PJM 5100 Module 3 WBS, Responsibilities and the Branch Schedule Example

Twenty-Nine Weeks to Opening Day: Structuring and Scheduling the Branch Project

Student Name

Master of Science in Management, Thomas Edison State University

PJM-5100: Project Management

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

Twenty-Nine Weeks to Opening Day: Structuring and Scheduling the Branch Project

Introduction

With a contractor selected, the branch project moves into detailed planning. Gido et al. (2018) describe the structure of a project plan as a sequence: define the scope, break it into a work breakdown structure, assign responsibility for each work item, define activities and their dependencies in a network, estimate durations and calculate the schedule. This assignment applies that sequence to Prairie Hills Credit Union's ninth branch, with week 0 set at March 2 and opening required by September 30, about 30 weeks later.

Work Breakdown Structure

A work breakdown structure splits the project level by level until each element can be estimated and given to one owner. Globerson (1994) showed that the way a structure is organized, by deliverable, by function or by phase, shapes how managers think about the project, and recommended choosing the form that matches how the project will be controlled. Because the credit union will manage the contractor and its own teams by deliverable, the structure is organized that way.

Responsibility Assignment

A responsibility matrix shows who does each work package. The facilities manager is responsible for site and building and coordinates Cedar Ridge Builders; the information technology manager for technology and equipment; the human resources manager for staffing; the marketing manager for marketing; and the project manager, who reports to the chief operating officer as sponsor, for project management, opening and overall integration. Each work package has one responsible person, with others marked as supporting or approving, so no deliverable falls between departments.

Activity Network and Durations

Eleven activities, with durations in weeks from experienced estimates and the contractor's proposal, form the network.

Schedule Calculations

A forward pass sets each activity's earliest start at the latest earliest finish of its predecessors; the project's earliest finish is week 29. A backward pass from week 29 sets each activity's latest finish at the earliest latest start of its successors, and total slack is the difference between latest and earliest start. The critical path, the longest path with zero slack, runs A, B, E, I, K: permits, construction, installation, testing and opening, 29 weeks in total. Opening at week 29, about September 21, leaves roughly one week of buffer before the September 30 deadline.

Interpreting Slack

Slack shows where the plan can absorb delay. Staffing has nine weeks of slack along the path F, G, H, so recruitment can start later, which would reduce the cost of paying new staff before opening; but the slack is shared along the path, so a late manager hire also delays the tellers. Equipment ordering has 14 weeks of slack, though its long lead time makes an early order prudent. Marketing, with 22 weeks of slack, should be scheduled late on purpose, ending just before opening. Herroelen and Leus (2005), surveying scheduling under uncertainty, note that deterministic schedules like this one assume known durations; building protection into the most uncertain activities, here construction, is wiser than spreading buffers evenly.

Assumptions Behind the Schedule

The schedule rests on stated assumptions: city permits within two weeks, no more than five weather days during construction, equipment lead times as quoted by vendors and the availability of the network engineer, whose other commitments the next assignment examines. If any assumption fails, the project manager will recalculate the network and report the effect on the opening date at the next status meeting.

Conclusion

The work breakdown structure, responsibility matrix and network schedule turn the branch objective into a plan with clear owners and dates. The contractor's construction drives the 29-week critical path, so the project manager's attention belongs there, while staffing and marketing have room to be timed for cost and impact.

References

Gido, J., Clements, J. P., & Baker, R. (2018). Successful project management (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Globerson, S. (1994). Impact of various work-breakdown structures on project conceptualization. International Journal of Project Management, 12(3), 165-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/0263-7863(94)90032-9

Herroelen, W., & Leus, R. (2005). Project scheduling under uncertainty: Survey and research potentials. European Journal of Operational Research, 165(2), 289-306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2004.04.002