University of Jahangir Nagar

Institute of Business Administration

WMBA Programme, Spring 2019
FIN 512/ QBA 507: Project Management
Course Outline

Course Instructor:
Shish HaiderChowdhury
shish.1965@gmail.com
shishchowdhury@yahoo.co.uk
Cell: +88 018 19225594

19 January 2019
Course Objectives

The use of projects and project management is becoming more and more important for all kinds of
organizations. Organizations, private or public, regularly use project management to accomplish unique
outcomes under the constraints of resources and project management turn to be one of the essential
ways of achieving an organization’s strategy. This course addresses the basic nature of managing general
projects, not specially focuses on one type of project, no matter construction projects or R&D projects.
The course uses the project life cycle as the organizational guideline and contents will cover the whole
process of project management, including project initiation, project planning, project implementation
and project termination. We will study the characteristics of project and project management, look at
how to define a project, how to organize a project, how to plan a project, how to implement, trace and
control a project, and how to terminate and post-evaluate a project.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to

 List and define the project management body of knowledge concepts;

 Illustrate how different activities relate to the five process groups of Initiating, Planning, Executing,
Controlling and Monitoring, and Closing; and
 Describe the nine knowledge areas of project management consisting of project integration, scope,
time management, cost, quality, human resource, communications, risk management and
procurement.

Student’s responsibility

It is the responsibility of a student to be aware of and to abide by the rules and regulations of the
University. The student also need to know the University’s policies regarding academic misconduct,
what to do when a student cannot meet a course requirement and the drop date for this semester.

Classroom Etiquette

Past experience showed that food, mobile phones and laptops tend to be disruptive in the classroom. So

 Please turn off/put on vibration your cell phones before entering into the class. If your phone
rings in class by chance, it will be advisable to switch it off or leave the classroom immediately;
 Also do not use your laptops in the classroom unless instructed; and
 Please do not eat in the classroom.
Course outline in detail

Session 1: Course introduction and Overview

• Syllabus, Course Goals and Structure, Assignment

• Concept of project and project management
• The project management phases
• The project management cycle

Session 2: Project selection

• Criteria for project selection

• Types of project selection models
• Project Portfolio Management
• In-class exercises: Individual vs. Group Decision

Session 3: Project Planning

• Project scheduling
• In-class or after-class exercise: project planning
• Cost trade off
• Group discussion on the exercise of project planning

Session 4: Project Organization

• The project as part of the functional organization

• Pure project organization
• The matrix organization
• Mechanisms for Sustaining Organizational Culture
• In-class discussion: the project-based organization

Session 5: Project Estimating

• Project Work Breakdown Structure

• Factors influencing the quality of estimates
• Project time estimation
• Project cost estimation

Session 6: Project Goal & Scope Management

• Definition of Project Mission & Goal

• In-class exercise: project mission & goal
• Management by Objectives
• Project Scope Definition
• Project Objectives Document
• Project Proposal
• Project Charter
 • Project Orientation & Kick-off Meeting

Session 7: Project resource allocation

• Project resource loading & leveling

• Earned value management

Session 8: Project Control

• Project monitoring
• Project control process
• Change control management

Session 9: The Project Leadership

• In-class discussion: how to be a good project manager

• Managing versus leading a project
• Qualities of an effective project manager
• Managing project stakeholders
• The project interface
• In-class Case: project leadership
• Case discussion: project leadership
• Team building

Session 10: Communication and Conflict Management

• Communication and conflict management

• In-class exercise: conflict management

Session 11: Progress and Performance Measurement and Evaluation

• Project review
• Performance measurement and report

Session 12: Project Termination and Post-evaluation

• Project audit and post-evaluation

• The varieties of project termination
• In-class case discussion
• Project success criteria and critical success factors

Session 13 & 14:

Project Procurement management

Project Audit Management
Project Risk Management
Tentative Course Schedule

Week Topic Date/Remarks

1 Course introduction and Overview

2 Project selection

3 Project planning and project organizing

4 Project Estimating

5 Project Goal & Scope Management; Project resource

allocation
6 Exposure Visit

7 Project Control

8 The Project Leadership

9 Communication and Conflict Management

10 Progress and Performance Measurement and Evaluation

11 Project Termination and Post-evaluation

12 Make up Week

13 Final Examination

Assessment Scheme

Quizzes and assignments 20%

Mid-term 30%
Final Exam 40%
Class attendance plus participation 10%

The course teacher reserves the right to make any alteration in the grading policy/assessment scheme.

Missed Exams
Only a properly and timely documented severe illness of a student or of an immediate family member is
a valid reason for missing an exam. Student who misses an exam and does not submit proper
documentation in a timely manner receives the grade by excluding that/those exam(s).

Grading Structure

Conversion Point Letter Grade Grade Point

80-100 A+ 4.00
75-less than 80 A 3.75
70-less than 75 A- 3.50
65- less than 70 B+ 3.25
60- less than 65 B 3.00
55- less than 60 B- 2.75
50- less than 55 C+ 2.50
45- less than 50 C 2.25
40- less than 45 D 2.00
below 40 F 00

Text Books and Additional Readings:

Text Books:

1. Guide to Project Management: Getting it right and achieving lasting benefit, by Paul Roberts;
2. Project Management Absolute Beginner's Guide (3rd Edition)by Greg Horine;
3. Managing Projects in Bangladesh: a scenario analysis of institutional environment for
development projects by Chadha, Skylark.

Additional Readings

Required:

 A course reader (handout) will be provided both hard and soft copies will be the core readings
supported by the text books, assigned;
 Additional required readings may be assigned and provided electronically.

Recommended:

Articles from different Journals on Project Management.