SCORPIO 1

Year Inflow/Outflow ($) Discount Rate Present Value ($)

1 (190,000) 0.8475 (161,025)

2 150,000 0.7182 107,730

3 190,000 0.6086 115,634

4 215,000 0.5158 110,897

5 175,000 0.4371 76,492.50

6 197,000 0.3704 72,968.80

7 70,000 0.3139 21,973

Net Present
Value 344,670.30

SCORPIO 2

Year Inflow/Outflow ($) Discount Rate Present Value ($)

1 (50,000) 0.8475 (42,375)

2 150,000 0.7182 107,730

3 200,000 0.6086 121,720

4 250,000 0.5158 128,950

5 150,000 0.4371 65,565

6 180,000 0.3704 66,672

7 90,000 0.3139 28,251

Net Present
Value 476,513

Task 1
Which of the two projects would you choose to fund? Elaborate on your decision.
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Based on the comparison of the two projects, I am going to fund Scorpio 2 rather than Scorpio 1.
The reason why I chose to fund Project Scorpio 2 is because the Net Present Value is higher than
Project Scorpio 1. During Year 1 of Scorpio 1, it has a tremendous expense but later in Year 2, it has
the same Present Value as Scorpio 2. In selecting a project, we should always see the risk in one
project. If there is loss in one project, we should compare how much losses we will incur and how
much profit will we have in return in the future.
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It is also very important we look at the Net Present Value of a project to identify the feasibility of
the project for the company to embark on. This is due to the value of cash received in the future are
less worthy than the money in the bank today. To find their value, the cash flow from future years

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need to be discounted back to the present to find their present value and the company can invest in
the project if the result is positive. Therefore, when the total of the project’s worth is higher than the
other, then that means in the future, it can give the company more profit compare to the lower Net
Present Value.
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Also, the project is selected based on the financial perspective bluntly. Therefore, when looking at a
Net Present Value amount, it is best to choose a project that has higher Net Present Value compare
to a lower one because both of them given discount rate at 18%, so as we can see here the Project
Scorpio 2 will be more beneficial to the company even though this is plainly a method of screening
using NPV as a tool.
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Task 2
Apart from financial aspect, what else should be considered when selecting a certain project?
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Apart from financial aspect, there are things to be considered too. There are social aspect, politics
aspect, security aspect, and national aspect.
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To choose a project, it is very essential to consider if the project gives any benefits to the society.
Let us take Turkey’s projects to build high-magnitude earthquakes resistant. Istanbul, Turkey, built
tunnels and bridges which are resistant to high-magnitude earthquakes. This is for the benefits of its
society. Even though the cost of building one bridge is very high, but because of the location of the
old bridges are in the earthquake zones, thus the country built two bridges, namely Yavuz Sultan
Selim and Osmangazi bridges to withstand most severe earthquake.(Daily Sabah, August 2017)
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Another example of project in Malaysia is the Forest City project during the Former Prime Minister
ministry. The purpose of the project is to target international buyers and would want to be the
largest project in Malaysia. This project is also intended to become a high-end city with “dazzling
water features” and supplied with a lot of destination attractions. (Williams, 2016) However, they
are not only targeting international people, but also local tourists. Some of the fishermen which are
staying nearby the Forest City complained that their catch were not as many as before anymore due
to the Forest City project. The landscaping of the project has ruined their income for their meager
meal. (The Diplomat, August 2017)
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Next, to choose a project, it is also very essential to look into the politics aspect as this is also one
of the must-to-do-thing before any projects will be approved. Let us take the example from the
project of Forest City in Johor Bahru. The Former Prime Minister, Najib Razak was under this mega
project. He approved this mega project to strengthen more bond or connection with the Beijing
investors. Thus, built this Forest City for the Beijing investors to buy the properties, such as the
apartments in the Forest City whereby the selling price of the properties are above the Malaysians’
affordability. This indicates that Malaysia is trying to attract buyers or customers from other
countries. (Forbes Asia, November 2017)
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Another aspect is, the security aspect of the project needs to be considered as well. The project does
it affects the armies or the air force? If it does not, then the project shall be carried out. However, if

