Week 1 – Introduction to projects and project planning
This week, we begin by giving an introduction to project planning.
This week we learn about:
- Project performance assessment, stakeholder analysis, defining and managing project scope, work breakdown structures and milestone planning.
On completion of this week you will be able to:
- Understand and apply project planning approaches.
- Prepare and Document project performance assessment, stakeholder analysis, project scope, work breakdown structures and milestone planning.
Reading
This week’s reading gives you a context for value delivery, governance, project functions, the project environment, and product management. Followed by project management principles and project performance domains.
Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI) (2021) ‘2. A System for Value Delivery’, in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK ® Guide) – 7th Edition and The Standard for Project Management. Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI), pp. 7–20.
Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI) (2021) ‘3. Project Management Principles’, in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK ® Guide) – 7th Edition and The Standard for Project Management. Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI), pp. 21–60.
Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI) (2021) ‘2. Project Performance Domains’, in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK ® Guide) – 7th Edition and The Standard for Project Management. Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI), pp. 7–123.
Lecturecasts
In these lecturecast, we will start with the definition of a project. And we will go through the contents of those projects and learn more about how a project manager conducts their project management activities.
Case Study
In this case study, we look at the JFK New York Air Train project.
Discussion Forum
In this discussion forum, we will continue to investigate the JFK New York Air Train project and partake in discussion with your lecturer and peers.
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Week 2: Introduction to project scheduling
This week we will provide an introduction to project scheduling. The steps of project scheduling for Project Management Institute (PMI) are discussed.
4 important best practices for project planning and scheduling are introduced:
- Gantt charts
- Analytical tools for projects scheduling (e.g. CPM and PERT)
- Earned value management
- Time performance ratio
On completion of this week, you will be able to:
- Understand and apply Gantt charts, Earned value management, Time performance ratio.
- Create precedence diagrams for project scheduling.
Reading
In this week’s reading, we will define the requirements of initial planning, including the role of managing scope. Furthermore, we will learn about the basics of product, tasks and organisational breakdown and recognise the limitations of these.
Maylor, H. (2010) ‘Chapter 5: Initial Planning’, in Project Management. Harlow, UNITED KINGDOM: Pearson Education, Limited, pp. 96–128.
Maylor, H. (2010) ‘Chapter 6.1: Deconstruction of a project’, in Project Management. Harlow, UNITED KINGDOM: Pearson Education, Limited, pp. 132.
Lecturecast
In this lecturecast, we will learn about time planning in projects. This is also called activity planning and scheduling covered in the previous lecturecast.
Activity
In this week’s activity, you will experiment with project scheduling and prepare a network diagram from a list of activities
Discussion
Developing a good schedule for managing the execution of a project is paramount to good project management practice. The Critical Path Method of scheduling is currently the most popular technique employed by scheduling practitioners.
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Week 3: Analytical tools in project scheduling: Critical Path Method (CPM)
This week, we learn Critical Path Method (CPM) for project scheduling. Particularly, students will learn about converting precedence diagrams into networks, finding starting and ending time for each activity, obtaining the project completion time, determining critical activities to finish the project on time, finding time slacks in the project schedule.
On completion of this week you will be able to
- Determine, document, understand and refine project schedules.
- Determine lateness of a project.
- Discuss the slacks in the project timeline.
- Determine the critical activities for finishing a project on time.
Reading
In this week’s reading, you will continue reading chapter 6 of Project Management by H. Maylor, where you will cover constructing a time plan and using Gantt charts.
Maylor, H. (2010) ‘Chapter 6: Time planning’, in Project Management. Harlow, UNITED KINGDOM: Pearson Education, Limited, pp. 131 – 153
Lecturecast
In this lecturecast, we will explore input parameters for project scheduling.
Activity
In this week’s activity, you will use the dataset seen in week two. You will complete tasks such as project scheduling and determining the critical path and critical tasks to complete the project.
Discussion
In this discussion forum, you will identify four important risk categories to categorise project risk and provide examples from various projects.
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Week 4: Introduction to risk, uncertainty and qualitative risk management process
This week, we introduce uncertainty and risk, its properties, advantages and disadvantages, and risk management process. We will also focus on qualitative risk analysis.
This week we learn about:
- The definition of uncertainty and risk for projects.
- Types of knowledge and their impact on projects.
- Flow of risk management process.
- Risk management plan.
- Risk identification methods.
- Risk breakdown structure.
- Risk register.
- Best practice to measure risk: Composite Risk Index (CRI).
- Risk assessment using CRI.
