Will need MS project to do the work
BUS353 End-of-Course Assessment – January Semester 2024 Project Management INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS: 1. This End-of-Course Assessment paper comprises 17 pages (including the cover page). 2. You are to include the following particulars in your submission: Course Code, Title of the ECA, SUSS PI No., Your Name, and Submission Date. 3. Late submission will be subjected to the marks deduction scheme. Please refer to the Student Handbook for details. IMPORTANT NOTE ECA Submission Deadline: Monday, 01 April 2024 12:00 pm BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 1 of 17 ECA Submission Guidelines Please follow the submission instructions stated below: A – What Must Be Submitted You are required to submit the following THREE (3) items for marking and grading: A Report (you should submit this item first as it carries the highest weightage). A Video Presentation: Refer to Canvas L/LG course site’s announcement on “ECA Video Submission Technical Know How”, which will be posted three weeks before the ECA cut-off date. The set of PowerPoint slides, converted to PDF, upon which the video presentation is based. Please verify your submissions after you have submitted the above THREE (3) items. B – Submission Deadline The THREE (3) items of Report, Video and Presentation Summary are to be submitted by 12 noon on the submission deadline. You are allowed multiple submissions till the cut-off date for each of the THREE (3) items. Late submission of any of the THREE (3) items will be subjected to mark-deduction scheme by the University. Please refer to Section 5.2 Para 2.4 of the Student Handbook. C – How the (3) Items Should Be Submitted The Report: submit online to Canvas via TurnItIn (for plagiarism detection) The Video: submit online to Canvas (refer to Canvas L/LG course site’s announcement on “ECA Video Submission Technical Know How”, which will be posted three weeks before the ECA cut-off date.) The Presentation Summary: o Submit online to Canvas via TurnItIn (PPT must be converted to PDF and submission is in PDF only) o The PPT must contain at least 20 words Avoid using a public WiFi connection for submitting large video files. If you are using public wireless (WiFi) connection (e.g. SG Wireless at public areas), you might encounter a break in the connection when sending large files. BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 2 of 17 D – Additional guidelines on file formatting are given as follows: 1. Report 2. Video Please ensure that your Microsoft Word document is generated by Microsoft Word 2016 or higher. The report must be saved in .docx format. Showing your PowerPoint projection in the background is NOT required. Time Duration: a minimum of 3 minutes and a maximum of 6 minutes There are two methods for ECA video assignment submission; either Record Media or Upload Media. For Record Media Video can be recorded via Panopto in Canvas, using desktop/laptop with built-in webcam and microphone For Upload Media Video can be recorded using other recording devices and uploaded as.mp4 file format. Note: Refer to Canvas L/LG course site’s announcement on “ECA Video Submission Technical Know How”, which will be posted three weeks before the ECA cut-off date. 3. Presentation Summary Your PowerPoint presentation must contain at least 20 words. Please ensure that your PowerPoint presentation is converted to PDF format before you submit. The maximum number of slides is fifteen (15). Please do NOT download and use PowerPoint slide design templates from the Internet. BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 3 of 17 E – Please be Aware of the Following: Submission in hardcopy or any other means not given in the above guidelines will not be accepted. You do not need to submit any other forms or cover sheets (e.g. form ET3) with your ECA. You are reminded that electronic transmission is not immediate. The network traffic may be particularly heavy on the date of submission deadline and connections to the system cannot be guaranteed. Hence, you are advised to submit your work early. Canvas will allow you to submit your work late but your work will be subjected to the mark-deduction scheme. You should therefore not jeopardise your course result by submitting your ECA at the last minute. It is your responsibility to check and ensure that your files are successfully submitted to Canvas. F – Plagiarism and Collusion Plagiarism and collusion are forms of cheating and are not acceptable in any form in a student’s work, including this ECA. Plagiarism and collusion are taking work done by others or work done together with others respectively and passing it off as your own. You can avoid plagiarism by giving appropriate references when you use other people’s ideas, words or pictures (including diagrams). Refer to the APA Manual if