CMG2001: Network Analysis Assessment

Report 1

Special Instructions

1. Answer all questions, and ensure that your answers are appropriately numbered in accordance with Question numbers and Task numbers.

2. Present your own ideas; do not copy-paste.

3. Your answers should be correctly referenced if you have undertaken research outside the study material.

4. All submissions need to be in electronic form .

5. Scanned documents are not allowed. Please ensure that the text can be properly checked, as all reports will be subject to TurnItIn or other plagiarism checks.

6. All steps in any calculation procedure required in any question should be shown. We are likely to give you more marks if we can see your methodology is correct, but you have made a basic error. If the answer is wrong and we can’t see why, you will get minimal or zero marks.

7. Please note that it will result in no marks for the assignment if plagiarism or cheating is detected. Students should ensure they clearly understand the meaning of plagiarism and other forms of Academic Misconduct. In particular, students should understand that while they may collaborate with other students on the conceptual ideas in their assignments, the final written report submitted by each student must be unique and must not contain the written or calculated material of:

   • (a) Any other student in the course, or

   • (b) Any other person without due acknowledgment – which includes proper citations and referencing.

   • (c) By the student for any other course, project, or assignment.

   • (d) Use of generative AIs or outsourcing the work.

8. Please note UniSQ’s expectations for academic integrity as they apply to this assessment. For this Assessment Item, acceptable AI use is set at:

   • Level 0: No AI to be Used

     • Description: Artificial intelligence (AI) is not to be used in this Assessment Item beyond basic editing features (spelling, grammar and text prediction) in Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, Grammarly and similar tools. There are many websites and apps that use AI text generation. Some websites will make small changes to ensure your grammar is correct; however, use of any websites or applications to re-write or paraphrase your work for you is poor academic practice and is an inappropriate and unauthorized use of AI.

     • Additional Information Required: It is good practice to regularly save drafts of your Assessment Items as you work on them, as these can be used by you to support any claims that you have not used AI beyond what is permitted for this level.

Question 1 (140 MARKS)

You are the construction manager at SpringCon Construction and are tasked with constructing a linking road connecting UniSQ University Drive road to Southern Cross Crescent near Orion to allow locals alternate access to Orion Shopping Center (See Figure below). Your organization (SpringCon) has asked you to develop a management plan for this project.

You know from your knowledge of the CMG2001 course that a typical management process includes six steps, i.e., planning, organizing, staffing, controlling, directing, and coordinating . Accordingly, you have been asked to complete the following tasks:

A. Please provide a brief background of the proposed road project, explain its advantages in your own words (you can assume relevant details), and develop a comprehensive management plan based on the six steps mentioned above for this road project. ( up to 1500 words ) (120 marks)

Notes:
You need to provide adequate information regarding each of the six steps. The management plan should be specific to the project given above and AVOID generic information . Please reference all source materials properly.

Question 2 (30 MARKS)

Using the same example provided in Question 1 (linking road project), please complete the following tasks ( up to 400 words each for tasks A and B; task C has no word limit ):

A. Please differentiate between direct and indirect costs in this project. ( 10 Marks )

B. What percentage of profits and overheads are you expecting? Explain the rationale for selecting these percentages. ( 10 Marks )

C. Provide a list of 5 items each for direct and indirect costs in this project. ( 10 Marks )

Question 3 (100 MARKS)

Explain the management style followed by your current/previous organization (you may choose not to name anyone or the organization).

• Do you think it is the best management style (as an employee of the organization)? If yes, explain the rationale.

• If no, please present your viewpoint on the best management style for your current organization and justify your selected style. ( up to 800 words )

Note:
If you have never worked in any organization, you can choose any organization you like and complete the above for the selected organization. In this case, you need to clearly indicate that the selected organization is assumed .

Question 4 – NETWORK DIAGRAM (30 MARKS)

You are working as the project scheduler for YAY Builders , an organization specializing in house construction in the Ipswich Region.

• Karen, the project manager (as your boss), wants your support with developing the network diagram for the activities listed in Table 1 below.

• She has instructed you to produce (draw) a network diagram (Activity-on-node format) for the project.

This formatting uses:

• Headings for each major section/question

• Bolded keywords for clarity

• Numbered and lettered sub-points for instructions

• Clear separation of notes and links

Report 2

Special Instructions

1. Answer all questions, and ensure that your answers are appropriately numbered in accordance with Question numbers and Task numbers.

