TU-C3010 Introduction to Project Management
Exam 12.12.2022
The final grade of the course is derived from MyCourses multiple choice questions’
points, exercise points and exam points. NOTE: the exam and exercises must be both
passed: 18 of the points from the exam and passed exercises are required.
The exam is based on the material Artto, Martinsuo and Kujala (2008) Project
Business, Project Portfolio material (Artto 2014, and Martinsuo et al. 2003), lecture
videos and exercises.
NAME:
TRANG NGUYEN TINH VU
STUDENT NUMBER:
906683

If you are not an undergraduate or master’s student at Aalto University, please
indicate your status after the student number.

There are three parts in this exam. Write all your answers in this document under the
questions.

You may answer in Finnish, Swedish or English.

Try to answer thoroughly but precisely, do not ramble on.

Try to answer in the space provided under the questions.

Name the document like this: PSO_12.12.2022_123456_Your Name where 123456 =
your student number and Your Name = your name. Submit the file in PDF format in
the return box in MyCourses by 12:00 12.12.2022.
Good luck with the exam!
PART A
4 questions, maximum 16 points
A1: Define project and compare the differences and similarities of continuous processes and
projects.
A project is a unique entity formed of complex and interrelated activities, having a predefined
goal that must be completed by a specific time, within budget, and according to specification.
A predefined goal is at the backbone of a whole project, giving the direction for the activities
involved. The activities are complex, hard to predict nor repeated, interconnected, and must
be completed according to a specific time order. The schedule for a project includes a starting
and ending point. A project is also bounded within a predefined budget and scope. A scope is
a pre-agreed specifications of needs and goals between the project supplier and customer.

