Breakout Room – 3

Team Members
➢ Narendran Ulaganathan- 20BSPHH01C0761
➢ Bhaveshri Shah - 20BSPHH01C0295
Dillard’s Case Analysis
• This case highlights the difficulties of matching staffing numbers to
varying workloads in retail stores, as well as how staffing and scheduling
decisions affect operational performance and labour quality in the stores.
• The case describes the tasks that are both in-store logistics and customer
service tasks that are carried out by store employees at one Dillard's
department store.
• Dillard’s store employed 165 hourly sales associates where full time
employees worked 35-39 hours/week and part time employees worked
25- 28 hours/week (6-9pm & weekends)
• The Higher conversation rates happened between 11a.m. and 12 p.m. and
between 8 p.m. and 9p.m.
• IBM’s Smart Surveillance System (S3), a video-mining technology, had
been used where they had collected 12 weeks of store-traffic data at a
Texas location of Dillard’s department store chain in the United States.
• The S3 solution is used to count traffic in and out of the store and
departments and to provide retailers with loss prevention, operations and
merchandising and marketing benefits.
• The cameras in different locations were used to get the required data. The
cameras were mounted in each store entrance, in the perimeter of the
shoe department, near escalators and in some specific areas to view
brands that were particularly likely to be stolen.
• This resulted in a way to increase a store’s conversion rate by modifying
the staffing of the store to take advantage of when customer traffic
varied during the day and week. Then hourly traffic data is combined with
hourly sales-transaction data.
• The analysis showed a strong relationship between conversion rates
(transactions/visitors) and staffing levels adjusted by traffic (labour
hours/visitors). This concluded that Dillard’s had a great opportunity to
improve sales at its store in Arlington.
• Thus, we conclude by saying Resource redirection is adopted by the
Dillard’s, Inc.
 What is a Gantt chart?

Definition
A Gantt chart is a project management tool assisting in the planning and scheduling of
projects of all sizes, although they are particularly useful for simplifying complex
projects. Project management timelines and tasks are converted into a horizontal bar
chart, showing start and end dates, as well as dependencies, scheduling and deadlines,
including how much of the task is completed per stage and who is the task owner. This
is useful to keep tasks on track when there is a large team and multiple stakeholders
when the scope changes.

As it's in a bar chart format it is possible to check on progress with a quick glance. You
can easily see:

• a visual display of the whole project,

• timelines and deadlines of all tasks,

• relationships and dependencies between the various activities,

• project phases

Project management solutions that integrate Gantt charts give managers visibility into
team workloads, as well as current and future availability, which allows for more
accurate scheduling. Gantt charts have been around for nearly a century, having been
invented by Henry Gantt, an American mechanical engineer, around 1910.

History of the Gantt chart

It is difficult to envisage how a modern project would be managed without at some point
creating a chart of tasks to be done in delivering the project’s declared benefits. One of
the most enduring types of chart is the Gantt chart.

How to use a Gantt chart

The underlying concept of a Gantt chart is to map out which tasks can be done in
parallel and which need to be done sequentially. If we combine this with the project
resources we can explore the trade-off between the scope (doing more or less work),
cost (using more or less resources) and the time scales for the project. By adding more
resources or reducing the scope the project manager can see the effect on the end
date.

To create a chart you need to know all of the individual tasks required to complete the
project, an estimate of how long each task will take and which tasks are dependent on
others. The very process of pulling this information together helps a project manager
focus on the essential parts of the project and begin to establish a realistic timeframe for
completion.

In summary:
• When you set up a Gantt chart, you need to think through all of the tasks involved in your
project and divide them into manageable components.

• Then decide who will be responsible for each task and delegate to the team.
• Identify task relationships and decide on the completion date sequence for each task, showing
the expected time duration of the whole project and the sub tasks. A Gantt chart will show the
tasks in a sequential order and display task dependencies (ie. how one task relates to another).

• Determine and allocate your resources.

• Anticipate the risks and problems you may encounter and create a contingency plan for
potential problems.

Why use a Gantt chart?

A Gantt chart is used for the following activities:

• Establish the initial project schedule - who is going to do what, when and how long will it take.

• Allocate resources - ensure everyone knows who is responsible for what.

• Make project adjustments - the initial plan will need many adjustments.

• Monitor and report progress - helps you stay on schedule.

• Control and communicate the schedule - clear visuals for stakeholders and participants.

• Display milestones - shows key events.

• Identify and report problems - As everything is depicted visually you can immediately see what
should have been achieved by a certain date and, if the project is behind schedule, you can
take action to bring it back on course.

• Gantt charts are not perfect and can become overly complex with too many
dependencies and activities. It is better to produce a clear and simple plan that
shows the main work packages in summary, than a plan with so much detail that
the overall impression of project progress is lost.

• Gantt charts are also not good at showing the relative priorities of individual tasks
and the resources expended on a task. They can clearly show the elapsed time
of a task but don't easily communicate how many people may be needed to
complete it. This is where using additional techniques such as a precedence
diagram (sometimes called a PERT chart), for instance, becomes useful.
 • Step 1. List your project schedule in an Excel table. List each task as a separate
row and structure your project plan by including the start date, end date and
duration.

• Step 2. Set it up as a standard bar chart based on start dates.

• Step 3. Add the duration of your tasks.

• Step 4. Add task descriptions to the Gantt chart.

