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Chapter 6 - Instructor’s Resource Guide to
Project Management: A Managerial Approach, Eighth Edition
Chapter Overview
Overview – This chapter introduces the process of project planning, which involves
identifying the specific goals of the project and breaking them down into achievable
tasks. The concepts of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Linear Responsibility
Chart (LRC) are also introduced.
1) Initial Project Coordination and the Project Charter – The project launch meeting is
an excellent way to begin the planning process. At this meeting the team is gathered
for the first time to allow them to develop a general idea about the requirements of the
project. The intent is not to present fully developed plans and schedules but rather to
present the project in general, so that the team members can develop detailed plans
and schedules for themselves and present them at subsequent meetings. After the
planning process is complete it is useful to have a postplanning review chaired by an
experienced project manager not involved with this project previously.
a). Outside Clients – When the project involves an outside client, the planning
process must include the complete definition of the deliverables that will be
provided. This can be accomplished efficiently by involving the design and
marketing teams early in the planning process. The intent is to prevent later
surprises. E.g: The previously ignored manufacturing group announces that they
can’t build the design that has taken 10 months so far to be developed.
b). Project Charter Elements – Project plans and their development vary from
organization to organization, but they should all have the following elements:
i) Purpose – A short summary of objectives and project scope.
ii) Objectives – A more detailed statement of the general goals of the project.
This statement should include profit and competitive aims from the Business
Case as well as technical goals based on the Statement of Work (SOW).
iii) Overview – A description of both the managerial and the technical approaches
to the work.
iv) Schedules – This section outlines the various schedules and lists all milestone
events and/or phase-gates.
v) Resources – This element contains the budgets by task as well as the cost
control and monitoring plans.
vi) Personnel – This element contains a time phased plan for the people (or at
least the skills) required for the project.
vii) Risk Management Plans – This covers potential problems as well as potential
lucky breaks that could affect the project.
viii) Evaluation Methods – This section describes the methods used to monitor,
evaluate, and collect the history of the project.
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c). Project Planning in Action – Plans can be constructed by listing the sequence of
activities necessary to complete the project. The nine segments of the project are:
i) Concept evaluation
ii) Requirements identification
iii) Design
iv) Implementation
v) Test
vi) Integration
vii) Validation
viii) Customer test and evaluation
ix) Operations and maintenance
2) Starting the Project Plan
a) The WBS – The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a tool used to capture the
decomposition of activities and the assignment of personnel. The WBS is not one
thing. It can take a wide variety of forms that, in turn, serve a wide variety of
purposes. The text suggests the following steps for WBS development:
i) Break the tasks down into sufficient detail so that they can be individually
planned, budgeted, scheduled, monitored, and controlled. The tasks at the
bottom of the structure are typically called work packages.
ii) Identify the relevant supporting information needed for each work package
and the people who will work them.
iii) The work packages must be reviewed with the people involved to ensure their
accuracy and adequacy in describing the tasks to be accomplished.
iv) The WBS can be used to capture the direct costs estimated or budgeted for
each task.
v) The summary of the schedule information associated with each work package
can be summarized into a project master schedule.
Both the planned schedule and budget for each work package can be used as the
baseline to measure performance as the project is executed.
3) Human Resources: The RACI Matrix and Agile Projects
Identifying and securing the right employees for project work is one of the most
important PM tasks. One way to identify the HR needs is to create an Organizational
Breakdown Structure (OBS). It shows the organizational units that are responsible for
the various work elements of the project. By creating RACI matrixes and utilizing
agile project methods, better management of human resources can be attained.
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a) The Responsibility (RACI) Matrix – An approach to identify the human resources

needed for the project is to use the RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consult, Inform)
matrix. The matrix shows critical interfaces between units that may require special
managerial coordination. With it, the PM can keep track of who must approve what,
who must be notified, and other such relationships. The RACI matrix displays the
WBS items in the left-most column of a table. The individuals, groups, or units
involved in the project are displayed in the top row. The project manager then uses
the matrix to identify who is Responsible, who is Accountable, who should be
Consulted, and who should be Informed.
b) Agile Project Planning and Management – Traditional methods are insufficient, if
an organization finds it difficult to define the project adequately in the shortest
possible time. In situations like these agile project management (APM) may be
effective. APM requires close and continual contact between the project team and the
clients. Project requirements are a result of client/developer interaction, and the
requirements change as the interaction leads to a better understanding on both sides of
the project requirements, priorities, and limitations.
4) Interface Coordination Through Integration Management – Interface coordination is
the task of coordinating work across multiple groups. Multidisciplinary teams (MTs)
are often used to facilitate the coordination of technical issues. Techniques are
available to assist this process by mapping the interdependencies between team
members.
a) Managing Projects by Phases and Phase-Gates – One way to facilitate
interdisciplinary cooperation is to break the project into phases and require the team
to have specific deliverables at each phase. Then an oversight process can evaluate
the deliverables and decide whether the project is ready to pass onto the next phase.
This technique is applied in addition to the normal cost and schedule control
techniques associated with projects.
5) Project Risk Management – This is the PMBOK knowledge area number 8. It defines
risk management as the systematic process for identifying, analyzing, and responding
to project risk. Seven processes exist:
a). Risk Management Planning
b). Risk Identification
c). Qualitative Risk Analysis
d). Quantitative Risk Analysis
i) Failure Mode and Effect Analysis
ii) Decision Tree Analysis
iii) Monte Carlo Simulation
iv) Dealing with Project Disasters
e). Risk Response Planning
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f). Risk Monitoring and Control

