Q1. List and explain the four (4) stages of Project Life Cycle, and discuss the importance of each
of them. (8 marks).
Q2. Describe
I. What is the scope of a project and why it is essential, and
II. How would you have defined the scope in Task 2; case study (AMEC Marine Construction) (Total 2×3=6 marks).
Q3. Using the tables below, (Project 1, 2, 3) plot out an AON project network for all three projects
and show:
I. Identification of critical path
II. Project duration (Total 2X3=6 marks)
Q4. Define the following cost appraisal methods and describe the benefits of each method
are?
I. NPV,
II. Payback and
III. IRR. (Total 3X2=6 marks)
Q5. Describe what is:
I. Risk and Risk management and
II. What are the five stages of the Risk Management process?(Total 2×3=6 marks).
Q6 I. Outline and explain what a quality audit in Project management is?
II. What is a Project evaluation and why we are conducting one?
III. Explain what the purpose of monitor a project and
IV. What is Project control? (Total 4×2=8 marks).
Project 1
Tasks Precedence Time
A – 4 days
B A 6 days
C B 3 days
D B 6 days
E C 5 days
F C 4 days
G D 2days
H F 3 days
I G 5 days
J H 3 days
K I 4 days
L J,E,K 5 days
Project 2
Tasks Precedence Time
A – 3 days
B A 5 days
C A 3 days
D B 4 days
E D 5 days
F C 4 days
G D 2 days
H F 3 days
J H 6 days
K J,E 3 days
L K,G 6 days
Project 3
Tasks Precedence Time
A – 3 days
B A 6 days
C B 3 days
D B 4 days
E C 5 days
F C 4 days
G D 6 days
H F 3 days
j H 4 days
K G,E,J 2 days
Task 2: (60% marks) 2500 words (+/- 10%)
AMEC Marine Construction(AMEC) is an international marine construction company with Shipyards around the Globe specialising building specific marine projects for a variety of international clients. It was recently commissioned to construct an install an Offshore Oil and gas production platform for an international consortium.
The Project/program
To construct and installation of an Offshore Oil rig platform to the North Sea.
Construction:
Two four-leg jackets one for the production platform and one for the Accommodation. One accommodation (Deck) platform for the crew quarters and offices with five levels.
One production (Deck) platform with four decks for the production equipment
Installation:
Jackets: when both jackets structures have been completed skidded onto two barges and towed to the North Sea oil field location. Platforms: both platforms put onto barges and towed out to the jackets location.
The budget for the Project is US$ 550m, and the platform should be installed before the winter weather closed in on the area, therefore no later than 30th August 2024, and delivered for Operation no later than the end of September. After that day is an operational lost profit penalty of US$ 300,000 per day. Since the location of the oil field (North Sea) and the unique design demands of the Project, the construction should start at AMEC’s two shipyards on Newcastle upon Tyne, the starting day hasn’t been finalised yet but would be the first six months of 2021.The budget of the Project was estimated on the base that work needs to be done with a 24/7 workload framework, and commission both yards at the hole period of the Project. Also, all the main sub-contractors would be from the UK and Europe due to close links and contracts with the consortium.
The Project manager and the team
Melvin Black has been appointed as the Project manager. He is a 50-year-old project manager with 30 years’ experience in Marine engineering project management. Melvin appointed a full-time team of five managers and ten assistant managers (see Diagram below), which all of them had experience working on similar oil rig platform projects and co-ordinating relevant shipyard managers and staff.
Project/program team Structure
The Project/program plan
Due to the complexity of Project’s time and financial sponsorships, Melvin’s first act with his team was to create the millennium stages, detail activities/tasks, budget spreadsheet for every activity with cost in (US$ millions) from the table below of the project/program which the consortium approved. Also, to create a WBS table of the project/program.
Budget Project/Program (%) plan table
FACES DESCRIPTION BUDGET %
1 • Finalised Design Oil rig Platform
• Project management team
• Creation of project teams
• Documentation, development of Operational manualsand documents
3%
2
• Operation deck construction 50% 75%
• Accommodation deck construction 35%
• Operation Jacket construction 8%
• Accommodation Jacket construction 7% 3
• Operations Platform Preparation 5% 7%
• Operations Platform Transportation 25%
• Accommodation Platform Preparation 5%
• Accommodation Platform Transportation 25%
• Operation Jacket Preparation 5%
• Operation Jacket Transportation 15%
• Accommodation Jacket Preparation 5%
• Accommodation Jacket Transportation 15%
4 • Installation of Operation jacket 30%
11%
• Installation of Accommodation Jacket 30%
• Anchoring Operation and accommodation jackets 10%
• Installation of Operation platform 15%
• Installation of Accommodation platform 15%
5 • Installation and preparation of Subsea pipes 2%6 • Testing Operation and Accommodation Platforms systems. 2%
Total 100%
Explanation of the main stages of the Program/Project
• Stage 1
Finalised Design of Oil rig Platform with the naval architects’ design team and provide final blueprints of the Project to the consortium board. 10 days.
