Project management
1
BUSINESS SCHOOL
Discipline of Business Information Systems
INFS6071 Project Management in Business Semester 1 2022 Individual assignment 1 Part 1 (24%) and Part 2 (6%) Due date: 11:59 pm 1 May 2022 General instructions There are two parts to the assignment. To undertake the assignment, students should do the following:
• The maximum length of the assignment is 2000 words comprising 1600 words for Part 1 and 400 words for Part 2.
• For further information, please refer to the business school policies: http://sydney.edu.au/business/currentstudents/policy.
• Final report submission: The report should be submitted on Turnitin by due date. Please include your SID on the front page of the submission. The link for the Turnitin submission can be found on Canvas in the Assessment section. You should name the submission file as follows: SID.doc, e.g. 123456.doc. Please note that you SHOULD NOT provide name (first name or family name) in the assignment document. This is required to ensure anonymous marking.
• You can only submit the assignment once! Part 1 (24 marks) Requirements Download and read the case study (pdf file) found at the following link: https://www.anao.gov.au/sites/default/files/Auditor-General_Report_2018-2019_24.pdf Then analyse the findings on the Biometric Identification Services Project from the perspective of the formal project management methodology, PMBOK. Based on your analysis, respond to the following questions:
1. Where and how there is evidence of such a methodology being applied and its contribution. Please provide your answer in the form of a table outlining the relevant PMBOK knowledge areas, evidence of application, and contribution. (6 marks)
2. Where and how such a methodology might have helped avoid or mitigate identified
problems. Please provide your answer in the form of a table outlining the relevant knowledge areas and PMBOK processes that could have been applied. Give concrete examples of what kind of tools and techniques could have been applied. (10 marks)
3. If there were problems that appear to be outside the scope of PMBOK, discuss these problems. Conduct your own research to provide ideas on how these problems could have been mitigated. (8 marks)
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General Expectations: • Clear, well-structured and written presentation that captures the major aspects of the report
in a succinct manner. • Consider all aspects of PMBOK and apply those that are relevant. You can use PMBOK 5th
or 6th edition. • Conduct your own research to support your arguments and to understand the project context. • Apply a structure to each section of your report to guide the reader and demonstrate you
have applied a comprehensive and systematic approach. • You are required to use third-party references to support your arguments for question 3
above. • Proof-read and sense check your report before submitting it. • Use the Business School Referencing Guide.
A useful starting point for online research is Google Scholar, scholar.google.com. If you are working off-campus you can access Google Scholar from the university library web page and access articles and other resources: http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/databases/ Remember the instructions for scientific writing, particularly referencing! Part 2 (6 marks) Application of analytical techniques in professional project management Critical Path Analysis Delight Ltd. manufactures ticketing machines for railway services. It is planning a project to upgrade the software used in its machines to improve customer experience. The details of the project activities are as follow:
ID Activity Predecessors Duration (weeks)
1 Identify major improvements to the system
- 3
2 Prepare functional requirements 1 6
3 Select project staff 1 3
4 Prepare technical design 2, 3 7
5 Develop software 4 8
6 Test machine performance 5 4
7 Make modifications to the software 6 10
8 Undertake user acceptance testing 7 5
9 Incorporate user feedback 8 6
10 Promote the benefits to users 7 3
11 Roll-out the changes to the machine 9, 10 5
Draw a network diagram using the activity on node (AON) notation representing the project. You may use PowerPoint to draw the diagram and then copy it into your assignment document. What is the critical path and how long is it? You should not use Microsoft Project or any other project management software to determine the critical path. Assume you are the Project Manager for Delight Ltd.’s project. Critically evaluate the difficulties you may face in using the critical path method to manage the project. Please use appropriate references to support your explanation. Presentation requirements for the report
• Prepare network diagram for the project including identification and measurement of critical path – including evidence of having performed a forward and backward pass (i.e. include your workings, for example, in the form of a table).
• Make sure you identify the critical path and its duration in your answer.