you need reminding about quoting and referencing. You can avoid collusion by ensuring that your submission is based on your own individual effort. The electronic submission of your ECA will be screened by plagiarism detection software. For more information about plagiarism and collusion, you should refer to the Student Handbook (Section 5.2.1.3). You are reminded that SUSS takes a tough stance against plagiarism or collusion. Serious cases will normally result in the student being referred to SUSS’s Student Disciplinary Group. For other cases, significant mark penalties or expulsion from the course will be imposed. G – Use of Generative AI Tools (Allowed) The use of generative AI tools is allowed for this assignment. You are expected to provide proper attribution if you use generative AI tools while completing the assignment, including appropriate and discipline-specific citation, a table detailing the name of the AI tool used, the approach to using the tool (e.g. what prompts were used), the full output provided by the tool, and which part of the output was adapted for the assignment; To take note of section 3, paragraph 3.2 and section 5.2, paragraph 2A.1 (Viva Voce) of the Student Handbook; BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 4 of 17 The University has the right to exercise the viva voce option to determine the authorship of a student’s submission should there be reasonable grounds to suspect that the submission may not be fully the student’s own work. For more details on academic integrity and guidance on responsible use of generative AI tools in assignments, please refer to the TLC website for more details; The University will continue to review the use of generative AI tools based on feedback and in light of developments in AI and related technologies. BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 5 of 17 Important Note: Grading of TMA/GBA/ECA Submissions Marks awarded to your assignment are based on the following guidelines: 80% of the marks are allocated to the content of your answers: The marks awarded to what your answers cover depend on the extent to which they cover the key points that correctly and comprehensively address each question. The key points should be supported by evidence drawn from course materials and, wherever relevant, from other credible sources. 20% of the marks are allocated to the presentation of your answers: Wherever applicable, the marks awarded to how your answers are presented depend on the extent to which your answers: form a sound reasoning by developing those key points in a clear, logical and succinct manner; provide proper and adequate in-text citations and referencing to content drawn from course materials and other credible sources; strictly follow APA formatting and style guidelines[1], in particular for: in-text citations and end-of-report references; the identification of figures and tables; 1. use, wherever relevant, the specialised vocabulary and terminology commonly used in discussions about the topic(s) covered by each question; 2. provide a reference or bibliography at the end of the main report; 3. include the less relevant details in an Appendix; 4. use sentence constructions that are grammatically and syntactically correct; 5. are free from spelling mistakes; present the workings, numerical formulations and results in a logical manner that follows the APA formatting and style guidelines; 6. design and present graphs, diagrams and plots that follow the APA formatting and style guidelines; 7. are highly original; 8. have proper formatting, which may: a. include a properly formatted cover page; b. respect the answer length/word count set out in the assignment guidelines, if any is prescribed; c. present answers in paragraphs with proper spacing and page margins; d. include page numbers and appendices, if necessary. [1] You can find a short tutorial on the APA formatting and style guidelines here: https://apastyle.apa.org/index. Additional details (pertaining to tables and figures) can be found here: https://is.gd/O4vDdT BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 6 of 17 Video Presentation Evaluation Criteria Note: Students will be assessed on the quality of the presentation and not the quality of the video recording. However, the recording is expected to have video and audio clarity. Showing your PowerPoint projection in the background is NOT required. /8 Organisation of Presentation • Logical flow of presentation /5 Posture & Body Language • Posture: Standing, straight back etc… • Body language: – Hand gestures supporting oral arguments, etc… /5 Eye-Contact • Looking at the video camera • No reading of slides or notes or cue cards /7 Pace & Articulation • Pace: Speaks neither too fast nor too slow • Articulation: Oral expression is clear and confident in the presentation. /25 TOTAL Presentation Summary Evaluation