Read the case study below and answer ALL the questions that follow. Mountain of Iron, Mountain of Dollars: Dragan Z. Milosevic This critical incident case focuses on the special area in procurement - commercial discounts. Contract specifications contain one set of equipment data, while in actuality, a different set of data hold true of the delivered equipment. The equipment is mostly CNC tool machines. In the contract specifications, one number of grooves and their size are mentioned while those delivered are different. That is often a bone of contention between the owner and the contractor. IBRAHIM Mr. Ibrahim, a tooling engineer, had a dream job. He worked for the state, meaning he had connections. He worked out of the resident engineers office, meaning he had money. He worked with foreigners, meaning he had connections and money. On the job site, he was with the maintenance department. As it was his job to inspect and maintain the equipment, he noticed that CNC tool machines, per contract specification, were delivered with a reduced number of grooves than they were contracted for. The grooves were shallow, and the total machinery weighed less. Ibrahim reported this to his boss, Abdullah-Kadir, who then ordered him to go ahead with the delivery as planned. Ibrahim and Abdullah - Kadir represent the owners. They are also the new people in leading positions within the company. There werent any former employees who knew about the history and people working under the contractor, which left Ibrahim and Abdullah- Kadir unfamiliar with past occurrences. So, a very difficult game had to be played by the ambitious players, even though they didnt know the history. When Ibrahim returned with the data, which included the type of tool machine, the dimensions of the groove, and the number of grooves, he learned that all the machines delivered are different from contract specification. In fact, Mr. Ibrahim realized that the contractor worked off a different machine specification. After informing his boss about these results, he was given orders to ask the contractor to change the machine specification, meaning the grooves number and size for future delivery. This resulted in a project change. This was the logic of the owner and represented how the owners viewed the issue. Since all the iron used to produce these machines was already paid for by Mr. Ibrahims predecessor, the owner did not expect to pay any extra for this change. In fact, the owner expected to get the money back because the new specification could result in the use of less iron. Unfortunately, the contractor saw this as an attempt to introduce a new order. The contractor was not aware of the consequence of these project changes. He did not link these project changes with the cost, even though this was a significant change. With the new specification, the contractor needed to use a better iron than the one Mr. Ibrahims predecessor had originally paid for. In fact, the new iron was the technologically better iron, and therefore, it cost more. The iron of the higher technological value was used to produce a higher quality of grooves. The people working for the contractor did not succeed in explaining this to the owner. So, these were two different views concerning the same issue. By the end of the project, the cost of the change was tremendous. The owner refused to pay the final amount. The contractors representatives were astonished. Extracted from: Case studies in Project, Program and Organizational Project Management (2015 Question1 1.1 Do you think there was anything wrong with the manner in which Dragan Milosevic conducted his resource procurement? Provide reasons for your answer [10] 1.2 Procurement planning is an essential process in resource procurement therefore it is advisable that this be properly conducted in line with the project requirements. It involves consideration of whether to procure, how to procure, what to procure, how much to procure, and when to procure resources (Burke, 2014). In light of this statement prepare a report advising Dragan Milosevic on how they should manage their procurement[20] 2 Question2 One of the tools considered for team development is the Tuckman Model which has widely been implemented by a lot of organisations. With the aid of a diagram discuss the 5 stages of team development according to the Tuckman model.[20] Question3 Project cost management is primarily concerned with the cost of the resources needed to complete project activities. However, project cost management should also consider the effect of project decisions on the cost of using the project product. In light of the statement above, critically discuss the focus areas of the cost management process[20] Question4 Rajpathak (2001) discusses scheduling as the practice of assigning jobs to the limited resources where a set of constraints has to be regarded, it selects among the alternative plans and assigns resources and times for each job so that the assignment obey the temporal restrictions of jobs and the capacity limitations of a set of shared resources. In light of the statement above answer the following questions; 4.1 Discuss the benefits and limitations of resource scheduling.[5] 4.2 Identify and discuss the resource scheduling options and techniques that can be applied in managing projects.[15] Question5 A project is a major one-time undertaking dedicated to some well-defined objectives and involving considerable personnel and equipment among many other resources. It is usually initiated either by some need of the organisation or by a customer request 5.1 In light of the statement define project resources and identify any common types of resources.[8] 5.2 Identify and discuss the common mistakes associated with project resource management.[12] Question6 In order to forestall delays and schedule slips, project managers have traditionally tried to manage project slacks and ensure early start of activities are adhered to so that any time gain can be transferred to the subsequent activities. Critical chain project management (CCPM) is an approach proposed by Dr Eli Goldratt for dealing with various project situations, it use theory of constraints to manage project slacks. 6.1 From a critical chain project management perspective, identify and discuss the various explanations offered to as to why projects are completed late[10] 6.2 With the aid of examples discuss the three types of time buffers that are recognised by the critical chain method[10] Question8 How would you describe project resource planning?[20] Question9 Many project managers agree to the fact that the primary impact of the various project constraints is the likelihood of delaying the completion of the project 9.1 With the aid of examples discuss the various types of project constraints [5] 9.2 With the aid of diagrams compare and contrast between time and resource constraint scheduling Question10 The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department has embarked on a multi-million-dollar Transport Rehabilitation Initiative (TRI). The initiative has been identified as one that will ensure that the transportation networks and systems of the province are categorized as being world class by the year 2020. This will however include a series of projects that will encompass the construction of bridges, dual carriageways, railway networks, ports and airports. One of the first projects that will be performed under the initiative will be the expansion of the Durban Port; this is aimed at increasing its current holding capacity and overall operational efficiency. The KwaZulu-Natal MEC of Transport has indicated that the success of TRI depends heavily on the efficient management of the different projects under this initiative 10.1. In the context of the insert provided above, identify the types and categories of resources that are needed for the success of the TRI Project.[8] 10.2 The MEC has requested you to identify and discuss the common mistakes associated with project resource management in the form of a report for the project stakeholders so that they should be aware of these and make the necessary contingencies. What will be the contents of your report?[14]