Reference no: EM131619494 , Length: 4000 Words

Aims of the module

- To provide the student with a good theoretical and practical knowledge of Project Management;
- To develop an understanding of Project Management's place within the wider field of management.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this module the student should be able to:

- Apply the key principles, tools and techniques as detailed within the Project Management Institute Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMI PMBOK) to a range of project management contexts;

- Critically evaluate the differences between and applications of the main project management methodologies in use today;

- Synthesise learning - key concepts, theories and techniques - from other MBA (particularly core) modules and apply to project management methodological contexts and practices. This would be draw from a broad range of Management Theory (see indicative content below);

- Demonstrate the application of Project Management practice to a variety of contexts and challenges.

Assignment

1. Group Presentations

Students of this module will form a group of 3 and prepare a presentation of 1800 words based on the following:

Each group is to select a completed project situation, and study it from the following perspectives:

a) What was the objective of the project in general, and what were the targets as far as cost, schedule and scope are concerned.

b) How the project was organized ("pure project", "functional project, "matrix project", etc.) and what were some of the main features of implementation.

c) To what extent did the project succeed on the 3 major goals of project management, to what extent it failed or encountered severe problems, and what factors in its organization and implementation contributed to its successes and its failures or the problems it experienced

The Group Presentations will be evaluated as per the following:

A) Each group will be assessed on how well they have covered the 3 perspectives above. Particularly in (1b) some reference is expected to the PMBOK Guide and the extent to which successes or failures/problems could be traced to conformity or non-conformity of the project to the PMBOK Guide recommendations.

B) Each group will be assessed on the quality of the presentation. Emphasis will be on the clarity and relevance of the delivery, and not on unnecessarily fancy designs, graphics, videos, or color-schemes, etc. 10 Marks

2. Individual Essay

Each student is required to submit an individual essay of 4200 words on any ONE of the topic of the following Project Management topics:
a) Load Levelling in Project Management

The student must explain what is meant by Load Levelling and why it is necessary in Project Mgmt. He should study and report on various techniques in the literature that have been proposed for load levelling, both heuristic and analytical. Then he should write a critical evaluation of any one heuristic, and any one analytical technique. Or

b) Comparative Study of Project Management Software

MS Project is recognized as the most widely used Project Management Software, but there are others also, most notably Primavera. The student should critically study the literature on these 2 software packages from the standpoint of cost, capability, flexibility, ease and convenience of use, training required etc. Or

c) Critical Chain Method (CCM) and Critical Path Method (CPM)

Late Dr Eliyahu Goldratt is credited with the concept of CCM as an improvement over CPM. There is a whole book on CCM. The student should critically explain the two techniques, and what their commonalities and differences are. He should then explain the impact of each method on the basic task of calculating the duration of a project.

The Individual Essay Assignment will be evaluated as per the following:
A) The exposition of the topics itself
B) Depth of study demonstrated, particularly including critical evaluation of competing technologies and alternatives
C) The essay must conform in all respects to accepted guidelines of technical report writing, with respect to structure, organization, referencing, etc.

Learning Outcomes:
- Apply the key principles, tools and techniques as detailed within the Project Management Institute Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMI PMBOK) to a range of project management contexts;
- Critically evaluate the differences between and applications of the main project management methodologies in use today;
- Synthesise learning - key concepts, theories and techniques - from other MBA (particularly core) modules and apply to project management methodological contexts and practices. This would be draw from a broad range of Management Theory (see indicative content below);
- Demonstrate the application of Project Management practice to a variety of contexts and challenges.