To demonstrate the above, you need to analyze a major decision in a large project deemed as a full or partial failure from multiple relevant dec

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COURSEWORK BRIEF:

Module Code: MANG6312 Assessment: Individual Coursework Weighting: 100

Module Title: Decision Making and Analysis in Projects

Module Leader: Dr Ramesh Vahidi

Submission Due Date: @ 16:00 Tue 24th May 22 Word Count: 3,000

Method of Submission: Electronic via Blackboard Turnitin ONLY (Please ensure that your name does not appear on any part of your work)

Any submitted after 16:00 on the deadline date will be subject to the standard University late penalties (see below), unless an extension has been granted, in writing by the Senior Tutor, in advance of the deadline.

University Working Days Late: Mark:

1 (final agreed mark) * 0.9

2 (final agreed mark) * 0.8

3 (final agreed mark) * 0.7

4 (final agreed mark) * 0.6

5 (final agreed mark) * 0.5

More than 5 0

This assessment relates to the following module learning outcomes:

A. Knowledge and Understanding

A1. Appreciate the significance of decisions, specifically strategic and critical decisions, in project success or failure. A2. Appreciate the significance of decision making skills for project managers; A3. Demonstrate knowledge of various theoretical and practical approaches to making project decisions; A4. Understand and distinguish between the traditional and contemporary approaches to fundamentals of decision making in projects; A5. Appreciate the features of project decisions and their impact on the selection of appropriate decision making and analysis methods; A6. Appreciate the value of decision making approaches in the acceptability of a decision’s outcome.

B. Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

B1. Critically analyse the approaches, methods and styles of analysing and making project decisions; B2. Select appropriate decision making approaches and involve stakeholders in decision process based on specific project situations.

C. Transferable and Generic Skills

C1. Apply an analytical, reflective and critical approach to problem analysis and formulation; C2. Work effectively in project teams as a team member or a project manager; C3. Report and present ideas in writing or orally.

3

Coursework Brief:

1. Introduction to the Coursework

This coursework is worth 100% of the total mark for the module. It aims at ‘helping you to demonstrate your

overall appreciation of decision making in PM and the extent and quality of your background studies’. To

achieve this ‘aim’, you should demonstrate the breadth and depth of your:

– Ability to identify, make sense and define project decisions and their main elements;

– Appreciation of decisions impacts on and significance in project success/failure;

– Exploration and retrospective analysis of project decision(s) (e.g., being able to answer WH questions

or Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?);

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– Identification, selection and implementation of appropriate concepts and tools for decision

exploration and analysis;

– Capability in learning lessons (do and don’t) from decision analysis;

– Capability in generating new, creative, practical and impactful ideas for improving decision making in

a project;

– Ability of developing decision making skills for your future practice based on theories and lessons

learned from the practice.

To demonstrate the above, you need to analyse a major decision in a large project deemed as a full or partial

failure (consult Ramesh, if in doubt) from multiple relevant decision making perspectives. Note that normally

a major decision is comprised of some smaller (or a set of) related decisions, identifying and considering such

decisions will add to the depth and breadth of your analysis and will provide a more comprehensive picture.

For the purposes of this coursework, a ‘large project’ means project duration should be more than two years,

the budget should be over two million pounds and it should have multiple external stakeholders at national

and preferably at international levels (i.e., multiple countries or multiple companies from different countries).

Key Advice:

To avoid rework, last minute changes and rushed through analysis, do NOT start detailed analysis before

making sure you: have studied subjects/concepts/tools covered in the module, fully appreciate the

coursework purposes and instructions and have checked and explored appropriateness of your selected

project and decision(s).

2. Project Selection

Project selection directly affects the quality of your coursework and is one of the first and key decisions you

will make in preparation for your coursework. You should select a fully or partially finished, large project and

aim at analysing it from multiple decision-making perspectives. For your own benefit, the project and/or the

decision should generally be perceived as a failure (based on literature, public opinions and/or your

perception based on your knowledge of DM in PM). Select a problematic and controversial project! Given the

size and context of the project, a partial failure (for example, failure in a major phase of the project) might

also be an appropriate option.

