Professor
John RomagnoliLearning objectives
Knowledge and ability to understand: At the end of the course, the student will have acquired basic knowledge on the structure and functioning of a project, as well as knowledge of the main project management techniques and models.
Applied knowledge and understanding: The student must be able to independently plan the activities of a job order and the main processes, defining the most suitable management policies in relation to the application context. By way of example, but not limited to, the student will be able to formulate a project estimate, create and analyze the earned value of a project with the identification of the typical resources and execution times of the work, decide on the organization of the project team, etc. The student must be able to use the knowledge acquired to analyze and process numerical data, in order to support the relevant decision-making choices.
Making judgements: The student must be able to evaluate the impact of strategic, planning and operational decisions on the expected performance of a project.
Communication skills: The student will have to acquire the specific vocabulary inherent to project management. It is expected that, at the end of the course, the student will be able to convey, in oral and written form, also through the resolution of numerical problems, the main contents of the course.
Ability to learn: The student who has attended the course will be able to act profitably in a project management context, and to deepen their general knowledge in the field of project management, through independent consultation of specialist texts, scientific or popular magazines , even outside of the topics covered in class.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and ability to understand: At the end of the course, the student will have acquired basic knowledge on the structure and functioning of a project, as well as knowledge of the main project management techniques and models.
Applied knowledge and understanding: The student must be able to independently plan the activities of a job order and the main processes, defining the most suitable management policies in relation to the application context. By way of example, but not limited to, the student will be able to formulate a project estimate, create and analyze the earned value of a project with the identification of the typical resources and execution times of the work, decide on the organization of the project team, etc. The student must be able to use the knowledge acquired to analyze and process numerical data, in order to support the relevant decision-making choices.
Making judgements: The student must be able to evaluate the impact of strategic, planning and operational decisions on the expected performance of a project.
Communication skills: The student will have to acquire the specific vocabulary inherent to project management. It is expected that, at the end of the course, the student will be able to convey, in oral and written form, also through the resolution of numerical problems, the main contents of the course.
Ability to learn: The student who has attended the course will be able to act profitably in a project management context, and to deepen their general knowledge in the field of project management, through independent consultation of specialist texts, scientific or popular magazines , even outside of the topics covered in class.
Course content
1. Introduction – the role of the Project Manager
2. The project: organisation, resources and management
3. Project management processes
4. Project integration management
5. Project scope management
6. Project time management
7. Project cost management
8. Project quality management
9. Human resource management in projects
10. Project communications management
11. Project risk management
12. Management of project subcontractors/suppliers
13. MS Project
Prerequisites
There are no mandatory preparatory requirements.
Bibliography
The reference text is:
– Nokes S., Sean K., (2007), Definitive Guide to Project Management, PRENTICE-HALL INTERNATIONAL, ISBN-10: 0273710974; ISBN-13: 9780273710974.
For specific insights, the student can refer to the following texts.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
– Project Management Institute, (2017), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 6th Edition, ISBN-10: 1628251840, ISBN-13: 978-1628251845
ITALIAN LANGUAGE:
– Corini F., (2010), Project management in construction companies, Teaching notes, V Edition (available on the website: www.corini.altervista.org)
– Amato R., Chiappi R., (2013), Project Management Techniques. Project Planning and Control, Franco Angeli, ISBN: 978-8856802313
– Caron F., (2009), Management of large engineering projects. Project management in action, ISEDI, ISBN-10: 8880083511; ISBN-13: 978-8880083511
Teaching methods and tools
The course has a weight of 6 CFU, which correspond to 48 hours of lessons.
The theoretical topics of the course are mainly addressed through lectures, alternating with lessons (or portions of them) of a heuristic Socratic nature. During the heuristic Socratic moments, priority will be given to dialogic comparison with the classroom, on basic topics of project management, also in order to bring out any pre-knowledge on the part of the students.
To encourage active participation of students in these moments, the positive response to questions and queries presented during the Socratic heuristic moments will provide bonuses to improve the score obtained in the profit exam.
The final part of the course (approximately the last 8-12 hours of lessons) will focus on providing students with practical skills in using the MS Project software, by assigning students an industrial case of planning project times, resources and costs, to be carried out using the MS Project application.
In carrying out the case, students will be required to apply the theoretical concepts learned and the methodological criteria illustrated in the theoretical lessons.
The slides and notes used to support the lessons will be uploaded at the beginning of the course on the MS TEAMS platform, possibly via links to other pages on the network. To download the slides from MS TEAMS, registration for the online course is required.
Non-attending students are reminded to check the available teaching materials and the instructions provided by the teacher via the MS TEAMS platform.
Assessment methods and criteria
The summative evaluation of learning involves two distinct moments, the first of which is mandatory, to be carried out strictly in the order indicated:
1) a written test (mandatory), containing 1 exercise (item weight 10-14 pts), 1 open-ended question (item weight 6-10 pts) and 4-10 closed/multiple answer questions (each question 1pt).
The duration of the written test is 90 minutes. The written test will be graded on a scale from 0 to 24.
2) (Optional) a presentation of the project carried out using the MS Project application. The test is individual. Each student can prepare the material they deem most appropriate in order to illustrate their project to the teacher (for example, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs can be used, and the project can be illustrated directly on the MS Project software). During the presentation of the project, the teacher will ask the candidate unstructured questions, in order to evaluate his preparation and knowledge of the project itself and of the theoretical part of the course. During the presentation of the project, the student's knowledge, its application, independent judgment and communication skills will be evaluated.
The indicative duration of this part of the test is 15-30 minutes. The oral exam will be evaluated on a scale from -10pt to +10pt. The final evaluation will be obtained, in thirtieths, by means of the arithmetic sum of the scores obtained in the two individual evaluation moments, added to any bonuses obtained during the lessons. The summative test is passed if a score of at least 18 points is achieved. Honors are awarded in the case of achieving the maximum score in each evaluation area, or in the case of a final score higher than 30/30. In the case of an evaluation lower than 18/30 the student will be rejected.
Online registration for the exam session is MANDATORY for both the written test and the oral test. The grade of the written test is communicated via publication on the Esse3 platform, possibly on the same day as the test. Once the grade obtained has been viewed, the student can freely choose whether to support the presentation of the project and, if necessary, agree with the teacher on the presentation date. The intention to take the oral test must be communicated to the teacher during the written test. It should be noted that, unless there are technological problems with the platform, students who have not registered regularly on Esse3 will not be accepted for the exam. If the student has obtained a final grade lower than 18/30, the test must be taken again in full, i.e. the grade of the written test previously taken (even if sufficient) will not be taken into account.
Additional info
The English expression “project management”, which can be translated as project management or order management, refers to the set of activities aimed at achieving the goals/objectives of a project. A project is a temporary process aimed at producing one or more units of a single product or service whose characteristics are progressively developed. The course aims to provide the tools to face the challenges of project management, namely: (i) achieving the goals of the project, i.e. releasing deliverables compliant with specific requirements, (ii) respecting the predefined constraints of time, costs and scope/quality, (iii) integrating the necessary inputs and optimizing the allocation of resources.
