PART A (50%)
You are a project manager responsible for organising a business conference which will take place on
Monday 29th May 2023. You are responsible for the overall organisation of the conference
including organising and preparing the venue, the keynote speakers, registration, conference
activities, audio visual equipment etc. You will work on it full time from 30th January 2023 and will
access to have a number of other staff to help (a conference organiser, marketing staff, business
manager and admin), as well as external staff in the form of a web designer and graphic designer.
You have been allocated a total budget of 35,000 OMR to cover organising costs and staff.
The main tasks and subtasks have been identified as:
Main tasks are:
 Select conference committee and staff
 Organise conference venue
 Conference marketing
 Organise conference speakers
 Organise programme
 Registration
 Organise hotel accommodation
 Organise after-hour activities
 Organise audio video
 Organise conference packs
 Final preparation
2 | P a g e
These tasks, together with subtasks, are shown below:
Identifier Task Duration Predecessor
Responsible
1 Select conference committee and
staff
1 day Project manager (PM)
2 Organise conference venue
3 Research potential venues 3 days 1
Conference organiser,
PM
4 Submit request for proposal 0.5 days 3
Conference organiser,
PM
5 Select venue 0.5 days 4
Conference organiser,
PM
6 Negotiate terms and sign contract milestone 5
Conference organiser,
PM
7 Conference marketing
8 Create a web site 12 days 6 Web designer
9 Compile mailing list 2 days 6
Marketing staff,
Conference organiser
10 Design posters, flyers etc 0.5 days
2 days 6
Marketing staff
Graphic designer
11 Start promoting conference milestone 8,9,10 Marketing staff
12 Ongoing conference promotion 5 days 11 Marketing staff
13 Organise conference speakers
14 Write call for proposals 1 day 11 Conference organiser,
PM
15 Research for potential keynote
speakers
3 days 14 Conference organiser,
PM
16 Send invites to keynote speakers 0.5 days 15 Admin
17 Determine review process for
proposals
1 day
16
Conference organiser,
PM, Business
manager
18 Review proposals and select
speakers
2 days
16,17
Conference organiser,
PM, Business
manager
19 Send accept and decline letters 0.5 days 18 Admin
20 Send reminders to speakers 0.5 days 19 Admin
21 Organise programme 2 days
6,19
Business manager,
Conference organiser,
PM, admin
22 Registration
23 Agree method(s) for registration 0.5 days 6
PM, Business
manager
24 Create registration form 1 day 23 Admin, PM
25 Open registration milestone 11,21,24 Admin
26 Create registration spreadsheet 1 day 25 Admin
27 Track registration 3 days 26 Admin
28 Close registration milestone 27 Admin
29 Produce final list of all
participants
1 day 28 Admin
3 | P a g e
30 Organise hotel accommodation
31 Negotiate deals with local hotels 2 days 6 Conference organiser
32 Create a hotel booking
spreadsheet
1 day 31,25 Admin
33 Track requests for
accommodation
3 days 32 Admin
34 Organise after-hour activities
35 Agree activities to offer 0.5 days
21
Conference organiser,
PM, Business
manager
36 Hire entertainment 2 days 35 Conference organiser,
Admin
37 Organise catering menus 1 day 35 Conference organiser,
PM
38 Research and plan tours 2 days
35 Conference organiser,
PM
39 Organise reservation and
ticketing process
1 day 35,36,38 Conference organiser,
Admin
40 Organise audio video:
41 Agree AV equipment required 0.5 days 21 Conference organiser,
PM
42 Select audio video provider 0.5 days 41
Conference organiser,
PM
43 Negotiate terms and sign contract 0.5 days 42 Conference organiser,
PM
44 Organise conference packs:
45 Organise conference stationery 1 day 21 Conference organiser,
Admin
46 Print final programme, room
information
1 day 21,39,45 Admin
47 Prepare evaluation form 1 day 21 Conference organiser,
Admin
48 Final preparation:
49 Conduct pre-conference meeting 0.5 days PM, Business
Manager, Conference
organiser
50 Prepare registration area 0.5 days 49 Conference organiser,
Admin
51 Prepare signage 0.5 days 49 Admin
52 Check rooms 0.5 days
49
PM, Business
Manager, Conference
organiser
53 Conference starts milestone
4 | P a g e
In your project, include the following constraints:
1. There should be a 2 week delay between submit request for proposal (activity 4) and select
