Suppose that you and 2 other students are working on a team research project for a course you are all taking. To complete the project, you expect that the 3 of you will need to work together on reviewing related literature for about 5 days. Then, you will divide the work into three parts: collecting financial data (2 days), writing the text of the paper (5 days), and preparing the figures and tables (2 days). Then the team will work together in assembling and editing the paper (2 days).

a. Assuming that none of the work can be done in parallel (i.e., collecting data must precede writing, which must precede preparing figures and tables), how many days will it take to complete your research project?

b. Ideally, the work would be best accomplished serially (as in question “a” above) so that all information created in one task is available for the processing of the next task. However, assuming for the moment that collecting data, writing text, and preparing figures and tables can be done in parallel (i.e., each task can be done by a different team member independently and simultaneously), how many days will it take to complete your research project?

c. Suppose that the project is due in 14 days. How would you structure the project in order to make sure the paper is of highest quality and also delivered on time?