Reference no: EM132952444

Project - Based Management

Assignment Task for Project - Based Management

There are two assessment tasks for this course.

Assignment 1 requires you to provide a critical analysis focused on two management problems (refer below). You will provide your critical analysis in a report format (refer below).

Assignment 2 is a memorandum (with citations). It also includes a summary infographic as an attachment. (This is your second task and I will forward this in next half of the semester) However, make sure to use the same organisation for both assignments as it makes life easier for you.

For both assignments you have the choice of using your current workplace (or an organisation you are familiar with) as a case. Alternatively, you can use a case study in the literature which has sufficient information for you to meet the assignment requirements. For further information on selecting your project, refer to the ‘How to pick your MPM project assignment' document provided.

ASSIGNMENT 1 REQUIREMENTS

Context
You are working as a project manager in the organisation you have chosen for this case study, and a senior manager has asked for your assistance with understanding and resolving two problems (refer below). The senior manager has asked that you provide a justified response to the two problems in the form of a written report (refer report structure below). Your responses are to be justified by recent and relevant scholarly (journal articles and eBooks) literature.

The two problems:

1. Problem 1 - The nature of work and its management (refer to Module 1):

• For your chosen organisation, objectively examine the day-to-day activities that other employees undertake in their respective roles across the organization.

• Based on the definitions of ‘work' in the academic literature, critically argue (i.e. support your argument with scholarly literature) which of those activities undertaken within the organisation can be classified as ‘operational' work and which activities can be classified as ‘project' work. NOTE: This analysis is about what happens across the organization and is not focused on just work that may happen within specific projects.

• Evaluate, with the use of scholarly literature whether the managerial approaches (e.g. project management, scientific management, bureaucratic management) adopted by the management of the organization for the operational work and project work are appropriate.

• Make recommendations for any suggested changes to these managerial approaches based on the findings of your analysis. Very important!!

2. Problem 2 - Structuring project work (refer to Module 2):

• Considering only those activities that you have identified as ‘project' work, evaluate, using scholarly literature, whether your chosen organisation is using the concept of ‘portfolios, programs and projects' for structuring and organising project work.

• If the organisation is currently using those structures, using scholarly literature, critically assess whether their use is appropriate; or alternatively.

• If the organisation is not currently using these structures, using scholarly literature, critically assess whether there would be any benefit in doing so.

Report structure
For assignment 1, provide the following:
• Report cover sheet is must for this assignment (similar to what you would use for a workplace report) Executive summary (300 - 500 words - not included in word count).

• Table of contents, List of Tables, List of Figures (if required).

1. Introduction (250 words).

• Introduce the purpose of your report and its structure.

2. Organisational context (300 words)

• Provide sufficient detail about the organisation so that the reader can understand your responses to the two issues.

• Generally, the type of information to include would be the type/sector of business that the organisation is in, the size of the organisation (this may be through listing the number of staff or annual turnover), and management structures/organisational hierarchy.

3. The nature of work and its management (Problem 1 Analysis) (800 - 1000 words)

• As per the description above provide a response justified by scholarly literature to the problem.

4. Structuring project work (Problem 2 Analysis) (800 - 1000 words).

• As per the description above provide a response justified by scholarly literature (Use Only peer revived credible resources though university library data, do not use any Online blogs, articles, magazines or any other unverified resources, etc) to the problem.

5. Conclusion (150 words)

• Summarise your overall findings (i.e. what are the key insights from your analysis of the two problems).

Attachment:- Project - Based Management.rar