INFS6071:
Individual
Assignment One
Due: Week 8 (17 April 2025,
2359hrs)





The University of Sydney Business School
2025
INFS6071: Individual Assignment 1, S1-2025

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Contents

Background .................................................................................................................... 2
Task ................................................................................................................................ 2
The Deliverable .............................................................................................................. 4
Submission Requirements ............................................................................................. 5
Assessment Criteria ....................................................................................................... 6
Marking criteria: Individual Assignment One ................................................................. 7


INFS6071: Individual Assignment 1, S1-2025

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Background
(Assesses: LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4)

Task
Part A: Critical Path Analysis
Description of Requirements: You are employed as a Project Manager at Comarda
and have been awarded a contract to develop a new website for Assum Pullum
Express, a new fast-food chicken chain opening several stores across New South
Wales. The project's scope and work breakdown structure have already been
decided upon. Tasks and their contents, durations (unique durations of tasks will
be provided to each student in an email), and resource requirements are shown in
Table 1. Predecessors of tasks imply which tasks must be conducted before the
current task can be started.


Activity
Code
Task/Activity Duration
in days*
Predecessors
A Define Requirements
Provided
individually to
students via
email.
-
B Co-Design Workshop A
C Design Website Layout B
D Develop Frontend (Iteration 1) C
E Develop Backend (Iteration 1) C
F Set Up AWS Environment A
G
Integrate Frontend and Backend
(Iteration 1)
D, E
H Test Website (Iteration 1) G, F
I Feedback and Review H
J Develop Frontend (Iteration 2) I
K Develop Backend (Iteration 2) I
L
Integrate Frontend and Backend
(Iteration 2)
J, K
M Test Website (Iteration 2) L
N Final Review and Adjustments M
O Deploy to AWS N
P Final Review and Launch O


a. Create a network diagram using the activity on node (AON) notation
representing the project, as presented in the unit. (3 marks)
• Identify the Critical Path: Use the table to determine the task
sequence that forms the critical path.
• Calculate Start and Finish Times: For each task, calculate the
earliest start (ES), earliest finish (EF), latest start (LS), and latest finish
(LF) times.
• Calculate Free Slack Time: Determine the slack time for each task.
INFS6071: Individual Assignment 1, S1-2025

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• You may use PowerPoint to draw and copy the diagram into your
assignment document.

These results will be entered into an ‘online quiz’ in Canvas to allow for
automated individual marking.
You should not use Microsoft Project or any other project
management software for this part of the assignment.

b. In the context of the above project with Assum Pullum Express, explain
possible key challenges in managing projects using its critical path. Please
use appropriate references to support your explanation. (2 marks)



Part B: Project Analysis
“The top reason for project failure is the project itself. Wrong
projects are ones that defy conventional business rationale,
creating outputs that either few people want, that add little to no
real value, or that undershoot the desired benefits because they
are so difficult to achieve. In short, they fail in rationale and
objective reasoning. They are sometimes called ‘white elephants.’”
(Wu & Misra, 2023)

Project management is a critical discipline in business. It aims to ensure that projects
are within scope, completed on time, within budget, and to the desired quality
standards. However, not all projects succeed. Understanding why projects fail is
essential for future project managers to learn from past mistakes and improve their
skills. This assessment aims to provide students with a comprehensive
understanding of the complexities and challenges in project management by
analysing real-world examples of failed or questionable projects.

Importance of Analysing Failed Projects
• Learning from Mistakes: Analysing failed projects helps identify common
pitfalls and mistakes, providing valuable lessons for future projects.
• Risk Management: Understanding the risks that led to project failures can
improve risk management strategies.
• Improving Processes: Insights from failed projects can improve project
management processes and methodologies.
• Stakeholder Communication: Failed projects often highlight stakeholder
communication and management issues, offering better lessons on handling
these aspects.
• Innovation and Adaptation: Learning from failures encourages innovation
and adaptation, helping project managers to be more flexible and responsive
to changes.
INFS6071: Individual Assignment 1, S1-2025

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You are to conduct independent research into one of the following projects:
• Ant Group’s IPO Suspension
• Apple Lisa
• Australian Inland Rail Project
• Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
• Boeing 737 Max
• Google Glass
• Queensland Health Payroll System
• Snowy 2.0
• Sydney Light Rail
• WeWork IPO

To accomplish this,
1. Students must select a recent failed project from the list, above, and conduct
a detailed analysis; presenting their findings in a report. The report should
cover the following aspects:
• Project Overview: Brief description of the context (country, industry,
markets, company, products/services), the project, its objectives, timeline
and key stakeholders.
• Potential Reasons for Failure: Detailed analysis of the key factors that
potentially led to the project's failure. There could be contradictory
indicators or varied ideas presented in the literature. These reasons
should be linked to the Project Management Performance Domains and
Project Principles.
• Impact: Examination of the impact of the failure on the
organisation/government and stakeholders.
• Lessons Learned and Recommendations: Key lessons can be learned
from the project failure. Suggestions for how the project could have been
managed differently to avoid failure.


