Project management schedule, cost and variance?

Thomas Johnson is a timber and Christmas tree farmer who attended a project management class last year during his off-season. When the subject of earned value (EV) came up in class, Thomas wondered if he was utilizing the concept properly.

In mid-October, Thomas hires and trains crews who work to shear fields of Christmas trees for the upcoming holiday season. In this practice, each worker uses a large machete to shear the branches of the tree into a cone shape tree, which is the desire of most customers. Thomas operates his business per the following:

He counts the number of Christmas trees in the field, which is approximately 24,000.
He agrees with customer Tom Jones to a $30,000 lump sum contract for shearing all trees in the field.
He receives a partial payment about 5 days after starting the project. He then estimates the actual number of sheared trees to be approximately 6,000. The actual number of trees is taken as a percent of the total to be sheared, multiplied by the percent completed by total contract amount for the partial payment [(6,000/24,000 total trees = 25% of trees trimmed), (.25 * $30,000 total payment = 5 days payment of $7,500)].
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that thoroughly answers the following questions based on the case study:

· Is Thomas over, on, or below schedule? Explain.

· Is Thomas using earned value as he was taught in his project management course? Explain.

· What can Thomas do to set up a schedule and cost variance?

· What method do you suggest for Thomas to use for any changes in project scope, such as the shape of the tree that Tom wants?

· It appears Thomas is using the traditional method of project management. How can he accelerate the completion of this project that he has contracted for using the Agile methodology?

· Analyze Thomas’s project performance on this project, assuming the original quote given to the customer was an estimate.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

NOTE: This is a professional paper and not a question and answer list. Do NOT segment your paper with headings that are the questions from the assignment. Cover the information in a professionally formatted paper.

Submit the assignment.

Grading Criteria:

70% Content

· All questions from the case are covered

30% Writing Style:

· Consistent with APA formatting guidelines and meets course-level requirements. Includes title page, reference page and appropriate headings.

· Intellectual property is recognized with in-text citations and a reference page.

· Paragraph and sentence transitions are present, logical, and maintain the flow throughout the paper.

· Sentences are complete, clear, and concise.

· Rules of grammar and usage are followed including spelling and punctuation.

Trees Trimming Project

            Earned value is a technique that helps project managersdeterminesperformance of the project. It is usually used to calculate the variance between work planned and work done. The tree trimming project helps the researcher determine whether Mr. Johnson used earned value to complete the project.