BE T Case Study Family Planning Research Center of Nigeria Dr. Adinombe Watage, deputy director of the Family Planning Research Center in Nigeria's Over-the-River Province, was assigned the task of organizing and training five teams of field workers to perform educational and outreach activities as part of a large project to demonstrate acceptance of a new method of birth control. These workers already had training in family planning education but must receive specific training regarding the new method of contraception. Two types of materials must also be prepared: (1) those for use in training the workers and (2) those for distribution in the field. Training faculty must be brought in and arrangements made for transportation and accommodations for the participants. Dr. Watage first called a meeting of his office staff. Together they identified the activities that must be carried out, their necessary sequences, and the time that they would require. Their results are displayed in Table 11.12. Louis Odaga, the chief clerk, noted that the project had to be completed in 60 days. Whipping out his solar-powered TABLE 11.12 Family Planning Research Center Activities ACTIVITY A. Identify faculty MUST FOLLOW calculator, he added up the time needed. It came to 94 days. "An impossible task, then," he noted. "No," Dr. Watage replied, "some of these tasks can go forward in parallel." "Be careful, though," warned Mr. Oglagadu, the chief nurse, "there aren't that many of us to go around. There are only 10 of us in this office." "I can check whether we have enough heads and hands once I have tentatively scheduled the activities," Dr. Watage responded. "If the schedule is too tight, I have permission from the Pathminder Fund to spend some funds to speed it up, just so long as I can prove that it can be done at the least cost necessary. Can you help me prove that? Here are the costs for the activities with the elapsed time that we planned and the costs and times if we shorten them to an absolute minimum." Those data are given in Table 11.13. Source: Family Planning Research Center of Nigeria by Curtis P. McLaughlin. Oby Curtis P. McLaughlin. Reprinted by permission of Curtis P. McLaughlin. TIME (DAYS) 5 B. Arrange transport C. Identify materials D. Arrange accommodations E. Identify team A A F. Bring in team B, E G. Transport faculty A, B ASH H. Print materials C ST I. Deliver materials H J. Train team D, F, G, I 500 500 K. Do fieldwork J 000 TABLE 11.13 Family Planning Research Center Costs 7 1537230758 STAFFING NEEDED 2 3 2 1 4 1 2 6 3 0 0 NORMAL MINIMUM AVERAGE COST 006 ACTIVITY A. Identify faculty TIME COST ($) TIME COST ($) PER DAY SAVED ($) 5 400 2 700 100 B. Arrange transport 7 1,000 4 1,450 150 0 C. Identify materials 5 400 3 500 50 500 D. Arrange accommodations 3 2,500 1 3,000 250 000 E. Identify team 7 400 4 850 150 000 F. Bring in team 2 1,000 1 2,000 G. Transport faculty 1,000 3 1,500 2 2,000 000 H. Print materials 500 10 3,000 5 4,000 1. Deliver materials 200 7 200 2 600 005 J. Train team 80 15 5,000 10 K. Do fieldwork 7,000 400 30 10,000 20 14,000 400 Discussion Question PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1. Some of the tasks in this project can be done in parallel. Prepare a diagram showing the required network of tasks, and define the critical path. What is the length of the proj- ect without crashing? 2. At this point, can the project be done given the personnel constraint of 10 persons? 3. If the critical path is longer than 60 days, what is the least amount that Dr. Watage can spend and still achieve this schedule objective? How can he prove to the Pathminder Fund that this is the minimum-cost alternative? Source: Professor Curtis P. McLaughlin, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.