GETTING HELP

If you have any questions or concerns, you can:

●    Consult with your TAs during applied classes and workshops;

●    Attend consultation sessions (see Moodle for details);

●    Ask a question in Ed.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

●    Your assignment must take the form of a single PDF document.

●    You should  name your document file as <>_<>.pdf, where <> is Assignment 1 and <> is your unique Monash University student number. For example, a file name could be A1_12345678.pdf, where the student ID is ‘12345678’ .

DEMONSTRATION INSTRUCTIONS

●     Each student should demonstrate their Budget estimation and financial analysis to their tutors during their allocated applied classes that occur between weeks 1 to 4.

●    The  demonstration  is  accepted  only  if you  receive  satisfactory assessment from your tutors.  If the demonstration is not accepted, you will have the opportunity to revise your work and demonstrate again until either

○     Your tutor confirms that the work meets minimum requirements; or

○     until the end of week 4 applied class.

●    You will receive verbal feedback on your demonstration.

●    You cannot request extensions for the demonstration tasks.

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION

When uploading your assignment on  Moodle, you are  required to  accept the Student Statement  (which includes a declaration that you have not plagiarised during the preparation of your assignment solution). You are required to ACCEPT the Student Statement; otherwise, you will not be able to submit your assignment electronically and your assignment will NOT be assessed.

GENERATIVE AI

No restrictions on use of generative AI for this assessment. Any use of generative AI must be appropriately acknowledged (see Learn HQ).

LATE SUBMISSION

1.    Submission  must  be  made  by the due date.  Unless an extension or special consideration  has  been granted,  or  otherwise  specified  in  the  learning  management  system,  students  who  submit  an assessment task after the due date will receive a late-submission penalty of 10 percent of the available marks in that task. A further  penalty of 10  percent of the available  marks will  be  applied for each additional day (24-hour period), or part thereof, the assessment task is overdue.

2.    If you cannot complete an assessment  (due to exceptional circumstances beyond your control), you may be eligible for a short extension or special consideration. A short extension is two calendar days and is available once for each eligible assessment. The first short extension for a unit will be granted without a reason given. All subsequent extensions require a reason when the application is submitted. Special consideration is a longer extension (for more than two days). Eligible students must supply a reason and supporting documentation.

3.    For more details of the Special Consideration procedure and rules, and how to apply, visit:

https://www.monash.edu/students/admin/exams/changes/special-consideration

Context and background:

YOUR ROLE

You work in a project management consultancy partnership that undertakes contracts from clients and works with them to plan and manage internal service development projects that include IT design and development. The projects that you plan and manage are implemented by a combination of the client’s staff and external contractors that you source through the IT Contractor Rates Guide by HAYS (See the file uploaded to Moodle).

THE CLIENT

Monash University is a major Australian higher education provider with an annual revenue of close to $2 billion AUD. Over $1.8 billion of this revenue stems from income relating to teaching and learning. Within Monash University, the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) is one of the largest IT faculties, with over 5,000 full- time equivalent students. FIT generates a substantial financial surplus each year. FIT has received approval from the University to spend up to $1M of this surplus on a portfolio of projects to help it meet some of its key performance indicators (KPIs) for education. These KPIs include: (i) KPI-EDU-01  Improve  ranking for overall experience in the QILT Student Experience Survey to above the Go8 average; (ii) KPI-EDU-02 To increase average unit SETU score to 4.5; and (iii) KPI-EUD-03 To increase the percentage of units with SETU score 4 or higher to 85%.

THE CONTRACT

FIT’s senior management has decided to spend $300K of the budget on unit material enhancement, and the other $700K on improving students’ interactions with the Faculty through a portfolio of up to four projects to be implemented by the Faculty Student and Academic Services team. Your project management consultancy partnership has been contracted to manage and implement these changes.

Assignment 1 (Portfolio and report) relates to Phase 1 of the consultancy contract which involves developing comprehensive  business  cases  (project  proposals)  that  align  with  the   portfolio   objectives  and  business strategies. Your client would review the project proposals and shortlist the 4 most relevant proposals. The successful  proposals  would  join  forces  and  form  teams  to  work  towards  achieving  portfolio  objectives  in Assignments 2 and 3 (Phases 2 & 3 of the contract).

The technology aspects of the project are to be implemented by extending functions in Moodle, the University’s Learning  management  system.  eSolutions, the  University's  IT  management  unit,  has  confirmed  that  it  can provide  unlimited  support  to  your  design  and  development  teams  with  integration  with  other  University systems (e.g. Callista, the student management system). However, all the remaining costs for the projects (and any profit that your partnership intends to make) must come out of the $700K budget.

Note that the $700K budget is for the entire portfolio of up to 4 projects and not for just the one project you are proposing and therefore, it is important to budget carefully where all expected costs and expenses are justified and there are considerations for other potential projects in the portfolio. The portfolio of projects must be completed within 12 months of the contract start date. Your client did not specify the expected schedule for each individual project proposal; however, they expect the schedule, budget and scope of work (requirements, deliverables, delivery approach and cadence) to be balanced and feasible.

