Posted: March 4th, 2015

Project Development and Implementation for Strategic Managers

Project Development and Implementation for Strategic Managers

Start date
Deadline

Assignment title    Develop and Implement a Strategic Project in a Business Organisation
The purpose of this assignment is to:
Assess  whether the learner is :
1.    Able to develop a project specification;
2.    Able to plan for the launch of a project to implement a new product, service or process;
3.    Able to implement a project;
4.    Able to evaluate the outcomes of a project;
5.    Able to present the outcomes of a project.
Scenario
You should select an organisation with which you are familiar and a strategic project in the organisation.  (preferably the organisation that you have being working with and a project that you have been involved)  You should carry out research on it in order to develop a report on planning and implementing strategic change in the organisation. The change that you look at should be related to the implementation of a new product, service or process.  It should involve more than one department or functional area.  You should manage the change as a project.

You should perform ALL of the following tasks to meet the requirement of this assignment.
Task 1 – Develop a project specification
1.1    Analyse the factors that contribute to the process of selecting the concerned change. (Assessment Criteria 1.1)
1.2    Develop outline project specifications for the concerned change. (Assessment Criteria 1.2)
1.3    Produce a specification for the concerned project.  (Assessment Criteria 1.3)
Task 2 – Plan for the launch of a new product, service or process
2.1    Produce a project plan for the concerned change. (Assessment Criteria 2.1)
2.2    Identify appropriate resources to handle the project. (Assessment Criteria 2.2)
2.3    Estimate the cost all resources required for implementing the project.  (Assessment Criteria 2.3)
2.4    Propose timescales for the management and implementation of the project. (Assessment Criteria 2.4)
2.5    Plan an appropriate strategy for the implementation of the project. (Assessment Criteria 2.5)
Task 3 – Implement the project
3.1    Describe how to implement the project in accordance with agreed specification. (Assessment Criteria 3.1)
3.2    Develop appropriate measures to monitor and evaluate progress and outcomes of the project. (Assessment Criteria 3.2)
3.3    Describe how to monitor the implementation of the project.  (Assessment Criteria 3.3)
Task 4 – Evaluate the outcomes of the project
4.1    Describe how to analyse the outcomes of the project in terms of the original project specification. (Assessment Criteria 4.1)
4.2    Evaluate the outcomes of the project. (Assessment Criteria 4.2)
4.3    Make justified recommendations to improve the project based on the evaluation in 4.2.  (Assessment Criteria 4.3)
Task 5 – Present the outcomes of the project
5.1    Produce a report for all project procedures used in the project. (Assessment Criteria 5.1)
5.2    Describe how to present the outcomes of the project to the senior management team of the organisation.  (Assessment Criteria 5.2)
Student guidelines
1.    The report should be 5,000 – 7,000 words in length, excluding appendices.
2.    Please state the word count in the front cover of the report.
3.    The report should be word-processed.
4.    Please follow the Harvard system of referencing.
5.    Throughout your report you should underpin your empirical findings with theories from the literature showing how practice corresponds to or deviates from theories.
6.    The choice of the project itself is the crucial factor for success in this assignment as it must provide the learner with sufficient scope to ensure that every aspect of the assessment is addressed.   You may wish to consult your tutor with initial proposals concerning a potential change in the organisation you wish to study.
7.    If you choose a project that has already been completed in the organisation, you should not directly supply things already used by the organisation to avoid plagiarism.  Plagiarism is a serious offense and will be dealt with accordingly.
Sources of information
1.    In some cases project management might not be explicit but implicit. You may therefore have to observe how projects are conducted. The search for evidence may entail talking to senior managers, examining company documents and records (with permission), searching media archives etc.
2.    Study guide
3.    Textbook
Outcomes and assessment criteria

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit a learner will:    Assessment criteria for pass
The learner can:
1  Be able to develop a project specification    1.1 analyse the factors that contribute to the process of project selection
1.2 develop outline project specifications for the implementation of a new product, service or process
1.3 produce a specification for an agreed project to implement a new product, service or process
2  Be able to plan for the launch of a project to implement a new product, service or process    2.1 produce a project plan for an agreed project
2.2 match appropriate resources to a Project
2.3 cost all resources required for implementing a project
2.4 agree timescales for the management and implementation of a project
2.5 plan an appropriate strategy for the implementation of a project
3   Be able to implement a project    3.1 implement a project in accordance with an agreed specification
3.2 develop appropriate measures to monitor and evaluate progress and outcomes
3.3 monitor the implementation of a project
4   Be able to evaluate the outcomes of a project    4.1 analyse the outcomes of a project in terms of the original project specification
4.2 evaluate the outcomes of a project
4.3 make justified recommendations for improvements to the project
5   Be able to present the outcomes of a project    5.1 produce a report of all project procedures used
5.2 present the outcomes of the project to an audience using an agreed format and appropriate media

Performance Criteria
Learners must demonstrate an understanding of the subject area as evidenced by applying the theories to a project in a business organization.

Pass
•    The assignment covers all sections of the report and meet all the assessment criteria
•    Able to develop a project specification
•    Able to plan for the launch of a project to implement a new product, service or process
•    Able to implement a project
•    Able to evaluate the outcomes of a project
•    Able to present the outcomes of a project
•    Assignment has met deadline

Referral
•    Unable to meet ALL requirements for “Pass” grade
•    A report which only state the theories without apply the theories to a project in a business organization