Course Information

Graduate College of Management

PROJECT RISK AND QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Course SyllabusAs of January 1, 2007

Table of Contents

Course Information.....................................................................................................2Important Dates..........................................................................................................2Instructor Information.................................................................................................2Texts and Assigned Readings......................................................................................2

Texts (required):......................................................................................................2Texts (Optional):......................................................................................................2Additional Resources:..............................................................................................3Supplementary Readings:........................................................................................3

Course Overview and Objectives.................................................................................3Course Objectives:...................................................................................................4Attaining the Course Objectives:.............................................................................5

Course Policy...............................................................................................................5General Policies:......................................................................................................5Academic Integrity:.................................................................................................6Online Class Attendance:.........................................................................................6Assignments:...........................................................................................................6

Course Technology......................................................................................................6Summary of Grading Scheme......................................................................................7Course Calendar/Schedule..........................................................................................8Course Assignments/Rubric........................................................................................9

Grading Guidelines:.................................................................................................9Course Assignments..................................................................................................10

Team Assignment # 1:...........................................................................................10Team Assignment # 2............................................................................................11Team Assignment # 3............................................................................................11

Project Documentation and Presentation..................................................................12

MGT 6223 Project Risk & Quality Management Page 1 of 13Spring, 2007 – Online Course

Course InformationMGT 6223

PROJECT RISK AND QUALITY MANAGEMENTCRN 2765

Spring 2007 Semester January 15, 2007 - May 11, 2007

100% ONLINE Course

Important Dates

Class starts on 1/15/2007Last day to drop class with 100% tuition refund is ?/?/2007Last day to withdrawal and receive a W is ?/?/2007

Instructor InformationName and Title: Kamal Kakish, Adjunct Professor, College of

Management

Phone w/Voice Mail: (248) 703-6882

E-mail: [email protected]

Office Hours: By Phone: Every day from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Texts and Assigned ReadingsTexts (required):

1. Risk Management – Tricks of the Trade for Project Managers , by Rita Mulcahy, RMC Publications, 2003. ISBN: 0-9711647-9-7.

2. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (also called the PMBOK® Guide) can be downloaded from the Project Management Institute website: http://www.pmi.org/publictn/pmboktoc.htm or obtained in hard copy format. ISBN 193069945-X.

3. An Introduction to Six Sigma & Process Improvement, by James Evans and William Lindsay, Thomson South-Western Publishers, 2005, ISBN 0-324-30075-1.

Texts (Optional):

1. “Juran Quality Handbook”, Fifth Edition, McGraw Hill, 1999, ISBN: 007034003X2. “Juran’s Quality Planning and Analysis for Enterprise Quality”, Fifth Edition,

McGraw Hill, 2007, ISBN 978-0-07-296662-6.3. “The Six Sigma Handbook: A complete Guide for Green Belts, Black Belts, and

Managers at All Levels”, by Thomas Pyzdek, McGraw Hill, 2003, ISBN 0-07-141015-5.


http://www.pmi.org/publictn/pmboktoc.htm

mailto:[email protected]

Additional Resources:

IEEE Standard 1058 – IEEE Standard for Software Project Management Plans IEEE Standard 730 – IEEE Standard for Software Quality Assurance Plans ISO/IEC 12207 – Standards for Information Technology – Software Life Cycle

Processes You can obtain copies of the standards at the LTU library front desk. Ask for Prof. Kakish reserved list of standards.

Supplementary Readings:

1. The instructor will periodically provide the students with articles, web sites, etc.

Course Overview and Objectives

This course, MGT 6223, will focus on Risk Reduction/elimination and Quality Improvement in Project Management which have recently been revised and expanded in the current version of the PMBOK, which is the de facto ANSI standard for process and procedures of Project Management. This revision gives evidence to the recognized growing importance of “risk” and ‘quality” within the last decade.

Both Risk and Quality management have always been a major focus of Project Management. Quality has traditionally been one of the three legs of the PM stool, i.e., time, cost and quality.

The risk management process is a systematic and proactive approach to taking control of projects and decreasing uncertainties. The process focuses on preventing project problems instead of just dealing with them.

