Assessment #2 – Project Analysis Report
Value: 35%
Length: 1500 words
the main objective of this assignment is to reinforce the importance of project definition and needs identification in the initial phase of the project life cycle. Success of a project is affected by the way a project’s objective(s) is defined, planned and managed. Unfortunately, successful project managers do fail; the key difference in strategic project management is that they learn from their mistakes. Project managers also learn from their success and are constantly searching for new strategies to further improve. In highly successful projects you are likely to find an excellent and valuable project team, a motivated project manager and a very efficient project structure.
This assignment is designed to lead you through a systematic evaluation of a project. Your role is to critically analyse one real project* – not summarise a project. I want to see that you have thought about the project and offered critical comments and insights based on your understanding of project management.
*The project:
Search for a real project. You can choose a project that was completed successfully or one that was not completed successfully. Please note that we strongly encourage the selection of Indigenous projects and projects related to your field of study (i.e Health, Art, IT, Management, etc). However, please DO NOT choose any of the following projects:
• Adelaide Oval Stadium
• Adelaide Tramline
• Port Adelaide Flower Farm
• Hindmarsh Soccer Stadium Renovation
• National Wine Centre
• Blackwell Underpass
• Sydney Opera House
• Beijing Bird Nest Stadium
• Hong Kong Disney
• Gallipoli Underpass
• Beijing Olympic
Instructions:
You are encouraged to search the Web for the selected project and to collect any type of information about the situation, making sure to cover different viewpoints. This could include newspapers, project management magazine and journals. As this project is a real case you can expand the information presented in the references (i.e. source).
Write a report that critically analyses how the project was planned and performed. The report should include:
1. Brief introduction to the project.
• Please give an overview of your project. This should explain what the project was and the context in which the project occurred.
• Clear identification of the objective(s) and scope of the project.
2. A project stakeholder analysis.
3. A brief description of how the project was managed (eg. strategy, key events, tools used etc).
• Describe the implementation phase of the project. In particular, explain whether the project ran to plan – in which case explain the benefits of careful planning to the project manager.
• Alternatively, if the project deviated from plan, why did this occur and what was the impact of these deviations for the project?
4. A critical analysis of the project outcome (i.e. the critical factors that made this project a success or a failure).
• Conclude reflecting on the project, what did you learn? What good practices will you, as a manager, take from this to future projects, and what activities would you not do in the future and why?
5. Appendix.
The report should not exceed 1500 words and should be formatted using 1.5 line spacing and a font size of 12pt. The word limit does not include the appendix, or the executive summary.
Guidelines on writing a report can be accessed at: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/learningconnection/student/learningAdvisors/reports.asp.
References are only required from the original source of your selected project and from any theory you intend to use while writing your analysis. However, please note that as your role is to critically analyse the project – and not summarise a project, you should be using your own perspective, ideas and interpretation when writing so minimal in-text reference is required.
Assignment 2 must be submitted electronically via learnonline.
Feedback Sheet:
Key components of this assignment
1. Content
1.1 Has the project been analysed critically and with depth?
1.2 Are the key issues addressed?
1.3 Is there a consideration of qualitative/quantitative information while assessing the environment and the project key issues?
1.4 Is there a logical analysis of the project management system and/or international trends?
1.5 Has the outcome of the project been discussed argumentatively and with adequate justification?
2. Language
2.1 Principles of effective business writing
2.2 Correct grammar
2.3 Correct in-text citation
2.4 Coherent and comprehensible
3. Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Discussion
3.3 Conclusion writing
3.4 Recommendations
4. Referencing – Min 6 Max 10 – mostly in critical analysis
4.1 In text references (author, date, page)
4.2 Use of quotations
4.3 Reference list
4.3.1 Alphabetical order
4.3.2 Consistency and accuracy in how the sources are referenced