Walvis Bay Television (WBTV) is a television production company which specialises in making outside broadcast (OB) 'specials' for a variety of television networks. It was recently commissioned to make a series of 'summer road show' programmes which would be shot at locations around Erongo region during the autumn and early winter and broadcast by the customer (a satellite broadcasting network) during the winter. The programmes would involve circus acts, displays, events and computer-graphic displays to entertain the crowds and popular entertainment acts and interviews which would be interspersed with contestant games. Managing the preparation for the series was the responsibility of the show's producer, Siphokazi. Siphokazi, who had recently graduated with distinction from her Honours Degree, knew that she would need to keep a tight grip on the arrangements for the road show series. The shooting would start at the end of May and the final show would be recorded at the end of July. The shows would be broadcast between early July and late August, so any delay either in recording the material or in editing the programmes would cause considerable complications.

The company had known that it would be commissioned to make the programmes since December, but Siphokazi had only been allocated the job in early February! Her first act was to list the various jobs which would have to be done before shooting could start. She then discussed each job with the part of the company which would carry it out, to try to understand what decisions would need to be made before they could start on their jobs. The jobs which needed to be done prior to the start of the shooting are listed below together with some details.

The producer's responsibilities (as well as managing the whole project) included:

Scheduling the venues: would take about one week to finalise and could be started straight away.

Defining the design concept: would need discussions with the chief designer and would take about three weeks of considering alternative designs before finalizing the concept, but could be started straight away.

Specifying computer-graphic displays: again in consultation with the chief designer, it would take about a week but could not be started until all the detailed planning been finalized.

The design department's responsibility was:

Producing artwork for printed materials: would take about three weeks but could be started only after completion of the detailed planning.

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The programme planning department's responsibilities were:

Booking the venues: a one-week job which could be started as soon as the venues had been decided by Unathi.

Detailed planning: the preparation of detailed plans and schedules, a three-week task which could be started once the design concept had been finalized and the venues booked.

Printing the brochures: an outside printer could be given this job as soon as the artwork for the printed materials had been prepared by the design department. The printer usually quoted a four-week delivery from receipt of the artwork.

Printing the display posters: again depended on the preparation of the artwork but could be delivered within two weeks of the artwork being ready.

Ordering the road show vehicles: several trailer trucks and ancillary vehicles were needed which could be ordered on completion of the detailed planning; delivery of the vehicles would take about eight weeks.

Writing the graphic display software: contracted out to a software house, it would take about four weeks but could only be started after the computer graphics had been specified by the producer and chief designer.

Final testing and rehearsals: the programme planning department was finally responsible for getting the 'whole act together' immediately prior to shooting. Testing and rehearsals could only start once the brochures had been printed, the vehicles fully fitted out and customized and the promotion staff trained. Final tests and rehearsals should take around a week but, if things went wrong at any stage, could take longer.

The workshop's responsibility was:

Customizing and fitting out the vehicles: after the vehicles are delivered and the artwork agreed and the computer-graphics software finished, the vehicles could be fitted out and customized for the shows; this would normally take around three weeks.

The personnel department was responsible for:

Recruiting the promotion (promo) staff: these were the people (often 'resting' actors) who staffed the exhibits and entertained the crowds; they could be recruited as soon as the detailed planning was completed. Usually it took two weeks to recruit all the promo staff.

Training the promo staff: once all promo staff had been recruited they would need training - a one-week task.

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Guiding questions

1. Can Siphokazi get the project together in time to start shooting on schedule? [30]

2. Which jobs should be managed particularly closely? [10]

3. What general advice would you give her to help her to manage this project?