Hello
I’ve attached the entire assignment with all the information. Below are the questions that need to be answered for this assignment.
* Introduction
* Paragraph #1 – Assume you are either Mike or Josh; how would you go about making a decision using project management methodology?
* Paragraph #2 – Looking first at only cost, what decision would you make?
* Paragraph #3 – After cost, what other factors should be considered before making a decision?
* Conclusion
Post-Graduation Adventure
Read the Post-Graduation Adventure case on p. 154 in Ch. 5 of Project Management: The Managerial Process and submit an APA paper for the following
Note:
– As a hint, you should have an intro paragraph, 3 sections in the paper body (1 for each question) and a closing paragraph.
– In item 1 you must clearly state the project management methodology (i.e Top down, waterfall, etc) you are using and then apply it to the trip project. As another hint There are 4 trips being looked at here originating from the USA….one to Spain…one to France…one to South Africa…one to Vietnam….do not ignore any of them in your discussion.
– When you discuss cost in item 2 I need to see real values…this means you will do some research on costs. Not looking for you to be a travel agent and provide costs to the penny but there should be enough data to be able to make a decision of where to go based on cost. Costs should include more than just an airline ticket (think of when you go on a trip and all the other costs involved in taking a trip like hotel, food, etc). As a hint, the easiest way to show, compare, discuss the costs is to place them in a matrix/table with the various locations you are going to and show the total cost for an easy comparison.
– Item 3 asks for non-cost; I need to see at least 2 non-cost items discussed and how they are impacting your decision on where to go (for example, Spain and France weather are bad but Vietnam and South Africa have great weather so they are scoring higher based on the non-cost factor of weather, etc, etc); only discuss non-cost items (you already have discussed cost in question 2). For example do not discuss money exchange rates here….that would be a cost factor. Something like the weather would be a non-cost item….and since I just gave you that one, weather cannot be one of your 2 items discussed….if it is in your paper you earn no points for it.
– In your paper conclusion I should see your recommendation of where to go based on your paper discussion/findings. This is where you have looked at both the cost and non-cost factors to make a decision. You may find that cost might outweigh the non-cost items or possibly it is the other way around where non-cost drives the decision or possibly a combination of them both. The purpose of the assignment is to help you gain insight that when you are working on a project you should consider all factors involved and not rush to a decision based on one factor.
Josh and Mike met each other as roommates during freshmen year at Macalister College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite a rocky start they became best friends. They are planning on going on a two-week adventure together to celebrate their graduation in June. Josh has never been to Europe and wants to visit France or Spain. Mike spent a semester abroad in Aarhus, Denmark, and traveled extensively in Northern Europe. Even though he never went to France or Spain, Mike wants to go to some place more exotic like South Africa or Vietnam. For the past week they have been arguing back and forth over where they should go. Josh argues that it will cost too much to fly to South Africa or Vietnam, while Mike counters that it will be much cheaper to travel in Vietnam or South Africa once they are there. Each of them agreed that they can spend no more than $3,500 each on the trip and could be gone for only two weeks. One evening when they were arguing with each other over beers with friends, Sara said, “Why don’t you use what you learned in your project management class to decide what to do?” Josh and Mike looked at each other and agreed that made perfect sense.
1. Assume you are either Mike or Josh; how would you go about making a decision using project management methodology?
· Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – “deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team”. (https://www.workbreakdownstructure.com)
· “ Deliverable-Based Work Breakdown Structure clearly demonstrates the relationship between the project deliverables (i.e., products, services or results) and the scope (i.e., work to be executed)”. (https://www.workbreakdownstructure.com)
· Deliverable (Service) – planning the two-week vacation adventure
· Scope (Cost) – Comparing the Costs and determining which location will be affordable.
