London – Grand Bend Bicycle Tour Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Questions

1. Prepare a network diagram for the bicycle route planning.

2. Determine the earliest completion time using (1) the optimistic times, (2) the most likely times, and (3) the pessimistic times. What conclusions can be drawn from this analysis?

3. Compute the mean and variance of each activity time. Identify all paths in the network and determine the mean length of each path. Which path(s) is/are critical? Explain.

4. How would you advise Ms. McNulty to manage the uncertainty in the task-duration times? Discuss the importance of accounting for variability in project planning. For example, what are some reasons that a path may become critical, even though it is not initially identified as a critical path?

5. What critical path strategies would you use to complete the bicycle route planning by July 24? Discuss which activities you would crash and why. Identify the information you would need to make the appropriate crashing choices.

Question 1

Network Diagram for the Bicycle Route Planning

Question 2

Earliest Start and Earliest Finish

The earliest start and finish for the route panning activities is computed for each expected task duration time that indicates the earliest time an activity on a network path take to start and finish the task. It includes the early start, activity name, activity duration and early finish. Early start of first activity on critical path is zero whereas early finish is calculated by adding the early start and activity time duration (see excel file). When the last activity on the network path is finished by its early finish time then all the remaining resources from those activities can be deployed on the other high risk activities. When the activity starts early then it is near the end of the path that will only start early if all the previous activities in the network path also started early. If anyone of the previous activities in the network path slips then it will delay the completion of the task. The earliest finish is a time that an activity will finish if all the previous activities started early on their time and none of them slipped.

Latest Start and latest Finish

The latest start and latest finish time is calculated for optimistic, most likely pessimistic expected time durations indicate the latest time that an activity will take on a network path to start and finish (see excel file). If the last activity finishes in their time in the latest start and latest finish without impacting critical path then it will help in deciding the amount of flexibility the firm wants to exercise on its schedule of activities. In addition to this, once the last activity on the network path of route planning activities starts on its late start activity day then it should not delay otherwise it will impact the task completion date and time. Latest start is the latest time that activities can start but in case an activity is on the path that is much shorter than the path that is critical then it can start very late without delaying in the task activities. However, if other activities on its path also slip then these delays will add up quickly.

Question 3

The mean and variance of activities under expected optimistic, most likely and pessimistic is calculated that shows the average time completion of the activities and the variability from an average or a mean value of the variance help in determining the time duration. The optimistic time duration has the mean 5 days and variance 3 days, most likely time duration has the mean 10 days and variance 17 days whereas pessimistic time duration has mean 20 days and variance in the average value is 66 days (see excel file).

Paths	Optimistic Time in Days	Most Likely Time in Days	Pessimistic Time in Days	Critical path
A-B-D-E-F-G-H-I-L-N-O-Q-R-S	33	53	85	YES
Mean	2.33	3.76	6.08	YES
A-B-D-E-F-G-H-J-M-P-Q-R-S	22	39	66	NO
Mean	1.68	2.97	5.05	NO
A-B-D-E-F-G-H-K-L-N-O-Q-R-S	32	52	83	NO
Mean	2.26	3.69	5.94	NO
A-B-D-E-F-G-H-K-M-P-Q-R-S	31	51	82	NO
Mean	2.36	3.89	6.28	NO
A-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-L-N-O-Q-R-S	33	48	65	NO
Mean	2.33	3.40	4.65	NO
A-C-D-E-F-G-H-J-M-P-Q-R-S	21.8	33.6	45.6	NO
Mean	1.68	2.58	3.51	NO
A-C-D-E-F-G-H-K-L-N-O-Q-R-S	31.6	46.6	63.1	NO
Mean	2.26	3.33	4.51	NO
A-C-D-E-F-G-H-K-M-P-Q-R-S	31	46	62	NO
Mean	2.36	3.51	4.74	NO

The above given table shows the all possible path in the network and the mean length of each path of role planning activities. The network consists of the eight possible paths that include the different activities...........................

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