MN4058 - Fundamentals of Project Management (2021/22)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2021/22 | ||||||||||||
| Module status | DELETED (This module is no longer running) | ||||||||||||
| Module title | Fundamentals of Project Management | ||||||||||||
| Module level | Certificate (04) | ||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||||
| School | Guildhall School of Business and Law | ||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||||
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| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2021/22(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) | No instances running in the year |
Module summary
This level 4, 15 credit module forms part of the BSc (Hons) Digital Business Management degree. It will introduce the basics of project management, the role, the functions and the skills of the project manager, the project life cycle and models of project governance with consideration given to professional bodies (APM and PRINCE2).
It aims to equip the student for their programme of study and underpins later modules that will develop the ideas introduced here. Examples of modules would be Professional Practice, Operations and Value Chain Management, The practice of management and Managing Innovation and Change.
Prior learning requirements
Standard university requirements for Level 4 entry
Syllabus
1 Structure of organisations and projects LO2
2 Project life cycle LO1
3 Project contexts and environments LO2
4 Governance and structured methodologies LO2
5 Communication LO2
6 Leadership and teamwork LO1
7 Planning for success LO1
8 Scope management LO2
9 Schedule and resource management LO1
10 Procurement LO2
11 Project risk management and issue management LO2
12 Project quality management LO2
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
Delivery of the module will consist of 3 hours workshops. Students will be encouraged to research project management issues from a variety of sources in addition to module materials including newspapers, textbooks and on-line sources to identify aspects relevant to their areas of study.
Workshops will provide the opportunity for the whole class to come together and to interact with the lecturer who will provide the basic project management theories and present a set of examples and real-world cases. These should help students understand the key concepts and ideas related to project management.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
LO1. Understand the role of a project manager and of the project life cycle.
LO2. Understand the purpose of the business case and of the project communication plan
Assessment strategy
The module will be assessed through two course works.
The first, A1, concentrates on assessing L01 by learning about the life cycle of typical projects and how the different stages will impact on the skills expected of the project manager. The student will concentrate on the aspects relating to the role of a project manager and how this might change over the life cycle of the project. The student will do group presentation for this assessment. 15 minutes.
The second, A2, concentrates on assessing LO2 and learning about the key role of the business case in controlling both the feasibility and the execution of a project. The student will prepare a business case for their project. The project context can be related to an area the student has worked in, or is familiar with. Students will be encouraged to use their own work context as the basis for their assessment. They are required to develop a business case and a communication plan for a project, including detailed justification of any budgetary considerations in terms of resource allocations. 2500 words.
Bibliography
Textbooks:
Core Texts:
Maylor, H. (2019) Project Management, 5th edn. Prentice Hall.
APM Body of Knowledge, 7th edn Paperback, 2019 by Association for Project Management.
Other Texts:
Bennett, N. (2017) Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. Norfolk: AXELOS.
Gido, J., Clements, J. and Baker, R. (2017) Successful project management, 7th edn, USA: Cengage Learning.
Pinto, J. (2019) Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage, Global Edition Paperback.
Academic and Professional Articles
Benta, D., Podean, I. and Mircean, C. (2011) ‘On best practices for risk management in complex projects’, Informatica Economica, 15(2), pp. 142-152.
Brady, T. and Davies, A. (2010) ‘From hero to hubris – Reconsidering the project management of Heathrow’s Terminal 5’, International Journal of Project Management, 28, pp. 151–157.
Jepsen, A. and Eskerod, P. (2009) ‘Stakeholder analysis in projects: Challenges in using current guidelines in the real world’, International Journal of Project Management, 27, pp. 335– 343.
Journals: to be provided in class/Weblearn
Websites: to be provided in class/Weblearn
Electronic Databases: to be provided in class/Weblearn
Social Media Sources: to be provided in class/Weblearn
Online Resources:
A range of online resources will be used in support of the module that may change but would include such sites as:
www.pmi.org.uk
www.prince2.com
www.apm.org.uk
www.businessballs.com/project.htm
http://ipma.ch