- Risk prioritisation using Likelihood-Impact matrix and CRI.
On completion of this week you will be able to
- Identify risks in the projects and assess the risks.
- Develop a comprehensive risk management plan encompassing cost, schedule and time considerations for project performance improvement.
- Conduct qualitative risk analysis.
- Measure, rank and assess the risks.
- Use comprehensive risk analysis tools to collect information for risk identification, measurement and assessment.
Reading
This week covers the management of risk and discusses a framework for risk management across the enterprise and its portfolio.
Lecturecasts
In the first lecturecast, we will introduce you to project risk and uncertainty, and in the second, we will cover risk management processes and qualitative risk analysis.
Case Study Discussion
In this activity, we will discuss the Tesla Model X project and prepare a simple risk register for the project and a likelihood impact matrix.
Tesla Model X
Read the following article from Forbes on Tesla Model X Challenges:
Wang, Ucilia. “Tesla’s Biggest Challenge: Build That X.” Forbes, 2015.
Discussion Forum
In this week’s second discussion forum, you are asked to compile list categories and discuss why they are essential for project risk.
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Week 5: Quantitative risk analysis
This week, we start learning about quantitative risk analysis.
This week we learn about:
- Importance of quantitative risk analysis.
- The impact of quantitative risk on real-world projects.
- Decision making under uncertainty: Drawing a decision tree.
- Calculating expected monetary value for each decision in a decision tree.
- Risk taker/averse/neutral decision trees.
On completion of this week, you will be able to:
- Understand the purpose and importance of quantitative risk analysis.
- Explain quantitative risk analysis (e.g. Inputs, Process and Outputs).
- Use quantitative risk analysis in complex environments and different cases.
- Apply decision trees.
- Assess project risks and decision-making under these risks.
- Discuss examples of decision trees in complex environments and different cases.
Lecturecast
In these lecturecasts, we will discuss quantitative risk analysis. This includes quantitative risk analysis methods and methodologies, and we will discuss decision trees and their use, particularly for quantitative decision analysis.
Reading
In this week’s reading, you will cover quantitative risk analysis and understand how it is used to determine the overall risk to a project’s objectives.
Project Management Institute (2019) ‘Appendix X6.4: QUANTITATIVE RISK ANALYSIS’, in The Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. Newtown Square: Project Management Institute, pp. 122–125.
Activity
In this week’s formative activity, you will act as the company’s project manager and select a subcontractor based upon the subcontractor’s expected risk for the project’s success.
Discussion Forum
In this week’s discussion forum, you are asked to consider mega and small projects’ quantitative aspects.
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Week 6: Simulation for risk analysis and sensitivity analysis
This week, we continue learning about quantitative risk analysis methods. There are three lecturecasts in this week.
This week we learn about:
- Steps of monte carlo simulation.
- Simulation for project scheduling under time uncertainty, particularly for Program Evaluation.
- Review Technique (PERT).
- Simulation for project budgeting under cash flow uncertainty.
- Confidence intervals for simulation results.
- Key performance indicators for uncertain project scheduling.
- Using histograms to assess project performance under uncertainty.
- Steps of tornado diagrams.
On completion of this week, you will be able to:
- Understand the purpose and importance of monte carlo simulation.
- Apply monte carlo simulation for analysing uncertainty in project management.
- Describe examples from project scheduling and project budget planning under uncertainty.
- Explain and apply confidence intervals.
- Evaluate overall performance of projects under uncertainty.
- Real-world simulation examples in complex projects and different cases.
Reading
This week’s reading will cover the quantitative risk analysis process and how it provides insights into the effect of identified risks on the desired outcome followed by understanding how to use the Monte Carlo simulation technique.
Project Management Institute (2019) ‘Appendix X6.4.6: MONTE CARLO SIMULATION’, in The Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. Newtown Square: Project Management Institute, pp. 124–125.
Project Management Institute (2019) ‘Chapter 4.5: PERFORM QUANTITATIVE RISK ANALYSIS’, in The Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. Newtown Square: Project Management Institute, pp. 42–43.
Lecturecast
In this lecturecast, we will be focusing on project management under uncertainty and risk, and our tool is Monte Carlo simulation.
Activity
In this week’s activity, we will cover some of the techniques covered in the subsequent weeks such as the Monte Carlo Simulation and project scheduling estimations.
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Week 7: Data collection for risk analysis and ambiguity in projects
This week we learn about:
- Tools to collect data.
- Data fitting for project risk management.
- Project management under uncertainty and ambiguity.
- Ambiguity vs Uncertainty.
