Project Management

Assignment 4
Dua Fatima (BBA171037)

Case Study: Sharp Printing AG.

Q1: At this point, what would you do if you were the project manager?

To identify the project risks it is

necessary to do deathly analysis
of entire
project. If I was in the project
manager, firstly I will consider
firstly these three
factors 1. Project duration 2.
Cost 3. Performance
 After considering the basic
factors I will arrange meeting
with the senior
management so it will be
helpful to identify the other
priorities for project. And
also, with presence of senior
management other constrain
could be discuss
effectively which are directly or
indirectly relate to the project.
Moreover,
approval can be get directly
from senior management. So,
that will be helpful to
take any big decision towards
the project.
 After discussing and getting
approval with top management,
I will make new
project scope and project
schedule based on research. So,
company can
complete the project efficiently
on time.
 To identify the project risks it is necessary to do deathly analysis of entire project. If I
was in the project manager, firstly I will consider firstly these three factors
1. Project duration
2. Cost
3. Performance.
 After considering the basic factors, I will arrange meeting with the senior management so
it will be helpful to identify the other priorities for project. In addition, with presence of
senior management other constrain could be discuss effectively which are directly or
indirectly related to the project. Moreover, approval can be get directly from senior
management. Therefore, that will be helpful to take any big decision towards the project.
 After discussing and getting approval with top management, I will make new project
scope and project schedule based on research. Therefore, company can complete the
project efficiently on time.
 I would also plan a meeting with the senior administration in order to explain the priority
matrix while getting the consent to augment the cost.
 I would also conduct a meeting with the project team in order to entail them the revised
budget estimate as well as revised work breakdown structure. I would also get their
feedback about the revisions. In case the project team becomes satisfied with the revised
plan, I would continue the project and license the project.
Q2: Was top management acting correctly in developing an estimate?
As per my opinion, top-management was not correct for making a project estimate due to
following reasons
 Before making the project estimate it is necessary to collect and compare the data
with similar project or previous project but in this case, they did not collect and
compare.
 They made the project estimation based on assumption rather than using standard
method or formulated method
 Project manager plays a vital role for making cost and time estimation but top
management did not take advice from expert before making estimation

There was insufficient thought in building up an estimate. Both sides neglected to achieve an
agreement on their evaluations. There was additionally miscommunication between top
administrations. They have utilized macro estimate which are just adequate to organize ventures,
yet not for the precise task gauge. Top administration was as well “blinded” with the “guaranteed
rewards”. The promising figure for evaluations was plainly improbable.

Q3: What estimating technique should be used for a critical project such as this?
As this project includes the elements, which both estimating techniques are utilized in, the
company must utilize both bottom-up and top-down methods in order to determine the
necessities. A top-down method, which must be utilized, is the consensus methodology. This
method utilizes the experiences of senior management in order to give a rough knowledge about
the time and cost which the project might entail. On the other hand, additional useful top-down
methodology is the function point’s method. This method offers an enhanced in-depth look at the
single deliverables as well as the difficulty included in accomplishing them.
Other methods such as apportionment and ratio methods must not be used for the mission critical
projects. This is because these methods tend to rely largely on the information from previous
projects. As mission critical projects involve exploiting something which is never done before
and information and data from previous projects would result in a flawed estimate.

Manchester united soccer club

Q1: Make a list of the major deliverables for the project and use them to develop a draft
of the work breakdown structure for the tournament that contains at least three levels of
detail. What are the major deliverables associated with hosting an event such as a soccer
tournament?
Major Deliverables
a. List of sponsors
b. Finalized rewards for the teams
c. Logistic details for the events like volunteers, soccer balls etc.
d. Design of T-shirts
e. Accessories to be manufactured for the event
f. List of teams playing in the event along with schedule of matches
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Q2: How would developing a WBS alleviate some of the problems that occurred during the
first meeting and help Nicolette organize and plan the project?
A WBS allows there to be concise plan with every project broken down. The first meeting
needed a WBS since everyone came in with different opinions, and with a WBS they could have
all worked together to see what was exactly the best plan for them all. Work Breakdown
Structure (WBS) helps to develop all of the work structure and responsibility structures of a
project. There were different kinds of problems and opinions at the first meeting by the
members-They were discussing about hiring the qualified referees in the playground to minimize
the odd decision. They were also discussing about contacting the local colleges to find an
appropriate field and the entry fees of the players. There was confusion about rewards of the
players, they have decided to contact with local corporate sponsors and collect fund. They have
decided hiring an artist who will design the unique T-Shirts & Sweatshirts for the players.
Therefore, we can understand WBS will be helpful for Nicolette about responsibility distribution,
cost estimation, scheduling and resource allocation on the project. This information may also be
used in the future tournaments
The Benefits are as follow:
 WBS will provide the holistic picture of the event and provide a structure to the activities that
needs to be planned and managed.
 Being the first event, WBS will help them in scheduling of the soccer matches, handling the
registration, cost estimations and defining logistics.
 WBS will reduce, to some extent eliminate, the possibility of forgetting a task completely.
All the tasks will be listed in a map, with their defined priority and sequence.
 There were important issues raised regarding injustice in the soccer field etc. These can be
tracked through WBS and the manager can plan mitigation activities for the same like
identifying good referees.

Q3: Where can Nicolette find additional information to help her develop a WBS for the
tournament?
Nicolette can get information from the co-workers using the brainstorming strategy or from other
soccer clubs who arranged this type of tournament before. She also can contact famous soccer
clubs to know more information. Worldwide media cab also help to collect the information
To develop a good work breakdown structure, Nicolette can collect the information from the
following sources
 She can search for the other soccer events that are planned by other clubs. She can get access
to their schedules, awards, events sequencing, invitees, referees list etc. from the websites or
contact persons of those soccer clubs. This will help her to identify the best practices i.e.
what to do and what not to do while organizing such events.
 She can have a brainstorming session with the colleagues and identify the tasks that need to
be planned.
 She can also take inputs from the soccer club members who have participated in other such
events.

Q4: How could Nicolette and her task force use the WBS to generate cost estimates for the
tournament? Why would this be useful information?
WBS will help them to identify the cost drivers of the event. This will allow them to reduce the
costs of the event. WBS will help them arrive at numbers for size of the event, number of teams
to play, number of referees, number of fields to book etc. WBS will help them arrive at the
registration fees for the event. WBS will provide a holistic picture of the event to Nicolette and
her task force. It will break the complete event into many small tasks/activities, which can be
more accurately estimated with appropriate buffers if required. Later these costs for individual
tasks can be added to arrive at the complete cost of the event.
The main objective of the tournament was to generate profit, so WBS will support to find the
projects profitability. With the help of WBS, tasks cab be divided and responsibility could be
distributed properly and everybody will be able to understand their job and work will be done at
the definite period. All expenses will be effective and recorded properly.
They would be able to see how much each step would cost and what the appropriate amount to
budget would be. They would know their limits, and they would be able to spend accordingly so
the important stuff is handled first and anything else that could be considered as extra could be
paid for last if money remains.