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ENG8208 Advanced Engineering Project Management
Assignment 1 – Semester 1 2018
Date due: 19 April 2018
Weighting: 40% (400 marks)
Special Instructions
1. Answer all questions, and ensure that your answers have the coverage, and are in the format,
requested.
2. Present your own ideas.
3. Your answers should be properly referenced and reflect that you have undertaken research
outside the study material. You are to use the Harvard AGPS referencing system, information
which is available from the USQ Library webpage:
http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing/harvard-agps-referencing-guide
4. It is expected that your written answers will be produced using electronic word processing.
The ‘.pdf’ format is preferred for written answers.
5. All calculations are to be clearly shown and explained.
6. You will require a table of contents for your answer to Question 2 (a).
7. You will require an abstract and table of contents for your answer to Question 2 (b).
8. You should include a word count for each of Question 2 (a) and Question 2 (b). Word counts
exclude the List of References.
9. Assignments will be submitted electronically via the Study Desk.
10. Please note that if plagiarism or cheating is detected in this assignment it will result in no
marks for the assignment. Students should ensure they clearly understand the meaning of
plagiarism and cheating. In particular, students should understand that while they may
collaborate with other students on the conceptual ideas in their assignments, the final written
report submitted by each student must be unique, and must not contain the written material of
(a) any other student in the course, or (b) by any other person without due acknowledgement.
Assignments are expected to be submitted to plagiarism detection software at the time of
submission.
11. Applications for extensions of assignment submission must be made in writing to the Course
Examiner together with accompanying documentation as specified in the Assessment of
Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances Procedure. The application and all supporting
documentation must be submitted electronically.
An Assignment submitted after the deadline without an approved extension of time will be
penalised. The penalty for late submission without a pre-approved extension will be specified
in the assignment instructions. At the very least, the penalty for late submission is a reduction
by 5% of the maximum Mark applicable for the Assignment, for each University Business
Day or part Business Day that the Assignment is late. An Assignment submitted more than ten
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University Business Days after the deadline will have a Mark of zero recorded for that
Assignment.
Course Examiners may refuse to accept Assignments for Assessment purposes after Marked
Assignments and/or feedback have been released. If Compassionate and Compelling
Circumstances appear to exist, Course Examiners must consider these before refusing to
accept an Assignment.
See: http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents/14749PL#4.2_Assignments
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Question 1 (100 marks total)
Earned Value Management
Question 1 (a) – Project 1 (15 marks)
You are managing a project that is scheduled to take 12 months to complete and has a budgeted actual
cost (BAC) of $2,100,000.
At the Status Date, the project has the following characteristics:

Calculate the following quantities:

Question 1 (b) – Project 2 (15 marks)
You are managing a second project that has the same time and cost specifications as those in Question
1 (a), but which is 38% complete at the Status Date, when Actual Costs are $650,000.
Its specifications are below
Budgeted Actual Cost (BAC): $2,100,000.
Schedule time to complete: 12 months
At the Status Date, the project has the following characteristics:
Planned value (PV) $600,000
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Calculate the following quantities:

Question 1 (c) (about 500 words) (30 marks)
Compare the two projects from the point view of project performance, paying particular attention to
the following:

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Question 1 (d) (approximately 600 words) (40 marks)
While Earned Value Management can be a useful tool, there are a number of risks with using it unless
its limitations are understood.
Discuss, in approximately 600 words, at least four (4) of the main limitations with using earned value
management as a sole measure of project performance, and options for addressing these limitations.
Use at least three (3) references from the literature to support your discussion.
Marking:
At least four (4) limitations of Earned Value Management (4 marks each – 16 marks total)
Options for addressing each of the limitations (4 marks each – 16 marks total)
Writing, use of references 8 marks
SUB-TOTAL FOR QUESTION 1 (d) 40 MARKS
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Question 2 (300 marks total)
Developing a Revised Project Management Plan and Report to
Management
Background
You have recently been appointed as a project manager in a large engineering organisation. Some
examples of such an organisation include, but are not limited to:

The organisation may be operating in one or more engineering disciplines, such as civil, mechanical,
electrical, environmental, mechatronic, biomedical, or other discipline, or in construction or surveying.
Your organisation has asked you to review the management of a medium sized project (up to $5
million in value), which is to be completed within three (3) years of its commencement. The project
has at least 20 main activities.
The project commenced twelve (12) months ago. The first eight (8) weeks were spent developing the
project charter and preparing the original project management plan. Project execution (carrying out the
work) commenced immediately the project management plan was completed and approved.
There will be a one (1) month project closing period at the end of the project. During this time,
equipment will be tested and commissioned (if relevant to your project), and the project will be
finalised.
The project deadline is firm, subject to any justifiable contingencies.
The existing business case and project charter have not been very well prepared. Similarly, the project
management plan, including a basic Gantt chart and high level budget is not well detailed or described.
There are a number of issues with the project:
1. To date, the project is two (2) months behind schedule. Part of this delay has resulted from
poor understanding of lead times for delivery of particular project components. There are no
other significant factors that should impact on project delivery.
2. Because there is only a quite basic project plan and time schedule, there is poor sequencing of
critical activities. They do not have clear scheduled completion dates.
3. There have been delays in procuring some critical project resources. There may be alternative
suppliers.
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4. While there were a number of specialised personnel for particular aspects of the project
available at the start of the project, they were not booked ahead of when they were required.
Most of these resources are now booked for several months ahead. Few alternatives are
available.
5. As a result of the influence of a number of stakeholders, there has been significant scope
creep, which with the current rate of progress will delay delivery by one (1) month. This scope
creep also threatens to impact on the project’s business case.
6. Some components of the project have not been delivered or built to the required quality
specification. Consequently, there have been delays while defects have been rectified.
7. Communication between project manager, project sponsor, stakeholders, contractors,
consultants and other key personnel has not been good. There are therefore a number of cases
where key information has not been communicated well. This poor communication has
impacted on project progress.
You have been charged with delivering a revised project management plan to deliver the project on
time; and with providing a report to the Project Sponsor explaining the actions you have taken.
Your Task

1. Define your organisation and project. (20 marks)
Nominate an organisation of your choice, and the engineering discipline or disciplines in which it
is operating.
Nominate a suitable project (for example, road development, subdivisional development, power
station, mobile phone network, mining, provision of industrial equipment, installation,
maintenance, surveying) to use as an example.
2. Prepare an updated business case and revised project charter. (40 marks)
These documents should be at a sufficient level of detail to briefly discuss their main components,
and how these components specifically relate to the revised project. They may be in dot point
form.
3. Prepare an updated project management plan for completing the project within its original timeline
(140 marks TOTAL, allocated as shown below).
The project management plan should include plans for all phases/stages of the project based on the
following Project Management Knowledge Areas (marks allocated to each section are in brackets
adjacent to the section title):

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Notes:

by one (1) month to allow for the scope creep already approved. However, further scope
creep is not permitted.

incurred in delivering the project. These costs may include estimates for ensuring
completion of the project.
SUB- TOTAL FOR QUESTION 2 (a) 200 MARKS
Question 2 (b) Report to Project Sponsor
(maximum 1000 words) (50 marks)
Write a report to your Project Sponsor that:

SUB- TOTAL FOR QUESTION 2 (b) 50 MARKS
Written Communication (50 marks)

SUB- TOTAL FOR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION 50 MARKS