PPMP20007 : Project Management Concepts - Larson et al - Use The Payback Model - Padding Estimates Assignment Help

Project Management Concepts Assignment Help

TASK 1. According to Larson et al., a project life cycle typically passes through four stages. Briefly describe the four stages. Compare traditional project management with agile project management by circling the appropriate answer in each cell of the table below 2. When evaluating projects it can be useful to use the payback model. (a) Project A has a payback period of 3 years and project B has a payback period of 5 years. Based on the payback period only, which project would be the preferred choice? (b) What is the major limitation of the payback model? (c) Although financial return is important when selecting projects, it does not always reflect strategic importance. Therefore, it is important not to consider financial criteria alone. Describe two examples of non-financial criteria that can impact on project selection. 3. When estimating the requirements to complete a task, it is important to be as accurate as possible and to avoid padding estimates. (a)Explain what is meant by padding estimates. (b) Describe the disadvantages of padding estimates. (c) Risk reduction is the most common treatment strategy for negative risk. When considering risk reduction, what are the two concepts/factors that can be reduced? Give an actual example of risk reduction to illustrate your answer (d )Using examples, describe the three other basic treatment strategies for negative project risks. 4.(a) According to Larson et al., what are the six elements of a typical scope statement? (b) What is “scope creep” and what impact will it have on a project? (c) There were three project management organisational structures discussed in this unit. The choice of project management organisational structure impacts on the autonomy and authority of the project manager. Briefly describe each of the three project management organisational structures and in your answer make it clear which of the structures give the project manager the most authority and which structure gives the project manager the least authority 5. (a)You are the project manager for a new project with a team of people who have not worked together before this project. You have passed the stage where people have become acquainted and have had their roles and the roles of the other team members clarified. Your expectations in terms of processes and behaviour have also been explained and everyone has been assigned their specific tasks. Although some work has commenced on the project you are observing a high degree of internal conflict and some staff are challenging some of your procedures and expectations. Explain why this might be happening and what you should do (b) Discuss how the project manager can influence the way the project team will respond to any ethical dilemmas that may arise in a project. (c) What does the exchange model of influence suggest that the project manager should do to build cooperative relationships? (d) Normally highly cohesive teams are the most productive. However, there are pitfalls that can occur in highly cohesive teams. Describe two of those pitfalls and suggest how the project manager can attempt to avoid them. 6 This question relates to the project described in the network diagram and resource requirements table below.   Assume that the number of workers required for a task does not change for the duration of the task. (a) Complete the table below to show the current resource requirements for the (b) If there are no resource constraints, what is the estimated duration of this project? (c) What is the total number of “worker months” for this project? 7.These questions are based on the following network diagram for a project: (a) Given that the customer would like the project completed in 35 weeks, complete the table below listing the following values for each activity: earliest start time (ES), earliest finish time (EF), latest start time (LS), latest finish time (LF), total slack (TS). (b) What is the most critical path(s) for this project? (If there is more than one path, list the activities on each path separately.) (c) Only the activities in the following table can be shortened (crashed). They can all be crashed by up to 2 weeks. The costs to crash each activity are shown in the table. You are required to shorten the project in the network diagram by 1 week less than your earliest finish time for the smallest possible cost. What activity or activities would you shorten/crash to achieve the reduction in the project duration of 1 week and why? You must explain your choice(s). Reducing the project duration increases the risk of being late. Explain. 8. (a) Complete the following table to provide a status report for the project at the end of month 7: (b) Based on the data in tables 1 and 2 (and any necessary calculations you need to perform using this data), complete the following assessment of the project  status at the end of month 7 by completing (i) – (vi) in the sentences below. You are required to either fill in the dollar value in the blanks or circle thecorrect answer where you are given a choice of answers.

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