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Similarities between a project and continuous processes:
o Both aim at at least some changes (though to different levels).
o Both have budgets.
o Both include the needs for hiring people with specific skills.
Differences between a project and continuous processes:
o Level of change: Extensive, creating disequilibrium between status quo and
the goal (project), incremental, maintaining balance (continuous processes).
o Business environment: Flexibility, renewal, change (project), durability,
continuity, predictability (continuous processes).
o Target: customized solution for customer needs (project), batches of products
according to volume and efficiency (continuous processes).
o Time: limited (project), continuous (continuous processes).
o Resources: specific and various (project), stable and constant (continuous
processes).
o Budget: specific (project), production volume, dependent on batch-specific
budgets (continuous processes).
o Effectiveness/ efficiency: novel solution (project), cost-effective solution
(continuous project).
o Assignments: vary according to different phases (project), stable and
predefined (continuous processes).
o Results: uncertain, subjective to risk (project), predictable, risk minimized
through repetition (continuous project).
A2: Cost estimate and budget: describe what is the connection between these two in
management of project. How and why, these are changed during project lifecycle?
Cost estimate is the basis on which the budget is set. Without a cost estimate, a budget cannot
be defined.
Initially, cost estimate is drawn and included in the project proposal. The investment decision
is made depending on the cost estimate, which gives a hint into the profitability of the project.
Additionally, bidders know whether or with which price they should bid from learning the cost
estimate.
Cost estimate is firstly based on work-break-down structure and later cost itemization. The
sources of cost could come from different factors and should be researched from different
information sources. The more detailed the cost itemization is, the more accurate cost estimate
and subsequently the budget are. Cost estimate and budget are subject to changes as the project
progresses, because there might be unexpected developments that require more budget
allocation. There might even be hidden costs not taken into consideration in the first place. The
accuracies of the cost estimate and budget, however, gradually increase along the project. In
the early project description, the accuracy is around +/- 50%, starting phase: +/-20%, postcontract: +/-10%, execution and monitoring phases: +/-5%.
A3 You are making a contract with a supplier to supply a subproject. For what kinds of things
it is not worth it to transfer the responsibility and associated risk to the supplier? For each of
these, explain reasons why it is not good to transfer the risk.
A4
Task
Time to complete (in days)
A
10
B
8
A
C
14
B
D
4
B
E
3
C
F
3
D
G
13
D
H
4
F, G
I
2
E
J
2
H, I
What is the earliest possible start date for task H? 1p
Day 36th
What is the shortest possible duration of the entire project?
Previous tasks
41 days
What is the latest finish date for task B?
Day 18th
How much will the project be delayed if the duration of task G is extended by 3 days?
3 days
What is the critical path of the project described above?
A-B-D-G-H-J
PART B
This part is worth ten (10) points.
Essay: Course as a project. What kind of a project has the TU-C3010 - Introduction to Project
Management course been like? Can the course be thought of as a project and how are the
phases of the project's life cycle reflected in the course?
The course can be considered a small-scaled project to implement an educational campaign
(mission) to students at Aalto Open University.
The phases of the course could be reflected as project’s life cycle phases accordingly:
First phase:
o Ideation & Scanning possibilities: Aalto Open University (AOU) thinks of a course
about project management, draft a project (course) proposal, get approval, and then
thinks of possible format (online/offline), possible class-takers, lecturers, learning
space, duration, etc.
o Preparation: assign chosen lecturers, compile learning materials, set up MyCourses
page for the course, create Sisu page for the course, finalize a schedule, advertise the
course on multiple platforms.
Second phase – execution:
o Registration period opens, students register and familiarize with MyCourses, make
inquiries if necessary.
o Registration period closes, students join different groups to do the assignments, watch
video lectures.
o Students work together to do the homework, submit them by specified deadlines, and
receive scores and feedbacks.
o Students take part in the exams.
o Students fill in feedback form.
Third phase – closing the project:
o Students receive a final score for the course, get key takeaways for future use, the
course finally ends.
o AOU receive feedbacks and analyze them to gain insights into students’ experiences
to make revisions for future courses.
PART C
This part is worth ten (10) points.
Inspired by Southeast Asian cuisine and specializing in vegetarian food, Mättö is a fiverestaurant that serves vegetarian meals prepared on site. All of the Group's restaurants are
located in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
The Group's vision is to promote vegetarianism and the climate benefits it brings, and at the
end of 2019 Mättö has developed a long-term strategy (5-10 years) based on the following
objectives:
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
Carbon neutral business by 2026
Minimization of food loss
Expansion beyond the Helsinki metropolitan area
To implement the strategy, Mättö has launched an extensive development project with VTT in
the middle of 2021 to develop new vegetable proteins (1). This project is just beginning, with
an estimated completion in August 2023. The Group's second ongoing project is the reduction
of losses from surplus raw materials through the sale of batches (2).
In addition, Mättö has drawn up project plans for brand development (3) and the opening of a
new innovative restaurant outside the metropolitan area (4).
Let's live in December 2021. Since March 2020, the restaurant group Mättö's business has
weakened significantly due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus - the cash flows of the
group's companies have completely ceased. The companies' liquidity is under threat and the
Group has received a total of € 500,000 in grants from Business Finland. Thanks to the grant,
the Group will now be able to use € 1 500 000 to implement the remaining projects. The
Group has also developed a project to launch a distribution service to adapt to the disruption
(5).
In other words, there are five project opportunities:
• Vegetable proteins (1)
• Loss reduction (2)
• Brand development (3)
• Opening of a new restaurant (4)
• Launch of distribution service (5)
The table below details Mättö’s projects, project development and commercialization costs,
durations (in months), expected returns (net present value) and scores according to the
following criteria:
• Risk (on a scale of 1-5, 1 = low risk, 5 = high risk)
• Strategic compliance (on a scale of 1-5, 1 = non-strategic, 5 = very strategic)
• Probability of commercial success (%)
• Probability of technical success (%)
Project
number
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Risk
Technical Expected
Strategic
Commercial
success
return
Costs (€)
compliance success (%)
(%)
(NPV, €)
5
1
2
4
3
5
4
2
3
2
50 %
60 %
70 %
60 %
50 %
Duration
(months)
4 900
000 €
Development:
800 000 €
Commercialization:
400 000 €
20
300 000
€
Development:
35 000 €
Commercialization:
90 000 €
2
80 %
500 000
€
Development:
60 000 €
Commercialization:
60 000 €
4
90 %
2 000
000 €
Development:
300 000€
Commercialization:
700 000€
7
80 %
600 000
€
Development:
150 000 €
Commercialization:
200 000 €
3
45 %
95 %
Your task: Find out which projects Mättö restaurant group should include in its project
portfolio. Take a stand on every project. Use course material (written material and videos) in
your analysis and justify your answer carefully. Use project portfolio management analysis and
decision-making techniques and / or methods in your analysis. Note! Not all funds have to be
spent on projects.
Projects to select:
(1) This has been identified to be an ‘Oyster’ – a long term project that aligns the most with
the restaurant’s strategic goal. This project has already started and would take up around
20 months to complete, and therefore should be included in the portfolio. Even though the
cost is high (1 200 000), because of the long timeline, not all the money is needed at the
moment. If necessary, the project can be delayed for some few months during which the
restaurant could complete other shorter projects to generate cash and stabilize the situation.
It is also noteworthy that while the risk level is very high (5), the reward is proportionally
promising (NPV: 4 900 000). The indexes for commercial and technical success are not
low (50% & 45%). In short, this is the kind of project that if successfully carried out, it will
unlock huge potential for the restaurant.
(2) In terms of duration, this is the shortest project, meaning it can generate income quickly
for the restaurant to get over the cash crisis. In terms of strategic alliance, this project is the
second highest after (1), scoring 4 out of 5. The project has the highest technical success
rate (95%), lowest risk (1/5) and relatively high commercial success chance (60%). NPV
is 300 000, compared to 12 500 for cost, which is not too bad given the quick duration. In
short, this is the best project to execute both in terms of long-term development and shortterm financial support, according to any portfolio modeling: both risk-reward and technical
success-reward. It can be considered the perfect mix between ‘Pearl’ and ‘Bread and
Butter’ projects.
(3) This is another short-term (4 months) project that generates quite an inflow of cash for the
restaurant at the moment. In terms of cost-reward, this is by far the best project, with the
expected NPV being 41 times higher than the cost (12 000). Moreover, the risk level is
relatively low (2) and relatively high chance of commercial and technical success (70% &
80%). Even though the project is not as strategically relevant as the others, we already have
project (1) and (2) being highly relevant for the long-term goal.
Projects not to select:
(4) This project has the second highest level of risk (4) and cost (1 000 000). In terms of risk-
reward, the project will generate around 2 000 000 for NPV, which is not the best deal
when compared to its risk and cost. In addition, this project, though not as long term as
project (1), is considerably higher the rest in the list. This is not a good project to include
when the restaurant is under financial burden and opening up a new restaurant during a
pandemic seems a little bit uncertain path. The project can be done but at a later time,
when the restaurant has gotten through the financial difficulty period and ready to extend
again.
(5) Among the list, this project is quite an ‘average’ one. The risk is not low (3), but the
reward (600 000) compared to cost (350 000) is not as attractive as other projects such as
(2) or (3). Technical success level is not among the highest, but commercial success level
is the lowest (50%). In terms of strategic alliance, the project is limitedly relevant. In
short, this is the worst project to include in the portfolio.