Edith Cowan University
School of Business and Law
Telephone: 134328 | Calls outside Australia (61 8)6304 0000
Email: courseadvice@ecu.edu.au | Web: http://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/business-and-law/overview
CRICOS IPC 00279B
MAN6925
Project Management
Discipline: MIS
Prepared by: Unit Coordinator Richard Fulford. Version 2018.2.1.0
Key unit contacts
UNIT COORDINATOR
Name Room Email Tel Consultation Time
Dr. Richard Fulford 2.449 r.fulford@ecu.edu.au 6304 5216 Friday 10:00 – 12:00 p.m.
LECTURER/S
Name Room Email Tel Consultation Time
Dr. Richard Fulford 2.449 r.fulford@ecu.edu.au 6304 5216 Friday 10:00 – 12:00 p.m.
ACADEMIC COORDINATOR/PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Name Room Email Tel
Dr. Dilhani Kapu
Arachchilage 2.467 D.KAPUARACHCHILAGE@ecu.edu.au 6304 5356
Classes for on campus delivery Joondalup
Day Time Room
Tuesday 15:30 - 18:30 JO 02.138 (Case Study)
TUTORIAL/LABORATORY
Day Time Room
Tuesday 17:30-18:30 (depending upon weekly activities) JO 02.109 (Computer Lab)
JO 02.110 (Computer Lab)
Classes for on campus delivery Mount Lawley
LECTURE/SEMINAR
Day Time Room
Wednesday 8:30-11:30 ML 03.209/211 (Lecture Room)
TUTORIAL/LABORATORY
Day Time Room
Wednesday 10:30 – 11:30 (depending upon weekly activities) ML 16.223 (Laboratory - U/graduate)
ML 16.224 (Laboratory - U/graduate)
Acknowledgement of Country
The School of Business and Law acknowledges the Noongar people who are the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which our metropolitan campuses now stand. We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation as the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which ECU Sydney campus now stands. We acknowledge the Kulin Nation who are the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which ECU Melbourne stands. We offer our respects to Elders past and present.
Introduction to the Unit
Project management skills cross subject and functional boundaries to facilitate the holistic solution of complex problems in industries such as information systems, information technology, finance, engineering, planning, tourism, manufacturing, sport and event management. In this unit, students examine the fundamental principles, strategies and approaches used by project managers. It introduces students to the stages of project management from initial project selection through to final closure. Topic areas include project selection, planning, estimating, quality management, risk management, managing stakeholders, developing the project team and the use of appropriate project planning software.
Students will generate and evaluate complex strategies and opportunities to support the application of technology and investment proposals. Research and communicate to specialist and non-specialist audiences information and plans to solve problems and manage risk.
Unit Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit you will be able to:
1. Apply financial and non-financial ranking techniques to the selection of appropriate projects for a given organisation.
2. Construct a comprehensive project plan (including the resource added work-breakdown structure, stakeholder analysis, risk analysis, procurement plan and communication plan).
3. Apply appropriate project planning software.
4. Evaluate project management methods.
5. Formulate appropriate responses for dealing with unexpected variations to project plans.
Course Learning Outcomes
Your learning in this unit will contribute to the development (or demonstrate your attainment) of the following Course Learning Outcomes:
4.1. Demonstrate personal autonomy and accountability in the execution of a substantial authentic project;
4.2. Apply knowledge and skills with initiative and/or creativity to new situations.
Communication Skills
Communication skills are not only crucial for success at University, employers also want graduates who are competent and confident communicators, with strong English language proficiency.
For assistance with improving your English language skills, you can attend one of the Academic Skills workshops or email learningadviser@ecu.edu.au. Please visit Blackboard Communities Academic Skills Centre for workshop registration and other information about developing your language and study skills.
The Learning Experience
The weekly lecture will include a formal lecture and exercises. Students will also need to complete Lab. work in some weeks.
Online lectures will be recorded and placed on Blackboard. Exercises will be provided and worked through where appropriate.
