Posted: January 31st, 2015

Discuss and explain the fundamental concepts of project management and the tasks required in managing a project

On successful completion of this assignment you will be able to:
• Discuss and explain the fundamental concepts of project management and the tasks required in managing a project
• Outline the project process and evaluate projects, preparing and analysing project budgets
• Identify and apply project management tools in scheduling and project and plan resource allocation for scarce resources
• Report on a project’s progress; design and prepare closure evaluation and reports
• Design and submit a project plan, presentation and final project.

There are two parts to the assessment of the module. The two parts must be completed as individual assignments, not with other students. All two parts must relate to a specific project management topic of your choice You should discuss your ideas for a suitable topic with the module tutor and get his agreement to the suitability of the chosen topic before starting substantive work on the first assignment. One potential area, for example, would be to examine a major project that had gone particularly badly (or well) to see what lessons could be learned. Other ideas include: are public sector project managers adequately prepared to take on large projects?; the leadership styles of successful project managers; Agile v traditional project management approaches; Belbin’s team roles in a project context; and the key to building effective project teams.

The project management topic should be one that, in principle, it would be realistic for you as a student to research, within a period of no more than three months of full-time study. You must assume for the purposes of your Project Plan that you would collect primary data for the project and that you could get access to suitable individuals or companies (e.g. experienced project managers in different fields, orThe project management topic should be one that, in principle, it would be realistic for you as a student to research, within a period of no more than three months of full-time study. You must assume for the purposes of your Project Plan that you would collect primary data for the project and that you could get access to suitable individuals or companies (e.g. experienced project managers in different fields, or key individuals who were involved in a specific project).

Part 1 – Project Plan
(1,600 words, 20% weight)

Your Project Plan should contain the following sections:

1. Title page
2. A section identifying the research problem (the reason why you feel this research project is necessary)
3. SMART aim/objectives (specific, measurable, agreed, realistic, time bound)
4. Justification of methodological choice (tell us how you would go about solving the problem / carrying out the project)
5. Summary of primary data collection and analysis approach (How would you plan to get the data and then analyse it?)
6. Any limitations to your approach
7. A network diagram showing the main tasks and the critical path for completing the work
8. A brief discussion of how you might use additional resources to accelerate the plan, if these were available(e.g. additional person to help conduct the survey or interviews)

Part 2 – Final Project
(3,000 words, 70% weight)

The Final Project is a major piece of work of approximately 3,000 words in length. It should comprise a literature review on the subject chosen for your project plan (Part 1 assignment). The literature review should start by explaining the issue or problem that is at the heart of the research and set out two to three specific objectives for the review. The rest of the review should then address these objectives in a structured way.

You must choose a topic where there is some difference of view among project management specialists about the subject. This will allow you to compare and contrast different perspectives and evidence. The approach taken should be evaluative and analytical, not just a description of an author’s views or a specific case study. The review need not use a large number of sources. It is more important that the sources are relevant and that you analyse them in depth, rather than simply mentioning lots of sources very briefly, but with no indication that these have been read, understood and evaluated.

You should try to come to conclusions, based on the arguments and evidence reviewed. In some cases, you should identify issues that require further research – the sort of primary research set out in your Project Plan (Part 1 assignment). You will not actually carry out this primary research in practice, though.