Project Management – ABC Company Exercise

ABC Company Exercise(Schwalbe, K.: Information Technology Project Management; 2000; Cambridge, MA; Thomson Learning)
You will need to use Project Management tasks; a listcan be found following the exercise description.

Submit the .mpp file via the SLATE assignment box for ABC Company Exercise.
Submission:
• Assignment submissions:
o Your files should be submitted through the assignment box in SLATE in the ABC Company Exercise folder
o All online submissions are done via SLATE (e-mail submissions will NOT be accepted)
• This assignment must be completed individually.
o Any attempt at cheating on the assignment will result in a grade of zero.
• Please refer to the Academic Dishonesty Policy.

ABC Company
ABC Company has 50,000 employees in its headquarters. The company wants to increase employee productivity by setting up an internal software applications training program for its employees. The training program will teach employees how to use new software programs. Courses will be offered in the evenings and on Saturdays and will be taught by qualified volunteer employees. The instructors will be paid $40/hour. In the past, various departments sent employees to courses offered by local vendors during company time. In contrast to local vendors’ programs, this internal training program should save the company money on training as well as make its people more productive. The Human Resources department will manage the program, and any employee can take the courses. Employees will receive a certificate for completing courses, and a copy of the certificate will be placed in their personnel files. The company has decided to use off-the-shelf training materials, but is not sure which vendor’s materials to use. It needs to set up a training classroom, survey employees on what courses they want to take, find qualified volunteer instructors, and start offering courses. The company wants to offer the first courses within six months. One person from Human Resources is assigned full-time to manage this project, and top management has pledged its support of the project.

1. Project Scope Management
• Create a WBS for this project and enter the tasks in Project 2016.
• Create milestones and summary tasks.
Assume that the main WBS categories and some of the project management tasks are similar to the task list from the Project Tracking Database project (an earlier project done by the company). The task list from that project is listedat the end of this exercise.Review the Analogy Approach for creating a WBS.
Some of the tasks specific to this project are:
A. Review off-the-shelf training materials from three major vendors and decide which materials to use.
B. Negotiate a contract with the selected vendor for their materials.
C. Develop communications information about this new training program. Disseminate the information via department meetings, email, the company Intranet, etc.
D. Create a survey to determine the number and types of courses needed and employees’ preferred times for taking courses.
E. Administer the survey.
F. Solicit qualified volunteers to teach the courses.
G. Review resumes, interview candidates for teaching the courses, and develop a list of preferred instructors.
H. Coordinate with the facilities department to build two classrooms for 20 students each, an instructor station, and an overhead projection system. (Assume the facilities department will manage this part of the project.)
I. Schedule courses.
J. Develop a fair system for signing up for the classes.
K. Develop a course evaluation form to assess the usefulness of each course and the instructor’s teaching ability.
L. Offer the classes.
2. Project Time Management
A. Enter realistic durations for each task, and then link the tasks as appropriate. Be sure that all tasks are linked (in some fashion) to the start and end of the project. Assume that you have six months to complete the entire project.
B. Review the Gantt Chart view and Network Diagram view for the project to ensure they are correct for marking.
C. Review the Schedule table to see key dates and slack times for each task to ensure they are correct for marking.
3. Project Cost Management
A. Assume that you have four people working from various departments available part-time to support the full-time Human Resources person, Terry, on the project. Assume Terry’s hourly rate is $40/hour.Two people from the Information Technology department will each spend up to 25% of their time supporting the project. Their hourly rate is $50. One person from the Marketing Department is available 25% of their time at $40/hour, and one person from Corporate is available 30% of their time at $35/hr. Enter this information in the Resource Sheet. Assume the cost to build the two classrooms will be $100,000, and enter it as a fixed cost.
B. Using your best judgement, assign resources to the tasks.
C. View the Resource Graphs for each person. If anyone is overallocated, make adjustments.
D. Review the budget report for your project to ensure it is correct for marking.

TABLE A-2 Project Tracking Database tasks
Order Task Name
1 Initiating
2 Kickoff meeting
3 Develop project charter
4 Charter signed
5 Planning
6 Develop project plans
7 Review project plans
8 Project plans approved
9 Executing
10 Analysis
11 Design
12 Implementation
13 System implemented
14 Controlling
15 Report performance
16 Control changes
17 Closing
18 Prepare final project report
19 Present final project
20 Project completed
© Cengage Learning 2014