the remaining 90 marks are from completion of the PMA.  For the PMA, 20 marks are awarded for ‘Effort and Presentation’ along the lines outlined in the MSc Marking Brief., and 70 marks are for ‘Comprehension and Analysis’. The work should be presented and formatted as a report with numbered headings and sub-headings and a Table of Contents

Word Limit: – There is a word limit of 3750 (+/- 250) words for this assessment. Penalties may be applied to assessments exceeding these tolerances.

You may elect to answer ONE of the following questions:

QUESTION 1:

(i) Research and analyse the conduct of ONE of the following high-profile projects/programmes:

1. The FiReControl Project (2004-2010)
2. The BBC Digital Media Initiative(DMI), (2008-2013)
3. UK Home Office e-Borders Programme (2007-2014)
4. The National Offender Management Information System Project (c-nomis)

Then:

(ii) Discuss what is meant by ‘successful’ and whether the project/ programme you have selected was OR was NOT considered successful, and (20 marks)

(iii) Analyse and discuss some of the factors or practices that contributed to this outcome (successful/not successful). To what extent are these a result of good/poor project/programme strategy? Illustrate your answer with examples from the case study and theory.                                                                (25 Marks)

(iv) Suggest how utilisation of programme or project ‘best practice or theory’ either contributed to the success or might have improved the situation/ avoided the problems.

(25 Marks)

QUESTION 2:

It is important to consider the context in planning a project or a programme. The context can influence and shape the Program Definition Document (PDD) or the Project Management Plan (PMP), which are important outputs of programme or project strategizing.

• Consider a Project Management Plan (PMP). What is the PMP and when should it be developed? (5 marks)
• Discuss, with reference to appropriate models, frameworks and examples, how ‘context’ is relevant when developing a Project Management Plan (PMP). (25 marks).
• Using references to projects or programmes in the public domain or discussed on the course (e.g. Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Ready Foods) discuss with examples, how omissions or lack of agreement on the PMP can lead to problems or errors.(20 marks)
• With reference to (iii) above, suggest ways in which these problems or errors could have been avoided and make appropriate recommendations.(20 marks)