venue (activity 5) and a further 3 weeks between selecting a venue (activity 5) and
negotiating terms and signing contract (activity 6)
2. Activity 10 requires 2 days’ work from the graphic designer but only 0.5 days from marketing
staff
3. Start promoting conference (activity 11) – promotion of the conference is due to start on
14th March 2023
4. There should be a 5 week delay between send invites to keynote speakers (activity 16) and
review proposals and select speakers (activity 18)
5. Send reminders to speakers (activity 20) – reminders should be sent approximately 10 days
before conference starts i.e. 17th May 2023
6. Open registration (activity 25) and close registration (activity 28) – registration is due to
open on 14th March 2023 and close on 17
th May 2023 respectively
7. There should be a 2 week delay between agreeing AV equipment (activity 41) and selecting
audio video provider (activity 42) and a further 2 weeks between selecting audio video
provider (activity 42) and negotiating terms and signing contract (activity 43)
8. Final preparation (activity 49) is due to start 2 days before conference starts (ie 25
th May
2023)
9. All other main phases of work must be complete before work on the final preparation
(activities 48-52) can begin
Staff are costed as follows (All currencies in Omani Rials):
Project manager 75 per day
Conference organiser 65 per day
Business manager 75 per day
Administrator 8 per hour
Web designer 50 per day
Marketing staff 8 per hour
Graphic designer 50 per day
Other costs (in Omani Rials):
In your project, add the following costs (these are in addition to staff costs):
 Hire of venue 10,000
 Marketing 5,000
 Keynote speakers 5,000
 After-hour activities including catering 10,000
 Audio visual 5,000
5 | P a g e
You are required to carry out the following:
Question 1:
Using Microsoft Project 2016, set up the project plan exactly as outlined above. Save the project as
Conference1 (25 marks)
Question 2:
Write a brief report for management on the project, including scheduling, costs and resource
information. In the report identify any issues or risks with the project plan and suggest ways to
overcome the problems.
(25 marks)
NOTE: You may make assumptions regarding the projects, but these must be clearly stated in the
reports. You don’t need to make any changes to the Conference 1 file, just provide
recommendations and how do you anticipate the impact of these changes.
The report (Question 2) is expected to be brief as they are for management so therefore should be
no more than 750 words. If you make good use of Microsoft Project’s reporting facility you will be
able to present, the relevant information in a succinct and relevant way.
PART B (50%) – 50 marks
1000 words essay
Managing Projects successfully and efficiently is essential for successful operations of an organisation.
A number of different methodologies have been developed for this purpose.
Discuss the importance of using different methodologies for project management. Evaluate
Waterfall and Agile methodologies as used for Project Management and discuss the advantages and
disadvantages for each. You may use appropriate industry examples, particularly highlighting the
applicability of the chosen methodologies to those industries.
Answers are expected to be well structured and include a clear introduction and conclusion. It should
be properly referenced following the Harvard style of referencing and include a reference list at the
end. Your answer should be at least 1000 words in length (+/- 10%). You may follow the structure
below.
Introduction
Students must define project management and introduce the contents of the essay. Students must
explain briefly the importance of different methodologies for efficient project management. Overall,
students must set the scene for the entire essay.
Main Body
6 | P a g e
Continuing from the introduction, describe in detail the importance of different methodologies for
project management. Describe each methodology (at least two) and evaluate these methodologies
and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. Give appropriate examples.
Conclusion
The conclusion should summarise the work and arguments presented within the main body.
References
A full reference list must be provided. Harvard Reference format must be used (both for in text
Citation as well as in the reference list).