Larson, E., & Gray, C. (2014). Project management: The managerial process (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

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1 BBA 4126, Project Planning Course Syllabus Course Description Provides the tools to understand, design, and apply systematic project management organization and administration. In addition to learning how to satisfy customer needs, this course will assist students with learning how to apply budgeting concepts, manage production time, invest resources, and create performance specifications designed within defined requirements. Course Textbook Larson, E., & Gray, C. (2014). Project management: The managerial process (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Course Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 1. Explain the relationship between the technical and socio-cultural sides of a project. 2. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different organizational structures, such as functional, matrix, and projectized. 3. Discuss guidelines for creating a work breakdown structure (WBS) and how this process impacts time and cost estimates. 4. Provide a process for determining the critical path method (CPM). 5. Evaluate schedule compression techniques. 6. Describe the risk management process, including risk identification, analysis, and response. 7. Discuss the leadership techniques that a project manager can use to meet the agreed objectives of the project. 8. Explain how the calculated results from earned value management (EVM) are part of an audit. Credits Upon completion of this course, the students will earn three (3) hours of college credit. Course Structure 1. Unit Learning Outcomes: Each unit contains Learning Outcomes that specify the measurable skills and knowledge students should gain upon completion of the unit. 2. Unit Lesson: Each unit contains a Unit Lesson, which discusses unit material. 3. Reading Assignments: Each unit contains Reading Assignments from one or more chapters from the textbook. 4. Learning Activities (Non-Graded): These non-graded Learning Activities are provided in Units I-VIII to aid students in their course of study. 5. Discussion Boards: Discussion Boards are a part of all CSU term courses. Information and specifications regarding these assignments are provided in the Student Resources link listed in the Course Menu bar. 6. Unit Assessments: This course contains three Unit Assessments, one to be completed at the end of Units III, V, and VII. Assessments are composed of written response questions. 7. Unit Assignments: Students are required to submit for grading Unit Assignments in Units I, II, IV, V, VI, and VIII. Units II and VI contain two assignments. Specific information and instructions regarding these assignments are provided below. Grading rubrics are included with the Unit Assignments. Specific information about accessing these rubrics is provided below. BBA 4126, Project Planning 1

2 8. Ask the Professor: This communication forum provides you with an opportunity to ask your professor general or course content related questions. 9. Student Break Room: This communication forum allows for casual conversation with your classmates. CSU Online Library The CSU Online Library is available to support your courses and programs. The online library includes databases, journals, e-books, and research guides. These resources are always accessible and can be reached through the library webpage. To access the library, log into the mycsu Student Portal, and click on CSU Online Library. You can also access the CSU Online Library from the My Library button on the course menu for each course in Blackboard. The CSU Online Library offers several reference services. and telephone ( ) assistance is available Monday Thursday from 8 am to 5 pm and Friday from 8 am to 3 pm. The library s chat reference service, Ask a Librarian, is available 24/7; look for the chat box on the online library page. Librarians can help you develop your research plan or assist you in finding relevant, appropriate, and timely information. Reference requests can include customized keyword search strategies, links to articles, database help, and other services. Unit Assignments Unit I Case Study Read the Horizon Consulting case on pages of your textbook. After reading the case, answer the following questions: How successful was the post-meeting? What factors contributed to the success or failure of the post-meeting? What kind of project management structure does Horizon use? Is it the right structure? Explain. You will need to identify your own thoughts and cite specific passages from the case study to support your point of view. Your response should be at least one page in length and written in standard essay form following APA style guidelines. Unit II Assignment 1 Read the following scenario and answer the corresponding questions upon your completion. Your response should be at least two pages in length in standard essay form following APA style guidelines. CTO Scenario: You are working on a project to install 200 new computers for your department. Your sponsor is the CTO (Chief Technology Officer). Although the CTO is your key stakeholder, you know that many other individuals will affect the success or failure of your project. This is the first time you have worked with this CTO, and you have heard that he often changes his mind about the requirements and due date. In fact, you heard that a PM who failed to meet the project deadline was fired by the CTO. On your way to the weekly status meeting with the CTO, you run into a colleague who tells you that the best way to handle the CTO is to avoid confronting him. If the CTO tells you to do 10 push-ups, you do 10 push-ups. If he asks for coffee, do not forget the cream and sugar. In other words, the Yes-Man approach works best. You may not like what you hear from the CTO, but at least you will keep your job. In fact, your colleague tells you that the CTO often promotes people who agree with him. Of course, you know what happens to those who fail to follow his recommendations. Provide your response to the following questions: Who are your stakeholders? BBA 4126, Project Planning 2

