Managing Project Costs, Quality, Risks and Procurements

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
BUSN 3630
Descriptive
Managing Project Costs, Quality, Risks and Procurements
Department
Business
Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
202030
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
35
Contact Hours
Hours per week: Lecture: 2 Seminar: 2
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Learning Activities

Lecture, seminar, case studies, exercises, group discussions

 

Course Description
This course will look at cost planning and management throughout a project. The class will learn about: estimating techniques; creating a scope baseline; and determining the project budget and managing costs through earned value management (EVM). This course will also cover tools and techniques common to managing and planning quality and risk in a project. Tools such as cost-benefit analysis, cause and effect diagrams, flowcharts, check sheets, Pareto diagrams, histograms, and other similar tools will be explored. In addition, the class will learn about project procurement topics including: creating a vendor list, selecting a vendor, creating procurement contracts and managing procurements throughout the project. These topics will be presented using a combination of real world examples, case studies, exercises and theory.
Course Content
  1. Planning and managing costs throughout a project: estimating techniques, cost-benefit analysis, creating a scope baseline, determining the project budget and managing costs through EVM
  2. Planning and managing project quality: definition; standards; cost of quality; sampling; statistics; qualitative and quantitative quality management; organizational maturity models; flowcharts; check sheets; Pareto diagrams; histograms and other tools will be explored
  3. Planning and managing project risks: definition, identifying risks, analyzing risks, planning and carrying out risk responses; the risk register
  4. Planning and managing project procurement: the build/buy decision, creating a vendor list, selecting a vendor, creating procurement contracts and managing procurements throughout the project
  5. Integrating cost, risk, quality and procurement management into the overall project management framework to ensure overall project success
Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:

  1. define project costing, project quality management, project risk management and project procurement management;
  2. manage project costs throughout a project using tools such as estimating, budgeting, measuring, cash-flow management and EVM;
  3. manage project quality including setting standards, determining the cost of quality management, measuring quality, qualitative and quantitative methods for managing the quality of project processes, and the quality of project results;
  4. manage project risks, from explaining the vital importance of this process to identifying, analyzing, planning and carrying out risk responses;
  5. manage project procurement: identify procurement requirements; the tendering process; Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quote (RFQ), legal issues, contracts, change management processes; allocation of risk; payment options; the relationship between the contractor and the purchaser of project supplies or services; identifying deficiencies and closing a contract; and;
  6. integrate the knowledge learned in each knowledge area into the overall management of a complex project.
Means of Assessment

Tests *

20% - 40%

Assignments/Term Project(s) (min 2)

20% - 40%

Participation

  5% - 10%

Final Examination

20% - 30%

Total 

       100%

 *A combination of quizzes and/or midterms, with no single assessment in this group worth more than 25% of the final grade.

Note:  Students must achieve a grade of at least 50% on the combined examination components to pass the course.

Textbook Materials

Required Textbooks:

Wilson, Randal. Mastering Risk and Procurement in Project Management: A Guide to Planning, Controlling, and Resolving Unexpected Problems. Latest Edition. (Pearson)

AND

Wilson, Randal. Mastering Project Time Management, Cost Control and Quality Management: Proven Methods for Controlling the Three Elements that Define Project Deliverables. Latest Edition. (Pearson)

or equivalent materials approved by the Business Department.

Optional:

Project Management Institute.A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Latest Edition. (optional but recommended)

Prerequisites

BUSN 3600 Project Management Essentials
or COBA 3200 Project Management

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

None

Which Prerequisite

None