project management assignment help for mba students

Pearson BTEC Level 5

HNC/D Diploma in Business

Project Management for Business (PM4B)

Assessment

EXTRA NOTES These ‘extra’ notes are intended to help students produce appropriate responses to the tasks set in this assignment. They are not intended to ‘give you the answers’ but more as a ‘nudge in the right direction’ …….

Date for Submission: 12th November 2015 (The submission portal will close at 13:59 GMT)

Set by: Paula Reilly

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Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for the HNC/D programme you are required to submit an assignment for each module. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments. After completing the Project Management for Business module you should be able to:

LO1 Understand project management principles LO2 Be able to manage a project’s human resources LO3 Be able to apply project processes and procedures Assignment Context / Scenario In order to fulfil the requirements of this module students are encouraged to apply the theories and concepts studied throughout the QCF Project Management for Business module to a real business project as far as is possible. For this assignment you are required to select a business project that is to be undertaken, or which has already been completed. The senior management team at your chosen organisation has asked you to plan / review the selected project and report back to them on its success. You are required to plan / review all aspects of the management of the project and to evaluate the project’s success.

Examples of projects that could be used for this assignment are as follows: Example Project A The redesign of office space to accommodate new members of staff / new furniture Example Project B Implementation of a new computer software package / system - either for use by the whole organisation or by one department. Example Project C Construct an extension to an existing building. These are only examples and you will be able to think of other business projects. Please contact the module tutor for advice if you are unsure of the suitability of your chosen project for this assignment, or if you are struggling to decide on a project to use.

Assignments which are based purely on theory, with little or no application to a real business project, will be deemed to NOT have fulfilled the learning outcomes.

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Assignment Task

Please identify ONE business project to use for this assignment.

You are required to produce a Project Plan / Review document (see guidelines section) for the business project that you have identified and your plan / review should cover the following:

Underneath each task I have listed the areas of the module content that would be useful for each task. You are not expected to cover all of the elements shown in each answer / response but you should have covered / considered all of the aspects shown in your studies for this module and in preparation of your answer. It is important that students demonstrate that they are able to APPLY the theories / techniques studied IN PRACTICE throughout their answers.

Introduction (Suggested word count 200 words maximum)

A short description of the background of the project, including some basic organisation information, the project title & its main objectives.

Section 1 – Project Management Principles (Suggested word count 500 words maximum)

In this section you should describe the background and principles of project management and explain the principles behind project management systems and procedures. (1.1, 1.3)

Project management: principles of projects, project management and the role of the project manager eg management of change, understanding of project management system elements and their integration, management of multiple projects, project environment and the impact of external influences on projects; identification of the major project phases and why they are required, an understanding of the work in each phase, the nature of work in the lifecycles of projects in various industries Project management systems: procedures and processes, knowledge of project information support (IS) systems, how to integrate human and material resources to achieve successful projects

Section 2 – Project Planning (Suggested word count 1800 words maximum)

In this section you should describe and show the following elements of the project plan:

- Appraise the viability of the project and developing success/failure criteria of the project (1.2)

Success/failure criteria: the need to meet operational, time and cost criteria, and to define and measure success e.g. develop the project scope, product breakdown structure (PBS), work breakdown structure (WBS), project execution strategy and the role of the project team; consideration of investment appraisal eg use of discount cash flow (DCF) and net present value (NPV); benefit analysis and viability of projects; determine success/failure criteria, preparation of project definition report, acceptance tests

- Prepare project plans and establish the project organisation (3.1)

Control and co-ordination: the need for monitoring and control eg. preparation of project plans, planning, scheduling and resourcing techniques, use of work breakdown structure to develop monitoring and control systems, monitoring performance and progress measurement against established targets and plans, project reporting, change control procedures

- Apply project scheduling, estimating and cost control techniques to the project (3.2)

Scheduling techniques: relationship between schedules, OBS and WBS, bar charts, milestone schedules, network techniques, resourcing techniques, computer-based scheduling and resourcing packages, project progress measurement and reporting techniques, staff hours earned value and progress ‘S’ curves, critical path analysis and reporting, milestone trending

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Cost control: cost breakdown structure eg types of project estimate, resources needed, estimating techniques, estimating accuracy, contingency and estimation, bid estimates, whole-life cost estimates, sources of information, cost information sensitivity, computer based estimating

Techniques: allocation of budgets to packages of work, committed costs, actual costs, cash flow, contingency

