PROJECT DILEMMA AT MICC

-Group 9
Abhinav Singh 190101008
Veerain Vikram 190101129
Adhip Pandita 190103009
Sangh vijay 190103190
Siddhant Kankrej 190103192
Tejasv Bhargava 190201114

1. What problems did MICC face in the refurbishing project (RP)? What could the
possible causes be?

MICC has been awarded the refurbishing project (RB) for a total value of INR 30milliom
by the National Institute of Management (NIM) that was to be completed within eight
months. But the work done by MICC was moving at a very slow pace. Hence, the project
manager Rahul Parkhi felt the need to fast-track the project in order to finish the project
in the given time. The slow progress of the project can be mainly attributed to the failure
to start the interior painting in time because of the lack of clear schedule and the failure to
implement cost-benefit analysis regarding the usage of scaffolding. Although, interior
work was clearly independent of both stone removal and exterior painting process, there
was no progress made in the first month. The biggest reason for the delay in project could
be attributed to the ad-hoc planning approach employed by the management. Due to this,
project schedule was neither clearly planned nor it was calculated that weather the usage
of only 2000m2 scaffolding was enough for the completion of project in time.

2. What could be the consequences of ad-hoc project planning be to various

stakeholders?

A. MICC
a. Delays in Project Execution because of unclear project goals
b. Compromising on quality to meet the project deadline
c. Forgoing profits in the project because of increased cost of
construction/refurbishing
 d. Delay in obtaining payment clearance from employer due to delays in
execution
e. Reduced chances of success as a defined timeline is not established for the
project
f. Goodwill of the company may be destroyed due to repeated failure to meet
project timelines.
g. Sufficient funds may not be available for the upcoming projects due to
expensive execution of the existing work and delay in clearance of bills
B. NIM
a. Delay in the project results in a delay for deploying the resources essential for
the functioning of the institute
b. There may be a compromise on the quality of the project, due to hasty
execution
c. Additional cost of alternate facility for continuing operations
C. Students/administration
a. The academic year may get delayed due to unavailability of classrooms
b. More risk and hassle involved due to the ad hoc execution which may not
result in ideal quality of the building
D. Employees
a.  Working in confusing, chaotic environments can be frustrating which may
lower team members’ ability to focus and their motivation.
b. Reduced productivity of workforce due to unclear project timelines, and
inefficient distribution of labour
3. How would you plan for a typical work-front of 2,000 square metres (m 2) external
surface area and 1743 m2 internal surface area?

The work-front of 2000 square meters of external surface are and 1743 square meters of
internal surface area can be planned according to the relationship between every task
involved in the completion of the entire job. Therefore, we first take a look at the list of
activities involved along with the resource requirement and time required to complete them.

Exhibit 3 helps us determine the work flow and the dependence of each activity with its
preceding activity whereas the resource and time required for each activity can be calculated
using the details provided to us in exhibit 5. The activities on the internal surface area are
independent of the ones on the external surface area, therefore both set of activities can be
run parallelly.

Firstly, we start with the plan for a typical 2000 square meter work-front. The work on the
external side is divided into 14 work-fronts of 2000 sq. mts. Each. The major activities are:

 Removal of Sandstones
 Painting of External Surface

The Removal of stones is divided into 8 sub-activities and Painting of external surface has 4
sub-activities. Using the information from the exhibits we can plan the process as mentioned
in the below mentioned table.

Job Activities Work Work rate Teams Days required Predecessor Precedence
conten (m 2 to complete ( Relationship
t (m 2) /teams/da m 2/work
y) rate/teams)
Removal of A – Erection of 2000 250 4 2 - -
Sandstones scaffolding
B – Stone 2000 20.00 20 5 A SS+1 day
Removal
C – Plaster 2000 36.36. 11 5 B SS+1 day
Removal
D – Hacking 200 40 1 5 C SS + 1 day
off Plaster
E – Plaster 200 40 1 5 D SS + 1 day
Meshing
F – First Coat 2000 41.67 8 6 E SS+ 1 day
of Plastering
G – Final Coat 2000 33.33 10 6 F SS + 1 day
of Plastering
H – Removal 2000 500 1 4 G FS + 0 day
 of scaffolding
Exterior I – 2000 166.67 2 6 G SS + 13 days
Painting Preparation
for Exterior
Painting
J – Priming 2000 71.43 4 7 I SS + 1 day
Coat of
Exterior
Painting
K – First Coat 2000 57.14 5 7 J SS + 1 day
of Exterior
Painting
L – Final Coat 2000 40.82 7 7 K SS + 1 day
of Exterior
Painting
Total Total 28 days
completion of
work-front

