The purpose of this assignment is to create a work breakdown structure (WBS) for a given project.

Complete Case 4.1: Manchester United Soccer Club – see below.

In addition to the items requested for Question 1 in the case, complete the following for Question 1 using Microsoft Project:

1. Create a list of tasks in Microsoft Project. At a minimum, 30 lowest-level tasks are required. 
2. Using Microsoft Project’s task indent tool, create a WBS for your project. Include summary tasks to effectively identify the key areas of work for the project.
3. Ensure that the WBS column is displayed.

Respond to Questions 2, 3 and 4 in the case.  Ensure each response includes at least 100 words. APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.

Case 4.1: Manchester United Soccer Club

Nicolette Larson was loading the dishwasher with her husband, Kevin, and telling him about the first meeting of the Manchester United Tournament Organizing Committee. Nicolette, a self-confessed “soccer mom,” had been elected tournament director and was responsible for organizing the club’s first summer tournament. Manchester United Soccer Club (MUSC), located in Manchester, New Hampshire, was formed in 1992 as a way of bringing recreational players to a higher level of com-petition and preparing them for the State Olympic Development Program and/or high school teams. The club currently has 24 boys and girls (ranging in age from under 9 to 16) on teams affiliated with the New Hampshire Soccer Association and the Granite State Girls Soccer League. The club’s board of directors decided in the fall to sponsor a summer invitational soccer tournament to generate revenue. Given the boom in youth soccer, hosting summer tournaments has become a popular method for raising funds. MUSC teams regularly compete in three to four tournaments each summer at different locales in New England. These tournaments have been reported to generate between $50,000 and $70,000 for the host club. MUSC needs additional revenue to refurbish and expand the number of soccer fields at the Rock Rimmon soccer complex. Funds would also be used to augment the club’s scholarship program, which provides financial aid to players who cannot afford the $450 annual club dues. Nicolette gave her husband a blow-by-blow account of what transpired during the first tournament committee meeting that night. She started the meeting by having everyone introduce themselves and by proclaiming how excited she was that the club was going to sponsor its own tournament. She then suggested that the committee brainstorm what needed to be done to pull off the event; she would record their ideas on a flip chart. What emerged was a free-for-all of ideas and suggestions. One member immediately stressed the importance of having qualified referees and spent several minutes describing in detail how his son’s team was robbed in a poorly officiated championship game. This was followed by other stories of injustice on the soccer field. Another member suggested that they needed to quickly contact the local colleges to see if they could use their fields. The committee spent more than 30 minutes talking about how they should screen teams and how much they should charge as an entry fee. An argument broke out over whether they should reward the winning teams in each age bracket with medals or trophies. Many members felt that medals were too cheap, while others thought the trophies would be too expensive. Someone suggested that they seek local 126 Chapter 4 Defining the Project corporate sponsors to help fund the tournament. The proposed sale of tournament T-shirts and sweatshirts was followed by a general critique of the different shirts parents had acquired at different tournaments. One member advocated that they recruit an artist he knew to develop a unique silk-screen design for the tournament. The meeting adjourned 30 minutes late with only half of the members remaining until the end. Nicolette drove home with seven sheets of ideas and a headache. As Kevin poured a glass of water for the two aspirin Nicolette was about to take, he tried to comfort her by saying that organizing this tournament would be a big project not unlike the projects he worked on at his engineering and design firm. He offered to sit down with her the next night and help her plan the project. He suggested that the first thing they needed to do was to develop a WBS for the project.

Discuss the impact on risk free-rates and market premiums

Please consider all that we have learned thus far regarding the impact of diversification, risk-free securities, and market premiums.  With that in mind, please describe how adding a risk-free security to modern portfolio theory allows investors to do better than the efficient frontier.  Additionally, explain how might the magnitude of the market risk premium impact people’s desire to buy stocks?  Please consider all that we have learned thus far regarding the impact of diversification, risk-free securities, and market premiums.  With that in mind, please describe how adding a risk-free security to modern portfolio theory allows investors to do better than the efficient frontier.  Additionally, explain how might the magnitude of the market risk premium impact people’s desire to buy stocks?

Activity I: A young engineer decides to save $240 per year toward retirement in 40 years.

1. If he invests this sum at the end of every year at 9%, then how much will be accumulated by retirement time?
2. If by astute investing the interest rate could be raised to 12%, then what sum could be saved?
3. If he deposits one fourth of this annual amount each quarter ($60 per quarter) in an interest bearing account earning a nominal annual interest rate of 12%, compounded quarterly, how much could be saved by retirement time?
4. In part (c), then what annual effective interest rate is being earned?

Activity II: Maurice Micklewhite has decided to replant his garden. Show him what the cost is of making an erroneous decision at various stages of the project, starting with conceptual design and ending with the ongoing maintenance of the garden.

The assignment is to answer the question provided above in essay form. This is to be in narrative form and should be as thorough as possible. Bullet points should not to be used. The paper should be at least 1.5 – 2 pages in length, Times New Roman 12-pt font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins and utilizing at least one outside scholarly or professional source related to project management. The textbook should also be utilized. Do not insert excess line spacing. APA formatting and citation should be used.

Activity I: A young engineer decides to save $240 per year toward retirement in 40 years.

1. If he invests this sum at the end of every year at 9%, then how much will be accumulated by retirement time?
2. If by astute investing the interest rate could be raised to 12%, then what sum could be saved?
3. If he deposits one fourth of this annual amount each quarter ($60 per quarter) in an interest bearing account earning a nominal annual interest rate of 12%, compounded quarterly, how much could be saved by retirement time?
4. In part (c), then what annual effective interest rate is being earned?

