MAN 4350 Module 6 Control and Closeout Written Assignment Example

Behind by $75,000 of Work at Week Ten, Accepted on May 15: Controlling and Closing a Blueberry Cooperative's Sorting Line

Student Name

B.S. in General Management, Thomas Edison State University

MAN-4350: Project Management

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

Behind by $75,000 of Work at Week Ten, Accepted on May 15: Controlling and Closing a Blueberry Cooperative's Sorting Line

This final written assignment follows the composite Hammonton cooperative from earlier modules, Mullica Valley Growers, and its new optical sorter from a status review in the middle of the work to its closeout after the first harvest. The project began on January 19 with a performance baseline of $2,227,000, which includes the $24,000 paid to the vendor for an earlier production slot, plus $152,240 of remaining contingency held outside the baseline. The first part evaluates the project at the end of week 10 using earned value; the second describes how the project was closed and what it taught the cooperative. I led the work as the cooperative's operations coordinator, managing the project alongside my regular job.

Earned Value on March 30

Pinto (2019) argues that tracking spending against the budget alone can mislead, because it says nothing about how much work has been done for the money. Earned value management combines scope, schedule and cost in three figures: planned value (PV), what the work scheduled by the status date was budgeted to cost; earned value (EV), the budget for the work actually finished; and actual cost (AC), what was spent. Anbari (2003) shows how these support simple indexes and forecasts that a manager can act on.

At the end of the tenth week of work, on March 30, the figures were as follows.

What the Figures Mean

The project had completed $75,000 less work than planned and had spent $72,000 beyond what the finished work was budgeted to cost. Both indexes stood at 0.94. Almost all of the problem sat in two places. The cooling room contractor was a week and a half behind because insulated panels arrived late, and the panels themselves had cost $58,000 more than quoted after a price increase. The rest of the cost variance came from the abandoned drain line found under the sorter foundation.

The schedule finding mattered more than its size suggested. Crashing the equipment slot had moved acceptance to May 11 but had cut the cooling room's float from three weeks to one. A week and a half of delay therefore threatened to push the finish past May 11 even though the equipment was on time. This is the kind of hidden interaction that makes control more than a matter of reading numbers.

If the cost overrun continued at the same rate, the estimate at completion would be about $2,362,000, roughly $135,000 over the baseline and within the remaining contingency of $152,240, but with little left. If the overrun was a one-time event, the estimate would be actual cost plus the remaining budgeted work, about $2,299,000. Because the panel price was a single event, the second figure was the more realistic forecast, but I reported both to the general manager.

Corrective Action

Two actions were agreed. First, the refrigeration contractor added a Saturday crew for four weeks at a cost of $9,600, recovering the lost week and a half and restoring the cooling room's float. Second, the contingency was formally drawn down for the panel increase and the drain line, and the remaining contingency was reported to the board, so that no further spending decisions would be made on the assumption that money was still available. By week 14 the SPI had risen to 0.99.

Closeout and Termination

The line passed its acceptance test on May 13, 14 and 15, packing an average of 126,000 pounds a day with 1.6 percent soft or damaged fruit in the sampled clamshells. The first berries arrived on May 29. Final cost was $2,341,000, within the authorized total.

Pinto (2019) describes termination as a set of tasks rather than a single event: finishing the work, handing the project over, gaining acceptance, harvesting the benefits, reviewing how it went, completing the records and disbanding the team. Handover took the form of a signed acceptance by the general manager and the line lead, and a binder of maintenance procedures for the shop. The benefits were tracked through the first season against the selection estimate. Records, including the vendor warranty, final invoices and the risk and issue logs, were filed with the bookkeeper. The team held a closing lunch, and I wrote a short note to each member's supervisor describing the member's contribution.

The textbook also distinguishes ways projects end. This one ended by integration: the new line and its people were absorbed into the packing house's normal operations, and the project organization dissolved.

Evaluation and Lessons

Pinto and Slevin (1987) identified ten factors linked to successful implementation, including top management support, client consultation, monitoring and feedback, and troubleshooting. Looking back, the project was strongest on support and client consultation: the board's backing was clear, and the line leads helped choose the grading settings. It was weakest on monitoring early in the work, since the cooling room delay was found at the week-10 review rather than when the panel order slipped.

Williams (2008) found that organizations often collect lessons from projects but rarely use them. To avoid that, the post-project review recorded three lessons, each with an owner. Order long-lead materials for every contractor, not only the main vendor, before signing. Check float on every path after crashing, not only the path being crashed. And report earned value every two weeks rather than monthly. The general manager added these to the checklist for the freezing tunnel project planned for next year.

Conclusion

Earned value showed at week 10 that the project was slightly behind and over cost, and, more usefully, that the earlier crashing decision had made the cooling room nearly critical. A weekend crew and a formal contingency drawdown corrected both problems. The project closed on time and within its authorized total, ended by integration into operations, and left three specific lessons attached to the cooperative's next project.

References

Anbari, F. T. (2003). Earned value project management method and extensions. Project Management Journal, 34(4), 12-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/875697280303400403

Pinto, J. K. (2019). Project management: Achieving competitive advantage (5th ed.). Pearson.

Pinto, J. K., & Slevin, D. P. (1987). Critical factors in successful project implementation. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, EM-34(1), 22-27. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.1987.6498856

Williams, T. (2008). How do organizations learn lessons from projects: And do they? IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 55(2), 248-266. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2007.912920