Project Management
Module Title: Strategic Project Environment
In this module you are required to complete two pieces of assessment, a poster presentation and a project report, which should both be based on the same subject. The assessment requires you to select a project that is of interest to you and can fulfil the marking criteria. Firstly, to design and create a poster that examines the macro- and microeconomic influences on the project based in Qatar. Your report will then go on to evaluate the external influences on the project and appraise the role of ethics and corporate social responsibility on the same chosen project. This assignment is designed to allow you the flexibility to examine in depth a particular project and region that may interest you that will achieve the learning outcomes. You are free to choose the subject area that aligns with your interests as long as it is the same for both parts of the assessment and you manage to illustrate the application of your research skills and reflect your critical analysis thinking in writing.
Poster Presentation Instructions
Your poster should be designed to clearly communicate the key information about your project, focusing on the influence of macro- and micro-economics on your chosen project.

Poster Requirements

There are specific requirements for the submission as follows:
 The poster must be a Minimum A3 size, maximum A1 size.
 Must be in colour.
 Your poster needs to include:
o your student ID number;
o the title of the poster;
o appropriate references (either to acknowledge previous work or to refer readers on for further information).

For all posters we recommend:
 The use of clear language, without jargon.
 The inclusion of an introduction to your project.
 The text should be concise throughout the poster, preferably bullet points. Most readers will not have a lot of time to read the poster.
 You are expected to include at least one, but preferably more than one, visual aid (e.g. photo, illustration, graph/chart) to improve the visual impact.

Presentation Discussion Requirements and Marking Criteria
In the allocated poster display session, there will be 10 minutes for both staff and students to read each poster, followed by a 5-minute Q&A slot for each student. This will be led by staff and questions can also be asked by students. Preparation and time management will be key to ensure you provide concise answers to the questions to help to address the marking criteria within the given time limit. Be prepared and know your poster and project details well to ensure a good depth of discussion. See marks allocation in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Poster marking criteria
Assignment objectives and marking criteria Mark %
Presentation: poster design and format. 20%
Content: Clear examination of the influence of macro- and micro- economics on a project. 60%
Structure: Clarity of argument put forward and quality of sources and accuracy of references. 20%
Report Instructions and Marking Criteria
Your report should briefly introduce the project and then go on to critically evaluate the external influences on the project and identify the various stakeholders involved (Table 2). It should also critically appraise whether the project has been managed ethically and whether it has delivered any benefits to the community in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The report should be professionally produced and have word count of 3000 (+/-10%) words.
Points raised in the report must be substantiated by references to current theory, research and practice. You should choose a project area that is relevant to your interests.
To help support you with this, there are the following support mechanisms:
• There will be a tutorial workshop during the module to help you discuss the research area. We encourage you to research into the subject area and to look at academic references and industry articles outside the lecture times and to develop your understanding and knowledge of that subject area to help you produce your individual report submission.

Table 2. Report marking criteria
Assignment objectives and marking criteria Mark %
1. Research project, location and relevance 10%
2. Critical evaluation of external influences on a project 40%
3. Critical appraisal of the role of Ethics and Social responsibility 30%
4. Executive Summary, Introduction and Conclusions 10%
5. Quality and structure of the paper including Referencing and source of materials (minimum of 15 references) 10%

This report should also demonstrate the following:
• Demonstrate analytical and evaluation skills in discussion of the topic and a clear understanding of strategic project management issues.
• Critically evaluate external influences on a project, considering government and industry structures and external stakeholders (LO1).
• Examine the macro and microeconomics influence on a project (LO2).
• Critically appraise the role of ethics and corporate social responsibility within a global marketplace (LO3).
• An outstanding synthesis of varied theoretical positions in the analysis of key issues in the subject area
• Wide-ranging emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are at the forefront of the discipline
• Offers an exhaustive exploration of the literature and evidence-base
• The material covered is accurate and relevant
• The argument is highly sophisticated
• The standard of writing is refined
• No errors in the use of the specified referencing system
• Well-presented and organised in an appropriate academic style.
• No bullet points
• Use English UK
• No plagiarism (please rephrase and don’t copy content)

Structure of the report

All reports should contain:

Title page: giving the following information:
• The full title of the work: Strategic Project Environment Report
• Student ID number
• MSc in Project Management
• The year of submission
• The word count (excluding acknowledgements, executive summary, list of contents, contents, figures and tables, diagrams, references and appendices)

Executive summary: A brief summary of the aim, methodology, contents, and conclusions of the report. This section is not included in the word count. **Suggested word count: 300 words
List of contents: A breakdown of the project into its constituent parts and locating them by page number. It is good practice to also include a list of figures, tables and appendices.
Introduction: Presenting the background information and justifying the research and/or consultancy problem/issue and introducing the approach taken to investigating and presenting the problem.
Body of the report: This part should be arranged in a way appropriate to the topic, presenting a review of relevant literature, results and discussions and a synthesis of relevant findings, critical analysis of facts and/or ideas, using chapter headings, with paragraphs and spacing for ease of reading and cross-references.
Conclusions and recommendations: An assessment of the findings along with any recommendations; this section should, explicitly or implicitly, establish the validity of the work in relation to its field.
References: Should be the university’s Harvard format for all in-text citations and end list of references (kindly see attached university’s referencing style as it is slightly different compared to Google Scholar’s Harvard format) – It is kind of mixed Harvard and APA6. All references should be clearly cited within the text and summarised in the end list of references.

Appendices (optional): Should be used for relevant but supplementary information; should not be used for key material that should be placed in the main body of the report.

PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the practice of presenting thoughts, writings or other output of another or others as original, without acknowledgement of their source(s). All material used to support a piece of work, whether a printed publication or from electronic media, should be appropriately identified and referenced and should not normally be copied directly unless as an acknowledged quote. Text translated into the words of the individual student should in all cases acknowledge the source.
Before submitting the work, you should check through it to ensure that:
• All material that has been identified as originally from a previously published source has been properly attributed by the inclusion of an appropriate in- text citation.
• Direct quotations are marked as such (using “double quotation marks” at the beginning and end of the selected text).
• Each citation has been included in the list of references.