Saint Leo PRM 520 full course – Discussions ,Assignments,Quizzes & Group projects

PRM 520

Discussions

Module 1 Discussion

The Situation: You have been hired as the project manager to
construct a custom home. The owners have decided to add an in-ground pool and
convert a walk-in closet near the proposed pool to a bathroom and shower. The
key members in your project team are the architect, pool subcontractor, and plumbing
subcontractor. You also have to reduce the scope of work for the closet
shelving subcontractor. You don’t want the final closing of the house to be
delayed so you can claim the revenue in the April-June Quarter.

The Assignment: Refer to Section 4.5 of the PMBOK®Guide,and
prepare a response consisting of a minimum of 500 words. Describe how you would
perform integrated change control to incorporate the described changes to your
project. You can format your response around Tool 10.2 from the Project Scheduling
and Cost Control text. Include at least three credible references in addition
to the PMBOK®Guide,with at least one of these being a peer-reviewed journal
article. Properly cite your response.

Module 2 Discussion

The Situation: You have been hired as the project manager to
construct a custom home. The owners have asked for some “minor changes” such as
relocating two electrical outlets, adding a refrigerated wine cabinet that will
require an electrical connection, and adding gutters to the outside of the
house. The owners have seen the price list for these changes and are agreeable.
The owners also requested that an internal wall be relocated. Unfortunately,
the wall is load bearing which means that the architect and structural engineer
must modify the plans and the local building department must approve the
modified plans. The key members in your project team are the architect,
structural engineer, and framing subcontractor. The redesign by the architect
and engineer will take about two weeks. The building department needs two weeks
after you submit the revised plans. You don’t have a price for the relocated
wall.

The Assignment: Refer to Section 5.6 of the PMBOK® Guide,5th
ed. Prepare a response consisting of a minimum of 500 words. Describe how you
would perform control scope and prepare change requests for the Perform
Integrated Change Control process. Include at least three credible references
in addition to the PMBOK® Guide with at least one of these being a peer-reviewed
journal article. Properly cite your response.

Module 3 Discussion

The Situation: You are the project manager for constructing
a custom house. Your company wants you to complete the construction one month
earlier so that your company can recognize the revenue in this fiscal year. You
know your current project schedule is based on many previous projects and
minimizes costs and negative risks. You have crashed activities and fast
tracked multiple activities in the past to shorten the schedule.

The Assignment: Using generic ideas of crashing and fast
tracking, identify and explain some potential additional costs and risks (both
opportunities and threats) that could occur because you are reducing the
schedule by one month. Your response should consist of a minimum of 500 words
and include at least three credible references in addition to the PMBOK® Guide
with at least one of these being a peer-reviewed journal article. Properly cite
your response.

Module 4 Discussion

The Situation: You are the project manager for constructing
a custom house. Your company requires an evaluation of the estimate at
completion (EAC). Since the pool change order described in Week 1 has not been
executed, you don’t have to change your baseline budget. Everything is going
well; even the irrigation well and pump are in early. The EAC should be based
on the planned and earned values in WBS PV EV July 1 spreadsheet.

The Assignment: Calculate EAC using the four different
formulas. You know that Tropical Storm will impact your cost, so in the
“Bottom-up ETC” you add $5,000 to the estimated cost for storm cleanup in WBS
item 3.4; thus your Bottom-up ETC will be $5,000 higher than the ETC = EAC-AC
(i.e. ETC =EAC-AC +$5,000). Explain the differences between the four
forecasting formulas. Which one would you consider has the most validity?
Include at least three credible references in addition to the PMBOK® Guide with
at least one of these being a peer-reviewed journal article. Properly cite your
response.

Module 5 Discussion

The Situation: You are the project manager for constructing
a custom house. On one of your Monday morning inspections of the progress, you
notice a spot of flaking paint on the outside of the house. The outside was
painted on Friday. On closer inspection, you see that the entire north side of
the house has issues with the paint peeling and flaking. The other sides of the
house appear fine.

The Assignment: Select one or more of the 7QC tools to
investigate this problem. What else would you do? Your response should consist of
a minimum of 500 words and include at least three credible references in
addition to the PMBOK®Guide with at least one of these being a peer-reviewed
journal article. Properly cite your response.

