11.8 Exercises

1. Activity 2.1 (UI/UX Design):
   • Delayed by 3 days due to additional client revisions.
   • The cost increased by $2,000 for extra design work.
2. Activity 3.2 (Back-end Development):
   • Delayed by 5 days due to technical complexities.
   • The cost increased by $3,000 for specialized resources.

Questions:

• To calculate the schedule baseline, draw an activity network diagram, implement forward and backward passes, and assign values to each node (ES, EF, LS, LF, Duration, Slack).

• Calculate the new project duration due to the delay. You should calculate it using your activity network diagram.
• Calculate PV, EV, and AC.
• Calculate SPI and CPI, and interpret them.
• Calculate EAC and VAC, and interpret VAC.
• Calculate the new estimated project duration based on the SPI if it remains the same throughout the project.

• Calculate the new project duration due to the delay. You should calculate it using your activity network diagram.
• Calculate PV, EV, and AC.
• Calculate SPI and CPI, and interpret them.
• Calculate EAC and VAC, and interpret VAC.
• Calculate the new estimated project duration based on the SPI if it remains the same throughout the project.

Activities with their durations, predecessors, and resources are provided for a fictional project in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Activities

HR: Human Resource

M: Material

E: Equipment

Information regarding the resources allocated in this project is provided in Table 2.

Table 2: Resources

People and equipment work on a full-time basis. Therefore, their maximum units are indicated as 100%. None of them works overtime.

Tasks and Questions

Follow the steps below.

1. Save a blank MS Project file.
2. Create a project summary task, and type “Project.”
3. Check the options for critical tasks and slack.
4. Add a “WBS” column to the left of the “Task Name” column. All the activities are on the same level. Therefore, you will not indent or outdent any of the activities.
5. Add a “Cost” column to the right of the “Resource Names” column.
6. Type activity (task) names and their durations, as shown in Table 1.
7. Check predecessors for all the activities as shown in Table 1. All the dependencies are Finish-to-Start.
8. Move the project’s start date to “Mon, 5/6/2024”.
9. On the “Resource Sheet”, fill out all the relevant fields as shown in Table 2.
10. Check resources as shown in Table 1. Don’t forget to change the unit number of materials.
11. Set the baseline and select the “Tracking Gantt” view.
12. Let’s assume that some time has passed, and we are on Thursday, June 13, 2024. Change the current date and status date.
13. We had to spend more money on some of the activities.
    1. HR5 was assigned to Activity B. HR5 worked part-time in this activity.
    2. We needed to purchase 25 additional units of M2 in Activity D.
    3. We needed to purchase 45 additional units of M3 in Activity E.
14. We have made progress in some of the activities. We completed A, B, C, D, and E. We could finish 50% of F and 75% of G.
15. In the View tab, click Tables and select More Tables. In the new menu window, choose Earned Value.
16. In the new table, insert SPI as a new column to the right of the existing “SV” column.
17. In the new table, insert CPI as a new column to the right of the existing “CV” column.
18. Interpret SPI, CPI, and VAC values.
    • Explain why SPI is smaller or bigger than 1.
    • Explain why CPI is smaller or bigger than 1.
    • Explain what VAC indicates.
19. If the SPI remains the same during the rest of the project, how much delay may be expected?
    • Show the calculation.
20. If the CPI remains the same during the rest of the project, how much money may we spend more over our cost baseline?
    • Explain how it is related to VAC.