Now using the days required to complete the work and precedence relationships we calculate
the total days required to complete the activities is equal to 28 days for every 2000 sq. mts.
And using this detail we can make a Gantt Chart to plan the flow of activities and monitor the
progress.
Jobs Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Removal A
of B
Sandston C
es
D
E
F
G
H
External I
Painting J
K
L

Using the above two graphs we lay down the plan 28-day plan for completion of typical 2000
sq. mts. work-front and we also distinguish the activities of removal of sandstones which runs
for 16 days and external area painting which can start only after 13 days have passed the
commencement of activity G. The requirement of scaffolding is only for the 16-day period in
which the sandstones are removed and then the scaffolding can be utilized at other work
front.
Now, the internal surface area of 1743 sq. mts. constitutes of one major activity that is the
painting of the interiors. As mentioned before this activity is independent of the work being
done on the exteriors, so we can start the work parallelly. Using the details in exhibit 3 and
exhibit 5 we can plan the work flow and determine the time required to complete the entire
activity.
 Activities Work Work rate (m 2 Teams Days required to Predecessor Precedence
content ( /teams/day) complete (m 2 Relationship
m 2) /work
rate/teams)
M - Preparation 1743 44.69 3 13 - -
for Interior
Painting
N - Putty Work 1743 29.05 4 15 M SS+1 day
for Interior
Painting
O - Priming 1743 48.42 2 18 N SS+1 day
Coat for Interior
Painting
P - First Coat for 1743 48.42 2 18 O SS + 1 day
Interior Painting
Q - Final Coat 1743 48.42 2 18 P SS + 1 day
for Interior
Painting
Total 22 days
completion of
work-front

The total time required to complete the internal painting is 22 days and now based on the
precedence relationship we can form a simple Gantt Chart to monitor the work being done in
the assigned period.
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
M
N
O
P
Q

Thus, this plan can be used for a typical work-front of 2000 sq. mts. and 1743 sq. mts.
respectively.
4. Explore various alternatives of putting projects on the fast track using the
nature of project site and project work? What could be the financial and operational
implications of putting the project on the fast track be?

In order to complete the project in a fast track mode, MICC needs to MICC needs to carefully
plan the activities and assign its resources. Since Scaffolding is a critical resource for the
project, the project duration is limited due to the number of scaffoldings employed i.e. the
count of the work fronts in parallel. In this project because a set of scaffoldings for a typical
work front were required for activities A to H, i.e. scaffolding set would be occupied for
about 16 days in a 28-day completion schedule of a typical work front. However, one can
come up with a schedule with detailed planning wherein the project can be completed in 236
days (= 13 fronts X 16 days/ front+28 days for last front) with the use of a single set of
scaffolding

For completing the project on time MICC can work on multiple work fronts using more
number of scaffoldings. The number of parallel work fronts, the project duration and cost
implication are summarized in the following table:

No of Project Completion Time Indirect Additional Total

Paralle Completio in Months Costs Scaffolding Cost
l Work n Time (in
Fronts days)
₹
NIL 236 5,31,000.0 ₹
7.87 0   5,31,000.00
₹
2 124 2,79,000.0 ₹
4.13 0 ₹ 3,00,000.00 5,79,000.00
₹
3 92 2,07,000.0 ₹
3.07 0 ₹ 6,00,000.00 8,07,000.00
₹ ₹
4 68 1,53,000.0 10,53,000.0
2.27 0 ₹ 9,00,000.00 0
₹ ₹
5 60 1,35,000.0 13,35,000.0
2.00 0 ₹ 12,00,000.00 0
₹ ₹
6 60 1,35,000.0 16,35,000.0
2.00 0 ₹ 15,00,000.00 0
₹
7 44 ₹ 18,99,000.0
1.47 99,000.00 ₹ 18,00,000.00 0
Thus, employing a single scaffolding would take the project over the deadline and would
result in penalties of ₹2.6 million. This would decrease the profit margin making the option
unviable for MICC. Instead adopting 2 parallel work fronts would be a beneficial option
since, it would increase the profit margin. The calculations for direct costs summarised in the
table below.

