FINAL EXAMINATION / PEPERIKSAAN AKHIR

PROFESSIONAL MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

COURSE CODE : MMEH2073

KOD KURSUS

COURSE NAME : PROJECT MANAGEMENT

NAMA KURSUS

DURATION : 2 HOURS (EXAMINATION) & 2 HOURS (SUBMISSION TIME)

TEMPOH 2 JAM (PEPERIKSAAN) & 2 JAM (MASA PENGHANTARAN)

DATE : 7/5/2022
TARIKH

STUDENT’S NAME : NOOR HAIZUM BINTI ABDUL HAMID

IC NO 850627-10-5860
NO MATRIK TX218356MEH663

LECTURER’S NAME : ANDREW LEE SALIN

NAMA PENSYARAH

MARKS : 40 MARKS
MARKAH

INSTRUCTION / ARAHAN:
1. Answer ALL questions at Part A and Part B on the answer sheet.
Jawab SEMUA soalan pada Bahagian A dan Bahagian B pada kertas jawapan.

2. Write your name, matric no., identity card no., course code, course name, section no. and
lecturer’s name on the first page (in the upper left corner) and every page thereafter on the
answer sheet.
Tulis nama anda, no. matrik, no. kad pengenalan, kod kursus, nama kursus, no. seksyen
dan nama pensyarah pada muka surat pertama (penjuru kiri atas )kertas jawapan dan pada
setiap muka surat jawapan.

3. Each answer sheet must have a page number written at the bottom right corner.
Setiap helai kertas jawapan mesti ditulis nombor muka surat pada bahagian bawah penjuru
kanan.

4. Answers should be handwritten, neat and clear.

Jawapan hendaklah ditulis tangan, kemas dan jelas menggunakan huruf cerai.

WARNING / AMARAN
Students caught copying / cheating during the examination will be liable for disciplinary actions
and may recommend the student to be expelled from sitting for exam.
Pelajar yang ditangkap meniru / menipu semasa peperiksaan akan dikenakan tindakan disiplin
dan boleh mengesyorkan pelajar diusir dari menduduki peperiksaan.

This examination paper consists of 3 pages including the cover

SECTION A: Answer all the questions base on case study below

Case study: ‘The Bathtub Period’

The award of the Scott contract on January 3, 1987, left Park Industries elated. The Scott
Project, if managed correctly, offered tremendous opportunities for follow- on work over the next
several years. Park’s management considered the Scott Project as strategic in nature.

The Scott Project was a ten-month endeavor to develop a new product for Scott Corporation.
Scott informed Park Industries that sole-source production contracts would follow, for at least
five years, assuming that the initial R&D effort proved satisfactory. All follow-on contracts were
to be negotiated on a year to- year basis.

Jerry Dunlap was selected as project manager. Although he was young and eager, he
understood the importance of the effort for future growth of the company. Dunlap was given
some of the best employees to fill out his project office as part of Park’s matrix organization. The
Scott Project maintained a project office of seven full time people, including Dunlap, throughout
the duration of the project. In addition, eight people from the functional department were selected
for representation as functional project team members, four full-time and four half-time.

Although the workload fluctuated, the manpower level for the project office and team members
was constant for the duration of the project at 2,080 hours per month. The company assumed
that each hour worked incurred a cost of $60.00 per person, fully burdened.

At the end of June, with four months remaining on the project, Scott Corporation informed Park
Industries that, owing to a projected cash flow problem, follow-on work would not be awarded
until the first week in March (1988). This posed a tremendous problem for Jerry Dunlap because
he did not wish to break up the project office. If he permitted his key people to be assigned to
other projects, there would be no guarantee that he could get them back at the beginning of the
follow-on work. Good project office personnel are always in demand.

Jerry estimated that he needed $40,000 per month during the “bathtub” period to support and
maintain his key people. Fortunately, the bathtub period fell over Christmas and New Year’s, a
time when the plant would be shut down for seventeen days. Between the vacation days that
his key employees would be taking, and the small special projects that this people could be
temporarily assigned to on other programs, Jerry revised his estimate to $125,000 for the entire
bathtub period.

At the weekly team meeting, Jerry told the program team members that they would have to
“tighten their belts” in order to establish a management reserve of $125,000. The project team
understood the necessity for this action and began rescheduling and replanning until a
management reserve of this size could be realized.

