QUESTION

Assessment details for ALL students
Assessment item 2— Individual case study
Due date:
1:00 PM AEST, Thursday of Week 11
Weighting:
35%
All students are to submit electronically – max file size
is 2Mb.

Length:
No set length – (This will vary depending on activities
chosen, the sequencing of these activities and the
choice of project management software.)

Introduction and Student Guide
This assessment item is to be completed individually.
The case study simulates a project management scenario where the student takes on the role of
project manager. Students are required to use project management software as part of this
assessment task. The case information is not complete so where necessary students will have to
make assumptions and argue the pros and cons for any recommendations they make.
If necessary, students are expected to find relevant information in the academic literature to justify
their answers.
To assist students in their assessment solution development the following information is provided:

• Case description
• Specific assessment questions that must be answered
• Information regarding the submission of the assessment
• Marking guide
ASSESSMENT
2
Big Time Corporation Case Description
Background
Big Time is a corporation that was formed to merge the offerings of three different financial
institutions. Each of the three financial institutions being merged already had systems that
complied with legislative requirements and had systems that supported the requirements
through databases with web interfaces allowing access to investors. The new corporation is
quite large, with approximately 700,000 investors. Given its size, it is not surprising that there
are a diverse range of investors. Some of the investors hardly ever bother checking on their
investments, while others are quite sophisticated and monitor them regularly, engaging in
regular trading.

The Chief Executive of the Big Time (Bill White) recognised that the future of the
corporation depended very heavily on the development of the new financial system. He gave
considerable thought to the appointment of the project manager for the development of this
system. On the one hand, it was recognised that someone from inside one of the old
corporations would certainly know the jargon and the requirements, but an appointment from
within would bring with it some internal political risks. The decision was therefore made to
involve a recruiting agency to handle the appointment of the project manager. It was expected
that the recruiting agency would engage in head hunting to ensure a project manager with an
appropriate depth of experience in merging corporations and also with the
appropriatetechnical background.

After a month, the appointment of Peter Black as Project Manager was announced. Black
recognised the difficulty of the task. So he decided to call a meeting with the three
Information Systems Managers. At the meeting it was quickly apparent that although all three
had stated they were willing to be cooperative and assured Black their staff would be treated
the same, Black recognised that each was trying to arrange the situation so that their systems
and staff would be preferred. It also became apparent that each corporation had used different
standards within the database and had different programming standards.

At the end of the meeting Black simply indicated he would give further thought to what had
been said. However, he felt very uneasy about the way each Information Systems Manager
had wanted to “push their own position”, rather than focussing on the requirements of the
new corporation. He knew that if the problem existed at this level, then the remainder of the
Information Technology staff could easily engage in the same approach.

Black thought it would be good idea to consult with the Chief Executive Officer about the
problem with the Information Systems Managers. He also wanted to explore the recruitment
of the development team that would be necessary for the project. From his vast experience
Black knew a consultant might be able to help. He floated this idea with Bill White and
mentioned that he had previously used Yellow as a consultant in a similar situation and that
Yellow had been able to resolve the problems. He was aware that Yellow would not be
available for two weeks. Black also raised the recruitment of other staff for the project.
White then explained to Black that all appointments for the project should be made through
the Human Resource Department. He also stressed that one of the conditions of the merger
was that existing staff would be given priority in appointments and clearly this included the
Information Technology staff. This meant that initially he indicated that he could not give
approval to calling in a consultant unless there was some particular problem that could not be
resolved by any appointee. Black then questioned “Well what about other staff such as
involvement of key users such as marketing, secretarial and the like?” “Well these are in
exactly the same situation. Let me make it clearer. All appointments must be offered
internally first and only if no suitable applicants can be found, and I think this is highly
unlikely, will we go external to recruit.” “That’s fine. I am glad that Big Time has such
confidence in the staff.” Black replied. “But could you issue a statement about the project and
what is hoped to be achieved. Likewise, could you inform staff in management positions that
there will be a need for staff to be released for the project in a timely manner? At the same
time, could you stress the importance of cooperation as the project team takes the steps to
combine the data in the three databases into one and then later arrange training for
the new system?” White agreed to these requests. He indicated he would arrange for his staff
to develop the statements with Black and then they would be issued under his signature.
Just as Black was leaving, White commented, “Now don’t forget. We have a new
organisation. Whatever form the new system takes, it will have to reflect we are a new
organisation and must tie in with other marketing efforts proposed. Also, please make sure
the system is easy to use for investors – you know so the system leads them and stops them
from attempting things in the wrong places.” Black thought White was attempting to describe
the system as context sensitive, but did not bother attempting to clarify the matter. He could
leave that to the analysts and designers to sort out during the project. As Black left, he felt
that at least some of the ground rules were starting to get sorted out.