Students will be provided with MSProject by ECU. MSProject does not work on Macs. If students do not have access to a PC that will need to create a project schedule on paper or in Excel.
Active learning
Studying a university-level course requires you to take an active role in what you are learning. To get the most out of your time at ECU, you should engage with and actively participate in your units, and take responsibility for your own learning.
On-campus students
If you are enrolled as an on-campus student you will need to attend a weekly lecture and a tutorial class. It is important that you attend class every week, arrive punctually and participate constructively and professionally. You will find it beneficial to complete the associated reading prior to attending class, to give you some understanding of the topic and improve your confidence with sharing your ideas during class.
Learning materials and resources will be available on the Blackboard site for this unit, to assist you with your studies.
Online students
If you are enrolled as an online (off-campus) student you will find your learning materials on Blackboard. It is important that you are proactive and self-motivated with your learning as an online student, making sure you commit to your studies at regular times every week to ensure success. It is critical for your success in an online unit to engage with other students via Blackboard Discussion forums, asking and answering one another’s questions, sharing different perspectives and engaging with the content.
To assist you with planning your time, please consider the following:
• Use the Study Schedule to guide your progress through the learning activities and assessment tasks this semester;
• Check your ECU student email regularly;
• Stay in touch with your classmates regularly, via Blackboard Discussion Board.
Plan ‘rigid’ study times in your weekly schedule and consider allocating separate times for reading, learning activities, assignment research and discussion.
Discussion board expectations
Networking with other students; asking questions to clarify understanding; responding to questions asked by other students; debating different perspectives; and sharing articles or other information you discover throughout your studies, are all important parts of learning. To enable you to ‘discuss’ the unit content with other students or to ask questions about the assessments, etc., an electronic Discussion Board is available on the Blackboard site for this unit. It is your responsibility to check the discussion board at least once a week via Blackboard Discussion Board. If you are not sure how to find, or how to use the Discussion Board, ask (or email) your tutor or lecturer for help.
When using the discussion boards, you must display the normal courtesies of professional communication.
Please refer to ‘ECU Discussion Board Etiquette’ (below) to guide your communication with other students. The discussion boards are monitored and postings deemed unprofessional, inappropriate and/or unrelated to the unit content will be removed.
ECU DISCUSSION BOARD ETIQUETTE
Please ensure your online communications follow these guidelines:
• Be polite;
• Use correct spelling and grammar;
• Do not write using capital letters (this can be interpreted as SHOUTING!);
• Avoid exotic fonts or colours;
• Be concise;
• Be respectful of different perspectives;
• Avoid responding when you are feeling angry;
• Do not disclose personal contact details; and
• Take the plunge and get involved in the discussions.
Texts and Resources
• Schwalbe, K. (2012/2015). An introduction to project management (4th ed./5thed.). Minnesota, USA: Kathy Schwalbe.
• Larson E.W., Honig B., Gray C.F., Dantin U, Baccarini D.(2014) Project management : the managerial process.
McGraw-Hill.
• Meredith, J., & Mantel, S.(2011). Project management: A managerial approach (8th ed.). Indianapolis: Wiley.
• Project Management Institute (2017) A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. – abbr.
PMBOK/PMBOK Guide (6th. ed) Pennsylvania: Project management Institute.
Textbook
Gray, C. F., & Larson, E. W. (2014). Project management: The managerial process (1st Australian ed.).
McGraw-Hill/Irwin. or
Gray, C. F., & Larson, E. W. (2018). Project management: The managerial process 7th Ed..
McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Study Schedule
This schedule provides a guideline on the topics covered and activities required each week, including assessment dates during the semester.
Week
1
2
3
4
Topics
Introduction to unit and project management Aligning projects with strategy
Project scope management Stakeholder management
Defining the project (WBS) Project networks
Project networks and scheduling
Assessment
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Project resources and risk analysis
Project costing
Project costing
Procurement and communication
Mid Semester break
Supported assignment study
Agile project management
Estimating Agile
Agile Frameworks
Free study week
Assignment 1 Due
Assignment 2 Due
Assessment Information
In order to pass this unit, you must achieve an overall mark of 50% or more from the assessment tasks sumarised below.
