Acct2522 management accounting 1 session 1, 2016

1
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING
ACCT2522 Management Accounting 1
Session 1, 2016
Tutorial Week 12 – Project Planning and Analysis
Tutorial Questions (must be prepared prior to the tutorial)

Question 1: Advantager University
This question can be found on the following pages.
A 4 (5)
B 4 (7)
A 2 (3) C 4 (3)
D 6 (4)
3
Question 1: Advantager University
Advantager University is a top ranked university that has experienced huge and growing demand
from potential students for several years. To cope with this increased demand, several managers
have been hired by the university to facilitate expansion projects. The School of Accounting is just
one of the successful schools at Advantager that urgently needs to expand. To better serve
students and staff, the University administration has provided the School with a choice of several
under‐utilised buildings on campus that would meet the School’s expansion needs.
After several committee meetings, eight major expansion project activities have been identified,
and the University has agreed to provide project managers to support these activities. The
project needs to be completed in 16 weeks at latest, in time for the next Semester. People
involved in the expansion were interviewed to gather information for the following table:
Table 1:
Activity Immediately
preceding
activities
Number of
Managers
required*
Activity Description Time Estimates (weeks)
Optimistic Likely Pessimistic
A ‐ 4 Select building 1 2 3
B ‐ 2 Interview staff applicants 1 2 9
C A 3 Develop remodelling plans 1 2 3
D B 2 Select staff applicants 2 4 6
E C 3 Remodel 1 3 11
F C 3 New staff training 1 3 5
G D, E 2 Install facilities 2 5 8
H F, G 3 Move in 1 2 3
* Managers are qualified to work on all activities relating to the University’s expansion projects,
and can be interchanged between activities and projects.
Required:
1. Draw a detailed network diagram for the project (there is a skeleton diagram on the next
page to get you started if you’re really stuck, but it would be better if you tried to work this
out on your own first). 1
2. What is the critical path? What does it tell you, and why is it important?
3. (a) Which activities have slack?
(b) Using your answer to (a), explain the concept of shared slack, and where it does/does not
exist for this project.
4. (a) Advantager University has hired several managers to facilitate its expansion plans. Using
the data in Table 1, show in Gantt chart format (weeks on the horizontal axis and number of
1 Please note, when you draw up the last activity in your network diagram, you should set your late finish time to equal
your early finish time. So even though the project needs to be completed in 16 weeks, please don’t set 16 to be your
late finish time, unless 16 also happens to be your early finish time. When drawing up these diagrams you should
assume we don’t want a project to take any longer than it has to – remember, on the critical path there is no slack!
Activities examined in isolation may have slack, but the critical path should not.
4
managers on the vertical axis), the resource loading for this project week by week, assuming
that each activity starts as soon as possible.
(b) Show in Gantt chart format how you would use resource levelling to achieve a reduction
in variability in management requirements without increasing project duration.
(c) Explain how your answer to (b) can help Advantager University, given that it is undergoing
several expansion projects simultaneously.
5. Calculate the path variance of ACFH. What is the value in calculating path variances?
6. A world‐renowned Nobel Prize winning accounting academic will be visiting the university in
12 weeks. If the project can be completed in 12 weeks, she will be able to give a speech at the
opening ceremony for the building, attracting valuable news coverage of the event.
(a) Using the additional information in Table 2 below, ascertain the smallest total additional cost
incurred for finishing the entire project in 12 weeks.
(b) What factors would you consider in deciding whether to crash the project?
Table 2:
Activity Normal time
(weeks)
Normal cost
$
Crash time
(weeks)
Crash cost
$
A 2 100,000 2 ‐
B 3 30,000 2 40,000
C 2 250,000 1 310,000
D 4 30,000 3 35,000
E 4 1,200,000 2 1,800,000
F 3 60,000 3 ‐
G 5 800,000 3 1,100,000
H 2 350,000 1 600,000
Hint
This can help you get started on Question 1, if you’re really stuck …..
5
1
2
7
4
6
3
5
Self Study Questions (complete in your own time)
1. Stevenson, Ch 17, Problems 1- 5 on pp. 765-771. Worked solutions are provided in the text.
Problem 1: Practice with AOA diagrams
Problem 2: Practice with early and late start and finishes, slack time.
Problem 3 & 4: Practice with PERT calculations
Problem 5 part (a) only: Practice with project crashing
2. Consider the following CPM/PERT diagram. Among other resources, each activity (A,
B, C and D) requires a certain number of skilled supervisors to oversee the work. The
number of weeks to complete each activity is shown, along with the number of skilled
supervisors needed, in brackets.
a. Show in Gantt chart format (weeks on the horizontal axis and number of supervisors on the
vertical axis), the resource loading week by week, assuming that each activity starts as soon
as possible.
b. Your task is to reduce variability in supervisory requirements without increasing project
duration. Show in Gantt chart format how one should use resource levelling to achieve this.
No. of
Supervisors
13
12
A
11
10
9
8
7
B
6
5
4
D 3
2 C
1
Weeks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
A 4 (5)
B 4 (7)
A 2 (3) C 4 (3)
D 6 (4)
6
2.
No. of
Supervisors
13
12
11
10
9
8
A
7
B
6
5
4
D 3
2 C
1
Weeks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14