PROJ 592 Project Cost and Schedule Control

Week 3 Complete DQ’s and Quizzes

 

 

Week 3 DQ 1

Week 3: Scheduling Networks – Discussion

Project Schedules (Graded)

Forget about cost estimation and budgets this week; now we get to play with the third and greatest element of our triple constraint — TIME. Project scheduling follows one of Parkinson’s laws: “Everything takes as long as it takes.” We will explore the elements and functions we must consider when developing the project schedule?We have developed a complete WBS that we feel truly defines the scope of the project, and it is well organized. We have reviewed some available resources, including some outside sources; however we must first build a schedule baseline.

How do you get started? What methods help in scheduling?

Is there the same kind of team process involved as in building the WBS?

What are your most important considerations when building a project schedule?

Must you first consider deadlines? What kinds of scheduling constraints are common?

Remember, you each don’t need to address all the questions. Use them to build a discussion amongst all of us.

 

 

Week 3 DQ 2

Week 3: Scheduling Networks – Discussion

Sensitivity Analysis (Graded)

A “what-if analysis” is a common term for sensitivity analysis; does this sound more familiar?

What is your understanding or experience with analysis of project schedules?

When doing a sensitivity analysis, what factors could be variables, and which should be constants?

This is an important part of building a viable project schedule: understanding what can change and still be acceptable, and what can change that may become a problem.

 

 

Week 3 Quiz 1

Grade Details – All Questions

 1.        Question :        (TCO B) Three-point estimate:

The SuperFlyer Corporation is developing a revolutionary flying disc. The new toy can fly straight over a great distance, which is exciting by itself. However, this disc will also return to the owner in response to their voice! Because this is an advance over anything that this company has done before, estimating the amount and cost of the hi-tech materials are difficult. The project manager recommends using a range estimating process to develop an estimate. The values below are submitted by the project team.

 2.        Question :        (TCO A)  Your manager has asked you as a project manager, “How does the Bottom-Up budgeting process work? I hear the terms bottom up and top down.”

  3.       Question :        (TCO B) You have been requested to provide a contingency estimate for a project involving the manufacturing of a new television. You are provided with the following component and labor estimates, together with the type of estimate:

(a) What cost budget do you recommend for the product?

(b) Will the project be approved?

(c) What would you recommend to reduce or eliminate any contingency from the budget?

 4.        Question :        (TCO A) Our company has a limited time to complete our project to develop a new product. We have been assigned as the project manager and are in the process of developing a project plan. The executives are impatient with us and are “encouraging” us to move on and get started on the “actual work.” Why are we taking so much time to develop the project plan, and how does that fit with monitoring and control? For full credit you must provide specific reasons and justifications, not just generalities.

 

 5.        Question :        (TCO A) An environmental consulting firm has been hired to clean up contaminated groundwater beneath the site of a former chemical factory. The clean-up design process consists of evaluating several alternatives, preparing a conceptual design for the most appropriate alternative, evaluating the conceptual design by performing a small scale pilot test on site, and, based on the results of the pilot test, preparing a final design.

 

Week 3 Quiz 2

Grade Details – All Questions

 1.        Question :        (TCO B) Three-point estimate:

The SuperFlyer Corporation is developing a revolutionary flying disc. The new toy can fly straight over a great distance, which is exciting by itself. However, this disc will also return to the owner in response to their voice!  Because this is an advance over anything that this company has done before, estimating the amount and cost of the hi-tech materials are difficult. The project manager recommends using a range estimating process to develop an estimate. The values below are submitted by the project team.

 2.        Question :        (TCO A) Single-project budgeting must fit into the overall budgeting process of the organization and the company as a whole. As a project manager for one of your company’s projects, you have been asked to provide a brief description of the top-down approach to the budgeting process.

Explain the three basic steps in the top-down budgeting approach by identifying the organizational level (Upper Management, Functional Management, and Project Management) and type of budget prepared at each step. For each type of budget, explain why it is used at its level.

 3.        Question :        (TCO B) You have been requested to provide a contingency estimate for a project involving the manufacturing of a new television. You are provided with the following component and labor estimates, together with the type of estimate:

(a) What cost budget do you recommend for the product?

(b) Will the project be approved?

(c) What would you recommend to reduce or eliminate any contingency from the budget?

 

 4.        Question :        (TCO A) We have discussed the project plan and are taking considerable time developing processes for creating it. This seems to be in conflict with the description of the course, which is Monitoring and Control. Why are we taking so much time to develop the project plan, and how does it fit with monitoring and control? For full credit you must provide specific reasons and justifications and not just generalities.

 5.        Question :        (TCO A) A consumer electronics firm is planning an expansion into Milwaukee. Generally, the firm prefers to remodel large existing tenant spaces to suit their needs. After a site is selected from several alternatives, the corporate architect develops plans by reviewing the suitability of existing structure and utilities. A modification and demolition plan is then developed. Interior finish plans are then developed from corporate standards and adjusted to each site.

 Building permits are handled by the general contractor (GC). The firm uses a GC for all of its construction in a region. The GC hires local subcontractors and provides on-site construction supervision. 

 

Week 3 Quiz 3