2. Present your own ideas; do not copy-paste.

3. Your answers should be correctly referenced if you have undertaken research outside the study material.

4. All submissions need to be in electronic form (PDF format only).

5. Scanned documents are not allowed. Please ensure that the text can be properly checked, as all reports will be subject to TurnItIn or other plagiarism checks.

6. All steps in any calculation procedure required in any question should be shown. We are likely to give you more marks if we can see your methodology is correct, but you have made a basic error. If the answer is wrong and we can’t see why, you will get minimal or zero marks.

7. Please note that it will result in no marks for the assignment if plagiarism or cheating is detected in this assignment. Students should ensure they clearly understand the meaning of plagiarism and other forms of Academic Misconduct. In particular, students should understand that while they may collaborate with other students on the conceptual ideas in their assignments, the final written report submitted by each student must be unique and must not contain the written or calculated material of:

   • (a) Any other student in the course, or

   • (b) By any other person without due acknowledgment – which includes proper citations and referencing.

   • (c) By the student for any other course, project, or assignment.

   • (d) Use of generative AIs or outsourcing the work.

8. Please note UniSQ’s expectations for academic integrity as they apply to this assessment.

For this Assessment Item, acceptable AI use is set at:

• Level 0: No AI to be Used
  Description: Artificial intelligence (AI) is not to be used in this Assessment Item beyond basic editing features (spelling, grammar, and text prediction) in Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, Grammarly, and similar tools. There are many websites and apps that use AI text generation. Some websites will make small changes to ensure your grammar is correct; however, use of any websites or applications to re-write or paraphrase your work for you is poor academic practice and is an inappropriate and unauthorized use of AI.

• Additional Information Required: It is good practice to regularly save drafts of your Assessment Items as you work on them, as these can be used by you to support any claims that you have not used AI beyond what is permitted for this level.

Question 1 – NETWORK ANALYSIS (120 MARKS)

You are the construction manager at WeBuild (WB) Construction. Your responsibility includes managing project schedules. For a recently acquired project, the WB team needs your assistance for a project whose network diagram is presented in Figure 1. The numbers below the boxes represent the duration of the tasks in days.

Please complete the following tasks:

A. Draw an activity analysis table showing the Activity duration, Activity earliest and latest start, earliest and latest finish, and the Total, Free, and independent floats for each activity. (50 marks)

B. Identify the critical path and mention its duration. (10 marks)

C. Following your activity analysis table, produce a Gantt chart for this project based on the earliest start times for all activities. Make sure you show the dependencies properly. You can use hand-drawn or software-based Gantt charts. (20 marks)

D. Assuming all activities have the same resource requirement (1 person per day), produce a resource histogram for this project. You can use hand-drawn or software-based (Excel) histograms. (20 marks)

E. Carry out a resource leveling exercise to produce the smoothest resource histogram possible. Show both your adjusted Gantt Chart and the resource-level Histogram. You can use hand-drawn or software-based (Excel/MS Project) histograms. (20 marks)

Note: The duration is within the constraints of your Critical Path duration, and the project should not be extended.

Question 2 – Quality Assurance and Control (up to 700 words) (80 MARKS)

You are acting as the Quality Manager for IPPY Developers, a renowned organization working on various development projects at Ipswich, QLD.

IPPY Developers has recently acquired a project for the Springfield Grande Shopping Centre Project. In the project scope, the soil will be cut, filled, and compacted, and retaining walls will be constructed for 50 shops, a 7-Eleven fuel station, and a car wash.

As the Quality Manager for IPPY Developers looking after this project, your tasks are as follows:

A. Explain in your own words the differences between quality control and quality assurance systems that are relevant to this project.

B. Provide at least TWO relevant examples for both QA and QC for the project at hand.

Question 3 – Risk Management (100 MARKS)

Orion Shopping Center wants to construct a Helipad for its Cinema Building (Target Mall) at Springfield Central.

BETA Construction has been awarded the contract for the job.

In your role as a project risk manager for this project, your task is to do the following:

TASKS:

• Identify 10 relevant risks in the above project.

• Develop a detailed risk register for these identified risks.

