Project Planning and

Management
Operations Management
Dr. M. Imran Malik
 Project Management Applications
• What is a project?
– Any unique endeavor with specific objectives
– With multiple activities
– With defined precedent relationships
– With a specific time period for completion
• Examples?
– A major event like a wedding
– Any construction project
– Designing a political campaign

© Wiley 2010
 Project

• “A project is a series of activities directed to accomplishment of

a desired objective.”

• “A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to

create a "unique" product or service”

Plan your work first…..then work your plan

 Project Life Cycle
• Conception: identify the need
• Feasibility analysis or study: costs benefits, and risks
• Planning: who, how long, what to do?
• Execution: doing the project
• Termination: ending the project

© Wiley 2010
Project Planning and Management
• The Gantt Chart
• Critical Path Method - CPM
• Project Evaluation and Review Technique – PERT
 Gantt Chart
• In 1917 Henry Gantt introduced standardized project
management tool known as Gantt chart
• Helps us to identify the milestones (important tasks)
• Helps in planning and organizing
• Helps in monitoring

Visual tracking of tasks and resources

 Gantt Charts

• Gantt charts provide a standard format for displaying

project schedule information by listing project activities
and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar
format.
 Lay out of a Gantt chart
• Activities are displayed against time.
• On the left of the chart is a list of activities.
• Along a top, from left to right, is a time scale.
• Each activity is represented by a bar.
• The position and length of the bar reflects the
start date, duration and end date of the
activity.
Sample Gantt Chart
Sample Gantt Chart

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 Gantt Chart
Graph or bar chart with a bar for each project activity that shows passage of time
Provides visual display of project schedule

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 Few Terms to Understand
• Activity – what is to be done
• Time schedule – when is to be done
Preparing a Gantt Chart
 Preparing a Gantt Chart - Steps
1. List the tasks in the project
2. Add task duration
3. Add dependencies – which tasks can not start before
another task finishes.
4. Draw a network diagram.
5. Develop a Gantt Chart.
 CPM with Single Time Estimate
Consider the following consulting project:
Activity Designation Immed. Pred. Time (Weeks)
Assess customer's needs A None 2
Write and submit proposal B A 1
Obtain approval C B 1
Develop service vision and goals D C 2
Train employees E C 5
Quality improvement pilot groups F D, E 5
Write assessment report G F 1

Requirements:
1. Develop a network diagram based on the precedences
 First draw the network diagram

D, 2

A, 2 B, 1 C, 1 F, 5 G, 1

E, 5
 Gannt Chart

Activity
Assess customer's needs A
Write and submit proposal B
Obtain approval C
Develop service vision and goals D
Train employees E
Quality improvement pilot groups F
Write assessment report G
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
 Few Drawbacks
Critical Path is unknown

Slack time for the activities is unknown

We are unable to decide which path is better?

Critical Path Method
 Activity on node

Activity identifier

A B
5 2
Durations

Essential Quantitative Methods

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 Earliest Start Time Earliest Finish Time

EST EFT

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LST LFT

Latest Finish Time

Latest Start Time

Essential Quantitative Methods

2nd edn © Les Oakshott 2001 23
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 Few terms to understand
• ES – Earliest Start Time
• LS – Latest Start Time
• EF – Earliest Finish Time
• LF – Latest Finish Times
• S – Slack Time = LS – ES
• T – total project completion time
 Definitions
• Earliest start time: it is the start time of an activity.
• Early finish time: it is the finish time for an activity.
• Latest start time: It is a latest time that an activity can
start.
• Latest finish time: It is a latest time that an activity can
finish.
• Slack: Up-to which extent you can delay some activity
without delaying the whole project.
• Activities having ‘zero’ float means that these activities
can not be delayed anymore. Other wise completion of
project will be delayed. So these activities should be
done on time.
 Critical Path Scheduling
A project must have:

– well-defined jobs or tasks whose completion

marks the end of the project;

– and tasks that follow a given sequence.

