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Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 1

Assessment – Individual Assignment (Fall 2016)

Module: Project Management (ECM28EMD) Max. Marks: 100

Submission Commences From : 10 th

December 2016

Final Submission Date : 21 st

December 2016

Module

Title: PROJECT MANAGEMENT - ECM28EMD

Module

Instructor :

Dr. George Agyekum-Mensah

Dr. Andrew Arewa

Dr. Prakash Kumar Udupi

Dr. Manju Jose

Preethy Kurian

Semester: FALL 2016

Programme: MBA-IT & M. Sc.-IT

Module

Leader: Dr. Prakash Kumar Udupi

Intended Module Learning Outcomes This assessment is designed to

demonstrate the achievement of the intended module learning objectives. On

completion of the assessment, students are able to:

1. Assess the business case for a project and recommend a strategy for

reduction of uncertainties and the management of associated risk

2. Recommend a suitable structure and process for monitoring and control of

a project

3. Select and apply appropriate tools and techniques for the planning and

management of a project

4. Formulate a strategy for the implementation of change.

5. Select and apply an appropriate contract and pricing strategy

Name of

student:

Name and ID Signature

Due Date: 21 st December 2016

Submitted

on:

Submitted

to:

Signature:

Through Moodle

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 2

Assessment – Individual Assignment (Fall 2016)

Weightage 100% of module coursework

Hand Out Date: 21 st

October 2016

Submission Commences From : 10 th

December 2016

Final Submission Date : 21 st December 2016

Introduction:

You are required to develop a strategic project plan in the form of a document not more than

4000 words, excluding appendices and references. There is considerable freedom of choice

for a suitable project scenario. But, whatever scenario you choose, assessment is against

specific criteria that originate in the module learning outcomes.

The module learning outcomes (1-5) are mapped to the following assessment criteria

1. Assess the business case for a project and recommend a strategy for reduction of

uncertainties and the management of associated risk Assess the business case for a

project and recommend a strategy for reduction of uncertainties and the management of

associated risk

2. Recommend a suitable structure and process for monitoring and control of a project

3. Select and apply appropriate tools and techniques for the planning and management of a project

4. Formulate a strategy for the implementation of change.

5. Select and apply an appropriate contract and pricing strategy

You have to choose between:

 A suitable project area with which you are familiar, e.g. your workplace, or

 A well-publicized disaster, requiring a significant and sustained response, or

 A significant civil or construction, manufacturing or management (could also

be an information systems) project (but not a scientific research project)

 If you still have issues you can email me or come and discuss

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 3

Tasks:

With your chosen scenario:

 Briefly describe the initial structure – set baseline of the project

 Create a strategic project plan with :

 A strategic project analysis exercise

 A change strategy with enough detail for:

 A business case

 Project planning and management tools

 Monitoring and control structure

 A risk reduction strategy using an appropriate approach to risk identification.

Submission details are as follows

1. Submit a work proposal comprising of the following on or before 19th Nov 2016 (10 Marks)

Template - Work Proposal for Assignments

Proposal Title (Optional): Expected Deliverables of the assignment [The deliverables are the specific work products that student must produce in order to complete the assignment. Example: For a business analysis assignment, deliverables could be business analysis plan, feasibility report, business requirement specification etc.] Approach towards the solution [Specify the Literature, Software and Hardware, Tools and techniques needed to meet the assignment objectives] Potential risks foreseeable[Technical risk, Management risk, External risk etc. ]:

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 4

Timeline and work breakdown (Gantt Chart): References:

2. Completed Project Plan document must include, all of the following details.

1 Introduction, Executive Summary 10 Marks

2 Business Case

3 Project Scope, Objectives

4 Risk identification, risk

categorization, analysis, risk

management along with mitigation

plan

15 marks

5 Resource Plan 25 Marks

6 Estimation Plan

7 Communication Plan

8 Project Schedule (Task List,

Summary tasks, WBS, Predecessor

linking, Resource allocation, Gantt

Chart, Network analysis diagrams)

9 Monitoring and controlling strategy (

Mile Stone, Base line, Critical Path,

Float/Slack, etc.)

15 Marks

10 Acceptance Plan

11 Contracting and Pricing strategy 10 Marks

12 Change Management Details, (

Changes applied, redrawn baseline

and its effects on scheduling / cost

estimation or any other factors, Slack

/Float role in change management.)

15 Marks

13 Critical Evaluation and Concluding

Remarks

14 References

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 5

The options above give scope for a great variety of responses. Given that, it would be

extremely odd if two people happened to produce similar reports and any such

similarities would be fairly easy to detect. Appropriate penalty would be applied under

such circumstances as per MEC PG regulations.

