Academic Year

2022/23

Semester

Semester 1

Module Number

BSM084

Module Title

Project Management Fundamentals

Assessment Method

Coursework

Deadline (time and date)

Submission

Assessment Dropbox in the Module Study Area in

CampusMoodle.

Word Limit

3,000

Module Co-ordinator

What is expected of me in this assessment?

Task(s) - content

The Covid-19 pandemic revealed significant weaknesses in Africa’s ability to vaccinate its population. Since the first vaccinations arrived on the continent through the COVAX scheme, approximately 400m doses have been administered. However, Africa is

still behind in vaccinating its population, with only around 12% of Africa’s population being fully vaccinated while in Europe, rates can be as high as 94%. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Africa needs to do more to ensure its health security, and to do so needs to be able to build its capacity to develop and make vaccines.

What is expected of me in this assessment?

Increasing vaccine production capacity would not just address issues with Covid-19 vaccination rates but also help address other endemic diseases such as measles and polio. A vaccine hub in Senegal, which has the backing of global partners, has recently started production, and Uganda’s Virus Research Institute is now building its own vaccine.

There are a number of issues that African nations face in terms of vaccine production and development. One of these is Western biotech companies’ reluctance to share knowledge, skills and technology. However, the involvement of the Pasteur Institute in the Senegal vaccine hub shows that partnership of this nature is possible.

Requirements of the Coursework

 The African Union and the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) are now working to increase African capacity to develop and produce vaccines. They are looking at other countries in which to establish vaccine hubs. You have been hired by the African Union to help develop strategies in Africa to increase vaccine production. You have been asked to develop a high-level project plan to present to the project sponsors outlining a project that would contribute towards expanding vaccine production and development in Africa.

The project plan should include the following:

 Business Case. You must also demonstrate that there is a sound business case for the project by presenting an overview of the benefits of your project both tangible and intangible and evaluating the costs v’s benefits.

1. Scope. You must define the scope of the project by identifying the overall aim of the project, objectives and deliverables. You must include a summary of the main considerations and assumptions you have made in formulating your project scope. You should also include critical success factors and criteria. You should also include a critical discussion of the importance of developing a clear scope as a basis for project delivery
2. Planning and Control. You must provide a project schedule, identifying the key phases and life cycle of the project. The report should include a work breakdown structure

What is expected of me in this assessment?

(WBS) and a ‘project schedule’ (Gantt chart). You should also critically discuss the approach to the life cycle, including how the project has been broken down into phases, any critical activities and any milestones or decision gates.

1. Risk. A risk assessment of the project and the project plan should be undertaken with an analysis and discussion of the key risks. You must also identify measures to minimise each risk and whether any residual risk remains following your risk responses. There should also be a critical discussion of the role of risk management in successful project delivery.
2. Stakeholders. There should also be a discussion of the key issues and concerns in terms of stakeholders, identifying which stakeholders have the potential to have the most significant impact on the project. You must also include a stakeholder matrix and identify how you will deal with the stakeholders and critically discuss the need to manage project stakeholders.
3. Change. You should identify any specific controls you will put in place to monitor and control the project, including an outline of the change control mechanisms, who will be responsibility for change control decisions within the project and how that would fit with configuration management.  You should also critically discuss the potential impact of not having appropriate change and configuration mechanisms in place.

You are expected to develop a project plan in response to the case study as detailed in the brief. You are also expected to draw on the relevant theory and concepts as delivered throughout the module to underpin your analysis, discussion and any conclusions. You should refer to the materials in each of the topics to guide your answer, the activities in class and online are also aligned to the outputs required for this report.

 Task(s) – format

Guidelines for Project Plan Format

Your project plan should include the following sections;

What is expected of me in this assessment?

• Title Page
• Table of contents
  • Business Case Section
  • Scope Section
  • Planning and Control Section
  • Risk Section
  • Stakeholder Section
  • Appendices – the appendices may include the WBS, risk assessment matrix and the stakeholder matrix

The Gantt Chart may be submitted as a separate file.

Please refer to the School Word Count statement for further information on which elements are included and excluded from the word count.

What knowledge and/or skills will I develop by undertaking the assessment?

This module is designed to give students an understanding of the key principles, concepts and strategies of project management. The module also examines the broad project environment and apply project management tools and techniques to a real or case study project.

On successful completion of the assessment students will be able to achieve the following Learning Outcomes:

1. Critically review the project life-cycle phases, processes, tools and techniques and the broader environment in which projects take place.

1. Develop a critical awareness of the issues involved in the development of project planning and control activities, including anticipating and assessing business environmental impacts in the earliest stages of project planning.
2. Critically evaluate the project objectives of cost, quality and time and the trade-offs and interaction between these objectives.
   1. Develop in broad outline for a case project a Project Plan.

Please also refer to the Module Descriptor, available from the module Moodle study area.