 CPM with Single Time Estimate
Consider the following consulting project:
Activity Designation Immed. Pred. Time (Weeks)
Assess customer's needs A None 2
Write and submit proposal B A 1
Obtain approval C B 1
Develop service vision and goals D C 2
Train employees E C 5
Quality improvement pilot groups F D, E 5
Write assessment report G F 1

Requirements:
1. Develop a network diagram based on the precedences
2. Establish a critical path
3. Determine the duration of the critical path
4. Determine slack times for all activities
 Requirements
• Develop a network diagram
• Find out early start for each activity
• Find out early finish for each activity
• Find out late start for each activity
• Find out late finish for each activity
• Find out slack for each activity
• Identify a critical path
• Draw a Gantt Chart
 First draw the network diagram

D, 2

A, 2 B, 1 C, 1 F, 5 G, 1

E, 5
 Find Out ES, EF
4 D 6

0 A 2 2 B 3 3 C 4 9 F 14 14 G 15
2

2 1 1 4 E 9 5 1

FORWARD PASS
 Find Out LS, LF
D

A B C F G 15
7 2 9

0 2 2 2 1 3 3 1 4 E 9 5 14 14 1 15

4 5 9

BACKWARD PASS
 Find Out Slack = LS-ES
4 D 6
3 3
0 A 2 2 B 3 3 C 4 9 F 1 1 G 1
7 2 9
0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 5

0 2 2 2 1 3 3 1 4 0 0 0 0
4 E 9
9 5 1 1 1 1
0 0
4 4 5
4 5 9
 Find Out Critical Path
4 D 6
3 3
0 A 2 2 B 3 3 C 4 9 F 1 1 G 1
7 2 9
0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 5

0 2 2 2 1 3 3 1 4 0 0 0 0
4 E 9
9 5 1 1 1 1
0 0
4 4 5
4 5 9

A, B, C,D,F, G
2+1+1+2+5+1 = 12 weeks
Critical Path
1. It is the longest path through the project.
A, B, C,E, F, G 2. It has “zero” slack throughout the activities.
2+1+1+5+5+1 = 15 weeks
 Gannt Chart

Activity
Assess customer's needs A
Write and submit proposal B
Obtain approval C
Develop service vision and goals D
Train employees E
Quality improvement pilot groups F
Write assessment report G
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Reasons for Project Failure
 Why Projects Fail
• Unrealistic expectations
• Lack of executive sponsorship
• Lack of project management
• Poor scope
• Politics/conflicts
 CPM – Do An Exercise
• CPM – Critical Path Method
 Objectives of the CPM

1. Find the total time that the project will

take.
2. Identify the activities that are critical to
the project.
3. Identify those activities that can be
delayed without delaying the
completion of the project.

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 Procedure

1. Break down project into a number of activities.

2. Estimate duration of each activity.
3. Decide on the logical sequence of activities (i.e. the immediate
predecessors for each activity).
4. Draw the netwrok diagram.
5. Make a forward pass through the network, calculating the earliest start
time (EST) and the earliest finish time (EFT) for each activity.
6. Make a backward pass through the network, calculating the latest start
time (LST) and the latest finish time (LFT) for each activity.
7. Determine the minimum time that the project can be completed in, the
critical path and the floats of all the non-critical activities.

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 Example 1

Activity Description Duration Immediate

(weeks) Predecessors

A Set objectives 2 -
B Design TV advertising 5 A
C Design new packaging 10 A
D Design newspaper campaign 6 B
E Film TV advertisements 4 B and C
F Arrange Graphics 2 D
G Run campaign in local
TV region 4 E and F
H Assess results 2 G
I Arrange national campaign 4 H

Essential Quantitative Methods

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 B D F
5 6 2

Start A
2

C E G H I END
10 4 4 2 4

Essential Quantitative Methods

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 Forward pass
2 7 7 13 13 15
B D F
5 6 2

0 2
Start A
2
2 12 12 16 16 20 20 22 22 26 26
C E G H I END
10 4 4 2 4

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2nd edn © Les Oakshott 2001 43
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 Backward pass
2 7 7 13 13 15
B D F
5 6 2