g). The Risk Management Register
Teaching Tips
Like many subjects in project management, this topic will benefit from a good example.
One way to provide it is to do an in-class planning exercise. To prepare this exercise the
instructor needs to select a project. Everyone in the class should be familiar with this
project. If a specialized technical topic is chosen (e.g. refueling a nuclear power plant),
then all the class members may not be able to fully participate due to their lack of
knowledge in the subject. I have had success with picking smaller, more accessible topics
that are familiar to a wide range of students. Specifically, I have used “Planning a
company picnic” for the exercise. While it may not sound very interesting on the surface,
the picnic has some surprising complications that the students will discover during the
planning process.
To begin the exercise the instructor give the class some background information about
their pretend company and a very brief description of the project. The description is
deliberately brief to simulate the typically meager direction that management supplies in
these circumstances. The students work in pairs to brainstorm the outline of the project
plan trying to answer key questions like:
What is the purpose of the project?
Who are its customers?
What constraints are imposed by the company?
The process of answering these questions forces students to ask a lot of questions which
the instructor, as the “sponsor” should answer. This gives the instructor a lot of
opportunities to emphasize the idea that the early project formation process is one
dominated by questions intended to reveal the sponsor’s and customer’s true
requirements.
As the authors of the text correctly point out, there are many formats available for project
plan deliverables. If the instructor does not have a preferred format to use for this
exercise, Martin and Tate describe a method, one that I have found useful, called the
Project Management Memory Jogger™. This tiny book can be an excellent supplement
to the text by presenting a number of specific formats for planning deliverables.
Material Review Questions
Question 1:
APM is distinguished by close and continuing contact between clients (users) and staff
working on the project, and an iterative and adaptive planning process. This approach is
best suited for situations in which the scope of the project cannot be sufficiently
determined in advance. The scope is progressively determined as the project progresses.
Question 2:
Refer to Section 6.1 in the text. The eight key elements of any project charter are:
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1) Purpose: The purpose contains a brief summary of the project’s scope and its
objectives.
2) Objectives: The objectives should reflect how the project would satisfy
requirements in the dimensions of performance, time, cost, and customer
satisfaction. Objectives should also be set with respect to business impact and
future growth potential.
3) Overview: This section will describe the managerial and technical approaches
used to complete the project.
4) Schedules: The master schedule will be derived from the individual schedules for
resources. Milestones will be used to indicate significant events in the project’s
lifecycle.
5) Resources: The project’s budget will document both capital expenses and
operating expenses by task. The procedures for cost monitoring and control will
also be described.
6) Personnel: This section covers the types and quantities of human resources
needed to complete the project. It should document unique requirements related to
issues such as security clearances, skill sets, EOE, and local content issues related
to hiring and ownership practices.
7) Risk Management Plans: This section describes how uncertainty will be managed
in the project. Its intent is to identify opportunities and threats. Contingency plans
are developed to respond to important risk events should they arise during the
project’s lifecycle
8) Evaluation Methods: This section describes the monitoring and control
procedures used to run the project and to assess its success.
Question 3:
Refer to Sections 6.3 and 6.2 in the text. The general steps for managing each work
package in a specific project are:
1) Decompose the work packages into the smallest work elements necessary to plan,
budget, schedule, and control the work. When sequencing project activities,
logical relationships and direct costs are often driven by the activities inside the
work package.
2) Create a work statement that includes inputs, specification references, contractual
stipulations, and expected performance results. It may prove useful to construct
the Linear Responsibility Chart (LRC) to document which resource is responsible
for each activity in the work package.
3) List contact information for vendors and subcontractors.
4) For work that is new, difficult, or important, establish detailed end-item
specifications.
5) Establish cost centers to assign budget responsibilities and to track performance
against plans. Assign the appropriate types and quantities of resources to each
work center.
6) Establish the activity durations and logical relationships. Develop a preliminary
project schedule.
7) Review the WBS, activity lists, budget, and schedules with the resources that will
perform the work.
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Question 4:
The “even planning process” is a hierarchical approach to decompose deliverables during
the processes of scope definition and activity definition. (See PMBOK® Guide Third
Edition sections 5.3 and 6.1.). The goal is that each level of the hierarchy has elements at
about the same level of detail. One purpose is to prevent overplanning the familiar, while
under planning the unfamiliar parts of the project.
Question 5:
The RACI matrix shows the tasks to be performed, the groups doing the work, and who
should be responsible, accountable, informed, and consulted. With the RACI matrix the
PM can keep up with who must approve what, who must be notified, and other such
relationships.
Question 6:
Refer to Section 6.1 in the text. The project’s launch meeting should accomplish the
following goals:
1) The technical scope for the project is established.
2) Participants accept responsibility for specific areas of performance.
3) Tentative, high-level schedules, and budgets are established.
4) A risk management group is created for the project.
Question 7:
Refer to Section 6.1 in the project. Involving functional areas in proposal development
may help an organization to avoid promising deliverables and/or performance that cannot
be delivered to the customer. This involvement is important in winning support for the
project from the people who are likely to loan the resources. In many cases, those
resources would like to provide input about what will be done, how it will be done, how
it will be priced, and when it will be accomplished.
Question 8:
Refer to Section 6.4 in the text. To design and use the WBS, the basic steps are:
1) Decompose the action plan in sufficient detail so that each activity can be
individually planned, budgeted, scheduled, monitored, and controlled.
2) For each WBS work package, create a LRC.
3) Review the work packages with the responsible resources prior to aggregating the
activities for the project.
4) Convert the WBS into a Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) that includes budget
data for direct costs, indirect costs, contingency reserves, and profit.
5) Create the master schedule.
6) Capture actual costs and schedule performance and track against the baselines for
budget and schedule.
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Question 9:
Refer to Section 6.5 in the text. Interface management seeks to facilitate the process of
coordinating dynamic relationships between the various elements to assist the project in
meeting objectives for performance, time, and cost.
Question 10:
Refer to the Introduction in the text. The Project Plan is the complete set of documents
and data used to describe the project objectives, method, schedule and budget. The
Project Charter is the subset of the overall plan that concentrates on the schedule and
required resources. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the subset of the plan that
displays a decomposition of the work to be executed by the project.
Question 11:
Milestones are natural sub-project ending points where payments may occur, evaluations
may be made, or progress may be reassessed. Phase-gates are preplanned points during
the project where progress is assessed and the project cannot resume until re-
authorization has been approved.
Question 12:
A risk matrix is constructed by placing the impact of threats on one axis and the
probability of those threats occurring on the other axis (see Figure 6-12). Threats in the
upper-right quadrant are more “critical” than those in the other quadrants.
Question 13:
A decision tree is useful to a project manager when sequential events happen over time.
In these cases, the PM can look at the probabilities that a certain sequence of events will
occur and their potential impact on the project.
Question 14:
FMEA tables can be more valuable than a risk matrix because they consider the inability
to detect the risk in addition to the probability and impact. Because of this they provide
more value.
Question 15:
The cause-effect diagram should be broken down into as many subfactors as possible.
With more subfactors, a better understanding of the factors that affect a particular threat
or opportunity can be achieved.
Question 16:
The risk responses for threats (avoid, transfer, mitigate, and accept) are generally
designed to minimize or eliminate the risk from the threats. Risk responses for
opportunities (exploit, share, enhance, and accept) are generally designed to maximize
the opportunity if it occurs.
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Class Discussion Questions

Question 17:
The amount of planning should be proportionate to the degree of newness, importance,
and difficulty associated with realizing the required solution for an unique need.E.g:
Constructing a standard 1,800 square-foot residential home should require less planning
than that required to build the same house from scratch in less than four hours. (The San
Diego Builders Association did this feat as a promotional project. The four-hour
execution of the project required almost nine months to plan.) Instead of using
percentages, the basic concept is that plans should be as brief and simple provided that
they adequately direct the team to what needs to be done each day to support the project.
Question 18:
In the military, there is a saying that, “No plan survives its first encounter with the
enemy.” Therefore, even the best of plans should be adjusted to the reality of the project
as it unfolds. This juggling of activities and resources across groups is a real-time activity
that is usually done without a lot of detailed information or analysis. The coordination is
made more difficult by the inevitable problems in communication that occur in even the
best-run projects.
Question 19:
The areas of risk need to be relevant to the project. Unfortunately, we can think of many
things that are “risky” in our lives, but they aren’t necessarily relevant to a particular
project. The PMBOK® Guide Third Edition describes typical categories to consider risk
in as:
• Technical
• External
• Organizational
• Project Management
Question 20:
The WBS is probably one of the most useful project planning tools. It identifies the work
required to provide the project’s deliverables. It provides a framework for identifying
direct costs and resource requirements. Rolling up individual budgets through the
structure of the WBS can capture the total budget. The project schedule can be displayed
as a Gantt chart where each line is mapped directly to the WBS. Actual data can be
captured in project management software using the WBS table to enter actual cost and
schedule performance data.
Question 21:
Subdividing activities for a WBS involves a layer by layer breakdown of activities. PMs
should first divide the project into the main-level set of activities and then break each of
those levels down even further. This should continue until each activity is broken down
into its smallest activity. It is important to get as much input as possible from
stakeholders because getting the WBS built as well as possible can result in significant
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dividends as the project progresses due to numerous other deliverables that evolve from
it.
Question 22:
Usually, the plan frames the project in a manner that helps the team prepare for the
challenges that lay ahead. It is not so important that the team create the perfect project
plan. However, it is important that the plan raises the level of understanding about what
must be done to achieve a successful implementation that solves real needs. The plan
should also provide a reference point that the team can use to make course adjustments as
work progresses. Ultimately the plan must provide sufficient guidance so that every
member of the team knows what they should be doing each day to contribute to the
success of the project.
Something to think about: Have you ever taken a vacation without first deciding on a
destination?
Question 23:
Refer to Section 6.1 in the text.
Pros: Involving functional areas in proposal development may help an organization to
avoid promising deliverables and/or performance that cannot be delivered to the
customer. This involvement is important in winning support for the project from the
people who are likely to loan the resources. In many cases, those resources would like to
provide input about what will be done, how it will be done, how it will be priced, and
when it will be accomplished.
Cons: It is conceivable that some otherwise qualified managers and technical specialists
will not possess strong relationship management skills and/or a willingness to participate
in interdisciplinary approaches to solving problems. Such people could sabotage
negotiations in subtle ways by objecting to parameters or by using blocking techniques
that create fear, uncertainty or doubt about a project’s success. It is also difficult to
identify credibly the proper economic trade-off between early involvement and delayed
participation of functional specialists.
Question 24:
In general, this would be an unethical thing to do. The PM should demonstrate a little
more maturity by confronting the problem head-on rather than trying to cover it up with
tricks. An important consideration is Fred’s contribution to the project. If he is notified
because, in spite of his difficult attitude, he has something to contribute, then the PM is
not only unethical, he is stupid to bypass him. If he is difficult and does not add value (a
dynamite combination!), then the PM should bypass him and have the courage to look
Fred in the eye and tell him why he was ignored for that particular task. A manager,
whom I respect, once told me when I was faced with a difficult team member, “You have
got to talk to him. Maybe nobody ever told him that he was a jerk.”
Question 25:
The simplest way to plan for an unknown risk is to add a buffer. This can be both for the
schedule and the budget. This buffer should be visible to all concerned; not hidden as
padding in individual activities. Eli Goldratt recommends establishing a project time
buffer that is adjusted as the project unfolds (this is discussed at length in Chapter 9). The
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team knows that the buffer has gotten smaller if they are running behind, and larger if
they are ahead. Similarly it is a common practice on large defense projects to establish a
“Management Reserve.” This is a portion of the total project budget that is deliberately
held in reserve against unknown scope variation. Another technique is the designation of
selected experts to handle the problems as they arise. This can be coupled with a well-
defined escalation process, in which the designated people at appropriate levels in the
organization are notified based on the nature and severity of the problem.
Question 26:
Milestones and phase-gates may occur at the same time in some instances because phase-
gates can be considered milestones. In other cases they can occur at different times
because milestones can be used to see if the project is “on track” while phase-gates can
be utilized to determine if the project should continue to the next phase.
Question 27:
Agile project management was developed because of an increasing number of projects, in
which the scope of the project was not sufficiently determined in advance and thus, the
scope is progressively determined as the project progresses. I do believe that this
approach will continue to be increasingly utilized in future projects due to the continuing
number of projects where project scope cannot be accurately determined up-front.
Question 28:
Risk matrices and FEMA tables are extremely useful in analyzing the impacts of threats.
Each one helps in identifying the threats that cause the most concern. In addition, they
can be used to analyze the portfolio of projects in relation to their risk structure.
Question 29:
Decision and probability trees are similar. If we are only interested in probabilities, we
call the tree a probability tree. But if there are some actions we are considering anywhere
along the tree—before the first probability event, say, or between events—and we want
to evaluate which action(s) would be the best, then it is called a decision tree.
Each can be used by PMs to help determine the likelihood of certain events from
occurring. The decision tree is generally more valuable because it has a broader value.
can be used to analyze the portfolio of projects in relation to their risk structure.
Question 30:
A cause-effect chart could be used for two risks concurrently. The end “problem” would
be the result of both occurring concurrently.
Question 31:
Risk responses to threats and opportunities are more important for a particular PM
depending on their level of risk tolerance. For those who are risk-averse, they might be
inclined to think the risk responses for threats are more important and vice versa for those
PMs who are risk-seeking.
Page 10 of 23
Beagle 2 Mars Probe a Planning Failure