3 How do you plan to communicate with your stakeholders? You schedule a meeting with managers from the impacted departments, and only seven of the 13 you invited show up to discuss the project. What does this tell you about the potential success of the project? Because of your failure to coordinate with a vendor, the equipment will arrive 42 days late. How will you notify the sponsor of your serious error? Your CTO informs you that the deliverable date is now two months earlier. You know what happened to the last PM. How do you handle that new requirement? Unit II Assignment 2 Read the following scenario and answer the corresponding questions upon your completion. Your response should be at least one page in length in standard essay form following APA style guidelines. Deerborn Electronics Scenario: You work for Deerborn Electronics, a multinational firm providing parts for mobile devices. As the project manager for the tablet division, you have been kept extremely busy. In fact, you are putting in 60 hours per week, and it is taking a toll on you and your family. You have thought about quitting, but the $140K annual salary is far too good. You have been here at Deerborn only 14 months, and you have determined an anti-project culture. You recently confided in a team member the following: No one is accountable around here. In fact, you think most people here are flat lazy. As the project manager, how do you change the culture? How do you ensure that your project is completed? What type of leadership style might work in this organizational setting? How will you measure success? Why? Unit IV Case Study Read the Nightingale Project A case on page 333 of your textbook. After reading the case, answer the following questions: Will the project as planned meet the October 25th deadline? Why, or why not? What schedule compression techniques would you use? What activities lie on the critical path? How sensitive is this network? You will need to identify your own thoughts and cite specific passages from the case study to support your point of view. Your response should be a minimum of one page in length in standard essay form following APA style guidelines. Unit V Case Study Read the following scenario and answer the corresponding questions upon your completion. Lobos International Scenario: Over the past few years, you and Cindy have been on the fast track at Lobos International, a multinational company providing Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) solutions to companies operating in the Pacific Rim. You were just informed that you have been promoted as Senior VP of Global Affairs, a position that, for the foreseeable future, has Cindy reporting directly to you. You received a text message from a colleague congratulating you on the promotion, but she also alerted you that Cindy and several of her team members were upset and resentful that she failed to receive the position. She had, after all, been with Lobos a couple years longer than you. BBA 4126, Project Planning 3