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the project can affect the armies and the air force in the future, the project needs to be reconsidered
as project that can harm the nation. A project generates a whole lot of information. Thus, to handle
information is very crucial as it is among the security concerns that associates with a sensitive
project. For an instance, the project of sending Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and three other crews to
the Moon by the National Space Agency of Malaysia (ANGKASA) in the year 2007. (Cilisos.com,
2016) All the information retrieved from the agency before and after were very inclusive. They do
not want any confidential information leaks before or after or during the program. Thus, funding
this kind of project will costs a huge fund of course.
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The last one that needs to be considered also in choosing a project is the national considerations.
Does it benefits the country? What does it has to offer for the Malaysians? We take the airline
companies for an instance, there are a lot of cheaper airline companies in Malaysia, but why does
Malaysia still maintain to fund the Malaysia Airline Company instead of other airline companies
like Air Asia? This is plainly because the MAS wings carries the Malaysian flag across the
countries. It carries the flag to the world, to get recognition from the world. That is why Malaysia
still choose MAS wings over other airline companies.
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Task 3 !
Define the meaning of ‘project’. Discuss five characteristics.
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A project is defined as “a task that has a beginning and has an end”. (Harvey, 2010) There are also a
few definition of project from different institutions. Project is defined as “unique, transient
endeavours undertaken to achieve a desired outcome” by the Association for Project Management
in 2004. (Harvey, 2010) Another definition given by the Project Management Association of Japan
(2005), “A project refers to a value creation undertaking based on a specific mission, which is
completed in a given or agreed timeframe and under constraints, including resource and external
circumstances.” (Harvey, 2010)
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According to Harvey (2010), project has five characteristics in total, it is mission focused,
temporary, integrating, social construction, emergence and uncertainty, aspects of uniqueness, and
change. Project is mission focused as what Harvey said, as it is something delivered with a purpose
or an objective, thus delivering service or result for that specific mission. Even though a project
might not be started out with a clear idea on how to do and what to do, but it is always associated
with the vision of the project. For an instance, the project’s vision is to “achieve 200 million of
volunteers”,thus the mission is on ‘how to’ achieve that mission.
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Next, a project is temporary. This is because a project must have a beginning and also an end.
Project also needs a team of people in completing the project with given tasks. Upon the project
finishes, the workers or the team will move on from the project and go for another project. As a
project is funded, the financial resources will also be temporary and when the project has
completed, the funding will come to a halt.
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A project also needs an interlinking of tasks or activities, therefore it is integrated. In a project, not
only the people that interacts through a certain project, but also through the training of the staffs
with purpose of delivering a brilliant technological solution. For an instance, when a company
needs to do some changes to its system, such as from manual system to computerised system, the
company should send its staff to training in conduction of using the computerised system. Thus,
using the widespread media coverage it can alert the consumers or customers of the change.
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In an emergence situation too, a project can be carried out to save life. According to Harvey (2010),
“The high-level objectives and means to achieve them could be determined only once a certain
amount of work had been done.” For an instance whereby the earthquake that happened in Sabah in
2015 where it involved a lot of destructions and lost of lives. Thus, volunteers from all over
Malaysia came to help the victims of the unfortunate event.
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Relatively to the above mentioned characteristic, essential characteristic for a project also included
uncertainty. According to Harvey (2010), “the future cannot be predicted with certainty, in many
cases nor can the response to activities carried out in a project.” For an instance, we do not know
that an earthquake will happen after being informed that the Mount Kinabalu in Sabah is classified
as an inactive volcano. Thus, when it happened, we do not know the cost of supplying aids for the
victims. We also do not know how long is the quake going to keep on going. Therefore, a project is
always involving some uncertainties.
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After that, a project also has its own aspects of uniqueness because no other project has been done
like it before. The team, the product or service that is being provided, the place, the time is the
degree of novelties of a project. Even though there are certainly some projects that might be a little
similar to the project which you are doing, but it will never be exactly the same. For this reason, a
project is very unique in this aspect.
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Last but not least, the change is also part of a project. In addition of the uncertainties, a project is
also involves changes. Just like in a system, we need to update or change from an older version to a
newer version of a system. Thus, to do so, there must be some changes that needs to be done. The
changes made by an organisation, are always linked with a system and a few people that are linked
with a group set of tasks. When a system in an organisation changes, the people in it should also
apply the changes into their work style since it impacts the people that delivers and the organisation
that the information being delivered to.
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Task 4
What are the key environmental forces?
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The key environmental forces might be affected according to the 5 Cs, which are the Context,
Complexity, Completeness, Competitiveness, and Customer focus. The context can be described in
a lot of ways or methods, but one acronym that widely used to describe the context is ‘PESTEL’.
PESTEL is the acronym for: (i) political influence, (ii) economic, (iii) social, (iv) technical, (v)
environmental, and (vi) legal.
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The complexity can be explained by the simplest ideas those are utilised first thus making the piece
of work called ‘project’. The level of complication or level of difficulty also being seen in the
complexity aspect. For an instance, if the project is seen as a project that has high level of difficulty
of doing, then maybe the organisation might not be able to agree on the project. Unless the
technology is available and the barriers to entry for the project is null.
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Next is the completeness meaning to say of how much of the end demands of a project will deliver
in a given period of time. Completeness of a project is a move to integrated solutions and not just
products and services offered for it. For an instance, to complete a project all the system and the
workers need to integrate to obtain one solution since a project is done based on the vision and
mission of the project which is what the project wishes to achieve.
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Competitiveness is how many other organisations will be competing to deliver that work. To do a
project, there must be some other organisations that wish to do the project too maybe with different
inputs and different teams, but their objectives are the same. Therefore, it is essential that the
organisation should look into this matter and take every chance or opportunity that they have by
analysing the project using the SWOT analysis also known as the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity,
and Threat of the project.
!
Customer focus is the expectation that customers will have their needs met by the project. After
completing a project, it is very essential that the customers’ satisfaction needs to be met. Thus, the
management team should always have their customer in mind in completing the project. They
cannot do the project based on what they think is good. They also need to think the opinions of their
customers. They need to be aware of the new standards emerging of products demands from the
customers and the services and flexibility.(Harvey, 2010)