Because the contract was firm-fixed-price, all schedules for administrative support (i.e., project
office and project team members) were extended through February 28 on the supposition that
this additional time was needed for final cost data accountability and program report
documentation. Jerry informed his boss, Frank Howard, the division head for project
management, as to the problems with the bathtub period. Frank was the intermediary between
Jerry and the general manager. Frank agreed with Jerry’s approach to the problem and
requested to be kept informed.

On September 15, Frank told Jerry that he wanted to “book” the management reserve of
$125,000 as excess profit since it would influence his (Frank’s) Christmas bonus. Frank and
Jerry argued for a while, with Frank constantly saying, “Don’t worry! You’ll get your key people
back. I’ll see to that. But I want those uncommitted funds recorded as profit and the program
closed out by November 1.” Jerry was furious with Frank’s lack of interest in maintaining the
current organizational membership.
QUESTIONS (Section A)

1.Should Jerry go to the general manager? (2m)

Yes, Jerry have to go to the General Manager. Jerry intimated his immediate division head for
project management about the problems with the bathtub period as he was intermediary
between Jerry and the general manager but his conflict arises between the Frank agreed with
Jerry’s approach to the problem and requested to be kept informed. Frank and Jerry argued
for a while, with Frank constantly saying, “Don’t worry! You’ll get your key people back. I’ll see
to that. But I want those uncommitted funds recorded as profit and the program closed out by
November 1.” Jerry was furious with Frank’s lack of interest in maintaining the current
organizational membership.

2. Should the key people be supported on overhead? (3m)]

We can assert that the benefits to support key people on overhead mainly depends on the
chance that. If the company can take the overhead of $ 125,000, but there is scope for very
large revenues for sustained amounts of time, then the company should go ahead.

Reason for overhead is a if wants maintain the performance of cooperation of the key people

Reason for no overhead is a if guarantee get back all people (no matter where they go during
bathtub period). Actually, well estimation of unpredicted event. No overhead needed

3. If this were a cost-plus program, would you consider approaching the customer with
your problem in hopes of relief? (5m)

Yes, the cash flow problem was the result of the customer, Scott Project. Therefore, Park
Industries had the option of approaching the customer and negotiating a payment strategy
different from the “all or nothing” approach of Scott Project. Also, Park Industries should
consider whether keeping this customer is valuable as future cash flow issues may continue to
arise.

If it were a cost-plus program, I would approach the customer and request additional project
cost coverage due to their lack of funds. It is critical too.

4.If you were the customer of this cost-plus program, what would your response be for
additional funds for the bathtub period, assuming cost overrun? (5m)
If the project produced was valuable, then as a customer I would consider additional funds during
the bathtub period. However, if the project was not valuable or not meeting success standards,
then as a customer I would not consider additional funds during the bathtub period.

Jerry estimated that he needed $40,000 per month during the “bathtub” period to support and
maintain his key people. Fortunately, the bathtub period fell over Christmas and New Year’s, a
time when the plant would be shut down for seventeen days. Between the vacation days that
his key employees would be taking, and the small special projects that this people could be
temporarily assigned to on other programs, Jerry revised his estimate to $125,000 for the entire
bathtub period.

At the weekly team meeting, Jerry told the program team members that they would have to
“tighten their belts” in order to establish a management reserve of $125,000. The project team
understood the necessity for this action and began rescheduling and replanning until a
management reserve of this size could be realized.

5.Would your previous answer change if the program had the money available as a
result of an underrun? (5m)
Because the contract was firm-fixed-price, all schedules for administrative support (example
are project office and project team members) were extended through February 28 on the
supposition that this additional time was needed for final cost data accountability and program
report documentation.

Jerry informed his boss, Frank Howard, the division head for project management, as to the
problems with the bathtub period. Frank was the intermediary between Jerry and the general
manager. Frank agreed with Jerry’s approach to the problem and requested to be kept
informed.

6.How do you prevent this situation from recurring on all yearly follow-on contracts?
(5m)

Project Managers are organized, passionate and goal- oriented who understand what projects
have in common, and their strategic role in how organizations succeed, learn and change.
Project Management Expertise such as Application knowledge, Industry group, Technical
specialty and Managerial area

Understanding the project environment Cultural, social, political, international, physical,

Management knowledge and skills and Interpersonal skills

Communication, influence, leadership, motivation, negotiation and problem solving

Section B: Answer all questions.