At this stage Black knew he would have to apply his mind to the development of the new
system, taking into account the comments of the White had made in their meeting. At the
same time, Black started giving some thought to the various activities that would be
necessary for the project and how they might be sequenced,  the resources required and
duration necessary for the activities.

After a week Black finalised a draft organisation report. The chart showed that there would
be a need for several sections. Initially he thought he would have these groups report to
himself, but if necessary, this could be refined as the project progressed. He therefore
arranged a meeting with the Human Resources Manager (Jenny Blue) to proceed with
appointments at this top level. Black had heard good reports about Blue and how she was
very competent. Blue offered the opinion that she thought the chart looked reasonable. She
also expressed the opinion that in line with Big Time’s policies, it would be necessary to have
Position Descriptions for each of the positions required for the project. She therefore
proposed that position descriptions be developed for the section leaders and that after their
appointment, they should become involved in the recruitment of the staff for their respective
sections.

Blue assigned Katie Green to coordinate the development of the Position Descriptions for the
section leaders. The development took two weeks. All positions were advertised internally
and left open for three weeks. The appointment process of interviews through to acceptance
of appointments took another three weeks. However, it was another week before all the
people appointed could be released from their current positions and take up the new
appointment.

The following people were appointed as section heads:

Section Person Appointed

Section Person Appointed
Operations Peter Smith
Analysts Helen Jones
Database Patricia Hoffer
Programmers (including some who
specialised in web design)
Shaun Grauer

Telecommunications Paul Stamford
Privacy and Security Penny Cooper
Key users Colin Butcher
Conversion team Tammy Baker

Black met them individually and then as a group. He explained the importance of the new
system and how he believed that for it to be successful it would not only require cooperation
and harmony within the team, but also from existing staff looking after the legacy systems.
He also shared the preliminary details of the project that he had developed. He asked them to
take it away and come back to the next project meeting in two weeks time with their
comments. Assume that this next project meeting is to be held on Friday 20/4/12. We will
refer to it as the 20/4 meeting in the remainder of this document. He also asked that in the
meantime they start working with Green on any position descriptions and appointments
necessary for their work area.

Assume that the project will now proceed as described below.

Smith quickly recognised that at this stage, the computing facilities within Big Time would
not be sufficient for the development of the system or for the final production system. He
consulted the Operation staff from the three corporations to get a clear picture of the
equipment and software they currently in use. At the same time, the operation staff provided
Smith with some statistics on the processing that occurred within the servers at the each site.
However, he still he did not know exactly what computing requirements were required for
Big Time. He therefore proposed a two-stage approach. In the first stage they would acquire a
server with ample capacity for the development of the system and in the second stage they
would go forward with a second server to be used when the system was in production.  The
information required to develop the request for the quotation for the first server would be
available after the analysis task. . The information required to develop the request for the
quotation for the second server (i.e. for the production system) would be available after the
development of the training release. The first server would be capable of providing additional
capacity in the final system. Peter Smith did not require additional staff to help him with the
tasks in his area.

For the first stage server, the following activities are required:

Preparation of request for quotation for
server
Period quotation open 3 weeks
Acceptance of quotation 2 weeks
Lead time for delivery  4 weeks
Installation matters (installing, operating
system, security)
2 weeks
2 weeks
Tammy Baker will be responsible for installation of both servers.

For the second stage server to be ordered and installed the following activities are required.
These activities can commence after the program design activities are completed.

Preparation of request for quotation for
server
Period quotation open 3 weeks
Acceptance of quotation 2 weeks
Lead time for delivery  4 weeks
Installation matters (installing, operating
system, security)
2 weeks
2 weeks

The second server must be installed and working with the new software before the conversion
to the new system takes place at any of the corporations. Training with the training release
can take place before the second server has been installed.

In the 2 weeks leading up to the “20/4 meeting”, Jones met with  the Chief Executive Officer,
marketing staff of Big Time and some key users from the three corporations. She also
appointed an additional 2 analysts (from internal staff) to help her with the more detailed
analysis and design tasks. They were to be available to start work after the “20/4 meeting”. At
the meeting the following feedback was received from the section leaders:

Jones reported that the details provided by the Chief Executive Officer had been very helpful.
She found that the marketing staff were enthusiastic about the development of the new
system. As well as being able to satisfy new marketing requirements, she reported that given
the level of cooperation, she was confident that some new efficiencies could be provided by
the new system. However, at this stage she could not provide more specific details of
requirements.

Butcher said he agreed with those comments. Baker expressed the view that there would need
to be provision for staff to be trained with a version of the proposed system that looked and
felt the same as that which would go into production.  Baker mentioned that she had attended
the meetings with Jones, the CEO, marketing staff and users. She had given consideration to
the conversion effort, but until the requirements were a little more specific, she could not
comment on the effort required.

