BMGT 488 - Final Project - Group Assignment (35% of overall grade) Two Staged Project

The group project is a dynamic exercise designed for students to develop project management skills. The project will provide you with experience in managing the myriad variables routinely encountered in project management, and will provide you with realistic problem-solving and decision-making scenarios. Most importantly, the project will give you the opportunity to practice various tasks of project management, adopting a hands-on, learn-by-doing approach that emphasizes active learning.

In this group project, you will complete the assignment in two stages. Stage 1 consists of students completing Part 1 and Part 2 (15%). Stage 2 requires students to complete Part 3 and Part 4 (20%).

NOTE: All submitted work is to be your original work. You may not use any work from another student, the Internet or an online clearinghouse. You are expected to understand the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 7th Ed. (Students are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated reference list only).

Final Project Stage 1 is due Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. eastern time of week 6 unless otherwise changed by the instructor.

Required Element to include in the Final Assignment - Group:

Complete all sections within each part;

Follow the directions for all questions;

Write the question as the paragraph heading and answer with a concise narrative;

Ensure the report is consistent with APA guidelines;

All attachments should be cited within the report;

XPS Project

You are in project manager on the Extreme Pogo Stick (XPS) project for your company. Your project is to develop a pogo stick capable of reaching heights of fifteen feet. The company has president, Dave Armstrong, feels there is a potentially strong market for the XPS. He predicts that it may be suitable for X-Games and potentially in the Olympics. However, Dave is very concerned that the XPS be brought to market quickly so that it can capture market share. But he also wants the XPS to be engineered so that it maximizes the potential for athletes to complete the significant tricks without damaging the system or themselves.

Part 1

As the project manager for the XPS, you must create a project plan. Assume the following:

1. The project must begin on January 4, 2016.

2. The company recognizes all Federal holidays, including:

a. New Years (January 1)

b. Martin Luther King Birthday (third Monday of January)

c. Washingtons Birthday (third Monday of February)

d. Memorial Day (last Monday of May)

e. Independence Day (July 4)

f. Labor Day (first Monday in September)

g. Columbus Day (second Monday in October)

h. Veterans Day (Nov 11)

i. Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday of November)

j. Christmas Day (December 25)

3. If a holiday falls in a Saturday, then it will be celebrated the preceding Friday. If a holiday falls in a Sunday, then it will be celebrated the following Monday.

4. The project team will work eight hour days, Monday through Friday. Weekend overtime is not authorized.

TABLE 1
ID	Task	Duration	Predecessor	Resources
1	XPS
2	Market Analysis	20 days	--	Marketing (4)
3	Business Case	15 days	2	Business Analysis (2)
4	Requirements Analysis	25 days	3	Marketing (2), Business Analysis (1), Designer (2), Developers (2), Industrial Engineer (1), Purchasing Agent (1)
5	Product Design	35 days	2, 4	Marketing (1), Business Analysis (1), Designer (4), Developers (2), Industrial Engineer (2), Purchasing Agent (1)
6	Manufacturing Analysis	27 days	5	Developers (2), Industrial Engineer (4)
7	Product Design Selection	23 days	5, 6	Marketing (2), Business Analysis (1), Designer (3), Developers (2), Industrial Engineer (2), Purchasing Agent (.5)
8	Detailed Marketing Plan	30 days	7	Marketing (4)
9	Manufacturing Process Design	50 days	7	Designer (1), Developers (2), Industrial Engineer (4)
10	Detailed Product Design	58 days	7	Marketing (2), Business Analysis (1), Designer (4), Developers (2), Industrial Engineer (3), Purchasing Agent (.5)
11	Produce Prototype	30 days	10	Developers (2), Industrial Engineer (2)
12	Test Prototype	10 days	11	Designer (4), Developers (2)
13	Finalize Product Design	30 days	9, 12	Marketing (2), Business Analysis (1), Designer (3), Developers (2), Industrial Engineer (2)
14	Order materials	20 days	13	Purchasing Agent (1)
15	Order Production Equipment	27 days	9, 13	Purchasing Agent (1)
16	Install Production Equipment	30 days	14F-S +20 days, 15F-S +35 days	Designer (1), Developers (3), Industrial Engineer (4)
17	XPS Demonstration	1 day	8, 16	Marketing (4), Business Analysis (1), Designer (4), Industrial Engineer (4), Purchasing Agent (1)

Based on Table 1 (above), construct a schedule for the XPS project and provide a point paper answering the following questions:

6. Which activity has the most amount of slack?

7. Determine two milestones for the project. Why did you select these milestones?

8. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using a network diagram to display this project?

9. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using a Gantt chart to display this project?