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Monash University

FIT2002 Project management - Summer semester, 2013

This unit provides both a theoretical and practical overview of processes involved in successfully managing medium to large scale projects undertaken by organisations operating within various industry sectors. Even though, this unit makes references to projects common to the information technology industry, the principles are equally applied to non-IT related projects. Examples and mini-cases illustrating project management issues experienced by various sectors (e.g. construction, business, defence) are cited. Typical topics include the project life cycle, problem definition, project evaluation, high and low level planning using such techniques as networking, gantt charts and resource levelling, team building and people management, contract management, ethical and security issues, project monitoring and control, reporting and communication, termination and assessment.

Contact Hours

2 hrs lectures/wk, 2 hrs laboratories/wk

Workload requirements

Students will be expected to spend a total of 12 hours per day during semester on this unit as follows:

For on-campus students:

  • 2 hour lecture
  • 2 hour tutorial
  • and a minimum of 2-3 hours of personal study per one hour of contact time in order to satisfy the reading and assignment expectations.

Off-campus students generally do not attend lecture and tutorial sessions, however, you should plan to spend equivalent time working through the relevant resources and participating in discussion groups each week.

Unit Relationships

Prohibitions

AFW3043, BEW3640, BUS2176, CIV3205, CPE2006, CSE2203, GCO3807, GEG3104, GSE3003, FIT3086, MGW2700, MMS2203

Prerequisites

Completion of at least 24 points of level one study or equivalent.

Chief Examiner

Dr Rodney Martin

Campus Lecturer

Clayton

Rodney Martin

Sunway

Tam Leong Hing

Tutors

Clayton

Karan Pedramrazi

Kamaran Memon

Peter Huynh

Academic Overview

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit students will be able to:
  • describe the characteristics and phases of a project and its life cycle and explain the role played by the project manager;
  • explain the need for and develop specific goals, detailed plans and control strategies in large scale projects and relate this to the major reasons for the failure of projects;
  • develop relevant, achievable and measurable project goals;
  • explain and use standard project management techniques including Project Networks, Critical Path Analysis and Management, Gantt Charts and Time-Phased Budgets for high and low level project planning;
  • explore various alternatives in implementing projects by taking into account of enterprise architecture;
  • discuss the communication, people handling and team management skills required of a project manager and explain some of the techniques that may be employed;
  • identify and critically discuss the impact on a project of external influences, including organisational structure, and stakeholders;
  • explain the processes involved in selecting and initiating a project and prepare various critical documents required for these processes, including financial justification;
  • explain the importance of resource availability on project plans, perform project crashing calculations in order to develop and manage resource constrained project plans;
  • describe the need for Quality Management in projects and explain, compare and use various techniques currently employed by professional project managers;
  • describe the impact of risk on a project managers decision process, explain how that risk may be managed and/or mitigated and develop an appropriate risk management plan;
  • describe the need for developing ethical practices in managing project teams;
  • explain security concerns in project management;
  • decide on the type of contracts that need to be prepared in support of acquiring products/services used within projects;
  • monitor the progress of a project, determine performance against the plan, develop strategies to manage any variation and discuss formal change control processes;
  • produce useful, informative progress reports for various project stakeholders and conduct stage and post project reviews.

Unit Schedule

Week Activities Assessment
0   No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0
1 Business Strategy  
2 Introduction to Project Management  
3 Compression  
4 Compression  
5 Accounting NQA 1 PROJECT NETWORKS (8%)
6 Project Financials  
7 Earned Value, Net Present Value NQA 2 PROJECT COMPRESSION (8%)
8 Net Present Value, Multi-Criteria Decision Making  
9 Organizational Structure, Quality NQA 3 FINANCIAL CALCULATIONS (8%)
10 Quality, Contract Administration  
11 Contract Administration, Contract Law NQA 4 NET PRESENT VALUE (8%)
12 PMBOK, Risk MS PROJECT (8%)
  SWOT VAC No formal assessment is undertaken in SWOT VAC
  Examination period LINK to Assessment Policy: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/
academic/education/assessment/
assessment-in-coursework-policy.html

*Unit Schedule details will be maintained and communicated to you via your learning system.

Assessment Summary

Examination (3 hours): 60%; In-semester assessment: 40%

Assessment Task Value Due Date
Numerical Questions Assignment 4 x 8 = 32% total (8% each) NQA 1 due Day 5; NQA 2 due Day 7; NQA 3 due Day 9; NQA 4 due Day 11
Microsoft Project Assignment 8% Day 12
Examination 1 60% To be advised

Teaching Approach

Lecture and tutorials or problem classes
This teaching and learning approach provides facilitated learning, practical exploration and peer learning.

