sFaculty of Business and Law Assignment Brief Module Title Project Management Assignment

sFaculty of Business and Law

Assignment Brief

Module Title

Project Management

Assignment Number

1

Module Code

POPP5013

Assignment Title

Report

Module Leader

tituy

Assignment Weighting

100%

Assignment Release Date:

Submission Date/Time:

Assessment Information – What you need to do

This assignment is an individual assignment and requires you to write a 3000 word project report

on your choice of one of two case studies below.

PROJECT CASE STUDY CHOICE A:

Safeguarding Vulnerable Children Project

Project details:

The Director of Social Services has tasked you to set up a new Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) in your city to bring key professionals together to safeguard vulnerable children and young people (CYP) more effectively. Some of the CYP referred to the hub will be in urgent need (e.g. neglect and physical abuse), whereas other CYP will need other types of support.

The new service will involve staff from health, social work, the police, education, and probation professionals. You will need to identify a new base in the city centre and consider how you will refurbish the office and move staff to the new location. There are a number of open plan offices available in the city centre, but each one will require some refurbishment. You will need appropriate space for the different teams. You are responsible for identifying the building, refurbishment, and transfer of staff and equipment to the new site. You have 6 months from the start to finish of the project.

Useful website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/working-together-to-safeguard-children-multi-agency-safeguarding-hubs

PROJECT CASE STUDY CHOICE B:

Office Relocation

Project details:

The Chief Executive has tasked you with writing a project management report on the relocation of 300 staff from an existing call centre in Metropolis City Centre to a new business park on its periphery. There are a number of potential buildings available to choose from, but each one will require some refurbishment to fit the requirements of your business (creating appropriate office space for 10 senior executives, 3 separate teams (finance and payroll (20 staff members), human resources (10 staff members) and call centre operations (260 staff members) along with IT infrastructure). You are responsible for choosing the building, refurbishment, and transfer of staff and equipment to the new site. You have 6 months from the start to finish of the project.

Initial Reading:

Lam, E.W.M.; Chan, A.P.C.; Chan. D.W.M. (2008) Determinants of successful design-build projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 134 (5), 333-341.

Criteria for Assessment – How you will be marked

Marking matrix*1 The report will be marked using the DMU Postgraduate mark scheme assessment criteria, informed by these rubric criteria which will be used to assess your grade:

Background explanation of the project context, including:

Organisational, human resource, and project team issues

How the project contributes to corporate social responsibility/ public value

20%

Description, critical evaluation and application of chosen project management tools

45%

Conclusions and recommendations for the project

15%

Use of appropriate academic literature and project management theory to exemplify key points and arguments

10%

Demonstration of good academic practice skills, through a fully referenced and professionally presented report

10%

Assessment of your assignment is undertaken according to De Montfort University’s postgraduate mark, available online from http://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/quality-management-and-policy/academic-quality/learning-teachingassessment/mark-descriptors.aspx

Assessment Details – Guidance for completing the individual report

Each student is required to submit an individual report of 3000 words (NOT including the project management diagrams – see below).The work will be assessed according to the marking matrix below* and in accordance with the Faculty of Business and Law Grade Descriptors on below.

Students must ensure that they have covered all learning outcomes for the module in their work.

What to put in the report

The most important focus of the report is your choice of THREE of the project management tools below:

1. PESTLE analysis

2. Work Breakdown Structure

3. Gantt chart

4. Risk Analysis and Mitigation

5. (RACI) Matrix – Responsibility, Accountability, Consulted and Informed (RACI)

6. Stakeholder Management Strategy

When you write your report you are expected to:

1. Describe, critically evaluate and discuss the application of each of the three tools you have chosen to the case scenario. This means you must introduce and describe each tool; explain how the tool is applied to the chosen case study in practice: and critically evaluate each of your chosen tools by assessing the strengths and weaknesses. You are expected to use references to do this.