Project management team: Commissioning Project preparation, scope definition method development, Project reports documentations.35 days
Creation of project teams Project manager with his allocated managers create the relevant teams and finalised project plan. 20 days.
Documentation, manual operations documents for Inspections and maintenance, shipyard base load platform utility (including power, water, and air) allocation, Quality inspection management, Sub-contractors operation documents and plan. 10 days.
• Stage 2
Operation platform (deck) construction with four deck levels or topsides welded together and plated over to contain all the equipment required to run the various production process. Coordinate sub-contractors, yard management, Quality inspection management, Logistics, and weight management. Estimation construction time 1003 days.
Accommodation platform (deck) construction for the crew quarters and offices with five levels. Estimation construction time 730 days.
Two four-leg jackets construction one for the Production Platform and one for the Accommodation. Each four-leg Jacket should be fabricated from large rolled steel circular steel sections, welded together and interspersed with smaller tubular members welded to the main legs using prefabricated nodes. Which gives the structure its strength as it tapers from the wide bottom sections to the top smaller section. Construction time for Operation jacket 304 days and the accommodation jacket 215 days
• Stage 3
Preparation and transportation of Operation &Accommodation platforms when both structures have been completed final weight and balance them onto crane/barges and towed out to the jackets location. Estimation time for preparation 5days, and transportation time 10 days for each of them.
Preparation & transportation of Jackets when both jackets structures have been completed balance them and skidded individually to their crane/barge and towed to the North Sea oil field allocation. Estimation time for preparation 3 days, and transportation time 5 days for each of them.
• Stage 4
Installation of both jackets, when arrived at the allocation, slid off the crane/barge and settled in the water coming gradually to the vertical position over the capped reservoir well, sinking as it is slowly de-ballasted. Estimated time 5 days for each Jacket.
Anchoring jackets Once in the right position the piles are driven through the pile sleeves and mud flaps by a pile driver on a barge. Then cement is poured into the gap between the piles and the pile sleeves acting as an efficient grout and effectively securing the whole structure to the seabed at a depth of 480m.Installationtime 5 days for each Jacket.
Installation of Operation & Accommodation platform A heavy lift barge crane swings them over the matching jacket, and both are welded together with great accuracy, a couple of mm between the mating faces being the norm. The offshore commissioning activities are carried out to prepare the platform for the testing of the processing systems. When that stage is finished, then the accommodation deck installation starts with the crane repeating the process and the offshore commissioning activities are carried out for the crew and office quarters. Installation time 5 days for each platform.
• Stage 5
Installation connection and preparation of Subsea pipes to subbed and connecting station pipes to weld to the Operation platform. Duration 15 days.
• Stage 6
Testing platform’s processing systems as the production platform is installed over the wellhead and the risers connected to the production manifolds the final pipe in the reservoir perforated by small explosive charges. This allows the orderly high pressure flow of gas and fluids to come up the riser to the production manifolds and oil, gas and water systems going through rigorous testing before the platform commissioned and at the same time testing all the departments of the accommodation platform are operational. Duration 30 days for the Operation Platform and 10 days for the Accommodation platform days.
• Stage 7
Transferring Ownership of the platform to the client and the Oilrig crew.
Duration 4 days.
Main consideration points for the Project/program.
• The project manager and the management team must collect the finalised design documents before starting the project scope and objectives and creating the relevant project teams
• Project teams must create the project reports development of project delivery, detail budget plan, and the documentation manuals.
• Construction can’t be started until all the documentation manuals are developed.
• Finalised Design of Oil rig Platform, must be finished before the creation of project teams.
• Crane/Barge, tow boats US$300,000 per day
• Crane/barge, towboats and barges must be booked two years in advance with details of the rent period, since penalty tariffs.
• Transportation, all transportation for both platforms and Jackets, should be done between May and August due to weather restrictions.
• Installation of Platforms for both Jackets and platforms should be Operation first and then Accommodation.
