Students

COMP8790 – Strategic Project Management

2025 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor / Lecturer
Matthew Mansour
matthew.mansour@mq.edu.au
Post class in the weeks teaching
Lecturer
Stephen Smith
stephen.smith@mq.edu.au
Post class in the weeks teaching
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
COMP6770
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit builds upon the foundations laid by introductory units to provide students with a more thorough understanding of the strategic, infrastructural and socio-technical aspects of project management. At one level, this unit is intended as a training ground for participants who wish to extend their existing ICT project planning and management skills in the more technical aspects of disciplines such as strategic planning, capital budgeting, risk analysis and post-implementation review. We also examine the political and organisational context into which this discipline fits, with a view to equipping candidates with the background required to make the transition into a project-sponsorship role.

Learning in this unit enhances student understanding of global challenges identified by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Analyse and Develop an effective business case for IT and business related projects.
  • ULO2: Evaluate and explain the strategic thinking used in the development of an IT portfolio of projects.
  • ULO3: Apply Portfolio Management concepts in the context of IT strategic management
  • ULO4: Apply IT leadership focusing on integrating strategy, IT governance, realization of business value and metrics.

General Assessment Information

General Faculty Policy on assessment submission deadlines and late submissions: 

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit you must:

1. Attempt all assessments, and

2. Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%, and,

Late Assessment Submission Penalty 

From 1 July 2022, Students enrolled in Session based units with written assessments will have the following late penalty applied. Please see https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/assessments for more information. 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of '0' will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted 

In this unit, late submissions will be accepted as follows: 

Presentations, YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

Assignment 1 & 2, YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

Final Exam, YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

To be eligible to pass this unit, it is necessary to obtain a mark of at least 50% in the unit overall.

Special Consideration:

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term

circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect

their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to

complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special

Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Assignment 1 20% No Week 7
Assignment 2 (Part A) 30% No Week 10
Presentation 10% No Week 11
Assignment 2 (Part B) 10% No Week 12
Final examination 30% No TBA

Assignment 1

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 20%

 

The assessment task is to write a report regarding the importance of strategically managing multiple projects for one organisation.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evaluate and explain the strategic thinking used in the development of an IT portfolio of projects.
  • Apply IT leadership focusing on integrating strategy, IT governance, realization of business value and metrics.

Assignment 2 (Part A)

Assessment Type 1: Project
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Week 10
Weighting: 30%

 

Companies see value in data we may have not considered important in the past. Working as a group you will explore the notion of how companies tap into the use of data and more importantly how this is strategically project managed.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse and Develop an effective business case for IT and business related projects.
  • Evaluate and explain the strategic thinking used in the development of an IT portfolio of projects.
  • Apply Portfolio Management concepts in the context of IT strategic management
  • Apply IT leadership focusing on integrating strategy, IT governance, realization of business value and metrics.

Presentation

Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 11
Weighting: 10%

 

Your group will present your case study for assignment 2 (Part A), but each person will present a component of  assignment 2 (Part A).The entire 10 marks are allocated individually for your part of the presentation.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse and Develop an effective business case for IT and business related projects.
  • Evaluate and explain the strategic thinking used in the development of an IT portfolio of projects.
  • Apply Portfolio Management concepts in the context of IT strategic management
  • Apply IT leadership focusing on integrating strategy, IT governance, realization of business value and metrics.

Assignment 2 (Part B)

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 10%

 

Based on your group experience in assignment 2 (Part A), present an individual reflective report on the group's experience, outlining the successes and failures, what worked well and those aspects that did not.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse and Develop an effective business case for IT and business related projects.
  • Evaluate and explain the strategic thinking used in the development of an IT portfolio of projects.
  • Apply Portfolio Management concepts in the context of IT strategic management
  • Apply IT leadership focusing on integrating strategy, IT governance, realization of business value and metrics.