1.Describe different stages of the project life cycle. (5m)

The project life cycle includes the steps required for project managers to successfully manage
a project from start to finish. There are 5 phases to the project life cycle also called the 5
process groups such as initiating, planning, executing, monitoring/controlling, and closing.
Each of these project phases represents a group of interrelated processes that must take
place.

-Initiation phase : A decision making team will identify the project can realistically be
completed.
-Planning Phase : A team should priorities the project , calculate a budget and schedule with
determine what resources are needed.
-Execution Phase : Resources task are distributed and team are informed of responsibilities.
-Monitor and Control Phase : The project managers adjust the schedules and do what is
necessary to keep the project back.
-Closing Phase : An evaluation is done to highlight the project success and learn from project
history.

2. Outline the key skills every good project manager should possess. (5m)

Skill required for project manager to apply such as Communication, Leadership, Team
Management, Negotiation, personal organization and risk management.

Some examples of the specific communication skills this role calls for presentation skills,
written communication (Emailing, Reports, and so on), verbal communication, active listening,
ability to clarify and paraphrase, stress tolerance and conflict management.

Leadership is the ability to lead and motivate a team is critical to furthering any project. Project
managers need to resolve personality conflicts and boost team spirit while also guarding
against late or sloppy work. Some of the specific in demand leadership skills the role calls for
include motivation, team building, conflict resolution, relationship building, scheduling critical
thinking.

Management is to work effectively, managing people is essential. From delegating work to

holding individuals accountable, it's a project manager's responsibility to set goals, evaluate
performance, and encourage collaboration. When it comes to managing people, some of the
required skills include coaching, collaboration, delegating, organizing, planning and
coordinating.

3. How you will identify your stakeholders? Who are they? (5m)

Stakeholders are people or organizations who either will be impacted by the project or who
can impact the project. Always include such as project sponsor, project team. May include are
customers, suppliers, vendors, the public, land owners, voters, other departments within the
organization, government and else.

Major tool is the stakeholder register are Lists stakeholder, role, all communications. Updated
regularly throughout the project, new stakeholders can appear at any time.

Stakeholders can be:

1.The project manager, sponsor, and team
2.The customer (individual or organization)
3. Suppliers of material or other resources
4. Creditors
5. Employees
6. Unions
7.City, community another geographic region
8. Professional organizations
9. Any individual or group impacted by the project

Stakeholder identification is the process used to identify all stakeholders for a project. It is
important to understand that not all stakeholders will have the same influence or effect on a
project, nor will they be affected in the same manner. There are many ways to identify
stakeholders for a project; however, it should be done in a methodical and logical way to
ensure that stakeholders are not easily omitted. This may be done by looking at stakeholders
organizationally, geographically, or by involvement with various project phases or outcomes.

Another way of determining stakeholders is to identify those who are directly impacted by the
project and those who may be indirectly affected. Examples of directly impacted stakeholders
are the project team members or a customer who the project is being done for. Those
indirectly affected may include an adjacent organization or members of the local community.
4.WBS is an important part of project management plan. What is does a WBS help in
preparing a good plan? (5m)

A work breakdown structure (WBS) lets project managers plan their work more efficiently. A
project is characterized by time-limited activities and is assigned fixed time frames and costs.
When it is finished, a project must fulfill the stakeholder needs it was designed to address. The
project management has to plan for the schedule, the fixed costs and the functional
completeness of the project and assign responsibilities. The WBS helps make this planning
consistent and provides for effective project execution.

Creating Measurable and Independent Tasks

The main purpose of a WBS is to reduce complicated activities to a collection of tasks. This is
important for the project manager because she can oversee the tasks more effectively than
the complex activities. Tasks must be measurable and independent, with clearly defined limits.
All the project work must be included in one of the tasks and the tasks must not include any
non-project work.

Assigning Costs to Each Task

Because the WBS tasks are measurable, the project management can assign specific costs to
each task. The WBS lets project managers distribute the project budget into defined packages
linked to the tasks and check to make sure that the task costs in total don't exceed the total
project cost.