Question 32:
The tasks and changes in the tasks facing the project team with a fast approaching launch
window were extremely difficult. The PM should have recommended cancelling the
project and substituting it with something else.
Question 33:
The recommendations are all extremely important, certainly relevant to all projects, and
makes common sense. The problem, however, was more difficult than these
commonsense recommendations imply. If an expensive rocket launch is being readied for
a particular date and the date can’t be changed, would you really want to cancel the
probe? If so, why send up an empty rocket? Something needs to be added to the
recommendations concerning a backup probe, or a de-scoped probe, in case of trouble.
Clearly there wasn’t sufficient time, so something about a long lead time might be added
when the due date cannot be delayed.
Child Support Software a Victim of Scope Creep

Question 34:
Commonly, with the design of software systems, the customer wants changes as the
software is being written, which requires extensive rework and checking for ramifications
of each change throughout the system. This takes a lot of time and extra labor.
Apparently, this happened here as the customer kept requesting scope changes which the
customer considered to be minor but the vendor considered them to be major changes.
Unfortunately, the vendor didn’t inform the customer about the difficulty of making
changes during the project, or provide a process for handling such requested changes.
Question 35:
It appears that the software has been completed but now operates slower than that was
promised, possibly due to the scope changes. The customer and vendor need to talk about
the possibility of making additional changes that would help the customer in the most
efficient way, which may include disabling some of the options and scope changes
requested previously.
Shanghai Unlucky with Passengers

Question 36:
Luck had nothing to do with it. The problem was that the train was accessible only from a
difficult location for the customers in the business center. The system that was
implemented did not meet the original need.
Question 37:
We assume that there was an external reason for getting this exceptional train operational
in a short time period and service for businesspeople was a minor consideration. It could
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be that the original cost and time estimates were significantly wrong, so they were only
able to get it as close as they did to the city center.
China is now extending the train to the downtown business center, but it will take much
longer to complete.
Risk Analysis vs. Budget/Schedule Requirements in Australia

Question 38:
Meeting schedule and budget goals are certainly important, but other metrics are
important as well when it comes to project success. Although many people do think
primarily of schedule and budget goals, scope and quality goals can be just as important.
Specific to this example, had they considered quality issues, they would have created a
better system. After learning about all nine of the project management knowledge areas
as specified by the Project Management Institute, students will learn that each one is
equally important in managing projects.
Question 39:
An appropriate risk analysis approach would have been to use a quantitative method such
as simulation. Had this been done properly, the officials would have seen what would
happen with a significant increase in traffic beyond what was projected. This could have
shown them what might happen and then forced them to develop a system to comfortably
handle the increased traffic and/or to create a higher quality system.
Using Agile to Integrate Two Gas Pipeline Systems

Question 40:
The client was not on this team because it was an internal project.
Question 41:
Aspects of agile used:
1) Frequent, stand-up meetings with subteams
2) Weekly meetings with the entire team
3) Iterative and adaptive planning throughout the project
Aspects of agile not used:

1) A test case
2) Sprints
Question 42:
Agile management is not beneficial for most standard projects because agile projects
cannot accurately predict cost and time estimates for the duration of the project. Since,
most projects request funding in advance, agile processes would not be able to provide
those estimates.
An Acquisition Failure Questions Recommended Practice

Question 43:
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Long project durations in all industries lead to conflicts and project problems. A good
example is the Denver Airport Baggage Handling System. This project was so big and
poorly managed that it took a significant amount of additional time and money to
complete the project. In general, larger projects take much more planning and
coordination efforts while also increasing the likelihood of project management related
concerns.
Question 44:
One of the main problems was that a decision wasn’t made early enough in the project
regarding what to do. Had they determined that, all systems would have been merged into
one of the existing company’s systems and they would have had a better chance of
success. Too much time was spent analyzing the problem without ever getting to the
design phase.
Question 45:
The BMP solution worked because it eliminated the analysis phase of the decision-
making and forced the teams into the development phase. A compromised system might
have been possible, but the risk of continuing with the same problems they encountered
after the initial merger could have occurred too.
Ignoring Risk Contrasted with Recognizing Risk in Two Industries

Question 46:
The reasons why BP took such a relaxed attitude toward the Gulf well compared to
NASA is really a mystery. BP really should have been just as serious, perhaps even more,
since the environmental damage caused by the leak was so extensive. In addition, it could
have easily been prevented this with better planning.
Question 47:
I don’t think the oil industry has funded significant research in this area because they
believe the odds that it wouldn’t happen. Since, the R&D investment would be so
significant for something that was just a possibility (not a certainty), then it must have
been worth the risk.
Question 48:
Again, there really isn’t a good reason why BP didn’t do this right either. With proper
planning, a contingency plan could have been in place already that indicated what to do
and what to say if something like this happened. Hopefully, all companies in the oil
industry learned from this and will be more prepared next time.
Question 49:
NASA’s approach to risk analysis is thorough as it should be. One component on the
space shuttle that goes bad can cause an entire launch to be aborted or can cause the
shuttle to explode, as we have seen. Thus, their approach is thorough and would include
minimum techniques such as decision tree analysis and expert judgment. FMEA is a good
example of what an organization can do to understand the risk levels associated with a
project.
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Facebook Risks Interruption to Move a Terabyte

Question 50:
Although students may be able to make good arguments both ways, I would consider the
completion of the first hardware phase a phase-gate review because if building the
hardware took too long and/or was too costly, it may be necessary to stop the project
before going any further. In addition, they could determine that it just isn’t technically
feasible to progress any further.
Question 51:
The risk responses Facebook used are as follows:
1) Avoidance: With regards to avoiding the problems associated with loading the
data onto the equipment before the move
2) Mitigation: Selecting the option to transfer the data via a network as opposed to
loading it on the equipment before the move
3) Acceptance: A certain amount of risk was assumed even before transferring the
data across the larger network
4) Exploit: The move itself to the larger faster network
5) Enhance: The move itself to the larger faster network
Question 52:
Facebook could have also considered other approaches to handle the risks such as using
all of the seven subprocesses related to risk. These include:
1) Risk management planning
2) Risk identification
3) Qualitative risk analysis
4) Quantitative risk analysis
5) Risk response planning
6) Risk monitoring and control
7) Creating a risk management register
Trying to Install a Wind Farm in the Middle of the North Sea

Question 53:
The difficulties and risks in this case study were much less significant than with the
NASA example. Although both cases highlighted major risks, they were different in each
case. In this example (Wind Farms), many of the risks involved having everything ready
before being shipped to location. In addition, if there were any problems, they had to
come up with a solution as soon as possible and they did this by involving multi-
disciplinary teams.
Question 54:
It was imperative to have the correct competencies and dependabilities on the teams.
Without these two criteria solving problems would have been much more painful and
finding solutions would have been much more difficult.
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Question 55:
Students’ answers are expected to vary considerably based upon their background and the
choice of the WBS method.
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Problems
Problem 1:
7
6
Threat 2
Problem 1:Problem 1:Probability
5
Threat 1
4
Threat 4
3
Threat 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Impact
Legend:
Critical
Monitor
Ignore
Threat 1: The threat of costs being excessive could occur. Actually, the probability is
somewhat high. This can be transferred to an outsourcing provider to help reduce this
threat.
Threat 2: The likelihood of the users resisting changes could cause major problems. This
is somewhat likely to happen, but can be avoided if they are given an alternative and
consulted in advance.
Threat 3: The project may run longer than expected. This isn’t highly likely, but this can
be transferred by outsourcing the project.
Threat 4: The changes may reduce the quality of care in the hospital. The probability is
satisfactory because the improvements brought about by the new system may not be
significant. If the quality decreases, the impact could be fairly significant, thus the
hospital may need to mitigate this threat by including more users in the planning.
Page 16 of 23
Problem 2:
Threat Severity Likelihood Inability RPN
to detect
#1 3 5 4 60
#2 5 6 1 30
#3 4 3 3 36
#4 7 4 6 168
The main thing that changes when using this approach is that threat #2 drops significantly
from “critical” to possibly “ignore.” This is mostly due to the lack of inability to detect.
Threat #2 is somewhat severe and the likelihood is great, but since the threat is relatively
easy to detect, it can be mitigated early and possibly even removed. Thus, this is a much
more realistic evaluation of the threats than just creating a risk matrix.
Problem 3:
Page 17 of 23
Problem 4:
Based on the analysis, the manufacturer should approve the purchase of the high-quality,
special equipment for $10,000. As a result, significant savings should occur.
Problem 5:
a1, a3 decision = (0.7  $3,000) + (0.3  $2,000) – $500 = $2,200
a1, a4 decision = (0.7  $1,000) + (0.3  $2,000) – $500 = $800
a2, a5 decision = (0.4  $2,150) + (0.6  $3,000) – $1,000= $1,660
a2, a6 decision = (0.4  $2,150) + (0.6  $4,000) – $1,000= $2,260
Based on this analysis, the best option is a2, a6.
Page 18 of 23
Problem 6:
P 5
r
o 4
3
b
a 3
1
b
i 2
2
l
i 1
t
y
1 2 3 4 5
Impact
Legend:
Critical
Monitor
Ignore
Opportunity 1:
You could “accept” this risk and enjoy the benefits derived from it. To increase the
potential for more impact, you could enhance the risk by providing more training.
Opportunity 2:
potential for more impact, you could further exploit the database.
Opportunity 3:
potential for more impact, you could share the data by increasing sales.
Page 19 of 23
Incidents for Discussion

