Assignment : Case 2

Resource Planning & Project Costing/Financing

Resource Planning

List down the types of resource required for the whole project. Common types of resources can be grouped as:

a.) Finance i.e. $$$$

b.) Human resource

c.) Equipment (general and/or specialised)

d.) Infrastructure

e.) Skills and know-how

f.) Technology

Note that not all resources listed here are applicable for this assignment. Think about it, which is more relevant.

Resources can also be categorized as internal and external. As a general rule of thumb, it is always good practice to use resources that are internally available within your client's organization; because internal resources are cheaper as well as easier to control and monitor. However, diverting internal resources to project work may cause disruption to the daily operations of the company and therefore comes at a cost (called 'opportunity cost').

External resources are sourced outside when they are not available within the organization (e.g. external consultants & contractors). Use of external resources is usually costly, and difficult to control. On the other hand, use of external resources may be cheaper for the company if they are only used one-off for this particular project.

For those of you what wants to take a step further in your assignment, you can write about the pros and cons of using internal vs. external resources in this particular project; and also why you propose to choose one over the other. This allows you to demonstrate to the examiner that you have put the effort to critically think about this assignment.

Project Costing & Financing

Assignment in Case 2 does not provide the budget for the project. You will be required to determine the cost of each individual tasks (again from referring to WBS) and add them up together to get your total budget.

As described during class, there are a number ways you can do the breakdown the costs:

a.) Estimation by percentages (%) of each tasks out of the total budget

b.) Using piece rate e.g. labor (pounds per person-day X no. of persons X no. of days)

You will be expected to write in your report of how the budget will be used. Using charts like bar-chart or pie-chart will probably help the examiner to see better your allocation of costs.

You may also choose to discuss and propose to your client the available means of financing for this project (e.g. internal funding, loan from bank etc.) ; as well as the risks associated with each type of financing. For those of you who are familiar with finance and accounts, you may be aware that there is always a recommended debt-to-equity ratio for companies.