Module 6 Discussion

The Situation: You are the project manager for a project
that involves two departments in your company. The larger department is paying
for 80% of your project. The smaller department is paying 20%. The department
manager of the smaller department is requesting modifications nearly every week.
Your stakeholder management plan was based on your company’s standard template.
You have been following the approved stakeholder management plan. You look at
the issues log and see that there are four open issues. These open issues and
possibly future requests for modifications could impact the completion date.

The Assignment: Obviously something must be changed to
better control this situation. What tools and techniques would you choose to
control this stakeholder’s engagement? What process outputs do you expect to
create? What else, if anything, would you do? Prepare a response consisting of
a minimum of 500 words. Include at least three credible references in addition
to the PMBOK®Guide with at least one of these being a peer-reviewed journal
article. Properly cite your response.

Module 7 Discussion

The Situation: In your past, you have probably monitored
risks in your personal life, on your job, or both. Select one that you were
monitoring, either formally or informally, that actually happened and was a
surprise. Remember, risks are both opportunities and threats.

The Assignment: With 20-20 hindsight, identify what you
missed that could have better predicted the risk occurring. Also, with 20-20
hindsight, identify what threat mitigation, threat avoidance, or opportunity
exploitation you would have initiated. What else, if anything, could you add to
your lessons learned database to improve your future performance? Include at
least three credible references in addition to the PMBOK® Guide with at least
one of these being a peer-reviewed journal article. Properly cite your
response.

Module 8 Discussion

The Situation: Most relationships between different business
entities are based on negotiated agreements, also called contracts. These are
legal documents that bind each party to perform in accordance with the
agreement. You are the project manager of an organization. You are responsible
for closing a vendor’s agreement and administrative closure of the procurement.

The Assignment: Develop a procedure to close a procurement
both contractually and administratively. Your response should be a minimum of
500 words, and portions can be in bulleted/outline format. Include at least
three credible references in addition to the PMBOK® Guide with at least one of
these being a peer-reviewed journal article. Properly cite your response.

Group Projects

Group Project, Part I (Module 2)–

Work together with your
team to prepare a validate scopedocument for the framing and exterior
inspection, pre-drywall inspection. This inspection includes the following:

· Completed exterior, including roof, windows, doors
(pre-painting)

· Completed internal wall framing

· In-wall plumbing for sinks, tubs, dishwasher, clothes
washer, wet bar, etc.

· Completed electrical for wall switches, outlets, ceiling
fixtures, etc.

· Low-voltage wiring and conduit for security system, AV
equipment, internet and computer wiring, thermostat, telephones, etc.

· HVAC ducts and returns

All of these items are shown on the construction plans
approved by the Browns. If the items are as shown on the plans, they should be
approved. The Browns know that if they want to make any changes not shown on
the plans, they will be charged a lump sum of $250 for making the change and
any additional costs incurred to construct the change. Some changes may require
the review and approval of the local building department, which will add at
least two weeks to the construction schedule. You don’t anticipate any issues;
the Browns live in the area and stop in at the site once or twice each week.
You have shown the location of various appliances and the kitchen island by
painting the outline of these on the floor. This allows for the owners to
better visualize the final layout.

The purpose of this week’s submission is for your team to
develop a generic procedure that uses the inputs, tools, and techniques, and
produces the outputs in the Validate Scope process. In addition, your team must
develop a quality control procedure for just the electrical switches and
outlets to eliminate rework and demonstrate your knowledge of the core value of
Responsible Stewardshipby installing these features correctly the first time.
Remember thecarpenter’s adage: “Measure twice, cut once.”

The case study on which the four part assignment is based is
as follows:

Project Background:Mr. and Mrs. Brown are buying a new
house, the“San Leo”model, in alocal subdivision. The house is a 4-bed, 2-bath
with a 2 car garage. The Browns have selected their options and signed the
contract and addendums. Their financing is approved. The house is now under
construction. It is nearing the end of the third month in a seven-month
construction schedule. The Browns have previously approved the two earlier
interim inspections, 1) regarding the lot grading, underground plumbing; and 2)
slab and interior wall framing. It is now time for the third interim inspection
described above.

Company Background:Your company, HappiHouses (HH), builds
standard houses in severalnew subdivisions in your area. HH has been in
business for over 40 years and is a licensed general contractor in your area.
HH sells the house and lot as a package. HH’s profit comes from mark-up on the
lot, construction management, a mark-up on subcontractors, as well as the
margin from self-performing the structural, concrete, drywall, painting, and
finishing work. HH self-performs this work to better control the quality and
schedule for these items.