Ringold’s Pool and Patio Supply
This is a good opportunity to engage the class in a discussion of the importance of
involving the team in developing plans and schedules. One way to do this is to engage the
class in collectively creating the upper level or two of a WBS for the project. Chances are
they will come up with several items that Junior missed in his, demonstrating the danger
of working alone.
John Sr. is asking a reasonable question, but his son is giving him a defective answer.
Even though Junior’s WBS looks very precise, it would be dangerous to base any
decision on it. Since, it has not been validated by anyone who has actual experience in
installing pools, there is no way of knowing if the estimates are reasonable, or even if it
has accounted for all the work. Junior has made no effort to evaluate the requirements of
the job. For example, he doesn’t list in his WBS anything related to permitting, electrical
or plumbing. In addition to these concerns, John Sr. must consider several business issues
including whether his company has the staff, skills, and equipment to take on this new
area. He needs to consider whether this expansion matches his long-term goals for the
business.
Stacee Laboratories
With adult professional students, this incident can lead to a lively discussion of the
involvement of other areas in a highly technical project. There will no doubt be many
opinions both pro and con on the involvement of areas, like marketing in a project that is
primarily a technical one. The students will probably have stories that will illustrate that,
in the long run, the involvement of other areas will make a project team stronger.
Ms. Tasha is only partially right. She is mixing together two different issues in her
recommendations. One way to understand the issues involved would be to map the
interfaces that would exist in this new environment. I suspect that mapping would show
that her concerns about the involvement of the toxicity and efficacy group are well taken.
They need to participate in the project from early on to understand the nature of the drug
being developed and to also allow them to pre-plan their part of the project. Advice from
this group could be valuable in reducing the number of dead ends that the research group
pursues. On the other hand, it could be a mistake to involve the marketing department
early on in each project. While they could get a head start on analyzing potential markets,
there is nothing to market until the end, and they cannot contribute to the identification of
new drugs. Ms. Tasha has missed an opportunity, however, to recommend a better
portfolio management process. Big Pharma does this quite well, as they have far more
leads for new drugs than the resources to pursue them. In a portfolio management
process, marketing’s involvement would be essential as they contribute to the decision of
what areas to pursue new drugs in. Once the project has been launched, however, they
should limit their involvement till the end.
Scope creep is probably more of a danger, if the researchers are working by themselves
and others just participate. A good way to help prevent it is to insure that there is an
adequate definition of the requirements at the beginning, and strong project planning and
control during the process. Students will typically object to this notion because their
Page 20 of 23
instinct is that a research project cannot be closely controlled. This is an opportunity to

point out that the process can and should be controlled, even if the outcomes cannot.
Case: Heublein: Project Management and Control System
Question 1:
A number of the project planning aids described in the chapter are used in the case.
Among them are versions of the:
• Project Plan
• Action Plans
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Project Master Schedule
• Linear Responsibility Chart
Question 2:
The Project Plan in this case was similar, but different, than the Project Charter in the
chapter of the text. The sections of each are included below:
Project Plan elements Project Charter elements
(from case) (from chapter)
Introduction Purpose
Project Objectives Objectives
Project/Program Structure Overview
Project/Program Costs Schedules
Network Resources
Schedule Personnel
Resource Allocation Risk Management Plans
Organization and Accountability Evaluation Methods
Control System
Milestones or Project Subdivisions
Question 3:
The WBS in the case is in a different format than the one described in the chapter. The
case WBS is in an indented (textual) format as opposed to the tree (graphical) format
included in the chapter.
The accountability matrices differ as well. The matrix in the chapter uses different types
of responsibilities (Responsible, Consult, Inform, and Accountable) than the matrix in the
case (Initiate/Responsibility, Approve, and Provide input). It is important to note that
organizations must choose the types of responsibilities that best fit the needs of their
particular projects.
Page 21 of 23
Question 4:
This project and the Project Portfolio Process described in Chapter 2 are two different
elements of the overall project management process. The Portfolio Process in Chapter 2
is a method for selecting which project should be executed. The project described in this
case assumes that the project has already been selected. It is describing the
implementation of a consistent methodology for the planning, scheduling and execution
of all capital projects across the corporation.
Question 5:
The previous focus on cost-benefit only addressed one aspect of the project management
process and only in a limited way. The corporation used a cost-benefit analysis technique
to select the capital projects to execute. It found, however, that even though they may
have selected the right project, they did not achieve their goals because the execution of
the project was poor. The case doesn’t say that cost-benefit analysis is no longer used for
project selection, instead if focuses on the elements implemented after the project is
selected. The new process insures that costs are collected during project execution so
that they can be compared to the performance benefits of the project.
Question 6:
Changes in the way depreciation is calculated would change the cost-benefit for the
installation of capital equipment. Without knowing the exact changes in the law, it’s
reasonable to assume that the changes were not favorable to the corporation, making the
equipment relatively more expensive. This would increase the importance of success for
each capital project and help justify the new system.
Reading: Planning For Crises in Project Management

