Advance Project and Logistics Management

ASSESSMENT SUMMARY

Report (70%) - final

Assessment task details and instructions

As globalisation has increased, the world’s supply chains have become substantially more interconnected. Moreover, as emerging market economies have steadily come to account for a greater proportion of global GDP, goods often have more stages to pass through before reaching the end consumer. From national lockdowns to closed airspace and borders, COVID-19 has resulted in unprecedented disruption to the mechanics of most economies, regardless of their size or stage of development. In particular, the erection of these barriers has placed a major strain on the world’s supply chains, including essential linkages relating to food, medicines, and other industries. (OxfordBusiness Group, 24th April 2020)

Various projects around the world are being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in numerous ways, and many projects have stopped. COVID-19 is not rendering projects altogether impossible to complete. But it is slowing them down, causing delay and disruption, even if only because supply chains have been severally disrupted. Many projects have even stopped, usually with the intention to resume work at a later date.

Following the current crisis, organisations will have an opportunity to learn from the challenges they experienced and take steps that will strengthen their supply chain and the way they plan and execute projects. The importance of agility and ability to adapt has now become more important than ever, and the crisis should serve as a “wake-up call” that better preparation is needed in understanding and mapping out SCM and PM networks.

Critically discuss the impact of COVID-19 and the lessons learned so far in Projects and/or Logistics utilising academic and non-academic (practitioner) sources and undertake research to explore the legitimacy of the above statements.

You could focus your arguments in any sector of your interest i.e. Pharmaceutical, Food , Construction, Automotive, Healthcare, Education and Tourism.

You will need to take the following into account when completing your assignment/report:

• Clarity, Time management and content of your presentation;
• Quality of a relevant literature review that helps inform your discussion;
• Clarity of argument and integration of different components in relevance to Projects and/or a Logistics context;
• Allocation of credit and sources used; (have I included references and citations to the material I have used?);
• Use of examples, figures, tables, illustrations and statistics that indicate wider/independent reading;
• Quality of executive summary (does it give a brief complete summary of your paper for an executive to read?);
• Overall report presentation and structure including spelling and grammar;
• Adherence to nominated word limit and time.
• Word processed (letter size 12, times new roman, 1.5 space), fully referenced (Harvard Referencing System);

ASSESSMENT DETAIL

Prepare and submit a professional business report (see OnlineCampus for the submission deadline) (70% of total module grade) - Word Count 3,000 words

Assessed intended learning outcomes

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

1. Evaluate, critique and discuss the importance of innovation in Logistics and Project Management.
2. Apply theoretical ideas to practice via real scenario and live case studies.
3. Implement and critically evaluate advancements in Project Management and Logistics.
4. Demonstrate a sound understanding of the importance of Logistics and Projects Integration in the development and maintenance of sustainable and global organisations operating in complex market environments.

Transferable/Key Skills and other attributes

On completion you will have had the opportunity to:

1. Work independently and with others in analysing and presenting solutions to real life problems.
2. Communicate effectively through a variety of media to different audiences.
3. Make decisions in complex and unpredictable situations using tools and techniques appropriate to the module.
4. Evaluate, critique and present research findings.

Module Aims

 1.        Evaluate contemporary research in Logistics and Project management taking into account the interdisciplinary nature of the subjects.

2.         Analyse critically advances in Project and Programme management focusing on value generation including Agile, Lean and Benefits Management.

3.         Critically review world-class innovations and emerging technologies in Logistics(i.e. Additive Manufacturing, Big data analytics, drones etc)

4.         Critically review world-class innovations and emerging technologies in Project, Portfolio and Programme (3P) i.e. Virtual technologies and augmented reality environments, Output driven Project management (Benefits Realisation, Target Value)

5.         To prepare students for further research and application of Logistics and Project management in their Business

Word count/ duration (if applicable)

The final report for this assessment should be 3,000 words (+/- 10%)

Your word count is from the introduction to conclusion sections. Therefore, it does not include title page, contents page, reference section, appendices etc. If the assignment exceeds these limits; the work in excess of 3,000 words is not marked.