UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND
MGT8076 PROJECT-BASED CHANGE MANAGEMENT Assignment 1
Assessment tasks for MGT8076
There are two assessment tasks for this course.
• Assignment 1 requires you to write a literature review of topics related to this course to provide you with knowledge of the literature to assist with completion of assignment 2
• Assignment 2 requires you to critically analyse the change management practices adopted in a chosen project. That is, you will compare best practice in the literature with what occurred in your chosen project.
Together these activities will help to demonstrate compliance with the Australian
Qualifications Framework (AQF) requirements for students to develop appropriate research skills. AQF states that ‘graduates of a Master’s Degree (Coursework) will demonstrate the application of knowledge and skills to plan and execute a substantial research-based project, capstone experience and/or piece of scholarship’ (Australian Qualifications Framework Council 2013).
Use of Endnote (or other bibliographic software)
You are strongly urged to use Endnote for this assignment and for other assessment activities in your studies across all courses. Endnote and other referencing, bibliographic or citation software programs:
• manage and organise references into personalised groups
• serve as a personal record of your research notes and annotations on PDFs
• search those notes and annotations as well as the full text of PDFs
• enable collaboration using shared libraries either as read/write or read only
• may have a cloud based version which performs all the functions of the desktop and keeps libraries on different computers in sync (the Endnote cloud version needs a licenced desktop copy to fully enable all features).
There are many different products, some freely downloadable such as Zotero and Mendeley; and others built in to the word processor, as in MS Office Word. Those that are most reliable are commercial products such as RefWorks, BibTeX and EndNote. To find out more about Endnote which can be downloaded at no cost by USQ students, go to http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing/endnote-bibliographic-software.
Context
You are working as a project team member in a project management office (PMO) and the manager of the PMO has asked you to participate in a review of the PMO’s change management procedures and processes to be used for an upcoming project.
The resources you identify in assignment 1 can form part of your assignment 2 so you should consider your selection of a suitable project for assignment 2 before you commence assignment 1.
Your task
• Your initial task is to carry out a survey of the literature on project change management to inform the review. You are looking for contemporary and seminal literature on this topic which is relevant to the sector of your organisation/project types.
• In the format of a report, you will discuss this literature, considering its strengths, weaknesses and relevance to your organisation’s projects.
• Also in the report you will make a recommendation on why change management is important in projects; models or frameworks on how change is brought about or experienced in project; and approaches and processes for managing ‘change to the project’.
The total length of your assignment 1 is to be approx. 2000 words. Please follow general formatting guidelines as outlined in the Communication Skills Handbook (Summers & Smith 2014). Remember that the assignments in the project management courses require referencing to use Harvard AGPS6 formatting and not APA. Using the incorrect referencing format could lose marks.
Report structure
For assignment 1, provide the following:
Mark sheet/rubric (see separate mark sheet and rubric)
Report cover sheet
Executive summary (200 - 300 words – not included in word count)
Table of contents
1. Introduction (150 words)
Introduce the purpose of your report and its structure.
2. Organisational context (200 words)
In this section, describe the organisational and project context for which you are preparing the report. You can base this on a PMO with which you have experience, or on a case study taken from the literature. Include details such as the type of projects undertaken, the current change management processes and capability, problems being experienced etc. Specify whether this report is for all projects in the organisation, a type of project in the organisation, or a specific project.
3. Literature review (900 words)
• You may choose to structure this section in two-parts:
o Models, frameworks and processes for how change is brought about or experienced in projects
o Processes for managing ‘change to the project’
• You can support your literature review with tables and figures.
• Summarise, compare and contrast the literature you have found which is relevant to these topics and the domain of the organisation/project/projects.
• Ensure you justify your choice of literature (e.g. its legitimacy, date of publication, whether it has been peer-reviewed, and whether there is research supporting the concept or argument).
4. Recommendations (500 words)
• Based on your review of the literature, suggest the tools or processes that should be used by the organisation’s projects (or specific project) for managing change brought about by the project, and for managing ‘change to the project’. Justify your recommendation – what are the expected benefits from adopting the recommendations.