The quality management process is a proven method for reducing variation in project and error-proofing the PM processes. Quality management spans the gamut from quality design and conformance to advanced Lean Thinking and Six Sigma DMAIC approaches and methodologies.

Results of both methodologies include decreased project time and cost, and improved quality, satisfaction, and success.

Most importantly the course is designed to assist the students in developing a working process by which they will be able to implement these two aspects of project management in their working environment.

The course is divided into two halves: the first focusing on the risk identification process and the second on risk reduction and/or elimination.


In the first half of the course, the students will be asked to propose a real-life work related project that needs risk assessment and resolution. Once the project is approved by the instructor, the students will set out to develop a Risk Response Plan. In doing so, they will follow the risk management process which includes risk identification, qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, risk response planning, and risk monitoring and control. Part of the Risk Response Plan will include a list of residual risks (those stubborn risks that could not be mitigated/resolved) that will be used as input into the 2nd half of the course.

In the 2nd half, the students will take those residual risks and process them using the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology in order to mitigate, reduce, or eliminate them. The outcome of the 2nd half is a detailed Quality Improvement plan that demonstrates how the residual risks were addressed.

The chief outcome from this course is a Risk and Quality Management Plan that combines the Risk Response Plan of the first half and the Quality Improvement Plan of the 2nd. The students will have an opportunity to present their findings to management in the form of a 20 minute presentation and their documentation in the form of a professional binder.

The online course is designed to be highly interactive and will leverage a variety of interactive approaches and tools including Blackboard, team collaboration, and one-on-one discussions. Each student is expected to bring the results of her/his research to the group. Each student will then develop a concise intervention approach which is well founded in “state of the art” theory.

Course Objectives:

The chief objective of this course is to equip the student with a holistic approach to project risk management and quality improvement. The ultimate goal of this course is to reduce the risks associated with a real-world project to a residual list that can be mitigated or eliminated.

The objectives of this course are for the students to be able to:1. Identify a real-world project with risks that need to be mitigated, reduced, or

eliminated2. Understand and apply the risk identification process3. Understand how to differentiate between risks and uncertainties4. Understand how to differentiate between risks and opportunities5. Understand how to establish an effective Risk Management Group or Board for

the project or portfolio of projects.6. Leverage a variety of techniques and technology simulation tools to assess the

impact of identified risks on the overall project7. Prioritize the risks according to their impact significance on the overall project8. Reduce the prioritized risks to produce a residual list of risks that can be used as

input into the quality improvement process


9. Understand the role of quality improvement methodologies for the purpose of mitigating or eliminating the residual risks

10. Leverage the Six Sigma DMAIC approach to quality improvement and risk mitigation/reduction/elimination

11. Apply the appropriate tools and techniques to reduce or eliminate the identified residual risks

12. Understand how to control the parameters of these mitigated risks in order to continue to manage them effectively

13. Provide a comprehensive project risk and quality management report that can be presented to management.

Attaining the Course Objectives:

To pursue the course objectives effectively, students will engage in the following activities:

Read assigned material prior to class sessions; Complete individual assignments and submit them on time; Complete Project documentation and presentation and submit on time; Participate in online discussions and forums; Complete midterm and final exams.

Unless specifically authorized by the professor, all work assignments should be solely the student's own individual work.

Course PolicyGeneral Policies:

Because lectures (and especially discussions) will cover material not fully presented in the textbooks, online participation is very important.

Project and Individual Assignments must be completely finished to pass the course. On time delivery of complete documentation is expected. Specific criteria for the deliverables will be provided prior to the work assignments.

The topics listed in the syllabus are only an estimate of the material, which can be covered during the semester. Some topics might be deleted and some others might be added at the discretion of the instructor.

Teamwork and collegiality are encouraged but everyone must understand and be responsible for their work, actions and work products; observations of the Honor Code Policy are mandatory.

All other University policies regarding incomplete grades, etc. apply.

Academic Integrity:

This course falls under the provisions of the policies on academic integrity of LTU. Any violations of this policy will result in failure. Please refer to http://www.ltu.edu/currentstudents/honor_code.asp for more information.


http://www.ltu.edu/currentstudents/honor_code.asp

Online Class Attendance:

Students are expected to actively participate in class by asking questions and sharing personal experiences. The student is personally responsible for acquiring the information missed as a result of the absence. Moreover, assignments must be submitted when due, even if the student is unavailable on the due date.

