BAIT3153 Software Project Management

Tutorial 1 part 1
Question 1[April 2017(B) Q1c]
Sally and Albert are reporting to 2 different departmental managers ( IT department and Manufacturing
Department). Both of them are assigned to handle a project (UniPro) which also involves 2 other
colleagues from different departments (Sue, Finance department and Jeff, Quality Assurance department).
Hank, the project manager of this project UniPro is from the IT department. Hank is given full authority
to assign and allocate tasks to his team members.

(a) Construct a diagram to reveal the organizational structure of this company.

(b) Explain TWO (2) disadvantages of this organizational structure from the perspective of an employee.

Question 2
Kent is an IT manager working in MAI University. The President of MAI University has recently given
him a new assignment that is to upgrade all the personal computers’ operating system in the campus to
Windows 10.
The President told Kent that “There are about 500 personal computers in the campus and the job must be
completed within 3 months. We have allocated RM100,000 to complete this job”. In addition, the
President also told Kent that he will be assisted by James and Susan to do the works.

(a) Based on the above mentioned case, identify 3 constraints in this project.
(b) Explain in detailed 3 important factors that will help Kent to succeed in this project.
(c) Discuss 3 important project management skills that Kent should have.

Question 3[April 2016(B) Q2a]

(a) Are the functions of management the same as the functions of leadership? Give TWO (2) reasons to
support your answer.

(b) Evaluate any FOUR (4) attributes or skills that you as a project manager should have that would have
a great impact on the project outcome.

Question 4[April 2016 Q1a]

TaPau2U Sdn. Bhd. is a restaurant meal-delivery service that began operations in 2009. At that time, this
service was perceived as being innovative given that only fast-food outlets offered home delivery service.
As the business continues to grow, the company realizes they need a custom computer system to support
their operations. With the computerized meal-delivery system, they hope to be able to obtain information
at the end of each week about orders by restaurant, orders by area of town, and so on. This information
would help them decide about advertising and contracts with restaurants. In addition, the company would
like to provide a Web site featuring its services and enable its customers to place orders online. The
company has commissioned you to develop the required system. Assume that the project duration is 1
year.
Software project problems may be categorized as follows:
 Problems faced by the project manager,
 problems faced by developers, and
 Problems faced by customers.

Discuss THREE (3) possible problems that may be encountered in this project. Note that your answer
should include a problem from each category of software project problems.

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BAIT3153 Software Project Management

Tutorial 1 part 2

Question 1
Using a 10% discount rate, calculate the Net Present Value (NPV) and Return on investment (ROI)
for Project X and Project Y. Based on your calculations, suggest the most profitable project. Show
your calculation to justify your answer (round up discount factor to 4 decimal points).
Discount Rate: 10%
Project X Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total
Costs 100,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 -
Discount Factor 1

Discounted Costs 100,000

Benefits 0 100,000 120,000 100,000 -

Discount Factor 1
Discounted Benefits 0

NPV
ROI:
Use discounted value

Discount Rate: 10%

Project Y Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total
Costs 100,000 70,000 60,000 20,000 -
Discount Factor 1
Discounted Costs 100,000

Benefits 0 100,000 150,000 90,000 -

Discount Factor 1
Discounted Benefits 0

NPV
ROI:

Comment:

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BAIT3153 Software Project Management

Question 2 [April 2016 Q2a]

Table 1 shows the cash flow of Project X and Project Y. The cash flow takes place at the end of each year
for both projects.
Table 1: Forecasted cash flow of Project X and Project Y
Year Project X Project Y
0 -100,000 -100,000
1 50,000 70,000
2 40,000 60,000
3 30,000 20,000

a) Using a 10% discount rate, calculate the net present value (NPV) for both projects and propose which
project is the most beneficial to pursue. Show your working and use 4-decimal points in your calculation.

b) Calculate the ROI for the both projects and explain which project is more worthwhile to be undertaken.

Question 3
a) ABC Travel planning on implementing a travel booking system. In the past they were using a
completely manual system, which caused errors and delays for their customers. The project manager
is confident that the implementation will be completed in 6 weeks, with a most optimistic estimate
being 4 weeks, and the worst case scenario might take it to 11 weeks.
What is the result of three-point estimates using the Beta Distribution method for the booking system
implementation?

b) Given the following information, estimate the project’s activities duration using the Weighted
Average and Simple Average techniques. (round up the decimal points).
Activity Time estimates(weeks)
Optimistic (O) Pessimistic (P) Most likely (ML)
A 3 5 4
B 4 9 6
C 2 5 4
D 10 20 12
E 23 36 28
F 8 15 10
G 5 11 6

Question 4
Given the following information in table below:
Activity Estimated Duration (month) Estimated Cost(RM) Status EV
P 1 20,000 50%
Q 3 20,000 80%
R 2 30,000 80%
S 4 40,000 70%
T 4 45,000 60%
U 4 55,000 0
V 2 20,000 0
Total 20 230,000 -
You are managing a project with 20th month’s durations and now you are in 10 th month. The actual cost
(AC) spends for ten months is RM 95,000. Using Earned Value Management (EVM) technique, calculate
the project in terms of Schedule Variance (SV) and Cost Variance (CV). Comment on your project’s status
after the calculation.

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BAIT3153 Software Project Management

Tutorial 1 part 3

Question 1[April 2017 Q1a]

You are a project manager in global project with a future team consisting of employees from Asian
Countries.
(a) Identify TWO (2) possible challenges in managing a global team as described in the scenario.

(b) What are your roles as a project manager in each stage of Forming, Storming, Norming and
Performing during Team Development?

Question 2
Generic Project Process Model consists of 3 phases: definition, development and support.
Explain FOUR (4) activities focus on support phases.

Question 3
Tony Prince is the project manager for the Recreation and Wellness Intranet Project, and team members
include you, a programmer/analyst and an aspiring project manager; Patrick, a network specialist; Nancy,
a business analyst; and Bonnie, another programmer. Other people supporting the project from other
departments are Yusoff from human resources, and Cassandra from finance.
Assume these are the only people who can be assigned to work on project activities. Your schedule and
budget estimation goals are to complete the project in 12 months for under RM 500,000.
(Adapted from Schwalbe, K. Managing Information Technology Projects, 6th edition, 2011, Course Technology, Cengage Learning.)

Based on the goals of the project, develop a critical success factors analysis with 3 possible actions to
meet the goals.

Question 4 [April 2016 Q2b]

Compare and contrast the terms over-allocation and resource levelling in the context of human resource
management of a software project.

Question 5 [April 2016(B) Q1b]

T-Shirts2U is a small company which supplies and manufactures customized t-shirts. Since 2013, this
company has experienced a tremendous increase in its orders. However, the current system which is
partially automated is unable to keep up to pace its growth: it is unable to keep track of the orders
efficiently, it is unable to provide information to the management on which item promotions are more
profitable and there have been mistakes in some of the order fulfillments. Assume that you have been
contracted by T-Shirts2U to develop a new system for the company that will solve the stated problems.

Discuss FOUR (4) important factors that need to be considered to assure the success of the above project.
Give reasons to support you answer.

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