Documentation Requirements

 Adopt academic conventions appropriate to a higher degree

 Avoid ‘cut & paste’ model solutions

 Use project management software (MS-Project).

 You will be assessed on managerial and strategic insights, not detailed Techniques

 Don’t breach company confidentiality

 Pay close attention to assessment weighting and allocate your effort proportionately

 Use MEC LMS Moodle for peer and tutor support

 Try to submit coursework as a single piece, preferably in Microsoft Word or Adobe

PDF format

 Include full name and module details

Note

 Soft copy of the document must be uploaded through Moodle, on and before 21 st

December 2016.

 Ethical form must be uploaded along with your report.

 Presentation is mandatory for awarding marks and will be conducted only after submission. If absent for presentation, zero marks will be awarded. Submission links will be opened from 10

th December 2016. Presentation will be commenced

from 11 th

Dec 2016 and must be completed on or before 29 th

Dec 2016. Please discuss with your faculty for finalizing presentation schedules.

Criteria

The assignment will be assessed out of 100 marks using the following criteria. The

marks awarded would be then scaled to 70.

You will have demonstrated ability to:

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 6

1 Work Proposal. (Must be submitted on or before 19 th

Nov 2016). (10 marks)

2 Identify and evaluate a suitable business case for a project. (10 marks)

3 Recommend a strategy for reduction of uncertainties and the management of associated risk. (15 marks)

4 Identify and apply appropriate planning and management tools for the project (25 marks)

5 Recommend a suitable structure and process for the monitoring and control of a project (15 marks)

6 Identify, discuss and select the appropriate contract and pricing strategy. Give brief

justifications about your selections. (10 marks)

7. Formulate a strategy for the implementation of change. (15 marks)

The assignment evaluation sheet is attached at the end of this document for your

reference.

Assessment criteria:

The following criteria will be interpreted appropriately according to the nature of the

assessment and the general framework set by the module aim and learning outcomes.

For a mark of >69%

• Show a thorough understanding of the purpose of the activity.

• Display knowledge of the major principles, theories, methodologies, and practices involved in Project Management and an ability to apply them effectively.

• Provide evidence of wide reading, including academic journals.

• Demonstrate an ability to select critical points, evaluate them and communicate the conclusions effectively.

• Provide approaches that are creative, practicable, and supported.

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 7

• Provide a sound, supported critique of your own work.

• Provided sound and supported discussions of further research that may be needed.

For a mark of 60-69%

• Show a clear understanding of the activity.

• Display knowledge of most of the principles, theories, methodologies, and practices involved in Project Management and an ability to apply them effectively.

• Provide evidence of wide reading.

• Demonstrate an ability to select critical points and analyse them and draw sound conclusions.

• Provide approaches that are creative and practicable.

• Provide a supported critique of your own work.

• Provide supported, discussions of further research that may be needed.

For a mark of 50-59%

• Show an adequate understanding of the activity.

• Display knowledge of some of the principles, theories, methodologies, and practices involved in Project Management and an ability to apply them.

• Provide evidence of some reading related to the proposal.

• Demonstrate an ability to select key points in the exercise and analyse them.

• Provide approaches that are less creative or might not be entirely practicable

• Provide a critique of your own work.

• Provide discussions of further research that may be needed.

For a mark of 40-49%

• Show a barely adequate understanding of the purpose of the exercise.

• Display knowledge of some of the principles, theories, methodologies, and practices involved in Project Management and attempt to apply them.

• Provide evidence of reading limited relevant literature.

• Attempt some analysis and discussion.

• Show some ability to link theory to problems and provide solutions.

For a mark of 25-39%

• Made an attempt to complete the exercise.

• Show little or no understanding of the principles, theories, and practices involved in

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 8

Project Management.

• No evidence of academic reading.

• An inability to recognise the key points.

For a mark of <25%

• Work lacks any academic merit as adjudged by the foregoing.

Appendices

Information should only be included if it serves a purpose. If an appendix serves a purpose, it

will be referred to in the main text. Use the appendices for technical discussions, including

any details of statistical tests you have performed. This section is use to convince other

management scientists that you know what you are talking about.

Penalties:  Work submitted up to 1 week (5 working days) after the due date for submission will

lose 10% of the mark (after internal moderation).

 Work submitted after this, but up to 2 weeks (10 working days) late will lose 20% of the mark (after internal moderation).

