Information Technology Project Management is a quite interesting subject. It’s not like that kind, boring, unmeaning subject. I learn many things, not only knowledge but many basic project experiences, from it. It’s first time for me to use blog site to do assignment. This is a very good try. Let me find the blog’s another use. Although this blog site maybe won’t be for the assignment any more, I still want to use it as a tool to help me continue studying IT project management.
First, I will use this blog site as a notebook. I want to save some good articles about IT project management in it, or write some my own experiences, ideas, or lessons about IT project management. My blog is open, anyone can read it. I like to share it with other friends.
Second, my blog site could be a small forum. Sometimes, I could paste some questions or cases on it, and discuss them with other friends. They could write comments to express their opinions. They could provide questions and cases as well.
Blog site is a good platform for communication, expression, discussion, and share information. I believe my little blog site will have a quite long “life”.
Monday, October 29, 2007
ITC 493 Assignment 2 Task 2 Chapter 11
Q5: Suppose your organization is deciding which of four projects to bid on. Information on each is in the table below. Assume that all up-front investments are not recovered, so they are shown as negative profits. Draw a diagram and calculate the EMV for each project. Write a few paragraphs explaining which projects you would bid on. Be sure to use the EMV information and your personal risk tolerance to justify your answer. (Chapter 11, Exercise 4, page 461)
A: Please click the picture or open the picture in the new window to display the whole Expected Monetary Value (EMV) diagram.
Please click the link to download the source file.
http://www.box.net/shared/6nuvj8nxqj
The EMV for Project 1 is:
0.5×120000 + 0.5× (-50000) = 60000 - 25000 = $35000
The EMV for Project 2 is:
0.3×100000 + 0.4×50000 + 0.3× (-60000) = 30000 + 20000 – 18000 = $32000
The EMV for Project 3 is:
0.7×20000+0.3×(-5000) = 14000 – 1500 = $12500
The EMV for Project 4 is:
0.3×40000+0.3×30000+0.2×20000+0.2×(-50000)= 12000 + 9000 + 4000 – 10000 = $15000
As Schwalbe (2006, p.449) indicated, “Because the EMV provides an estimate for the total dollar value of a decision, you want to have a positive number; the higher the EMV, the better.” In terms of this, I evaluate each project’s EMV first. All projects’ EMVs are positive, it’s great. But I want the highest profit, so I choose the project which has the highest EMV to bid on. The EMV for Project 1 is the highest ($ 35,000). Accordingly, I would bid on the project 1.
To be a good project manager, I should try to balance the risk and profit, which means I will try to find the best balance point (in my opinion) between the risk and profit. From the EMV diagram, we could find:
For project 1, we have 50 percent chance to earn $120,000, and 50 percent chance to lost $50,000;
For project 2, we have 30 percent chance to earn $100,000, 40 percent chance to earn $ 50,000, and 30 percent chance to lost $ 60,000;
For project 3, we have 70 percent chance to earn $20,000, 30 percent chance to lost $ 5,000;
For project 4, we have 30 percent chance to earn $40,000, 30 percent chance to earn $30,000, 20 percent chance to earn $20,000, and 20 percent chance to lose $ 50,000.
If we just looked the potential outcome of these projects, project 1 is the best, since we could earn $120,000 (50 percent chance) from it. If we just looked the potential risk of these projects, project 3 is the best, since we maybe only lost $5,000 (30 percent chance). However, I would like to bear the risk and pursue the biggest profit. The risk of project 1 is positive risk which could give us plentiful repayment. Therefore, I still would choose the project 1 to bid on.
Normally, just as Schwalbe (2006, p.449) said, “Using EMV helps account for all possible outcomes and their probabilities of occurrence, thereby reducing the tendency to pursue overly aggressive or conservative risk strategies.” A good project manager should consider both of EMV information and personal risk tolerance to make the decision.