This formatting uses:

• Bold headings for each question and section

• Bolded key terms for clarity

• Numbered and lettered lists for instructions and tasks

• Separation between notes, tasks, and figures

Summary of Assessment Requirements

The assessments across Report 1 and Report 2 are designed to evaluate the student’s practical and theoretical understanding of project management, network analysis, cost management, quality assurance, and risk management within construction projects. The key pointers to be addressed in these assessments include:

1. Report 1 – SpringCon Construction Project:

   • Develop a comprehensive management plan for a linking road project using the six management steps: planning, organizing, staffing, controlling, directing, and coordinating.

   • Identify direct and indirect costs, estimate profit and overhead percentages, and list items for both cost types.

   • Evaluate the management style of a current or assumed organization, justifying the rationale for the selected style.

   • Construct a network diagram (Activity-on-node format) for project scheduling.

2. Report 2 – WeBuild Construction and IPPY Developers Projects:

   • Perform network analysis including activity analysis tables, critical path identification, Gantt charts, resource histograms, and resource leveling exercises.

   • Explain quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) systems, with practical examples relevant to a construction project.

   • Identify risks associated with constructing a helipad and develop a detailed risk register.

General Requirements Across Both Reports:

• All work must be unique, referenced properly, and submitted in PDF format.

• All calculations and steps must be shown.

• No plagiarism or inappropriate AI usage; only basic editing AI tools are permitted.

Step-by-Step Approach by Academic Mentor

The Academic mentor guided the student using a structured, stepwise methodology to ensure clarity, correctness, and alignment with assessment objectives:

Step 1: Understanding Assessment Requirements

• The mentor began by explaining each question’s objective and the marks allocation.

• The importance of adhering to special instructions—uniqueness, proper referencing, submission format, and academic integrity—was highlighted.

Step 2: Developing the Management Plan (Report 1, Q1)

• Planning: Identified project objectives, scope, stakeholders, and expected outcomes.

• Organizing: Determined resource allocation, team responsibilities, and timelines.

• Staffing: Recommended staffing structure, including roles and skill requirements.

• Controlling: Developed monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track progress.

• Directing: Emphasized leadership, communication strategies, and task delegation.

• Coordinating: Ensured interdepartmental collaboration and alignment of all project activities.

The mentor guided the student to contextualize the plan specifically for the linking road project, avoiding generic statements, and to support each step with proper references.

Step 3: Cost Analysis (Report 1, Q2)

• Explained the difference between direct and indirect costs with practical examples from the road project.

• Guided the student on calculating expected profit and overhead percentages with rationale.

• Assisted in listing five relevant items each for direct and indirect costs.

Step 4: Evaluating Management Styles (Report 1, Q3)

• Mentored the student to assess the current or assumed organizational management style.

• Evaluated the style’s effectiveness and proposed alternatives with justification.

• Ensured the response demonstrated critical thinking and professional insight.

Step 5: Network Diagram and Scheduling (Report 1, Q4 & Report 2, Q1)

• Guided the student to create activity analysis tables with earliest/latest start and finish times, and float calculations.

• Assisted in identifying the critical path and interpreting project duration.

• Produced Gantt charts, resource histograms, and performed resource leveling exercises using Excel or software tools.

Step 6: Quality Assurance and Control (Report 2, Q2)

• Clarified QA vs QC concepts relevant to the Springfield Grande project.

• Assisted in providing practical examples for both QA and QC to demonstrate real-world application.

Step 7: Risk Management (Report 2, Q3)

• Mentored the student to identify 10 relevant project risks.

• Guided the creation of a detailed risk register including risk description, likelihood, impact, mitigation strategies, and responsible personnel.

Outcome Achieved

By following the mentor’s structured approach, the student was able to:

• Submit a well-organized, referenced, and complete set of reports meeting all instructions.

• Demonstrate practical understanding of management planning, cost analysis, project scheduling, QA/QC, and risk management.

• Produce accurate network diagrams, Gantt charts, and resource histograms, showing critical paths and resource leveling.

• Apply critical thinking to management style evaluation and risk analysis, supported with real-world context.

Learning Objectives Covered

1. Develop and implement comprehensive project management plans.

2. Understand and differentiate between direct and indirect costs, overheads, and profits.

3. Apply network analysis techniques including critical path method, Gantt charts, and resource allocation.

4. Understand quality assurance and quality control systems and their practical application in construction projects.

5. Identify, evaluate, and document project risks in a structured risk register.

6. Demonstrate academic integrity, referencing skills, and professional report writing.

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