Hoffer reported she had been able to discuss the structure of the databases with the
Information Systems Managers and also their Database staff. Following some spirited
discussion, they had agreed to develop new standards that would apply to the structure of the
Big Time’s proposed database. They agreed it was a unique opportunity to start with a clean
slate and come up with the ideal set of standards. Not altogether unexpectedly, there were
some good ideas in each of the standards that applied in the old corporations’ databases.
However, as it was some time since each of the old corporations had reviewed their standards
and in the meantime there had been new developments in software, it was necessary to define
some new standards that were not present in any of the old corporations. She estimated it
would take about a month (4 weeks)  for the new standards to be finally approved and
documented. Hoffer  took responsibility for producing the documentation and development of
the training database to be used with the training system and for testing. She did not require
additional staff for these tasks.

Grauer reported that he had arranged a meeting with the programmers. There was not one set
of standards that could simply be picked up and used in Big Time. Nevertheless the spirit of
the meeting was such that he thought there would be no difficulty in producing a new set of
programming standards and these should also be ready in a month.

In the brief report on Telecommunications, Stamford said that he had received a big surprise.
He found that all three old corporations were using the same Telecommunications Company.
He expressed confidence that although the existing contracts were not due to expire for some
time, he expected to be able to negotiate with the Telecommunications Company to cancel
the existing contracts and create a new contract for Big Time. He thought that the
negotiations would take about two months to complete (8 weeks). He also mentioned that
given the speed of the connection required for the new system, it would take about two
months   to complete the installation and testing of the telecommunications required. This
could only be started after the creation of the new contract. The installation of the final
system at each of the corporations should not take place until the telecommunication tasks are
complete. Stamford indicated that he did not require any additional staff to assist with the
telecommunications tasks.

Cooper reported to the meeting that she had reviewed the security of the other three
corporations and found they were reasonably strong. She explained, “I expected this. After
all, the systems are open to the public and the corporations cannot afford to have a breach of
security or privacy when they are dealing with peoples’ investments.” She proposed to work
in conjunction with the other members of the project team to develop a multi-layered security
approach. At the same time, she recognised that the system would still have to be easy for
investors to use. The security activities would require 12 weeks of her time at 20% over the
software development stage. This would allow her to develop the security layers required.
This work should commence at the same time as the software development, i.e. after the
design task has been completed, the software standards documented  and when the
development server has been installed. Final testing of the security layers is to be carried out
using the training system. It was estimated that this testing would take a further 2 weeks at
100% of her time. The testing of the security system must be completed before the new
software is installed at any of the corporations. Cooper indicated that no other staff would be
required for the security tasks. However, she indicated that she may need to consult and
coordinate activities with the other developers on the project.

After the “20/4 meeting”, Jones and her team were given three months to perform the more
detailed analysis and a further 3 months to perform the design before the programming tasks
were to commence.

The programming tasks identified were as follows. For the purposes of this assignment you
can assume that you were given these estimates on the 20/4 and these are the programming
tasks and estimates that you should use while developing your schedule.

Program Program Function Estimated Time for Coding
(for 1 programmer)
A Database Extract programs
(one required
for each corporation)
B Database Upload program for
new BigTime database
C Daily update share and unit
prices
program
D Investor reports display
program
E Investor PDF print program 2 weeks
F Investor excel spreadsheet
8 weeks  for each corporation
6 weeks
4 weeks
2 weeks
program
2 weeks
G Unit prices history reports
program
H Unit performance report
program
I Margin loan simulation
program
J Investor Taxation statement
program
K Investor Transaction history
program
L Investor portfolio
program(including new
investments, sale of old
investments)

M Investor Personal detail
maintenance
program
N Investor Cash Receipts and
Advances Program
0 News update program 2 weeks

2 weeks
2 weeks
2 weeks
2 weeks
2 weeks
6 weeks
2 weeks
2 weeks
It was estimated that testing of the programs would take about half of the time it took to code
them. You can assume that three programming staff will be available to carry out the coding
and testing and that the above estimates include time for interface development and web
development. Grauer and three programmers appointed to the project are responsible for
working on the development and testing of the programs.

In addition, Patricia would develop the small database system to be used for testing the
software and to be used with the training system. It was estimated that this would take 4
weeks to develop and that the task could be started after the design task and after the database
standards were documented. The development of this database is a predecessor for testing all
the software.

When all the software (A to O) is developed and tested, a training release can be made
available for training purposes. It was estimated that it would take Grauer and one member of
the programming team 2 weeks to create and test the training release.

It was also decided that the conversion to the new system would be phased in after the new
system was developed and tested. Each conversion would be carried out after all the staff for
that “old corporation” had undergone training with the training version of the system.