Reference
Schwalbe, Kathy, 2006, “Information technology project management 4th”, Thomson Course Technology, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
ITC 493 Assignment 2 Task 2 Chapter 10
Q4: Review the following scenarios, and then write a paragraph for each one describing what media you think would be most appropriate to use and why. See Table 10-2 for suggestions. (Chapter 10, Exercise 2, page 419)
a. Many of the technical staff on the project come in from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. while the business users always come in before 9:00 a.m. The business users have been making comments. The project manager wants to have the technical people come in by 9:00, although many of them leave late.
b. Your company is bidding on a project for the entertainment industry. You know that you need new ideas on how to put together the proposal and communicate your approach in a way that will impress the customer.
c. Your business has been growing successfully, but you are becoming inundated with phone calls and e-mails asking similar types of questions.
d. You need to make a general announcement to a large group of people and want to make sure they get the information.
A:
For scenario “a”, if the technical people could arrive on time, meeting is the best media for this scenario’s communication, because the technical people could discuss the project with the business users face to face, and both of them could understand each other easily. The technical people could make response to users’ questions immediately. And the technical people also could understand users’ requirements better. This is good for developing the project. Therefore, the project manager should try his/her best to ask the technical people arrive on time.
But if the technical people could not arrive on time, then we choose phone call as another communication media. Although it is not as good as meeting, it is still useful for technical people and the business users to exchange information. When business users come, the project manager should answer their questions to the best of his/her ability. If the project manager couldn’t answer the questions, then he/she records users’ questions and requirements. When the technical people arrive, ask them ring users to answer their questions, or in terms of users’ requirements to change the system.
For scenario “b”, meeting is the most appropriate media to use. Now, I need some new ideas, or some suggestions. Brainstorm is the best way to get them. It means these ideas or suggestions should come from many people. Therefore, meeting is the most appropriate media.
For scenario “c”, web site is the most appropriate media to use. Since these phone calls and e-mails asking similar types of questions, then their answers should be similar. Using web site to publish these familiar questions’ answers, and asking users or customers to look through the web site to find their questions’ answers, it will reduce my energy and time.
For scenario “d”, e-mail is the most appropriate media to use. Since I only make a general announcement and will give it to a large group of people, e-mail is the easiest way to do it. I can send group e-mails to many people, and use e-mail receipts to make sure all people get the information.
a. Many of the technical staff on the project come in from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. while the business users always come in before 9:00 a.m. The business users have been making comments. The project manager wants to have the technical people come in by 9:00, although many of them leave late.
b. Your company is bidding on a project for the entertainment industry. You know that you need new ideas on how to put together the proposal and communicate your approach in a way that will impress the customer.
c. Your business has been growing successfully, but you are becoming inundated with phone calls and e-mails asking similar types of questions.
d. You need to make a general announcement to a large group of people and want to make sure they get the information.
A:
For scenario “a”, if the technical people could arrive on time, meeting is the best media for this scenario’s communication, because the technical people could discuss the project with the business users face to face, and both of them could understand each other easily. The technical people could make response to users’ questions immediately. And the technical people also could understand users’ requirements better. This is good for developing the project. Therefore, the project manager should try his/her best to ask the technical people arrive on time.
But if the technical people could not arrive on time, then we choose phone call as another communication media. Although it is not as good as meeting, it is still useful for technical people and the business users to exchange information. When business users come, the project manager should answer their questions to the best of his/her ability. If the project manager couldn’t answer the questions, then he/she records users’ questions and requirements. When the technical people arrive, ask them ring users to answer their questions, or in terms of users’ requirements to change the system.
For scenario “b”, meeting is the most appropriate media to use. Now, I need some new ideas, or some suggestions. Brainstorm is the best way to get them. It means these ideas or suggestions should come from many people. Therefore, meeting is the most appropriate media.
For scenario “c”, web site is the most appropriate media to use. Since these phone calls and e-mails asking similar types of questions, then their answers should be similar. Using web site to publish these familiar questions’ answers, and asking users or customers to look through the web site to find their questions’ answers, it will reduce my energy and time.
