BSM084 – Project Management Fundamentals

 Learning Outcomes: 

1. Critically review the project life-cycle phases, processes, tools and techniques and the  broader environment in which projects take place. 
2. Develop a critical awareness of the issues involved in the development of project planning  and control activities, including anticipating and assessing business environmental impacts  in the earliest stages of project planning. 
3. Critically evaluate the project objectives of cost, quality and time and the trade-offs and  interaction between these objectives.
4. Develop in broad outline for a case project a Project Plan.

Task(s) – content 

The Covid-19 pandemic revealed significant weaknesses in Africa’s ability to vaccinate its population.Since the first vaccinations arrived  on the continent through the COVAX scheme, approximately 400m doses have been administered. However, Africa is still behind in vaccinating its population, with only around 12% of Africa’s population being  fully vaccinated while in Europe, rates can be as high as 94%. It’s becoming increasingly  clear that Africa needs to do more to ensure its health security, and to do so needs to be  able to build its capacity to develop and make vaccines.

Increasing vaccine production capacity would not just address issues with Covid-19  vaccination rates but also help address other endemic diseases such as measles and polio.  A vaccine hub in Senegal, which has the backing of global partners, has recently started  production, and Uganda’s Virus Research Institute is now building its own vaccine.

Requirements of the Coursework 

The African Union and the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) are  now working to increase African capacity to develop and produce vaccines. They are looking  at other countries in which to establish vaccine hubs. You have been hired by the African  Union to help develop strategies in Africa to increase vaccine production. You have been  asked to develop a high-level project plan to present to the project sponsors outlining a  project that would contribute towards expanding vaccine production and development in  Africa.

The project plan should include the following: 

1. Business Case. You must also demonstrate that there is a sound business case for the  project by presenting an overview of the benefits of your project both tangible and  intangible and evaluating the costs v’s benefits.
2. Scope. You must define the scope of the project by identifying the overall aim of the  project, objectives and deliverables. You must include a summary of the main  considerations and assumptions you have made in formulating your project scope. You  should also include critical success factors and criteria. You should also include a critical  discussion of the importance of developing a clear scope as a basis for project delivery
3. Planning and Control. You must provide a project schedule, identifying the key phases  and life cycle of the project. The report should include a work breakdown structure
4.  Risk. A risk assessment of the project and the project plan should be undertaken with  an analysis and discussion of the key risks. You must also identify measures to  minimise each risk and whether any residual risk remains following your risk responses.
5. Stakeholders. There should also be a discussion of the key issues and concerns in  terms of stakeholders, identifying which stakeholders have the potential to have the  most significant impact on the project.
6. Change. You should identify any specific controls you will put in place to monitor and  control the project, including an outline of the change control mechanisms, who will be  responsibility for change control decisions within the project

You are expected to develop a project plan in response to the case study as detailed in the  brief. You are also expected to draw on the relevant theory and concepts as delivered  throughout the module to underpin your analysis, discussion and any conclusions. You  should refer to the materials in each of the topics to guide your answer, the activities in  class and online are also aligned to the outputs required for this report.

Task(s) – format  

Guidelines for Project Plan Format

Your project plan should include the following sections;

• Title Page 
• Table of contents 
• Business Case Section 
• Scope Section 
• Planning and Control Section 
• Risk Section 
• Stakeholder Section 
• Appendices – the appendices may include the WBS, risk assessment matrix and the  stakeholder matrix 

The Gantt Chart may be submitted as a separate file. 

Please refer to the Word Count statement for further information on which  elements are included and excluded from the word count.