With regard to training, assume that each member of staff must undergo 2 weeks of training
and that the training will be carried out in groups of 20. Assume that there is only one trainer
and that the trainer will finish training all staff at one corporation before starting the training
at the next corporation.

Old Corporation Number of staff requiring training
One  160
Two 140
Three 200

It was also agreed that training and conversion at the second corporation would be one month
after the conversion of the first corporations. If any changes were found to be necessary as a
result of that review, the changes identified would be made before training and conversion
commenced at the second corporation. Assume that training and conversion at the third
corporation can take place as soon as possible after training and conversion at the second
corporation. In your part A schedule you can assume that no changes are required and that
training and conversion can take place at the second corporation as soon as the first month of
usage at the first corporation is complete.

The conversion team would consist of Tammy and three other staff. It is estimated that the 4
members of the conversion team will require 2 days to complete a conversion.
Additional Information

• The following public holidays are to be observed in Queensland for 2012: January 2 –
New Year’s Day; January 26 – Australia Day; 6 April – Good Friday; 7 April – Easter
Monday;  9 April – Easter Monday; 25 April – Anzac Day; 7 May – Labour Day; 11
June – Queens Birthday; August 15 – Royal Queensland Show; 25 December –
Christmas Day; 26 December – Boxing Day.
• Assume that work carried out by staff and contractors will be on an eight hour day
working Monday to Friday (except public holidays)

You may need to make some additional assumptions to complete your schedule. Make
sure that you list any assumptions you make at the beginning of your assignment
submission.

Part A Questions

1. Use Microsoft Project to develop the project schedule
a. Your schedule should start after the 20/4 meeting (i.e. commence your project
schedule on Monday 23/4/12).
b. Make sure that you use appropriate indentation to clearly show the WBS.
You
must also have an appropriate project name at the top of the task list and indent all the
tasks below this heading.

c. Include the resource allocation details on the schedule.
d. Resolve any resource allocation issues. Assume that
i. The project is constrained to the resources listed above.
ii. No splitting of activities is allowed.
iii. No partial assignments is allowed (i.e. all resources must be assignment
100%).
2. In this question you must identify the critical path in your schedule.
a. The critical path must be highlighted on your project schedule (i.e. in the .mpp file).
b. List the tasks on the critical path in your answer to this question in the Word
document.
3. Write a memo to Mr. White outlining:
a. the expected completion date of the project, assuming it commences on 24/4/12;
b. the duration of the project (from 24/4/12 until all 3 corporations are using the new
system);
c. the factors that cause the project to require the estimated length of time.
4. Suppose that there were no constraints with respect to budget or resources, is there any way
that the overall duration of the project can be shortened without removing any tasks or
reducing quality? (Justify your answer. Be specific and describe any tasks that you would
target, why you would select those tasks, what you might do to reduce their length and how
this would impact on the length of the project. Discuss any other impact that the change might
have on your project.)
5.
Assume you have been appointed as Project manager.
a.
Are there any project tasks/activities that have been overlooked and if so, what
are they?
b.
Are there any additional project management tasks/planning that should be
carried out, but have not been discussed in this specification? (If so, describe
them.)
6.
What is required to allow all necessary communication to occur within the project and
what part should the project manager play in this?
7. This question relates to risk management.
a. Describe in general terms how the project manager should manage risk throughout
the project.
b. Identify at least two risks for this project and how they might be managed.
8. Describe, in general terms, how the project manager should ensure that the project will meet
its objectives.

Part B

After the conversion of the first corporation, when the first Margin Loan statements were
produced, Big Time advised its clients of the new system. At the end of the first month, they
sought feedback. The Margin Loan clients provided Big Time with some as follows:

The clients expressed the need for the statement to include the date on the statement. Big
Time staff quickly realised that this was an oversight. They recognised that clients could be
looking at statements that were not current, simply because of the parameters chosen within
the Internet browser. It was critical for clients to know the statement was current particularly
if the client was close to a margin call. Grauer told Black this was a simple change and the
changes would be in production within two weeks.

Clients also told Big Time that in addition to knowing the amount of money before a Margin
Call would apply, they preferred to also know the percentage. Grauer told Black that all the
numbers required to produce this were already available within the program. It would only be
necessary to include the formulae and do the necessary calculations. He thought this would
only take one week.

Since these were relatively minor, Black authorised these changes to Programs D and E to
become effective immediately.

Big Time also received some additional requests, which were not quite so simple. Margin
Loan clients can provide security from third parties to allow them access to a margin Loan.
Some had a mixture of their own securities and third party securities. The clients asked that
Big Time separate out these different parts within the statement

The clients also told Big Time that they appreciated the statements being made available in
PDF format. However, they wanted this to include a facility to be able to print statements
retrospectively. They told Big Time that although Big Time did send the statements out, often
they were not received until the second week or third week of the month. Many clients
expressed the need for them earlier than that. They also told Big Time that sometimes they
misplaced them and they would like to simply reprint any statement within the last financial
year.