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It is strongly advised that you use a more recent project, which the literature is not saturated with its

publications and analysis. Analysing a widely published project, it is highly likely your coursework will end up

being a report on data collection and reporting back on other people’s reflections rather than demonstrating

your own capabilities and unique reflections/approaches to DM in PM.

2.1 Assignment workshop and Q&A

An assignment workshop and Q&A session will be announced to discuss the coursework. You should attend

these and are highly advised to ask your questions and pay full attention to others’ questions. Asking questions

and checking the appropriateness of your project without providing enough info, without a very clear

question, very close to the submission deadline, via emails over the weekends and University closure dates

are NOT acceptable, ideal or to your benefit.

Please note, any given feedback on your selected project/decision would be provisional as I would only have

your initial thoughts and general ideas, which might later change during the cw preparation. Taking the

feedback further based on all the available sources and guidance through the report preparation process

would be your responsibility. Draft of the coursework will not be reviewed.

2.2 Sources for project selection

Examples of common sources for projects could be websites such as: World Bank

(http://www.worldbank.org/projects/); UNICEF; United Nations; public or large private organisations; project

management professional bodies or a known organisation (e.g., an infrastructure ministry in your own or

other countries). You could think of and explore other sources for more creative project selection.

In any case, for a good analysis you should make sure that you are able to access enough data and information

from valid sources in “public domain”.

There is no restriction on the industry, e.g., infrastructure (transportation, utility, …); digitisation; cultural;

arts; education; tourism; construction; modernisation projects … all could be good choices.

2.3 Project NOT to Select

Do NOT select projects that fall in any of the following categories:

1) Do NOT SELECT: Very well-known projects, especially from a long time ago, that have already

become published as case studies (for example, their stakeholders or PESTEL analyses widely

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published in journals/websites and easily appear in a Google search) are NOT appropriate or

acceptable. These will not let you demonstrate your own capabilities and at the best, your essay will

become only a description collection of others’ analysis and insights rather than your own reflections.

2) Do NOT SELECT projects that fall in any of the following categories:

– Projects discussed in any of these modules MANG6310, MANG6311, MANG6312 and Project Risk.

– Projects on Airports, Airplanes, Olympics, World Cups, NHS, O2, Scottish Parliament, Channel Tunnel,

NASA, Three Gorges Dam, Grenfell Tower, Garden Bridge, Bicycle sharing, Uber, Disney, Tesco in

China, M&S, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, online education in China, India's Statue of Liberty and

demonetisation in India.

– Projects that were finished more than 8 years ago.

3. Report contents

Initially, familiarise yourself with your selected project through a comprehensive and overall search and

reflection on its appropriateness. Then, identify one of the key decisions, (or a set of interconnected

decisions), which seems to have had a high impact on the project full/partial failure from: your own point of

view (supported with well-developed and evidence-based arguments); public perception (with enough

evidence), and/or formal relevant sources in the public domain (e.g., official ministry websites/reports).

Projects and their decisions are unique so there might be other important aspects related to your selected

case that you need to address to provide a clearer picture of the decision and its context. Hence, you should

not limit yourself to the above if you need to add other particular details to your report.

The followings are the ‘suggested’ main Areas and Sections to be covered in your report. You need to decide

and use appropriate titles and subtitles to properly organise and outline your report rather than simply

copy/pasting the followings.

Report Introduction (20%)

This section should at least provide:

– Clear and precise introduction to the aim, objectives and contents of the report.

– Precise but comprehensive introduction to the project relevant to the coursework purposes.

– Introduction to your selected decision with enough details from different aspects, such as: the context,

content/objective of the decision; decision significance and level of impact on the project; decision makers;

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method(s) and processes used in making the decision; elements/factors considered in the decision (and other

relevant project decisions you might have decided to discuss).