Assessment Requirements

Assessment Policy

Faculty Policy - Unit Assessment Hurdles (http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/staff/edgov/policies/assessment-examinations/assessment-hurdles.html)

Academic Integrity - Please see the Demystifying Citing and Referencing tutorial at http://lib.monash.edu/tutorials/citing/

Assessment Tasks

Participation

  • Assessment task 1
    Title:
    Numerical Questions Assignment
    Description:
    One numerical question on each of the topics (1) Project Networks, (2) Project Compression, (3) Financials, (4) Net Present Value. Equal marks (8%) for each question.
    Weighting:
    4 x 8 = 32% total (8% each)
    Criteria for assessment:

    Assessment will be on:

    • Correct answer: 5 marks.
    • Method, explanation, presentation: 3 marks.
    Due date:
    NQA 1 due Day 5; NQA 2 due Day 7; NQA 3 due Day 9; NQA 4 due Day 11
  • Assessment task 2
    Title:
    Microsoft Project Assignment
    Description:
    Students will enter a project into Microsoft Project software. Students will then change and update the project. Assessment will be by a short report explaining the work, and the files containing the MSP database.
    Weighting:
    8%
    Criteria for assessment:

    Assessment criteria will be provided during class.

    Assessment will be on:

    • Numerical work: approximately 6 marks.
    • Report: 2 marks.

    The numerical work will be Excel and Microsoft Project files.

    Due date:
    Day 12

Examinations

  • Examination 1
    Weighting:
    60%
    Length:
    3 hours
    Type (open/closed book):
    Closed book
    Electronic devices allowed in the exam:
    None

Learning resources

Reading list

Schwalbe K (2010) Information Technology Project Management, Kathy Schwalbe, 6th Edition, Thomson Course Technology

Bunin R & Biheller (2010) New Perspectives on Microsoft Project 2010 Introductory, 2010 Edition, Cengage Learning

Monash Library Unit Reading List
http://readinglists.lib.monash.edu/index.html

Feedback to you

Examination/other end-of-semester assessment feedback may take the form of feedback classes, provision of sample answers or other group feedback. Please check with your lecturer on the feedback provided and take advantage of this prior to requesting individual consultations with staff. If your unit has an examination, you may request to view your examination script booklet, see http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/procedures/request-to-view-exam-scripts.html

Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:

  • Graded assignments with comments
  • Graded assignments without comments
  • Solutions to tutes, labs and assignments

Extensions and penalties

Submission must be made by the due date otherwise penalties will be enforced.

You must negotiate any extensions formally with your campus unit leader via the in-semester special consideration process: http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html

Returning assignments

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assignment submission

It is a University requirement (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/student-academic-integrity-managing-plagiarism-collusion-procedures.html) for students to submit an assignment coversheet for each assessment item. Faculty Assignment coversheets can be found at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/. Please check with your Lecturer on the submission method for your assignment coversheet (e.g. attach a file to the online assignment submission, hand-in a hard copy, or use an online quiz). Please note that it is your responsibility to retain copies of your assessments.

Online submission

If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the learning system for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.

Recommended Resources

Microsoft Project 2010. Download from http://msdnaa.monash.edu.au/fit and install it on your own computer.

This software is available in Student Labs - please confirm with your tutor during tutorials.

Other Information

Policies

Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might uphold them. You can find Monash’s Education Policies at: www.policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html

Key educational policies include:

Graduate Attributes Policy

http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/management/monash-graduate-attributes-policy.html

Student services

The University provides many different kinds of support services for you. Contact your tutor if you need advice and see the range of services available at http://www.monash.edu.au/students. For Sunway see http://www.monash.edu.my/Student-services, and for South Africa see http://www.monash.ac.za/current/.

Monash University Library

The Monash University Library provides a range of services, resources and programs that enable you to save time and be more effective in your learning and research. Go to www.lib.monash.edu.au or the library tab in my.monash portal for more information. At Sunway, visit the Library and Learning Commons at http://www.lib.monash.edu.my/. At South Africa visit http://www.lib.monash.ac.za/.

Disability Liaison Unit

Students who have a disability or medical condition are welcome to contact the Disability Liaison Unit to discuss academic support services. Disability Liaison Officers (DLOs) visit all Victorian campuses on a regular basis.

Your feedback to Us

Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) survey. The University’s student evaluation policy requires that every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

For more information on Monash’s educational strategy, see:

www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions and on student evaluations, see: www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html

Previous Student Evaluations of this Unit

Student feedback has shown this unit is well structured and no changes have been required for this semester.

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to
https://emuapps.monash.edu.au/unitevaluations/index.jsp

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