Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar

Xavier University, Bhubaneshwar

Course Project Management

Program MBA (BM)
Batch 2020-2022
Term 4
Credits 3.0
Instructor(s) Dr. M Ghosh, Dr. A K Paul, Dr. W. S. Williams, Dr. S. Jena, Dr. S Bhattacharyya

1.0 Course introduction and objectives:

1.1 Course introduction:

The term project management is now used extensively for the management and accomplishment of
any plan, scheme or task. Projects are the vital means of development and economic upliftment. They
are the building blocks for generating additional capital and for ensuring flow of goods and services to
the nation. In India, large amounts have been and are being spent on various projects for providing
infrastructure facilities and for meeting developmental needs. Project management is thus of vital
importance to any undertaking that is being newly setup or to any organization planning
expansion/diversification of its activities. This course intends to provide with an overview of project
management and the essential tools needed to deliver successful projects on time and on budget. The
students will learn the fundamental principles of project management including: project initiation,
project definition, creation of work breakdown structures, scheduling using Gantt charts and network
diagrams, risk management, budgeting and controlling resources, quality assurance, auditing and
project termination. The students will also be exposed to project management software such as MS
Project.

1.2 Course objective:

 Students will be able to appreciate the basic concepts discussed in project management
course.
 Students will be able to appreciate the analytical aspects of project management
particularly for project scheduling, monitoring and cost control, and will become
comfortable in the use of project management software like MS-Project for managing
projects.
2.0 Major course content:

a) Introduction and overview to project management

b) Organization strategy and project selection, structure, and culture
c) Defining the project, estimating project times and cost
d) Project identification and screening
e) Specification of a project: prepare a project charter and project scope document
f) Developing a project plan, WBS, OBS, and networking
g) Managing risk and PERT
h) Scheduling resources and costs in projects, resource levelling
i) Project progress and performance management
j) The critical-chain approach
k) Reducing project duration
l) Contracts management
m) Project closure
n) Agile project management

3.0 Course learning outcomes (CLO):

a) CLO 1: Be able to demonstrate knowledge about the fundamental concepts of

project management.
b) CLO 2: Be able to plan, schedule, and monitor the progress of a project
analytically.
c) CLO 3: Be able to exhibit voluntary cooperation and teamworking attributes in a
group setting to solve a project planning, scheduling and monitoring problem
jointly, present the findings in the class and submit a soft copy of the report.

4.0 Reading and references:

a) Textbook: Project Management: The Managerial Process, Clifford F Gray, E W Larson,

G V Desai, 7th Edition., McGraw Hill Education Publication
b) Reference Books:
i) Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling,
Harold Kerzner, 10th Edition, John Wiley & Sons
ii) Project Management, Sadhan Choudhury, TMG, New Delhi
iii)Project Management for Business, Engineering, and Technology: Principles and
Practices, John M Nicholas and Herman Steyn, 3rd Edition, Elsevier

5.0 Pedagogy and student’s workload:

The pedagogy will include delivery methods like; lecture, case study, journal articles, quantitative
problems and group projects. Students are expected to read the given class materials, solve
assignments and take notes. For this 3-credit course, there will be minimum of 30 hours of class
interaction.
6.0 Tentative session plan:
Session Topic Session Learnings Reading Materials
1&2 Introduction to Project Learn how project -Text Book Chapter 1
Management management impact the
business operation
3&4 Project Selection Learn how projects are -Text Book Chapter 2 & 3
Organization:  Structure selected, when projects are
& Culture influenced by organizational
structure and culture.
Learn project identification
and screening technique using
SWOT.
5&6 Defining a Project Learn how to define the scope -Text Book Chapter 4 & 5
Estimating a Project of the project and make
estimation of project related
parameters.
Learn how to create
specification of a project:
prepare a project charter and
project scope document.
7, 8, 9 & 10 Project Plan Learn how to budget and -Text Book Chapter 6
schedule the project related
activities.
Lear how to use MS project.
11, 12 & 13 Risk Management & Learn how to control and -Text Book Chapter 7 & 8
PERT mitigate risk in project
resource allocation.
Assigning Resources
14 Reducing Project Learn how to increase the pace -Text Book Chapter 9
Duration (Project of the project
Crashing)
15 & 16 Project Closure Learn how to identify the -Text Book Chapter 14 & 17
Agile PM major elements of a project
retrospective and perform
change management.
Learn the factors for project
success or failure
17 & 18 Group Presentation by Learn about brainstorming for -Selected topics chosen by the
Students idea generation and best groups
practices of industry.
19 & 20 Guest Lecture by Industry Learn about managing project NA
Expert(s) teams and conflicts.

7.0 Assessment scheme:

Component Weightage (%) Assessment of course learning outcome(s) (CLO)
Quizzes (two - @ 15% each) 30% CLO1
End-Term 40% CLO2
Group projects and presentation 20% CLO3
Attendance and participation 10% CLO1
8.0 Academic discipline and integrity:

 Students are expected to come to class on time.

 Students are expected to join the class with prior preparation and having done assigned pre-
readings.
 Leaving the class when the session is in progress will not be tolerated and will be allowed only
under exigencies with due permission from the faculty.
 Students are expected to submit assignments on time and request for extension of deadlines will
not be allowed.
 Late coming involves the penalty of no attendance, or sometimes barring from the class, if the
reason for coming late is found not satisfactory.
 Utmost care will be taken to maintain class decorum, follow the exact evaluation norms,
conduct fair examinations, fair and transparent evaluation of examination papers, etc.

9.0 Mapping course learning outcomes (CLO) with the program learning
goals (PLG):

PLG# Program Learning Trait Addressed

Goal by Course
Yes No
PLG1 Functional and The students will demonstrate understanding of Yes
Business Skills elements of all project management
PLG2 Analytical Skills The students will use analytical techniques to Yes
identify a project problem, and suggest a solution
PLG3 Collaboration and The students will exhibit voluntary cooperation and Yes
teamwork attributes effective teamwork in a group setting while
working on a group-project.
PLG4 Ethical The students will understand the ethical Yes
responsibility complexities of conducting business. The students
will adopt techniques in scenarios involving ethical
dilemma and offer resolution
PLG5 Communication The students will produce reasonably good quality Yes
business document as part of the project
management course requirements. The students
will become effective and confident
communicators, by presenting their views in the
class and making the group presentations.