PMQ602 Organisations and Projects

Unit Outline: Session 1 2024, QUT Online, Online

Overview

This unit will provide you with advanced skills and knowledge to manage organisational and human resources issues required to achieve outcomes critical for the success of a project. The unit will focus on the aspects of project governance, organizational culture, organizational development and change, high performance teams and leadership in organisations. It will provide the understanding of effectively leading  and managing project teams and their performance while managing constraints in time, cost and quality, as well as social, political and environmental influences.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Critically evaluate human resources issues associated with organisations in the work environmen
2. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of stakeholder management principles and problems
3. Evaluate and apply principles of effective governance with relation to project and organisational structures, project and organisational development, and project and organisational culture.
4. Describe and evaluate the factors that contribute to effective change management and cultural change and development in the project and organisational environment.
5. Demonstrate an ability to establish a perfomance management strategy to manage project deliverables beyond time, cost and quality.
6. Critically evaluate a project from both 'leadership' and 'management' perspective and make recommendations for effective project delivery.

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit aims to build on and extend your analytical and evaluative skills in a form of inquiry-based learning. This will involve making connections by exploring current literature, real-life examples and case studies and through shared problem-solving and analysis in discussion boards guided by your Online Learning Adviser (OLA).

It is expected that you will spend an average of 12–15 hours per week on learning activities in this unit. Some weeks you will spend more time on readings and assignments than in other weeks where the workload will be somewhat less. It is essential that you keep up with the prescribed readings and weekly discussions. Participating in online discussions and engaging with your OLA will help you develop your knowledge and skills. It is an opportunity to check your ideas, ask questions and interact with your OLA and learning group.

We will use the assignments as building blocks for your learning. Your learning materials and discussions each week are designed to help you learn the necessary skills to complete these assignments. The assignments are designed to help you develop and demonstrate these abilities. By engaging in the discussions each week you will also be well prepared for the assignments, and have met and demonstrated the learning outcomes.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

A range of formative and summative feedback will be provided throughout your studies, both informally (for example, in class and through discussion or consultation) and formally (for example, though the assessment process).

Assessment

Overview

Assessment items for this unit will be made up of a combination of individual and group assignments and grades will be issued in accordance with Section C/5.3 of the QUT Manual of Policies and Procedures (MOPP). The assessment strategy is orientated towards activities which investigate the application of project management principles to “real world” situations. Criterion Referenced Assessments (CRAs) will be used to mark all assignments.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Professional Plans

In this assignment, you will examine two key aspects of culture. Firstly, developing a project culture and secondly, how to manage the cultural change that is brought about by a project. In this assignment you are required to address the following two points, using research and literature to support your ideas.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Report

You will participate in an experiential workshop and develop a written report.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Essay

You will prepare an essay discussing the impact of culture and cultural change in project management.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no extraordinary risks associated with this unit.