Project Management Assignment
Order Instructions:
Project Management
Your job at Shosheam Logistics located in Denver, Colorado requires you (and family) to move to
Thailand in 6-months time.
Part 1 – Project Scheduling
Using MS Project develop a Gantt chart with the activities necessary to accomplish the move project
and order the activities in a precedence (logical sequential) manner.
Explain and describe (in writing) the number of tasks/activities you have outlined and the order in
which you have placed the tasks/activities for project completion.
If you don’t have access to MS Project, you will need to develop the pieces MS Project does automatically, independently as separate documents in MS Excel.
Using MS Excel, create a Gantt chart by entering the project dates and events into a table
Next create a bar chart depicting the events based on the Gantt chart that you created.
For assistance on creating a Gantt chart in excel visit the MS office help files online and search:
“Creating a Gant chart in MS Excel.” You may also visit: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/create-a-gantt-chart-in-excel-HA001034605.aspx
Part 2 – Monitor, Organize, Analyze
Develop an estimation chart showing each activity, the preceding activity required, and associated
costs, with a 3 months, 4.5 months, and 6 months scenario.
Compare the costs of crashing the project from a 6-month timeline into a 4.5-month timeline:
a. Explain and defend (in writing) the pros/cons of crashing the project schedule.
b. What is the impact on personnel and resources to crashing the project?
c. What are the associated risks of crashing the project and how will you manage the risks?
If you don’t have access to MS Project, you will need to develop the pieces MS Project does automatically, independently as separate documents in MS Excel.
First create a table with the variables in MS Excel.
Next create a table that highlights the critical path.
Then create a table that highlights the critical path that you feel is the best candidate for crashing
and explain why you selected this path.
Part 3 – Project Control and Closeout
Explain and defend the processes and procedures you suggest for closing the project. Include the
handoffs, benefits, and lag required to begin operation at your new location.
Your assessment should be well structured. Make good use of bulleted lists, numbered lists, and
tables to further provide structure and clearly communicate information.
The Portfolio Project must be submitted in a single document of 7-10 pages in length, not including
the title and reference pages. The three parts, above, must be included with a detailed explanation of
each required component.
In your submission include at least five outside supportive references, not including the course
textbook, course materials, or other information resources provided as part of the course materials.
These must be cited and integrated into your paper. These are expected to provide information and
support for assertions made in your writing. The CSU-Global Library is a good place to find these
references.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Introduction
Project management helps in the planning, designing, and facilitating effective organizing, executing, controlling and monitoring of projects. A variety of software are at disposal of any person interested in project management (Project Management Institute, 2003), but in this project Microsoft Excel was used to create the Gantt chart shown below.
Part 1 – Project Scheduling
A table summarizing all the activities to be involved in the relocation project management
| Project Name: | Protocol Project | ||||
| Company Name: | Shosheam Logistics | ||||
| Date of Report: | 1/2/2015 | ||||
| Task | Start Date | End Date | Days Completed | Days Remaining | |
| House hunting | Task A | 08/01/2014 | 30/12/2014 | 87 | 65 |
| Vaccinations | Task B | 16/10/2014 | 26/11/2014 | 10 | 30 |
| Applying for visas | Task C | 21/10/2014 | 20/11/2014 | 5 | 25 |
| Paying for tickets | Task D | 26/10/2014 | 26/11/2014 | 0 | 30 |
| Packaging | Task E | 10/09/2014 | 25/12/2014 | 20 | 60 |
| Relocation of items | Task F | 16/10/2014 | 26/11/2014 | 10 | 30 |
| Cancel apartment DD | Task G | 24/10/2014 | 29/10/2014 | 2 | 3 |
| Cancel banking’s order | Task H | 24/10/2014 | 29/10/2014 | 2 | 3 |
| New leasing contract | Task I | 02/01/2015 | 1/2/2015 | 0 | 3 |
| Send out new address | Task J | 08/01/2015 | 1/8/2015 | 0 | 5 |
| Forwarding request | Task K | 08/01/2015 | 1/8/2015 | 0 | 7 |
| Relocation | Task L | 21/12/2014 | 25/12/2014 | 0 | 5 |
| Registration office | Task M | 07/12/2014 | 12/8/2014 | 0 | 5 |
| Furnish the new flat | Task N | 25/01/2015 | 1/29/2015 | 0 | 5 |
| Reregister car | Task O | 21/01/2015 | 1/23/2015 | 0 | 2 |
| Open an account | Task P | 28/12/2014 | 30/12/2014 | 0 | 5 |
| Move bank account | Task Q | 26/01/2015 | 1/29/2015 | 0 | 3 |
| Relocation completed | Task R | 29/01/2015 | 1/30/2015 | 0 | 1 |
The Gantt chart
In order to make sure that the relocation from Denver to Thailand is accomplished a total of 18 activities will required to be addressed ranging from the activities that will be conducted at Denver as well as the activities that will be conducted at Thailand which is the destination. The table shown above lists all the activities in a chronological order whereby each activity will be done after the preceding one has been completed or they can be done concurrently, but the preceding one must have began earlier than the subsequent activity or both should have began at the same time. This is very essential because most of the activities involved in project management are highly dependent on their preceding activities which act as the prerequisites for the successful execution of the subsequent and/or current activities while the current or present activities are very vital in project management because they act as prerequisites of the future activities in the same project.
