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Assessment Handbook

Managing Projects and Technologies

2023/24

Assessment 1 – Project Plan (PRJ) – 70%

Link to Module Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, a successful student should be able to:    Assessed by

LO1 Apply appropriate project management concepts, techniques and methods in a variety of organizational contexts, incorporating business technologies   PRJ

LO2 Develop, critically evaluate, propose and implement solutions to organisational challenges and opportunities utilising project management techniques and knowledge of business technologies   PRJ   GP

LO3 Comprehend the competencies, skills and knowledge required by a project leader and project team members to deliver projects on time, within budget and with intended quality   PRJ   GP

LO4 Communicate and present project information to various audiences.   PRJ   GP

Available project plan topics

1. Choose a project topic: Each student must develop a Project Plan. To do so, first you need to choose one of these project topics by Workshop 03:

1. Developing a new business technology product (e.g. new software, a new app) and bringing it to an organization to transform one or more aspects of how it operates (usually designing and creating the technology with the help of a technical team and/or supplier)

2. Deploying an existing business technology in an organization to transform one or more aspects of how it operates (usually by buying the technology from an external supplier and planning for its implementation)

3. Using technology for sustainability/social/humanitarian purposes.

2. Choose a business technology: Next, you need to specify the business technology that your project will use. Some business technologies that could be used include but are not limited to:

• Social media networks

• Mobile apps on productivity, healthcare, etc.

• Enterprise-wide systems (e.g., an ERP)

• Digital platforms (two-sided markets)

• Data Analytics (small or big data collection and processing)

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) including voice recognition, speech, chatbot, image and video processing

• Consumer products mass customization (printing name on shoes)

• Internet of Things (IoT) – Connected everything

• Geospatial – location trackers such as GPS, RFID, barcode scanners

• Virtual reality (VR)/Augmented reality (AR)

• Interactive retail technologies (e.g., ordering touch screens, finding the best clothing fit)

• Cryptocurrencies (digital assets)

• Blockchain and distributed ledgers

• Robotics and automation, autonomous work (e.g., driving)

If your project is to deploy an existing technology, your project plan can specify the name of the technology product and/or supplier that you plan to work with.

3. Choose a parent organisation: For the purposes of this assignment, you must choose a parent organisation. You will write the project plan from the perspective of an employee of this organisation, responsible for planning and managing this project. The parent organisation could be a company, a non-profit or charity organisation, a government body, and more.

You’re now ready to develop a detailed project plan.

Creating the Project Plan

● To create your project plan, you should briefly complete and include all seven Project Chunks covered in the module. Details of what to include in these project chunks are available throughout the workshop PowerPoint slides available on Canvas. You will find ‘chunk tutorial videos’ in Panopto Recordings on Canvas which recap on the explanations provided in workshops.

● To succeed, make sure that your project plan fully addresses all aspects of all seven project chunks.

● You should provide references to the websites, articles, books, and other sources of information that you use.

● Avoid wordiness. The word count excludes the text in the tables, the references list, and appendices, however you should make careful and appropriate use of these and only include wordcount which directly supports the project. The main project plan text should be a standalone narrative, without a need to read the tables. To enable this, for each table, explain the key item of it in the text. The purpose of a table is to include a short list of additional information, not long sentences and paragraphs that belong to the main text, so do not misuse tables.

● The length of the submission is 1500 words, can go 10% either side.

List of Project Chunks

1. Project Introduction and Justification

a. Project Introduction: Describe the Project

b. Project Introduction: Describe the parent organization of your project

c. Project Introduction: Justify your project

d. Project Introduction: List similar projects in the past

2. Project Stakeholders

a. Identify key stakeholders of your project

b. Develop a communication management plan for your project

c. Plan for influencing your project stakeholders

d. Explain the origin of the core project team

e. Identify a project champion for your project

3. Project Scope

a. Define a SMART project objective

b. Create phased deliverables

c. Define DUMBS work packages

d. List key scope exclusions

e. Outsource some work packages

4. Project Schedule

a. Estimate the duration of each work package

b. Define the dependencies of all work packages

c. Schedule the work packages and identify the critical path

5. Project Budget

a. Plan outgoing cash for your project

b. Determine cost reserves for your project

c. Plan incoming cash for your project

d. Analyse the cash flow of your project

e. Analyse the financial performance of the project

6. Project Risk Management

a. Identify key risk factors in your project

b. Analyse the impact potential (risk exposure) of the identified risk factors

c. Plan risk mitigation strategies for top risks

7. Project Execution, Control, Closure and Evaluation

a. Plan coordination of key integration points in the project

b. Plan key progress control tollgates

c. Plan for evaluating and demonstrating project success

NOTE: Text in ORANGE indicates work to be done on Excel Template

Submitting the Project Plan

● Please refer to your assessment timetable on Sussex Direct for the submission date.

● This will be an E-submission, you must submit two files that contains your Word File Project Plan and your Excel (WBS, Gantt chart and cash flow analysis, budgeting details).

Evaluating and Marking? the Project Plans

Along with the mark awarded, detailed feedback will be provided (200 to 400 words). Various aspects of the project plan will be assessed, including each of the 7 project chunks, using the following marking criteria.