*More details on the expectations are provided in the accompanying mark descriptor (marking criteria) for

this coursework.

**For the above, you need to use the most relevant concepts and tools learned in the module for a structured

and comprehensive (rather than a descriptive) introduction. Keep an appropriate balance between theories

and actual project information.

Body of the Report: Decision Analysis (55%)

(Read this description in conjunction with the aim of the report on page 1.)

This section should analyse your selected decision(s) from different aspects using the knowledge of decision

making in projects acquired throughout the module besides your extensive background readings (e.g., books

and valid academic papers). High quality reports are as analytical/reflective/critical as possible. More details

provided in the grade descriptor accompanying the coursework.

You are free to structure this section as required and with any essential and appropriate titles and subtitles.

Use a logical sequence that best suits your report and make sure all the essential foundations for your

discussions are precisely provided. In a quality report, different sections are closely related and built on each

other rather than appearing as irrelevant and independent discussions.

*You need to make full use of the concepts and tools learned in the module for a structured and

comprehensive rather than a descriptive analysis.

**Keep an appropriate balance between theories and actual project information. Read and use the module

readings, academically valid textbooks and papers from peer-reviewed journals (specially project

management journals) for theories. Read and use project information from accredited website, formal

sources, authorities’ websites and sources.

To develop a quality report, remember: Quality Materials In = Quality Analysis Out!

Report findings and recommendations (25%)

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This section should go much further than a simple and brief summary (note that it has ¼ of the whole mark

so the expectation is much more than a paragraph or a report summary/review). The indicative subjects to

be covered and what you need to do in this section are:

– Sum up and integrate your key and final findings of your analysis rather than a descriptive summary.

– (indicative numbers: 3 on what ‘to do’ and 3 on ‘don’t’ with paying careful attention to the conditions

under which these apply or not).

– Draw clear lessons learned on DM in PM. Explain and justify:

1) THREE main good practices (what ‘to do’) you learned from DM in this project and would carry

over should you manage and make decisions in such a project in your future career;

2) THREE main poor practices (what ‘not to do’) you observed in this project that you would avoid

repeating should you manage and make decisions in such a project in your future career.

– Present any further in-depth and critical reflections on the practice and theory of DM in PM in relation

to your selected case and learnings for other cases.

– Impact of the above on your decision making skills and style in project environments (including

preventive actions, application of concepts and tools).

More details are provided in the accompanying coursework grade descriptor.

4. Essays Format

Margin: Normal

Structure: Make sure to structure your essay with sections separated with appropriate and relevant titles.

Use subtitles as required. Essays without titles and subtitle are hard to read and mark.

Paragraph: Should be ‘justified’. Avoid using very long paragraphs. Break large text into reasonable,

manageable paragraph with a clear central idea and a few relevant sentences focused on one or two clear

themes (read more about paragraphs from Study Skills sources).

Line Space: 1.5

Titles Font: Larger than 12, bold, and should be easily distinguishable from the body text.

Body Text Font: 12, Times New Roman or Arial.

Figures and Tables Font: 10 or 11 (preferred), Times New Roman or Arial.

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Cover page: Should include module code and name, title of the assignment and the name of your selected

project and your student ID. Provide word count (use Microsoft Word rather than Turnitin).

Table of Contents: provide the list of the titles and subtitles used in your text with their page numbers on the

first page after the covering.

5. Further Notes on Resources and Referencing

– Essential readings: It is absolutely necessary that you initially study the main references given for each

topic in the lectures and then move on to your further background studies using other resources. This

will ensure you have appreciated the fundamentals as expected by the lecturers. It will also help you

to select better and more relevant resources for your further studies, rather than a random selection

of numerous PM resources, which might not be of a high quality or academically valid.

– Further resources: You have to use a good range of relevant textbooks and papers from academic

journals (specially PM journals). See above point for more details.

