Advanced IS Project Management

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Projects are typically characterized as being temporary in nature, having a defined start-end, involving the accomplishment of a novel or unique task and operating under constraints. Obviously the goal of a project is "success". The PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) provides practitioners with a suite of tools and techniques intended to ensure projects successfully deliver on time, to budget and to quality goals. However this mechanistic view of projects belies the complexity of many IS projects, which frequently face external, social, political, organizational and cultural barriers. IS projects often involve multiple stakeholders with competing interests, operate in changing business environments and must deliver business value in increasingly short time-frames. The first half of this subject examines the foundations of project management including the nine knowledge areas of the PMBOK (scope, cost, time, human resources, procurement, risk, quality, communication and integration) in the context of information systems projects and methodologies, while also providing the opportunity to develop advanced skills necessary to effectively respond to the organizational, political and cultural barriers IS projects typically face. The second half of the subject will also consider a set of advanced topics including project governance, management of cross-organisational projects, knowledge management, vendor and customer relationship management, benefits realization, project office functions and project management toolsets.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students should acquire a number of transferable skills including:

• analytical and decisioning skills through examination of case scenarios
• collaboration, communication and presentation skills through group work and assessment, and
• problem solving skills related to project management, project risk assessment, project resource utilization and project communication management.

Student Feedback

We welcome your comments about this subject - things you liked and things you think we could improve on. You can provide this feedback in several ways:

• speaking directly to the lecturer
• speaking to your student representative or the MIS/MIT Program Director
• completing the Quality of Teaching survey administered towards the end of each subject

The feedback provided by students in these ways will be communicated to lecturers and taken into account in subject planning and staff training.