ASSIGNMENT TASK

Your task is to develop a comprehensive business case (project proposal) to present to your client for decision making. Your business case should address the following criteria:

Business Justification

-     Start with some background information of the business and portfolio to set the scene.

-     Demonstrate the alignment of the project with business strategies and portfolio objectives: Why is your proposed project a good fit for the business and the portfolio?

-     Current Situation and Problem/Opportunity Statement: Discuss how and why the current situation, as mentioned   in  the   case,   presents   an   opportunity/problem   for  the   portfolio.   Demonstrate   the contribution of the project to the value delivery system of the client’s organisation;

-     Provide an overview of three options to address the Problem/Opportunity identified and compare the options followed  by  a  clear  conclusion  and  recommendation  for  the  client.  When  identifying  and analysing the option, consider the role of human-computer interactions and whether your proposed options are more human-focused or technology-focused.

o The comparison should include a comparison of the financial implications of the options. Use of suitable comparison tools such as weighted scoring models is encouraged.

-     A reflection on any ethical implications of the project or products.

-     Project and deliverable description including characteristics of the product and outcome.

Budget Estimate and Financial Analysis

-     A  preliminary  estimate  of  the  costs  involved,  including  a  breakdown  of the estimated  labour  cost, hardware/software licensing, etc, with clear references and explanation on the costing and estimation approach.

-     An  NPV/ROI  calculation  -  to  be  included  in  the  Exhibits  section  -  that  includes the  initial  project investment,  on-going  maintenance  cost  and  projected  benefit/profit.  The   calculation  should  be supported by sufficient justification and references for the on-going maintenance and project benefit estimates.

- Demonstration  of  the  task: Each  student  is  required  to  demonstrate  their  Budget  estimation  and financial analysis to their tutors during their allocated applied classes that occur between weeks 1 to 4. Your demonstration should be supported by written presentation or slides of your analysis, justification and references.

o Your demonstration is accepted only if you receive satisfactory assessment from your tutors. If the demonstration is  not accepted, you will  have the  opportunity to  revise your work  and demonstrate again until your tutor confirms that the work meets minimum requirements or until the end of week 4 applied class.

o You can not request extensions for the demonstration tasks.

- Submission of the task: After demonstration to your tutors and attaining their confirmation of meeting minimum requirements, you are also required to include a summary of the Cost-Benefit Analysis in the main report (based on the NPV/ROI attached in the exhibits). The analysis could include a brief overview of  the  financial  and  non-financial  value  (e.g.  costs,  benefits,  revenue  etc)  of  the  project  for  the organisation  in  your  business  case.  This  is  to  prepare  a  cohesive  business  case  and  demonstrate consistency across the various sections of the business case.

-     Important  note: Without the  demonstrations in applied classes the maximum grade your submitted work could achieve is a Pass or equivalent to 50% of the task’s available score.

Schedule Estimate

Estimate time required for the project and a project go-live date. Include at least three high level milestones with justifications in this section.  Demonstrate that the schedule, budget and scope of the work (including deliverables and requirements, project delivery approach and cadence) are balanced and feasible.

Development Approach: Explain and justify the development approach

The development approach and project life cycle selected should be aligned with stakeholder and client values, types  and  the  number  of  deliverables  and  the  feasibility  within  the  constraints  of  the  project  (expected schedule, budget and outcome/deliverable requirements).

Uncertainty and Risk analysis

-     Summarise the top two potential risks that this project might face and any potential response strategy to navigate through the uncertainty.

-     Discuss the likelihood of the identified risks impacting on the implementation and the success of this project, and tentative actions to reduce the likelihood or impacts of the risks.

Measurement and Quality Metrics

Provide a description of the product/s attributes and how to measure them. Include at least three attributes.    Include two Key performance indicators (KPIs) that are used to evaluate the success of a project in delivering the product/s with the identified attributes.

Use of references

Students are expected to search for relevant extra readings and draw on suitable literature from academic publications  as  well  as   practitioner  outlets.  All  sources  of   information   must  be  fully   and  appropriately acknowledged using in-text citation and reference list. Use at least 5 references, 3 of which must be from peer reviewed academic journals or conference publications. The minimum 5 references excludes the IT Contractor Rates Guide by HAYS provided. The IT Contractor Rates Guide by HAYS should also be cited where appropriate.

The reference section should use the American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing. (APA 6th style: https://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/apa )

THE SUGGESTED PROJECTS

Project 1: Special Consideration

Relevant procedure: https://publicpolicydms.monash.edu/Monash/documents/1935761

The current special consideration process is problematic as students can apply for a short extension up to 2 business days only before an assessment due date. The current process has implications for both the teaching team and the student. For the students, the process is not transparent causing concerns and confusion whether the application is being processed in time. The process is concerning for the teaching team, as the outcome of an application is only communicated to the Chief Examiner (CE) through a dashboard and not to the wider teaching team.  Furthermore, with the  increasing volume of applications, especially around the assessment period, this adds considerable stress for both the students and the teaching team since the due dates have to be updated manually in Moodle. Another significant complication that affects both students and teaching staff is whether an approved short extension for a student only affects the individual student or their assigned group. The  expected  outcome   of  the   project  is  a  digital  solution  to   streamline  the   process  and  improve  the communication between relevant stakeholders.