INFS6071: Project management in Business
Individual Assignment One
Due: Week 9 (27 September 2024, 2359hrs)
The University of Sydney Business School, 2024
Background
“The top reason for project failure is the project itself. Wrong projects are ones that defy conventional business rationale, creating outputs that either few people want, that add little to no real value, or that undershoot the desired benefits because they are so difficult to achieve. In short, they fail in rationale and objective reasoning. They are sometimes called ‘white elephants.’”(Wu & Misra, 2023).
Task
Part A: Critical Path Analysis
Description of Requirements: You are employed as a Project Manager at Comarda, and you have been awarded a contract to develop a new automated inventory control system for Assum Pullum Express, a new fast-food chicken chain opening several stores across New South Wales. The project’s scope and work breakdown structure have already been decided upon. Tasks and their contents, durations, and resource requirements are shown in Table 1. Predecessors of tasks imply which tasks must be conducted before the current task can be started.
Activity Code Task/Activity Duration in days Predecessors
A Start-up planning and design 5 –
B Equipment determination and planning 8 A
C Specific software determination 9 A
D Production line planning and determination 4 B
E Equipment planning 7 B
F Software planning 17 C
G Equipment documentation 10 E
H Documentation of operational system 13 F
I Detailed hardware blueprints 7 E
J Hardware component orders 1 I
K Hardware component delivery 6 J
L Integration of phase 1 12 D, G, H, K
M Prototype development 10 L
N Prototype introduction 6 M
O System evaluation and improvement 9 N
P Hardware assembly 18 N
Q Computer system installation 7 P
R Project documentation 4 O, P
S Integration of phase 2 12 Q, R
- Create a network diagram using the activity on node (AON) notation representing the project, as presented in the unit. (2 marks)
- Identify the Critical Path: Use the table to determine the task sequence that forms the critical path.
- Calculate Start and Finish Times: For each task, calculate the earliest start (ES), earliest finish (EF), latest start (LS), and latest finish (LF) times.
- Calculate Slack Time: Determine the slack time for each task.
- You may use PowerPoint to draw and copy the diagram into your assignment document. You should not use Microsoft Project or any other project management software for this part of the assignment.
- In the context of the above project with Assum Pullum Express, explain possible key challenges in managing projects using its critical path. Please use appropriate references to support your explanation. (3 marks)
Part B: Project Analysis
Project management is a critical discipline in business. It aims to ensure that projects are within scope, completed on time, within budget, and to the desired quality standards. However, not all projects succeed. Understanding why projects fail is essential for future project managers to learn from past mistakes and improve their skills. This assessment aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the complexities and challenges in project management by analysing real-world examples of failed projects.
Importance of Analysing Failed Projects
- Learning from Mistakes: Analysing failed projects helps identify common pitfalls and mistakes, providing valuable lessons for future projects.
- Risk Management: Understanding the risks that led to project failures can improve risk management strategies.
- Improving Processes: Insights from failed projects can improve project management processes and methodologies.
- Stakeholder Communication: Failed projects often highlight stakeholder communication and management issues, offering lessons on how to handle these aspects better.
- Innovation and Adaptation: Learning from failures encourages innovation and adaptation, helping project managers to be more flexible and responsive to changes.
You are to conduct independent research and select a recent project (in the last 5 years) that can be considered a failure (from a project management perspective – time, cost, budget).
To accomplish this,
- Students are required to select one of the following recent failed projects, conduct a detailed analysis, and present their findings in a report. The report should cover the following aspects:
- Project Overview: Brief description of the context (country, industry, markets, company, products /services), the project, its objectives, and key stakeholders.
- Potential Reasons for Failure: Detailed analysis of the key factors that potentially led to the project’s failure. There could be contradictory indicators or varied ideas presented in the literature. These reasons should be linked back to the Project Management Performance Domains and Project Principles.
- Impact: Examination of the impact of the failure on the organisation and stakeholders.
- Lessons Learned and Recommendations: Key lessons that can be learned from the project failure. Suggestions for how the project could have been managed differently to avoid failure.
Notes
- Have a proposed project management case study to present to your tutor in your week 6 tutorial.
- All requirements about the case under investigation should be clearly addressed (Support your argument using appropriate references –e.g. news, trade press and academic).
- You may investigate a problem that occurred anywhere in the world, but all references, including the incident’s source of information, must be available in English.
The Deliverable
Total written report: 2000 ±10% words (excluding in-text references and reference list).
Part A: Critical Path Analysis » 400 words
Part B: Case Study Analysis » 1600 words
Note: Please use tables, diagrams, and charts to prepare a concise response.
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