Black consulted Grauer and Hoffer about these matters. Grauer told Black he could not
program the first request to separate out the different categories at present, because the
database did not provide an indicator to separate the categories of security. Hoffer confirmed
this and advised it would take two weeks to arrange the restructure of the database.

Grauer told Black and Hoffer that these changes were much more complex to program. He
told them that allowing the statement to be parameter driven could mean that clients were
asking for a statement that did not include current investments. So the program would have to
analyse all investments and see if they were part of the portfolio at the time the statement was
required. Similarly the program would have to separate out where the security came from
before it could proceed to produce the statement. So he justified that the changes to programs
D and E would take six weeks each to code.

Before proceeding, Black decided to check the marketing staff for their opinion on the
desirability of the changes. They told Black that they had simply overlooked the separation of
the security on the statement. They also told Black that they were aware that client’s section
often produced the statements requested by client by hand, so having it available would be
beneficial.

On the basis of the above feedback, Black decided to proceed with the changes straight away
and requested they be put into production as soon as possible.

Black reminded Grauer and Hoffer that they were to only use existing staff assigned to the
project.

Part B Questions

1. Copy your part A Microsoft Project schedule to a new file. Using the Project
Management Software Package make changes to the project schedule in your part B
file to incorporate the changes described above. Assume that you will make the
changes to the software before the training and conversion takes place at the second
corporation.  If this is earlier than the remaining 4 weeks of Don’t forget that it will
also be necessary to upgrade to the new software at the first corporation. Assume that
it will take one day to perform the upgrade at the first corporation. Make sure that you
resolve any resource issues before you proceed.
2. In question 1 you have assumed that you will make the changes to the software before
the training and conversion takes place at the second corporation. Can you suggest an
alternative approach and discuss the advantages/disadvantages associated with the
alternative approaches.
3. Explain if the changes will impact upon the critical path? If so how? If not why not?
4. What other impacts (if any) will the changes have on the project?
Assumptions
You are free to make any assumptions necessary to complete the assignment. However each
assumption must be justified and stated clearly in your assessment word document. Marks
will be deducted for any unreasonable assumption or for stating an assumption and then
ignoring it in your assignment.
Submission of Assessment
The assignment is to be submitted as four separate files using the electronic assignment
submission system that can be accessed from the assessment item 2 link on the course
website. The four files to be submitted are:
1. The Word document with the assumptions and solutions to the questions for Part A,
and Part B.
2. The Microsoft project files created for Part A and Part B. Please ensure that the names
of these files clearly indicate their purpose, e.g. BigTime_Part_A.mpp and
BigTime_Part_B.mpp.
Marking Guide f or Assessment item 2 – Individual Case Study
Assignment Question Criteria Marks
available
Part A
Assumptions
Listed, justified and stated clearly

Q1 The adequacy of the Project Schedule 7
Q2 Critical path highlighted and tasks listed  1
Q3 Appropriateness of the Written Memo and all
information correct according to the schedule.
4
Q4 Details on shortening the Project 2
Q5 Additional tasks.  4
Q6 Project communication 2
Q7 Risk management  4
Q8  Ensuring project achieves its objectives (general
discussion)
3
Sub Total Part A  27

Part B

Q1 The adequacy of the amended Project Plan (ensure
no resource over-allocation)
Q2 Discuss alternative approach to scheduling changes 2
Q3 Impact on the critical path 1
Q4 Other impacts 1
Sub Total Part C  8
TOTAL  35

SOLUTION

1. Introduction

 

With the merger of three different financial institutions Big Time Corporation has been generated and now integration of the huge database and compilation of the vast amount of investor records is the task which needs to be done through this project effectively. The database of approximately 70,000 investors needs to be integrated and the project sponsor is the chief executive of Big Time Corporation, Bill White. Peter Black is the project Manager for the project “Database Integration Project for BigTime Corporation”.

 

1.1Project Schedule

 

After the next project meeting that is on 20/4/12, two weeks after the staff meeting taken by Peter Black, the project will commence.

