FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT $1[100$ MARKS$]$

Read the Case Study below and answer ALL of the questions that follow

ACME Fabricators

This project takes place in South Australia. In September $2000,$ ACME Fabricators advised its staff that their new factory

and offices out in semi$-$rural Angle Vale would be ready for completion by the end of April $2002.$ ACME was a responsible

company and liked to keep their premises clean and tidy and their staff happy. The new premises at Angle Vale were

developed on a $4\mathrm{.}5-$hectare site, previously used for grain crops. Consequently, ACME decided that significant landscaping

would be required to enhance the amenity of the otherwise bare land.

The senior executive group pictured some land contouring with an attractive green lawn, and trees and shrubs to soften the

impact of otherwise stark commercial buildings. Accordingly, they notionally allocated $$232,000$ for the project, and

developed a tender document that called for the work to be completed by the time they moved to the new premises. They

then invited proposals for landscaping and quotes for the work.

A company called Arbor Industries submitted an artist's sketch for the ACME evaluation team to picture what the

landscaping would look like. Arbor was selected with a bid of $$175,000,$ substantially lower than any other submission.

Arbor then prepared a detailed landscaping plan based on existing drawings of the site provided in the tender. Arbor met

with the ACME senior executives to agree on a project start date, access and security of plant and equipment, and a fixed

price contract. A contract was duly signed.

The project was scoped and planned by Arbor, with specific milestones for site works, irrigation, turf laying, and tree and

shrub planting. Arbor had undertaken many similar jobs on city sites in the past and based on the knowledge and skills of

the project team, they did not think that a formal project management plan would be needed. All they wanted was

agreement on the scope of the project and the key deliverable dates. From experience, they wanted to deal with only one

person from ACME and it was agreed that the finance manager, a senior executive, would be responsible for the project.

Arbor commenced work on the $16$th of November $2000$ with site preparation including weed eradication. Work progressed

smoothly until $20$th of January $2001,$ when heavy vehicles delivering machinery, plant and equipment to the site significantly

damaged the newly prepared and leveled ground for the lawn.

The Arbor project manager arranged his first meeting with the ACME finance manager to complain that he would have to redo

the site for the lawn which would take an extra $3-5$ days. The finance manager agreed that it was not Arbor's fault and

that work would have to be re$-$done, but as there was no more funding available he suggested that the project manager

make the savings somewhere else from within the project. This was agreed but not documented.

By the end of January the landscaping site works were finished and the irrigation system was installed. Planting was to be

done in three phases $$ shrubs, bushes and small trees first, then larger trees and finally the lawn. Shrub planting would

take approximately $4$ days, trees $7$ days and the lawn would be laid in three separate operations over $2$ days.

On the first day after the planting commenced, some of the project team noticed a few small plants seemed to be missing

or broken off. These were quickly replaced. Within the first $3$ days after the last planting, however, it was noted that around

$35\%$ of the plantings had been destroyed by rabbits or hares $($as it was later determined. Remember, this is in Australia.$)$

The Project Manager was very concerned and called another meeting with the ACME finance manager. Although

sympathetic, the finance manager agreed that tree guards needed to be placed around trees but that was a contingency

that the Arbor Company should have considered. The Arbor project manager indicated that pests were ACME's problem

and again the finance manager indicated that Arbor should make savings elsewhere within its contract.

The Arbor project manager reviewed his budget and costs and determined that the only way to re$-$coup the losses from

having to replant the shrubs and protect them, was to plant fewer plants and smaller trees which came at a much lower

cost$.$ Question $1(25$ Marks$)$

The frequency of reportage should be good to allow control to be implemented before or during the period in which

the task is planned for completion. The quality of project reports can be a tool for major decisions that could be

pivotal to the success of the project. Identify the report types that will be applicable to the case study project.

Provide a detailed discussion on the merits of these reports and appraise these reports in the context of the case

study project.