ISL443E - Project Design and Management
Charter Financial Bank In-class Study
Charter Financial Bank operates three branches in a Southeastern City. Ray Copper,
Vice-President of Information Technology at the bank, has recently been charged by the
bank’s president to develop a website to promote bank services, to provide access to customer
account information, and to allow individuals to apply on- line for loans and credit cards.
Ray decided to assign this project to Rachel Smith, one of two directors in the
information technology group. Since, Charter Financial did not currently have a presence on
the Web, Ray and Rachel agreed that an appropriate starting point for the project would be for
the project team to benchmark existing Websites in order to gain a better understanding of the
state-of-the-art in this area. At the conclusion of their first meeting, Ray asked Rachel to prepare a
rough estimate of how long this project would take and how much it would cost if it were
pursued at a normal pace. Noting that the president appeared particularly anxious to launch the
Website, Ray also requested that Rachel prepare a time and budget estimate related to launching the
Website as quickly as possible.
During the first project team meeting, the team identified seven major tasks associated
with the project. The first task was to benchmark existing Websites. The team estimated that
completing this task at normal pace would likely require 10 days at a cost of $15,000.
However, the team estimated that this task could be completed in as few as seven days at a cost
of $18,750 if the maximum allowable amount of overtime was used.
Once the benchmark study was completed, a project plan and project definition document
would need to be prepared for top management approval. The team estimated that this task
could be completed in five days at a cost of $3,750 working at a normal pace or in three days at
a cost of $4,500.
When the project received the approval of top management, the Website design could
begin. The team estimated that Website design would require 15 days at a cost of $45,000
using no overtime or 10 days at a cost of $58,500 using all allowable overtime.
After the Website design was complete, three tasks could be carried out simultaneously:
(1) developing the Website’s database, (2) developing and coding the actual Web pages, and
(3) developing and coding the Website’s forms. The team estimated that database development
would require 10 days and cost $9,000 using no overtime but could be completed in seven days
at a cost of $11,250 using overtime. Likewise, the team estimated that developing and coding
the Web pages would require 10 days and cost $15,000 using no overtime or could be reduced
by two days at a total cost of $19,500. Developing the forms was to be subcontracted out and
would take seven days at a cost of $8,400.
The organization that was to be used to create l the forms does not provide an option for
paying more for rush jobs. Finally, once the database was developed, the Web pages coded,
and the forms created, the entire website would need to be tested and debugged. The team
estimated that this would require three days at a cost of $4,500. Using overtime, the team
estimated that the testing and debugging task could be reduced by a day at a total cost of
$6,750.
Question 1: What is the earliest finish time to complete the project at a normal level of activity
and the cost?
Question 2: What is the shortest amount of time in which the project can be completed? What
is the cost of completing the project in the shortest amount of time?
Question 3: Suppose that the benchmarking study actually required 13 days as opposed to the
10 days originally estimated. What actions would you take to keep the project on a normal
schedule?
Question 4: Suppose the President wanted the website launched in 35 days. What actions
would you take to meet this deadline? How much extra would it cost to complete the project in
35 days?