345SAM Assignment Brief
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Faculty of Business, Environment and Society
Assignment Brief
Module Title: Project Management
for Business
Assignment
Number
Semester 2
Module Code: 345SAM Assignment Title Migrating IT service to the
“cloud”.
Submission Date: 26th February 2016 Module Leader Marie Sams, David Ellis
Submission
Time and Place:
Submission through
Turnitin ONLY 23:55
Module Team Amritpal Slaich,
Kasim Randeree, Sorin Piperca
Module learning outcomes being assessed
1. Evaluate current issues in project management and its application in the business
environment.
2. Critically evaluate different tools and techniques used in project management
3. Assess the impact of hard and soft skills on the management of a variety of different
projects.
Assignment Information
A Coventry-based advertising agency, employing around 40 staff, have experienced a
number of recent successes and are planning to expand their business to meet the needs of
their growing customer base and to enable them to respond to opportunities for
international contracts in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The company’s IT network, maintained in-house by an IT manager and technician, has
reached its designed capacity, and will not be capable of supporting the needs of their
expanding workforce. With the increasing international focus of their business, the need for
staff to work away from the office (for example when visiting customers) and the need to
respond quickly to customer requests, the company are planning to replace their in-house IT
server network with a remotely hosted “cloud” based service which provides the latest
office and creative media applications. Not only should this provide the necessary capacity
and options for growth, it is also hoped that reliability and performance will be improved,
thereby increasing staff productivity.
You have been appointed as the project manager to oversee the specification and
procurement of the new remotely hosted IT service and the migration of employees’
345SAM Assignment Brief
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accounts and data from the current system to the new system. Your first task is to prepare
a project initiation document (2000 words), drawing on appropriate project management
theory and frameworks, to present to the company’s board of directors for approval. The
plan should consider the following aspects of the project:
• The project’s scope.
• An initial assessment of stakeholders and recommendations on how these
stakeholders should be managed to maximise the chance of achieving the project’s
objectives.
• An initial assessment of risks and opportunities presented by the project and the
response strategies proposed.
• The proposed project organization.
• An outline project plan (Gantt chart) showing the main tasks and significant
milestones. The Gantt chart needs to show a minimum of 10 tasks.
There is no need for you to prepare an outline business case and project budget, as this will
be prepared by a colleague, based on the Gantt chart and budgetary estimates from
suppliers.
The design of your project initiation document should take in to consideration both the soft
and hard skills necessary to ensure the project’s success.
Structure
Your assignment should be presented as a report, using the following structure:
Project Initiation Document section
Included in word count
Project Scope
Yes
Project Stakeholder Assessment
Yes
Risk and Opportunity Assessment
Yes
Project Organisation
Yes
Project Plan
Yes
Reference list
No
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The word count for this assignment is 2000 words. There is a 10% word limit tolerance.
(Maximum/minimum range: 1800 to 2200 words.)
Tables, diagrams, appendices and references are omitted from the overall word count:
Sections contributing to the word count are indicated. You may also include tables,
diagrams and models. These do not count towards the word count. Ensure that all tables,
diagrams and models are labelled, include a citation and are discussed in the text.
Appendices and reference list are also not included in the word count.
You must state the number of words used on the front cover of the assignment.
Source material
You are required to research and apply project management theory in order to successfully
complete this assignment. In order to pass, you will need to use a minimum of 10 separate sources,
including a minimum of 3 textbooks and 3 journal articles.
How to submit your assessment
The essay must be submitted via Turnitin by 23.55 on 26/02/2016. No paper copies are required.
You can access the Turnitin link through the module web.
• Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin.
• All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see
below) will be given a mark of zero. Please note that a non-submission is not the same as a
failed submission; a failed submission counts as an attempt whereas an absent mark does
not necessarily allow you to resit the coursework.
• Short deferrals (extensions) of up to three calendar weeks can only be given for genuine
“force majeure” and medical reasons, not for bad planning of your time. Please note that
theft, loss, or failure to keep a back-up file, are not valid reasons. The short deferral must be
applied for on or before the submission date. You can apply for a short deferral by
submitting an Examination/ Coursework Deferral Application Form. Application Forms along
with the supporting evidence should go to the relevant Student Support Office (WMG01).
For a longer delay in submission a student may apply for a long deferral.
• Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.
• Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism
checking websites.
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GUIDELINES AND BACKGROUND TO THIS ASSIGNMENT
This assessment will assess all of the module learning outcomes and makes up 50% of the overall
module mark.
Word Count Limit
Your word count includes in text citations but not the final references or appendices. If you are more than 10%
over or under the word count limit you will receive a 10% penalty.
The contents of your References and Appendices are not normally given a specific mark (though they will
contribute to your overall mark, as detailed in the assessment criteria). We therefore recommend that you
only use Appendices for supporting material and not for the substantive part of your work.
Plagiarism
As part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your
coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing or thoughts and that you
do not attempt to pass this off as your own work. Doing so is known as plagiarism. It is not acceptable to copy
from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using
paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of
others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure,
please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw.
Turnitin includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism
when it occurs. Copying another student’s work, using previous work of your own or copying large sections
from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. Please familiarise
yourself with the CU Harvard Reference Style (on Moodle) and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or
cheating being brought. Again, if you are unsure, please contact the Centre for Academic Writing or a member
of the course team.
