Question:

The Assessment Task

‘’Many studies in the recent past underline the importance and contribution of people skills in project success, giving rise to the necessity and prominence of project manager’s management and leadership skills in managing project teams’’ (Vittal, 2015)

Select two case studies of real-life projects and critically analyse and evaluate the leadership of these projects considering the above statement and against theories relevant to the leadership and management of project teams. The projects must be identifiable in the literature and referenced correctly.  This is a research-focused piece of work and grading will reflect the depth of your research and application to authentic case studies.

Your assessment should be presented in a business report format that will include:

1.An executive summary

2.An introduction to the report

3.An evaluation of the criteria that you used to select the case studies

4.A critical and comparative reflection of the outcome of each project

5.A set of fully justified recommendations that can be applied to the leadership and management of project teams

6.A conclusion bringing together the overall findings from your analyses and assessing the implications / consequences of your findings

7.A reference list that fully complies with the Harvard Referencing system

You must draw upon relevant theory and research on the topics of the leadership and management of project teams to support your work with appropriate academic references using the Harvard Referencing system.

Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes that are being assessed in this assignment are:

To describe and evaluate the criteria that has been used to select the case study project.

To critically reflect upon the outcome of each project and identify recommendations that can be applied to the management of the project team.

Communicate complex concepts in the form of a report on a case study

Your grade will depend on the extent to which you meet these learning outcomes in the way relevant for this assessment. Please see the grading rubric at the end of this assessment brief for further details of the criteria against which you will be assessed.

The maximum word limit for this assignment is 2,500 words

In accordance with the Assessment and Feedback Policy, as stated in section 4.40 where a submission exceeds the stipulated word limit by more than 10%, the submission will only be marked up to and including the additional 10%. Anything over this will not be included in the final grade for the assessment item. Abstracts, bibliographies, reference lists, appendices and footnotes are excluded from any word limit requirements.

In line with section 4.41 of the same Policy, where a submission is notably under the word limit, the full submission will be marked on the extent to which the learning objectives have been met.

Assessment Support

Further details and guidance can be found under the ‘assessment’ tab on the Nile site, in summary

-Time in workshop sessions will be provided for tutors to give further guidance – see the workshop schedule for dates – it is therefore essential that you log into workshops and complete all work.

-The opportunity for small group tutorials using the Virtual Classroom (Collaborate) can be made available by module tutors and times will be agreed with each class.

-Module tutors will review up to 2 pages of a draft by email up to a specific date (see workshop schedule for dates).

-There will also be a dedicated discussion board thread for Q&As relating to this assignment.

Generic Grading Criteria

You will find the generic grading criteria for achievement at  University Grading Criteria.  Also explained here are the meanings of the various G grades at the bottom of the grading scale.

Assessment Submission

To submit your work, please go to the ‘Submit your work’ area on the NILE site and use the relevant submission point to upload your report. The deadline for this is 11.59pm (UK local time) on the date of submission.

Written work submitted to TURNITIN will be subject to anti-plagiarism detection software.  Turnitin checks student work for possible textual matches against internet available resources and its own proprietary database.  

Work must be submitted in WORD format. Work submitted in any other format will automatically fail.

When you upload your work correctly to TURNITIN you will receive a receipt which is your record and proof of submission.

If your assignment is not submitted to TURNITIN rather than a receipt you will see a green banner at the top of the screen that denotes successful submission.

N.B Work emailed directly to your tutor will not normally be marked. The only exception to this is when you are instructed to do so because TURNITIN is down.

Late submission of work

For first sits, if an item of assessment is submitted late and an extension has not been granted, the following will apply:

·Within one week of the original deadline – work will be marked and returned with full feedback and awarded a maximum bare pass grade.

·More than one week from original deadline – maximum grade achievable LG (L indicating late).

At the second opportunity deadline (resits) work submitted late will be awarded a LG grade.  There is no opportunity to submit work late for a bare pass.

Extensions

The University of Northampton’s general policy about extensions is to be supportive of students who have genuine difficulties, but not against pressures of work that could have reasonably been anticipated.  

For full details please refer to the Extensions Policy.  The module leader can, where appropriate, authorise a short extension of up to two weeks from the original submission date for first sits only. There are NO extensions for resits. The TWO weeks means 14 calendar days including weekends and any University closed days.

Mitigating Circumstances

For guidance on Mitigating circumstances please go to Mitigating Circumstances  where you will find detailed guidance on the policy as well as guidance and the form for making an application.

Please note, however, that an application to defer an assessment on the grounds of mitigating circumstances should normally be made in advance of the submission deadline or examination date.  

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