2/7/2020 POW-2

CAPM

AQSA KHAN
2018-MBA2.5-360
 Problem of the Week
Instructions: Read the POW and work in the space provided. Remember to show your work.
If you need extra space, you can attach another sheet of paper. Answers without work shown
will not be graded. Remember: Do your best! Partial answers are better than no answers!

The Project Triangle: In the project triangle, also called the iron triangle (Barnes 1969),
there are three key constraints (triple constraint):

In the project triangle, also called the iron triangle, there are three key constraints (triple
constraint):

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Scenario-1:
Impact of changes:
Changes and constraints interact with each other:
Building a wall:
Scope: 2m (height) by 5m (length)
Time: 1 week
Cost: RS- 100,000

Bricklayer Labor injured after two days’ work due to accidently dropped from Height of 10-
feet.

Question: What will be the options available for Project Manager in order to execute the task
within Scope, Time, Cost, and Quality? Please elaborate in the form of Iron triangle in case of
options available with Project Manager?

Answer:
There can be many options for Project Manager (PM) but two of them are more significant.

Altenative-1
To build a complete wall, we can not alter scope. So, the constraints we can tweak
include time and cost. As one alternative, Project Manager can wait for the recovery of that
injured labor. He can wait till the labor is fully recover. Scope, quality and cost will remain
same but work will end a few days later than previously decided.

Cost

Time Scope

Alternative-2

PM can outsource labor and keep the project going on at an expense of outsourcing.
He can still finish the project in time if he stretches the cost constraint and spend a little more
but keeps the scope and quality same while ending the project at deadline.

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 Cost

Time Scope
Scenario-2:
Impact of changes:
Changes and constraints interact with each other:
Building a wall:
Scope: 2m (height) by 5m (length)
Time: 1 week (Fixed Deadline)
Cost: RS- 100,000
Scope is revised:
Scope: 3m (height) by 5m (length)
Time: 1 week (Fixed Deadline)
Cost: _____________________
Question: What will be Impact on Cost and Scope? Draw an Iron Triangle to Show all
Constraints. (Marks-2.5)

Answer:
Scope: 3m (height) by 5m (length) = 3x5 = 15 m2

Scope: 2m (height) by 5m (length) = 2 x 5 = 10 m2

Cost: RS- 100,000
By unity method:
Cost Per m2 = 100,000/10 SMT = 10,000/ m2
As we have 15 m2 here so cost will be as under

Total Cost for revised scope = 15 x 10,000 = 150,000 PKR

As we have a clear DEADLINE here so we cannot compromise on Time so here in this case
we must compromise on the cost and quality. Risk is also included to be taken in this
scenario.

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 Cost

Time Scope
Scenario-3:
Impact of changes:
Changes and constraints interact with each other:
De Havilland's Comet 1952

13 Crashes
426 Fatalities
Question: Why? Please Explain with Reason in terms of Project Management Constraints.
Which Constraint impacted much more than others? (Marks-2.5)

What went wrong?

• Fuselage of aircraft exploded.
• Engine failure was not the cause
• Wings had metal fatigue
• Structural design problem

The findings clearly show that it was a structural design problem. Since they were
spending millions of dollars in research and development, the cost was not the problem. The
problem arised in quality constraint. They did not follow advanced quality checks and Six
sigma techniques. They also bypass/skipped some testing protocols to get top of the line in
the jet industry but this compromise on Quality later paid them a lot in the form of crashes,
bad repute and eventually company was banned for some time period.

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 Cost

Time Quality

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