On completion of this week, you will be able to:
- Discuss and execute data collection methods for risk analysis.
- Explain data analysis, fitting and data validation techniques for quantitative risk analysis.
- Discuss different real world projects and how to collect data for them.
- Discuss risk management process in project life cycle.
- Understand the impact of uncertainty and ambiguity to project management.
- Conduct scenario based risk analysis.
Reading
In this week’s reading, you will learn about risk management in portfolio management.
Project Management Institute (2019) ‘Chapter 5: RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT’, in The Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. Newtown Square: Project Management Institute, pp. 47–52.
Project Management Institute (2019) ‘Appendix X7: ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS FOR PORTFOLIO, PROGRAM, AND PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT’, in The Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. Newtown Square: Project Management Institute, pp. 134–135.
Lecturecasts
In this lecturecast, we will be covering risk management in more detail. Risk management requires a very well-structured risk register, an ideal tool for describing your risks and the implications on your overall project.
Discussion Forum
In this discussion forum, you will discuss the type of data that you would collect for quantitative risk analysis on your projects.
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Week 8: Risk response planning, Risk monitoring and control & Risk communication
This week, we focus on Risk response planning, Risk monitoring and control and Risk communication.
This week we learn about:
- Strategies of Risk Response for negative risks.
- Different risk types and mitigation.
- Strategies for positive risks.
- How much risk to take?
- Tools for risk monitoring and controlling.
On completion of this week, you will be able to:
- Understand risk response strategies for negative and positive risks.
- Exemplify risk response and give details about components.
- Understand the importance and methodologies of risk monitoring and control.
- Communicate project risks with stakeholders.
Reading
In this week’s reading, we cover the implementation of a response plan
Project Management Institute (2019) ‘Chapter X6.6: RESPONSE PLAN IMPLEMENTATION’, in The Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. Newtown Square: Project Management Institute, p. 127.
Lecturecasts
These lecturecasts will cover risk response planning for negative and positive risks, monitoring and control.
Activity
In this week’s activity, you will investigate a case organisation and respond to the questions provided.
Assignment – to completed
In this assignment, you are tasked to investigate a case study answer questions related to your learning journey throughout this module.
Individual Report 2
Task type: Individual Report
Word count: 2,500 words
Submission method: Upload your assignment through the submission portal at the bottom of this page. All submissions are automatically submitted through Turnitin.
Task: Case Study Background
Coventry rail station is one of the fastest growing stations outside of London. To meet travellers’ needs for capacity and accessibility, an £82 million redevelopment was initiated by Coventry City Council in partnership with Network Rail, Virgin Trains, Transport for West Midlands, Friargate Coventry, and other stakeholders. This project commenced in 2015 and was to be completed in time for Coventry being the UK City of Culture in 2021.
The upgrades include the following:
- A second footbridge for all platforms and extended platform canopies.
- A second station entrance building, providing step free access to platforms.
- A 633 capacity multi-story car park.
- A bus interchange in connection to the station building.
- Road improvements, including a new road connecting Central Six directly to the Ring Road and improvements to create additional capacity on Warwick Road.
- A new bay platform (this means set in off the main line so it does not impede direct London trains) to enable two trains per hour between Coventry and Nueaton.
Work has commenced on the footbridge and canopies. An extension is a new platform at Coventry Station, allowing the rail service to increase frequency from one train per hour to two. Nevertheless, the project has faced some setbacks, which has prompted for a scope reduction to keep costs under control. Risk register is partly completed. See the appendix for the risk register.
References
- Big changes as cost of Coventry station masterplan spirals – CoventryLive (coventrytelegraph.net)
- Coventry Station Masterplan
Individual work (do not collaborate with other students)
Question 1 (10 points)
Prepare a power-interest grid for relevant stakeholders and discuss different types of stakeholders in this project.
Question 2 (20 points)
Prepare a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) for this project, and discuss possible categories of risks.
Discuss a project risk management plan for this project.
Question 3 (20 points)
Prepare a detailed likelihood-impact risk matrix using risk register in the Appendix, identify the five most important risks to the project. Discuss your selection based on likelihood, impact, the risk category in your RBS, and more generally which of the three success factors (time, cost, and quality) are affected.
Question 4 (20 points)
For each of these five risks you identified, present one mitigation and one contingency plan, based on your judgment. Identify trigger events (when to act) for both mitigation and contingencies. Discuss whether your mitigations will transfer, avoid or reduce risk.