Assessment 2 – Group Podcast (GP) - 30%

Link to Module Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, a successful student should be able to:   Assessed by

LO1 Apply appropriate project management concepts, techniques and methods in a variety of organizational contexts, incorporating business technologies   PRJ

LO2 Develop, critically evaluate, propose and implement solutions to organisational challenges and opportunities utilising project management techniques and knowledge of business technologies   PRJ   GP

LO3 Comprehend the competencies, skills and knowledge required by a project leader and project team members to deliver projects on time, within budget and with intended quality   PRJ   GP

LO4 Communicate and present project information to various audiences.   PRJ   GP

Description

You will create a Group Podcast to submit in Week 6

• 30% weighting

• 4 members per group (min 3, max 5)

• All group members to contribute

• 10 mins Podcast

Submissions (1 MP3 + 1 Word document of References)

File Format MUST BE MP3

You have 3 Categories to choose from

• Discuss the role of Project Management in successfully deploying a technology using specific real-world examples.

• Advise the key skills, competencies, and knowledge of successful project leadership within a specific context.

• What organizational factors contribute to the successful implementation of a new technology using project management?

Format can be:

• Interviews – reworded and spoken by your team members

• Narration

• Roundtable discussion

• Debate

Criteria

• Critical thinking (20%)

• Presentation and Style (25%)

• Knowledge and understanding (25%)

• Reading and research (including reference) (20%)

• Group work (10%)8

Your podcast should be persuasive, so think about who you are aiming at.

2 files to be submitted at the end of Week 6

• MP3 Podcast (MP3)

• Podcast Assessment Supporting Document (Word Document)

All team members must be involved

Interpreting Marks for the Group Podcast

Grade Band   Podcasts in this grade band show the following characteristics

80+   The podcast displays the qualities of marks in the 70-79% band, but in addition displays very high levels of flair and originality, and excels in all areas of marking criteria.

70-79   The podcast demonstrates excellent levels of production quality, content flow and delivery, showing some originality and flair. Excellent knowledge and understanding are demonstrated through a very clearly defined, justified and relevant topic, along with accurate and focused discussion around this. Excellent critical thinking has been demonstrated in the podcast discussion, which interrogates and evaluates the topic. In both the content overall and the bibliography supplied, there is evidence of excellent reading and research, and that a number of quality sources have been used to create the podcast. The [team roles] document and the quality and flow of the podcast itself demonstrate excellent and very well coordinated group work to create this podcast.

60-69   The podcast is very well produced, with a content flow that is logical and easy to follow and very good delivery. Very good levels of knowledge and understanding are demonstrated, and a relevant topic has been chosen which is clearly defined and addressed through the podcast discussions. Some critical thinking has been demonstrated, and the topic is explored from different perspectives, but with some scope further, more critical evaluation and conclusions. There is evidence in the bibliography that a very good level of reading and research has been carried out, including some quality sources. The Assessment Supporting Document and the podcast itself demonstrate very good group work and co-ordination.

50-59   The podcast is well produced overall, but with some scope for developing the podcast quality and the flow and structure of content. A relevant topic has been chosen, and discussions around this demonstrate generally good levels of knowledge and understanding. However, discussions could be more in depth, detailed and there is scope for a more critical approach, for example going further beyond descriptive discussion, reaching conclusions, examining topic from differing perspectives. A bibliography has been included, but reading and research could be developed in both extent and the quality of sources, and further integration of research into discussions. The Assessment Supporting Document and the podcast itself demonstrate good group work and co-ordination, but with some indications that this could be developed e.g. variations in quality across the different project outputs, overreliance on one team member.

40-49   The production quality of the podcast is satisfactory but could be improved, as could the flow and structure of the content e.g. this is hard to follow, needs to more directly address the brief, is disjoined. A more relevant topic could have been chosen, and there is scope for demonstrating stronger knowledge and understanding of this e.g. through better accuracy, more in depth discussions, better focus on the topic to demonstrate understanding. There is very limited critical thinking e.g. the podcast takes a mainly descriptive approach, it views the topic from a very limited perspective. A bibliography has been included by includes limited and poor-quality sources, and with little evidence that research has been integrated into the discussion. The Assessment Supporting Document and the podcast itself suggest that there was scope for improving group work in several ways e.g. overall quality of podcast output, poor project planning, variations in quality across the different project outputs, overreliance on one team member.

< 40   Podcasts in this grading band have failed to address the brief in a number of ways. The production quality of the podcast is poor, impacting how the content is conveyed to the listener, and the flow and structure of the content is unsatisfactory. The choice of topic is poor and is unlikely to meet the brief and insufficient knowledge and understanding of the podcast topic and related concepts relating to this module have been demonstrated. Critical thinking is not evidenced, and this has been hindered by the other issues identified. Reading and research has been impacted by various issues e.g. a missing bibliography, a bibliography that is packed with sources not evidenced in the podcast itself, a bibliography with very limited and very poor quality sources. The Assessment Supporting Document and the poor quality of the podcast itself suggest that group work has been insufficient to meet the assessment brief.