• Anchoring the jackets must take place before platforms installation
• Installation connection and preparation of Subsea can be done when the Operation Platform has been installed of Jacket.
You are required to prepare a report concerning the main issues to be addressed by the Project manager Melvin Black. From a project management perspective base on Project Life cycle and clearly outline the activities needed to be completed by the project team and Melvin Black to implement this new initiative successfully, e.g. Project Scope Statement, Project Priorities. Your analysis must base on Project Life Cycle and also must include the following 9 points.
These points need to be integrated (demonstrated) inside your Project life cycle analysis. Not in a separate document or as an Appendix (only point 4 the Network diagram is you allowed)
- Start and finish of the calendar day of the Project
- Create a detail stages/activities budget cost spreadsheet for every Task and stage in US$, based on the information provided by the Budget Project/Program (%) plan.
- From the information provided by the case study, create a table with all the tasks with time duration and precedence for a WBS of the project/program.
- Use your WBS tables activities and draw an AON Network Diagram on a node and show:
i. Critical path
ii. Project duration
iii. Identify slags through your Network diagram
iv. Clearly show Forward and backworth pass and calculations through your Diagram. - Identify the tasks inside the six-millennium stages of the Program/Project.
- Identify which tasks in the critical path needs to be monitoring particularly closely, and why?
- Clearly explain and provide details of:
I. Which is the latest calendar day for the project team to book the Crane/Barges
II. Which date (calendar day)
III. How many Crane/barges they need and for how many days. - Explain why is important and why needs to be accurate the booking of the Crane/Burges
for the success of the Program/Project. - Identify at least three main Risks in the Project, which Melvin and his team must take to the
consideration and provide solutions/recommendation to these risks which they must
monitoring closely.
Your report should be based on the four stages of Project life cycle and include examples of the concerns, Project Life cycle stages, associated with managing the lifecycle of this major Project and should be no more than 2,500 words +/- 10%.
No hand-writing drawings or photos for the diagrams and tables would be accepted.
Don’t forget to attach all the relevant information and any other relevant extra material at the end of your report as an Appendix.
All practical examples inside your analysis concerning relevant theories should be derived from the case study
Assignment presentation and assessment
The answers to both tasks are independent and should be addressed separately.
Task 1: answers to six questions – (800 words) – completed as an individual Task
Task 2: A report analysis based on the case study –(2500 words) completed as an individual task
Every Task at the end should have word counting and use the Harvard Reference system
For your convenience, both tasks should be submitted as one document, which contains both individual tasks, and overall both tasks should be more than 3300 words +/- 10%.
THE CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING THE TASK TWO REPORT WILL BE:
Use of relevant theory (40%)(24 marks)
Has the right theoretical content been chosen as the basis for answering the questions? Is there evidence of the use of course notes and books? Is the theory that is selected significant to the questions? Has Task 2 has theories and explanation concerning Project Life cycle with relevant examples from the case study.
Analysis (40%) (24 marks)
This measures the extent to which students develop a structured argument for the points they make by combining relevant theory with the information provided in the questions and the case study. Evidence of Project Scope Statement, Project Priorities, also analysis must include the following nine points
- Start and finish the calendar day of the Project
- Create a detail stages/activities budget cost spreadsheet for every Task and stage in US$, based on the information provided by the Budget Project/Program (%) plan.
- From the information provided by the case study, create a table with all the tasks with time duration and precedence for a WBS of the project/program.
- Use your WBS tables activities and draw an AON Network Diagram on a node and show:
i. Critical path
ii. Project duration
iii. Identify slags through your Network diagram
iv. Clearly show Forward and backworth pass and calculations through your Diagram. - Identify the tasks inside the six-millennium stages of the Program/Project.
- Identify which tasks in the critical path needs to be monitoring particularly closely, and why?
- Clearly explain and provide details of:
I. Which is the latest calendar day for the project team to book the Crane/Barges
II. Which date (calendar day)
III. How many Crane/barges and for how many days - Explain why is important and why needs to be accurate the booking of the Crane/Burges
for the success of the Program/Project. - Identify at least three main Risks in the Project,which Melvin and his team must take to the
consideration and provide solutions/recommendation to these risks which they must
monitoring closely
Report presentation (20%) (12 marks)
The extent to which the assignment represents a valid report. This will be judged on:
Appearance: Is a word count included at the end of the report? Is it within the specified amount? Is the text double spaced?
