Part 1: Case 5.2 Post-Graduation Adventure:

Josh and Mike met as roommates during freshman year at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite a rocky start they became best friends. They are planning a two-week adventure together to celebrate their graduation in June. Josh has never been to Europe and wants to visit France or Spain. Mike spent a semester abroad in Aarhus, Denmark, and travelled extensively in northern Europe. Even though Mike has never been to France or Spain, he wants to go to someplace more exotic, like South Africa or Vietnam. For the past week, they have been arguing over where they should go. Josh argues that it will cost too much to fly to South Africa or Vietnam, while Mike counters that it will be much cheaper to travel in Vietnam or South Africa once they are there. They agree that they can spend no more than $3,500 each on the trip and could be gone for only two weeks.

One evening when they were arguing with each other over beers with friends, Sara said, "Why don't you use what you learned in your project management class to decide what to do?" Josh and Mike looked at each other and agreed that made perfect sense.

1. Assume you are either Mike or Josh; how would you go about making a decision using project management methodology?
2. Looking first at only cost, what decision would you make?
3. After cost, what other factors should be considered before making a decision?

Part 2: Snapshot from Practice 6.3 / Figure 6.16: Concurrent Engineering (Fast Tracking):

This scenario from Bowersox covers General Motors' success in the development of the Volt Electric Vehicle.

Using this example, please identify, describe, and discuss a scenario where Fast Trackinghas been - or could have been successful.