3 8 8 14 14 16
0 2
Start A
2

0 2 2 12 12 16 16 20 20 22 22 26 26
C E G H I END
10 4 4 2 4

2 12 12 16 16 20 20 22 22 26

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• Total time for the campaign is 26 weeks
• Float of an activity is the difference
between the latest start time and earliest
start time i.e. LST – EST
A: 0; B: 1; C: 0; D: 1; E: 0;
F: 1; G: 0; H: 0; I: 0
• Critical activities are A, C, E, G, H, I

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 Critical path
• The critical activities form a critical path.
• The critical path is the longest path through the
network. (A–C–E–G–H–I).
• It has no slack through its activities.
• There can be more than one critical path.
• Any delay to a critical activity will automatically delay
the project.
• If you delay a non-critical activity by more than its
float the project will again be delayed.

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 Other important points
• A project can have more than one start and
end. An END node is essential to avoid having
‘dangling’ nodes!
• Always draw the network in pencil so that you
can amend it easily.
• Try and avoid crossing lines (sometimes
unavoidable).

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 Activity on Node - CPM
• Activities for the project are as follows

Names A B C D E F G H I J K
Activity 1-2 1-3 1-4 2-5 3-5 3-6 3-7 4-6 5-7 6-8 7-8
Node
Duration 2 7 8 3 6 10 4 6 2 5 6
(Days)

Draw the network diagram and calculate the ES, EF, LS, LF, for each activity.
Network diagram
 Example 2

A small market research company consists of 6 people who

are all adept at dealing with the many and varied problems
associated with conducting surveys, such as designing the
necessary computer software, briefing interviewers, etc. The
company hires interviewers for its surveys and the 6
permanent staff never carry out interviews themselves.

Recently, the company was asked to conduct a market

research survey for a food manufacturer, and details of the
activities which the survey will involve are given below.

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Activity Description Preceding Estimated
Activities Duration
(weeks)
A Design survey 6
B Print questionnaire A 2
C Engage interviewers A 2
D Prepare interviewer
instruction sheets, etc. A 1
E Set up computer software A 2
F Brief interviewers C and D 1
G Test computer software E 1
H Supervise fieldwork B and F 5
I Analyse results G and H 3
J Prepare report I 2

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Requirements:
1. Draw a network to represent the project.
2. For each activity, calculate the earliest start and
early finish time
3. For each activity, calculate the latest start and
latest finish time
4. Calculate the float for each activity
5. Identify the critical path
6. How long the project will take to complete
without any delay?

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 B
2

C
2

Start A F H I J End
6 1 5 3 2

D
1

E G
2 1

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 6 8
B
2
7 9
6 8
C
2
0 6 6 8 8 9 9 14 14 17 17 19
Start A F H I J End
6 1 5 3 2
0 6 6 7 8 9 9 14 14 17 17 19
D
1
7 8
6 8 8 9
E G
2 1
11 13 13 14

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Solutions:
• The critical path is A–C–F–H–I–J.
• The project will take 19 weeks.

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 Quiz
Develop a network diagram
 Example: ABC Associates
• Consider the following project:
Immediate
Activity Predecessor time (days)
A -- 6
B -- 4
C A 3
D A 5
E A 1
F B,C 4
G B,C 2
H E,F 6
I E,F 5
J D,H 3
K G,I 5
 Backward LF
ES
6 20
Forwar
6 19 d
D
2 5 5
J
1 6
0 A
6 E H 3 23
13
1 C 3
4 7
0 4 5
F 13 5
B 4 I 23
K
2
3 6
G
9 18

9 18
 Example: ABC Associates
• Earliest/Latest Times
Activity time ES EF LS LF Slack
A 6 0 6 0 6 0 *critical
B 4 0 4 5 9 5
C 3 6 9 6 9 0*
D 5 6 11 15 20 9
E 1 6 7 12 13 6
F 4 9 13 9 13 0*
G 2 9 11 16 18 7 EF = ES + t
H 6 13 19 14 20 1
I 5 13 18 13 18 0* LS = LF – t
J 3 19 22 20 23 1 Where t is the
K 5 18 23 18 23 0*
Activity time
– The estimated project completion time is the Max EF at node 7 = 23.

Slack = LF –
EF
= LS - ES