Course Project
This Course Project will provide you with practical experience in applying the skills, tools, and methodologies contained in the coursework for PROJ592. You will be generating a detailed project plan, including a project work breakdown structure, schedule, and cost estimate to justify the project, and then use these tools to monitor, control, and forecast results of your project. In Part 1 (CP-1), you will select a project which requires sufficient tasks and detail to demonstrate your understanding of course concepts. In Part 2 (CP-2), you will be provided details for a new project.
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Course Project, Part 1 – Due Week 4
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Assume you are the project manager for a new business venture. This venture will require financing, but once completed, will generate revenue and, eventually, a profit over cost. For CP-1, you are to write a Project Proposal with enough detail to convince investors to finance your idea. This Project Proposal will require detailed cost and revenue estimates and a credible schedule to win investor support.
Select a venture of personal interest. Read the Proposal Requirements below to help you select a suitable idea. For example, select a venture where you can identify realistic cost and scheduling concerns. Opening a small retail storefront or a franchise is one example. Do NOT propose building a house, because investors typically already have financing before beginning such a project. When selecting your project, keep in mind the goal of CP-1 is to apply the techniques introduced during the course.
Focus on detailed cost estimating, scheduling, and project justification. Estimating includes specific assumptions made during the estimating process, as well as quantities, unit prices, hourly rates for tasks, and accumulated totals. Justification will include an NPV analysis of costs vs. projected detailed revenue streams over a five year period with cash inflows and outflows over the project life. Start-up and other costs, and revenue streams, should be derived from detailed project cost estimates and sales forecasts.
When you establish your financial data you must be reasonable. A product that is developed for a cost of $100,000 will rarely have a net income of $1,000,000 per year, but I have seen students dream that up in the past. The numbers should allow for the possibility of failure if things go wrong.
The CP-1 Project Proposal will be structured with the following sections:
- Cover Page including assignment, project title, course, and student contact information.
- Executive Summary/Proposal which “summarizes” the content from the entire document with quantifiable highlights such as overall cost, duration, revenue, etc., and makes the pitch to investors along with a request for the needed funds.
- Project Description which describes the project and the need for it.
- WBS with proper grouping, indenting, and coding for approximately 25 to 40 tasks.
- Cost Estimate for each task. Capital cost estimates should include building, franchise fees, equipment, etc., if required for your project.
- Advanced Cost Estimating Technique which describes the use of an advanced technique such as three-point or contingency estimating and an example of its use in your project.
- Cost Assumptions including a list of assumptions made when deriving your estimates.
- Financial Analysis including NPV calculations.
- Schedule including MSP Gantt chart schedule (required), including tasks, task relationships, task duration, and task resources.
NOTE: Each section should include the detail as described above, along with a proper discussion about the included data as well as the project manager’s analysis/interpretation of the information.
Submission Requirements
- CP-1 must be submitted as a single document in MS Word. Information or details created with other tools like Excel or MS Project such as tables, charts, or graphs must be incorporated into the MS Word submittal as an inserted object, such as a JPEG. (For help with MS Project, see the Video Tutorial link in the Overview section above.) Failure to follow this requirement will result in the return of the proposal for re-formatting to the requested MS Word format.
- You may insert objects into the body of your paper to support your discussion if they are half a page or less. Larger items should be included in an appendix with appropriate references to this information.
- CP-1 must include a cover page.
- As a guide, the body of CP-1 should be between five and ten pages in length (i.e., not including cover page, appendix, etc.).
- Submit the Word document to the Week 4: Course Project, Part 1 Dropbox.
Submit your assignment to the Dropbox located on the silver tab at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read theseStep-by-Step Instructions or watch this Dropbox Tutorial.
See Syllabus “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information.
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Course Project, Part 2 – Due Week 7
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For CP-2, we will leave CP-1 behind and start fresh. CP-2 is a financial analysis of a new Indoor theme park project. You will utilize the provided project information/data to create a new project schedule which will represent your project at a specific point during implementation. You will load the information/data into Microsoft Project where the data will serve as the basis for project monitoring and control and Earned Value Analysis. The output of the analysis, combined with a control plan, will be used to support the continuation of your project.
The CP-2 Project Performance Report will be structured with the following sections:
- Cover Page including assignment, project title, course, and student contact information.
- Executive Summary which “summarizes” the content from the entire document with quantifiable highlights such as overall project cost and schedule performance, estimate to completion, and makes the pitch to project stakeholders to continue the project.
- Schedule 1 an MSP Gantt chart schedule (required) which incorporates the provided project data, established baseline, and proper review date representing the anticipated 50% completion date.
- Performance Analysis utilizes Earned Value data to analyze the project cost and schedule performance.
- Estimate at Completion includes a forward-looking estimate of the project completion date and the final project costs.
- Control Plan which provides a corrective action plan to bring the project back in line with your project baseline.