Assignments:

All assignments should be delivered electronically via the Black Board View/Submit Assignment feature under “Assignments”. If technical difficulties are encountered, an email could suffice.

Assignments are due at 11:59 p.m. on or before the date assigned. Late assignments will cause a 10% per day deduction from the value of the assignment.

Safe Assignment: LTU has recently incorporated this tool into BlackBoard. This tool scans student papers for direct copying, word for word content off of the Internet. This tool is intended to help identify those students that have the ‘copy and paste’ problem. Although use of Safe Assignment for this course is not mandatory, students are encouraged to run their assignments with this tool, prior to final submission, to ensure the plagiarism is not an issue. The instructor will randomly run student assignments using this tool, especially in cases where a suspicion exists.

Course Technology

Students are expected to utilize the following types of technology during this class.

Internet data retrieval and research LTU Library data retrieval and research Use of Black Board (Access provided by LTU)

View/Submit Assignment under “Assignments” Group collaboration and Communication Digital Drop Box Announcements and Updates Course Material Grades Posting

Use of the following software: A variety of Risk Simulation and Modeling tools (will be discussed in class) A Variety of Quality Improvement tools (will be discussed in class) Microsoft Project 2002, or later versions Word Processing Software Email System Web Browser Software Presentation Software


Summary of Grading Scheme

What Content WeightAssignment 1 Project Risk Management Simulation

Software Tools Research10%

Assignment 2 Risk Response Plan Report 20%

Assignment 3 Quality Improvement Plan 20%

On-line Participation Blackboard & other media 30%

Risk & Quality Project Project Documentation 20%

Total 100%

The following grading scale applies:

Percent GradeLetter Grade

Percent GradeLetter Grade

94.6% - 100% A 72.6% - 77.4% C90.0% - 94.5% A- 70.0% - 72.5% C-87.5% - 89.9% B+ < 69.9% F82.6% - 87.4% B80.0% - 82.5% B-77.5% - 79.9% C+

Course Calendar/ScheduleOnline Course

Module Week Of: TOPIC/ACTIVITY READING

0 1/8/2007 Online Orientation

Introduction/Syllabus Review

Student data sheets

All Activities listed in Module 0

1 1/15/2007 Introduction to Risk Management RM - Ch.1

Project Proposal and Team Selection

Team Assignment 1 Assigned




Course Project Assigned

Online Participation Assigned

2 1/22/2007 Inputs To Risk Management RM - Ch. 2

3 1/29/2007 Risk Management Planning RM - Ch. 3

Module 4: Risk Identification RM - Ch.4

Project Proposal Due by 5 pm Friday 2/2/07

4 2/5/2007 Qualitative Risk Analysis RM – Ch 5

Quantitative Risk Analysis RM - Ch. 6

Assignment 1 Due by 5 pm Friday 2/9/07 PowerPoint file

5 2/12/2007 Risk Response Planning RM - Ch. 7

6 2/19/2007 Risk Monitoring and Control RM - Ch. 8

Team Assignment 2 Due by 5 pm Friday 2/23/07

Risk Response Report & Presentation

7 2/26/2007 The Foundations of Six Sigma 6 Sigma Ch. 1

Principles of Six Sigma 6 Sigma Ch. 2

8 3/5/2007 Six Sigma DMAIC MethodologyDefineMeasure

6 Sigma Ch. 36 Sigma Ch. 4

9 3/12/2007 Six Sigma DMAIC MethodologyAnalyze 6 Sigma Ch. 5

10 3/19/2007 Six Sigma DMAIC MethodologyImproveControl

6 Sigma Ch. 66 Sigma Ch. 7

11 3/26/2007 Design for Six Sigma 6 Sigma Ch. 8,9

Team Assignment 3 Due by 5 pm Friday 3/30/07

Six Sigma Quality Report & Presentation


13 4/2/2007 Implementing Six Sigma 6 Sigma Ch. 10

14 4/9/2007 Work on project documentation

15 4/16/2007 Final Team Project due by 5 pm Friday 4/20/07

Course Project Report & Presentation

Last Chance to turn in any late work

Last course session

Course Assignments/Rubric

All assignments and project work must adhere to the following: Course#, Semester, Student Name, and assignment number must be contained in

the assignment file name. For example, if this assignment 2 for John Smith, the file name would look like this: MGT6223-Spring07-JohnSmith-HW#2.doc/xls/ppt/etc.Use HW# for assignments and PR# for projects.