For instance, the relocation project to be successfully completed all the activities which are listed in the above table must be carried out and are discussed below:
- House hunting: This involves using either real estate agents or online renting/leasing agents in order to secure an appropriate house in a timely manner prior to relocation.
- Vaccinations: This will involve getting vaccines for the family members as well as the pets which the family may belong as per immigration requirements at Thailand.
- Applying for visa: This is a requirement especially the expatriates who have to work in foreign countries and it must be done early enough to avoid travel hitches when the deadline approaches.
- Paying for the tickets: After the visas have been issued, the family needs to pay for their air tickets in advance in order to take advantage of any available travel allowances as well as avoiding to lack a flight in case they are all booked on their planned travelling day.
- Packaging: The packaging of the family’s belongings needs to be done in advance in order to avoid rushing at the last minute which may be a big inconvenience.
- Relocation of items: The durable items which can be relocated in advance such as the car, utensils, furniture and some clothes can be relocated before the actual relocation of the family.
- Cancellation of the apartment address: The old address needs to be cancelled to avoid inconvenience to people using it as well as missing of correspondences send using the old address after relocation.
- Cancellation of the banking’s order: The banking order in Denver needs to be cancelled when the relocation data draws nearer.
- Signing new leasing contract: After the appropriate house has been identified a new leasing contract needs to be signed prior to relocation. This will also involve connecting the utilities such as internet, phone, electricity and water as well as getting details on where they should be paid.
- Sending out the new address: The family needs to send out the newly acquired contact address to the bank; company; extended family; and friends.
- Forwarding request: This involves forwarding of the relocation request to the destination country which in this case is Thailand.
- Relocation: This involves the actual relocation of the family from Denver to Thailand.
- Registration office: This will involve registering with the Thailand immigration office as an expatriate to be working in the country.
- Furnish the new house: The lease house will require some refurnishing into the family’s desire and taste.
- Reregister the car: The family car which had been relocated with other belongings will need to be reregistered by the Thailand authorities and insurance companies.
- Open an account: A new account needs to be open for local transactions Thailand.
- Move bank account: The bank account that was been used in Denver needs to be moved for continued use by the company.
Relocation completed: After all the above discussed activities have been completed, then the process of family relocation shall have been completed.
The bar chart created depicting the events in the Gantt chart
Part 2 – Monitor, Organize, Analyze
An estimation chart for three scenarios
| 6-Months Scenario | 4.5-Months Scenario | 3-Months Scenario | ||||||
| Task | Preceding Task | Estimates Cost | Task | Preceding Task | Estimates Cost | Task | Preceding Task | Estimates Cost |
| Task A | $2,000 | Task A | $3,000 | Task E | $5,000 | |||
| Task B | A | $200 | Task E | A | $300 | Task F | E | $500 |
| Task C | B | $1,000 | Task B | E | $1,000 | Task A | F | $1,000 |
| Task D | C | $5,000 | Task C | B | $6,000 | Task C | A | $7,500 |
| Task E | D | $100 | Task F | C | $100 | Task B | C | $100 |
| Task F | E | $1,000 | Task D | F | $2,000 | Task D | B | $2,500 |
| Task G | F | $0 | Task I | D | $0 | Task I | D | $0 |
| Task H | G | $0 | Task K | I | $0 | Task G | I | $0 |
| Task I | H | $500 | Task G | K | $1,000 | Task H | G | $2,500 |
| Task J | I | $500 | Task H | G | $600 | Task K | H | $800 |
| Task K | J | $300 | Task J | H | $300 | Task J | K | $300 |
| Task L | K | $3,000 | Task L | J | $3,500 | Task N | J | $4,000 |
| Task M | L | $500 | Task N | L | $500 | Task L | N | $500 |
| Task N | M | $1,000 | Task M | N | $1,500 | Task M | L | $2,500 |
| Task O | N | $500 | Task Q | M | $500 | Task P | M | $500 |
| Task P | O | $100 | Task P | Q | $100 | Task Q | P | $100 |
| Task Q | P | $200 | Task O | P | $200 | Task O | Q | $200 |
| Task R | Q | $0 | Task R | O | $0 | Task R | O | $0 |
| Totals | $15,900 | $20,600 | $28,000 | |||||
- The pros/cons of crashing the project schedule
The pros of crashing the project schedule is mainly because the project is usually completed within the shortest time possible which would be highly essential when the project is urgently needed. The other pros is that it allows faster negotiations to be carried out thereby making sure that negotiations involved in project designing, planning, execution and monitoring are maintained minimal (Project Management Institute, 2003).
