It is essential to practice new skills in order to reinforce the concepts and al

Question

It is essential to practice new skills in order to reinforce the concepts and allow you to build experience in the decision-making process. This case was selected as it is non-technical and is applicable to all students since we all have known someone who has gotten married. While we may not have experienced the complications of planning an actual wedding, this case offers you the ability to employ project management skills outside of a work environment. Project management is a collection of skills and techniques that can be used to manage many elements of life.

The “Now” Wedding—Part A
On December 31 of last year, Lauren burst into the family living room and announced that she and Connor (her college boyfriend) were going to be married.
After recovering from the shock, her mother hugged her and asked, “When?” The
following conversation resulted:
Lauren:January 21.
Mom:What?
Case
* This case was adapted from a case originally written by Professor D. Clay Whybark, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, N.C.
336 Chapter 9 Reducing Project Duration
Dad: The Now Wedding will be the social hit of the year. Wait a minute. Why
so soon?
Lauren: Because on January 30 Connor, who is in the National Guard, will be
shipping out overseas. We want a week for a honeymoon.
Mom: But Honey, we can’t possibly finish all the things that need to be done
by then. Remember all the details that were involved in your sister’s
wedding? Even if we start tomorrow, it takes a day to reserve the church
and reception hall, and they need at least 14 days’ notice. That has to be
done before we can start decorating, which takes 3 days. An extra $200 on
Sunday would probably cut that 14 day notice to 7 days, though.
Dad:Oh, boy!
Lauren: I want Jane Summers to be my maid of honor.
Dad: But she’s in the Peace Corps in Guatemala, isn’t she? It would take her
10 days to get ready and drive up here.
Lauren: But we could fly her up in 2 days and it would only cost $1,000.
Dad:Oh, boy!
Mom: And catering! It takes 2 days to choose the cake and decorations, and
Jack’s Catering wants at least 5 days’ notice. Besides, we’d have to have
those things before we could start decorating.
Lauren: Can I wear your wedding dress, Mom?
Mother: Well, we’d have to replace some lace, but you could wear it, yes. We
could order the lace from New York when we order the material for the
bridesmaids’ dresses. It takes 8 days to order and receive the material.
The pattern needs to be chosen first, and that would take 3 days.
Dad: We could get the material here in 5 days if we paid an extra $20 to airfreight it. Oh, boy!
Lauren: I want Mrs. Jacks to work on the dresses.
Mom: But she charges $48 a day.
Dad:Oh, boy!
Mom: If we did all the sewing we could finish the dresses in 11 days. If
Mrs. Jacks helped we could cut that down to 6 days at a cost of $48 for
each day less than 11 days. She is very good too.
Lauren: I don’t want anyone but her.
Mom: It would take another 2 days to do the final fitting and 2 more days to
clean and press the dresses. They would have to be ready by rehearsal
night. We must have rehearsal the night before the wedding.
Dad: Everything should be ready rehearsal night.
Mom: We’ve forgotten something. The invitations!
Dad: We should order the invitations from Bob’s Printing Shop, and that usually takes 7 days. I’ll bet he would do it in 6 days if we slipped him an
extra $20!
Mom: It would take us 2 days to choose the invitation style before we could order them and we want the envelopes printed with our return address.
Lauren: Oh! That will be elegant.
Mom: The invitations should go out at least 10 days before the wedding. If we
let them go any later, some of the relatives would get theirs too late to
come and that would make them mad. I’ll bet that if we didn’t get them
out until 8 days before the wedding, Aunt Ethel couldn’t make it and
she would reduce her wedding gift by $200.
Dad:Oh, boy!!
Chapter 9 Reducing Project Duration 337
Mom: We’ll have to take them to the Post Office to mail them and that takes a
day. Addressing would take 3 days unless we hired some part-time girls
and we can’t start until the printer is finished. If we hired the girls we
could probably save 2 days by spending $40 for each day saved.
Lauren: We need to get gifts for the bridesmaids. I could spend a day and do
that.
Mom: Before we can even start to write out those invitations we need a guest
list. Heavens, that will take 4 days to get in order and only I can understand our address file.
Lauren: Oh, Mom, I’m so excited. We can start each of the relatives on a different job.
Mom: Honey, I don’t see how we can do it. Why, I’ve got to choose the invitations and patterns and reserve the church and . . .
Dad: Why don’t you just take $3,000 and elope. Your sister’s wedding cost me
$2,400 and she didn’t have to fly people up from Guatemala, hire extra
girls and Mrs. Jacks, use airfreight, or anything like that.

This assignment considers the information provided in the ‘Now’ Wedding case. To complete the assignment do all of the following Questions:

1. Considering the list of items Lauren and Mom plan for the wedding, identify three key items and provide alternatives that would save cost or time in planning this wedding. Include your rationale for the new options and why each is a better choice than the existing idea they presented in the conversation with Dad.

2. Considering the list of items Lauren and Mom plan for the wedding, identify a contingency plan for three key items essential to the wedding. The list may not include the three original items you suggested alternates for, but it may include the alternates since you may assume that Lauren loved your suggestions. Why are these items essential to the wedding and therefore in need of a contingency plan?

3. Validate your suggestions. The ability to research any topic necessary is an essential skill of project managers.

Explanation / Answer

1. The list of key items to be planned or executed for the wedding and their alternatives to save cost or time:

2. The contingency plan for the key alternatives stated above:

3. Through my suggestions, I have tried to portray the principles of project management. The wedding preparation can be considered as a project. Through my suggestions, I have tried to reduce both project cost as well as project duration. These initiatives were taken to facilitate the stakeholders i.e. Lauren and her family.

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