- Analyse the methods used to measure project performance (3.3)

Performance: cost performance analysis eg budgeted cost for work scheduled (BCWS) budgeted cost for work performed (BCWP); concept of earned value, actual cost of work performed (ACWP), cost performance indicators

- Explain project change control procedures (3.4)

Change control: the need for formal control of changes eg project impact of changes, principles of change control and configuration management; changes to scope, specification, cost or schedule; change reviews and authorisation, the formation of project teams, project initiation and start-up procedures

- Explain the key elements involved in terminating projects and conduct a post-project appraisal (1.4) Terminating the project: audit trails, punch lists, close-out reports and post-project appraisals; comparison of project outcome with business objectives

Section 3 – Project Human Resources (Suggested word count 1000 words maximum)

In this section you should explain how the HR aspects of the project are / were managed by:

- Identifying the most appropriate project organisational structure and roles / responsibilities of participants within the project (2.1)

Organisational structure: functional, project and matrix organisational structures eg consideration of cultural and environmental influences, organisational evolution during the project lifecycle; job descriptions and key roles eg the project sponsor, champion, manager, integrators; other participants eg the project owner, user, supporters, stakeholders

- Describing / demonstrating how to control and co-ordinate the project (2.2)

Control and co-ordination: the need for monitoring and control eg. preparation of project plans, planning, scheduling and resourcing techniques, use of work breakdown structure to develop monitoring and control systems, monitoring performance and progress measurement against established targets and plans, project reporting, change control procedures

- Assessing the leadership requirements and qualities for the project (2.3)

Leadership requirements: stages of team development eg Belbin’s team roles, motivation and the need for team building, project leadership styles and attributes; delegation of work and responsibility, techniques for dealing with conflict, negotiation skills

- Planning and specifying human resources and requirements for the project (2.4)

Human resources and requirements: calculation, specification and optimisation of human resource requirements, job descriptions

Section 4 – Project Evaluation (Suggested word count 500 words maximum)

In this section you should evaluate the project by commenting on the success / failure of the project itself and how it is / was managed (3.5)

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Your conclusions should be based on the information that you have gathered during the course of this assignment and should discuss whether you think the project was a success or not (more so in the way it was managed than in its outputs) and why. You should also think critically and be able to recommend actions going forward to improve the performance of future projects within the business.

Formative Feedback Opportunity: In order to assist with your learning and to give you some early, formative feedback you are encouraged to submit a PLAN / OUTLINE of your Project Review (i.e. not full answers – just a couple of sentences explaining what you intend to include in your answer for each section) to your tutor. If you do decide to complete PLAN / OUTLINE DRAFT then, in order to receive feedback, the document must be emailed to the module tutor by 12th October 2015. The tutor’s email address can be found on the module front page on iLearn and you will receive feedback within seven days. Re-sits:

If you are re-sitting this assessment for the first time, you may re-work your original submission if you wish. However, if this is your third attempt at this assessment, you must submit a piece of work which is substantially different from your first two attempts.

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Student Guidelines 1. You should write this assignment in an informal report format and should respond to each of the assignment tasks in turn and present your answers in an ‘informal report’ layout (see group learning space for guidance on layout). 2. You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources used are correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which show evidence of academic unfair practice. (See the Student Handbook which is in the Induction Area). Please also refer to the ‘Guide to Unfair Practice in Assessment’ on the module page on ilearn. 3. You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and wide ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the Harvard system. The ‘My Study Skills’ area contains the following useful resources; Study Skills Guide (containing a Harvard Referencing section) and a Harvard Referencing Interactive Tutorial. You must use the Harvard Referencing method in your assignment. 4. You should use diagrams and tables of figures where appropriate ensuring to reference their source using the Harvard Referencing method. 5. You are required to write your assignment within 4,000 words in order for your research and summarising skills to be developed, and for effective time management. You are required to ensure that the assignment addresses all of the assessment tasks. In the interests of good academic practice, an assignment submitted with excessive word counts (i.e. more than 10% in excess of the limit) will be returned to you. You will be given a maximum of 48 hours to edit the work to reduce the word count to the permitted maximum. In the event that the submission is still regarded as excessively long then, in line with advice received from Pearson, we will be unable to accept it for marking and you will receive a Refer grade for Non-Submission. The word count excludes the title page, reference list and appendices. Where assessment questions have been reprinted from the assessment brief these will also be excluded from the word count. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count. Printed words include those contained within charts and tables. 6. Your assignment should be submitted as a single document. For more information please see the “Guide to Submitting an Assignment” document available on the module page on iLearn. Recommended Additional Resources Textbooks Lock D — The Essentials of Project Management (Gower Publishing Ltd; 3ew Ed edition (28 Sep 2007) ISBN-10: 0566088053 ISBN-13: 978-0566088056 Online ‘library’ resources available via ilearn EBSCO e book collection / EBSCO Business Source Complete / MyiLibrary Search for ‘Project Management’ texts, e books and articles.

