Project Management

SAP ID - 77122511216

Answer 1.

Constructing an airport in a state like Goa is not just a massive infrastructural project but represents the state of
progress, connectivity and development for the state. It represents and enormous financial outlay by the
government towards the infrastructure of the state. Thus, would require effective planning, efficient execution
and good project management to ensure schedules, timelines, cost and important milestones are adhered to. The
vibrant culture of the state is a tourist attraction, the ambience of the airport should be symbolic of the same.

Such a huge scale project is divided among various stages and will have to be managed efficiently to ensure
optimum utilization of resources.

Stage 1: Project Initiation

The project initiation stage begins with chalking out the project objectives and evaluating the feasibility of the
project. It requires identification of all key stakeholders that will be essential for the project along with
identifying the potential impact of building an airport on the tourism and trade of the state.

Stage 2: Project Planning

The project planning stage involves detailing the scope of work of the project to plan allocation of resources and
divide the entire project into smaller milestones. Project planning includes following levers:

- Scope Definition: The scope definition for an airport will clearly lay out the number of terminals,
parking facilities, infrastructure for the terminals and the hangar and ancillary facilities.
- Time Management: To ensure project remains on schedule, the project timelines are divided into
specific milestones which aids in tracking progress. Tools like Gantt chart is useful to manage time.
- Cost Estimation: Cost estimation and budgeting includes predicting all possible expenditure / cost
outlays including raw material, labour cost, licensing fees, technology integration, other overheads etc.
- Risk Management: One of the pivotal step in project planning is to identify and foresee potential risks
that can stall or hinder the progress and developing contingency plans to tackle them.

Stage 3: Design and Development

Design and development go beyond the architecture and interior aesthetics but should address factors like safety,
sustainability, operational functionality, economic efficiency, software and hardware technology blueprint etc.
Primary levers include:

- Architecture Blueprint: The architectural blueprint design should allow for smooth passenger flow and
minimize bottleneck and waste spaces to create a good travel experience for flyers. The regulatory and
design standards should be maintained along with local cultural elements.
- Environment Impact Assessment: Given the area required for an airport will be large in space, the
design should definitely consider the flora and fauna of the local area, along with creating provisions
for eco-friendly structures, water systems, etc.
- Technology Integration: Technology infrastructure includes both the hardware and software elements of
IT. This will include the access control systems, security systems, platforms, passenger management
systems etc.

Stage 4: Execution and Monitoring

Execution and Monitoring phase is the next stage of the project management where actual execution of the
project begins along with constant monitoring to ensure adherence to timelines.

- Resource Allocation: Allocation of resources including machinery, manpower, raw materials etc. to
ensure that work happens without any disruptions and wastages.
- Quality Control: Quality control is an important step in the process and requires assuring and checking
quality samples of the raw materials being used, checking the methods being employed and the quality
checks at regular intervals to ensure safety and sustainability of the structure.
- Stakeholder Communication: Regular communication and updates to the key stakeholders ensures
transparency and allows the flow of inputs at completion of key milestones.

Stage 5: Testing and Integration

Testing and integration are an essential step before any project goes live.

- Safety Checks: Ensuring safety check to adhere to both local and international safety standards.
- System Integration tests: All technology systems, like security scanning, baggage handling and air
traffic control, need to function cohesively and in a smooth manner.
- Operational Dry Runs: Simulation and operational tests at airport from check-in to all emergency
protocols.

Stage 6: Project Closure and Handover

Once the construction is completed and multiple levels of tests are conducted before final handover.

- Documentation: This requires a comprehensive documentation of all project reports, compiling all
essential documents and include any deviation from the initial project plan. It also includes any
recommendation for the future projects.
- Training: Before the official handover, operational, safety, technical and customer service trainings are
conducted for airport staff to ensure a good flying experience.
- Feedback Loop: This essentially helps in fine-tuning the project. This is set-up in the initial months of
airport operations to seek suggestions and make necessary modifications.

Stage 7: Post Project Evaluation

Even after the project is completed and handover, it is important to measure and evaluate the performance of the
project against the set objectives.

- Performance Metrics: The key performance indicators may include number of fights, passenger
feedbacks, revenue generated, efficiency and turn around time, number of safety incidents etc. These
metrices give insights into improvement areas for potential renovation/ modifications in the future.
- Environmental Monitoring: Environmental monitoring will require constant evaluation of the impact of
airport operations on the environment. This will also entail making technology/ infrastructural
modifications to ensure the eco-friendly measures are being taken that contribute positively to Goa’s
ecology.