HH uses several subcontractors (subs) during construction.
These subs are typically those trades that are separately licensed in your
area. For this house, the subs are constructing the electrical, plumbing,
heating, roofing, and ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) items. The
construction of each house is managed by a single project manager who has two
assistants. This project management team typically has 10 to 20 houses in
various stages of construction to manage.

Please make sure that you cite and reference all your
outside sources properly. You must have a minimum of three references,
including one peer-reviewed journal article.

Even though you complete this assignment as a group, all
students must submit their own paper to their own individual Dropbox. (This
Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin.)

Group Project, Part II (Module 3) The Control Schedule
Process

The baseline project schedule in MS Project 2013 is
contained in the course documents. The start date (notice to proceed) is set
for May 1, 2024 so that the schedule does not need to be changed during the
expected life of this course material. Please ignore the year. For your
convenience, a 2024 calendar is available at the end of this file. The building
inspector requires a three-day window, which can include weekend days. The
building department is very good on performing the inspections within the
three-day window. The schedule has been approved by all stakeholders. WBS items
3.5 and 3.6 are for two-story houses and were deleted from this schedule
because the San Leo is one story. For consistency, the remaining WBS numbers
are the same as a two-story house.

An Excel workbook: House Schedule of Values is included with
the course materials. This workbook has a WBS Budget that includes the initial
budget for the WBS items. Notice that the roll-up items do not have a subtotal.
You should also refer to the Microsoft Project form: Schedule Compression, to
help with your assignment for this week.

Situation. The project was on or ahead of schedule during
May and June. However, TropicalStorm Cody sat off the coast, and the jobsite
was shut down because of wind, lightning, and/or rain for the entire first two
weeks of July. We were fortunate that lintel and block inspection passed on
June 28. Today is Friday, July 12. It is too wet to work until Monday, but you
have ordered the materials for the roof and the framing, and all materials will
be delivered on Sunday.

You’ve probably heard of “saving up for a rainy day.” Well,
in the home building business, we “save up to recover from rain delays”.

In the course materials, there is an Excel workbook that
contains the budgeted cost, the planned value, the percent complete, and the
earned value that your team has estimated as of July 12. The sheet has
subtotals and formulas for PV, EV, AC, and BAC. Unfortunately, the other
formulas are missing, and you have to recalculate them.

Your supervisor has asked you and your project management
team to develop a recovery plan to start the drywall work on time by the end of
July. That gives you two weeks to do essentially four weeks of work. The
building department has agreed to inspect the day you call in for an inspection
as long as you pay the $200 overtime fee per inspection. For weather delays,
your company’s policy is to always pay this additional inspection cost and costs
for extra inspections out of general company overhead so as not to impact your
project budget.

To make up for the weather delay, you’ve talked with the
structural engineer regarding the framing inspection that is required before
windows can be installed. (The building department requires that all structural
walls be completed before any windows are installed).You also talked to the
building officials about installing the windows after the inspection of the
load bearing wall, and they agreed. You don’t need to complete all of the
framing, just the interior load bearing wall shown in Figure 1. You realize
that your crew can erect this in a 12-hour day. The building department will
have to inspect this wall before the windows are installed, but they agreed to
do that at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, so that allows you to install windows all day
Tuesday. The cost for the additional inspection will be paid out of company
overhead and not charged to your project.

The sheeting can be started when half of the trusses are
installed, but it will still take one day after the trusses are installed for
the sheeting to be installed. The inspector has agreed to be there first thing
in the morning the next day after the sheeting is completed.

You can also shorten the duration for framing, trusses,
sheeting, windows, and roofing by working your crews on overtime pay. You can
get up to 12 hours labor per day from your crews, and they like the overtime
pay!

Your foreman estimated 48 hours total for the framing crew
to do all of the framing. He estimated 32 hours for the trusses. The time for
the roofing is 80 hours with one roofing crew. The windows are 56 hours for one
crew. You can also pay these crews overtime for 4 hours per work day and 12
hours on Saturday at a cost of $45 additional per hour. (The straight time
hourly wages are included in the budget.) If needed, your crews can work Sunday
at double time, which would cost an additional $90 per hour. (See the Crew Cost
spreadsheet for calculations.) One of your assistants started a spreadsheet in
the budget workbook called

“Schedule Compression” to help develop the cost for the new
schedule. She didn’t get it finished before she went into labor and she will be
out for the next 12 weeks.