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References
Daily Sabah. (2017). Minister: Turkey's mega projects resistant to high-magnitude earthquakes.
[online] Available at: https://www.dailysabah.com/business/2017/08/18/minister-turkeys-mega-
projects-resistant-to-high-magnitude-earthquakes [Accessed on: 8 June 2018].
!
The Diplomat. (2017). Malaysia’s Forest City and the Damage Done. [online] Available at: https://
thediplomat.com/2017/08/malaysias-forest-city-and-the-damage-done/ [Accessed on: 8 June 2018].
!
Forbes. (2017). Malaysia Wrestles With Beijing's One Belt One Road Bonanza. [online] Available
at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesasia/2017/11/29/malaysia-my-second-home/#1437de1e7bda
[Accessed on: 8 June 2018].
!
Williams, M. (2016). EVALUATING MEGAPROJECTS: THE CASE OF FOREST CITY IN
JOHOR, MALAYSIA. [ebook] Massachusetts: Joseph Marcel R. Williams & Massachusetts
Institute of Technology 2016. Available at: https://scienceimpact.mit.edu/sites/default/files/
documents/Williams.pdf [Accessed on: 12 June 2018].
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Maylor, H. (2010). Project management. 4th ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall, pp.5-7,
25-29.


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!
Table of Contents!
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Task 1 1
Which of the two projects would you choose to fund? Elaborate on your decision. 1
Task 2! 3!
Apart from financial aspect, what else should be considered when selecting a certain
project? 3
Task 3 ! 5!
Define the meaning of ‘project’. Discuss five characteristics. 5
Task 4 ! 7!
What are the key environmental forces? 7
References! 8

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MODULE NAME: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
MODULE CODE: PMG 3283!
ASSESSMENT TYPE: INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
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NAME: AZLINDA JONATHAN
MATRIC ID: LAF425-04/18-00070
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MODULE LEADER: MR FAKIR MOHAMED OMARDIN
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MAC/APR 2018
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