-Background information -Analysis AON drawing >>Table with expected activity time for each activity >>Expected activity time and standard deviation for critical path -Recommendation >>Make a recommendation to shorten the total expected activity time CASE STUDY Global Textbook Publishers onfident that he could find a perfect nity and was confident thi Dohan, an MBA fresh from the university, found an recipe for rapidly gearing up GTP for college textbook attractive position with a local publishing com- publishing He started his research by searching for publishing. He started pany in his town. Global Textbook Publishers (GTP), information at the local mation at the local library, at the university Il- Inc., is a privately held company (originally named braru (where he still had access as a recent graduate) Global Technical Publishers) that was founded by the brary (where he still had a ublishers) that was founded by the grandfather of the current president and CEO, Emily nt and CEO, Emily and on the Internet. Rohan also interviewed several Morgan. For a period of over 40 years, GTP mostly textbook authors, including some of his past profes- printed instruction manuals that typically accompany sors from the MBA program. He then talked to sales electronic and household products, such as DVD representatives from other publishing companies and players, camcorders, toaster ovens, and so on. attended a conference organized by the Association of When Emily returned to take over the leadership er the leadership America American Publishers (http://www.publishers.org/ of GTP after working as a consultant for many years. After five After five months of intense research, he had she decided to focus her attention on a totally differ us her attention on a totally differ more information about the textbook publishing more info ent market-publishing of textbooks that are used in process than he could have ever imagined. His one. schools and colleges. line assessment was that the process is complicated While the publication of instruction manuals still and quite uncertain, and that the chances of success continues, Emily intends to phase out of this business depend heavily on the project scope/quality, timeli as GTP develops more expertise in publishing college ness, and budget. textbooks. Because none of the existing staff members Rohan came up with a list of key activities that at GTP is knowledgeable about the college textbook are necessary to complete a textbook. He identified publishing process, Emily decided to hire the top the interrelationships between the activities and the ranked graduating MBA student, Rohan, and assigned optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time esti- him to develop a project plan for publishing text mates. He started the final phase of his analysis by books. She assigned Rohan to develop a plan for the putting the information about the activities in a efficient production of textbooks and strongly en table. couraged him (hinting that his success might mean a very rapid growth in his career prospects). Based on the information provided in Table 8.19, calculate the estimated time to complete a textbook Armed with many tools he learned during the MBA program, Rohan was excited about the opportu- project. Activity TABLE 8.19 Precedence Relationships and onships and Time Estimates for Global Textbook Publishers Most Description Immediate Optimistic Pessimistic Likely Time Predecessor Time (weeks) (weeks) (weeks) Identify the subject for the textbook Conduct a market assessment Submit the book proposal and get ap- proval from senior management Time Identify potential authors for the textbook Initiate discussions with the shortlisted authors Select the author team Negotiate contract with the selected authors Select technical support staff for web materials I Select the editorial team Select an advisory board for authors K Authors complete 1st batch of chapters PART II Tools and Tactical Issues Authors complete 2nd batch of chapters M Authors complete 3rd batch of chapters 0 Review 1st batch of chapters P Review 2nd batch of chapters Review 3rd batch of chapters Authors complete the revised versions of each chapter LOPO Page proofs are completed Authos cross-check page proofs for content Editors cross-check page proofs for gram- matical and other errors V W X Textbook production Compilation of web materials Textbook launched