Critical Path And Budget Analysis For A School Stadium Renov

Critical Path and Budget Analysis for a School Stadium Renovation

Critical Path and Budget Analysis for a School Stadium Renovation

The given activity and associated costs for renovating the local high school football stadium involve a series of interconnected tasks with specific durations and costs. The objective is to determine the critical path, which identifies the sequence of activities that directly impacts the project completion time. Additionally, understanding the budget expenditure in a specific week provides insights into project cash flow management.

Assignment Instructions

Identify the critical path for the stadium renovation project based on the provided activities, predecessor relationships, durations, and costs. Then, ascertain the total budget expenditure during week 8, considering the earliest start schedule. Use project management principles such as critical path method (CPM) for your analysis, and clearly justify your findings with appropriate calculations and reasoning.

Paper For Above instruction

Project management plays a crucial role in planning, executing, and completing projects efficiently, especially in construction and renovation activities where delays can significantly impact costs and stakeholder satisfaction. In this context, the renovation of a high school football stadium involves multiple activities with specified durations and costs, and understanding the critical path is essential for effective scheduling and resource allocation.

The activities are as follows, with their immediate predecessors, durations (in weeks), and costs in USD:

  • Activity A: No predecessors, duration 4 weeks, cost $25,000
  • Activity B: No predecessors, duration 5 weeks, cost $30,000
  • Activity C: Predecessor A, duration 3 weeks, cost $15,000
  • Activity D: Predecessor B, duration 8 weeks, cost $50,000
  • Activity E: Predecessor B, duration 2 weeks, cost $12,000
  • Activity F: Predecessors C and D, duration 3 weeks, cost $15,000
  • Activity G: Predecessors C and D, duration 7 weeks, cost $46,000
  • Activity H: Predecessors E and F, duration 2 weeks, cost $20,000

To determine the critical path, we analyze activity sequences and their total durations by constructing a project network diagram and calculating earliest start and finish times. The paths include:

  • Path 1: A → C → F → H
  • Path 2: B → D → F → H
  • Path 3: B → D → G

Calculating total durations for each path:

  • Path 1: 4 (A) + 3 (C) + 3 (F) + 2 (H) = 12 weeks
  • Path 2: 5 (B) + 8 (D) + 3 (F) + 2 (H) = 18 weeks
  • Path 3: 5 (B) + 8 (D) + 7 (G) = 20 weeks

Thus, the critical path—being the longest path dictating the shortest project duration—is Path 3: B → D → G, totaling 20 weeks. Activities D and G are critical activities on this path, and any delays here will extend the project duration.

Regarding the budget expenditure in Week 8, the earliest start schedule indicates activities are initiated as early as possible following the dependencies. Here, activities B and D start at week 1, and the durations are known. By week 8, activities B (5 weeks), D (8 weeks), and others are at different stages. At week 8, the activities ongoing include:

  • Activity B: completed at week 5, no longer ongoing.
  • Activity D: ongoing, started at week 1, ends at week 9.
  • Activity C: started at week 4 (after Activity A), ends at week 7.
  • Activity E: started at week 5 (after B), ends at week 7.
  • Activities F and G depend on C and D, with F starting after C and D are complete; thus, F starts at week 11, G at week 12.
  • Activity H: after E and F, starting at week 11 or 12.

Therefore, at week 8, only Activity D is in progress, with its cost of $50,000. Since D is the critical activity on the critical path, and it's ongoing at week 8, the associated cost spent by week 8 that pertains to this activity is the total cost of $50,000. Other ongoing activities at this point, such as F and G, haven't started yet, so their costs are not accrued yet.

In conclusion, the critical path for this project is B → D → G, with a total duration of 20 weeks. The total budget spent in Week 8, considering earliest start schedules, would be approximately $50,000, as Activity D is ongoing at that time. This strategic analysis helps project managers optimize scheduling, resource allocation, and budget planning, ensuring project completion within scheduled time and cost constraints.

References

  • Kerzner, H. (2017). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. Wiley.
  • PMI. (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). Project Management Institute.
  • Heldman, K. (2018). Project Management JumpStart. Wiley.
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  • Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2018). Project Management: The Managerial Process. McGraw-Hill Education.
  • Schwalbe, K. (2018). Information Technology Project Management. Cengage Learning.
  • Lewis, J. P. (2019). Project Management in Practice. McGraw-Hill Education.
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