Postgraduate Course: Project Management in Business Analysis (CMSE11213)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 15 |
ECTS Credits | 7.5 |
| Summary | Project management and business analysis represent two elements that are key to the success of any business endeavour.
Project managers are in charge of ensuring that a project is completed on time and within the planned budget. Business analysts must focus on the product of the project ensuring that it meets the needs of the key stakeholders.
In this course, we introduce the project management life cycle and we compare selected state-of-the-art life cycle models for effective project management, such as traditional, agile and extreme project management; we also introduce selected state-of-the-art tools for effective project management, such as PERT and CPM.
We then provide an overview of business analysis activities throughout the life of a project such as stakeholder analysis, requirement analysis, risk analysis, business process and data analysis, implementation, validation, deployment and assessment. For these, we introduce a toolbox of selected state-of-the-art business analysis tools such as mind maps, use case diagrams, business process diagrams etc.
Operating within a given budget necessarily imposes choices in terms of which stakeholder requests should be given priority. Project managers and business analysts must therefore coordinate their plans to ensure that budget is not exceeded and key stakeholders are satisfied. Furthermore, as the project progresses, delays and other unforeseen events may impose a sudden re-planning of on-going activities. The exact nature of this re-planning should also be defined in concert. In some cases, reaching a consensus in the project team may constitute an extremely challenging task. To deal with these issues, we illustrate the basics of group dynamics and strategies that a team can adopt to work together effectively.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
150
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 3,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
127 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
40 %,
Coursework
60 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Group report 40%, Individual assignment 20%, Exam 40% |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course, students should be able to:
A. Academic knowledge
1. define what a project is and describe the project management life cycle;
2. describe key trade-offs faced by project managers and business analysts: cost, time, quality, scope, resources;
3. describe possible project management life cycle models in terms of clarity of goals and solutions: traditional, agile, extreme;
4. describe the rationale behind frameworks such as Leary¿s rose and Kolb¿s learning cycle, as well as their potential applications in the context of team management;
5. describe possible leadership styles;
B. Intellectual skills
1. discuss relevant activities that should be executed at each stage of the project management life cycle, i.e. scoping, planning, launching, monitoring & controlling, closing;
2. select the most appropriate project management life cycle models for a given project;
3. discuss advantages and drawbacks for each of the project management life cycle models presented
4. apply existing inventories, such as Kolb¿s learning cycle model, to identify what members of the group are the most suitable for a given activity, or to determine how to deal with a specific behavioural pattern;
5. recognize different stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning;
C. Professional/subject specific/practical skills
1. apply state-of-the-art tools in the context of project management and business analysis, such as mind maps, use case diagrams, business process diagrams, CPM, PERT etc;
2. scope, plan, launch, monitor & control and close a small project;
3. develop appropriate documentation at each stage of the project life cycle
D. Transferable skills
1. demonstrate report writing skills
2. demonstrate presentation skills
3. demonstrate problem analysis and problem solving skills
4. demonstrate awareness of group dynamics and group leadership styles
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Roberto Rossi
Tel: (0131 6)51 5239
Email: Roberto.Rossi@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Ashley Harper
Tel: (0131 6)51 5671
Email: Ashley.Harper@ed.ac.uk |
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