Monash University Handbook 2011 Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Synopsis

This unit provides both a theoretical and practical overview of processes involved in successfully managing medium to large scale projects undertaken by organisations operating within various industry sectors. Even though, this unit makes references to projects common to the information technology industry, the principles are equally applied to non-IT related projects. Examples and mini-cases illustrating project management issues experienced by various sectors (e.g. construction, business, defence) are cited. Typical topics include the project life cycle, problem definition, project evaluation, high and low level planning using such techniques as networking, gantt charts and resource levelling, team building and people management, contract management, ethical and security issues, project monitoring and control, reporting and communication, termination and assessment.

Objectives

At the completion of this unit students will be able to:

• describe the characteristics and phases of a project and its life cycle and explain the role played by the project manager;
• explain the need for and develop specific goals, detailed plans and control strategies in large scale projects and relate this to the major reasons for the failure of projects;
• develop relevant, achievable and measurable project goals;
• explain and use standard project management techniques including Project Networks, Critical Path Analysis and Management, Gantt Charts and Time-Phased Budgets for high and low level project planning;
• explore various alternatives in implementing projects by taking into account of enterprise architecture;
• discuss the communication, people handling and team management skills required of a project manager and explain some of the techniques that may be employed;
• identify and critically discuss the impact on a project of external influences, including organisational structure, and stakeholders;
• explain the processes involved in selecting and initiating a project and prepare various critical documents required for these processes, including financial justification;
• explain the importance of resource availability on project plans, perform project crashing calculations in order to develop and manage resource constrained project plans;
• describe the need for Quality Management in projects and explain, compare and use various techniques currently employed by professional project managers;
• describe the impact of risk on a project managers decision process, explain how that risk may be managed and/or mitigated and develop an appropriate risk management plan;
• describe the need for developing ethical practices in managing project teams;
• explain security concerns in project management;
• decide on the type of contracts that need to be prepared in support of acquiring products/services used within projects;
• monitor the progress of a project, determine performance against the plan, develop strategies to manage any variation and discuss formal change control processes;
• produce useful, informative progress reports for various project stakeholders and conduct stage and post project reviews.

Assessment

Examination (3 hours): 60%; In-semester assessment: 40%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Mahbubur Rahim

Contact hours

2 hrs lectures/wk, 2 hrs laboratories/wk

Prerequisites

Completion of at least 24 points of level one study or equivalent.

Prohibitions

AFW3043, BEW3640, BUS2176, CIV3205, CPE2006, CSE2203, GCO3807, GEG3104, GSE3003, FIT3086, MGW2700, MMS2203

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at:

http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/units/fit2002/