Project Management Exercise Set
The final learning assessment for this course is a set of exercises valued at 20 percent of the final course grade. You may use the software tools available to you, including Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Project (comes with the textbook), as needed.
Complete all of the following and submit your answers as a single Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) document to [email protected] Diagrams and tables may be included as objects, which may include scanned images.
Do not submit the exercises one at a time or as individual files!
1. NET PRESENT VALUE ANALYSIS
The following are data for two IT projects for a new database system. Prepare a spreadsheet for two projects, using the following data. Amounts are in thousands of dollars. Calculate the NPV for each. (Please assume a Discount Rate of 10%)
Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5Total
Project 1
Benefits$0$2,000$3,000$4,000$5,000tbd
Costs$5,000$1,000$1,000$1,000$1,000tbd
Cashflow($5,000)$1,000$2,000$3,000$4,000$5,000
Project 2
Benefits$2,000$3,000$5,000$3,000$1,000tbd
Costs$2,000$2,000$2,000$2,000$1,000tbd
Cashflow$0$1,000$3,000$1,000$0$5,000
2. NETWORK DIAGRAMMING
Prepare a precedence diagram for the following tasks. All tasks have a finish-to-start relationship.
TaskDurationPreceded ByFollowed By
A1NoneB, C, D
B2AE
C3AE, F
D4AG
E5B, CF
F6CH
G7DH
H8E, F, GNone
3. GANTT CHART
Prepare a Gantt chart for the tasks shown for question 2.
4. CRITICAL PATH
Determine the critical path for the tasks shown for question 2.
5. RESOURCE HISTOGRAM
Your company is planning to launch a new IT project starting July 1 that will last one year. You estimate that you will need one full-time project manager, two full-time business analysts for the first six months, two full-time senior systems analysts for the whole year,four programmers for the months of February-May, and one full-time technical writer for the last three months. Create a stacked column chart using Excel that shows resources by month. Provide appropriate titles, axes labels, and legends.
6. MBTI
Take the MBTI. There are several websites you can use: www.humanmetrics.com, www.personalitytype.com, and www.kiersey.com. Write a one-page summary discussing your MBTI type and its opposite MBTI type. For example, if you are an INTJ, then its opposite is ESFP. What challenges would you see working with this person on a project? What you think about the MBTI as a team-building tool?
7. PROJECT SELECTION
Your IT consulting company is trying to decide which of four projects to bid. Information on each is in the table below. Assume that all up-front investments are not recovered, so they are shown as negative profits. Draw a diagram and calculate the expected monetary value (EMV) for each project. Write a paragraph explaining which project(s) you would choose to bid.
ProjectChance of
OutcomeEstimated
Profit
Project 150%
50%$120,000
-$50,000
Project 230%
40%
30%$100,000
$50,000
-$60,000
Project 370%
30%$20,000
-$5,000
Project 430%
30%
20%
20%$40,000
$30,000
$20,000
-$50,000
8. PARETO DIAGRAM
Your company has a technical support line for customers to call. Create a Pareto diagram based on the information in the following table. Create a spreadsheet using these data. List the most frequent complaint first. Then add a column labeled “% of Total” and another labeled “Cumulative %”. Then enter formulas to calculate these items. Then use the Excel Chart Wizard to create a Pareto diagram based on the data. Use the Line – Column on 2 Axis custom type chart so that your resulting chart looks similar to the one in Figure 8-1.
Customer ComplaintsFrequency/Week
Customer is on hold too long90
Customer gets transferred to wrong number20
Customer gets cut off50
Service rep cannot answer customer’s question120
Service rep does not follow through as promised40
Service rep is rude10
9. PROJECT PLANNING
Use the following WBS and duration information for a project to build a new website. Prepare a Gantt chart and a precedence diagram. Determine the critical path.
1.Initiating1 week
2.Planning4 weeks, starting after Initiating ends
3.Executing
3.1 Conduct User Interview6 weeks, starts after Initiating ends
3.2 Conduct User Survey4 weeks, starts midway through User Interviews
3.3 Site Content
3.3.1 Develop Templates12 weeks, starts after User Interviews and User Survey end
3.3.2 Write Articles8 weeks, stats anytime after Site Content begins
3.3.3 Prepare FAQ2 weeks, starts after User Interviews and User Survey ends
3.4 Design Site8 weeks, starts after User Interviews and User Survey end
3.5 Build Site16 weeks, starts after Design Site ends
3.6 Perform Integration Testing2 weeks, starts after Build Site ends
3.7 Conduct Acceptance Tests2 weeks, starts after Integration Testing ends
4.Controllingruns for entire duration of project
5.Closing1 weeks, follows Acceptance Testing
10. COST MANAGEMENT
In the following information for a one-year software development project, answer the following four questions.
PV = $23,000
EV = $20,000
AC = $25,000
BAC = $120,000
a.What are the cost variance, schedule variance, cost performance index, and schedule performance index for the project?
b.How is the project doing? Is it ahead of schedule or behind? Is it under budget or over?
c.Use CPI to calculate the estimate at completion (EAC)? Is the project performing better or worse than planned?
d.Use SPI as your guide, how long will it take to finish the project?
