Find an example of a large project that took more than a year to complete, such as a major construction project. You can ask people at your college, university, or work about a recent project, such as a major fund raising campaign, information systems installation, or building project. You can also find information about projects online such as the Big Dig in Boston (www.masspike.com/bigdig), the Patronas Twin Towers in Malaysia, and many other building projects (www.greatbuildings.com). Why was the project initiated? Describe some of the preinitiating and initiating tasks completed for the project. Write a one-page paper or prepare a short presentation summarizing your findings.

Consider Figure 4-30. All duration estimates are in days, and the network proceeds from Node 1 to Node 9. (Note: Instructors should see the Instructor’s Manual for similar exercises.)

a. Draw an AOA network diagram representing the project. Put the node numbers in circles and draw arrows from node to node, labeling each arrow with the activity letter and estimated duration.

b. Identify all the paths on the network diagram and note how long they are, using Figure 4-19 as a guide for how to represent each path.

c. What is the critical path for this project, and how long is it?

d. What is the shortest possible time it will take to complete this project?

e. Enter the information into Project 2010. See the Brief Guide to Microsoft Project 2010 in Appendix A for detailed instructions on using this software. View the network diagram and task schedule table to see the critical path and float or slack for each activity. Print the Gantt chart and network diagram views and the task schedule table. Write a short paper that interprets this information for someone unfamiliar with project time management.