2. Looking first at only cost, what decision would you make?
· Paris, France
· Hotel (breakfast included) (13nights) + Flight (2 roundtrip tickets) + Car (13 days) + taxes & fee = $4,661.00 / 2 = $2,330.50 per person
· Food $763.10 (lunch & dinner) / 2 = $381.55 per person
· Entertainment approx…. $300 / 2 = $150.00 per person
· Arc de Triomphe $14
· Notre Dame Cathedral Towers $11.74
· Palace of Versailles $23.48
· Eiffel Tower $19.49
· Barcelona, Spain
· Hotel (breakfast included) (13nights) + Flight (2 roundtrip tickets) + Car (13 days) + taxes & fee = $2,422.00 / 2 = $1,211 per person
· Food $650.00 (lunch & dinner) / 2 = $325.00 per person
· Entertainment approx…. $400 / 2 = $200.00 per person
· Free Bike tour
· Barcelona Half-Day Modernist Walking Tour $40 / 2 = $20 per person
· Picasso Walking Tour and Museum $84 / 2 = $42 per person
· Wine Tasting & Tapas $120.00 / 2 = $60 per person
· Johannesburg, South Africa
· Hotel (breakfast included) (13nights) + Flight (2 roundtrip tickets) + Car (13 days) + taxes & fee = $3,533 / 2 = $1,766.50 per person
· Food $2,366.00 (lunch & dinner) / 2 = $1,183.00 per person
· Entertainment approx…. $650 / 2 = $325.00 per person
· Hike Table Mountain & Wine Tasting $214 / 2 = $107.00 per person
· Table Mountain Aerial Cable Car & Bus Combo $93.62 / 2 = $46.81 per person
· Township Eco Tour $85.16 / 2 = $42.58 per person
· Da Nang, Vietnam
· Hotel (breakfast included) (13 nights) = $3218.12
· Flight $4,025 / 2 = $2,013 per person
· Food $400.00 / 2 =$200 per person
· Entertainment $300 / 2 = $150.00 per person
I would recommend Mike and Josh to go to Barcelona, Spain because its affordable.
3. After cost, what other factors should be considered before making a decision?
· COVID-19 – not all attractions will be open to visit
· Violence – possibility of being robbed or assaulted
References
1
Post-Graduation Adventure
Bryant Lewis
CPMGT/305
11/3/2020
Professor Gary Casey
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Post-Graduation Adventure
Project management can be used for all different occasions such as the situation in this
case. Traveling takes a lot of planning. Same with the projects a company wants to complete and
do right. Josh and Mike must work together to plan a successful trip spending less than $3,500.
Making a detailed plan outlining a trip they want to take; they must communicate and agree on a
plan that will work for the both of them.
Decision Making
If I were Mike or Josh in this situation, I would make sure we agree on the location we
want to travel to first. When you arrive, you must figure out where you want to sleep. Finding
the most cost-efficient hotel is the key here. Next would be a plan of action, including where we
are going to eat, how we are going to travel, and what activities we want to participate in.
Writing the meals you plan to eat and restaurants you are going to attend have to be written
down. You can calculate how much you will spend on food at the market and money spent on
dining out. This will also include all the activities you plan on doing. When you have the exact
amount of money you will spend on transportation, this information will let you know how much
traveling in the country you may do. If you are using project management methods, you write a
detailed list or a work breakdown structure (WBS) finding the smallest detail or tasks that they
both want to do. When you have a mapped-out plan, they you can change accordingly to each
other’s suggestions.
Only Cost
The decision I would make would be to fly to Vietnam or South Africa. I know for a fact
that once you are in the country, you will spend minimal money since everything is so cheap.
The initial flight will cost the most. The cost to stay at a relatively expensive hotel in the states
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will cost 95 percent less. This gives you the chance to explore the country much more than
wasting money on transportation and expensive food. We will want to take in local cuisines and
businesses so money will be spent on these items. Gifts coming from different areas in the
country may cost a little more because of the tourist attractions. Taking the route less traveled
and away from tourist traps will allow us to spend the least amount of money. Doing the
extensive research before we travel here helps us utilize the most out of our money. When we
have the same amount of money to spend and use, this will keep us on the right track and not let
us splurge more than the other.
Other Factors
Other factors that may play a pivotal role would be going to the hospital if anything were
to happen. These are the things during the trip that we do not want to happen. If we were to go
on a hike and have a bad ankle twist that requires a doctor visit, then that is an expense that was
not allocated. This is also something that may happen in a project and to project managers for a
business. The unforeseen accidents that delay different aspects of the job. You have a delivery
coming in and the truck gets into the crash. Everyone is okay in the incident except your product.
The item will be delayed another week. Same with this trip, any unforeseen circumstances can
cost extra money or delay plans in your trip. A hazard that is also a uncertain expense would be
getting mugged or robbed. Plan on not carrying all your money with you at once. Practicing
proper culture education will help with the language barriers and helps identify situations that
may be bad.
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Conclusion
The two-week trip will surely be an adventure for the two individuals. When properly
planned with many details, this will make it easier to stick with the allotted amount of money
they both wanted to spend. The biggest issue here will be for the two friends to agree with one
another.
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Post-Graduation Adventure
Felicia Williams
CPMGT/305
December 12, 2016
Gary Denney
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POST GRADUATION ADVENTURE 2
Post-Graduation Adventure Planning a trip abroad to South Africa or Vietnam could be an affordable adventure or a
costly adventure. Mike and Josh will need to develop an WBS in order to systematically plot and
plan their trip. I believe that a RM (responsibility matric) would also be a beneficial aspect of
planning and insuring that the trip will fall within their limited budget and time frame. There may
not be a best methodology that works for all business plans; there are ways to determine which
methodology to use and how to effectively apply it. M. Alexandra (2015).