 

1.2Assumptions for Project

 

Several assumptions made for the project are listed below:

• The Project will occur in two phases. In first phase first server will be acquired.
• Programming or coding will be done for this financial project.
•  Programming followed by Testing and training and conversion will be done.
•  Testing Phase will take half the time taken by programmers for coding.
• The project schedule is designed according to the total time taken by three programmers to complete the project; however some of the tasks are listed as per one programmer.
• Regarding the training schedule first the Training Program has to be developed then the training will take place

 

1.3Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

 

 

S. No.	TASK	Duration	Predecessor
1	Preparation of request for quotation of server	2 weeks
2	Period Quotation open	3 weeks	1
3	Acceptance of quotation	2 weeks	2
4	Lead time for delivery	4 weeks	3
5	Installation matters	2 weeks	4
6	Database extract Programs ( one for each corporation)	8 weeks
7	Database Upload program for new Big-time database	6 weeks	6
8	Daily update share and unit prices program	4 weeks	7
9	Investor reports display program	2 weeks	8
10	Investor PDF Print program	2 weeks	8,9
11	Investor excel spreadsheet program	2 weeks	9,10SS
12	Unit Prices history reports program	2 weeks	8
13	Unit performance Report Program	2 weeks	8
14	Margin Loan Simulation Program	2 weeks	11
15	Investor Taxation Statement Program	2 weeks	14
16	Investor Transaction History Program	2 weeks	15
17	Investor Portfolio Program	6 weeks	14,15
18	Investor Personal Detail Maintenance Program	2 weeks	16,17
19	Investor Cash Receipts and  Advances Program	2 weeks	16
20	News Update Program	2 weeks	19
21	Develop Testing Program and Training Program	4 weeks	20
22	Testing the program	23 weeks ( half the programming time )	21
23	Create and Test Training Release	2 weeks	21
24	Training 1st Corporation	16 weeks	23
25	Conversion of 1st Corporation	2 days	24
26	Training 2nd Corporation	14 weeks	25
27	Conversion of 2nd Corporation	2 days	26
28	Training 3rd Corporation	20 weeks	25
29	Conversion of 3rd Corporation	2 days	28
30	Preparation of request for quotation of server	2 weeks	22SS
31	Period Quotation open	3 weeks	30
32	Acceptance of quotation	2 weeks	29
33	Lead time for delivery	4 weeks	30
34	Installation matters	2 weeks	31
35	Launch of New program	1 day	34,29

 

 

1.4Resource Allocation

 

Since the resources are constrained as mentioned in the case study there would be resource allocation issues in case of trainer. The reason being we have just one trainer to train a staff of 500 members in total from all three corporations. Thus we need to hire some extra trainers or minimise the load on single trainer.

 

Section	Person Appointed
Chief Executive	Bill White
Project Manager	Peter Black
Operations	Peter Smith
Analysts	Helen Jones
Database	Patricia Hofer
Programmers ( including some who specialised in web design)	Shaun Grauer
Telecommunications	Paul Stamford
Privacy and Security	Penny Cooper
Key Users	Colin Butcher
Conversion Team	Tammy baker
Training	Trainer

 

 

 

 

 

2. CRITICAL PATH OF PROJECT

 

The Critical path shows the tasks which cannot be delayed due to any reason and any delay in these tasks will lead to delay in the whole project. The critical Path for this project can be seen from the MS Project 2007 sheet attached with this assignment BigTime Project Schedule 2.

The tasks falling on the critical path are:

• Database extracts Program
• Database Upload program for new Big-time database
• Daily update share and unit prices program
• Investor reports display program
• Investor PDF Print program
• Investor excel spreadsheet program
• Margin Loan Simulation Program
• Investor Taxation Statement Program
• Investor Transaction History Program
• Investor Cash Receipts and  Advances Program
• News Update Program
• Develop Testing Program and Training Program
• Create and Test Training Release
• Training 1st Corporation
• Conversion of 1st Corporation
• Training 2^nd Corporation
• Conversion 2nd corporation
• Training 3^rd Corporation
• Conversion 3rd corporation
• Launch of New Program

Any delay in any of the above tasks listed on the critical path will delay the whole project. So the project manager needs to keep an eye on all these tasks and follow up regularly.

 

 

3. MEMO to Mr. White

 

To:  Mr. Bill White, Chief Executive, Big Time Corporation.

From: Student Name

Date: 18^th May, 2012

Subject: Database Integration Project for BigTime Corporation

 

The project “Database Integration Project for BigTime Corporation” will commence from 24^th, April, 2012 and the expected date of completion of this project is 10^th September, 2014, when the new program for the investors will be launched.

 

The total duration for the project is 28 months and 2 weeks which includes all the assumptions regarding the holidays, five days working in week and other assumptions required to be made during the project.

The factors which have been highlighted to cause the estimated length of time which has been taken by this project are:

• Database extraction separately from all three old corporations
• Availability of huge and extensive database maintenance.
• Testing of the new program which takes all the time as taken during coding.
• In order to make the new program effectual and catchy for the clients the programming has to be top class, thus programming takes the maximum time along with coding and database collection.
• Next is Training which is also very much required and necessary part of every project. The staff members need to be trained efficiently regarding the new program.

