Objective:

The objective of this assignment is to:

• Apply project management techniques such as the calculation of expected time for activities using the PERT formula.
• Manually and graphically represent project tasks through network and Gant diagramming.
• Perform critical path analysis to determine a project's duration and critical tasks.
• Use Project Management Software to input project tasks, generate network and Gant diagrams, and compare manual and software-assisted project scheduling.
• Analyze the impact of changes to task durations on overall project timelines and the critical path.
• Calculate slack time and determine flexibility in scheduling.

Please complete the five problems shown below.

Problem 1: Calculate Expected Time (20 points)

Calculate the expected time for the activities in Table 1. The answer should be formatted with two decimals. Time is measured in days.

Table 1
Activity	Optimistic time	Realistic Time	Pessimistic time	Expected Time (ET)
A	4	8	10	?
B	5	8	11	?
C	3	5	7	?
D	5	9	12	?
E	2	5	8	?

Problem 2: Network Diagram and Critical Path (20 points)

A project has been defined to contain the following list of activities along with their required times for completion as shown in Table 2.

Table 2
Task	Task Name	Duration (weeks)	Predecessors
1	Collect Requirements	4
2	Analyze processes	2	1
3	Analyze data	2	2
4	Design Process	6	2
5	Design Data	3	3
6	Design Screens	2	3, 4
7	Design Reports	4	4, 5
8	Code	5	6, 7
9	Test and Document	7	7
10	Deploy	2	8, 9
11	Project Review	2	10

Instructions:

1. Manually sketch a network diagram to represent the activities shown in Table 2. Provide a screen capture of your sketch. You can use software packages such as Draw.io, MS Visio, or even MS Office to create the sketch. The important thing is that you submit a screen capture of your sketch here. (hint: use Figure 3-25 from your textbook as guidance)
2. Project Duration: How many weeks does it take to complete the project?
3. Project End Date: Assuming that the project starts on October 28, 2024, what specific date does the project end?
4. Critical Path: What tasks are part of the critical path?
5. What tasks have slack time? How many days of slack for these tasks?

Note: You will not use specialized software for this step. Perform manual calculations as explained in your textbook.

Problem 3: Using Project Management Software (20 points)

You could use either ProjectLibre or MS Project to complete this step.

Enter the project described in Table 2 into Project Management Software:

1. Generate a network diagram with the project management software and compare it with the network diagram you drew in Problem 2.
   • According to the Project Management Software, what is the completion date? If there is a difference, explain the reason for the difference.
   • Produce screen captures of the network and Gantt chart associated with this step and paste them into the Word document.
2. Scenario Change: Explain what would happen in terms of overall duration and critical path if activity 6 were revised to take six weeks instead of two weeks (use the Project Management Software for this step). Get a screen capture of the network and Gantt chart associated with this step and paste it into the Word document.

Problem 4: Critical Path and Slack Analysis (20 points)

Assume you have a project with ten activities labeled A - J, as shown in Table 3. Please complete the following:

1. Calculate the earliest completion (EF) for each task.
2. Calculate the latest completion (LF) for each task.
3. Determine the slack for each task.
4. Identify the critical path by determining which tasks have zero slack.
5. Draw a network diagram and highlight the critical path.

Complete Table 3 with your calculations:

Table 3.
Activity	Preceding Event	Expected duration (days)	EF	LF	Slack	Critical Path?
A		4
B	A	5
C	A	6
D	A	7
E	A, D	6
F	C, E	5
G	D, E	4
H	E	3
I	F, G	4
J	H, I	7

Problem 5: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for Researching Point of Sale Software

You are the project manager responsible for helping a fast-food restaurant owner select a new Point of Sale (POS) system to improve operational efficiency. The restaurant owner wants a full assessment of different POS alternatives available in the market, along with a final recommendation. You need to create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to plan and organize the tasks required to successfully complete the project and document it in ProjectLibre or MS Project.

Instructions:

1. Identify Key Activities:
   1. Consider what steps are involved in assessing POS systems, gathering the restaurant's specific needs, evaluating alternatives, and preparing a recommendation.
   2. List about 5 to 10 key activities necessary to research POS software solutions and present a final recommendation to the restaurant owner.
2. Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):
   1. Once you have identified the key activities, break the project down into phases or tasks and document it in the project management software.
      • Duration for the activities should be defined in days. The entire project, from the start of research to presenting the final recommendation, should take no more than 90 days. There is flexibility in your time estimations since this is a hypothetical scenario.
      • At least one activity should have two or more predecessors.
      • Identify the dependencies between tasks, such as activities that cannot begin until others are completed.
      • To show your work, create a table showing the task number, predecessors, and duration.
3. Generate and submit the following:
   • Network Diagram: Capture a screenshot of the network diagram showing task dependencies.
   • Gantt Chart: Capture a screenshot of the Gantt chart showing the project timeline.
4. Provide an Overall Description:
   1. Describe how you organized the project and the rationale behind your WBS.
   2. Discuss the total time of completion, any slack time, and any critical dependencies between tasks.

This problem requires you to apply project management techniques to a real-world scenario, using tools like ProjectLibre or MS Project to create a structured and detailed project plan. Be sure to think critically about how to sequence tasks and manage time effectively.