Assignment: You will complete the second stage of your Group
Project—The Control Scheduleprocess. Work with your group to prepare a recovery
plan that can be used to bring the project back on schedule. Prepare a report
to your supervisor that provides a detailed description of which tasks you will
crash and/or fast track, the additional cost for crashing and/or fast-tracking,
the revised activity start and end dates, and any other issues you think should
be reported.

Also, explain how crashing and fast tracking will shorten
the schedule. Demonstrate your knowledge of the core value of responsible
stewardship by minimizing the cost for overtime pay.

Please make sure that you cite and reference all your
outside sources properly. You must have a minimum of three references,
including one peer-reviewed journal article.

Even though you complete this assignment as a group, all
students must submit their own paper to their own individual Dropbox. (This
Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin.)

Group Project, Part III (Module 4) The Control Cost Process

Situation: You’re back on schedule. However, on your last
visit to the house, you saw that the baseboards and casings are not acceptable
after 8 hours of charged work to activity 7.3 by Curley and Moe, a standard
crew. On closer examination, it appears that the initial framing and drywall
work were not exact, but are well within building standards. You are concerned
that your standard two man crew, Curley and Moe, may not have the skill to
install the baseboards and casings without a significant amount of rework and
delay. You call Gus and Leo, the elite carpentry crew you can use. They can be
made available, but their combined hourly rate, including fringe and overhead,
is $50/hour more than the budget. (See the crew cost spreadsheet.) Gus is
confident that he and Leo can fix what has been constructed and finish the
remaining work in 72 hours without overtime. Gus also mentioned that he and Leo
could do the 80 hours of finish work. You’ll consider that, but you’re pretty
confident that Curley and Moe can get it done in the 96 hours budgeted. What
should you recommend to your supervisor? There are two worksheets (which you
need to complete) for baseboards and finishwork that can assist you with making
your decision.

Assignment:Complete the third stage of your Group
Project—The Control Cost Process. Yourassignment for Module 4 is to work with
your group to prepare a report to your supervisor

regarding your issues from the situation and any other
issues that you think should be reported. Also, include Earned Value
calculations for VAC, CPI, EAC (using the remaining formulas not completed last
week except the bottoms-up), ETC (no need to re-estimate), TCPI using the BAC
formula, and the EAC formula. (Include calculations for all methods of
calculating EAC except the bottoms-up.) Although PV, EV, AC, BAC, SV, SPI, and
the EAC (using the EAC=AC+BAC-EV formula) were completed last week, include
those in your report. Compare the different methods used to calculate EAC and
TCPI. Explain why the values differ. Which would you give the most credence in
forecasting this project?

Also, explain how you need to control costs on this project.
Demonstrate your knowledge of the core value of responsible stewardship by
minimizing the cost.

Please make sure that you cite and reference all your
outside sources properly. You must have a minimum of three references,
including one peer-reviewed journal article.

Even though you complete this assignment as a group, all
students must submit their own paper to their own individual Dropbox. (This
Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin.)

Group Project, Part IV (Module 8)

Situation:It is now July 31 and Activities 1.1 through 5.1
are 100% complete as shown on theWBS EV Jul 31 worksheet. Your actual cost
equals the budgeted cost except for the additional costs to get back on
schedule. You need to calculate the actual cost for WBS 3.4 and 3.7
$____________ actual cost to WBS item 7.3-baseboards, casings, and other
details that you changed in Module 4.

Assignment:Update your project schedule with the
start/duration changes generated inModule 2 to recover from the storm. Complete
the activity “Pool-if ordered” as WBS item 8.3. The pool costs $30,000 and
takes 28 days to build. It must be completed in order to start landscaping.
Include a screen shot of your revised schedule. Trim the excess and use an
appropriate time scale to show the activity durations. Finally, you received
the attached letter from Ralph Acme requesting an additional $350. What would
you do to resolve this issue?

Update all your earned value calculations, including the
revised percent completes through activity 4.8 and the $________ actual cost in
WBS item 7.3. Compare the different methods to calculate EAC and TCPI. Explain
why the values differ. Which would you give the most credence in forecasting
this project?

Also, explain how you need to control costs on this project.
Demonstrate your knowledge of the core value of Responsible Stewardship by
minimizing the cost.

Please make sure that you cite and reference all your
outside sources properly. You must have a minimum of three references,
including one peer-reviewed journal article.

Even though you complete this assignment as a group, all
students must submit their own paper to their own individual Dropbox. (This
Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin.)

