1. Review the front page of your local newspaper and try to identify all the projects contained in the articles. How many were you able to find?

1. Individually identify what you consider to be the greatest achievements accomplished by mankind in the last five decades. Now share your list with three to five other students in the class and come up with an expanded list. Review these accomplishments in terms of the definition of a project. What does your review suggest about the importance of project management?

1. Individually identify projects assigned in previous terms. Were both sociocultural and technical elements factors in the success or difficulties in the projects?

1. Check out the Project Management Institute's home page atwww.pmi.org.

1. Review general information about PMI as well as membership information.
2. See if there is a PMI chapter in your state. If not, where is the closest one?
3. Use the search function at the PMI home page to find information on Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). What are the major knowledge areas of PMBOK?
4. Explore other links that PMI provides. What do these links tell you about the nature and future of project management?

1. You manage a hotel resort located on the South Beach on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii. You are shifting the focus of your resort from a traditional fun-in-the-sun destination to eco-tourism. (Eco-tourism focuses on environmental awareness and education.) How would you classify the following projects in terms of compliance, strategic, and operational?

a. Convert the pool heating system from electrical to solar power.

b. Build a four-mile nature hiking trail.

c. Renovate the horse barn.

d. Launch a new promotional campaign with Hawaii Airlines.

e. Convert 12 adjacent acres into a wildlife preserve.

f. Update all the bathrooms in condos that are 10 years or older.

g. Change hotel brochures to reflect eco-tourism image.

h. Test and revise disaster response plan based on new requirements.

1. How easy was it to classify these projects? What made some projects more difficult than others?
2. What do you think you now know that would be useful for managing projects at the hotel?

1. Two new software projects are proposed to a young start-up company. The Alpha project will cost $150,000 to develop and is expected to have an annual net cash flow of $40,000. The Beta project will cost $200,000 to develop and is expected to have an annual net cash flow of $50,000. The company is very concerned about its cash flow. Using the payback period, which project is better from a cash flow standpoint? Why?