3. Nightingale project A
• We are acting as an assistant project manager
• Nightingale is the code name
• Development of a handheld electronic
medical reference guide, and it’s mainly
designed for the emergency medical
technicians and paramedics who need a quick
reference guide to use in emergency
situations
• Deadline of the project Is 25th of october.
4.
5. Assumptions
• The project will begin the first working day in
January, 2010
• The following holidays are observed: January 1,
Memorial Day (last Monday in May), July 4, Labor
Day (first Monday in September), Thanksgiving
Day (fourth Thursday in November), December
25 and 26.
• If a holiday falls on a Saturday, then Friday will be
given as an extra day off; if it falls on a Sunday,
then Monday will be given as a day off.
• The project team works Monday through Friday.
6. Question 1
Will the project as planned meet the October
25th deadline?
Answer 1
• The total number of days taken by all 30
activities are: 366 days
• The total number of days from the first week
of January till October 25th: 298 days
• The number of off days (both the holidays and
the weekend): 85 days
7. Contd…
• After subtracting the number of off days from
the number of days from January till October
25th, the actual number of days, within which
the project is to be completed, are 213 days.
• So, the final answer is that the project won’t
be able to meet the deadline, as the duration
of the project (366 days) is much longer than
the actual number of days till the deadline
(213 days).
8. Question 2
What activities lie on the critical path?
Answer 2
• Those activities lie on the critical path that either have
the longest duration, or have a greater number of
activities succeeding it. In this case the activities that
lie on the critical path include:
• Activity 1
• Activity 4
• Activity 10
• Activity 16
• Activity 24
9. Question 3
How sensitive is this network?
Answer 3
• The project is to be completed within the
deadline but the duration of the project is
way long. So, the entire network is very
sensitive in a sense that if an activity takes
more time than its actual duration then the
whole project may not finish in time or it may
collapse.
11. Brief Overview of Case 2
• Rassy and the team were concerned with the
results of your analysis. They spent more time
on finding different ways to shorten the
project duration
• Rassy had a separate fund of $200,000, but
she was only willing to spend $100,00 of it.
After a lengthy discussion with her
teammates,
12. Contd…
• Development of voice recognition system could
be reduced from 15 days to 10 days at a cost of
$15,000.
• Creation of database could be reduced from 40
days to 35 days at a cost of $35,000.
• Document design could be reduced from 35 days
to 30 days at a cost of $25,000.
• External specifications could be reduced from 18
days to 12 days at a cost of $20,000.
• Procure prototype components could be reduced
from 20 days to 15 days at a cost of $30,000.
• Order stock parts could be reduced from 15 days
to 10 days at a cost of $20,000.
13. Additional information on the case
• If you choose to reduce the duration of any
one of the activities mentioned, then it must
be for the specified time and cost (i.e., you
cannot choose to reduce database to 37 days
at a reduced cost; you can only reduce it to 35
days at a cost of $35,000).
• You can only spend up to $100,000 to reduce
project activities; lags do not contain any
additional costs.
14. Contd…
• As the meeting adjourns, Rassy turns to you
and tells you to assess the options presented
and try to develop a schedule that will meet
the October 25th deadline. You are to prepare
a report to be presented to the project team
that answers the following questions
15. Question 1
Is it possible to meet the deadline?
Answer 1
• The following calculations were made to see whether
it’s possible to meet the deadline now:
• Development of voice recognition system reduced to: 5
days
• Creation of database reduced to: 5 days
• Document design reduced to: 5 days
• External specifications reduced to: 6 days
• Procure prototype components reduced to: 5 days
• Order stock parts reduced to: 5 days
16. Contd…
• To keep the funds at about $100,000, we have
removed the first and fifth activity. The
duration of the activities has now reduced
from 366 to 345 days.
• So, it is still not possible to meet the deadline
because even after the adjustments, the time
durations of all the project activities combined
exceeds the given time frame.
17. Question 2
If so, how would you recommend changing
the original schedule (Part A) and why? Assess
the relative impact of crashing activities versus
introducing lags to shorten project duration.
Answer 2
• We would recommend to try shortening the
activity durations and establish an optimal
project network, so that the project deadlines
could be met effectively and efficiently.
18. Question 3
What would the new schedule look like?
Answer 3
• It would comprise of updated activity duration
times, a well-defined project structure, and a
well-defined project network. The schedule
would have proper division of the resources as
well.
19. Question 4
What other factors should be considered before
finalizing the schedule?
Answer 4:
• Factors that are to be considered:
• Well-defined WBS (work breakdown structure)
• Accurate estimates
• Better division of resources
• Decisions regarding activity splitting
• Proper resource management