- Revised Estimate at Completion which includes the corrective actions from the control plan along with the resulting cost impact and schedule impact.
- Schedule 2 including revised MSP Gantt chart schedule (required) which reflects the impact of your corrective actions.
NOTE: Each section should include the detail as described above, along with a proper discussion about the included data as well as the project manager’s analysis/interpretation of the information.
Background data for the CP-2 project can be found in Doc Sharing under the Course Project category or from this link: PROJ592_CourseHome_CP2_Start_Data.docx .
Submission Requirements
- CP-2 must be submitted as a single document in MS Word. Information or details created with other tools like Excel or MS Project such as tables, charts, or graphs must be incorporated into the MS Word submittal as an inserted object, such as a JPEG. (For help with MS Project, see the Video Tutorial link below.) Failure to follow this requirement will result in the return of the proposal for re-formatting to the requested MS Word format.
- You may insert objects into the body of your paper to support your discussion if they are half a page or less. Larger items should be included in an appendix with appropriate references to this information.
- CP-2 must include a cover page.
- As a guide, the body of CP-2 should be between five and ten pages in length (i.e., not including cover page, appendix, etc.).
- Submit the Word document to the Week 7: Course Project, Part 2 Dropbox.
Submit your assignment to the Dropbox located on the silver tab at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read theseStep-by-Step Instructions or watch this Dropbox Tutorial.
See Syllabus “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information.
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CP-1 Grading Rubric
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General business presentation and format
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A professional, well-worded paper with cover page which meets requirements and maintains continuity from start to finish. Uses proper references to important information, including items contained in the appendix. Uses appropriate citing and notation.
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10 points
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Executive Summary/Proposal
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Summarizes the content from the entire document with quantifiable highlights such as overall cost. Makes an appropriate and convincing case to justify the project and win over the investors. This is where you have to act as a project manager and a business person.
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10 points
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Project Description
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The description is brief (one-page maximum) and includes an overview of the project, including deliverables and benefits to be derived.
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10 points
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WBS
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Proper grouping, indenting, and coding for approximately 25 to 40 tasks. The WBS focuses on cost- and revenue-generating elements of the project, and will form the basis of the cost estimate and schedule.
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10 points
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Cost Estimate
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- Each of the tasks has a cost estimate. The cost element is detailed for major cost and revenue elements, and includes facilities, equipment and materials for start-up, labor costs (rates and hours) for start-up and operations, materials for operations, and detailed estimated revenue streams.
- For minor tasks, it is not necessary to provide complete details of the way the estimate was generated.
- Reasonable “guesstimates” should be made where accurate data are not available.
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10 points
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Advanced Cost Estimating Technique
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Describe and demonstrate the use of an advanced technique such as three-point or contingency estimate. (It is NOT required to show the estimating technique for EACH task/item.)
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10 points
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Cost Assumption Section
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Provides information on the basic assumptions made during the estimating process.
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5
points
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Financial Analysis
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Provides financial analysis details including NPV Analysis and calculations.
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5
points
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Schedule
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The Gantt chart schedule includes the tasks, predecessors, and resource assignments for the project team.
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10 points
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Total Points
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Course Project, Part 1 (CP-1) is due in Week 4.
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80 Points
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CP-2 Grading Rubric
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General business presentation and format
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A professional, well-worded paper with cover page which meets requirements and maintains continuity from start to finish. Uses proper references to important information, including items contained in the appendix. Uses appropriate citing and notation.
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10 points
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Executive Summary
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Summarizes the content from the entire document with quantifiable highlights such as overall project cost and schedule performance, estimate to completion, and makes the pitch to project stakeholders to continue the project. This is where you have to act as a project manager and a business person.
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10 points
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Schedule 1
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Demonstrates proper use of Microsoft Project and ability to correctly incorporate the provided data and establish a schedule with established baseline and review date at the planned 40% completion date.
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10 points
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Performance Analysis
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Utilizes Earned Value data to analyze and provide proper interpretation of the project cost and schedule performance to date. Includes analysis of poorly performing tasks, critical path, and total project performance using Earned Value indicators such as BCWS (PV), BCWP (EV), ACWP (AC), CV, SV, CPI, SPI.
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10 points
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Estimate at Completion
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Includes a forward-looking estimate of the project completion date and the final project costs based on the performance analysis.
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10 points
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Control Plan
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Proposes appropriate corrective action(s) that should be taken at this point to put the project back on track based on the performance analysis.
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10 points
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Revised Estimate at Completion
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Includes the corrective actions from the control plan, along with the resulting cost impact and schedule impact. Uses a cost vs. benefit approach.
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10 points
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Schedule 2
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Includes a revised MSP Gantt chart schedule (required) which reflects the impact of your corrective actions.
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10 points
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Total Points
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Course Project, Part 2 (CP-2) is due in Week 7.
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80 Points
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