Managing a Airport construction project is a dynamic process with all stages being interconnected and thus,
requiring a holistic approach.

Answer 2.

An activity diagram, while managing a project is a useful tool to visually represent the sequential flow of the
activities in a project while also highlighting any dependencies. The tool helps in identifying a critical path with
clearly identifying the start and end of the project.
The Critical Path Method is a methodology used to plan project activities. It helps in identifying the most
extended path of the project taking in account the earliest and the latest any activity in the project flow can be
concluded without extending the timeline of the project. While the constraints may define the duration of the
project, efficient allocation of resources and effective scheduling can ensure projects are completed in least
amount of time that is possible.

A.

Network Diagram Construction:

Activity A: This is the starting activity with no prior requirements. It takes 5 weeks to complete.

Activity B: Begins after the completion of Activity A and takes 10 weeks.

Activity C: Begins after the completion of Activity A and takes 8 weeks.

Activity D: Requires Activity B and C to be completed and takes 6 weeks.

Activity E: Begins after activity B and C are completed and takes 7 weeks.

Activity F: Starts after activity E is completed and takes 4 weeks.

Activity G: Can only start once Activity D and F are completed. It takes 4 weeks.

Activity H: The final activity starts after Activity G and takes 2 weeks.

Critical Path Determination:

To determine the critical path, we need to calculate the longest duration from the start to the end of the project,
considering the dependencies.

Path 1: A - B - D - G - H = 5 + 10 + 6 + 4 + 2 = 27 weeks

Path 2: A - C - D - G - H = 5 + 8 + 6 + 4 + 2 = 25 weeks

Path 3: A - B - E - F - G - H = 5 + 10 + 7 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 32 weeks

Path 4: A - C - E - F - G - H = 5 + 8 + 7 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 30 weeks

The longest path is Path 3 (A-B-E-F-G-H) with a duration of 32 weeks. Therefore, the critical path for the
project is A-B-E-F-G-H.

Activity A-5 weeks

Activity B- 10 weeks Activity C- 8 weeks

Activity D- 6 weeks Activity E – 7 weeks

Activity F- 4 weeks

Activity G- 4 weeks

Activity H- 2 weeks
 B. To determine the project duration with 3 men and keeping in mind the precedence of activities and
number of men required for each activity, will require efficient allocation of resources to complete the
project.

Allocation Strategy:
- Starting with Activity A as that is the first activity and does not require any precedence. It requires only
one man and hence two men remain unallocated.
- After Activity A is completed after 5 weeks, Activity B and Activity C can begin simultaneously.
Activity B requires one man and C requires two men. This utilizes all three men
- After Activity B is completed after 15 weeks, Activity D can begin which requires 3 men.
- After Activity C is completed after 23 weeks, D cannot finish until B is also done. So, continue with D
- After Activity D is completed after 29 weeks, Activity E will start with one man and two remain
unallocated.
- After Activity E is completed after 36 weeks, Activity F can begin with 2 men, One man remains
unallocated.
- After Activity F is completed after 40 weeks, activity G can begin with two men who were working on
Activity F, since G requires both D and F to be completed. One man from Activity E remains
unallocated.
- After Activity G is completed after 44 weeks, Activity H will begin with one man and two man will
remain unallocated. The project ends after 2 weeks with activity H getting completed.

C. If there are no resource constraints, the scheduling will be based on the precedence of activity
requirements in sequential flow of the project. Activities in that case will be scheduled:
- Start with Activity A as it is the first activity
- Post A: Band C can begin simultaneously as both depend on completion of A
- After both B and C are completed, Activities D and E can begin simultaneously. This is because D and
E both have B and C as their precedence requirements
- Once E is completed, Activity F can commence as it depends solely on E
- After D and F are completed, Activity G can begin
- After G is completed, the project can conclude with Activity H.

The careful analysis of the activity network and critical path is important and crucial tools for project
management. Understanding the constraints of resources, activity precedence requirements and dependencies of
tasks is important to efficiently allocate resources to complete the project in shortest possible time. Good project
management, backed by effective tools and methodologies, paves the way for projects to be completed on time,
within budget, and to the required quality standards.

Answer 3.