4 The first project on the table requires you to increase the number of clients in the region by 10% over the next 12 months. To do that, you will need Cindy s help because she heads the sales and marketing team. Given that you are new to this position, it is imperative that you demonstrate your ability to lead, regardless of personality differences. Please provide a response to the following questions: Please discuss how you will approach Cindy to ensure she is on board with the project objectives? How will you get the team to the performing stage (stages forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning)? How will you manage the potential conflict? How will you handle the situation in which some of Cindy s team members are sabotaging the success of the project? If Cindy steps up to the plate and performs admirably, will you seek for her to be promoted? Explain. Identify your own thoughts, and answer each question in detail. Your response should be a minimum of two pages in length written in standard essay form according to APA style guidelines. Unit VI Case Study Read the Shell Case Fabricator case on page 442 of your textbook. After reading the case, answer the following questions: Should Shell Case Fabrications (SCF) accept or reject Air Connection Links (ACL) request? Which option would you select? What risks are involved? How should SCF negotiate with ACL? How can SCF and ACL develop a positive, long-range relationship? Give some specifics. You will need to identify your own thoughts and cite specific passages from the case to support your point of view. Your response should be a minimum of one page in length written in standard essay form following APA style guidelines. Unit VI Assignment Essay As you have read in this unit s assigned reading, earned value management (EVM) assists project managers when measuring the overall performance of a project. EVM can be very useful in project forecasting and is used for cost and schedule control. For this assignment, write an essay detailing the basic elements of earned value management. Additionally, discuss how the calculated results from EVM are part of an audit. Your essay should be at least one page in length written in standard essay form following APA style. You are required to use at least one source outside of your course textbook, preferably from the CSU Online Library. Unit VIII Case Study Read the following scenario and answer the corresponding questions upon your completion. You recently earned your Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, and you are excited to share the news with your manager. After a short discussion, the manager looks at you and says, Shawn, let s not waste any time. I have a big project that just hit my desk. We are going to automate the medical records processes for an established hospital in Omaha. Congrats! You re in charge! BBA 4126, Project Planning 4

5 When you walked in to see your manager, you were excited. Now, you are scared! Although you just passed the PMP exam, you are unsure that you can lead such a big project. On the way back to your desk, the light bulb goes off, and you start thinking about how leaders surround themselves with top-notch team members. Provide your response to the following questions: 1. What advice do you give Shawn regarding forming the project team? 2. How should Shawn handle the situation where some team members possess far more experience managing these types of projects? 3. What are some ground rules that Shawn should consider? 4. What might happen to Shawn s career if he is honest with his manager and tells her that he lacks the experience needed for this project? 5. Once the project is complete, what are some items that Shawn should include in the lessons learned? You will need to identify your own thoughts to support your point of view. Your response should be a minimum of one page in length written in standard essay form according to APA style guidelines. APA Guidelines The application of the APA writing style shall be practical, functional, and appropriate to each academic level, with the primary purpose being the documentation (citation) of sources. CSU requires that students use APA style for certain papers and projects. Students should always carefully read and follow assignment directions and review the associated grading rubric when available. Students can find CSU s Citation Guide by clicking here. This document includes examples and sample papers and provides information on how to contact the CSU Success Center. Grading Rubrics This course utilizes analytic grading rubrics as tools for your professor in assigning grades for all learning activities. Each rubric serves as a guide that communicates the expectations of the learning activity and describes the criteria for each level of achievement. In addition, a rubric is a reference tool that lists evaluation criteria and can help you organize your efforts to meet the requirements of that learning activity. It is imperative for you to familiarize yourself with these rubrics because these are the primary tools your professor uses for assessing learning activities. Rubric categories include: (1) Discussion Board, (2) Assessment (Written Response), and (3) Assignment. However, it is possible that not all of the listed rubric types will be used in a single course (e.g., some courses may not have Assessments). The Discussion Board rubric can be found within Unit I s Discussion Board submission instructions. The Assessment (Written Response) rubric can be found embedded in a link within the directions for each Unit Assessment. However, these rubrics will only be used when written-response questions appear within the Assessment. Each Assignment type (e.g., article critique, case study, research paper) will have its own rubric. The Assignment rubrics are built into Blackboard, allowing students to review them prior to beginning the Assignment and again once the Assignment has been scored. This rubric can be accessed via the Assignment link located within the unit where it is to be submitted. Students may also access the rubric through the course menu by selecting Tools and then My Grades. Again, it is vitally important for you to become familiar with these rubrics because their application to your Discussion Boards, Assessments, and Assignments is the method by which your instructor assigns all grades. Communication Forums These are non-graded discussion forums that allow you to communicate with your professor and other students. Participation in these discussion forums is encouraged, but not required. You can access these forums with the buttons in the Course Menu. Instructions for subscribing/unsubscribing to these forums are provided below. BBA 4126, Project Planning 5

