Rock$$n Bands$1$

A Project Management Decision$-$Making Game

$$Around the world or around the block,

Everywhere I go$,$ the kids wanna rock$2$

Your company, Planners $\text{'}$R Us$,$ specializes in effectively managing projects. Previous

experience has involved conference management systems, commercial construction, and

software development projects.

A new, intriguing project offers another opportunity to apply your project management expertise.

The university you just graduated from wishes to put together a music festival, $$Rock$$n Bands$.$

This will feature a number of top music groups, and should attract interest from students, local

residents, and music fans throughout the region.

Your company has met with University officials to develop a list of activities required to make

Rock$$n Bands a reality. The list on Page $2$ includes twelve activities as well as their durations

and immediate predecessors. The project plan is also described visually on page $2$ with a network

diagram. The subscripts on each activity denote the number of weeks of work that activity is

expected to require. Arrows denote the order of activities. For instance, activity E cannot be

started until activity A is completed, and activity H cannot be started until both C and D are

complete. The start and end nodes are dummy nodes and do not need to be worked on$.$ Note that

at the beginning of the project, activities A$,$ C and D are available to start working on$,$ as they

have no predecessor activities. Be sure to understand the diagram before reading further.

Your job is to allocate workers to tasks each week during the project. Planners $$R Us has agreed

to complete the project in $10$ weeks $($finishing two weeks before the Festival$),$ and wants to

minimize the costs associated with the project. All tasks A$-$K must be completed in $10$ weeks.

You have four $(4)$ workers, although you do not need to use all of them every week $$ there are

other tasks they can do in your company.

For bookkeeping purposes, your company will charge $$200$ per week for each worker that you

use. If you happen to need an additional worker, there is one $(1)$ available, but that person would

then not get their other work done; thus, you will be charged $$300$ per week for the additional

worker. In addition, if the project is $$late$,$ there will be complications during the last two weeks

before the Festival, costing Planners $$R Us $$2000$ per week due to a serious loss of goodwill and

plenty of negative publicity.

The final cost to consider involves expediting tasks. You can assign an extra worker to a task in

any given week in order to finish it in less time. For instance, if a task requires $2$ weeks but you

assign two workers, it will be completed in one week. However, putting two workers on a task is

$1$ The events, activity durations and overall scenario represented in this game are purely fictional. No relationship to

an upcoming music concert, real or implied, is suggested.

$2$ Bryan Adams, $$Kids Wanna Rock$$ from the album $$So Far So Good$(1993,$ A & M Records$)$

$2$

not quite as efficient as having one worker complete it from start to finish. Doing this requires

additional coordination $($by you$)$ and may require some overtime by the workers. These costs

total an additional $$100$ per week. The most workers that can be assigned to any task in a week

is two $($since having $3$ or more requires so much additional coordination that no reduction in time

is achieved$).$ To summarize, the most workers on any given task is two $(2)$ per week, and the

total number of workers you may employ for any week is at most five $(5).$

Activity Description Duration

$($weeks$)$

Immediate

predecessors

A Contract negotiation with selected music groups $3-$

B Find a construction firm & build the stage $5$ C

C Contract negotiation with roadies $2-$

D Screen and hire security personnel $3-$

E Ticket distribution arrangements $1$ A

F Organize advertising brochures and souvenir program printing $4$ D

G Logistical arrangements for music group transportation $1$ E

H Sound equipment arrangements $3$ C$,$ D

I Processing of travel visas $($for international groups$)5$ F$,$ H

J Hire parking staff, and make parking arrangements $4$ E$,$ B$,$ H

K Distribute media passes and arrange for MTV recording $5$ G

L Arrange for concession sales and restroom facilities $2$ F

Start

H$3$

G$1$

F$4$

E$1$

D$3$

C$2$

B$5$

A$3$

I$5$

L$2$

K$5$

J$4$

End

Being an experienced manager, you are aware that all projects involve various uncertainties $($e$.$g$.,$

delays, additional requirements, or even improved efficiency$)$ that can occur at any time. Since

you do not want to lose your reputation for on$-$time delivery in Planners $$R Us$,$ you are

determined to plan the project well and be as efficient as possible from the first week on$.$

For now, you want to develop a plan for the whole project, but the only decision that needs to be

implemented is how to allocate workers for the first week. Report this decision to the instructor