Criteria /3 Format and Style of Slides • Layout, clarity of text elements, colour blends, graphical enhancements Clarity and Coherence • Proper flow – title page, introduction, body, results, recommendations / discussion points, conclusion/summary; quick to understand, free from grammatical errors Creativity • /4 /3 Ability to use creative elements to value-add to the presentation so as to enhance understanding and clarity of difficult concepts TOTAL BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 /10 Page 7 of 17 (Full marks: 100) SECTION A (65 marks) Answer all questions in this section. PROJECT CASE: Upgrading of Point of Sales System for a Food Court Background Kopi Shop Pte Ltd (shall be known as “Kopi Shop”) has been one of a few food court operators in Singapore. The firm was founded by its CEO, Mr Alan Tam, some five years ago, and it has a small team of ten operations staff. Kopi Shop operates five food courts around the island, mostly in the sub-urban malls, and the food court stalls are leased to hawkers while Mr Tam and his team manage the cleaning and other operational areas. Kopi Shop distinguishes itself from other food courts by serving only halal-certified dishes and drinks, and this is aligned with Mr Tam’s belief that his business shall cater to all Singaporeans. Business has been above average and Kopi Shop’s food courts have been attracting a good crowd of mostly seniors and families living in the housing estates due to the attractively priced hawker food served in air-conditioned comfort. Amongst the list of projects to undertake in 2024, Mr Tam and his team of operational staff has decided to implement the one of the more technologically challenging projects, Project D: Replace Kopi Shop’s Food Court Point of Sales System to an advanced version that is integrated with Amazon’s Web Services. The project shall be known as the System Migration to Amazon (SMA) Project. NTT Data, an IT service provider headquartered in Tokyo, shall be appointed as the systems integrator and as the main contractor. Lenovo Services, an IT hardware vendor, shall be providing the IT equipment needed in the SMA Project. Mr Tam has also appointed the following staff to the SMA Project Team: You, the Operations Manager at Kopi Shop, shall be appointed as the SMA Project Manager. Chan, a Kopi Shop Area Manager, shall be in charge of liaising with NTT Data and providing the service provider with information on Kopi Shop’s internal processes so that the new system can be tailored to Kopi Shop’s needs. Raman, an Operations Executive at Kopi Shop, shall be working with Lenovo Services to procure the necessary IT hardware and equipment. BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 8 of 17 Mary, an Administrative Executive at Kopi Shop, shall be in charge of all administrative and payment matters relating to the SMA Project. (1) Leading the Project and Managing the Project Team (18 marks) Question 1a CEO, Mr Tam, would like the SMA Project to start on 01 August 2023 and aim for completion before 27 November 2023. Also, The project team should be financially prudent but reasonable expenses with good justifications will be approved. More importantly, the new system has to meet high security and reliability standard due to sensitive financial information according to Mr Tam, and it has to adhere to Personal Data Protection Act. Hence, the CEO advised the team to not rush through the project, and if there is a conflict between cost and time, controlling cost has a higher priority. Recommend the priority of the project and construct a project priority matrix based on the CEO’s direction. (9 marks) Question 1b This is the first time you are working with Chan, Raman and Mary in a project. Discuss a unique and relevant influence currency you can use on each of the team members in order to influence them towards successful project completion. (9 marks) BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 9 of 17 (2) Developing a Project Plan (31 marks) You conducted a pre-project discussion with your members. The team worked out the project activities and details as shown in Table 1. Activity Description Number Duration (days) Predecessors Resource 1 System Migration to Amazon (SMA) Project 2 Initial project meeting 3 days 3 User study and interviews with user 8 days 2 PM 4 Chart work process 7 days 3 PM 5 Design POS system software 14 days 4 Chan, Raman, NTT Data Contractor 6 Design system hardware 12 days 4 Raman, Chan, NTT Data Contractor, Lenovo Services Contractor 7 Purchase system hardware 5 days 5,6 Mary 8 Setup cabling works 10 days 5,6 Raman, Lenovo Services Contractor 9 Install system hardware 12 days 8 Raman, Lenovo Services Contractor 10 Install POS system software 7 days 9 Chan, NTT Data Contractor 11 Test POS system 5 days 10 Chan, NTT Data Contractor 12 Train operations team 4 days 11 