6 Click here for instructions on how to subscribe/unsubscribe and post to the Communication Forums. Ask the Professor This communication forum provides you with an opportunity to ask your professor general or course content questions. Questions may focus on Blackboard locations of online course components, textbook or course content elaboration, additional guidance on assessment requirements, or general advice from other students. Questions that are specific in nature, such as inquiries regarding assessment/assignment grades or personal accommodation requests, are NOT to be posted on this forum. If you have questions, comments, or concerns of a nonpublic nature, please feel free to your professor. Responses to your post will be addressed or ed by the professor within 48 hours. Before posting, please ensure that you have read all relevant course documentation, including the syllabus, assessment/assignment instructions, faculty feedback, and other important information. Student Break Room This communication forum allows for casual conversation with your classmates. Communication on this forum should always maintain a standard of appropriateness and respect for your fellow classmates. This forum should NOT be used to share assessment answers. Grading Discussion Boards 2.5%) = 20% Assessments 10%) = 30% Case Studies 7%) = 35% Assignments 5%) = 15% Total = 100% Course Schedule/Checklist (PLEASE PRINT) The following pages contain a printable Course Schedule to assist you through this course. By following this schedule, you will be assured that you will complete the course within the time allotted. BBA 4126, Project Planning 6

7 BBA 4126, Project Planning Course Schedule By following this schedule, you will be assured that you will complete the course within the time allotted. Please keep this schedule for reference as you progress through your course. Unit I Introduction and Strategy Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 1: Modern Project Management Chapter 2: Organization Strategy and Project Selection Chapter 3: Organization: Structure and Culture Discussion Board Response: Submit your response to the Discussion Board question by Saturday, Discussion Board Comment: Comment on another student s Discussion Board response by Case Study by Unit II Defining the Project and the Organization Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 4: Defining the Project Discussion Board Response: Submit your response to the Discussion Board question by Saturday, Discussion Board Comment: Comment on another student s Discussion Board response by Assignment 1 by Assignment 2 by Unit III Estimating Project Times and Costs, Developing a Project Plan, and Managing Risks Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 5: Estimating Project Times and Costs Chapter 6: Developing a Project Plan Chapter 7: Managing Risk Discussion Board Response: Submit your response to the Discussion Board question by Saturday, Discussion Board Comment: Comment on another student s Discussion Board response by Assessment by BBA 4126, Project Planning 7

8 BBA 4126, Project Planning Course Schedule Unit IV Scheduling Resources and Reducing Duration Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 8: Scheduling Resources and Costs Chapter 9: Reducing Project Duration Discussion Board Response: Submit your response to the Discussion Board question by Saturday, Discussion Board Comment: Comment on another student s Discussion Board response by Case Study by Unit V Leadership and Teams Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 10: Leadership: Being an Effective Project Manager Chapter 11: Managing Project Teams Discussion Board Response: Submit your response to the Discussion Board question by Saturday, Discussion Board Comment: Comment on another student s Discussion Board response by Assessment by Case Study by Unit VI Outsourcing, Monitoring Progress, and Project Closure Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 12: Outsourcing: Managing Interorganizational Relations Chapter 13: Progress and Performance Measurement and Evaluation Chapter 14: Project Closure Discussion Board Response: Submit your response to the Discussion Board question by Saturday, Discussion Board Comment: Comment on another student s Discussion Board response by Case Study by Assignment by BBA 4126, Project Planning 8

9 BBA 4126, Project Planning Course Schedule Unit VII International Projects and Oversight Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 15: International Projects Chapter 16: Oversight Discussion Board Response: Submit your response to the Discussion Board question by Saturday, Discussion Board Comment: Comment on another student s Discussion Board response by Assessment by Unit VIII Agile PM and Career Paths Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 17: An Introduction to Agile Project Management Chapter 18: Project Management Career Paths Discussion Board Response: Submit your response to the Discussion Board question by Saturday, Discussion Board Comment: Comment on another student s Discussion Board response by Case Study by BBA 4126, Project Planning 9