– Correct citation: It is necessary to follow the Harvard referencing system as detailed in ‘Cite Them

Right’ (accessible through the Library Catalogue).

– Citing lecture slides: Lecture slides must not be used as references unless absolutely necessary. All

the slides, which you might need to refer to have citation(s) or the related references are given at the

end of the lecture hand-outs. It is expected that you study the original references and refer to those.

– What needs citation: Anything you learned about the project from valid sources and all the

theoretical information you learned from the PM literature sources should be cited.

– Correct citation: It is necessary to follow the Harvard referencing system based on Cite Them Right

guide (available via the Library Catalogue).

– Lecture slides: Lecture slides are for teaching purposes in lectures and guiding you through your

background studies. These should NOT be used as the only reading material for preparing your

coursework. So, the overall lecture and/or the text and pictures in a specific lecture slide should NOT

be used as references or be copy/pasted to your essay.

All lectures have reading and/or references list, for your further and in-depth studies. It is expected

that you study and refer to the original references and go beyond (i.e., more papers and textbooks).

If you missed a lecture, you will need to read the readings/references of the lecture much more

carefully.

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6. Word Count (word limit)

3.3. – Word count for the overall essay is 3,000.

– For this essay, cover page, table of contents, tables, figures, references list and appendices are not

counted towards your word limit. For inclusion or non-inclusion of any other items, please refer to

and follow the Business School word count (limit) policy. Tables and figures should not be used to

circumvent the word limit but should be developed purposefully, explained, cited and add value to

your text.

– Please note +10% does NOT apply to this cw (the above allowances provide you with more flexibility

than the School policy, so you are not allowed to go beyond 3,000 words).

– You should include the word count (from Microsoft Word, not Turnitin) at the bottom of the cover

page.

– There is no penalty for cw with less than 3000 words. The aim is to do a quality work rather than filling

in 3000 words for the sake of it! It is up to you how to manage and make the best use of the given

space and the opportunity.

7. Structure

* You should choose appropriate titles and subtitles (the above are indicative titles) to fully

structure your text.

* Deciding the length and the word count of each section as appropriate is your own

responsibility. The lecturer will not decide on your behalf or advise on this.

* Pay careful attention to the weight of each section, especially the conclusion. With 20% weight,

this section should obviously go beyond a simple and general summary. It should at least clearly

state your main findings, learnings and actions you will take for your future role as a project

manager/analyst.

8. Electronic Submission

4. Submission is via Turnitin on the Blackboard and the essays are marked electronically. You will receive

mark and feedback via Blackboard. Carefully read the next section for more details.

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Further General Info

Nature of Assessment: This is a SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT. See ‘Weighting’ section above for the percentage that this

assignment counts towards your final module mark.

Word Limit: Word count for the report is 3,000. For this report, cover page, table of contents, tables, figures, references list and appendices are not counted towards

your word limit. Tables and figures should not be used to circumvent the word limit but should be developed

purposefully, explained, fully cited and should add value to your text.

Note that +10% does not apply to this cw (the above allowances provide you with more flexibility than the School policy

anyway so you are not allowed to go beyond the limit for each essay).

You should always include the word count (from Microsoft Word, not Turnitin) at the bottom of the cover page.

Title/Cover Page: You must include a title/ cover page that includes: your Student ID, Module Code, Assignment Title,

Word Count. This assignment will be marked anonymously, please ensure that your name does not appear on any part

of your assignment.

References: You should use the Harvard style to reference your assignment. The library provide guidance on how to reference in the Harvard style and this is available from: http://library.soton.ac.uk/sash/referencing

Submission Deadline: Please note that the submission deadline for Southampton Business School is 16.00 for ALL

assessments. Penalties for late submissions will be applied automatically by the system.

Turnitin Submission: The assignment MUST be submitted electronically via Turnitin, which is accessed via the

individual module on Blackboard. Further guidance on submitting assignments is available on the Blackboard support

pages.

