refer to
specific concepts you have learned from the chapter to support your answers. Answer
the questions asked in case study as deliverables where you should consider the
milestones and technical requirements.
1. Assume you are either Mike or Josh; how would you go about making a decision
using project management methodology? Explain in 250 words (2 Marks).
2. Looking first at only cost, what decision would you make? Explain in 250 words
(2 Marks).
3. After cost, what other factors should be considered before making a decision?
Explain in 250 words (2 Marks)
Discussion Questions
(4 Marks)
4. Discuss top-down and bottom-up estimating and different approaches used.
(250 words) (2 Marks)
5. Discuss different project management structures. (250 words) (2 Marks)
Answers:
Commission a break-even study for the laser printer.
Very little in the way of concrete savings was identified, although there
was consensus that time could be compressed to the market launch date, but
at additional costs.
Lauren met with the marketing (Connor), production (Kim), and design
(Gage) managers, who yielded some ideas for cutting costs, but nothing
significant enough to have a large impact. Gage remarked, “I wouldn’t want
to be the one to deliver the message to top management that their cost
estimate is $1,250,000 off! Good luck, Lauren.”
1. At this point, what would you do if you were the project manager?
2. Was top management acting correctly in developing an estimate?
3. What estimating techniques should be used for a mission-critical project
such as this?
Case 5.2
Post-Graduation Adventure
Josh and Mike met as roommates during freshman year at Macalester
College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite a rocky start they became best
friends. They are planning a two-week adventure together to celebrate their
graduation in June. Josh has never been to Europe and wants to visit France
or Spain. Mike spent a semester abroad in Aarhus, Denmark, and traveled
extensively in northern Europe. Even though Mike has never been to France
or Spain, he wants to go to someplace more exotic, like South Africa or
Vietnam. For the past week they have been arguing over where they should
go. Josh argues that it will cost too much to fly to South Africa or Vietnam,
while Mike counters that it will be much cheaper to travel in Vietnam or
South Africa once they are there. They agree that they can spend no more
than $3,500 each on the trip and could be gone for only two weeks.
One evening when they were arguing with each other over beers with
friends, Sara said, “Why don’t you use what you learned in your project
management class to decide what to do?” Josh and Mike looked at each
other and agreed that made perfect sense.
1. Assume you are either Mike or Josh; how would you go about making a
decision using project management methodology?
2. Looking first at only cost, what decision would you make?
3. After cost, what other factors should be considered before making a
decision?
page 164
Appendix 5.1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter you should be able to:
A5-1
Use learning curves to improve task estimates.
LO A5-1
Use learning curves to improve task estimates.
Learning Curves for Estimating
A forecast estimate of the time required to perform a work package or task
is a basic necessity for scheduling the project. In some cases the manager
simply uses judgment and past experience to estimate work package time or
uses historical records of similar tasks.
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