Assessment summary
No. Assessment Due Date and Time Value Mandatory to Pass
1 Assignment October 4, 12:00 a.m. 60% No
2 Report November 1, 12:00 a.m. 40% No
Assessment Task 1: Assignment
Assignment 1 is a traditional Project Management Body of Knowledge project management plan.
Value: 60%
Format: Word, MSProject and Excel documents
Due date & time: October 4, 12:00 a.m.
How to submit: * Electronically, via Blackboard Assignment Assignment 1
Unit learning outcomes: 1. Construct a comprehensive project plan (including the resource added workbreakdown structure, stakeholder analysis, risk analysis, procurement plan and communication plan).
2. Apply appropriate project planning software.
Course learning outcomes 4.1. Demonstrate personal autonomy and accountability in the execution of a substantial authentic project;
4.2. Apply knowledge and skills with initiative and/or creativity to new situations.
PREPARATION
Attended lecture 1 to 8 and completed all lab. Activities.
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
You can select one of the two following case studies or create one of your own. If you create one of your own add the case study to the assignment submission.
Case One Information Systems
The assignment one project is to develop a project estimating, costing and budgeting system. The system is a bespoke system and can be written in a programming language of your choice e.g C#. The system must be able to create a cost baseline, cash flow forecast, earned value management calculations and percentage complete proposal. The system will be able to have data entered, data imported via comma delimited files or XML.
It is necessary to purchase a server to run the system and 25 client PCs. The PCs need to be configured with Windows 10 and added to an existing network. The server needs to be setup and tested. Subcontractors will be required to develop the software
The project requires at a minimum the high-level work activities as follows.
• requirements gathering
• technical specification
• development
• server installation
• client PC setup
• unit test of all developments
• user acceptance testing of the application
• training
• go live support
• project review
The above elements need to be expanded to create a project plan
Case Two Environmental Science
You are required to undertake research to try to ascertain if the Great Barrier Reef is being damaged by global warming on phosphates. You will need to conduct research that has three environments, a placebo environment, a warm water environment and a phosphates environment. This will require obtaining coral, setting up tanks to contain the coral and undertaking the research.
It is necessary to purchase tanks and ancillary equipments such as heaters and phospherates. A boat will need to be chartered. The coral will need to be monitored over a six week period. The Queensland governmet will pay for the project. Three researchers will be required to run the project as well as lab. technicians as required and contractors to build the tanks.
The project requires at a minimum the high-level work activities as follows. • requirements gathering
• tank environment setup
• tank building
• tank test
• coral gathering
• coral installation
• coral monitoring
• conclusion report
• acceptance by Queeensland government
The above elements need to be expanded to create a project plan
RESOURCES
You will require MSProject 2016. MSProject 2016 is available in Joondalup and Mount Lawley e-labs. You can also install MSProject 2016 software on your own PC by accessing https://dreamsparks.sbl.ecu.edu.au/. MSProject does not work on Apple devices. If you have an Apple device and do not have access to a PC please contact the lecturer about how to undertake the assignment.
MARKING CRITERIA
Name
Student Number
Scope Statement
Poor definition and explanation
??????????????
Thorough definition and explanation about scope and how you would create requirements
Estimates
Incorrect or missing
estimates
???????????? Comprehensive and accurate analogous, parametric and bottom-up estimates with ROM
Stakeholder
Management Plan Key stakeholders not identified and/or management plan poorly defined
????????????
Key stakeholders identified and
management plan clearly defined
Work breakdown structure and bottom-up budget
Lack of development of structure
??????????
Excellent development and well justified structure
Communication Plan Lack of development of plan and management ?????????? Plan shows communication management and controls
Risk Analysis
Key risks not identified
??????????