Track Progress in a Schedule

The WBS is important for tracking progress in the project schedule. Because the WBS tasks
have clearly defined limits, the project management can determine how advanced the project
is by checking which of the tasks are finished. Even within each task, the project management
can check for percent completion because each task is measurable.

Define the Scope of the Project

One of the key functions of the project management is to define the scope of the project. The
challenge is to make sure that everything within the project scope is completed without
carrying out any extra work. The WBS helps define scope by listing individual tasks that make
up the project. The project team completes all the listed tasks but no additional work.
Fulfill Intended Purposes

A major criterion for project success is that it fulfills its intended purpose. The tasks of the
WBS each implement a part of the overall function. A task is only complete when it fulfills its
partial function. When all tasks are finished, all the partial functions add up to a fully functional
project.

Assign Responsibility for the Tasks

An important part of project management is to assign responsibility for the work. With a WBS,
the project management assigns responsibility for each of the tasks. The task manager is
responsible for completing the full scope of the project on time, within the budget and with all
of its planned functionality intact.

During project execution, when work will start happening, there will be conflicts between team
members and also stakeholders.
What is a conflict? What are the reasons of conflict in projects? (2m)
To solve conflicts, a project manager must understand the types of conflict in project
management. 5 of the types of conflict in project management are the vision of the project,
group differences, lack of communication, poor leadership, and disagreement on conflicts.

5 major causes of conflict in project management such as : -

Conflicts over costs and budgets.

Ego and personality clashes.
Differing views, ways of working and internal biases
Verbal miscommunication and misunderstandings.
Lack of trust and respect between team members

5.How will you manage conflicts? What are the different conflict management
techniques which are used and their application? (3m)

Conflict resolution strategies that can help you manage volatile team members.

1. Define Acceptable Behavior

Before there is any hint of a conflict, you can reduce or even eliminate potential problems by
setting a standard of behavior in the workplace. If you give the team the room to define what is
and is not appropriate, they will.
However, as a manager, it’s your responsibility to set the tone. You can do this by writing
specific job descriptions, creating a framework for how discussions are run, noting the
hierarchy and who is responsible for what, defining proper business practices, choosing which
project management tools to use, and helping with team building and leadership development,
etc. The more you set the guidelines, the better the team can follow them.

2. Don’t Avoid Conflict

Depending on the type of person and manager you are, there are several ways you might
respond to conflict in the workspace. For one, you could ignore it, and let the participants work
it out among themselves. This is not always the worst approach. Teams must know how to
collaborate, and conflict resolution is one of the tools they’ll need to do that.
However, if you’re avoiding dealing with conflict because it makes you uneasy or because you
don’t want to reprimand someone, then that’s a misstep. Of course, it’s your job as a manager
to deal with such matters. You have the authority and should act when it is called for. Not
doing so only gives the conflict legs on which to carry itself to a confrontation that will have an
even worse impact on business.

3. Choose a Neutral Location

One of the first steps to diffuse any conflict is to change the environment. People are heated
and that anger is often tied to a place. It sounds odd, but just removing the people from the
room they’re fighting in will help put the conflict in perspective.

Then, to resolve the conflict, you’ll want to bring the upset individuals to a neutral location. A
neutral space will first bring things down to a level in which a constructive conversation can
occur. Secondly, by suggesting a meeting in a coffee house, or anywhere outside the office
where there isn’t intrinsically a power dynamic, you are more likely to create a comfortable
atmosphere where you can productively deal with whatever caused the issue.

4. Start with a Compliment

After you’ve broken away from the place where the conflict arose, you can address the
problem. But you don’t want to jump right into a conversation with an accusatory tone. Your
job is to hear all sides and make an executive decision based on the facts and the needs of
the work being done. Therefore, to get a person comfortable enough to talk, start by
complimenting them. You want to show that there is no bad guy or good guy here. You’re
attacking the problem, not the person.
5. Don’t Jump to Conclusions
The reasons for any conflict are often more complex than they first appear. In order to be just
in your treatment of all parties involved, it is advised not to conclude anything at the offset.
Even if you think the conflict is obvious, give everyone an opportunity to share their
perspective. Get a sense of the history involved. You don’t want to assume anything about
anyone. Gather your facts like a quiet detective, and then weigh in with the wisdom of a judge.

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