• You can support your recommendation with tables and figures to justify your selection and/or to demonstrate the use of the recommended tool or process.
5. Conclusions (150 words)
• Summarise your findings (i.e. what did you discover from conducting the literature review?).
Reference List
IMPORTANT:
• The focus of this assignment is on demonstrating an ability to find, summarise and discuss high quality and relevant literature.
• This is not a critical analysis as you are not comparing the projects actual processes to the literature. You are simply reviewing relevant literature for what may be useful to the organisational/project. Assignment 2 is a critical analysis.
Submission details
Throughout the materials, reference may be made to the mode of study selected by students.
‘Online’ students are those who are enrolled in the course in ‘WEB’ mode. This mode may not always be available.
‘On-campus’ students are those who are enrolled in the course in ‘ONC’ mode. This mode may not always be available.
‘External’ students are those who are enrolled in the course in ‘EXT’ mode. This mode may not always be available.
? Submission of assessment. All students (regardless of mode) must submit Assignments 1 and 2 electronically using the electronic assignment submission facility. This is accessed from the assessment page on the StudyDesk for this course. Assignments will not be accepted by email or in hard copy unless there are extenuating circumstances and prior approval is gained from the course examiner.
? Electronic mark sheet – students must use the MGT8076 electronic assignment mark sheet for assignments 1 and 2 that are provided as part of the StudyDesk course materials as it contains the marking criteria. Do not use generic USQ cover sheets that may be available for other courses. Do not use generic PDF cover sheets which are only intended for courses where hard copy submissions are required.
? File naming – electronic files should follow the file-naming protocols detailed on the mark sheet.
? Due date – submission should be completed prior to midnight (Toowoomba time) on the due date specified in the study schedule. Check the time difference. The time in Toowoomba is indicated on the StudyDesk.
? File types – Electronic copies of assignments may be submitted in various file formats which are defined in the electronic assignment submission facility for each course. Check to ensure that your assignment complies with the requirements.
? Originality Report from Turnitin – Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 must be accompanied by an ‘Originality Report’ from Turnitin. Students will have to download the report as per the instructions below. NOTE: this is not the ‘receipt’ that you receive when you upload the assignment. Follow the instructions to download a full ‘ORIGINALITY’ report from the Turnitin site.
Originality Report from Turnitin for assignments 1 and 2
The brief instructions below should be sufficient to check your assignment and download an originality report. However, if you have problems more detailed information is available from Turnitin at http://www.turnitin.com/en_us/support/help-center/general-articles.
Briefly, the steps to obtain an Originality Report from Turnitin comprise the following:
1. Create a separate Turnitin version of your assignment with a new file name. Follow the instructions below.
2. If you have not previously done so, register with Turnitin at www.turnitin.com using an email address of your own choosing and a password of your own choosing. You do not have to use your USQ UConnect username and password.
3. Log in and access the course using the class ID and password provided below.
4. Submit your assignment and exit Turnitin for a least 30 minutes.
5. Log into Turnitin again after this period, and then download the Originality Report. The Originality Report will be in HTML or PDF format and will contain a percentage score for material that is common with other sources. You cannot resubmit to Turitin to try to revise the score. If you try to submit any other way, it will show a score of 100%.
6. Submit your Originality Report when you lodge your assignment.
Information on how to create a separate Turnitin version of your assignment
Turnitin will compare your assignment to all other assignments submitted to Turnitin from USQ and all other universities. It will also compare it with information publicly available and with other documents contained within Turnitin. Turnitin creates a report showing the level of material that is NOT ‘original’ and this is indicated on a scale of zero to 100%. The lower the percentage the better.
IMPORTANT NOTE: To minimise the extent of material that shows as not being your original work, create a separate assignment file for Turnitin and amend it as follows:
? If you have previously attached the USQ electronic mark sheet, remove it so it does not show as common material.
? Delete any other mark sheet or cover sheet so the text starts at ‘Executive Summary’.
? You must include your name and Student number at the top of the document for
identification.
? Delete all appendices – the text should now finish at the end of the List of References. You are now ready to submit the assignment file to Turnitin.
To register as new student or to log in
? Go to http://www.turnitin.com .
