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CASE STUDY 

Project Management

Far  Eastern University, a large college in Texas enrolls close to 20,000  students. In a typical town-gown relationship, the school is a dominant  force in the small city, with more students during Fall and Spring than  permanent residents. A longtime football powerhouse, FEU is a member of  the Big Eleven conference and is usually in the top 20 college football  rankings. To bolster its chances of reaching the elusive and long desire  number one ranking, in 2003, FEU hired the legendary Mario Paterno as  its head coach.

One of Paterno’s demands on joining FEU had been a  new stadium. With attendance increasing, FEU administrators began to  face the issue head on. After six months of study, much political arm  wrestling, and some serious financial analysis, Dr. Martino Lewis,  president of Far Eastern University (FEU), had reached a decision. To  the delight of its students, and to the disappointment of its athletic  boosters, FEU would not be relocating to a new football site but would  expand the capacity at its on-campus stadium. 

Adding 21,000  seats, including dozens of luxury skyboxes, would not please everyone.  The influential football coach, Paterno, had long argued the need for a  first-class stadium, one with built-in dormitory rooms for his players  and a palatial office appropriate for the coach of a future NCAA  champion team. But the decision was made, and everyone, including the  coach, would learn to live with it. 

The job now was to get  construction going immediately after the current season ended. This  would allow exactly 270 days until the upcoming season opening game. The  contractor, Smith Construction (Bob Smith being an alumnus, of course),  signed the contract. Bob Smith looked at the tasks his engineers had  outlined and looked President Lewis in the eye. “I guarantee the team  will be able to take the field on schedule next year,” he said with a  sense of confidence. “ I sure hope so,” replied Lewis. “

The  contract penalty of $10,000 per day for running late is nothing compared  to what Coach Paterno will do to you if our opening game with Penn  State is delayed or cancelled.” Smith, sweating slightly, did not  respond. In football-crazy Texas, Smith Construction would be mud if the  270-day target were missed. Back in his office, Smith again reviewed  the data. (See Table below and note that optimistic time estimates can  be used as crash times.) He then gathered his foremen. “People, if we’re  not 75% sure we’ll finish this stadium in less than 270 days, I want  this project crashed! Give me the cost figures for a target date of 250  days—also for 240 days. I want to be early, not just on time!” 

FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY PROJECT 

TIME ESTIMATES ( in days)

Activity

Description

Predecessor

Optimistic

Most Likely

Pessimistic

Crash

Cost / day

A

Bonding, insurance, tax

–

20

30

40

1,500

B

Foundation, concrete

A

20

65

80

3,500

C

Upgrading skyboxes, stadium seating

A

50

60

100

4,000

D

Upgrading walkways, stairwells, elevators

C

30

50

100

1,900

E

Interior wiring, lathes

B

25

30

35

9,500

F

Inspection approvals

E

0.1

0.1

0.1

0

G

Plumbing

D, F

25

30

35

2,500

H

Painting

G

10

20

30

2,000

I

Hardware/air conditioning/ metal workings

H

20

25

60

2,000

J

Tile/carpeting/windows

H

8

10

12

6,000

K

Inspection

J

0.1

0.1

0.1

0

L

Final detail work

I, K

20

25

60

4,500

1. Develop a network for Smith construction and determine the critical path.

2. How long is the project expected to take?

3. What is the Critical Path?

4. Which activities have slacks and how much?

5. What is the probability that the project can be completed in 270 days.

6.  If it is necessary to crash to 250 or 240 days, how would Smith do so,  and at what cost. Assume that the optimistic time estimates can be used a  crash times.