The University of the South Pacific

School of Information Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and

Physics
IS333 Project Management
Semester 1, 2023
Assignment 1 Weight: 20%

Due Date: Friday, 24th March, 2023; 11 PM (Fiji Time)

Learning Outcome:
3. Apply scheduling techniques as part of a project management plan.
4. Demonstrate the standard techniques for resolving resource conflicts during project execution.

Instructions
Questions:
There are two questions for this assignment. All questions are compulsory.

Team formation:
This is a team based assignment. Hence for this assignment you would need to work in your allocated
team. All documents submitted must have your team information in it. Also submit the responsibility and
mark allocation agreement with your assignment.

Submission:
 Submit softcopy (PDF) in Moodle (the team leader must submit in his account his team’s assignment
by the deadline).

Plagiarism: For this and other work in IS333, it’s essential that you avoid plagiarism. Not only do you
expose yourself to possibly serious disciplinary consequences, but you’ll also cheat yourself of a proper
understanding of the concepts emphasized in the assignment. You’ll almost certainly fail the midterm
and/or the final, which will test your understanding of the assignment.
It’s not plagiarism to discuss the assignment with your friends and consider solutions to the problems
together. However, it is plagiarism for you to copy all or part of each other’s solutions. Any student posting
solutions for this assignment in Moodle will be considered to be committing plagiarism. Don’t submit your
solution to any discussion forum or mail it to anyone except the lecturer or tutors.
If you find somebody has stolen you assignment and produced it as their work, it will be considered
plagiarism. So DON’T leave your flash drives around. Be careful with them. And make sure you log out of
the lab machines when you are finished.

Things to be very careful about!

1. Do not wait till the last minute/second to submit your assignment. (How would you know 11 o’clock
on your clock means 11 o’clock on Moodle server?)
2. Take SPECIAL care of your flash drives possibly containing your solution file till your assignment is
marked. Do not lose them, damage them or have them stolen, as someone else may copy your work.
Avoid the scenario that someone else has copied your work without your knowledge.
3. Do not let anyone else submit your assignment in your Moodle account on your behalf.
4. Ensure that you are submitting the “CORRECT” files which contain your assignment solutions.

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 Question 1: Scheduling Techniques
Problem Specification
Consider the following network schedule:

Table 1: Network Schedule of an Accounts Payable System

Activity Predecessor(s) Duration (weeks)

1 Planning meetings - 2
2 Team assignments - 1
3 Gather requirements 1 3
4 Analyze existing processes 3 2
5 Identify key features 2 2
6 Develop functional specifications 2, 3, 4 4
7 Design data model and database schema 5 3
8 Design user interface 5SS 3
9 Prototype 1, 6SS 4
10 Develop accounts payable application 6, 7 10
11 Develop accounts payable reports 8SS 4
12 Perform system testing 8, 9 6
13 Fix defects and issues 10SS 2
14 Conduct user acceptance testing 11SS 4
15 Develop user documentation and training 5, 7SS, 9SS, 11, 12 3
16 Conduct user training 12, 13 2
17 Develop data backup and recovery plan 6 2
18 Develop disaster recovery plan 8, 15 2
19 Conduct system security assessment 6 2
20 Implement system security controls 17 2
21 Deploy accounts payable system 12, 13, 16, 18 1
22 Conduct final test 19SS, 21 2
23 Deploy improvements 21SS,22 1
24 Handover 22SS, 23 1
SS – Start to start lag

Notes:
 A working day is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (8am – 5pm).
 Staff works Mondays through Friday.
 Project start date is 3rd April, 2023.
 The last Friday of every month is a sports day for the company. No work is done on this day.
 The following holidays are observed in a year.
o January 1 – New Years Day
o Second Monday in January, April, May, July, August, October, December is Eat-All-You-
Can day
o April 10 – Flower Day
o May 24 – Mighty Mums Day

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 o June 18 – Love Your Neighbor Day
o August 17 – Super Dads Day
o December 20th - Blame Someone Else Day
 If a holiday falls on a Saturday then Friday will be given as an extra day off, and if it falls on a Sunday
then Monday will be given as a day off. No two holidays can be on the same day.

Given the information provided in Table 1 and key notes, answer the following questions. Read the
questions carefully, and refer to the notes and table for more information.

Required:

a) You are tasked to draw using appropriate software (i.e. not using any project management software) an
AOA PERT chart for the above project; assuming a finish-start (FS) relationship between activities. (The
length of the arrows must be indicative of the duration where possible). (10 marks)

b) Draw an AON Chart (also known as Project Network Diagram) clearly stating the ES, EF, LS, and LF for each
of the activities for the above project. Use the node style given in lectures for your AON diagram. (10
marks)

c) How long will the project take? What is the completion date? (2 marks)

d) List all the distinct paths in the project along with their durations. (3 marks)

e) Which tasks are on the critical path in the above project? (2 marks)

f) Identify all Activities in the above project that have a slack and the amount of slack. (4 marks)

g) You have discovered that the competing accounting package (with significant improvements) is scheduled
for delivery 2 weeks earlier than your system. Based on your original schedule above, what actions would
you take to improve the time to market? (2 marks)

h) Pooja is in-charge of activity 15. If activity 15 is delayed by 2 weeks what will be the new project duration
and mention the effect? If there is no effect, state ‘No change in duration’. (3 marks)

i) Create a Gantt chart for the above network schedule using appropriate software learnt in class, indicate
appropriate milestones and resources. (6 marks)

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 Question 2: Resolving resource conflicts
Mr. Semi is a new business owner who has recently secured four projects (X, Y, Z, and W). Each project
will take 15 days to complete. However, one of the major challenges he faces is time management and
resource allocation. He has two techniques in mind to avoid resource conflicts.

Technique one: Mr. Semi can complete one project after the other, with 3 days of work followed by ½ day
off. However, he is concerned that working on a single project for a prolonged period may lead to burnout
and reduce his effectiveness.

Technique two: Mr. Semi can work on each project for a day with ¼ day breaks between each transition,
in a multitasking approach. However, he is concerned that this approach may also lead to burnout and
affect his productivity.

Given the above information, which technique should Mr. Semi choose to manage his time and resources
effectively to complete all four projects without causing resource conflicts, considering both burnout and
productivity factors? Use Gantt charts to support your claims. (10 marks)

Good Luck!!! 

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 IS333 Project Management
Assignment 1 Mark Allocation Agreement

After having discussed as group, we recommend the following mark allocation to each group
member based on contribution or lack of it throughout the assignment.

Member ID Contribution Percentage of marks

Signed
Member name ID Signature

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 Assignment 1 Marking Criteria

Title Project Management

Group: Marker:
Marks Allocated Attained Comments
Presentation 5
CBOK:
Communication
Question 1 (a) 10
Question 1 (b) 10
Question 1 (c) 2
Question 1 (d) 3
Question 1 (e) 2
Question 1 (f) CBOK: 4
Question 1 (g) IT Project 2
Manag-
Question 1 (h) ement 3
Question 1 (i) 6
Question 2 10
Team work 3 Provide evidence to get full marks
CBOK:
Teamwork

Total 60 (20%)