It is important that you allow enough time prior to the submission deadline to ensure your submission is processed on time as all late submissions are subject to a late penalty. We would recommend you allow 30 minutes to upload your work and check the submission has been processed and is correct. Please make sure you submit to the correct assignment link. You will know that your submission has completed successfully when you see a message stating ‘Congratulations – your submission is complete…’. It is vital that you make a note of your Submission ID (Digital Receipt Number). This is a unique receipt number for your submission, and is proof of successful submission. You may be required to provide this number at a later date. We recommend that you take a screenshot of this page, or note the number down on a piece of paper. You should also receive an email receipt containing this number, and the number can be found after submitting by following this guide. This method of checking your submission is particularly useful in the event that you don’t receive an email receipt. You are allowed to test submit your assignment via Turnitin before the due date. You can use Turnitin to check your

assignment for plagiarism before you submit your final version. See “Viewing Your Originality Report” for guidance.

Please see the Module Leader/lecturer on your module if you would like advice on the Turnitin Originality report (for

receiving timely advice, do not leave the contact for the weekends or just few days/hours before submission).

The last submission prior to the deadline will be treated as the final submission and will be the copy that is assessed by the marker. It is your responsibility to ensure that the version received by the deadline is the final version, resubmissions after the deadline will not be accepted in any circumstances. Important: If you have any problems during the submission process you should contact ServiceLine immediately by email at [email protected] or by phone on +44 (0)23 8059 5656.

Late Penalties: Further information on penalties for work submitted after the deadline can be found here.

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Special Considerations: If you believe that illness or other circumstances have adversely affected your academic

performance, information regarding the regulations governing Special Considerations can be accessed via the

Calendar: http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/special-considerations.html

Extension Requests: : Extension requests along with supporting evidence should be submitted to the Student Office

as soon as possible before the submission date. Information regarding the regulations governing extension requests

can be accessed via the Calendar: http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/special-considerations.html

Academic Integrity Policy: Please note that you can access Academic Integrity Guidance for Students via the Quality

Handbook: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/quality/assessment/academic_integrity.page?. Please note any

suspected cases of Academic Integrity will be notified to the Academic Integrity Officer for investigation.

Feedback: Southampton Business School is committed to providing feedback within 4 weeks (University working days).

Once the marks are released and you have received your feedback, you can meet with your Module Leader / Module

Lecturer / Personal Academic Tutor to discuss the feedback within 4 weeks from the release of marks date. Any

additional arrangements for feedback are listed in the Module Profile.

Student Support: Study skills and language support for Southampton Business School students is available at:

http://www.sbsaob.soton.ac.uk/study-skills-and-language-support/.

External Examiner:

External Examiner Comments:

Final Approval by External Examiner Date:

Module Leader Response to External Examiner:

(Please note these comments are REQUIRED and will be sent to the External Examiner)

Week 1

“Introduction to the Module & Decision Making”

Dr Ramesh Vahidi [email protected]

Feb 2022

Southampton Business School

1MANG6312©RameshVahidi2022

Review the Highlights: What You have

Learned/Done So Far?

Extensive knowledge of different aspects of PM;

Several case studies and examples of projects;

Deep reflections/self-reflections on teamwork; investigation & analysis of a real project & development of a project plan.

Entre & Mang: Initiating a business …

Anything left that you do not know about PM?!!

2MANG6312©RameshVahidi2022

MANG6312- Week 1 – Intro – DM Fundamentals

https://vevox.app/#/m/195796728

195-796-728

You should have seen the impact of decisions in projects!

1) Do you remember of any impactful decision in your projects/cases? What was it about?

3MANG6312©RameshVahidi2022

195-796-728

2) From which stage of their careers, project managers will start making decisions in their projects?

0 3 – 5 5 – 10 10-15 Over 15

Years

Your PM Career and Decision Making! 4MANG6312©RameshVahidi2022

Highly structured, Well defined, Clear instructions, and enough data, Known outcomes.

Non-structur

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