Risk clearly identified and justified
Procurement Plan Does not demonstrate selection of suppliers, contractual considerations or performance reporting ?????????? Demonstrates selection of suppliers, contractual considerations or performance reporting
Gantt Chart
Illogical flow of activities and/or poorly defined resource usage
??????????????
Logical flow of activities and well defined resource packages
Critical Path
Not accurate or not shown ??????
Accurately defined
Critical Chain
Resource constraint not
explained and CP not
logical ???????? Resource constraint explained and CP amendment logical
FEEDBACK
Feedback will be available via Blackboard My Grades.
Assessment Task 2: Report
Assignment 2 is a 2,000 word academic paper that compares the Project Management Body of Knowledge and Agile project management.
Value: 40%
Format: Report 2000 words, (+/- 10%); MSWord, include an ECU Cover Sheet at the start of the document.
Due date & time: 1 November, 12:00 a.m.
How to submit: Electronically, via Blackboard Assessment folder Assignment Turnitin link
Unit learning outcomes: Evaluate project management methods
PREPARATION
Attended or listened to all lectures
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
For this assignment you are required to write a 2,000 word academic paper that compares the project management processes described in the project management body of knowledge as taught in this unit with agile project management methods.
MARKING CRITERIA
Structure and conventions
Executive Summary - Poorly summarized- Does not reflect the overall report. ???????????? Summarized excellently-
Reflects the overall report
Introduction- Brief or unclear introduction ?????? Information about the study and the following are excellently presented
Project Methods – not sufficiently detailed or lacks elements ?????????????? Clear explanation of methods
Contrasts Methods – the differences between methods are not clearly identified ?????????????? Differences between methods are clearly explained
Applicability – the application of the methods is not clearly explained ???????????? The nature of projects that the methods will be used for are clearly identified.
Overall report structure- Poorly structured and incoherent writing ?????????? Structured Excellently and coherent writing
References- Academic references are not adequate and not consistent in style ???????????? Adequate academic references are used (at least 10) and consistent in style
FEEDBACK
Feedback will be available via Blackboard My Grades.
Occupational Health and Safety
lease consider the health and safety of yourself, and others you study with, in all the environments where you study. Any group tasks need to be undertaken with the interests of all involved, ensuring the culture of respect and safe working is similar to what would be undertaken in a workplace or community setting.
ECU is proud to have led the move to smoke-free university campuses in WA and Australia. ECU’s smokefree policy was established in 2012 to promote the health of staff, students and visitors. Smoking is not permitted on any ECU campus and this applies 24 hours a day seven days a week. In accordance with the ECU Smoke-Free University Guidelines (#4.4) -Employees observing other employees, contractors, visitors or students smoking on University grounds should advise them that they are smoking in a prohibited area and request them to move off ECU property.-
Feedback and unit development
We invite and welcome honest feedback at ECU, both for praise and criticism, and there are a number of ways to proceed during a semester or teaching period. The teaching staff are your first and most important point of contact for feedback about the unit (their details are on the first page of this document). If the unit has a general discussion board, you can post your comments there as well. More formally, in week four of a standard semester, the School has an online survey to gauge your opinions about the progress of the unit in this early stage.
The University has a central email address to capture and action feedback of a more general nature. You can email student.feedback@ecu.edu.au or visit the Student Feedback page (accessed at: http://intranet.ecu.edu.au/student/support/contact-us/student-feedback).
Unit and Teaching Evaluation Instrument (UTEI)
Towards the end of any given teaching period in a unit, enrolled students will be invited by email to complete the ECU UTEI online survey. This survey will ask questions concerning your level of satisfaction with the unit, your lecturer and your tutor. Your feedback is essential to help us to improve the quality of our units and courses and as such, we appreciate your time to complete the survey carefully. Your participation and the feedback you provide are anonymous and confidential.
Unit Development resulting from student feedback
The unit was rewritten Sem 2. 2017. Student feedback was in the main positive, the Unit will have minor updates to increase educational material.
Unit Development resulting from industry/professional feedback
The unit design has been guided by the Course Concusltative Committee which in cludes project managers.