• Step 5. Transform the bar graph into the Excel Gantt chart through formatting.

Here are some popular Gantt chart tools:

• Apache OpenOffice

• Microsoft Project

• Open Workbench

• ProjectLibre

• OpenProj

• Project Gantt Chart

• Microsoft Excel project planner

BREAKOUT ROOM: 1, 2
Team Members:
1. Saranya
2. Aadithya
3. Sai Kiran
Dillard’s Case Analysis:
Dillard’s store employed 165 hourly sales associates where full time employees worked
35-39 hours/week and part time employees worked 25- 28 hours/week (6-9pm & weekends). Their
focus was to match their resources effectively with the demand. They scheduled the requirement
of resources one month prior for the entire month. The schedules are planned based on the events
and vacations, thus enabling the managers to allocate the associates priorly. The company also
used Manpower management system, which calculated weekly staffing levels and provided with
minimum level of staffs for an hour. To provide resource balancing, Dillard's used technology like
smart surveillance system to provide real time meta data to identify shortcomings and to address
these pitfalls especially in peak hours i.e (11am to 12 pm and 8pm to 9pm).
Hence IBM has followed Resource Redirection as a Short-term management activity.
They empowered Resource balancing and Resource prioritizing method as a Long-term
solution for the company.
 Project Contracts
As a project manager you need to understand the different types of contracts. You need to understand
the need to each type, its pros and cons. There are three main types of contracts:

1. Fixed Price (Lump sum) Contracts:

The seller and the buyer agree on a fixed price for the project. The seller accepts the risk in this type of
contracts. The buyer has less risk as the price is already fixed and there is an agreement on the same
from seller side as well. There must be a clear, specific and detailed project scope.

Advantages of fixed price contracts include throwing all the risk on the seller. The main disadvantage is
that the seller may start cutting scope or quality in order to finish on time and on budget.

There are three subtypes of fixed price contracts

• Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF) – If project finished little bit earlier, an additional amount will be
paid to the seller.
• Fixed Price Award Fee (FPAF) – If the performance of seller exceeds as planned earlier an
additional amount will be paid to the seller.
• Fixed Price Economic Price Adjustment (FPEPA) – The fixed price can be re-determined
depending on the market pricing rate.

2. Cost Reimbursable Contracts

What will you do if the scope of the work is not clear or not fully identified? You can’t use fixed price
contracts. In cost reimbursable contracts, the seller will work for a fixed time period and after finishing the
work he will raise the bill and the buyer will pay the amount after this. This is risky for the buyer. A seller
can raise the unknown amount which the buyer has to pay. Seller is happy with this type as profit is
almost guaranteed while the buyer finds it difficult to control budget.

There are a few kinds of cost reimbursable contracts:

• Cost Plus Fee (CPF) or Cost Plus Percentage of Costs (CPPC) – The seller will get the total
cost they incurred on the projects plus a percentage of fee over cost (as a profit). Always
beneficial for seller.
• Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF) – A performance based extra amount will be paid to the seller
plus actual cost they have incurred on the projects.
• Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF) – The seller will get a bonus amount plus the actual cost incurred
on the projects.

This graph shows the amount of risk that each of the seller and buyer has in different types of contracts

3. Time and Material Contracts or Unit Price Contracts:

The contract is based on unit price or hour (day) price. For example, if the seller works 2,000 hours for a
project, and the agreed rate is $100 / hour, the buyer will pay the seller $200,000. This type of contracts is
typical in outsourcing work. The advantage of this type of contract is that the seller will make profit for
every hour spent on the project. The advantage for the buyer is to get resources to do the task under the
buyer’s control without having long-term commitment with the resources. It’s also beneficial for having
scarce resources. The disadvantage is that the buyer has the risk of exceeding budget.
What is Statement of Work in Project
Management?
Statement of Work (or SOW) is a formal document that defines the entire scope of the
work involved for a vendor and clarifies deliverables, costs, and timeline. It is needed in
situations where a project involves vendors and external contributors in addition to the
internal project team. You usually create a SOW as part of a bid document or part of a
contract. It is vital that the SOW is clear to all stakeholders in order to clarify the metrics
for success and to avoid disputes involving deliverables, budgets, or timelines.

The statement of work should include:

• All deliverables and due dates.

• The individual tasks that lead to the deliverable, and who these tasks are assigned to.

• The resources needed for the project including facilities, equipment, and QA procedures.

• The governance process for the project.

• Costs and deadlines for payment.

Project Statement of Work and Project Charter

▪ Project Statement of Work (SOW): The Project Statement of Work is a
document providing the business need and the overview of the qualities/characteristics
of intended deliverables/products the project would deliver. It will also include what are
included / NOT included in the project.
▪ The Project SOW is provided:
▪ (for external projects) customer as the basis for writing the bid document;
▪ (for internal projects) project sponsor
▪ Project Charter: The Project Charter is a formal document to authorize the project and
give the project manager the authority to spend the project budget.
▪ The Project Charter includes:
▪ Project purpose / justification
▪ High-level project objectives and product characteristics
▪ Project success criteria
 ▪ High-level requirements
▪ High-level schedule and budget
▪ Name the Project manager
▪ List out the project approval requirements and approval authority
▪ The Project Charter is created in the Develop Project Charter process with the
following inputs:
▪ Project statement of work (SOW)
▪ Business case
▪ Agreement
▪ Enterprise environmental factors (EEFs)
▪ Organizational process assets