1. Assume you are either Mike or Josh; how would you go about making a decision using
project management methodology?
There could be a multitude of benefits from using project management methodology in
the decision and planning phases of making this trip a doable adventure, with so many
different approaches of managing complexities of any given program.
Selecting the best methodology should be based on the needs of the project and the
project management team, this can be a struggling venture. In the process of selecting the
most appropriate one, there are a few dozen factors that need to be considered. Each project
management carries its own strengths and weaknesses.
Realistically, there is really no one good or bad methodology to select from. There is
generally a suitable path that should be followed that will fit the project management
requirements for the project that is being planned. Selecting the proper methodology for
planning this trip would be to develop a set document of SOP that will identify and define the
scope of this project. It will also identify the timeline, schedule and brake down the cost
associated with this adventure.
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POST GRADUATION ADVENTURE 3
It will be important that Mike and Josh stay connected throughout the planning phase
since this is such a fast trip. Communication and budgetary issues need to take precedence
for everything to fall into plan and make this adventure a pleasurable success.
2. Looking first at only cost, what decision would you make?
The budget needs to be put together in order to verify that the funds available are going to be
enough to make the trip a reality. Because Mike and Josh have $3,500 each to spend on the trip, a
cost brake down of expenses needs to be put together. Airfare is more than likely going to be the
most expensive item of the trip. The cost of air fare is going to depend on their ability to pre-plan
far enough in advance to attain air fare at a reasonable rate.
Between Mike and Josh, they have a total $7,000 as a base for their budget. The first thing
that they need to decide is whether it is cheaper to fly to Vietnam or to South Africa, and which
one fits within the budgeted cost allotted for airfare. Mike and josh will need to develop a cost
list, which would include costs associated to their trip.
• Airfare
• Lodging
• Food
• Miscellaneous goods
After some research airfare to South Africa for a round trip ticket is going to be right at $800
for each of them. The airfare to Vietnam is only about a $100 cheaper per person, remembering
that the purchase has to be made well in advance to take advantage of any type of savings. The
limited cost difference is not a deal breaker, making either destination feasible for their trip. The
budget breakdown would start off looking like this. ($3,500×2 $7,000) adding airfare for the
round trip to South Africa per person would equal to ($800.00×2 1600), ($7,000 -$1600 $5,400).
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POST GRADUATION ADVENTURE 4
Another consideration that has to be factored in is how they intend to spend their time
abroad. They have 14 days that they can be gone assuming that travel will consume four of those
days, they are left with 10 days that they need to factor lodging and food for. By breaking down
individual budgets, ($5,400/2 $2700) Mike and Josh would each have $2,700 to spend on
lodging and food $2,700/14 192.85) and by splitting the cost for their daily adventures and food
and lodging (193×2 386) Mike and Josh would have $386 allotted for daily expenses.
3. After cost, what other factors should be considered before making a decision?
One of the biggest items that need to be factored in is how and what Mike and Josh are going
to do on their adventure. Planning for activities that are free would help them on a budgetary
level. Hiking adventure that constitutes camping out would also save them money. Traveling
from point A to point B will be an added cost that needs to be considered.
To make a decision Mike and Josh are going to have to come to agreement on each of their
desired goals and what each of them want to take away from such an exotic adventure to make it
a success. This is going to have to take into account the many different variables and unexpected
costs along the way. By implementing project management methodology, they could build a
WBS that plots out destinations and time frames of travel and time spent at any one specific
location.
Developing a timeline for their travels should keep them on time and on task so that they
arrive at their final departure with time to spare. They would also need to develop some type of
contingency plan to fall back onto in the event that something outside of the plan occurs. This
could constitute as a modification to travel destinations or shortening up stays at specific
destination or even by passing a location in order to stay within the scope of their time allotment
in reaching their final destination.
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POST GRADUATION ADVENTURE 5
The budget is fairly tight for a trip of this nature. Mike and Josh are going to have to come to
an agreement that it is going to take a high level of strategic planning to make either destination
work within their budgetary limits and time frame. I think that I would default to an adventure
that require hiking and camping out verses staying in towns and hotels. It would be my
recommendation to only stay in a hotel twice during this adventure. This would be a large cost
savings and would make for a more memorable experience.
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POST GRADUATION ADVENTURE 6
Reference
Alexandra, M. (2015), How to pick a project management methodology. Retrieved from
www.cio.com/article /2950579/project-management.
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