Context:
The subject demonstrates the significance of project management in the industry, especially for projects involving IT projects. Assessment 1 is designed to evaluate the ability of the student to understand the context and environment of a project under case study. The students will be utilising a range of tools for analysing the strategic significance of the project which will sharpen their skills to select the appropriate projects in the company. Further, it will enable the student to analyse and select appropriate project management tools and methods for successfully executing and managing projects.
In this process of critically analysing the case situation and applying their project management skill, the student will learn to balance the three competing goals of projects i.e. scope, time and cost. It will expose them to project management standard tools and techniques, best practices and current trends which will hone their professional ability to manage projects.
The assignment engages the student to explore the PMI's knowledge areas, especially the areas related to Project Scope Management, Project Time Management, Project Cost Management and Project Integration Management. The students will be able to apply their learning to the real world projects, which would help them to reduce the risks, cut the costs and improve the success rate of the projects.
Instructions:
Consider the organization where you are currently working or an organisation with which you are familiar with and select a project. Alternatively, you may choose a project case study from the existing published literature for your analysis. For the considered case study you will be required to understand the background of the project and the business value that it is providing to the organisation. The project selected should be such that you can do a deep analysis by considering different aspects of project management discipline. A project manager needs to balance the three competing goals of the project, namely, scope, time and cost. These are commonly known as the triple constraints in project management. You will be required to analyse different methods and tools used to manage the scope, time and cost of the project and present the project management artefacts used to balance these constraints.
Please consider some general instructions for preparing your assignments provided in this document.
For completing your Assessment 1 you need to consider the following
1. Analysis of the selected project case and its organisational context (size, budget, problem statement, project objectives)
2. An evaluation of the current state of the organisation's IS/IT technology and its dependence on it.
3. Evaluate the impact that the selected project has on the society and the organization's success (may consider SWOT analysis). You may provide some reasoning for selecting the project as a case study.
4. Analyse the process (es) and methods used to select that particular IS/IT project.
5. Provide justification for the methodology (predictive or agile) selected for project execution. Give reasoning, if you thinka better methodology could have been used.
6. Enquire and evaluate the tools (i.e., graphical representations) or software applications the organisation utilises in the system development processes. If you cannot find that information, suggest which ones you would utilise.
7. Critically analyse how the selected project is aligned to the strategic goals of the organization. Suggest opportunities for improvement in the management of IS/IT strategies and approaches.
8. Examine the scope of the project, major features, project limitations and issues related to scope changes. You may present the relevant artefacts like scope statement, requirements analysis document or project charter for clarification. If the project is using Agile method, you provide artefacts which define scope like a set of user stories and acceptance tests.
9. Investigate the method used for creating the schedule of the project and the methods used by the project manager (or team) to control the project schedule. You may present the schedule plan like Gantt chart or other relevant document.
10. Analyse the methods used by the project manager to keep the project within the allocated budget. You may present the budget documents, cost estimate, cost baseline for the project.
11. If it is a failed or challenged project you may provide justification for its poor performance.Provide your suggestions which could have prevented project failure.
12. All your claims and recommendations must be supported by relevant literature. Hence, a significant amount of academic references must be included in the report.
Project Report
General Instructions -
1. If you have sensitivity about criticising your own organisation or any other organisation, remove any specific reference to the identity of the organisation, the people within it, or the identity of any projects referred to. The assignment is intended to develop your analytical skills and ability to suggest improvements.
2. Do not exceed the word limit. Give concise descriptions of projects and avoid irrelevant technical detail. In marking the assignment, attention will be paid to clear and concise expression of ideas. Include and refer to appendices if you feel they are required to provide a clearer understanding of the relevant project details, extensive attachments will not be read. Including unreferenced appendices will lose marks.
3. Formal documents like Cover Page, Executive Summary, Table of Content, Appendix, References are not included in the specified word limit.