DESCRIPTION
This assignment is the analysis of the Richard Ivey School of Business (“Ivey”) “H.M.S.
Pinafore” case study via a set of predetermined questions.
GRADE VALUE
This assignment is worth ten (10) percent of the semester grade.
REQUIREMENTS
You are to review the attached Ivey Case Study No. 995D15 “H.M.S. Pinafore” (attached as a
separate file) as follows:
Frances Vanden Hoven, producer of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of The University of Western
Ontario, was meeting with his assistant producer, costume coordinator, and artistic director to get
their advice on how to plan well for the ten (10) performances of H.M.S. Pinafore that the
Society intended to stage in a little over four (4) months. This requires the construction of a
network schedule system (a Critical Path Method, “CPM” schedule) to address a number of
project management related questions.
Based on your review and analysis of this Case Study, prepare a response to the following
questions:
- As Frances Vanden Hoven, construct a network plan for the H.M.S. Pinafore Project.
Use Activity-on-Node (“AON”) format with the use of a scheduling program like
Microsoft Project or another recognized program. Hint: Begin by constructing a Work
Breakdown Structure (“WBS”) of the activities necessary (there are 21 by my count) to
complete the project. - What does this tell you? That is, evaluate and state something intelligent about the
results of the schedule and the tenets of the case study. - How would you answer the questions raised in the Case Study?
A. The Case Study alludes to problems the previous year with four (4) early activities.
With the slack determine in the schedule, how could this set of activities realistically
become a problem?
B. Should the production team seek a ten (10) percent reduction in costume rentals?
C. The dialogue suggests that the costume parade activity could take place before the set
has been complete. Is this feasible and what might be any problems with this
potential modification?
D. Frances states that he has lots of time. Does he? Evaluate the schedule and
determine the time available to Frances and if he can actually finish on time. Propose
any schedule modifications to assure that he can finish on time.
E. The Cast Study discusses the possibility of spending more money on some or all
activities to speed them up (“Crashing?” or improve their quality. Give the number
of activities to be managed, the volunteer nature of the workforce, the tight budget
and the presence of large amounts of slack, spending additional money may appear
foolish. Does speeding up activities have any benefit to Frances? Is so, which ones
and why?
F. Budget Approval can be considered a noteworthy milestone in the project – to the
point of becoming a Critical Activity. While you are not expected to craft a budget,
Frances must have one complete to present to USC and he must stress the importance
of early approval. Suggest any efforts he should take to ensure its approval and
modify your WBS and Schedule to reflect them. Does this have any impact on
individual activities as initially schedules and/or the overall completion of the
project? Yes or no and why?
Note: It is best to use the questions (or portions thereof) as headings and as an outline to your
work.
EVALUATION
Criteria for the individual portion of the assignment will include elements such as:
▪ Completion of all aspects of the assignment.
▪ Depth of analysis (covering the major course aspects and case study issues).
▪ Writing clarity, organization, conciseness, and grammar.
Note: When including the schedule in the document, consider the orientation and size of the
page (Portrait vs. Landscape / 8½ x 11 vs. 11 x 17) to depict them in larger configuration. Also,
it is acceptable to then extract relative portions of the schedule when answering specific
questions or elements thereof.
SUBMISSION
The case study assignment is to be typewritten and submitted as a PDF file to the respective
BlackBoard assignment folder. Each assignment is to include a cover page clearly depicting
student name, and pertinent course and assignment information, and each page of the case study
is to include the consecutive page number. Begin each question on a new page.