Question 1:
Planning is an activity that consumes costly resources that are often overwhelmed by the
need to perform prescribed tasks within a time-constrained schedule. In this constrained
environment, it’s easy to drop tasks that involve thinking about something that probably
won’t happen anyway. Task oriented people want to get started and figure that they will
handle whatever comes up, just as they have in the past. Unfortunately, this is an
expensive and risky way to manage, particularly as projects get larger and more complex.
Question 2:
Yes, the tools would be of value because the Iceland example is talking about real threats
to life and property. In particular, contingency planning, logic charts, and tabletop
exercises would be quite useful.
Question 3:
Scenario analysis is similar to risk analysis, but does not anticipate a preplanned response
should a risk event occur. Nevertheless, if the outcome of a scenario is unfavorable,
contingency plans could be developed to alter the expected outcome identified in the
scenario analysis.
Page 22 of 23
Question 4:
Contingency planning probably has the most value to the project management
environment. The logic chart would probably be easiest to use, assuming that
contingency plans had already been developed.
Question 5:
The most important recommendation is to do risk analysis. The identification of risks
relevant to the project coupled with their impact and probability is the gateway to all
subsequent actions. Once these relevant risks have been identified, then the magnitude
and necessity of subsequent risk related activities could be evaluated. However, people
will only do what they have practiced, so tabletop exercises are mandatory as well.
Page 23 of 23
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Lee did not in the least object to the 'Silver Queen' accompanying the saloon
caravan. Indeed, had the whole British Empire belonged to this man he
would have had no hesitation in selling it—for a consideration.
Antony would have taken Chops with him as well as Mrs Pendlebury and
Lotty; but, as will afterwards transpire, the fat boy was a vital portion of the
Queerest Show on Earth, and could not be dispensed with. He was a prop in
more senses than one.
. . . . . . .
If there is any one thing more than another that youth is to be envied for it
is its capability for enjoying life. Ah me! what fools those men and women
are who set themselves to make vast sums of money against 'a time of
pleasure that is to be,' which seldom comes. And even when the fortune is
made, whether it be a million or a modest ten thousand, lo! when they
proceed to settle down to lead a happy life they find that all power of
enjoying anything is clean gone—and for ever. They find out their mistake
when it is too late. They are on a par with the man who orders for himself a
splendid repast, and after sitting down to table finds that he has not got the
least bit of appetite; that, on the contrary, everything is distasteful to him.
This is a sad state to be in. Young folks should glory in their youth,
especially girls still in their teens. Yet it is ever the same saying with them: 'I
wish I were away from school,' or 'I wish I were a grown-up girl;' and then,
when the days come, as Solomon says, when they have no pleasure in them,
how different is the tune they pipe! 'Heigh-ho!' they sigh, 'my happiest time
was my girlhood, and I did not know. Will these delightful days never come
again?' 'Never again!' answers echo; 'never again!'
There are many poems in our favourite Byron that bubble over with
youth and life and freedom. Freedom ought to be the birthright of all. Hardly
is there any one too old not to rejoice in it. But true freedom is probably only
to be felt and enjoyed at sea or on the road in a caravan. It is much the same,
and the writer of these lines should know, his earlier life being spent upon
the ocean wave, his later on the road.
But do not the following lines from Byron's 'Corsair' sparkle with youth
and life?
O'er the glad waters of the dark-blue sea,
Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free....
Ours the wild life in tumult still to range
From toil to rest, and joy in every change....
Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,
And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide,
The exulting sense, the pulse's maddening play,
That thrills the wanderer of that trackless
way!
. . . . . . .
It was only going to be a tour of a few weeks if all went well; but when
once out and away on the road in his splendid palace-upon-wheels, with the
glorious bracing breeze blowing, wild romantic scenery all around him, and
the sun shining on the sea, he took a deep and satisfied breath. He was
inhaling freedom itself. He felt at that moment, as did Byron's Corsair, 'his
heart awaken and his spirit soar.'
Not far in the rear was the beautiful little 'Silver Queen,' the fat lady
looking ever so pleasant as she drove the one willing horse with his
glittering harness all decked out in polished brass. This caravan was called
the 'Silver Queen' because, for lightness' sake, much of her outside was built
of aluminium, and its sheen on this bright January morning was, like stars on
the sea, resplendent. Behind her, on a rocking-chair, sat Lotty herself, quietly
knitting. Still more in the rear was a large light wagon with stores, tents, and
baggage of all sorts.
No wonder that the children in the little romantic towns through which
they passed—many of them hardly yet dressed, so early was it—rushed to
their doors to wave their caps or stockings at the show as it passed.
The 'Gipsy Queen,' with her large windows chastely but brightly
curtained, her varnish and her gilding, looked as elegant and beautiful
outside as she did inside. And not a single article had been forgotten that
might conduce to comfort or luxury. There was even a small yacht-piano in
one corner of the large caravan, and bright fires of coal and coke burned in
each.
When they drew rein in the square of a small market-town to water the
horses, quite a crowd of well-dressed, wondering people gathered round to
see the sight. But one glance told them that this was no ordinary show, but
gentle gipsies on a tour.
Antony lifted Lotty down from the coupé of her carriage after he had
given orders to put the nose-bags on the horses and cover up their loins.
Then, while Mary entered the large caravan to see about things generally,
youth and beauty went gladsomely off hand in hand to look at the shops and
make little purchases, for souvenirs in the shape of photos of scenery would
be bought wherever they went.
But every village all around and about here had a strange, romantic
interest. It was, or had been, a Jacobite country, and the sturdy races still
dwelt up among the mountains yonder whose forefathers had fought and
died for bonny Prince Charlie. Though more than a hundred and fifty years
had passed since Culloden, that unfortunate Prince, Antony soon found out,
still held a place in story and song and deeply down in the hearts of the
people. At one shop where our young folks called, Antony happened to
allude to Charlie as the Pretender. He could see from the mantling blood in
the shopkeeper's brow that he had made a mistake.
'Pardon me, sir,' he said, 'but you must not use that word in this part of the
country, and still less up in the hills. Charles was the rightful king by descent
from the ancient Stuart line, and no pretender.'
The weather was certainly cold, but it was gloriously fine for the present,
and one beauty of the tour lay in the fact that there was no need to hurry, and
no rehearsal at midday for exhibition at nightfall. The midday halt for
luncheon was made by the roadside, deep down in a pine-shaded glade, and
near to a clear stream that ran seawards over a bed of yellow sand. They
were lucky enough, moreover, to secure at night a pitch for the caravans in a
delightfully quiet and level little meadow, and no sooner had they been
drawn in than Mary proceeded to cook dinner. This was done partly on the
large oil-range in the pantry of the 'Gipsy Queen,' and partly outside on a fire
built in the real gipsy style on the sward.
Lotty had disappeared, and Antony was wondering where she was, when
she came tripping along with her lap full of beautiful flowers and foliage.
'Why, Lotty, wherever did you get these at this time of the year?'
'I only mentioned to the hotel master,' said the girl, 'that I loved flowers,
and that you, Mr Blake, did. That was all; and he went straight away to his
glass-house and gathered me all these.'
'Oh, won't we be gay?' said Antony.
'Yes; and now I shall go and arrange them.'
What a quiet and pleasant evening was spent after dinner, eaten with an
appetite that only sailor-folks and gipsies ever know anything about!
The small caravan was drawn up so close to the big one that, although
Mary would not have presumed to come and sit in the 'Gipsy Queen,' she
could hear the music very well; for Antony was a good pianist—'good at
nothing else earthly,' he used to tell his friends—and piano and violin go
well together.
There had been cows and a horse or two in the field when they first drove
in, but the kindly landlord took them all away lest they might annoy the
wanderers during the night.
Wallace seemed very happy and contented; but though he kept in the big
caravan all day he told Antony that it was his duty to be with his mistress by
night; but if any attack should be made by evil tramps, he, Antony, had only
to shout, and the tramps would be sorry they had come.
The camp cat had insisted on becoming the caravan cat, and a splendid
fellow he was; and it may as well be stated here that never, during all this
romantic tour, did pussy absent himself of a morning, although he might
have been out all night long. On such occasions, just as the horses were
about to start, and although there may have been no appearance of him
before that, out of somewhere he would come rushing with his fuzzy tail in
the air, and take his seat on the coupé. 'Sorry if I've kept you waiting,' he
would seem to say, 'but I've been spending the evening with some friends,
and time does pass so quickly on such occasions.' But puss made up for his
want of rest by night by sleeping on the sofa all the forenoon. Happy cat, no
responsibility and never a care!
The weather continued open and sunny for a whole week, and by the end
of that time Antony found himself camping near to, and his horses stabled at,
the great Highland Spa Hotel at Strathpeffer, with scenery all around him
which, although the mountains were clad from foot to summit in driven
snow, was charming in the extreme. But there is a charm about this romantic
country in winter which does not exist when summer is in its prime, albeit
then the trees are green, the wild-flowers are springing, and wild birds are
singing in brake and bush and fern. Then during winter, though oak and elm
and mountain ash are leafless and bare in the valleys, meadows are green,
and if not borne down by a weight of frozen snow the pine-trees wave dark
and glorious in the forests that clothe the hills and braes; and though lochs or
lakes may be ice-bound, they afford opportunities for many a roaring game,
and become for weeks at a time the paradise of the skater. But, more
betoken, the rivers, which were high before the frost fell, became streams of
fairy-like beauty, and the waterfalls were dream-like in their silent silver
sheen.
Antony was not surprised when the kindly landlord emerged from the
door of the great Spa Hotel and shook Mary by the hand and Lotty too.
'So glad to see you back again, my dearie'—this to Lotty; 'how bonny you
look! And here comes Wallace to shake a friendly paw, and the same old cat
to rub his bonny back against my leg.—How do, pussy?—How do,
Wallace?'
'There are two Wallaces,' said Mary.
'Dear me, yes,' said the hotelkeeper. 'In the pleasure of seeing you, Mrs
Pendlebury, I had quite forgotten that my name also is Wallace.'
He soon found out that Blake was travelling for his pleasure.
'Ah, but, sir,' he said, 'you should see this place in summer, when the
lawns are all in their glory, the Italian gardens and banqueting-hall open,
bands playing every night!'
'And fountains too!' said Lotty.
'Ay, my dear, and fountains, and well-dressed people from all ends of the
earth. But come in, Lotty darling, and warm your toes. And you, Mr Blake,
you must dine with us; a denial is out of the question.' Then striking an
attitude he sang:
'Scots wha ha'e wi' Wallace dined,

Scots wha at the Spa ha'e wined,
A glorious welcome here you'll find
From my guidwife and me.'
And Antony found it.

