Project Management

Code:

2GE14

Acronym:

PM

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Management Studies

Instance: 2015/2016 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Management
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Management

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
ME	35	Syllabus - english track	1	-	7,5	56	202,5
MIM	31	Bologna Official Syllabus	1	-	7,5	56	202,5

Teaching language

English

Objectives

With this course, it is intended that the students:

- Understand the definition of a project.

- Know the three main goals of a project, as well as the possible shapes for its life cycle.

- Know the several stages of a project, as well as the main elements of those stages.

- Know in greater details the scheduling, resourse allocation and budgeting stages.

- Use project management and simulation software, thus realizing the usefulness of this type of software in managing a project.

Learning outcomes and competences

To understand the definition of a project, as well as its three main goals.

To understand the several stages of a project.

To be able to create a project plan for a somewhat complex project, particularly in what regards scheduling, resource allocation and budgeting.

To be able to use project management and simulation to handle somewhat complex projects.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. Introduction to Projects and Project Management


2. Planning the Work Activities


3. Project Activity Scheduling


4. Allocating Resources to the Project


5. Project Costs and Budgets


6. Monitoring and Controlling the Project


7. Project Termination and Evaluation

Mandatory literature

Jack R. Meredith, Samuel J. Mantel; Project Management: A Managerial Approach, John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ISBN: 978-0470533024
Samuel J. Mantel, Jack R. Meredith, Scott M. Schafer, Margaret M. Sutton; Project Management in Practice, John Wiley & Sons, 2007. ISBN: 978-0470121641
Carl Chatfield, Timothy Johnson; Microsoft Office Project 2007 Step by Step, Microsoft Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0735623057

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical exposition along with practical examples. Project management software and simulation software are also used.

Software

SimulAr
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Project

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Teste	33,30
Trabalho escrito	66,70
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

Student attendance will be monitored. Students who do not attend more than 4 sessions will fail the course.

Calculation formula of final grade

In this course, evaluation via final exam only is not available, either in época normal / first season, or in época de recurso / resit season. This is due to the course's characteristics and objectives. Indeed, project management and simulation software will often be used in the lectures, and operational knowledge of the software is one of the skills the students are intended to acquire in this course. Also, another major learning outcome consists in acquiring knowledge regarding a project and its various stages. Furthermore, team work is one of the most important factors required for the success of a project.

 

Attaining and evaluating skills and knowledge at these various levels could hardly be adequately done if the evaluation consisted only in a final exam. Thus, and in order to be able to comply with the course's aims, skills and learning outcomes, it is essential that the evaluation includes assignments. As such, and in accordance with FEP.UP's evaluation regulations, the Pedagogical Committee has granted the request that an assessment type with final exam only is not available in this course. Thus, in order to be able to successfully complete this course, either in época normal / regular season or in época de recurso / resit season, the student is required to do, throughout the semester, a set of group assignments.

 

 

Época Normal / Regular Season and Época de Recurso / Resit Season:

- a set of group assignments, to be done throughout the semester (2/3 weight in final score);

- final test (1/3 weight in final score).

 

If a student does not attend a test or does not turn in an assignment, a score of 0 will be given to that test or assignment.

 

Students will fail this course if they attain a score lower than 6 on the test or on any of the assignments, regardless of overall weighted score.

 

Various information regarding the group assignments will now be presented:

- The procedure to follow in order to establish the composition of the groups will be described when the classes start, both by email and in the sessions themselves.

- There will be 4 assignments, and each will be given a grade / score.

- The overall average of the group assignments (which, as previously mentioned, has a weight of 2/3 in the final score) is calculated as follows. Let N1 represent the best grade in the 4 assignments, let N4 be the worst grade in the 4 assignments, and let N2 and N3 represent the two intermediate grades. The overall average of the group assignments is then calculated as: 2/6*N1 + 2/6*N4 + 1/6*N2 + 1/6*N3. That is, the best and the worst assignments count twice as much as the two assignments with intermediate scores. This formula, which is based on previous experiences, tries to avoid that one assignment is “neglected” due to high grades in previous assignments (by doubling the weight of the worst assignment) and to assure that a potential low grade can be compensated by a high grade (by doubling the weight of the best assignment).

- In each assignment, the members of each group can, among themselves, and without any intervention from the teacher, choose to assign different grades to the members of that group, within limits, if they unanimously feel that such is warranted due to different levels of commitment and work put into that assignment by each group member. If there is no unanimous agreement between the group members, the same score will be assigned to all group members. When each assignment is submitted, each group must state whether all members are to have the same score, or assign bonuses and penalties to each of the group members. The sum of the bonuses and penalties must be equal to 1, no bonus may be larger than 1, and no penalty may be lower than -1. The grade of each group member will then be equal to the grade of the assignment, modified by the corresponding bonus / penalty. An example will now be given, in which a group with 4 members (M1, M2, M3 e M4) is considered. When an assignment was delivered, assume this group specified the following bonuses and penalties: : M1: +0.5; M2: +1.0; M3: -0.7; M4: -0.8. If the grade of this group’s assignment is equal to 16, the grades of each group member will then be equal to: M1: 16.5; M2: 17; M3: 15.3; M4: 15.2. Naturally, a grade may never be higher than 20. If the largest bonus specified by a group leads to a grade higher than 20, the largest bonus will be reduced so that the grade is equal to 20, and the remaining bonuses and penalties will be adjusted proportionally.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

In accordance with FEP.UP's evaluation regulations.

Classification improvement

The grades of the assignments cannot be improved. The grade obtained in the época normal / regular season final test can be improved in época de recurso / resit season.

Observations

Due to the practical nature of the course, the regular use of computers and the limited capacity of the room where the lectures will take place, each class will be limited to a maximum number of students.