NTT Data Contractor 13 Train users 4 days 12 NTT Data Contractor 14 Prepare documentation 7 days 12,13 Mary 15 Launch SMA 1 day 14 PM PM (See *Note below), Chan, Raman, Mary *Note: You must use your surname instead of “PM” in the MS Project Resource Column and Resource Sheet. BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 10 of 17 To prepare an initial costing for budget approval, you gather the following unit costings: Table 2: Standard Rate for Work Type Resource Resource Name Standard Rate ($/hr for week day) Max PM $150 100% Chan $120 100% Raman $80 100% Mary $80 100% Table 3: Standard Rate for Material Type Resource Resource Name Standard Rate for Material Cost Equipment $30,000 NTT Data Contractor $20,000 Lenovo Services Contractor $15,000 Notes on the cost: 1. The standard rates for project members in Table 2 are for 8 office-hours on normal weekdays. The members will not work beyond 8 hours per day; hence, you can leave the overtime rates at $0/hr. They prefer not to work on weekend unless necessary. If they do so, the weekend hours and rates are the same as those on weekdays. 2. The Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday (PH) rates are twice that of normal week. 3. In calculating the project cost, all related staff costs involved in this project shall be treated as variable costs calculated based on the number of days each staff work on the project. The total cost will be calculated automatically by MS Project based on the rates in Table 2 and the durations of the activities. 4. Each material item in Table 3 is quoted in 1 lot. E.g., “NTT Data Contractor” cost is a lump sum charged by the contractor inclusive of its labour and materials. Notes on using MS Project for Q2 & Q3: 1. The project schedule is based on a 5-day work week. Each day has 8 working hours (8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.). No work will be performed on Public Holiday and beyond office hours on weekdays. The members will not work on Saturday and Sunday unless stated otherwise or when you deem necessary. BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 11 of 17 2. Do not change any durations, predecessor relationships or the resources assignments until needed. 3. You are required to find the official Public Holidays during the project implementation period from the Ministry of Manpower’s website. If a Public Holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday will be a Public Holiday in lieu. If that Monday is another Public Holiday, the Tuesday will be the Public Holiday in lieu. There will be no holiday-in-lieu for Public Holiday that falls on Saturday. 4. To mark in MS Project all Public Holidays and Holiday-in-lieu as Non-Working Days: Click Project-> Change Working Time. Then enter the nature of the holiday and the date. Click Details ->Click Nonworking. 5. To enter the name, resource type and cost of each resource item in Tables 2 & 3 into the Resource Sheet: Click View->Gantt Chart (Leftmost icon)->More View>Resource Sheet 6. If only a member needs to work on a Saturday or Sunday for a particular activity, you must change his/her personal calendar so as not to affect parallel activities done by other members. 7. Click View -> Resource Sheet. Right click on the resource to change. Click Information -> Click “Change Working Time”. Enter a description in Name, the chosen date, then click Detail-> Working-> Set the working time (or choose default time). You may have to do one day per entry. 8. Click View-Gantt Chart, then View->Table->Entry to enter the Task Name, Duration, Predecessors in the Gantt Chart Entry Table View. You may use the dropdown list in the Resource cell to assign the resources. Do not change the order of the activities (you are not required to rearrange the list into a Work Breakdown Structure). 9. Set Activity 1 as the higher-level activity by highlighting all activities below and right indent them to second level. 10. Then Click Project -> Project Information -> Set Start Date as dictated by the CEO. 11. Right click on the Activity 1 to access its Information; Under Advanced Tab, set Deadline as the date dictated by the CEO. 12. To see all resource conflicts, select all task, right click to choose Auto Schedule, then Resource Tab ->Clear Leveling. Observe any resource conflicts. 