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Project Management by Clifford Gray and Erik Larson, Third Edition, 2006©.

Admission to upper division standing and Mgt. 321, or consent of the instructor.

Covers all aspects of project management including project definition, methods and strategy, resource scheduling and allocation, leadership, managing teams, partnering, minimizing risks, benchmarking project progress and performance and project termination and review. Students utilize Microsoft Project® to implement and manage a project.

The course is intended for students in their 4^th year of study. It is a niche course designed to build upon the foundation established in the 3^rd year of study and either before or simultaneously with the capstone course.

Understand and appreciate how many business activities can be couched as a "project." Learn how to organize a project in a structured, methodical way with Microsoft Project©. Let’s determine if "ahead of schedule and under budget" is possible!!!

• Inform and educate the student as to the strategic role of projects in contemporary organizations, how projects are prioritized and the tools and techniques used to plan projects.
• Develop an awareness of organization and management styles that improve chances of project success and the orchestration of complex relationships.
• Application of Information Technology to organize and maintain structure throughout the project life cycle.

The Mission Statement of the College of Business states, "The academic programs of the college develop student competencies in: (1) critical thinking, (2) quantitative reasoning, (3) effective utilization of information and technology for business decisions." In this class, these competencies will be given the following emphasis on a scale of 10 (low emphasis) to 50 (high emphasis). At the end of the semester, the students’ perceptions of the emphasis placed on learning these competencies will be assessed.

• Critical Thinking (40): Students are required to "wear multiple hats" in deciding which projects to pursue, how to define the project, planning the project, managing risk associated with project activities, what (quantity, when, etc.) resources to allocate, etc. How do you propose to completely satisfy the requirements of your customer while meeting the minimum profit guidelines of your employer?
• Quantitative Reasoning (20): As the Project Manager, you will be faced falling behind schedule and the shifting sands of changing customer requirements. You have to determine the cost of crashing certain activities and show your customer the ramifications in dollars and time for altering the original scope of work.
• Effective Utilization of Information and Technology for Business Decisions (40): In the new millennium we will use software to control and provide feedback on how our project is performing. Specifically, we will utilize Microsoft Project© to build a new Conveyor System for our company throughout the course. The team will build the schedule, enter the tasks required, build the resource database, develop and reconcile the budgets, and perform many more functions utilizing software. Once the student has a firm grasp of the major attributes of project management software, he or she should have some comfort level working with various packages regardless of the manufacturer.

• There will be 3 exams, including a final, that are weighted as 75% of the final grade. The remaining 25% will consist of assorted assignments, including the creation of YOUR project utilizing Microsoft Project.
• This is a tentative syllabus. Any changes to the syllabus will be announced in class. Video presentations and guest speakers will be integrated into the course. You are responsible for the changes regardless of whether you attended the class of a specific announcement.
• You are responsible for all enrollment matters.
• You are expected to have basic computer knowledge and will be utilizing PC’s for numerous assignments.
• Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. See Part IX 9 of the Student Handbook.
• The due date for specific assignments will be announced in class. No assignments will be accepted after the due date.
• Calculation of the course grade will follow the standardized format of the MSU-B grading system. This system is defined as follows: 90 and above = A; 80 and above = B; 70 and above = C; 60 and above = D; 60 and below = F.
• Students with documented disabilities who need academic accommodations should make an appointment with the instructor as soon as possible.
• If you carry a cell phone, for the courtesy of others, please turn it off.
• There is no substitution for diligent and creative work!

This page last updated on: 9/05/2006
©2005-2006 Brian Gurney