For scenario “d”, e-mail is the most appropriate media to use. Since I only make a general announcement and will give it to a large group of people, e-mail is the easiest way to do it. I can send group e-mails to many people, and use e-mail receipts to make sure all people get the information.
Friday, October 26, 2007
ITC 493 Assignment 2 Task 2 Chapter 9
Q3: Your company is planning to launch an important new project starting January 1, which will last one year. You estimate that you will need one full-time project manager, two full-time business analysts for the first six months, two full-time senior programmers for the whole year, four full-time junior programmers for the months of July, August, and September, and one full-time technical writer for the last three months. Use Microsoft Excel to create a stacked column chart showing a resource histogram for this project, similar to the one shown in Figure 9-6. Be soure to include a legend to label the types of resources needed. Use appropriate titles and axis labels. (Chapter 9, Exercise 1, page 380)
A: Please click the picture or open the picture in the new window to display the whole image.
A: Please click the picture or open the picture in the new window to display the whole image.
Please click the link to download the source file. http://www.box.net/shared/th17pkao0t
Thursday, October 25, 2007
ITC 493 Assignment 2 Task 2 Chapter 8
Q1: Assume your organization wants to hire new instructors for your project management course. Develop a list of quality standards that you could use in making this hiring decision. (Chapter 8, Exercise 1, page 330)
A:
Professional Background:
1. Candidate’s degree
The candidate should have Master or higher degree of Computer Science, Information Technology or related area.
2. Work experience
The candidate should have several years work experiences in the project manager position. It is better if the candidate has work experiences in the big company.
3. Teaching experience
The candidate should have taught the project management course before.
Personality:
1. The candidate should have passion in teaching.
2. The candidate should be patient to students.
3. The candidate should have good communication skill.
4. The candidate should have good oral expression ability.
5. The candidate should be positive.
Others:
1. The candidate should be health.
2. The candidate’s salary requirement should reasonable (within our budget).
3. The candidate should have free time to meet the course timetable.
4. The candidate could teach this course for a long period.
5. Look the candidate whether has some special requirements (single office, teach assistant, etc.).
Q2: Create a Pareto diagram based on the information in the table below. First, create a spreadsheet in Excel, using the data in the table below. List the most frequent cstomer problems first. Add a column called "% of Total" and another one called "Cumulative %." Then enter formulas to calculate those items. Next, use the Excel Chart Wizard to create a Pareto diagram based on this data. Use the Line - Column on 2 Axis custom type chart so your resulting chart looks similar to the one in Figure 8 -1. (Chapter 8, Exercise 2, page 330)
A:
Professional Background:
1. Candidate’s degree
The candidate should have Master or higher degree of Computer Science, Information Technology or related area.
2. Work experience
The candidate should have several years work experiences in the project manager position. It is better if the candidate has work experiences in the big company.
3. Teaching experience
The candidate should have taught the project management course before.
Personality:
1. The candidate should have passion in teaching.
2. The candidate should be patient to students.
3. The candidate should have good communication skill.
4. The candidate should have good oral expression ability.
5. The candidate should be positive.
Others:
1. The candidate should be health.
2. The candidate’s salary requirement should reasonable (within our budget).
3. The candidate should have free time to meet the course timetable.
4. The candidate could teach this course for a long period.
5. Look the candidate whether has some special requirements (single office, teach assistant, etc.).
Q2: Create a Pareto diagram based on the information in the table below. First, create a spreadsheet in Excel, using the data in the table below. List the most frequent cstomer problems first. Add a column called "% of Total" and another one called "Cumulative %." Then enter formulas to calculate those items. Next, use the Excel Chart Wizard to create a Pareto diagram based on this data. Use the Line - Column on 2 Axis custom type chart so your resulting chart looks similar to the one in Figure 8 -1. (Chapter 8, Exercise 2, page 330)
Please click the link to download the source file. http://www.box.net/shared/1u4hm9s2ds
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