13. Diagrams, charts, tables, graphs and relevant project outputs may be shown as images. These must be appropriately formatted and presented so that they can be viewed comfortably. BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 12 of 17 Question 2a Prepare and show a Gantt Chart using the information and steps outlined above before resolving resource conflicts. Present the MS Project Gantt Chart View with columns for Information, Task Name, Duration, Start Date, Finish Date, Predecessors and Resource Names clearly shown. Hence, state the project completion date and explain any resource conflicts. (6 marks) Question 2b Determine the total project cost before resolving the resource conflicts. Present the information with a MS Project cost table or report. (5 marks) Question 2c Appraise any resource conflicts and activities delayed. Identify the activities and resources involved. (4 marks) BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 13 of 17 Question 3 As an experienced PM, you know that there are a few options on hand to resolve the conflicts: Option 1: postpone the project completion time and no overtime is required Or Option 2: to keep to project completion time but with staff required to work overtime Solve both options and compare the decisions to be made under each option. Determine any change in cost. (16 marks) (3) Monitoring a Project Progress and Closing Project (16 marks) Question 4 After discussion with the CEO, it has been decided that the company do not wish to incur additional cost and is fine to delay the project completion time. Resolve the conflict and schedule issues accordingly to the MS Project File. The baseline is set in MS Project. The project proceeded on. Two incidents occurred during the project implementation period: 1. During the “setup of cabling work” (Table 1 – Activity 8), contractor from Lenovo Services informed Raman that there is a shortage of a key hardware component from Germany, an alternative brand has been procured from Taiwan. While cost remains the same, it will only arrive later and resulting in “Install system hardware” (Table 1 – Activity 9) to start 2 days later from its original start date. 2. Due to this change in hardware component, contractor from NTT Data advised that an extra set of programming code has to be implemented due to the proprietary interface of this new hardware and an extra charge of $4,000 will be billed to Kopi Shop for “Install POS system software” (Table 1 – Activity 10). The CEO agrees to all the changes in the two incidences. You shall implement all the necessary changes and modify the deadline accordingly. The project progressed on till completion. The system was handed over to Kopi Shop. Set the Status Date to 3 working days after the project completion. Update the project (Project -> Update Project -> Entire Project). BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 14 of 17 Question 4a Prepare in a single diagram the Tracking Gantt Chart view of MS Project with Information (I), Task Mode, Task Name, Duration, Start Date, Finish Date and Resource columns shown. State and comment on the project completion date. (6 marks) Question 4b Show a MS Project Cost Report or Table with Cost Performance Index (CPI). State the cost values for Budgeted at Completion (BAC), and Estimated at Completion (EAC). Verify the final CPI manually using these values. (4 marks) Question 4c Appraise whether the project is a success. Recommend two (2) ways to prevent some of the problems from happening in similar projects in future. (6 marks) BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 15 of 17 Section B (25 marks) Answer all questions in this section. Question 5 Kopi Shop CEO Mr Tam has scheduled a meeting one week after the project completion for you, the Project Manager for SMA Project, to illustrate the following items from Question 2 to Question 4 in Section A to Kopi Shop Management: 1. What are the priorities of the project? 2. What are the initial resource conflicts? 3. Are there changes in schedule and what are the contributing events? 4. Is there a cost overrun and what are the contributors for the cost overruns if any? 5. Are the project priorities achieved? Is the project successful? Prepare a video recording of the presentation of at least 3 minutes but not exceeding 6 minutes. There are two methods for ECA video assignment submission; either Record Media or Upload Media. For Upload Media, please note that your file size should be no more than 500MB and the format is in .mp4. (25 marks) BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 16 of 17 Section C (10 marks) Answer all questions in this section. Question 6 Prepare and create a set of PowerPoint presentation slides upon which the video presentation is based. Please note that the PowerPoint must be converted to PDF before submission to Canvas. (10 marks) —– END OF ECA PAPER —– BUS353 Copyright © 2024 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) ECA – January Semester 2024 Page 17 of 17
Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers
Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.
Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS
Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?
Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.
We write plagiarism Free Content
Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.
Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.
