COMSATS - Lancaster Dual Degree Programme

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore

Department of Chemical Engineering

COURSE HANDBOOK

1 Course Title Project Planning and Management

2 Course Code MGT 462
3 Credit Hours 3
4 Program BCE / BETE / EEE
5 Resource Person Ms. Naila Yosuf
6 Email naila@ciitlahore.edu.pk
7 Contact Hours (Theory) 3 Hours per week
8 Office Hours 08:30 am to 04:30 pm
9 Course Introduction

With increasing technological and scientific advancements, the role of effective planning
and implementation of major projects has become increasingly complex and critical. This
course is designed to introduce the students with fundamentals of contemporary project
planning and managementtechniques by providing both basic and some advanced
exposure. The aim of this course is to deepen critical understanding of the strategies,
processes, techniques and issues involved in taking ideas and turning them into practical
realities with identifiable outcomes and benefits.This would help to a great deal in
enabling the managers of tomorrow to successfully complete sophisticated projects in an
organization within the constraints of capital, time, and other resources.

10 Learning Objectives

On completion of this course, the students are expected to be able to understand and
examine critically the discipline of project planning and management within an overall
appreciation of the nature and purpose of projects. Furthermore, students are expected to
learn the principles and practices of project planning, design, preparation, and appraisal
techniques; the theory and practice of management skills necessary for project planning
and management, focusing particularly on 'hard' and 'soft' skills for successful project
implementation.The course aims at several learning targets including understanding the
concepts of project definition, life cycle and systems approach, developing competency
in project scooping, work definition, and work breakdown structure (WBS);handling the
complex tasks of time estimation and project scheduling; developing competencies in
project costing, budgeting, and financial appraisal; gaining exposure to project control
and management, using standard tools of cost and schedule variance
analysis;appreciating the elements of risk and quality in hi-tech projects and to learn
project planning and management by application, through the medium of various case
studies on projects.

12 Recommended books:
1. Project Management The Managerial Process by Clifford F. Gray & Erik
W. Larson
2. Successful Project Management by Giddo & Clements
3. Project Management Achieving Competitive Advantage by Jeffery K.
Pinto
4. Project Management body of Knowledge ( PMBOK) - PMI, 5th edition
 13 Lectures

Weeks Contents of Lectures Reading material

Class Introduction, Course Overview Reading Handout

Week 1 What is project Management?
Project Conception.
Project and its importance
Significance of projectplanning and
management
Strategic management process
Week 2 Projects and programs Chapter # 2
The need for an effective project
portfolio management system
Selecting and prioritizing projects
Project selection methods
Organization: Structure and culture
Week 3 Project management structures Chapter # 3
What is the right Project Management
Structure?
Organizational culture

Defining the Project

Week 4 Defining the project scope Chapter # 4
Establishing the project priorities
Creating work break down structure
WBS
Integrating work break down structure
with organization
Responsibility Matrices
Project Communication plan
Tutorial 01- MS Project
Estimating Project Times and Costs
Week 5 Factors influencing the quality of Chapter # 5
estimates
Estimating guidelines for time, costs &
resources
Top-down versus Bottom-up estimating
Methods for estimating project time &
 costs
Level of details
Type of costs
Refining estimates

First Sessional

Developing a Project Plan

Week 7 Developing the project network Chapter # 6
Constructing a project network
Activity-on-node fundamentals
Using the forward and backward pass
information Sequencing of activities
Critical path method

Developing a Project Plan

Week 8 Introducing lead and lag
Calculating duration, direct and indirect
costs
Practical considerations
PERT
Tutorial 02- MS Project

Managing Risk
Week 9 Risk identification and assessment Chapter # 7
Risk response strategies
Contingency planning
Change control management
Probability and impact matrix
Risk register
Scheduling Resources and Costs
Week 10 Benefits of Scheduling Resources Chapter # 8
Assigning Project Work
Multi project Resource Schedules
Tutorial 03- MS Project

Managing Project Teams

Week 11 The five stage team development Chapter # 11
model
Situational factors influencing team
development
Building high performance teams
Managing virtual teams
Project team pitfalls
 Second Sessional

Project Quality Management

Week 13 The concept of quality Handout
The process of project quality
management
Techniques for quality assurance
Processes and techniques for quality
control
Reducing Project Duration
Week 14 Rationale for Reducing Project Time Chapter # 9
Project Time Reduction Procedure
Constructing a Project Cost Duration
Graph

Week 15 Earned Value Analysis Chapter # 13

Project Closure
Week 16 Types of project closure Chapter # 14
Wrap up closure activities
Post-Implementation Evaluation
Retrospectives

14 Assessment Criteria

The assessment of this module shall have following breakdown structure

First Sessional Exam 10%
Second Sessional Exam 15%
Quizzes/Assignments 25%
Terminal Examination 50%

The minimum pass marks for each course shall be 50%. The correspondence between letter
grades, credit points, and percentage marks at CIIT shall be as follows:

Grades Letter Grade Credit Points Percentage Marks

A ( Excellent) 4.0 90and above
A- 3.7 85-89
B+ 3.3 80-84
B (Good) 3.0 75-79
 B- 2.7 70-74
C+ 2.3 65-69
C (Average) 2.0 60-64
C- 1.7 55-59
D Minimum passing 1.3 50-54
F (Failing) 0.0 Less than 50

15 Plagiarism

Plagiarism involves the unacknowledged use of someone elses work, usually in coursework,
and passing it off as if it were ones own. Many students who submit apparently plagiarized
work probably do so inadvertently without realizing it because of poorly developed study
skills, including note taking, referencing and citations; this is poor academic practice rather
than malpractice. Study skills education within programs of study should minimize the number
of students submitting poorly referenced work. However, some students plagiarize
deliberately, with the intent to deceive. This intentional malpractice is a conscious, pre-
mediated form of cheating and is regarded as a particularly serious breach of the core values of
academic integrity.

16 Attendance Policy

Every student must attend 80% of the lectures/seminars delivered in this course.