Final examination

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 30%

 

An examination covering material from the semester.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse and Develop an effective business case for IT and business related projects.
  • Evaluate and explain the strategic thinking used in the development of an IT portfolio of projects.
  • Apply Portfolio Management concepts in the context of IT strategic management

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Classes

For the classes you are registered for you will have a two-hour seminar/lecture (This is on campus). In addition to this we have a SGTA (Small Group Teaching Activity) which will run regularly after the lecture. (NB. In some weeks we will run discussions on case studies where required). For details of days, times consult the timetables webpage. SGTAs for this unit start in week 1.

Technology to be used and required.

You will require access to Project Management Software (Project Libre). You will also be able to download your own copy for your PC, Laptop or Mac. It won’t run on an ipad. Details of the software will be available in lectures.

Students will need to be able to access ilearn and to download materials from it for class. Students are required to ensure that they either bring hard copies of all specified materials to class or ensure that they can access and use electronic copies of documents and readings in class. For this an ipad, tablet or laptop (mac or PC) is highly recommended.

The textbook is available as an ebook and also a hard copy text. (Details are below):

Resources to assist your learning

Textbook

The textbook(s) for COMP8790 used this semester is:

• Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage, Global Edition, ISBN: 9781292269146 - Buy here: https://bit.ly/9781292269146

Unit material

Material for the unit can be found on ilearn.

News Forum

Your lecturers will post regular reminders in regard to assessments and/or anything that is happening in the week. It is your responsibility to keep up to date with everything with the unit.

COVID Information

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

Methods of Communication

We will communicate with you via your university email and through announcements on iLearn.

Queries can either be sent to the unit convenor via the contact email on iLearn or in consultation.

Unit Schedule

Week

Topic and lecture description

Readings

In class Exercises

Assessment Due

1

Introduction: Why Strategic Project Management?

Chapter 1

“Throwing Good Money after Bad”: The BBC’s Digital Media Initiative

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

 SGTA Week 1

2

The Organizational Context: Strategy, Structure, and Culture

Chapter 2

Tesla’s $5 Billion Gamble

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

 

SGTA Week 2

3

Project Selection and Portfolio Management

Chapter 3

Project Selection Procedures: A Cross-Industry Sampler

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

 

SGTA Week 3

4

Leadership and the Project Manager

Chapter 4

Leading by Example for the London Olympics – Sir John Armitt

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

 

 

SGTA Week 4

5

Project Team Building, Conflict, and Negotiation 

Chapter 6

Engineers Without Borders: Project Teams Impacting Lives

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

SGTA Week 5

6

Risk Management

Chapter 7

Collapse of Shanghai Apartment Building

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

 

SGTA Week 6

7

 

Strategic Project Management Forum

Links provided in ilearn

Brain Storming session - Help for Assignment 2

+ 

Debates

Due: Assignment 1

SGTA Week 7

Semester Break

8

Managing Projects that are not understood

Links provided in ilearn

Costa Concordia - could it have been avoided?

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

SGTA Week 8

9

Resource Management 

Chapter 12

 737 - 8 - Software Failures

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

SGTA Week 9

10

Big Data and Project Management

Links provided in ilearn

Hong Kong Connects to the World’s Longest Natural Gas Pipeline

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

SGTA Week 10

11

Project Evaluation and Control 

Chapter 13

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner: Failure to Launch (with update)

+ 

Mini Presentations of Findings

Assignment 2

SGTA Week 11

12

Project Closeout and Termination 

 Chapter 14

Aftermath of a “Feeding Frenzy” - Dubai and Cancelled Construction Projects

 

+ Debates

 

SGTA Week 12

13

Revision

 

Revision for Final Exam

 

SGTA Week 13

 

        

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

We value student feedback as it helps us improve our courses. Students can share their input through surveys, directly with teaching staff, or via the FSE Student Experience & Feedback link on iLearn.

Feedback from the previous session was largely positive, particularly regarding assessment clarity and staff support. As a result, no major changes are planned. However, we continue to enhance support and engagement.

Minor updates include:

  • New SGTA activities
  • Updated Assessments
  • Updated lecture content

 

 

Unit information based on version 2025.03 of the Handbook