A-Media Limited: Scheduling and Risk Management

On Thursday, July 13, 2017, the project manager and the chief executive officer for A-Media Limited were making a significant decision about their company. They could quickly increase their billboard hoardings by 20 per cent by pre-emptively erecting giant mega boards in five locations of interest to a major client. This was a significant opportunity, but it presented several significant risks. One major risk was the client’s need to have the mega boards ready before the Christmas season. The client would not commit to renting the space until the boards were at least 90 per cent completed. Was this time frame too short to confirm the prime locations, secure all government permits, hire suppliers and subcontractors, and erect the five structures? How could A-Media Limited manage five geographically dispersed projects simultaneously when the scheduling, supervising, suppliers, city permits, and city inspectors would be different in each location? The project manager had to quickly determine the feasibility of the project, which involved building a detailed schedule and budget.

The case is designed for use in undergraduate or graduate level programs in courses on operations management or project management. It can either be used for a traditional one-class discussion, or it can span over a period of several weeks to teach students how to use Microsoft Project. This case was developed to aid instructors in facilitating discussions of key project management concepts. It allows students to use an analytical approach to cover the basic skills in planning a project. The main scheduling challenge in this case is to complete the installation of five mega boards in five different cities by the due date. One schedule is used for all five locations, but some activities must be staggered because Arowolo, the project manager, cannot be present at all five locations at the same time. Other challenges include choosing five attractive sites with good exposure, securing government approvals in a timely manner, managing costs, hiring suppliers in the five cities, and coordinating delivery of supplies.<br><br>After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to</p><br><br><ul><li>understand precedence relationships, critical path, due dates, uncertainty, and crashing;</li><li>manage scheduling challenges;</li><li>use one project plan for the same project at five different locations, with all work performed simultaneously using one project manager for all five sites; and</li><li>(optional) understand how to use Microsoft Project or other project management software.</li></ul>

• project manager
• chief executive officer
• A-Media Limited
• billboard hoardings
• giant mega boards
• major client
• significant risks
• government permits
• suppliers
• subcontractors
• geographically dispersed projects
• scheduling
• supervising
• city permits
• city inspectors
• detailed schedule
• budget
• undergraduate
• graduate level
• operations management
• project management
• one-class discussion
• Microsoft Project
• project management concepts
• analytical approach
• planning a project