Notes
1. Have a proposed project management case study to present to your tutor in
your week 6 tutorial.
2. All requirements about the case under investigation should be addressed
(Support your argument using appropriate references –e.g. news, trade press
and academic) – with a maximum of 10 references (referencing is to be in
APA7 format).
3. You may investigate a problem that occurred anywhere in the world, but all
references, including the incident's source of information, must be available in
English.
The Deliverable
Total written report: 2,000 ±10% words (excluding in-text references and reference
list).

Part A: Critical Path Analysis  300 words

Part B: Case Study Analysis  1,700 words

INFS6071: Individual Assignment 1, S1-2025

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Note: Please prepare a concise response using tables, diagrams,
and charts.
Submission Requirements
Submit your report (Individual Assignment 1) by the due date shown on Canvas.

You will find the link to submit the report in the Assignment section of Canvas.

The report should be formatted using A4 paper size, 1.5 line spacing, 2.5cm margins,
and a sans-serif font size of at least 12pt (e.g., Arial, Helvetica, Calibri, Aptos).

Late submissions will be penalised in accordance with the University and Business
School Policy as set out in the UoS outline.
Artificial Intelligence
This assignment is considered an “Open: Lane 2 – Examples of human-AI
collaboration in ‘assessment as learning’” assessment type.

You can use generative AI to assist you; however, this use must be
acknowledged. For example, you may use AI tools such as (ChatGPT, Google
Gemini, and Microsoft CoPilot) to brainstorm ideas for your assignment. You may
use AI tools such as (Grammarly, Notion AI, ChatGPT, etc.) to directly suggest
readability improvements to your text regarding grammar and expression.

You must note that you are ultimately responsible for your submission, and if any
data are falsified or fabricated, it can lead to an Academic Integrity Case against you.

Do not post confidential, private, personal, or otherwise sensitive information into
these tools. If you use these tools, you must be aware of their limitations, biases, and
propensity for fabrication. Your use of AI tools must adhere to the Student Charter
2020, including upholding honesty, ethics, professionalism, and academic integrity.

Acknowledgement of AI
If you use any AI tools, you need the following:

1. An acknowledgement:
I acknowledge using [insert tool[s] name] to [what the tool did] on <>. With the
<>. What then happened?

For example, I acknowledge using ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com/) to
refine the academic language of my own work. On 1 April 2025, I submitted
my entire essay to refine the academic language of my own work. With the
prompt: “For the following essay, can you improve the academic tone and
accuracy of language, including grammatical structures, punctuation and
vocabulary?”.

INFS6071: Individual Assignment 1, S1-2025

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2. The output produced by AI tools is non-deterministic (i.e., another person
cannot obtain the same information as you did); thus, citing AI tools is not a
source and is inappropriate for an assignment.

Assessment Criteria
The individual assignment weighting equals 25% of your final grade.

General explanation of standards: Please refer to the grade descriptors located on
Canvas. These grade descriptors are used to construct marking schemes for all
assessment items.
INFS6071: Individual Assignment 1, S1-2025

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Marking criteria:
Individual Assignment One

Criteria
Marks
allocated
Part A: Critical Path Analysis
Marks for (a) of the assignment are awarded for the answer's
correctness and the diagram's design.
Marks for (b) are awarded in the context of the project, how you
explain key challenges in managing a project using its critical path.


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Part B: Case Study
Content, knowledge, and originality of analysis
Demonstrates detailed knowledge of the topic and awareness of a
variety of ideas/contexts based on a wide range of sources that
have been thoroughly analysed, applied, and discussed.
Application and integration of appropriate project management
knowledge, innovative, and insightful, with an appreciation of
disciplinary gaps, limitations, and inconsistencies shown in key
areas of the discussion. The analysis is original and can develop
and justify students' ideas.

8
Critical thinking and reasoning
Analytical and clear conclusion provided that is well-grounded in
project management theory and the literature. A critical review of
evidence supports the development of the recommendations and
their significance from a project management perspective,
including contradictory information/gaps identified and reasons for
contradictions/limitations.

6
Information literacy/Use of Literature
Relevant and innovative choices of information sources,
demonstrating well-designed search strategies.
An upper limit of ten (10) references (both industry [grey] and
academic) is recommended.

4
Communication and professional presentation (written)
Communicates meaning competently; in own words, structuring and
organising ideas logically, clearly, concisely, and cohesively. The
purpose of the assignment is addressed comprehensively and
imaginatively. Appropriate referencing and referencing style used
(APA 7th). Fluent writing style appropriate to report. Grammar and
spelling are accurate.
Conforms with instructions (e.g., word length).

2
TOTAL 25


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