With the support from various departments it would be possible to complete the project successfully and on time.

 

4. Shortening the Project Duration

 

The project can be shortened without the constraints on resources related to budget and resources. The project shortening can be done easily in this project and there are many ways which can be used for shortening the time period of this project. Some of them are listed below.

Testing the program

This is the task being targeted for shortening the project. If we increase the resources for testing the ne program by hiring more number of analysts and the people responsible for privacy and security the lengthiest task of testing can be shortened and thus the project’s estimated duration of completion will automatically get shortened.

 

Other tasks which have been targeted are:

• Training 1st Corporation
• Conversion of 1st Corporation
• Training 2^nd Corporation
• Conversion 2nd corporation
• Training 3^rd Corporation
• Conversion 3rd corporation

Since training by one single trainer is quite time taking and tedious task where a batch of 20 staff members is being trained in a batch by one trainer. SO increasing the resources is what is needed to enhance and hasten the process of training and conversion.

 

5. 1Overlooked Project tasks and Activities

 

Some of the activities or tasks which have been overlooked are:

• Client feedback from survey initially.
• Creating Back-end support once the program goes live
• Privacy and security issues
• Quality Assurance of the new program

 

5.2 Additional Project management tasks

 

There are few Project management tasks which should have been carried out and not discussed in the specification and they are listed below:

• Inception Phase:

A survey of the clients / investors needs should have been done and after survey analysis the project should have been followed with kick-off meetings, which would have discussed matters like branding, technical aspects and business.

 

• Competitor Analysis:

The analysis of competitors has also been completely avoided which should have been of prime importance because it would have helped in creating a program which is not just good in feel and look , but also at par with the financial sector competitors . This would have attracted great number of new investors too.

 

• Search Engine Optimisation Analysis

The analysis of the proper Search Engine because the investors will find BigTime Corp. Through internet only, so promoting it on internet is something necessary and very vital for successful project implementation. So Keyword analysis and search engine optimisation is the key to this project.

 

• Cost Analysis Phase

The cost analysis or budgeting for the project is very important stage which is being missed out here.

 

6.1 Role of project Manager in Communication

 

 

The Project manager carries all the day-to-day activities involved in the tasks of the project and is responsible for the successful execution of the whole project. He has to take care of the day-today resources, monitor and guidance to the project is also given by him along with reporting according to the project metrics as written in the project management plan.

This is the reason why Project Manager acts as the primary communicator in the whole project. Thus he has to distribute the information all across the staff and at all the levels in the project as per the Communication Management plan. That is why communication is vital part and that too effective communication is desired on the part of Project manager.

 

Communications Matrix

Communication Type	Objective of Communication	Medium	Frequency	Audience	Owner	Deliverable
Kick-off Meeting	Introducing the project and project team. Review management approach and objectives of project	Face-to-face	Once	-Project Sponsor -Project Team -Project Stakeholders	Project manager	-Agenda -Minutes of Meeting
Project team Meetings	Review Project Status with whole team	Conference Call Face-to-face	Weekly	Project team	Project manager	-Agenda -Minutes of Meeting
Technical Design Meetings	Discussion and dev. Of technical design solutions for project	-Face-to-Face	As required	-Project technical Staff	Technical lead	-Agenda -Minutes of Meeting
Project Status Reports	Status of project in terms of cost, resources, activities and progress and issues	Email	Monthly	PMO Project Manager Project Sponsor Stakeholders	Project Manager	Project Status Report
Monthly Project Status Meetings	Reporting the status of project to management.	Conference Call Face-to-face	Monthly	PMO	Project manager

 

7. RISK MANAGEMENT

 

7.1 Role of project manager in risk management

 

The role of Project manager is very vital and important in managing any project and leads all the risk management efforts through identification of risk in advance .The project manager develops and provides approval for the risk management plan for the project. The risk management approach to handle the uncertainties is also devised by project manager only. Through continuous monitoring of the project the project manager participates in the risk management process of the project. The project Manger also takes the ownership of the risk mitigation. Responsibilities of Project Manager:

• Risk Management Plan
• Defining the approach for risk management
• Active participation in risk management
• Risk planning and risk execution by being part of risk mitigation.

 

7.2 Identification of Risk in Project

 

On the basis of high risk and high probability the two risk factors which have been identified are being listed below:

• Risk due to human factors

The risk which might arise is due to illness of the staff or health problems or uncertainty which might arise due to accident. In such cases these are accidental and unavoidable risk when the staff would not be able to work at all and the project schedule will get delayed. In such cases the project manager can mitigate the risk by asking for a back-up from the human resource department who can handle the same work with almost same efficiency and thus eth project schedule will not delayed. If need be external competent staff can be hired so that the project does not get delayed.