Question 5 (20 points)
What is the mean for Probability, Impact and Composite Risk Index (CRI) in the risk register in Appendix? What is the coefficient of variation for CRI in the risk register in the Appendix? Discuss the implications of values of the mean and coefficient of variation value for CRI in this project. For the given risk register, draw an interval histogram for CRI and comment about obtained histogram.
Question 6 (10 points)
Select two of the risk IDs in the risk register and recommend a risk monitoring and control method for that particular risk. Discuss how you would implement your selected method on the selected risk. Discuss the risk management in the lifetime of this project.
Submission Instructions
- Upload your completed assignment below before the end of week 8.
- The word count for this assignment is 2,500 words.
- Penalty for late submission: Standard penalties apply.
- This assignment contributes 60% to your overall module grade.
- This assignment requires online submission only, and you are required to submit your report once (i.e., your first submission is the final submission). The assignment will be checked for plagiarism.
- The Harvard referencing style is currently used by the Management School. Make sure your referencing style is correct and consistent. We encourage you to use up to ten academic references to support your answers.
Appendix Risk Register:
Schema Generic
| Risk ID | Status | Risk title | Risk Description | Impact / Modelling Note | Risk Measure | Probability | Impact | Risk | Mitigation | Risk Owner |
| REF005 | Open | New Equipment fails | New equipment (e.g. cable joints) fails when commissioning the new system | Repair time will impact on commissioning | Programme delay cost | 2 | 3 | |||
| REF006 | Open | Specialist staff | Specialist staff required to undertake the works may be unavailable | Specialist staff may be required and they are booked in advance | Programme delay cost | 3 | 4 | |||
| REF018 | Open | Freight Operations | Unable to rationalise current freight/passenger operations to achieve business case capacity | Scheme not viable | Programme objectives | 2 | 4 | |||
| REF002 | Open | Late possessions | Possessions granted late by NWR authority, works cannot be completed during possession | Additional shift costs if possessions lost | Cost | 4 | 2 | |||
| REF004 | Open | Estimating uncertainty | There is uncertainty in the rates/quantities included in the base cost | -10% to +40% on construction/labour costs | Cost | 3 | 4 | |||
| REF010 | Open | Infrastructure damage | Existing infrastructure may be damaged during construction | Cost of repairing/ replacing damaged equipment | Cost | 1 | 3 | |||
| REF013 | Open | Polluted ground | Uncertain extent/ activity of ground contamination (e.g. PCBs) | Cost of treatment/ disposal different from expected | Cost | 5 | 2 | |||
| REF015 | Open | Signalling Records | Availability of signalling records and resource to undertake any modifications | Cost of regenerating signalling records & parallel design | Cost | 5 | 1 | |||
| REF016 | Open | Retail Telecoms | Lack of capacity of existing retail telecoms control centre to accommodate additional requirements at proposed new and altered stations | Increased scheme costs for upgrading existing control centres. Moderate demand requirements | Cost | 2 | 2 | |||
| REF017 | Open | Cable Divsersions | Requirement to relocate/ divert general line side signalling and telecommunication assets | Increased cost of diversion/protection and timescales for Signalling Maintenance Testing Handbook (SMTH) procedures. Cables routes evident at all locations | Cost | 3 | 3 | |||
| REF019 | Open | Theft and vandalism | Theft and vandalism disrupts works | Cost of replacing damaged/ stolen assets (Max equipment stolen prior to a major possession) | Cost | 3 | 2 | |||
| REF023 | Open | Site clearance | Additional site clearance costs (vegetation) | May be necessary to pay for removal of vegetation | Cost | 2 | 1 | |||
| REF024 | Open | Fly tipping | May be necessary to remove fly tipping materials | Additional cost of removal and disposal | 2 | 1 | ||||
| REF025 | Open | Japanese knotweed | May be necessary to remove Japanese Knotweed | Additional costs of specialist removal | Cost | 2 | 1 | |||
| REF026 | Open | SSSI | Working in close proximity to a site of special scientific interest (e.g. Sand eels must not be disturbed) | Cost of specialist consultants | Cost | 1 | 1 | |||
| REF028 | Open | Safety case | Issues associated with safety case approvals | Cost of design changes to satisfy Department of Transport | Cost | 3 | 2 | |||
| REF029 | Open | Interfacing Projects | Planned interfacing enhancement/ renewal schemes | Modification to NUCKLE design to accommodate interfacing designs | 2 | 1 | ||||
| REF001 | Open | Weather | Exceptionally adverse weather occurs (while constructing) | Failure to achieve productivity, inability to get materials or labour to site | Schedule | 2 | 3 |