Structure: Does the report follow the conventions of the format? Does it have a clear introduction, explaining how it answers the questions? Do the sections of the report develop ideas in a logical sequence? Are diagrams or other subsidiary information shown in appendices?
Spelling and grammar: Are all words spelt correctly and is the meaning of sentences clear?
Referencing: Have appropriate references been included in the report. Has a recognised referencing system been used for notation? (see the relevant section in the Guide to Basic Study Skills) Any work submitted is subject to the University’s rules and procedures governing infringement of assessment regulations.
Module Leader: Yannis Smirnis Moderated by: Sharp Cooper
Grading Criteria SIM335 Managing Projects Individual Assignment
First Class (70 – 100%)
A creative and original response to the question. Critically reflecting on perceived theory and experiences. Extensive and appropriate use of sources (theory and practice) based on reading and experiences. Answer wrote fluently, with evidence of a highly developed capacity to structure work systematically and argue logically.
Upper Second Class (60 – 69%)
Comprehensive knowledge of concepts and theories. Appropriate application of theory and experience to the question answered. Ability to inter-relate concepts and ideas. Some originality in approach and awareness of scope and limitations. Answer systematically structured and coherent.
Lower Second Class (50-59%)
Evidence of knowledge of concepts and theories. Attempts to relate and balance theory and practice. Main issues addressed appropriately. Mainstream texts and lecture notes used. Work presented in a structured form but arguments weak in places.
Third Class (40-49%)
Evidence of uncritical knowledge of main concepts and theories. Limited attempts to relate theory and practice relaying on personal opinion or assertions. Insufficient evidence of reading. Presentation and structure weak in several places.
Fail (0 – 39%)
Some knowledge of main concepts and theory but significant omissions and/or misunderstandings. Style and structure weak and overly descriptive. Considerable limitations inability to perceive the relationship between theory and practice. Limited reading.
SIM335: Management of Projects (Academic Year 2020/21)
Task 2
Criteria 70% + (22-24) 60-69% (18-22) 50-59% (14-17) 40-49% (10-13) <40% (0-9)
Use of relevant theory
Indicative weighting = 40% of 60 mark (24 marks) The report identifies all the relevant theories to answer to complete the Task. The theories used are described in detail. There is clear evidence that course notes, books and other sources are used. Theories used are significant in listing the activities required to successfully plan and manage a major project. The report identifies most of the relevant theories to answer to complete the Task. On the whole, the theories used are described in detail. There is clear evidence that course notes and books are used. Theories used are largely significant in listing the activities required to successfully plan and manage a major project. On the whole, the report identifies the relevant theories required to answer to complete the Task. The theories used are sometimes described in detail. Overall, there is clear evidence that course notes and books are used. Theories used are significant in listing the activities required to successfully plan and manage a major project. The report identifies some of the relevant theories to answer to complete the Task. The theories used are partly described. There is some evidence that course notes, and books are used. Theories used are sometimes significant in listing the activities required to successfully plan and manage a major project. The report fails to identify the relevant theories to answer to complete the Task. The theories used are not described. There is no evidence that course notes, books or other sources are used. Theories used are not significant in listing the activities required to successfully plan and manage a major project.
Analysis
Indicative weighting = 40% of 60 mark (24 marks) There is evidence of extensive research from a variety of sources to provide better understanding to the background of the Task. A structured argument is taken for the points made by combining relevant theories with information researched or provided in the Task. The conclusions are clear and link into the requirements of the Task. There is evidence of some extensive research from a variety of sources to provide better understanding to the background of the Task. A structured argument is taken for the points made, often by combining relevant theories with information researched or provided in the Task. The conclusions on the whole are clear and link into the requirements of the Task. There is evidence of some research to provide better understanding to the background of the Task but sources are not extensive. There is some structured argument taken for the points made. The relevant theories are not always combined with information researched or provided in the Task. The conclusions are not clear and have only limited linkages into the requirements of the Task.
There is evidence of limited research being conducted to provide better understanding to the background of the Task but sources are not extensive. There is limited structured argument taken for the points made. There are only limited combinations of the relevant theories with information researched or provided in the Task. The conclusions are descriptive and do not link into the requirements of the Task. There is no evidence of research from a variety of sources to provide better understanding to the background of the Task. There is no structured argument taken for the points made. The relevant theories are not combined with information researched or provided in the Task. The conclusions are unclear and only descriptive. Conclusions also do not link into the requirements of the Task.
Sample Solution
