Assignment 04: Due date 18 September 2015
Unique nr: 594324
Marks weight: 30%
ASSIGNMENT 04 – SEMESTER 2
ASSIGNMENT 04
Due date 18 September 2015
Study material Hughes & Cotterell: Chapters 7 & 9
Total marks 35 marks = 100%
If your assignment is late, please DO NOT PHONE OR E-MAIL asking for an extension but include a note in your
assignment stating the reason for the late submission and we will decide whether or not it will be marked.
Question 1: Questions on Chapter 7 (18 marks)
In the PERT network illustrated in the figure below, the targeted date for the completion of the project is nine (9) weeks.
Optimistic Most likely Pessimistic Expected Standard deviation
(a) (m) (b) (te) (s)
A 1 2 3
B 3 4 5
C 2 3 4
D 1 2 3
E 3 4 5
Table: Values for the PERT network
Use the table above to calculate the following:
1.1 Calculate the expected (te) values and standard deviation (s) (10)
Optimistic Most likely Pessismistic Expected Standard deviation
(a) (m) (b) (te) (s)
A 1 2 3 2 0.33
B 3 4 5 4 0.33
C 2 3 4 3 0.33
D 1 2 3 2 0.33
E 3 4 5 4 0.33
(5 marks) (5 marks)
1.2 Indicate the te and s values on the diagram. (8)
Question 2: Questions on Chapter 7 and Chapter 9 (17 marks)
2.1 Discuss the nature of resources. (12)
(ANY 6 listed and explained – 1 mark for listing, 1 mark for explanation)
Some points for discussion
Resource – any item or person required for the execution of the project, from paper clips
to key personnel.
Stationery and standard office supplies role of office manager.
Project Manager must plan for resources otherwise they may not be available when
required.
Project manager is a resource that is required throughout the project.
Other resources such as a specific software developer may be required for a specific
activity.
The developer may be involved in other projects and be controlled at programme level,
hence the importance for the Project Manager to plan for resources otherwise they may
not be available when required.
Seven categories of resources:
Labour – development project team – project manager, system analysts, software
developers; QA team, support staff, client organization staff
Equipment – workstations, computing and office equipment, desks, chairs
Materials – items that are consumed such as disks, rather than equipment that is used.
Space – additional recruited or contracted staff need office space. Existing staff used in
projects usually have readily available space
Services – specialist services required for some projects eg scheduling of
telecommunications services for development of a wide area distributed system
Time – time is the resource that is being offset against the other primary resources.
Increasing other resources can reduce timescales.
Money – money is a secondary resource, used to buy other resources. It is consumes as
other resources are used up. It is available at a cost, ie interest. The cost of money is a
factor taken into account in Discount Cash flow (DCF) techniques such as NPV.
2.2 Give the definitions of of the following: (5)
• 0/100 technique
• 50/50 technique
• 72/25 technique
• The milestone technique
• Percentage complete
(1 for each definition)
NOTE: These are common methods in software projects of consistently assigning an
earned value to tasks that have been started but are not yet complete
Earned value (EV) assigns a value to each task or work package (WBS) based on the
original expenditure forecasts.
The original Budgeted cost for the item – Planned value (PV) or budgeted cost of
work scheduled (BCWS).
A task that has not started is assigned an earned value of zero, and when it has
been completed it is credited with the original planned value. The total value credited to a
project at any point is known as the earned value (EV) or budgeted cost of work performed
(BCWP). This can be represented as a money value, an amount of staff time or as a
percentage of the PV. EV is thus analogous to the agreed price to be paid to the contractor
once the work is completed.
Where tasks have been started but not completed, some consistent method of assigning
an earned value must be applied.
Definitions:
0/100 – the task is assigned a value of zero until it is completed, and then it is given a
100%
value of the budgeted value. Preferred technique for software
development
50/50 – task is assigned a value of 50% of its value as soon as it starts, and then given
100% on completion. Similar to contractor being given half of agreed price when starting
work, and the remainder on completion. Can give a false sense of security by over-
valuing the reporting of activity starts.
75/25 – task is assigned EV of 75 % on starting, and 25 % on completion. Often used
when a large item of equipment is paid. 75 % paid on delivery, and remainder on
installation and satisfactory testing
Milestone technique – task is given a value based on achievement of milestones that have
been assigned values as part of the original budget plan. Might be appropriate for
activities with a long duration, but may need to break into smaller ones
Percentage complete – objectively measuring the amount of work completed. For example,
based on no of records manually typed into a database, where the no thus far typed
can be objectively counted.