A. The decision to close a unit with historical significance such that one operated by Steel Authority of
India Limited is never an easy decision. It comes with a plethora of challenges, both logistical,
economical, and emotional.
A well-structured transition plan should be essential to ensure that closing down the operation
smoothly, along with minimizing disruptions, and addressing the concerns of all key stakeholders.
Hence, the plan must consider the following:

1. Employee Transition:
- Retraining and Reskilling: Training programs to help acquire new skills to make them suitable for role
within SAIL or outside.
- Severance Packages: Ensure that employees get fairly compensated including severance pay, benefits
and other entitlements to take care of the employees and provide for them.
- Counselling Services: To cope with any anxiety, fears and concerns, offer employees with counselling
services to ensure wellbeing.
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 2. Asset Liquidation and Repurposing
- Asset Assessment: It requires a thorough assessment of all assets of the organization including
machinery, infrastructure, inventory etc.
- Liquidation: Liquidation involves selling off assets that are no longer needed. This can help control
some losses
- Repurposing: The existing infrastructure can be re-purposed to give house to profitable ventures and/ or
non-profitable projects.

3. Environmental Considerations
- Site Cleanup: Removing any hazardous material or waste and neutralize the site by cleaning it up
thoroughly
- Environmental Impact Assessment: Conduct an assessment to determine the environmental impact of
the closure and address any potential concerns

4. Stakeholder Communication
- Transparent Communication: Keeping all stakeholders informed on the closure plans, this includes
employees, creditors, suppliers etc.
- Feedback Mechanism: Establish channels of open and transparent communication for stakeholders to
voice concerns for ease of redressal.

5. Financial Implications
- Debt Settlement: Ensuring all debut and all liabilities owing out of the closing units are settled before
closure.
- Budget Allocation: Separate budget needs to be allocated to cater to closure costs including employee
costs, cleanup costs etc.

6. Legal and Compliance

- Regulatory Compliance: Closure should meet all regulatory compliance and this needs to be ensured
- Contractual Obligations: While closure, all contracts needs to be reviewed to address any contractual
obligations arising out of early closure

Multiple factors can affect the smooth transition including Employee resistance, environmental concerns,
financial constraints and legal hurdles. The plan to close the plant should be empathetic while at the same time
comprehensive to take into account various challenges. A well-executed transition plan can pave the way for
new opportunities and growth for both the organization and the community.

Answer 3.

B. A closure report for a closing unit needs to be very comprehensive and require formal documentation
of termination process, Key decisions, actions and outcomes. It also lists down the reasons for closure,
the steps taken to achieve it, key stakeholders involved and the outcomes achieved. This is essential to
ensure smooth transition for all stakeholders and to leverage on all crucial opportunities that may arise
out of it.

Contents of Closure Report:

1. Executive Summary: A brief overview of the report, highlighting the reasons for closure, major
insights on the steps taken and the main outcomes.

2. Background Information: A detailed history of the unit, its historic and economic significance,
achievements, and challenges faced over the past years.
3. Reasons for Closure: A detailed explanation of the factors leading to the decision to close the unit,
including financial, strategic reasons, and operational reasons.

4. Stakeholder Analysis: A list of all key stakeholders affected by the closure and a summary of their
concerns and feedback.

5. Asset Liquidation Details: Detailed report on assets sold, repurposed, or retained, including the
financial implications of each.

6. Employee Transition Details: Data on employee severance, retraining, reassignments, and other
transition related matters.

7. Environmental Impact Assessment: Findings from the environmental assessment, detailing any
potential hazards and the steps taken to mitigate it.

8. Financial Summary: A detailed analysis of financial aspects of the closure, including costs incurred,
revenues from asset liquidation, debts settled etc.

9. Legal and Compliance Documentation: Details of all legal and regulatory requirements adhered to
and met during the closure process.

10. Lessons Learned: Insights and learnings from the closure process that can guide and pave the way for
future decisions and actions.

Post-Closure Activities:

1. Site Monitoring: Regularly monitoring the site for environmental or structural issues that might arise
post-closure of the unit

2. Community Engagement: Engage and work with the local community to address/tackle any lingering
concerns and explore opportunities for community development.

3. Asset Maintenance: Ensure that all assets that are retained are maintained to prevent degradation.

4. Follow-up on Employee Transition: Monitor the progress of employees who are retrained or
reassigned and provide required support.

5. Financial Audits: Conduct periodic audits to ensure all financial obligations related to the closure are
met.

6. Stakeholder Feedback: Continuously gather feedback from key stakeholders to address any potential
concerns/issues

7. Exploration of New Opportunities: Explore new opportunities for using the site, such as
redevelopment, modification or community projects.

Closing the unit is not just about terminating the operations but also carrying out the termination in a
comprehensive manner with due consideration for all stakeholders. A detailed closure report captures the
essence of the termination process right from reasons, steps carried out, stakeholders involved, post closure
activities and other considerations mentioned above. This allows for opening new opportunities for the
future by fulfilling current responsibility to the community.

SAP - 77122511216