Project Management Stimulation Session 3: Play and Debrief of Scenario D and E – Making Tough Tradeoffs
• Weight 5% of the final grade
• Due no later than 11:00 p.m. on Sunday of Unit 8
Description
Scenario D and E present very difficult situations to students. They will find these scenarios very challenging and perhaps quite frustrating as they realize that they cannot achieve their objectives. Scores in D and E tend to be lower than for the other scenarios, and the range of scores can be very wide. Students should play long enough to realize that they won’t be able to complete these projects successfully and will therefore need to adopt an approach thatmarks the best of a challenging situation. If both scenarios are used, play time should last a bare minimum of 20 minutes. Again, suggest questions for students to bear in mind as they run the simulations.
Submission Instructions
After playing the simulation, students will generate a short debrief summary that responds to the following assignment questions:
8. In this scenario, what has changed?
9. What strategies did you use to deal with this scenario? What worked? What didn’t? Were you able to complete the project successfully?
10. Having dealt now with these different project scenarios, how would you revise your project management advice?
Simulation Scenario D: Very difficult management targets, with points weighted towards schedule compliance.
Senior management expects you to release a new printer which will allow you to leapfrog the competitor’s expected new printer announcement and capture market share early. The schedule is highly aggressive, allowing you to ramp up manufacturing and marketing soon enough to dramatically pre-empt the competitor’s announcement and seize a market leadership position. Management has indicated that releasing the new printer ahead of the competition is critical to success. Consequently, the points available for meeting or exceeding schedule goals are much higher than for scope. Target specs, required to be sure of far exceeding your competitor’s new printer, are clearly defined, well understood, and expected to remain stable throughout the project. Management has committed to providing stable access to resources during the project.
Scenario Point Distribution of Scenario D
| Target | Points for Meeting Target | Points for Exceeding Target | Total Points | |
| Project Scope | 125 | 75 | 200 | |
| Project Schedule | 300 | 100 | 400 | |
| Project Resources | 200 | 100 | 300 | |
| Team Process | 100 | n/a | 100 | |
| Total | 1000 | |||
Simulation Scenario E: Very difficult management targets, with points weighted towards scope compliance.
Senior management expects you to release a new printer that represents a significant improvement over the competitor’s expected printer. By positioning the printer as a high-end, fully featured printer you will be able to price the printer significantly higher while still maintaining market share. The schedule remains the same, making this a difficult goal to achieve. The points available for meeting the scope goal have been increased and are significantly higher than for schedule or cost. Target specs are clearly defined, well understood, and expected to remain stable throughout the project. Management has committed to providing stable access to resources during the project.
Scenario Point Distribution of Scenario E
| Target | Points for Meeting Target | Points for Exceeding Target | Total Points | |
| Project Scope | 300 | 100 | 400 | |
| Project Schedule | 125 | 75 | 200 | |
| Project Resources | 200 | 100 | 300 | |
| Team Process | 100 | n/a | 100 | |
| Total | 1000 | |||
Evaluation and Feedback
Scenario Session 3 will be marked in its entirety out of 100. The following rubric indicates the criteria students are to adhere to, and their relative weights to the assignment overall.
| Activity/Competencies Demonstrated | % of Final Grade | |
| 1. | Simulation Outcome as Reported in Simulation site (50%) | |
| a. Scenario “D”, and “E” Score (2000 points and factored to 50%) | /50 | |
| 2. | Making Tough Trade-offs (30%) | |
| a. Indicates appropriate changes emerging from scenario | /10 | |
| b. Indicates strategies in dealing with issues and shows what worked and did not work | /10 | |
| c. Provides advice in dealing with issues in this scenario and how to revise the PM advice | /10 | |
| 3. | Communication (10%) | |
| a. Uses language clearly and effectively | /5 | |
| b. Information organized intelligently and holistically | /5 | |
| 4. | Attention to Detail (10%) | |
| a. APA Referencing and formatting (title, headings, and references) | /5 | |
| b. Spelling and grammar checks | /5 | |
| Total | /100 | |
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