Semester Project: International manufacturer of computer equipment and software sector

The case of SFG Computers

SFG Computers is an international manufacturer of computer equipment and software. It is going to introduce a number of new products in the coming year, and it wants to develop marketing programs to accompany the product introductions. The marketing program includes the preparation of printed materials distributed directly by the company and used by the companys marketing personnel, vendors and representatives; print advertising in regular magazines, trade journals, and newspapers; and television commercials. The program also includes extensive training programs for marketing personnel, vendors and representatives about the new products. A project management team with members from marketing department and manufacturing areas has developed the following list of activities for the development of the marketing program: Table below shows a list of the activities, the precedence relationships and the activity times in the project:

You are required to prepare a report for. This report needs to address the concerns of the following:

1. Introduction
2. Literature
3. An explanation of the model and the methodology used (i.e. CPM and PERT).
4. Display your estimated outputs using tables and graphs as well as network diagram.
5. A discussion of the results estimated.
6. Any other comments you feel relevant to the issues being addressed.
7. Conclusion and recommendations.

Activity	Activity Description	Activity Predecessor	Time Estimates (days) o-m-p
A	Preliminary budget and plan approval	-	10-15-20
B	Select marketing personnel for training	-	5-9-12
C	Develop overall media plan	A	15-25-30
D	Prepare separate media plans	C	12-20-25
E	Develop training plan	C	5-8-12
F	Design training course	E	6-14-20
G	Train marketing personnel	B,F	16,20,25
H	Plan tv commercials with agency	D	15,25,35
I	Draft in-house print materials	D	8,15,20
J	Develop print advertising layouts with agency	D	16,23,30
K	Review print advertising layouts	J	4,9,12
L	Review tv commercials	H	3,7,12
M	Review and print in-house materials	I	3,5,7
N	Release advertising to print media	G,I,K	2,4,8
O	Release tv commercials to networks	L	4,7,10
P	Final marketing personnel review	G,I,K	4,5,9
Q	Run media advertising mailings	M,N,O	15,20,30
Finish	-	Q,P

HINT:

NOTE: Remember:

1. Determine the project network diagram, critical path, expected time, variance and standard deviation of the project.
2. What is the probability of completing the project within 4 months?
3. You are required to write a report.
4. Calculations with no explanation are not acceptable.
5. You are strongly advised to use excel pages that should be clearly typed and numbered.
6. Word limit: minimum 1000 - maximum 2000 words.