? If you are not an existing user, select ‘New User’ and follow instructions to register.
? Simply enter an email address of your choosing and create a password (you do not have to use the USQ UConnect username and password).
? Register using your enrolled student name – do not use an alias.
Once you are registered you can simply enter that email address and password to log in to the Turnitin website at any time.
To access the course – Class ID and Password
? Click on ‘Enrol in a class’
? Insert class ID – 14448781
? Insert class password – mgt8076
? You may be asked for your name if you have not provided this before – please use your name that you use in normal USQ communications. Do not use aliases.
To submit assignments 1 and 2
? Click on ‘Submit’ icon for required assignment (1 or 2).
? Select ‘Single file upload’.
? Insert your first name as per USQ student records (if not automatically inserted).
? Insert your last (family) name as per USQ student records (if not automatically inserted). DO NOT USE AN ALIAS.
? Insert submission title (e.g. A1, Assignment 1, or similar to identify assignment).
? Make sure your file complies with the ‘requirements for single file upload’ listed by Turnitin on this page.
? Browse to locate the assignment file on your computer (select the file that has been adapted for submission to Turnitin with no mark sheet and no appendices).
? Click on ‘Upload’.
? Wait for file to upload (indicated by progress bar).
? Preview submission in window to ensure that file has loaded properly.
? Click on ‘Submit’.
? Wait for file to upload.
? Go back to Portfolio.
? Ensure that file shows as submitted (file title and date of submission are displayed) (if this has not happened, you may have to go back and repeat the submission process).
? Log out.
? You will receive an email from Turnitin to confirm submission.
To access your Originality Report and interpretation of report
? Return to Turnitin at a later time to check originality report (wait for at least 30 minutes)
http://www.turnitin.com .
? Under the tab ‘My Classes’, click on the required class code from the list under ‘enter a class’.
? Details of your submissions will show up.
? If the assignment has been checked, a percentage will be shown in a box under
‘Originality’.
? Click on the number that shows the percentage of material that comes from other sources
(e.g. 12%).
? Read the Originality Report which identifies any material from external sources and the level of material from that source (it is colour coded and easy to read).
? There is no fixed percentage that represents ‘plagiarism’.
? Do not worry about material that you have ‘quoted’ in the assignment or material that is clearly indicated as coming from a source where a citation has been provided.
? A document might legitimately contain material that has been quoted or cited and a higher percentage might be acceptable.
? If the percentage is above 10%, examine your assignment to ensure that materials are properly cited, or if there is material that can be stated in your words rather than the words of others. It is not possible to resubmit your assignment again to obtain additional reports.
? You can explore this report and the sources that have been indicated.
? Save a copy of the report to your computer by clicking on the ‘Download’ arrow in the top RH corner and select ‘OK’.
? Select Save and choose a folder to which the file can be saved (this should be an HTML file).
? If the report is generated as a PDF, it will be of a large size. Select ‘Text only report’ where indicated on the web page, and try to download the HTML version to reduce file size.
? Go to http://www.plagiarism.org/ to read about plagiarism and how to avoid being accused of it.
? You are not able to resubmit your assignment to Turnitin for further checking. You are only allowed one submission per assignment. Do not submit documents under a different user name as it will be compared to your previous submissions.
Submission of Originality report through the assignment submission facility with assignments 1 and 2
? When you submit your assignments 1 and 2 for marking, submit the Turnitin Report as well.
? You may submit it as a separate file, or you may prefer to ‘zip’ the assignment files and the HTML Turnitin file into a single folder to simplify submission.
Support
? If you have problems with submission of your assignment for checking or with downloading an originality report, there is a link to the Turnitin HelpDesk at the bottom of the Turnitin web pages. You can seek assistance there. Simply follow the instructions.
? If Turnitin is unable to assist, you can contact USQ for support through UConnect.
List of references
Australian Qualifications Framework Council, Australian Qualifications Framework, 2013, http://www.aqf.edu.au/aqf/in-detail/2nd-ed-jan-2013/
Summers, J & Smith, B 2014, Communication skills handbook, 4th edn, John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd, Brisbane.