ENGGEN 733 : Organisational Strategic Management of Projects

Engineering

2020 Semester One (1203) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

The P3M (Project, Programme and Portfolio Management) and Scaled Agile frameworks and their practical application to local organisations as a method of driving performance improvement. Management of inter-dependencies between projects using current tools and techniques and the role of Hoshin Kanri (policy deployment) in managing strategy implementation.

Course Overview

This course is designed for students who wish to take an organisational and strategic view of projects and learn how to apply good practice portfolio and programme management disciplines as a vehicle for realising an organisation’s overarching strategic objectives.
This course is delivered via a combination of lectures and tutorials spaced out over a semester with a project portfolio optimisation and maturity assessment assignment. Students are expected to attend all face-to-face components (lectures, workshops, tutorials), which will be facilitated by the course lecturer and other key staff.
The course will have four main Focus Areas with assignment support provided in between. The topics covered in each of the areas are as follows: 

Focus Area 1 – Organisational strategy, portfolio and programme management and PMO’s . Examples of topics include:
  • Strategic Management (concepts of the organisation being a portfolio of projects) 
  • The what and why of portfolio and programme management – overview and rationale 
  • Benefits and value management 
  • Setting up and running a PMO 
  • Portfolio and programme maturity assessment framework 
  • Assignment briefing and set up 

Focus Area 2 – Portfolio Definition and Delivery . Examples of topics include:
  • Strategic and non-strategic selection criteria and weighting 
  • Prioritisation, selection, optimisation and what-if scenarios (Project Portfolio Optimiser tool) 
  • Influencing without authority 
  • Role of the business case 
  • Governance of portfolios of projects 
  • Portfolio reporting, monitoring and controlling 
  • Benefits management 
  • Financial management 
  • Risk management 
  • Stakeholder management 
  • Resource management 
  • Management control 
Focus Area 3 – Programme management . This will address issues of Programme vs Project Management

Focus Area 4 – Portfolio analysis assignment presentation . This will address issue of taking an organisation on the maturity journey
 
The course delivery adopts a flexible learning approach in which materials are developed and delivered in adaptive flexible manner. Students are expected to undertake considerable additional work per week reading and completing assignments. Note that one of the major assignments is team-based and as such students are expected to make time to meet with their team members.

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 5: Independence and Integrity
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Evaluate an organisations portfolio and programme maturity level and recommend improvements (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)
  2. Map an organisation’s portfolio of projects, evaluate its current level of alignment with strategy and produce a proposed portfolio composition with better strategic alignment (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)
  3. Establish and facilitate an effective portfolio governance function and portfolio reporting capability (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)
  4. Develop competencies in order to transition into a role of a Programme or Portfolio Manager or be able to take up another senior role within a PMO (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Essay 20% Individual Coursework
Assignment (Individual) 25% Individual Coursework
Assignment (team) 40% Group Coursework
Quizzes 15% Individual Test
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4
Essay
Assignment (Individual)
Assignment (team)
Quizzes

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 1 hour of face-to-face lectures, a 1 hour workshop (tutorial), 1 hour of engagement with online materials, 2 hours of reading and thinking about the content and approximately 5 hours of work on assignments. The team assignment will require that you engage in at least 1 hour of face-to-face meetings per week with your team members (self organised) as part of the assignment workload.

Learning Resources

There are no prescribed texts. Students may find a number of texts that cover the course material well, and should refer to several where possible. The following texts are suggested:
  • Office of Government Commerce, Management of Portfolios (2011)
  • Office of Government Commerce, Portfolio, programme and project offices (2013)
  • Office of Government Commerce. Managing Successful programmes (2011)
  • Jenner, S. (2014), Managing Benefits (second edition), The Stationary Office 

Other Information

Restricted to postgraduate students only

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Penalties will apply to late submissions of assignments as follows:
Time After the Due Date Penalty
  • <=24 hours (1 day) -10% 
  • >24 hours but <=48 hours (2 days) -20% 
  • >48 hours but <=72 hours (3 days) -30% 
  • >72 hours but <=96 hours (4 days) -40% 
  • >96 hours but <=168 hours (7 days) -50% 
  • >168 hours (7 days) -100% 

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 05/08/2020 12:14 p.m.