Experiences with the digital project management simulations was a genuine enlightener on project management structures as well the effect of scope and schedule on project cost. The simulation brought to live absolutely all features a real life project management activity would constitute right from budget, scope, morale of the working team, external environment factors (competing firms), and problems in HR management ( Colin, & Vanhoucke, 2015) . Other essential features included prototyping which is key in project implementation in ensuring that the designed project will sufficiently meet the expected requirements. Multiple running of the scenarios as well as application of the onsite tips on simulation management enabled one to identify their mistakes in previous scenarios and obtain better skills for good performance in succeeding projects.
In the present project management simulation, the main point identified was the fix on managing project scope, resources, and schedule to achieve the set objects within the set provisions. In this case, the understanding and the application of the project management triangle model is imperative in making decisions for achievement of a good balance between the three elements; time, cost, and scope. According to the theory behind the triangle model, consistence in maintaining a balance between the three elements throughout a project life promotes achievement of the set objectives as well as delivery of a quality project ( Pollack, Helm, & Adler, 2018) . Failure to maintain a constraint among the three elements of the triangle causes an increase in either one or two of the elements compromising the quality of the project.
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Increase in project scope demands an increase in the schedule and hence an increase in the amount spent. However, wide project scope does not guarantee project quality. The nature of resources used determine project cost as well as the quality of the final product. Reducing the time element lowers the cost of the project but also limits the scope of the project, and consequently the quality of the end project. The management of the three elements and thus their key dependent element, project quality, remains key in project management. The present project management simulation gave a platform for hand-on experience on the effect of scope, resources, and schedule on achievement of project objectives. As per the provisions of project management triangle model, Kerzner & Kerzner (2017) , similar experiences were observed in the simulation as per the illustration below.
Scenario B – score 748
I set the target of completing the project in week 17 in line with the management’s target. I started with a team of three (medium/ high) extensive outsourcing, 1 coach, 1 outstanding, and 1 status review, and allowed overtime. In week four, I realized the project scope was lagging behind and thus added two more members making them five. This, however, increased the weekly cost, but had a positive impact on project expected completion date. In week five, there was announced massive and aggressive employee recruitment in the rival firm, Primatech, which lead to insufficient in labor supply in Delphi printers. This lead to three workers leaving and still was not able to recruit new members until week 9 where I added two to make a team of four. I recruited one more member in week ten and started reducing the work force in week 11 due to increased running costs while the project was more than 70% complete. One member left in week 11, another in week 12, and I continued with 3 members up to week 16. At this time, the project was ahead of schedule and not badly off in overspending. The team was reduced to one member till completion in week 19. The figure below illustrates the schedule and cost summary at the end of the project.
References
Colin, J., & Vanhoucke, M. (2015). Empirical Perspective on Activity Durations for Project-Management Simulation Studies. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management , 142 (1), 04015047.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling . John Wiley & Sons.
Pollack, J., Helm, J., & Adler, D. (2018). What is the Iron Triangle, and how has it changed?. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business , 11 (2), 527-547.
Appendix A