Return of Marked Work
You can expect to have marked work returned to you two weeks after the submission deadline. Marks and
feedback will be provided online. As always, marks will have been internally moderated only, and will
therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has
completed his / her review.
Marks Distribution
Marks will be allocated as follows:
Coursework element Mark split
Research and selection of project management theory to support the assignment 25%
Appropriate application of project management techniques 40%
Clarity and credibility of proposals 15%
Gantt chart 10%
Structure, layout and presentation, including spelling and grammar 5%
CU Harvard referencing and use of in-text citations 5%
In addition to the above marks breakdown, it is useful for students to understand what constitutes a
poor, average, good and excellent piece of work. Please refer to the guidelines below:
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Assessment Criteria
Mark
range
Guidelines
70 –
100%
In order to secure a mark in this range, a candidate must submit an outstanding answer that
could hardly be bettered. In addition to the criteria identified below for a mark between 70-85%,
an answer scoring a mark of 85-100% would show an excellent level of understanding and
critical/analytic skills and originality. For example, such an answer would include new insights
into Project Management which are not drawn from the literature but from the student’s own
critical thinking, and which add something to the existing literature.
An essay in this range will demonstrate a strong understanding of theories, concepts and issues
relating to Project Management. There will be evidence of wide-ranging reading from a variety
of valid sources (as described and presented in the marking criteria for 60-69%).
The assignment must be written in a clear, well-structured way with a coherent and seamless
flow and show evidence of independent, critical thought. It must show extensive relevant
reading on the subject and intelligent use of the material to present a well-balanced and wellargued
assignment. For example, the student will have considered a range of relevant issues and
be able to assess the strength and weaknesses of various approaches/arguments and put
forward a confident and articulate view of their own.
60 – 69%
An essay in this mark range will demonstrate a very good understanding of the requirements of
the assignment and of theories, concepts and issues relating to Project Management. An
assignment in this percentage range will include a balanced discussion of issues central to the
question, how these are addressed by different authors or sources and some critical thinking into
their relative merits or shortcomings.
The answer will be contain few errors and little, if any, irrelevant material. It will show evidence
of reading from a variety of sources (i.e. more than 10) but not so many sources that the
discussion loses focus and becomes unclear or irrelevant. All sources should be of academic
merit (e.g. books, journals, reports, media publications). Unreferenced material and information
from non-credible internet sources should not be included.
All sources must be included and properly referenced in the reference list. The assignment will
be well-organised and clearly written/presented overall.
50 – 59%
The answer will demonstrate a good understanding of relevant theories, concepts and issues
relating to Project Management but also some areas of limited understanding or analysis.
The assignment will show evidence of research, but will, or example, provide a narrative account
rather analyse and evaluate material. The assignment may be quite general in part. Some errors
may be present and some irrelevant material may be included.
The essay may not be particularly well-structured, and/or clearly presented and contain some
spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. A few sentences may be unclear.
40 – 49%
A mark within this percentage range will be given to an essay which:
– shows some limited basic understanding of the subject but is incomplete. For example, if it
answers one part of a question but not the rest.
– makes only very general statements
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Mark
range
Guidelines
– includes some factual errors or misunderstandings e.g. confusion between different
companies or misuse of certain key terms.
– shows limited use of material with limited reading/research on the topic and includes only a
very small number of references, not all of which are included in the references
– includes spelling mistakes, is poorly structured with no clear argument and grammar mistakes
making it difficult to understand.
– includes some irrelevant material.
35 – 39%
A mark within this percentage range will be given to an assignment which, for example:
– includes only a limited amount of relevant material.
– shows little evidence of reading/research on the topic. For example, the essay includes only
very few references, and relies only on material or case studies used during the course.
– shows only a very basic understanding of the subject.
– is poorly presented, with an incomplete reference list.
– has a poor structure and does not flow e.g. if there is no conclusion or new facts are
introduced in the conclusion rather than introduction or main discussion.
– contains some fundamental errors.
20 – 34%
0 – 19%
A poor fail on this assignment means the assignment submitted:
– shows a poor understanding of theories, concepts and issues relating to Project Management
and to the learning outcomes detailed in this document.
– contains some or many fundamental errors and misunderstandings of the academic or other
material used.
– uses literature or other material which is largely irrelevant or has no academic value
– is poorly structured and poorly presented. For example, sentences may be hard to understand
and contain many spelling or grammatical mistakes.
– contains no or few references.
Work within this mark range shows a complete failure to meet the requirements of the
assignment. A mark in this range will be given for an essay which:
– bears no link to the question chosen and shows very little or no knowledge or understanding
of any of the theories, concepts and issues relating to Project Management.
– contains no references and/or evidence of relevant reading.
– shows little understanding of the requirements of the assignment and only a
vague
knowledge of the subject area.
– includes numerous fundamental errors in the understanding or presentation of the material
discussed. There is a general lack of evidence and what is provided is mostly incorrect and/or
irrelevant.
– is poorly structured and poorly presented. Spelling and grammar are poor. Many sentences
are incomprehensible.