CHAPTER XVIII.
SNOW-BOUND IN A MOUNTAIN-LAND.
I T is easy getting to a Highland home or hotel home, but it is somewhat

difficult to get away again, for hospitality to strangers is part and parcel of
Scottish religion. So Antony and his people found themselves prisoners in
the beautiful vale of Strathpeffer for more than a week. But he must journey
on at last farther and farther into the wilds of Ross and Sutherland. Although
he had already made an excellent record for a winter tour, he was determined
to reach, if possible, a lonely central lake near which was a hotel.
Ben Wyvis, with its massive bulk, is in evidence everywhere here. It is
about the third highest mountain in this land of mountain and flood, and
there seems no getting rid of the giant Ben. It does not look so high as it is
because it is nowhere peaked or coned like Ben Ledi, for instance.
Away they moved early one lovely, hard frosty morning, with the Ben to
the left, sometimes seen, sometimes hidden by the dense woods they
penetrated, past the romantic Falls of Rogie, and westward and north away.
Antony was a little anxious, however, about the weather. The wind was
down. Hardly a breath moved the twigs. But strange banks of rock-like
clouds began slowly to arise in the west. Like ships becalmed at sea, they
were waiting for the wind. Even a little breeze would have sufficed to have
carried them upwards and over the sky, obliterating the blue and bringing
night and darkness on a full hour before its time. But that breeze came not
for the time being; and as they champed their bits and jingled their harness—
sweetest music to a gipsy's ear—the very horses seemed glad of the respite.
But the country soon became lonesome in the extreme, and its aspect one of
threatening dreariness. Never a soul did they meet on the road except one
Highland shepherd with his dog and a few half-wild sheep. Antony pulled up
his cavalcade to question this wiry old fellow, whose plaid was right over his
head.
'What think you of the weather, my friend?'
And here is Donald's reply: 'Oh loshins! my good people, if it's going far
you are, whip up your fine horses and make the quick and proper haste. For
sure enough the snow will soon be down on you even more also. Get into
shelter soon.'
'Much of a fall, think you, Donald?'
'Och, it may not be so much of a fall, my dear laddie, but it's the wild
wind that will be roaring. The blizzard, the blizzard; and if it's only bits of
English bodies you are, it will snow you up and smother ye!'
And so Donald went on with his shivering sheep and his hardy dog. It
was but poor heartening he had left behind him. But there would be no going
back.
About two miles farther on Antony could not help gazing uneasily at the
moorland around him. It was very far as yet from the inn where they hoped
to get stabling and a good pitch, and here there was shelter of no kind. But,
above all, a low wind began now to sweep moaning over the veldt, the
clouds had come up, had met the sun and obscured it, and, worse still, snow
had begun to fall. Moreover, Antony was a fairly good student of nature, and
knew that the little pellets that were now coming down, although no bigger
than grains of mustard-seed, would soon be succeeded by huge dry flakes
that would cover the ground inches deep in an hour and entirely impede
progress. But in far less than that time, so thick was the storm, it was
impossible to see many yards ahead. A milestone had not been visible for
hours, nor was there a finger-post, and the force of the wind kept increasing
almost momentarily.
Antony, like the good caravan-captain he was, sent his scout forward to
prospect for a good place on which to draw up and form a gipsy laager. He
was not long in returning. He had found just the spot, well sheltered by rocks
on two sides. So Antony ordered him ahead to act as guide.
Yes, the ground was hard, and was but little likely to give way under the
wheels; so, in the midst of the blinding drift and wind-whirled ice-dust, he
drew off the road and formed as comfortable a pitch as was possible under
the trying circumstances. The large caravan was positioned close to the little
one to shelter it, the wagon was located handy, a stable-tent erected under
the rocks with poles and canvas, to harbour the hardy horse that dragged the
'Silver Queen.' With this horse the groom was to sleep.
After things were made fairly snug, the coachman and his four good nags
were sent off to fight their way to the distant hotel, the groom going along
with orders to return if possible, and if it were not too dangerous, as soon as
the horses were stabled and their comfort secured. Then, as the wind might
change at any moment and wreck the 'Gipsy Queen,' Antony quickly got out
his four strong iron pegs, and the ropes which were as thick as the painter of
Lotty's yacht, and in less than an hour had the huge caravan safely anchored.
She might and she would roll and toss and tug at her anchors, but hardly a
hurricane itself would be strong enough to pull her from her moorings.
'Yes, Mrs Pendlebury, a good idea. We'll be glad to have dinner an hour
earlier, even if we have to get some supper later on!'
After dinner, and as there was no chance of the groom returning that
night, for darkness had already fallen, Antony went down the back steps to
have another interview with his housekeeper, and to see that the one horse
was snug for the night. He was nearly blown off his feet and half-suffocated
with the choking ice-dust raised by the whirling blizzard before he was able
to reach the back door of the little caravan. Being in comparative shelter, she
was rocking far less than the large house-on-wheels; but Antony was glad
enough to get inside.
'Sit down, Mrs Pendlebury; this is not a night to stand upon ceremony.'
He held up his forefinger. 'Hark!' he said, almost solemnly.
Rising and falling in mournful cadence was the shriek of the wind.
Hungry wolves howling on lonely Russian steppes, wild beasts in forest
jungle, these seemed to be the voices that fell now on the listening ear. Anon
they would lull a little, only to increase next minute with redoubled rage and
force, while frozen moss torn from the rocks and mixed with snow was
blown against the window-panes, threatening every moment to dash them in.
It was difficult even to hear each other talking.
'I greatly fear, Mary, that we may be storm-stayed for days. I came to ask
how we are off for stores and oil.'
Mary was understood to report as follows: Two gallons of oil in the kettle
under the big caravan, groceries (including butter) enough for a week, milk
(only condensed, but plenty of that), eggs a dozen; item, a leg of mutton
uncooked; item, two cold roast-fowls (if Mary had said frozen she would
have been nearer the mark); item, a roast-goose that the kindly proprietor at
the Spa had insisted on putting inside the little caravan just as she started.
'And fixings, Mary?'
'Plenty of potatoes and green kale, and oat-cakes galore.'
Antony was understood to say 'Hurrah!' but the sound was drowned in an
extra blast of the storm-wind which was now tearing through the camp with
more than hurricane force.
'And I,' he said, when it lulled for a few moments, 'have among my stores,
Mary, two unopened bottles of wine of the Highlands, which, before we get
out of this we may be glad to dispense to keepers.'
It brightened a little after this, and Antony took advantage of the change
to rush out and put up the shutters on both the caravans. He returned to the
'Silver Queen' almost immediately after, and glad enough was he to get
inside, for the blizzard appeared to be now at its very height; and, curiously
enough, the thermometer as well as the barometer had gone down with a run,
and the former now stood at three degrees below zero, and the cold was
intense.
'Shall I light the lamp, sir?'
The lamp, by the way, hung on gimbals, like that on board a ship.
'Oh, not for a while; I have banked my own fire in the 'Gipsy Queen,' and
Wallace and pussy are lying snugly on the rug; but by your fire, if you will
let me sit a short time, I think it will be ever so much more cosy without the
lamp.'
The firelight in the pretty wee grate was certainly far more romantic, for
it flickered and flared on their faces as they sat around it, while at their backs
it was all shadows Rembrandtesque. Antony would fain have conversed, or
even told stories, but the noise was every now and then so terrific that it was
impossible to do so with any amount of profit.
But to sit and look at each other's faces, or the play of the light thereon,
grew a little irksome at last; then quietly, and without being told, Lotty took
down her violin-case and opened it almost with a species of reverence, for
no little girl ever looked half so well after her doll as she took care of her
beautiful instrument. There was a soft silk handkerchief over it, visible when
the case was opened, and this carefully lifted off revealed the violin itself, its
breast between the f-holes white with the powdered resin from bow and
strings. That bow itself was worth more than many a good violin would fetch
in the market.
The child smiled when she took this baby of hers out of its velvet-lined
bassinet. She looked for a moment at her left-hand finger-tips as if to make
sure the nails were correctly trimmed, then glanced at the fire as if fearful
that a piece of coal might tumble out and dust arise. And now with exquisite
tenderness she drew the bow across the strings before adjusting them to tune.
Every string that Lotty possessed was well stretched before being tried, so
that there was seldom much to do in the tuning way. Fastidious, indeed,
would he have been who could not listen to-night with pleasure to the music
this infant prodigy elicited from her favourite instrument.
But part of Lotty's power to please lay in the fact that she never played
much on any evening, having apparently a latent dread of tiring an audience.
To-night, at all events, Antony was not tired; in fact, he could have sat and
listened to the sweet strains until long past midnight. And, oh! methinks that
if harps are twanged as angels sing in heaven, the violin itself must lead. But
the music, weird and dreamy, ceased at last, and Lotty put the child of her
heart back again into its cosy case.
Well, all that fearful night the wind raged and howled with unabated
violence, and it was probably owing to this, and to the rocking and tossing of
his palace-upon-wheels, that Antony slept so long next morning, for when he
flashed his electric light upon his watch, lo! he found it was nearly eight
o'clock. He leapt out of bed and lit his lamp, and had just finished dressing
when rat-tat-tat came to the back door. It was not until then that Antony
noticed that the wind had gone down completely, the storm-spirit had spent
its violence, and through the frozen panes of the skylight the beams of the
rising sun were trying to struggle. So hard still was the frost that these panes
of glass were not only covered by fern-fronds and flowers, but with powder.
'I thought, Mr Blake, it would be a pity to disturb you before.'
'Thank your kindness, Mary.'
'But breakfast is all ready, sir.'
'Well, ask Lotty to come in this morning and keep me company.'
He had, with his own hands, lit the stove half an hour ago, and the fire
burned bright and clear in the frosty atmosphere.
'She will be delighted, I'm sure, but'——
'But what, Mary?'
'You'll have to carry her through the snow-wreaths.'
And when Antony looked out, lo and behold! he found that the 'Gipsy
Queen' was embedded in a bank of snow as high as the steps themselves, and
that a bank fully fourteen feet in height and shaped like a huge beach-
comber separated the camp from the highway. A shovel and a spade were
part of the caravan outfit, but this snow was far too powdery to be dug; so,
enveloping himself in oilskin leggings and coat, Antony left Mary to put the
caravan straight and lay the cloth, while he scrambled through to the back
steps of the 'Silver Queen.' He found Lotty dressed as neatly and prettily as if
she were going to be a Gipsy May-Queen. She gave him smiling welcome,
and appeared quite delighted with this turn affairs had taken.
'Oh, isn't it beautiful and romantic, Mr Blake?'
'No doubt of that, dear; but goodness knows how many days, weeks, or
months we may have to lie here.'
'And I hope it will be for quite a long, long time. What fun Wallace and I
will have!'
There was a large kettle standing over the stove.
'Pray, what is in there, Lotty?' said Antony.
'Oh, that is snow cooking for tea, you know.'
And then Antony remembered that there was not a drop of water in either
caravan.
'Breakfast is waiting, Mr Blake, and will soon get cold,' said Mary,
bustling in.
'Come on, Lotty!' He was standing beneath the steps, the snow high
above his knees, and holding out a pair of mittened hands. 'Jump into my
oilskin, dear.'
'What! Have I to be carried like a baby?'
'Like the baby you are. Jump!'
Lotty jumped, and was soon deposited high and dry in the large caravan.
Wallace had gone away somewhere a jet black dog; he now returned a
pure white one, and it took Antony full two minutes to make him
presentable.
Real finnan-haddocks (hot, done to a turn, and served up between snow-
white towels), oat-cakes, butter as sweet as spring primroses, new-laid duck-
eggs, and coffee whose fragrance and aroma filled the whole saloon.
Antony was hungry, with a hill or mountain hunger, and gay with it all.
So, too, was his little companion. Kind and generous treatment spoil some
children; but Lotty was far too old-fashioned, pretty and lady-like though she
was, to be spoiled.
'Isn't this life idyllic, my little pal?'
'I'm sure, Mr Blake, it is perfectly idyllic. But what does idyllic mean?'
'It means just this,' he answered with youthful rapture, 'it means all the
beauty and the romance and peace and poetry we see around us both outside
and in. That is idyllic.'
CHAPTER XIX.
SPORTING-TIME IN WOODS AND WILDS.
T HE storm that imprisoned Antony's caravans will long be remembered in