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Assessment Criteria for Pass

To achieve a pass you must meet all of the assessment criteria as stated

below. Failure to cover all of the assessment criteria will result in a referral

grade and you be required to re-submit your assignment.

Further guidance on completion of your assignment can be found in the

guidance notes which are posted on the group learning space by your module

tutor. For additional support please post questions onto the group learning

space, or email [email protected]

Learning

Outcomes/

Assessment

Criteria

Criteria Met

For tutor use

(you may wish to

use this in your

preparation for

your assignment

submission)

LO1 Understand project management principles

1.1 describe the background and principles of project management

Section 1

1.2 appraise the viability of projects, developing success/failure criteria Section 2

1.3 explain the principles behind project management systems and procedures

Section 1

1.4 explain the key elements involved in terminating projects and conducting post-project appraisals

Section 2

LO2 Be able to manage a project’s human resources

2.1 identify the most appropriate organisational structure, roles and responsibilities of participants within a project

Section 3

2.2 control and co-ordinate a project Section 3

2.3 assess project leadership requirements and qualities Section 3

2.4 plan and specify human resources and requirements for a project Section 3

LO 3: Be able to develop communication processes

3.1 prepare project plans and establish the project organisation .

Section 2

3.2 apply project scheduling, estimating and cost control techniques Section 2

3.3 analyse the methods used to measure project performance Section 2

3.4 explain project change control procedures Section 2

3.5 evaluate the completed project Section 4

mailto:[email protected]

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Assessment Criteria for Merit

To achieve a Merit all of the Pass criteria need to be met, then the tutor will

assess whether you have met the Merit Criteria. Each of the Merit criteria

must have been met at least once within the assignment.

The following statements are examples of how a merit may be achieved, if

you do meet the Merit Criteria by showing you have reached this level in other

ways then credit will be awarded for this. You will need to meet M1, M2, M3 at

least once.

M1 - identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions

Appropriate business based project has been selected and detailed for use in this assignment. (S1)

Human resource requirements of the project have been detailed with appropriate analysis (S2)

Project processes are described in detail using analysis / evaluation (S3)

M1

M2 - select/design and apply appropriate methods/techniques

Appropriate project appraisal and post project evaluation techniques applied (S1)

Appropriate software packages have been used to generate the project plans (S2 & 3)

a range of sources of information incl. RDI Study materials, recommended texts and relevant PM texts etc have been used. (all Qns)

M2

M3 - present and communicate appropriate findings

Informal report and NOT essay style has been used

logical and coherent analysis included

PM language accurately used throughout all answers

a range of methods of presentation has been used including use of diagrams e.g. Gantt chart, Network diagrams WBS diagrams etc where appropriate.

Use of Harvard referencing throughout

M3

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Assessment Criteria for Distinction

To achieve a Distinction you have met all of the Pass and the Merit criteria.

Each of the Distinction criteria must be met at least once within the

assignment.

The following statements are examples of how a Distinction may be achieved,

if you do meet the Distinction Criteria by showing you have reached this level

in other ways then credit will be awarded for this. You will need to meet

D1,D2,D3 at least once.

D1- use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions

Assignment has been competed fully and on time

Completed project has been evaluated in great detail. (Q3)

Students project leadership qualities / skills have been have been evaluated (Q2)

D1

D2 - take responsibility for managing and organising activities

Independent research, outside of what has been provided in the study materials, has been utilised to prepare a thorough report which is detailed and in depth in its application to the chosen project and the project management environment.

Report content demonstrates sound academic basis, and includes referencing to a wider range of relevant and appropriate academic sources throughout.

D2

D3 - demonstrate convergent/lateral/ creative thinking

Project plan has been constructed in great detail using several software techniques thoroughly applied e.g. Gantt chart, Network analysis, Critical Path Analysis, performance measurement graphs/charts etc. (Q3)

Creativity is shown in providing evidence of the student’s role in controlling / coordinating the project. (Q2)

D3