 

• Fibre Optics Connection is Incomplete

It might happen that due to delay in the construction in installing the fibre optics cable which needs to be laid between the data centre and the headquarters facilities the users will not get the high speed internet connection which is expected between the data centre and the site. Thus the response from the application will be very slow, which will make the application program redundant or unusable. The project manager can mitigate this risk by implementing a site to site broadband Ethernet radio network which can be installed between the data centre and the headquarter facilities (adven.tua, 2012).

 

 

 

8. Role of Project Manager to Meet Project Objectives

 

In order to meet the project objectives the project manager should demonstrate not just the technical skills but should have following skills to lead any project successfully.

• Communicating
• Planning
• Coaching
• Leadership
• Decision-making
• Negotiating

The organisation should not just look for technical skills and aspects of project manager, because he is the sole person who is accountable for the success of any project. Being a successful project manager he should demonstrate the four critical responsibilities towards the team and to make any project successful (Rubin and Seelig, 1967):

• Leader
• Facilitator
• Communicator
• Integrator

 

As an integrator the project manager should do proper integration of project management processes and monitor and control the plans. Being the sole communicator he should gather all the information from the staff and other members involved in the project and distribute it to the stakeholders.

As the leader the project manager should guide the whole team to successfully achieve the project objective and vision, so that the whole team is on same page. AS a facilitator the project manger should act towards developing synergy in the whole team and allow them to work more effectively and collaborate with each other.

 

 

PART B

 

1. Change Management at Big Time

 

As per the feedback which has been collected from the clients there are some changes which have been made in the project schedule as per the requirements. The changes can be seen in the MS project file attached along with the assignment by the name of Big Time Corp. Part B.  The changes made are being listed below:

 

• Extension of 14 days in Investor Reposts Display program.
• Extension of the task Investor PDF Print Program by 2 weeks or 14 days.
• New Investor Reports program has been developed as per new standards in 6 weeks or 42 days time.
• The up gradation needed at the 1^st old corporation will take place in single 1 day.
• After training and conversion the restructuring of database is done which will take 2 weeks.
• 6 weeks taken to develop New Investor PDF Print Program.

The resource allocation issue might arise as now the database and Programmer Patricia Haufer and Shaun Grauer will have to work extra time. So they will need extra payment for extra work they will have to do.

 

2. Alternative Approach

 

The assumption has been made that the changes in the program will be made before training and conversion takes place in the second corporation and an alternative approach can be found instead of this one.

What can be done is that we can do a client survey initially during the inception phase of the project to know what kind of program is being desired by the investors and what are they looking for in the program. This alternative approach will save the resource and budget form developing a new program for PDF Print and investor reports display program.

Another alternative approach which can be developed for this process of redeveloping to inculcate the changes is that while the programmers are testing the site a client survey can be done to test and know what is desired by the investors from the new program, so that necessary changes can be done at the same time.

 

1.1Advantages and Disadvantages of the alternative approaches

 

The advantage attached with the alternate approach is that it will save the Big Time Corporation time and money as well. Otherwise retraining the 1^st corporation staff will need trainer and extra resource.

The disadvantage attached is that the trainers will have to work extra time or over time which will cause over utilisation of the trainers and the programmers.

3. Impact of Changes on Critical Path

 

There would definitely be impact on the critical path because of the changes made to the original project schedule. Now the critical path would be having many more tasks in it:

• Database Upload Program for new Big-time database
• Daily Update share and unit prices program
• Investors report display program
• Investor PDF Print Program
• Investor excel Spreadsheet program
• Margin Loan Simulation Program
• Investor Taxation Statement Program
• Investor Transaction History Program
• Investor Cash Receipts and  Advances Program
• News Update Program
• Develop Testing Program and Training Program
• Create and Test Training Release
• Training 1st Corporation
• Conversion of 1^st Corporation
• Database Restructure
• New Investor Reports display program
• New Investor PDF Print Program
• Upgrade at first corporation
• Training 2nd Corporation
• Conversion 2nd corporation
• Training 3rd Corporation
• Conversion 3rd corporation
• Launch of New Program

 

4. Other Impacts of Changes

 

• Increase in the project cost and variance from the allocated budget will increase.
• The new program will attract new investors.
•  Retention of old investors will become easier due to new services and program catering to their needs.
• Development of refined and effectual program by Big Time Corporation.

 

 

Bibliography

adven.tua (2012) Risk Management Plan, [Online], Available: http://www.scribd.com/doc/72354958/Risk-Management-Plan [19 May 2012].

Rubin, I.M. and Seelig, W. (1967) ‘Experience as a Factor in the Selection and Performance of Project Managers.’, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, vol. 14, no. 3, September, pp. 131-135.

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