the Scottish Highlands for its renewal day after day for more than a
week. Blizzard after blizzard blew, and even at last, when the snow
ceased to fall and the sun brought a return of fine weather, winter held its
tight grip upon everything. The roads were impassable, and for a time even
snow-ploughs had but little effect upon the mighty wreaths and banks. But
worse than these banks were the filled-up hollows and ravines in which
some people averred it would take months to melt the snow.
Antony was a hopeful young fellow, however; and though a month in his
snow-prison might not have hurt, he thought that in three months things
would become a trifle monotonous, especially as they were a long journey
from the camp of Biffins Lee. He need not have feared starvation, however,
nor loneliness either, for when the sun began to shine once more he had
many visitors who had made long pilgrimages to see the snow-bound camp
and caravans. There were small lochs about moreover; and to one of these,
in spite of the heavy walking, Antony and his little companion made
frequent journeys. Both had skates and both knew well how to use them.
Antony, however, had made one mistake: he had imagined he could show
the northerners a thing or two, as he slanged it. It was quite the other way,
for the northerners have practice almost all the winter through, and are
therefore very expert at skating.
But on the ice, whether curling or skating, Antony could not help making
acquaintance with some very nice people; and though at heart neither a
hermit nor recluse—because, as he explained only to his sister Aggie,
society bored him—he was not proof against some of the many kind
invitations he received from really good families. The roads now were
passable in most parts to light dogcarts and to sleighs, although the 'Gipsy
Queen' dared not attempt them. He tried to stave off some of these
invitations by saying that he could not leave his housekeeper and Lotty in
the evening. But there was an easy answer to this objection.
'Let your big, beautiful dog stay with the caravan, and also your groom.
These can protect your housekeeper, and you bring the child with you.'
Well, there was moonlight at present, and really—under a clear, star-
studded sky, with hard snow under the runners and jingling bells at the
horse's neck—sleighing, well wrapped up in warm furs, is a very delightful
sensation, and Lotty enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps she enjoyed quite as
much a ride in a swift motor-car, and some families had these, and they
seemed to run along where the roads were open at about a hundred miles an
hour, although they might have been doing barely forty. And wherever she
went Lotty took her violin with her, so that it is no wonder this infant
prodigy was an immense favourite. The verdict on her was very much the
same wherever she went: 'So gentle and well-behaved, so lady-like, and so
unlike all one's conceived ideas of a show-child.' For, of course, Antony had
thought proper not to conceal what Lotty really was—just a little gipsy lass.
But there was one thing which probably accounted in some measure for
Lotty's nice manners. Biffins Lee had not neglected her education; and this
not out of any real kindness to the child, we may well believe, but because
his desire was to have her an infant prodigy in every way possible. At places
where a sojourn was determined upon, if of only a few weeks' duration,
Biffins had seen to it that she had the best of teaching from the best of
teachers in every branch of education that would tend to bring out her
brightest qualities. Little wanderer though she was, Lotty loved knowledge,
and learning was a delight to her. Everything taught her fell upon the best
soil and took root, therefore rendering her mind not the barren and
inhospitable desert we too often find it in children, who seem to regard
teaching and education of all kinds as penal, as a kind of punishment from
which they long to emerge and speedily forget.
Lotty knew English well, and so she read the best of English authors old
and new, and her knowledge of French was the key that opened to her the
doors of a great library which was stored with marvels.
And whenever Biffins had the chance he was fond of drawing Lotty out
before people to show how much his child—he always put great emphasis
on the possessive pronoun—knew.
With music it was the same. But, after all, her accomplishments were all
meant to bring grist to his own mill and make Lotty more valuable as a
property.
At one house a children's party was got up all for Lotty's own sake, and
the little ones who met her were kept laughing at all her marvellous tricks till
long past their usual bedtime.
So, upon the whole, being snow-bound in a caravan in the dead of winter
Antony found was not such a terrible experience after all. He kept in touch
with Biffins Lee, but only by telegrams, and these were just as brief as he
could make them, and few and far between. One ran thus: 'Storm-stayed;'
another, 'Snow-bound;' a third, 'Still snow-bound,' and so on and so forth. He
took the trouble to prepay these, and the replies were always consoling
enough: 'Don't hurry—all right in camp;' or 'Keep my properties as long as
you have a mind.'
While storm-stayed among the beautiful snow, with pure air blowing
around him, and the scenery of mountain, forest, and stream so fairy-like and
enchanting, Antony could not help thinking of the kind of life that his father
had half-recommended to him—namely, that of London. Comparisons are
odious, it is true; still, for once in a way, Antony could not help making
them.
'Frank Antony Blake,' he said to himself, 'I will tell you something, but
you are never to let it go any farther. All around you here there are beauty
and romance that nothing on earth could surpass, while yonder in the city are
the black mire of muddy streets, bare trees dripping soot, darkness, and
choking fog. Frank Antony Blake, you have the better of it, you lucky old
dog!'
He had frequent letters from Manby Hall, from Aggie, for she was the
only real scribe; and almost every one of these now breathed the wish that he
might soon return. Antony's mother wrote but seldom, being very much of
an invalid and taking but little interest in anything.
'Still frozen in,' he said in a telegram to Aggie.
Well, there were sports in winter here that were not to be despised, and
one of these was white hare shooting. Antony thought himself fit, and he
was fairly so; but he found that a twenty-mile walk over the mountains after
these Alpine hares, and the same distance back, was trying to his heart as
well as to his legs. Yet the sturdy fellows who went with him, and the hardy
Highland keepers, thought nothing of it. One day in particular he felt so tired
when nearing home that he scarce could carry his gun; but very much
surprised was he to be told by a keeper that he was going to walk five miles
to a ball as soon as he changed his kilt, and would no doubt dance all night
and go to the hill after breakfast in the morning.
Heigh-ho! pleasure of every kind comes to an end in this world, and
sooner or later the world itself will come to an end. So, after innumerable
adventures on the road, Antony with his caravans found himself one
forenoon rolling into Biffins Lee's camp once more. But never, never could
he forget the joys and romance of that winter tour in the Highlands. All
hands gathered round to hear them tell their story, and everybody was
pleased to see them back once more safe and sound.
Although the real home of a dog is wherever his master or mistress is,
still no one nowadays would be listened to who disputed the fact that the
honest fellow thinks and remembers, and that he can no more forget the days
of auld langsyne than can a human being. Indeed, on his return Wallace's
behaviour was very human. He not only went a round of inspection all about
the camp, as if to see that everything was as before; but he must say, 'How
do you do?' in his own way to every animal in the show, especially Bruin the
bear, whom doubtless Wallace looked upon as a hero. But Bruin was very
glad to see him, and proved this by actually getting on his hind-legs and
performing a wild dance of his own which would have looked very
ridiculous had he not been so really sincere.
The springtime had commenced—that is, it was the middle of February,
and this is Nature's spring, let astronomers rule it otherwise if they please.
But the buds that had first shown life in November by thrusting off the old
leaves, that fell withered and brown on pathway and bank, showed signs
now of fullness and bursting. They but waited in silence for balmier breezes
to blow and for the sun to shine more warmly at midday. Then the coy young
leaflets would begin to show. On banks beneath the rocky cliffs and on old
gray boulders the velvety moss assumed a brighter face, and wee olive-
leaves appeared on the honeysuckle, which is ever the first to give show of
life to wild hedge or copse.
Away in the woods the hoodies were building a nest here and a nest there
in pine-tree or tall elm, for they are not social birds. These worked in silence;
but high in the larches the magpies made more din and chattering.
Birds of all kinds were more gaily dressed now to welcome the incoming
season of joy and love. The mavises and blackbirds sang loud and jubilant in
