Essay on UltraMAX weight-loss

Section 1

The critical path for the NutroBalance project related to the analysis of UltraMAX weight-loss drug study is 138 days. Critical tasks for this project shaping the critical path are tasks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12 and 13. Table 1 shows the results of MS Project critical tasks report, with successors of the tasks, time lag and type indicated for every task included in the critical path. The workflow of the project and the critical path are illustrated by the Gantt chart (Fig. 1). Critical path duration is 138 days, and the project meets the limitation of 140 days set by the board of directors.

Table 1. Critical path for UltraMAX project

Figure 1. Gantt chart for UltraMAX project

Section 2

NutroBalance produces nutritional snacks and weight loss supplements. One of its highly successful products was Ultra – a weight loss supplement designed for men engaged in lifting weights and doing cardiovascular exercises. NutroBalance has created UltraMAX – pill targeting a similar customer segment among women. The purpose of the project is to perform a weight-loss drug study for measuring the effect of UltraMAX on women. Length of the project allowed by the board of directors is 140 days. The project team consists of 4 persons: Sarah (analyst), Robert (senior analyst), Tony (IT programmer) and Lisa (statistician). Overall, there are 13 tasks in the project, and its critical path covers 138 days, which is rather close to the deadline.

The start date of the project is 22 February, 2010, and the expected end date of the project is 1 September, 2010 (provided that standard working week is considered, with two days off in Saturdays and Sundays). Thus, the project will last for 138 days, with estimated cost of the whole project $41,880 (details are listed in Table 4 containing the budget report for the project).

Analysis of overallocated resources showed that Robert is overloaded with work during tasks 5, 6 and 9, and the reliance on his work adds a significant risk to the project, especially during Task 9 – Testing the Subjects. Table 2 shows the allocation of resources for overallocated tasks.

Table 2. Overallocated resources for NutroBalance project

In addition to this, analysis of Robert’s workload showed that his work as a resource needed leveling. After leveling, the length of the project had to be increased by 2 days, and thus the total estimated length of the corrected project will be 140 days. This does not exceed the time limit provided by the board of directors, but the project goes very tight with the deadline, so additional measures should be taken for complying with the requirement for maximal length of the project. After leveling Robert’s work, there were no overallocated resources for the project. The risks of the project are also related to Robert’s performance and partly on the performance of Lisa, since the final tasks of the project depend on her work efficiency.

Table 3 shows overall resource usage for the project.

Table 3a. Resource usage for NutroBalance project (after resource leveling)

Table 3b. Resource usage for NutroBalance project (after resource leveling)

Table 3c. Resource usage for NutroBalance project (after resource leveling

Finally, table 4 shows the estimated cost of the project activities and of the whole project.

Table 4. Budget report for NutroBalance project

Section 3

Project scope, objectives and sources

A new UltraMAX pill produced by NutroBalance is a weight loss supplement for women doing cardiovascular exercises and lifting weights. The goal of the project is to research the effectiveness of the new supplement, to compare it with the success of Ultra, the key product of NutroBalance, and to report it to the workout world. The weight loss drug study should be completed within 140 days, starting with 22 February 2010 (here it is suggested that 140 working days are mentioned). The project team includes 4 individuals: two analysts, an IT programmer and a statistician. Overall, there are 13 tasks in the project. There were time limitations imposed on the project completion; however, the board of directors did not set a budget limit for this project. There are no fixed costs in this project.

Findings

Analysis of the tasks and resources showed that initial allocation of tasks resulted in a critical path of 138 days, with expected overallocation of resources for tasks 5, 6 and 9 (assigned to Robert). Resource leveling performed with regard to these tasks resulted in 2-day extension of the project’s timeline, which can still be accepted since the final duration of the project is expected to be 140 days. Overall budget for the project was estimated as $41,880.

After the completion of the first three tasks the project appeared to be 9 days behind the schedule. These three tasks cost $16,800, instead of $13,200. Currently the expected completion date of the project if all other tasks remain within the schedule is 17 September 2010, and the expected cost of the project is $45,880.

Conclusions

The main risks of the project are associated with Robert, because a large part of the critical path depends on his successful completion of assigned tasks. In addition to this, a certain risk level is associated with Lisa’s productivity: her tasks are in the end of the project, and they are also included in the critical path. If Lisa would not be able to complete her tasks in time or would need additional time, the project will not be delivered within the 140 days period. Thus, certain actions on mitigating these risks should be implemented before launching the project. These actions and recommendations on getting the project back on track are listed in the Recommendations section.

Recommendations

First of all, measures on getting the project back on track are needed. Secondly, the most risky task is task 9 (Test the subjects), which is 65 days long, and only Robert is responsible for this task. This place in the project is highly risky, and it would be better to share the workload among the members of the team. Testing the subjects is a highly time-consuming task and there are many routine details, which can be passed on to the other members of the team.

It is recommended to share the task of testing the subjects (which is 65 days long) into four parts. During the first 20 days, Robert will test the subjects solely and he will have to work on establishing the routine procedures and issues, as well as on the process organization. Then, the remaining workload equal to 45 days, will be shared between three members of the team: Robert, Sarah and Lisa. Sarah is an analyst as well as Robert, and she might help him with advanced analytical tasks and other common issues. Lisa is a statistician and she would most likely be able to help Robert with routine tasks; moreover, Lisa is good at analyzing and interpreting results, and she might also be helpful in this analytical group. In this sub-team, Robert will perform the leading role, and he will be assigned 20 days of the remaining 45 days associated with this task, Lisa will provide basic assistance and 10 days of the task will be assigned to her, and Sarah will perform more advanced tasks, and 10 days relating to this task will be assigned to her (Table 5). Overall length of the task will then be reduced to 40 days instead of 65, if this is allowed by testing procedures.

In this case, the project would be completed by 13 August 2010, and there will be a 2-week period of time lag allowed for possible delays and problems which might emerge in the process of implementing the project. Estimated cost of the updated project is $46,280 (Table 6), which exceeds budget estimates for the project at its current stage only by $400.00, and is by $4,400 greater compared to initial estimates of the projects. Thus, overall cost increase for this project is 10.5% compared to initial budget, and 0.8% compared to currently expected budget. Moreover, such delegation of responsibilities allows to delegate Robert’s duties to team members who could provide appropriate help. The project is expected to be completed by 13 August 2010 (Fig. 2), and to add a time reserve of 12 days. It is possible to set the final date of the project completion to September 1, 2010.

Table 5.Updated project schedule

Table 6. Updated project budget

Figure 2. Gantt chart for updated project