Work Content Cost (INR. Work content for one Direct cost for
Direct Cost
(m2) per m2) work front one work front
28000 30 ₹ 8,40,000.00 2000 60000
₹
28000 85
23,80,000.00 2000 170000
₹
28000 75
21,00,000.00 2000 150000
2800 100 ₹ 2,80,000.00 200 20000
2800 100 ₹ 2,80,000.00 200 20000
₹
28000 200
56,00,000.00 2000 400000
₹
28000 180
50,40,000.00 2000 360000
28000 20 ₹ 5,60,000.00 2000 40000
28000 20 ₹ 5,60,000.00 2000 40000
28000 35 ₹ 9,80,000.00 2000 70000
₹
28000 65
18,20,000.00 2000 130000
₹
28000 65
18,20,000.00 2000 130000
24400 10 ₹ 2,44,000.00 1743 17430
24400 15 ₹ 3,66,000.00 1743 26145
24400 15 ₹ 3,66,000.00 1743 26145
₹
24400 55
13,42,000.00 1743 95865
₹
24400 55
13,42,000.00 1743 95865
₹
   
2,59,20,000.00   ₹ 18,51,450.00

Since the company is using unsecured loans for financing at 1.5% per month, assuming it
would need to pickup ₹12 million in order to complete the work up to the first stage (40%).
MICC would also reinvest the bills cleared in order to complete the outstanding work. The
stages of project are summarised below.

Work faces Cumulative Amount to be

Milestone
 to be
Amount disbursed
s completed
₹
1,20,00,000.0
40% 11.2 ₹ 1,20,00,000.00 0
₹
60% 16.8 ₹ 1,80,00,000.00 60,00,000.00
₹
80% 22.4 ₹ 2,40,00,000.00 60,00,000.00
₹
100% 28 ₹ 3,00,00,000.00 60,00,000.00

The financial viability of project with option 1 i.e no additional scaffolding and option 2 with
1 additional scaffolding is summarised below.

Option 1 Option 2
₹
Total Value
3,00,00,000.00 ₹ 3,00,00,000.00
₹
Direct Expense
2,59,20,000.00 ₹ 2,59,20,000.00
Indirect Expense ₹ 5,31,000.00 ₹ 5,79,000.00
₹
Total cost
2,64,51,000.00 ₹ 2,64,99,000.00
Interest ₹ 16,20,000.00 ₹ 16,20,000.00
Penalties ₹ 25,00,000.00 ₹ 0.00
Profit -₹ 5,71,000.00 ₹ 18,81,000.00
% Profit -1.972298021 7.098381071
Hence, from the operational and financial point of view the option to add an additional
scaffolding i.e. maintain 2 parallel work fronts is advised as it would complete the project in
time and provide a profit margin = 7.09% to the company.
5. Given a choice, how would you have planned the project differently?

As we have seen the project was running behind the schedule after the one-month period.
This could have led to an overall delay, as well as a reduction in pay due to MICC missing
the milestones. The project was handled in an ad-hoc manner and thus there was a lack of
planning. To plan the project more effectively we should take certain points into
consideration.

 Total available time

 Profit made
 Workforce available
 Milestones
 Unplanned hinderances and stoppages
 Resource availability

Thus, based on these we could have planned the project using the workflow through the
Gaant charts used in the previous answers. This would have helped us give a proper structure
to the project and also provided us a mechanism to check the progress of the same. The
current plan had no distinction between various key jobs. Therefore, the first step after
deciding the available time and milestones would have been to identify and divide the teams
based on them. The three key jobs were:

1. Sandstone Removal
2. Exterior Painting
3. Interior Painting

We have also realized that the Interior activities are independent of the work being done on
the exteriors. Hence, from the start of the projects we would have deployed personnel to work
on interiors along with the team working on Removal of Sandstones. The distinction between
the exterior activities also meant we realize that the scaffoldings are required only for a
period of 16 days out of the total 28-day period of the typical 2000 sq. mts. work-front.
Therefore, we could have been able to shift the scaffolding to a different work front and
initiate the proceedings over there.

However, the use of a single scaffoldings means that the work is being repeated over 14
cycles and leaves very less space for any reserve days and also means that the completion of
project in due time is very challenging. This brings us to an alternative solution which is the
purchase of another 2000 sq. mt. scaffolding which will not increase the work rate by
allowing us to work two fronts at a time but also make sure that we comfortably follow the
required time limit and achieve the milestones as we go along. Thus, working 4000 sq. mts. at
a time on the exterior front and 3486 sq. mts. on the interior front would have been our plan
allowing us to complete the project in May taking into considerations some unexpected
delays.

In conjunction with this, we would have appointed personnel as the in charge of every major
activity who would have been responsible for their respective zone to make sure the work is
being done effectively and any complacence and delay is being avoided.