the plantation's shade; they wanted all the world to know that they were
happy. But even the tinier birds, songless as yet, that hopped from tree to
tree, looked very busy and vastly important, for each little feathered bosom
held a sweet secret that none but themselves should know.
The sea-birds came as usual to the knoll to be fed; but even their plumage
looked cleaner, if that could have been possible, and more ornate. They were
quicker on the wing too, and their voices were shriller and more musical. By
the highway sides anemones began now to snow the turf, and many a little
nameless yellow flower, and the gowans or mountain daisies spread wide
their crimson-tipped petals to woo the sunshine.
To be out of doors at this season, in this romantic and beautiful sea-laved
land, was heaven itself, a happy, hopeful time that Frank Antony, with his
big poetic heart, could have wished would last for aye. It was better far, he
thought, than the red rush of summer, with its floral glory that would end so
soon in autumn brown and sear. But some hearts are built to love spring and
only spring. They want to have the buds and flowers always springing, and
birds singing their first and therefore their real songs of happiness and love.
Lotty would be thirteen this year.
'Dear me,' she said looking additionally wise for a moment, 'what a long,
long life!'
Poor little gipsy lass, that long, long life had not been wanting in sorrow!
And it was probably for this reason that it seemed to her so long.
They were bird-nesting among the yellow gorse that scented all the air
around them and hugged the moorland in great golden patches; and it was
here the rose-linnet had its cosy nest and sang so sweetly to its little brown
mate so quiet on her speckled eggs. Both Antony and she loved to see birds'
nests, but it is needless to say they touched them not.
'I'll soon be old, Mr Blake!'
Her companion laughed; and Wallace, fancying he saw the joke, gave
Lotty's ear a friendly lick in passing.
'Soon be as old as Crona, won't you, dear?' said Antony.
'Oh, I don't know how long it takes to be as old as Crona, though
somehow I never think that my fairy godmother is aged.'
'You are a happy girl to have so good a godmother.'
'Oh yes, and I feel cold sometimes to think how miserable I would be if
there were no Crona. I have Chops—Chops comes next after Wallace; and
then Mary, and then Bruin, and then Skeleton.'
'You put Bruin before Skeleton?'
'Yes, Bruin before Skeleton; because I've seen more of him, you know—
more of Bruin than even Wallace, though Wallace is wiser. But, Mr Blake, I
can remember a time when there was no Wallace, and then it was always
either Chops or Bruin who came with me when I went to visit Crona. But I
was never afraid of ugly men when Bruin was with me.'
'I should think not indeed.'
'And once, I mind, it came on too quickly dark in the forest—that was
before Chops had blazed the trees—and I lost myself. The bear and I soon
grew tired and lay down to rest. I would have been very cold if Bruin hadn't
been so warm, so I soon fell sound asleep.'
'A very pretty pair of babes in the wood you must have looked!'
'It was very early when I awoke, but quite light, and I was so dreadfully
afraid now, because Bruin was sitting and roaring loud and angry. Will
Wisely the poacher was standing there not far off, and shaking with fear so
that he could hardly speak.
'"Oh Will," I cried, "get up into a tree for fear Bruin kills you and eats
you."
'It was a very tall, close spruce-tree, and up went Will as quickly as he
could. I thought Bruin would not follow; but he did, because Bruin, I'm sure,
believed that all the forest belonged to him and me, and that Will Wisely had
no business up in one of our trees. So the bear roared more loudly than ever,
and went off up the tree, and then Will was forced to slide out over the point
of a big branch and lower himself to the ground.
'"Run, Will," I said, "run, Will, for your life, and I'll try to keep Bruin in
the tree."
'So I climbed up a bit myself, and the bear growled and was very angry
because I wouldn't let him down to get a piece of Will Wisely. But I
wouldn't, and so Will got away, and Bruin and I soon found our way home to
camp. Oh, I love Bruin! And, Mr Blake, when you go away'——
The child suddenly stopped speaking, and, to Antony's surprise, threw
herself on the ground close beside the golden furze there, where the rose-
linnets sang, and burst into a fit of sobbing and tears.
CHAPTER XX.
IN THE DARK O' THE NEAP.
N EITHER children nor dogs think much about the future, and it would be
wise sometimes if their elders resembled them in this respect, for surely
even Lotty's honest and faithful friend Wallace was to be envied in
being so perfectly happy and contented, and in believing—if he could be
said to possess a belief—that the world for him would have no end, that his
little mistress would always be with him, and that it would always be
sunshine and spring.
But young folks like Lotty, who have come through the hard, do often
wonder to themselves what will become of them in after years. And this
gipsy lass had been so happy ever since Frank Antony had arrived in camp
that the very thought of his going away and being to her as if he had never
come to cheer her and make the days seem all too short, was one which
loomed before her like a big dark cloud which ere long must engulf her, and
from which her sun of life might never emerge. No wonder, then, that as she
thought of this she shed bitter tears that morning on the moor. And what
could Antony do but just try to comfort her as best he could? For there was
sorrow and sadness even at his own heart. And the birds sang on, and the
perfume of spring was all around them; only poor Wallace seemed much
concerned and whined pitifully as he licked poor Lotty's hands and ears.
But the child's grief did not last a great while, and soon she was smiling
through her tears, after heaving one or two half-heartbroken sighs.
'I'm such a little silly, amn't I?' she said.
Antony raised her from the sitting position and soon they were walking
hand in hand across the moor towards Crona's cottage, singing as was their
wont—she in her sweet treble, he in his bass—and the dog bounding and
barking with joy, half-hysterically one might have said, to see his mistress
happy once more.
They were always sure of a hearty and loving welcome at the witch's
house. The cat met them to rub head against legs, even Wallace coming in
for a share of her affection. Indeed, the great Newfoundland appeared to be a
hero with pussy, though no doubt he considered himself somewhat superior
to her in intellect. On this occasion she showed her affection for the dog by
running off in front and whacking poor Tod Lowrie, who was sound asleep
at the sunny side of the cottage door.
'Get up, you lazy Lowrie,' she seemed to say, 'and welcome a bigger dog
than ever you'll be.'
Nevertheless, pussy kept her gloves on all the time she whacked the fox.
So it was only play and fun, born of her sudden joy at seeing her friends
Lotty, Antony, and big, wise Wallace. And when Joe with a craik-k! and a
croak-k! his wings drooping on the ground, rushed forward and jumped
nimbly on top of the fox and pecked at pussy, anybody could see this was
also fun and play got up on the spur of the moment.
'Hurray—ray!' cried the strange bird. 'Joe's alive! Hurray—hurray—ray!'
When Joe did at last manage to land a dig in pussy's brow he held back
his head and laughed as if possessed of something not canny.
'Ha—ha—ha! Ho—ho—ho! Joe's alive. Ha—ha—ha!'
Pussy shook her head, and retired to wash her face.
Well, Crona and her friends spent a very happy day together, and the sun
was down before they even dreamt of parting. The sun went down, and then
came a long twilight, with a gradually rising wind; so, bidding Crona good-
night, they set out with all speed to get clear of the woods before darkness
fell, and to-night there would be no early moon, for it was the neap.
Chops had come as far as the high cliff to meet them, and as he was
looking unusually serious Antony asked him if anything was the matter.
'W'ich I don't go for to say there is,' answered Chops, 'not on my own
like; only Kelly the coastguard tells us that the bark hout yonder isn't likely
to weather the Partans' Rock.'
Before Antony and Lotty had got quite clear of the woods the wind had
suddenly increased to almost the force of a gale, blowing right on to the
land, with, if anything, a bit of eastering in it. And out yonder in the fast-
gathering gloom they could see a bark under very little sail standing
westwards, but perilously near to the shore.
The word 'partan' signifies a crab, and the rock out yonder was never
visible except at very low tides, such as occur at the neap.
Presently Kelly himself came along. He was an Englishman and a good
sailor, and he was stationed with a chum or two far along the coast here.

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Project Management A Managerial

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'Scots wha ha'e wi' Wallace dined,

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SPORTING-TIME IN WOODS AND WILDS.

T HE storm that imprisoned Antony's caravans will long be remembered in

IN THE DARK O' THE NEAP.

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