MGMT627 - Project Management

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

Project management (PM) embodies concepts and solutions that supports the planning, scheduling, controlling, resource allocation, and performance measurement activities required for successful managerial completion of a project. As such, it is necessary for practitioners to have a comprehensive knowledge of project management from the standpoint of a manager who must organise, plan, implement, and control tasks to achieve an organisation's schedule, budget, and performance objectives. Essential tools and concepts, such as the project charter, scope statement, work breakdown structure, project estimating, and scheduling methodologies are investigated and applied, with underpinning concepts around the nature of a project and the management of risk addressed while respecting the dignity of the human person and team diversity. All tools present students with an organised approach to managing the uncertainties that can lead to undesirable project outcomes by identifying and mitigating risks that can result in cost overruns, delayed schedules, or failure to meet performance standards.

The ultimate aim of the unit is to equip students with practical behaviours in Project Management that are aligned with organisational mission and strategy benchmarked against best national and international standards and practices. 

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Examine the role that projects and project management play in accomplishing an organisation’s strategic objectives, taking into account the various types of organisations project structures, and respect for the human person and team diversity (GA1, GA5)

LO2 - Assess major schedule, cost, and performance risk elements and understand the approach for managing risks using qualitative as well as quantitative techniques; (GA5, GA8)

LO3 - Develop a communications and closeout strategy that will maximise the value of the project experience to the organisation and other stakeholders by capturing best practices and lessons learned nationally and internationally (GA5, GA6)

LO4 - Create a comprehensive project plan using appropriate information, project management and other technological tools (GA5, GA10)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local, national and international perspectives into account

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include: 

• Project management in perspective in contemporary organisations 
• Strategic management & project selection 
• The role of the project manager and managing the project team with respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity  
• Managing conflict and the art of negotiation among different stakeholders
• Project activity & risk planning 
• Budgeting to estimate costs & risks 
• Project scheduling and resource allocation
• Project management tools and techniques
• Project control 
• Project auditing, evaluation & termination. 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This Unit employs a learning and teaching strategy that combines active learning (engaging with online lecture videos, reading, writing and case studies to analyse, synthesise and problem solve) and peer learning methods (engaging with peers and the lecturer via online tools to collaborate, query and elaborate). Optional live online classrooms will be offered at regular intervals throughout the teaching period to allow students’ synchronous access to their lecturer and peers at defined times or ACU Online 10 week asynchronous delivery mode. Use of applied case studies and scenarios with reference to legislation and standards as well as national and international contexts are used to facilitate applied action learning. The provision of timely student feedback is also a key aspect of the learning and teaching strategy as this allows students to direct future learning behaviours and performance in a meaningful way. The online learning environment can be challenging in terms of encouraging student interaction and participation, and the Unit’s teaching methods have been chosen because they are most likely to support the achievement of learning outcomes and participation by a geographically diverse cohort of students. 

ACU Online

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

Assessment strategy and rationale

Three assessment items are required in this unit. The first assessment allows students to participate in online discussion forums to understand complex concepts in Project Management through reflection and collaboration. Students then compile a report of their discussion forum posts and responses to illustrate their gradual growth in understanding of the concepts through reflection and discussion with other contributors. The second assessment task is the development of a project communications and closeout strategy. The third assessment item requires students to create a project plan, based on a real project, either current or recently completed, or a fictitious project. However, if they are completing an OHSE degree, the project must be OHSE-related. The plan should demonstrate the use of appropriate project management tools and techniques introduced and investigated throughout the unit.  

To pass this unit, students are required to achieve an overall mark of at least 50% and must attempt at all three assessment items. The assessment tasks for this unit are designed to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome. 

Overview of assessments

Electronic submission, marking and return is being used for this unit. Submission will be via Turnitin, and checking for academic honesty and integrity will occur.

Representative texts and references

Meredith, Jack R. and Mantel, Samuel J. Jr. (2015). Project Management: A Managerial Approach, 10th Edition. Wiley. 

Gido, J & Clements, Rose Baker 2017, Successful Project Management, (7th edn), Thomson South-Western. 

Larson, EW, Gray, CF, Honig, B, Baccarini, D & Dantin, U 2017, Project Management: The Managerial Process, McGraw Hill, New York, NY. 

Parker, D & Craig, M 2008, Managing Projects, Managing People, Palgrave Macmillan, MS&E Australia. Schwalbe, K 2014, Information Technology Project Management, (7th edn), Course Technology, Mason, OH. 

International Journal of Project Management http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30435/description#description  

Project Management Institute: http://www.pmi.org/ 

Info-Systems Executive – IT Project Management Case Studies: http://www.itbusiness.ca/ 

Association of Project Management http://www.apm.org.uk/