Assignment:
You are considering whether or not to crash project activities to expedite your project. You have calculated the costs per activity for both normal and crashed options. Your assignment is two fold: create a Gantt chart based on the data in the table below and answer the questions that follow using the notes feature. Your writing must, as always, reflect APA requirements for style and spelling. Your Gantt chart should include all project activities, duration, and cost variables as well as a project title and date. You will address the questions below using the notes feature in Excel or Project.
This assignment can be completed using either Microsoft Project or Excel. While Project does a lot of these tasks automatically, if you are using Excel you will need to develop the components separately. As such you would need to re-create the table below in Excel, then create a table that highlights the critical path. Afterwards create a table that highlights the critical paths you have prioritized as candidates for crashing and answer the following questions using the notes feature.
| |
Normal |
Crashed |
| Activity |
Duration |
Costs |
Duration |
Costs |
| A |
6 Days |
$2,400 |
4 Days |
$3,600 |
| B |
7 Days |
$ 3,500 |
5 Days |
$5,000 |
| C |
5 Days |
$3,000 |
4 Days |
$3,800 |
| D |
3 Days |
$2,700 |
2 Days |
$4,500 |
| E |
4 Days |
$800 |
3 Days |
$1,500 |
| F |
5 Days |
$1,200 |
3 Days |
$2,100 |
| G |
8 Days |
$2,400 |
5 Days |
$4,200 |
| H |
3 Days |
$4,500 |
2 Days |
$7,000 |
| Total Costs |
|
20,500 |
|
31,700 |
- Which activities are the most likely candidates for crashing (i.e., which are the most cost-effective to crash) and why?
- Using the critical path from this activity network, consider A – C – D – F – H as the critical path and assume all other paths are less than a fully crashed A – C – D – F – H. Prioritize the candidates for crashing.
- How does the activity network change the decision rule?