Individual Assignment Guidelines and Specifications

Individual Assignment Description

Holmes Software Technologies has opted to undertake the development of its upcoming ERP solution using the SCRUM methodology. As a project management consultant for the company, your task is to address client concerns regarding the likelihood of SCRUM projects experiencing greater scope changes compared to other project types. To provide a comprehensive analysis, conduct a literature review focusing on this scenario. Subsequently, generate an analytical report that examines the methods employed in handling scope changes within SCRUM projects, explores the challenges associated with them, and outline the effective scope management strategies to maintain control over project scope.

Your task involves conducting a literature search to identify at least ten (10) academic research papers relevant to this research area. Following this, you are expected to perform a critical analysis of the chosen references, offering a comprehensive discussion on how they contribute to the understanding of the topic. This assessment constitutes a substantial 40% of the unit's grade, signifying its importance. It is recommended to initiate work on this assignment early in the semester, steadily progressing to develop a high-quality literature review by the semester's conclusion.

The deliverable for this assessment:

Deliverable Description

You need to submit the final version of your assignment in Week 12. The structure of the final report consists of 5 sections as follows:

• Introduction

  State the purpose and objectives of the report.

• Literature Review

  Document a review of literature on Agile/SCRUM project scope management.

• Discussion

  Discuss the references, and critically analyse them and discuss how they reflect the topic. You need to discuss the methods employed in handling scope changes within SCRUM

projects, explore the challenges associated with them, and outline the effective scope management strategies to maintain control over project scope.

• Conclusion

  Summarize your findings by emphasizing the key points of the report.

• References

  Provide the list of references following the Adapted Harvard Referencing style.

Your literature review should present the current state of knowledge in the specific area of the topic, and it should have a narrative that flows smoothly from one paragraph to the next. Additionally, the final submission should consist of no fewer than 2,500 words.

Marking Rubric

Student Assessment Citation and Referencing Rules

Adapted Harvard Referencing Rules

Holmes has implemented a revised Harvard approach to referencing. The following rules apply:

1. Reference sources in assignments are limited to sources that provide full-text access to the source’s content for lecturers and markers.
2. The reference list must be located on a separate page at the end of the essay and titled: “References”.

3. 
   The reference list must include the details of all the in-text citations, arranged A-Z alphabetically by author surname with each reference numbered (1 to 10, etc.) and each reference MUST include a hyperlink to the full text of the cited reference source. For example:

4. All assignments must include in-text citations to the listed references. These must include the surname of the author/s or name of the authoring body, year of publication, page number of the content, and paragraph where the content can be found. For example, “The company
   decided to implement an enterprise-wide data warehouse business intelligence strategies (Hawking et al., 2004, p3(4)).”

Non-Adherence to Referencing Rules

Where students do not follow the above rules:

1. For students who submit assignments that do not comply with the rules, a 10% penalty will be applied.
2. As per the Student Handbook, late penalties will apply each day after the student/s has been notified of the due date.
3. Students who comply with rules and the citations are “fake” may be reported for academic misconduct.

Submission Guidelines

Your document should be a single MS Word or OpenOffice document containing your report. Do not use PDF as a submission format.

All submissions will be submitted through the safeAssign facility in Blackboard. Submission boxes

linked to SafeAssign will be set up in the Units Blackboard Shell. Assignments not submitted through these submission links will not be considered.

Submissions must be made by the due date and time (which will be in the session detailed above) and determined by your Unit coordinator. Submissions made after the due date and time will be penalized per day late (including weekend days) according to Holmes Institute policies.

The SafeAssign similarity score will be used in determining the level, if any, of plagiarism. SafeAssign will check conference websites, Journal articles, the Web and your own class members submissions for plagiarism. You can see your SafeAssign similarity score (or match) when you submit your assignment to the appropriate drop-box. If this is a concern you will have a chance to change your assignment and resubmit. However, re-submission is only allowed prior to the submission due date and time. After the due date and time have elapsed your assignment will be graded as late.

Submitted assignments that indicate a high level of plagiarism will be penalized according to the Holmes Academic Misconduct policy, there will be no exceptions. Thus, plan early and submit early to take advantage of the re-submission feature. You can make multiple submissions, but please

remember we grade only the last submission, and the date and time you submitted will be taken from that submission.