 Work tendered for submission more than 2 weeks (10 working days) after the due date will not be accepted and an absence will be recorded for the assessment concerned. This

will count as a failed attempt and may result in you failing the module overall.

 The term week should be taken to mean 5 working days (i.e. Sunday to Thursday excluding days of official closure (e.g. public holidays). Please refer to the MBA –IT

programme handbook for the penalty on plagiarism/academic cheating.

Plagiarism Policy

As per MEC policy, any form of violation of academic integrity will invite severe penalty. Plagiarized documents, in part or in whole, submitted by the students will be penalized as per MEC policies.

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 9

MBA-IT/M.Sc-IT (ECM28EMD) – PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Individual Assignment Evaluation Sheet (FALL 2016)

ID No : _______________ Student’s Name : ______________________________

Deliver

ables

Criteria 0-2 3-6 7-10 Mark

Task 1

Work

Proposal

Not Submitted /

Poor Compilation

/Partial

compilation of

work proposals

Proposal Title, discussion on

expected deliverables of the

assignment, approach

towards the solution,

discussion on potential risks

foreseen , timeline, work

breakdown and references

found Satisfactory / Good.

Very Good /

Excellent work

proposal covering all

the areas as

mentioned in the

handout

Examiner’s comments :

Deliver

ables

Criteria 0-2 3-6 7-10 Mark

Task 2

Business Case Not Submitted /

Poor Compilation

/Partial

compilation of

Business Case

Introduction, executive

summary, business case,

project scope, objectives

discussion found

Satisfactory / Good. Scope

of improvements on certain

information exists.

Very Good /

Excellent compilation

and discussion on

business case and

associate components

covering all aspects

Examiner’s comments :

Deliver

ables

Criteria 0-3 4-9 10-15 Mark

Task 3

Strategy for

reduction of

uncertainties

and the

management

of associated

risk

Not Submitted /

Poor Compilation

/Partial

compilation and

poor discussion of

risk management

Good / Satisfactory

identification of risks,

strategy for reduction on

uncertainties and

management. However

improvements needed in

risk identification / risk

management / mitigation

plan.

Very Good /

Excellent risk

identification and

uncertainties. Very

good /excellent

discussion on risk

management and

mitigation plan

Examiner’s comments :

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 10

Deliver

ables

Criteria 0-5 6-17 18-25 Mark

Task. 4 Identify and

apply of

appropriate

planning and

management

tools

Uncompleted/

Poor selection and

usage of project

planning and

management tool

Satisfactory / Good usage

of project planning and

management tools and

techniques. However few

of the techniques / tools

utilization needs

improvements. Visual

representation /

illustrations needs

improvements.

Very Good /

Excellent usage

project management

tools and techniques

with suitable

illustrations. Very

good / Excellent

presentation of

information on

project planning and

management tools

Examiner’s comments :

Deliver

ables

Criteria 0-3 4-9 10-15 Mark

Task. 5 Recommendat

ion of a

suitable

structure and

process for

the

monitoring

and

control of the

project

Uncompleted/

poor Media File

Satisfactory / Good usage

of suitable structures and

process for project

monitoring and control.

However illustration and

overall improvement

needed in few of the

monitoring components

selected

Very good / Excellent

usage of suitable

structure and process

for the monitoring

and control of the

project. Identification

and discussion of

monitoring

component found

very good / excellent

Examiner’s comments :

Deliver

ables

Criteria 0-2 3-6 7-10 Mark

Task. 6 Contract and

pricing

strategy

Uncompleted/

Poor selection,

compilation of

contracting and

pricing strategy

Satisfactory / Good

discussion on contracting

and pricing strategy.

However justification

needs improvements

Very Good /

Excellent discussion

on contracting and

pricing strategy.

Identification

/selection and

justification found

very good / excellent

Examiner’s comments :

Project Management- ECM28EMD -Fall-2016-CW2-R-All

ECM28EMD – Project Management 11

Deliver

ables

Criteria 0-3 4-9 10-15 Mark

Task. 7 Strategy for

implementing

change

Uncompleted/

Poor selection,

compilation

change

management

strategy

Satisfactory / Good

compilation and

discussion on change

management strategy.

However reflection of

change management

details of few components

needs improvements.

Very Good /

Excellent compilation

of strategy for

implementing change

management.

Reflection of changes

clearly observed and

strategy discussed

found very good /

excellent.

Examiner’s comments :

Total Marks

Penalty

Final Mark

Examiner : Sign : Date :

Internal Moderator : Sign : Date :