1. What is the cost of completing this project if no overtime is used? How long will it take to complete the project?

2. What is the shortest amount of time in which the project can be completed? What is the cost of completing the project in the shortest amount of time?

3. Suppose that the benchmarking study actually required 13 days as opposed to the 10 days originally estimated. What actions would you take to keep the project on a normal schedule?

4. Suppose the President wanted the Website launched in 35 days. What actions would you take to meet this deadline? How much extra would it cost to complete the project in 35 days?

MINI CASE 

Charter Financial Bank operates three branches in a southeastern city. Ray Copper, Vice - President of Information Technology at the bank, has recently been charged by the bank’s president to develop a Website to promote bank services, to provide access to customer account information, and to allow individuals to apply online for loans and credit cards. Ray decided to assign this project to Rachel Smith, one of two directors in the information technology group. Since Charter Financial did not currently have a presence on the Web, Ray and Rachel agreed that an appropriate starting point for the project would be for the project team to benchmark existing Websites in order to gain a better understanding of the state-of-the -art in this area. At the conclusion of their first meeting, Ray asked Rachel to prepare a rough estimate of how long this project would take and how much it would cost if it were pursued at a normal pace. Noting that the president appeared particularly anxious to launch the Website, Ray also requested that Rachel prepare a time and budget estimate related to launching the Website as quickly as possible.