Assignments

Assignment 1 – Closing a Project

For this assignment, you will be closing the purchase of the
newly constructed home and transitioning to the operation/occupation phase.
Refer to Section 4.6 of the PMBOK® Guide, and review Tool 11.1 in the Project
Scheduling and Cost Control text. Prepare a 500- to 750-word essay response on
how you would perform a project closeout on this new house. Your response
should focus on two levels:

The turnover of the house and documentation.

An analysis of the processes used in constructing the house.
Identify processes that worked well and that can be used in building future
homes as well as those that need to be improved. List anything else that you
might do to improve the process.

In addition to the PMBOK® Guide, include a minimum of three
credible references pertaining to the project closing process with at least one
of these being a peer-reviewed journal article. Properly cite your response.
While working on this assignment, refer to the Assignment Rubric for guidance.

Submit this assignment to the Dropbox as a Word document no
later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT. (This Dropbox basket is linked to
Turnitin.) When you save your document, please make sure it includes the
following format:

Lastname_Firstname-Assignment_1

Assignment 2

Control Quality – Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is one of the key responsibilities of
project managers. The PMBOK® Guide identifies four quality improvement
initiatives: 1) PDCA, 2) total quality management, 3) Six Sigma, and 4) Lean
Six Sigma.

Select two of these initiatives to compare. Prepare a 500 to
750-word essay response on how you would use these initiatives to continuously
improve quality. Your response should focus on two levels:

1) Continuous improvement at the project level

2) Continuous improvement at the organizational level

In addition to the PMBOK® Guide, include a minimum of three
credible references pertaining to the project closing process with at least one
of these being a peer-reviewed journal article. Properly cite your response.
While working on this assignment, refer to the Assignment Rubric for guidance.

Submit this assignment to the Dropbox as a Word document no
later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT. (This Dropbox basket is linked to
Turnitin.) When you save your document, please make sure it includes the following
format:

Lastname_Firstname-Assignment_2

Assignment 3

Control Communications

Imagine that you have just taken a new position with a
start-up company. As a start-up, the company has very limited organizational
process assets. One of the main reasons you were hired was for your PMP. The
owners want you to develop an information management system to Control
Communications.

PMBOK® Guide Sections 10.2.2.4 and 10.3.2.1 briefly describe
a project information management system. Prepare a 500- to 750-word essay response
on how you would develop the information management system. What would be the
inputs and outputs of this system? In addition to the PMBOK® Guide, include a
minimum of three credible references with at least one of these being a
peer-reviewed journal article. Properly cite your response. While working on
this assignment, refer to the Assignment Rubric for guidance.

Submit this assignment to the Dropbox as a Word document no
later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT. (This Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin.)
When you save your document, please make sure it includes the following format:

Lastname_Firstname-Assignment_3

Assignment 4

Situation: Just like in the team project, you are the
project manager for a home construction company. Another tropical storm is on
the way. You are familiar with the possible costs and risks if the storm hits
and causes a two week delay since you experienced the storm that hit your San
Leo home while it was under construction. You are currently building another
San Leo home, and it is essentially in the same condition as the previous home
was on July 1. You have two choices: accept the risk that the storm will not
hit, or accelerate the construction to get the roof and shingles on before the
storm is scheduled to make landfall. If the storm hits while the roof is under
construction but not finished, you will have to reconstruct half of what was
completed for a cost of $12,000. The weather channel predicts a 60 percent
chance of the storm making landfall close enough to your location to cause this
damage. If you accelerate construction, it will cost you $8,000

Assignment: Update your risk register with the new
information. Develop a decision tree with two alternatives:

(1) accept the risk and continue construction, or (2)
accelerate construction to avoid the risk. You have two states of nature, the
storm causes damage 60% probability and the storm does not cause damage. Use
expected monetary value analysis for these two decisions and select the
preferred alternative (PMBOK® Guide, p. 339).

Also, summarize how you can apply the processes used by
project managers to incorporate the core value of responsible stewardship into
project monitoring and controlling. Prepare a 500-word minimum response on how
you would document your analysis and recommendation in a memorandum to your
supervisor. Your response to responsible stewardship should be about 20% of
your response. Also include at least three credible references in addition to
the PMBOK® Guide with at least one of these being a peer-reviewed journal
article. Properly cite your response. While working on this assignment, refer
to the Assignment Rubric for guidance.

Submit this assignment to the Dropbox as a Word document no
later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT. (This Dropbox basket is linked to
Turnitin.) When you save your document, please make sure it includes this
format:

QUIZZES