Activity II: Maurice Micklewhite has decided to replant his garden. Show him what the cost is of making an erroneous decision at various stages of the project, starting with conceptual design and ending with the ongoing maintenance of the garden.

The assignment is to answer the question provided above in essay form. This is to be in narrative form and should be as thorough as possible. Bullet points should not to be used. The paper should be at least 1.5 – 2 pages in length, Times New Roman 12-pt font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins and utilizing at least one outside scholarly or professional source related to project management. The textbook should also be utilized. Do not insert excess line spacing. APA formatting and citation should be used.

This case illustrates a common problem in software and IT development, where programmers and IT staff are anxious to lock in specifications as early as possible so they can “get to work” without having to worry about invasive or disruptive input from the end users.  Unfortunately, what typically happens is that the finished product is not what the users needed or thought they needed and a long list of fixes and modifications are needed to make it work correctly.  This case is based on a true story in a hospital IT department that routinely struggled with these sorts of user conflicts until they sifted to an Agile methodology.

Questions

1. Why does the classic waterfall project planning model fail in this situation?  What is it about the IT department’s processes that leads to their finished systems being rejected constantly?

2. How would an Agile methodology correct some of these problems?  What new development cycle would you propose?

3. Why are “user stories” and system “features” critical components of an effective IT software development process?

4. Using the terms “Scrum,” “Sprint,” and “User stories,” create an alternative development cycle for a hypothetical software development process at Northwest Regional Hospital.

Case Study 12.2: “First Come, First Served”: Resource Challenges for Sunrise Restoration

This case is intended to highlight the challenges in resource assignment, particularly in the common cases where project managers within the same firm are competing with each other for the use of scarce and valuable human resources to accomplish their tasks.  Without clear guidance from top management and a valid priority system, the ability to acquire resources is often the result of chaotic bargaining and negotiation among equals. This case is based on a real situation and the outcomes were very much in line with the way they are described in the case.  The business owner did not want to simply invest in more resources for fear that they would be underutilized.  He much preferred the system of negotiating among his project managers, even if that led to inefficient utilization of the resources that were available.  Students can be asked to take the side of the owner or Tyler to debate the options that Sunrise can use to manage its resources.

This case illustrates a common problem in software and IT development, where programmers and IT staff are anxious to lock in specifications as early as possible so they can “get to work” without having to worry about invasive or disruptive input from the end users.  Unfortunately, what typically happens is that the finished product is not what the users needed or thought they needed and a long list of fixes and modifications are needed to make it work correctly.  This case is based on a true story in a hospital IT department that routinely struggled with these sorts of user conflicts until they sifted to an Agile methodology.

Questions

1. Why does the classic waterfall project planning model fail in this situation?  What is it about the IT department’s processes that leads to their finished systems being rejected constantly?

2. How would an Agile methodology correct some of these problems?  What new development cycle would you propose?

3. Why are “user stories” and system “features” critical components of an effective IT software development process?

4. Using the terms “Scrum,” “Sprint,” and “User stories,” create an alternative development cycle for a hypothetical software development process at Northwest Regional Hospital.

Case Study 12.2: “First Come, First Served”: Resource Challenges for Sunrise Restoration

This case is intended to highlight the challenges in resource assignment, particularly in the common cases where project managers within the same firm are competing with each other for the use of scarce and valuable human resources to accomplish their tasks.  Without clear guidance from top management and a valid priority system, the ability to acquire resources is often the result of chaotic bargaining and negotiation among equals. This case is based on a real situation and the outcomes were very much in line with the way they are described in the case.  The business owner did not want to simply invest in more resources for fear that they would be underutilized.  He much preferred the system of negotiating among his project managers, even if that led to inefficient utilization of the resources that were available.  Students can be asked to take the side of the owner or Tyler to debate the options that Sunrise can use to manage its resources.

This assignment provides you with an opportunity to create a code of ethics for you and your family, as well as to explain the strategies and thought processes that went into developing the code. First, create an original code of ethics for your family by thinking about your family as an organization. In your code of ethics, please include the following items:

• guiding principles,
• purpose of the code,
• core values,
• training and education (How will you train and educate others about the code?),
• definitions,
• who it covers,
• mission statement, and
• other pertinent elements you feel necessary to have a comprehensive code of ethics.

The next part of this assignment involves an evaluation, where you describe the thought process behind the code of ethics that you prepared. For the evaluation part of this assignment, draft an essay to include the following items:

• Identify the key roles of those who have a vested interest in the ethical behavior that your code defines.
• Explain the strategies and thought processes that you used to formulate the code.
• Explain how you would strategically implement and communicate the code to others in the organization.
• Explain how you will monitor the practice of ethical decision-making.
• Provided that laws exist and have been enacted for resolving conflict, why do we also need a code of ethics?

In the process of writing your code, you must research the topic of codes of ethics and incorporate at least two articles, no older than five years. Your code and evaluation must be at least 1,000 words. Format the code as you like; however, be sure it is professional and legible. Format the evaluation part of the assignment by using APA Style. Save both parts in one Word document, and submit it in Blackboard for grading.

ASSIGNMENT 2

For the case study, we will focus on the importance of safety and all parties helping to make safety a priority. The effectiveness of the safety training will depend on how prepared the participants are for the training and their perception of the training.

Review “Case: Safety First” located in the textbook on pages 199-200, and respond to the prompts below. You are not required to answer the questions at the end of the case study in the textbook.

1. Examine the components of an effective training needs analysis for this scenario. What would the basic parts for a successful training program be?
2. Describe how the training should be delivered, and briefly describe one motivational theory from those listed on pages 163–173 in the textbook and how it supports this type of training to enhance an organization’s performance.

Your case study should be at least two pages in length. You are not required to use APA style for this assignment; however, your writing should be clear and concise.