2. Draft a diagram for each of the three tools. By diagram we mean a table, register, Gantt Chart, RACI Matrix etc. This will be a pictorial representation of each tool drafted by you, pasted alongside the tool. You are not allowed to only cut and paste images taken from the internet (e.g Google images). However, you may use an image on the Net as a basis for your own work and amend it, but you must cite the source and then put ‘amended by author’.

Please note that your diagrams are NOT part of the 3000 word count.

Word count

On this module there is a tolerance on the 3000 word count of +/- 10%. There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.

The following are included in the word count:

all the main substantive content

headings/sub-headings

text tables

in-text citations

direct quotations

footnotes

The following are excluded from the word count:

title pages

contents lists

reference lists

appendices

numeric data tables

Please include your word count on the front title page of your submission.

References

It is important that you use a wide range of references in your report, to underpin your choice of tool and to show the relationship between project management practice and theory. Many of the references in the handbook and on the Resource List will be helpful. You will also find many useful web pages on project management tools on the internet and you are welcome to use these, but you must cite them correctly. You must use Harvard referencing in your report.

It is not acceptable to only use web pages and you must also provide a good balance of academic literature (journal articles/books), ‘grey’ literature (policy documents and documents published by the APM and PMI, for example).

In addition to the readings provided, you will be expected to identify additional references to use in your individual assignment.

Developing and completing the report

The assignment will be explained in detail in the lectures and seminars, where you will be given guidance on research, reading and writing skills. The course team are committed to helping you and we are always happy to talk to you individually if you contact us.

How to Submit your Assessment

Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.

Please ensure that you have submitted your work using the correct file format, unreadable files will receive a mark of zero. The Faculty accepts Microsoft Office and PDF documents, unless otherwise advised by the module leader.

All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason will be subject to the University regulations on late submissions.

If an assessment is submitted up to 14 days late the mark for the work will be capped at the pass mark of 40 per cent for undergraduate modules or 50 per cent for postgraduate modules

If an assessment is submitted beyond 14 calendar days late the work will receive a mark of zero per cent

The above applies to a student’s first attempt at the assessment. If work submitted as a reassessment of a previously failed assessment task is submitted later than the deadline the work will immediately be given a mark of zero per cent

If an assessment which is marked as pass/fail rather than given a percentage mark is submitted later than the deadline, the work will immediately be marked as a fail

The University wants you to do your best. However, we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you cannot submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict. If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to two weeks, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the re-sit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline. You will find information about applying for extensions and deferrals here.

Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.

Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

Return of Marked Work

If for any reason there is a delay you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online via Turnitin. It is important that you access the feedback you receive as this will help to make improvements to your later work, you can request a meeting with your Module Leader or Personal Tutor to discuss your feedback in more detail.

Marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed their review. More information on assessment and feedback can be found here.

Academic Integrity

In submitting a piece of work for assessment it is essential that you understand the University’s requirements for maintaining academic integrity and ensure that the work does not contravene University regulations. Some examples of behaviour that would not be considered acceptable include plagiarism, re-use of previously assessed work, collusion with others and purchasing your assignment from a third party. For more information on academic offences, bad academic practice, and academic penalties, please read chapter four of our academic regulations.

Academic Support and Your Well-being

Referencing is the process of acknowledging other people’s work when you have used it in your assignment or research. It allows the reader to locate your source material as quickly and easily as possible so that they can read these sources themselves and verify the validity of your arguments. Referencing provides the link between what you write and the evidence on which it is based.

You identify the sources that you have used by citing them in the text of your assignment (called citations or in-text citations) and referencing them at the end of your assignment (called the reference list or end-text citations). The reference list only includes the sources cited in your text. The main referencing guide can be found here and includes information on the basics of referencing and achieving good academic practice. It also has tabs for the specific referencing styles depending on whether you require Harvard style used in business or OSCOLA style used by the Law school.

The University has a wealth of support services available to students; further information can be obtained from Student Gateway, the Student Advice Centre, Library and Learning Services and, most importantly, your Personal Tutor. If you are struggling with your assessments and/or deadlines please do seek help as soon as possible so that appropriate support and guidance can be identified and put in place for you. More information can be found on the Healthy DMU pages.

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