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SYLLABUS: PROJECT MANAGEMENT BA 462
Section 3,
Monday/Wednesday 10:00–11:50 AM – Bexell 415
Winter 2005
Instructor: John Sloan
Office: 340 Bexell Hall
Office Phone: 737-6042
E-mail: SLOANJ@bus.oregonstate.edu
Office hours:
Monday 1:00 – 2:30
Tuesday 1:00
– 2:30
and by
appointment
COURSE
DESCRIPTION:
Welcome! This course provides a socio-technical perspective
to the management of projects. The
content deals with planning, scheduling, organizing, and managing projects -
e.g., product development, construction, information systems, new business, and
special events. Primary class emphasis
is on the project management process and tools.
Today, more and more companies are realizing that managing projects is a
vital part of everyone’s job. Mastery of
key tools and concepts could give you significant competitive advantage in the
marketplace.
COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
- To
master key concepts, techniques, and decision tools used by project
managers
- To
identify critical behaviors for successfully managing projects, and to
prepare the student to effectively participate as a project team member
- To
understand how to develop and use a complete computer-based information
system for managing projects
- To
have fun!
RESOURCES:
LECTURE SLIDES: Posted in the MS Outlook public folder BA
462 – Sloan.
EXERCISES: Posted in the MS Outlook public folder BA 462
– Sloan.
SOFTWARE: The “official” software for the class will be
Microsoft Project 2002 for Windows.
Permission to use other software must be approved by the instructor.
MS PROJECT LABS: Lab instructors are provided and weekly
group lab sessions (Bexell 324 Tu/Th 6-8 pm) are conducted. The lab instructors are also available at
other scheduled times. You are not
required to attend these sessions but it is highly recommended that you take
advantage of this opportunity to learn MS Project 2002 which is used for the
assignments and the Term Paper Project.
MS PROJECT 2002 TUTORIALS: MS Project
training videos developed by Dr. Erik Larson are at
http://abu.bus.oregonstate.edu/media/Project02/index.htm. These tutorials are highly recommended.
It is imperative that you bring the
text and hard copies of the public folder exercises to class
CLASS
PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOL:
Professional
conduct in the classroom is expected at all times. This involves mutual respect,
including turning off
cell phones and audible paging devices, as well as only having one
person talking at one
time.
COURSE GRADING:
All students are
expected to abide by the university rules on academic honesty, which forbid
cheating or plagiarism. Failure to do so
will result in failing the class per the process in Academic Regulations AR15.
The instructor will report all violations to the University.
Regular class attendance is strongly encouraged. If you miss class, it is your responsibility
to pick up missed handouts, etc. I strongly suggest you team up with another
student to cover for you in the event you do miss a class.
Exams:
You will take two
exams during the quarter, a midterm and a non-cumulative final. Exams will cover the lecture material, the
assigned readings, and any other material covered in class.
Full-credit make-up
exams are allowed in emergency situations, provided notice to, and permission
by the instructor are given at least five days before the scheduled exam, or
with a university-approved absence for a last-minute situation.
Assignments:
There are four
required submissions for the term paper (TP .1 through TP .4). Additional information is below as well as in
the public folder BA 462 – Sloan
There are four
homework assignments based on the Conveyor Belt Project in the text
(chapters 4, 6, 8, and 13).
All TP submissions
and assignments have posted due dates (listed in the schedule below).
No credit will be given for late assignments unless the same emergency terms
for late exams are met.
Final
grades will be based on the following distribution:
Examination
1 125
points
Examination
2 125
Final Quiz 10
Assignments
– Conveyor Belt Project 85 (10-25-25-25)
Term
Project – paper 105
(0-5-25-75)
Class
Participation / Presentation 25
Total 475
points
Grades will be
assigned based on the following scale:
A > 92% C 72
- 78%
A
minus 90 - 92% C minus 70 - 72%
B
plus 88
- 90% D plus 68 - 70%
B 82 - 88% D 62 - 68%
B
minus 80 - 82% D minus 60 - 62%
C
plus 78 - 80% F < 60%
TERM PAPER:
The primary purpose of the term paper
is to give you an opportunity to apply and demonstrate your understanding of
the tools and principles covered in the class to a project of your choice. Preferably, the project should be one from
your past, present, or future work situation.
If this is not feasible, pick a project you would like to do that is of
sufficient magnitude to demonstrate all the tools and principles covered. (Note:
A one or two-person project is too small to meet the needs of the
project. Plan on a project with four or
more staff who work directly for you, the project manager.) In some cases you may take a large project
and only work with a part of the major project.
Extra points are given for creativity and for those projects that
demonstrate your understanding of the total project management information
system. Some "doctoring" of
your projects may be necessary to allow you to demonstrate use of the
tools. In any event, the number of
activities/tasks in your project should be limited to 20-30 (these are
activities that require resources). Any
deviation from this requirement must be approved by the instructor.
A very important part of the class
(and a requirement for successful completion of the Term Paper) is developing
skills in the use of a project management software tool – MS Project 2002. Lab instructors and scheduled group lab
sessions are provided during the term.
The term paper should follow the
process outlined in the class materials.
That is, write a scope statement, identify deliverables, and develop a
work breakdown structure (WBS). This
information will be used to develop a project network plan using the AON
(activity-on-node) format for establishing a timeline. Next, schedule the resources and identify
scheduling conflicts that will require revising the plan. After the schedule is in place, make a
financial requirements schedule.
Identify potential management issues that are likely to arise in completing
this project. What should you, as the
Project Manager, look out for in managing this project? What are the keys to success?
Next, you will assume the project
has been in process 30-70 percent of the project duration and has not
materialized as planned in schedule and/or budget. Give a project update, a status report on
schedule, cost variance, and time. Give
management a roll-up of schedule and cost variance in your WBS/OBS. Discuss options and associated trade-offs
for responding to delays, problems, and cost over-runs. Choose and justify an
appropriate response given the nature and purpose of your project. Discuss the
specific management problem you encountered and how you resolved it.
TERM PAPER – GENERAL OUTLINE
