School of Accounting Information Systems and Supply Chain

Business Project Management (BUSM4611)

Assessment 2: Group Project Proposal Report

Overview

The objective of this assignment is to learn how to prepare a professional project proposal based on a prescribed request for proposal (RFP). Students will form the group by themselves. A team of two students or an individual student will work to prepare a project proposal.

Course Learning Outcomes

This assessment is linked to the following Course Learning Outcomes:

CLO 1 Evaluate and use tools, techniques and processes to solve project management problems

CLO 2 Critically appraise projects using industry standards and methods

CLO 3 Devise a project proposal in collaboration with team members in response to client requirements

Assessment details

Tasks

Based on a supplied request for proposal (RFP), each team is required to prepare a project proposal which consists of project scope planning, priority identification, and detail description of major deliverables for clients.

Each team is required to prepare a ‘project plan’ that offers a documented project proposal to satisfy a client’s need (further details about the RFP will be available on Canvas shell under the assignment 2). Students need to study relevant topics from week 1 to 4 and apply them when preparing the project plan. Please note that planning is not an exact science, so you need to make many assumptions, use market data, or use historical project information (if available).

Project Proposal Report Content

The report needs to include the following contents:

1. Project scope (Week 1 contents)

Define project scope clearly following the week 1 content. Project should be defined with a clear scope statement. Remember project scope is considered as the mission of the project and a clear scope definition will help the client to understand that your team clearly understands the project outline. You are encouraged to submit your proposal to Turnitin in advance of the due date so you have time to confirm the originality of your submission. Every team member is responsible for reviewing, interpreting and ensuring the Turnitin results align with academic integrity standards (originality and referencing requirements). If you are unsure about your Turnitin results please consult your tutor well in advance of the due date. Further information is available here: https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/student-essentials/assessment-and-results/academic-integrity

1. Project priority (Week 1 contents)

Develop project priority matrix based on the information provided on RFP. Discuss the key points from the matrix.

1. Project products or deliverables description

Client expects an outline of your plan for the project products that you are going to deliver. Here, you can provide project product descriptions (say if you are supplying software here you can describe the features of the software and price etc.)

1. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) (Week 1 contents)

A fully specified WBS indicating the deliverables, sub-deliverables (if required), work packages/activities, WBS codes, and the individual(s) responsible.

1. WBS Dictionary (Week 1 contents)

The contractor will provide a description of each work package/ activity within WBS Dictionary. You can prepare a Table or descriptive format.

1. Schedule (Week 2 contents)

   • With the outlined project activities, precedence relationship and time and cost estimations develop a project network plan and Gantt chart showing the weekly schedule of the project tasks, milestones to complete the project by the required project finish date. You can use Microsoft Project software to prepare theschedule.
   • It is not enough to provide only software output. Discussion on key points of the schedule is essential. For example, major milestone completion dates, client’s approval dates, critical activities and critical path durations, etc. It is expected to see some discussion on assumptions you have made for generating the projectschedule.

2. Staffing and resource allocation and project budget (from Week 3 contents)

   • In your project, resources could be direct labour, material, equipment. Assign resources to the required project activities, show workload of each resource. Identify any additional expertise that may need to be bought in for the project. Develop a responsibility matrix of the major tasks. Here you can make a realistic assumption on- what type of resources do you need and how much is hourly salary.
   • Cost estimation of the project is important. Dollar costs can also be submitted based on cash flow data (from MS Project software). It is expected there will be some discussion on key points.

3. Stakeholder identification and management plan (Week 4 contents)

   • Identify major stakeholders and develop a stakeholder management plan based on week 4 contents. Here you can identify at least four-five stakeholders and then prepare power-interest grid and discuss the key points (basis of identification and output of power-interest grid analysis).
4. Risk evaluation (Week 4 contents) (see next page)

Following the risk management processes, identify possible risks factors (at least five), assess risk factors (by using risk assessment form) and develop risk response strategy for top three risk factors (using risk response matrix).

Referencing guidelines

You must acknowledge all the sources of information you have used in your assessments. Please use RMIT Harvard referencing style for this assessment.

Submission format

The assessment will be submitted in Canvas as a file upload.

You are encouraged to submit your proposal in advance of the due date so you have time to confirm the originality of your submission. Every team member is responsible for reviewing, interpreting and ensuring the assignment aligns with academic integrity standards (originality and referencing requirements).

Academic integrity and plagiarism

Academic integrity is about honest presentation of your academic work. It means acknowledging the work of otherswhile developing your own insights, knowledge and ideas.

You should take extreme care that you have:

• Acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have quoted (i.e. directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed or mentioned in your assessment through the appropriate referencing methods,
• Provided a reference list of the publication details so your reader can locate the source if necessary. This includes material taken from Internet sites.

If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism because you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate referencing, as if they were your own.

RMIT University treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct. Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including:

• Failure to properly document a source
• Copyright material from the internet or databases
• Collusion between students

For further information on our policies and procedures, please refer to the University website.

Assessment declaration

When you submit work electronically, you agree to the assessment declaration.

Working as a group

Many courses require you to work in a group to complete various assessments. It is the collective responsibility of all group members to actively contribute and complete any project. If any individual is unavailable during this time, the group will need to adjust responsibilities to allow for the work to be completed. It is recommended that students elect a group leader to take responsibility for this.

Working in a group requires consistent interaction and communication. This should be done within Canvas, Google Hangouts, email etc.

Should any individual be unavailable for an extended period of time, it is the responsibility of the group members, or group leader, to advise their tutor to discuss the situation. This should be raised as early as possible if students wish to apply for an extension or special consideration.

Only one copy of a group assessment needs to be submitted, however all group names must be added to the report submission.

For further information about understanding group work, visit RMIT Learning Lab.

Assessment Criteria