The cons of crashing the project schedule are mainly because it usually exhausts the involved personnel because they usually work under strict deadlines. The crash of project schedule also leads to increased costs because their no sufficient time to negotiate for the prices of materials and personnel while at the same there is also insufficient time to take advantage of promotions (Pinto, 2012).
- The impact on personnel and resources to crashing the project
The crashing of the project schedule leads to exhaustion of the personnel because they mostly without enough time to rest. The resources are spend at a very high rate because there no time to wait and also it leads to increased costs of resources because their no sufficient time to negotiate for the prices (Pinto, 2012).
- Risks associated with crashing the project and their management
There various risks associated with crashing the project schedule and they include lack of necessary permits, for instance, there are some projects which cannot go on without the vital permits which sometimes could not be obtained when a project is delayed (Tague, 2004). However, this can be managed by talking to the appropriate authorities. The other risk is that it may result to poor quality projects because there is no sufficient time for consultations and deliberations, but this can be managed by hiring a specialist or consultant to manage the project since its initial stages e.g. movers or couriers (Pinto, 2012).
Critical Path Table
| Critical Path Table | |
| Task | Preceding Task |
| Task A | – |
| Task E | A |
| Task B | E |
| Task C | B |
| Task F | C |
| Task D | F |
| Task I | D |
| Task K | I |
| Task G | K |
| Task H | G |
| Task J | H |
| Task L | J |
| Task N | L |
| Task M | N |
| Task Q | M |
| Task P | Q |
| Task O | P |
| Task R | O |
This critical path is definitely the best mainly because it produces the appropriate time to execute all the activities in the project as well as being relatively affordable even though not the cheapest. However, the other critical path which is cheaper than this one would definitely take longer thereby delaying the process of relocating and settling in the destination country (Woolf, 2012).
Part 3 – Project Control and Closeout
There are several processes and procedures that can be suggested for the closure of this project because of their resulting handoffs, benefits and lag.
For instance, in this project it is essential to evaluate the whole process of relocation and determine whether the budgeted costs were adhered to as well as determine if the time that was allocated to the project was effectively adhered to, and in particular for each specific activity that was involved in the project (Milosevic, 2003). This would be an essential process and procedure to exactly know how the project execution was performed thereby allowing someone a chance for rating the performance (Woolf, 2012).
Furthermore, this would be very critical in determining the critical path to be used in future whenever such kind of project may arise again. For example, the family may need to relocate in future and these processes and procedures would be essential to succinctly pinpoint which critical path to adopt without any delays (Klastorin, 2003).
References
Klastorin, T. (2003). Project Management: Tools and Trade-offs, (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Milosevic, D. Z. (2003). Project Management Toolbox: Tools and Techniques for the Practicing Project Manager. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
O’Brien, J. J. & Plotnick, F. L. (2010). CPM in Construction Management, (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Pinto, J. K. (2012). Project Management: Achieving the Competitive Advantage, (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Project Management Institute, (2003). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (3rd ed.). Project Management Institute.
Tague, N. R. (2004). The Quality Toolbox, (2nd ed.). New York, NW: ASQ Quality Press.
Woolf, M. B. (2012) CPM Mechanics: The Critical Path Method of Modeling Project Execution Strategy. London: ICS-Publications.
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
