SST101e

Timed Online Assignment – January Semester 2020

Principles of Project Management

Tuesday, 19 May 2020 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm

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Time allowed: 2.5 hours

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INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:

1. This Timed Online Assignment (TOA) comprises FIVE (5) printed pages
(including cover page).

2. You must answer ALL questions.

3. If you have any queries about a question, or believe there is an error in the
question, while the assignment is in session, briefly explain your understanding
of and assumptions about that question before attempting it.

4. You are to include the following particulars in your submission: Course Code,
Full Name and Student PI and name your submission file as
CourseCode_FullName_Student PI.

5. All answers must be type in a Word doc. using Times New Roman font size 12
and single spacing.

6. For answers that cannot be typed and required hand-written, you may either
scan or take a picture of your work, and insert them in the Word doc., orderly.
All uploaded hand-written answers must be clear, readable and complete. Marks
will not be awarded for un-readable or incomplete images.

7. Please submit only ONE (1) file (<500 MB) in PDF/Word doc. format within
the time-limit via Canvas [similar to Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA)
submission]. If you do not submit within the time-limit, you would be deemed
to have withdrawn (W) from the course. Appeal is NOT allowed.

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TOA – January Semester 2020
 8. To prevent plagiarism and collusion, your submission will be reviewed
thoroughly by Turnitin, The Turnitin report will only be made available to the
markers. The university takes a tough stance against plagiarism and collusion.
Serious cases will normally result in the student being referred to SUSS’s
Student Disciplinary Group. For other cases, significant marking penalties or
expulsion from the course will be imposed.

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Answer all questions. (Total 100 marks)

Question 1

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate answers.

(a) The establishment of project goals, specifications, and responsibilities usually

occurs in the __________ stage of the project life cycle.

(b) When most of the project work can be done within a specified department and
any coordination with other departments can be done easily through normal
management channels, __________ organization is most appropriate.

(c) The preferred method for situations involving strategic decision making,
projects with a high degree of uncertainty, and projects with an unstable scope
is the ___________ approach to estimating project time and costs.

(d) For project estimating, the __________ method is used when projects take
reference from past projects in terms of features and costs.

(e) In the Project Network, an element of the project that requires time is call a(n)
__________.

(f) To outsource a risk as part of risk response is also known as risk __________.

(g) __________ is a technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on
resource constraints.

(h) __________ variance is the difference between the earned value and the
baseline value to date.

(i) To be an effective project manager, one must possess both __________ and
balance to deal with contradictions inherent in the project work.

(j) Traditional project management requires a fairly high degree of scope

__________ to be effective as compared to Agile project management.
(2 marks each)

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TOA – January Semester 2020
Question 2

(a) “Projects typically require the combined efforts of a variety of specialists.”

Appraise the validity of this statement with a relevant explanation.
(5 marks)

(b) Differentiate between a Project and a Program. Illustrate each with an example.
(7 marks)

(c) Explain the importance for organisations to develop a process which aligns
certain projects with its strategic goals.
(8 marks)

(d) State what Figure Q2(d) represents and what it is used for.
(2 marks)

Figure Q2(d)

(e) List the FOUR (4) outputs in the Executing Phase. Describe briefly each of
these outputs.
(8 marks)

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TOA – January Semester 2020
Question 3

Project managers recognise that time, cost and resource estimates must be accurate to
ensure effective project planning, scheduling and controlling (Larson & Gray, 2014).

(a) Discuss FIVE (5) guidelines, with rationale, for developing useful work
package estimates for project planning purposes.
(10 marks)

(b) Explain why accurate estimates are critical to effective project management.
Demonstrate the uses of estimates to further support your explanation.
(10 marks)

(c) Describe and contrast the FIVE (5) top-down approach of estimating.
(10 marks)

Question 4

You are a project manager tasked to manage Project A. The requirements of the project
are as follow:
 There are a total of 10 activities in Project A.
 Activity 1 takes 3 days.
 Activity 2 takes 7 days and is preceded by Activity 1.
 Activity 3 takes 2 days and is preceded by Activity 1.
 Activity 4 takes 3 days and is preceded by Activity 1.
 Activity 5 takes 4 days and is preceded by Activity 2 and 4.
 Activity 6 takes 6 days and is preceded by Activity 2 and 3.
 Activity 7 takes 5 days and is preceded by Activity 4.
 Activity 8 takes 10 days and is preceded by Activity 5 and 7.
 Activity 9 takes 3 days and is preceded by Activity 6.
 Activity 10 takes 2 days and is preceded by Activity 8 and 9.

(a) Apply the given information to construct a Precedence Diagram.

(4 marks)

(b) With the precedence diagram, construct the Project Network Diagram together
with the legend.
(8 marks)

(c) Determine how long would it take for the project to be completed.
(1 mark)

(d) Determine the critical path(s) for this project.

(1 mark)

(e) List the activity or activities with free float.

(4 marks)

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TOA – January Semester 2020
(f) In your project team is a member who has a history of missing work due to
medical reasons. Respond to this member by assigning him the most
appropriate activity. Briefly explain your reason for doing so.
(2 marks)

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TOA – January Semester 2020