Please use APA Style format for all your documents. For more information, refer to the APA Pocket Guide listed above and visit http://www.apastyle.org/. References should be cited within the body of your document, ex: (Kakish, 2006), and at the end under a section titled “References”, sorted alphabetically.

No handwritten assignments allowed.

Grading Guidelines:

Here are some guidelines for figuring out where or why points may get deducted from your assignment score. To maximize your score, please adhere to the instructions above and avoid the common mistakes below. The following deductions may be applied as follows:

Reason Point DeductionNot answering a question or missing part of the assignment

% question worth out of entire assignment

Assignment turned in late 10% per each late dayReferences Missing 10 pointsReferences in document body don’t match reference list 5 to 10 pointsDocument Name submitted in BB inconsistent with above naming convention

5 points


http://www.apastyle.org/

Document Format submitted in BB inconsistent with APA Style

5 points

Elaboration on each question is shallow 1 to 10 pointsOverall quality of the assignment report 1 to 50 pointsCheating or using someone else’s work Both students get ZEROQuoting someone’s work or idea without proper citation 10 points per occurrenceCopying and pasting from the Internet without rephrasing in your own words. Assignments will be randomly checked for copying from the Internet via “Safe Document” automated tool.

20 points per occurrence.

Course Assignments

Team Assignment # 1:

Project Risk Management Simulation Software Tools ResearchFor this team assignment, you are asked to provide a 12 to 15-page slide presentation on the research you conducted for the purpose of finding the ideal Risk Management Software Simulation Tool that will aid you in completing your Risk Management Plan.

Here are the specific details:1. You must consider at least 5 available tools in your research (you may reference

page 328 in your RM book for some hints)2. You should compare and contrast all tools and explain the pros and cons of each,

including special features.3. You should position the significance of the each tool as it applies to your

particular project (this will help you in the final completion of your RM Plan)4. You must provide your recommendation of the top tools in the order of their

priority5. You must provide a sample output from your recommended tool based on data

you feed it from your identified risks. You should be able to download a temporary evaluation copy.

6. You must include an appendix for your research REFERENCES.

Team Assignment # 2

Risk Response PlanIn this assignment, you will pull together all of your Project Risk Management activities and create your Risk Response Plan Report and Presentation.

Please refer to the Risk Flow Chart on page 181 of your Risk Management textbook to gain a better understanding of the documentation and the flow of the processes that make up the Risk Response Plan.


As a team, you are required to provide a 20 to 25 page document that represents your Risk Response Plan (AKA Risk Management Plan) and a 12-15 slide presentation. Your plan should include the following sections:

1. Executive Overview of your Project and Risk Reduction efforts and scope. This should be a high level summary that captures the essence of the entire plan.

2. Inputs to Risk section

3. Plan for how and who will be involved in risk management

4. Your Risk Identification Process including the Risks your team Identified. This should include:

a. A short list of the risks you identified through Qualification and Quantification techniques, and

b. A list of you non-critical risks

5. Risks eliminated by changing the Project Plan

6. Probability and impacts of risks reduced by changing the Project Plan

7. A list of your Residual Risks and their Contingency and Fallout plans

8. For each risk in #7 above, provide a list of secondary risks (those that arise from the risk response)

9. A list of Risk Owners (per residual risk)

10. Conclusion and Lessons Learned

11. References – APA style

12. Appendixes for your tables, charts, risk analysis efforts, risk identification, and any other supporting documentation. Note: The appendixes do not count toward the number of pages required for your plan.

Team Assignment # 3

Quality Improvement PlanThis assignment is very similar to the 2nd assignment; except this time, you will pull together all of your Project Quality Management activities and create your Quality Improvement Plan using the Six Sigma Methodology found in your Six Sigma textbook.

In essence, this assignment requires you as a team to take the Residual Risks you came up with in the 2nd assignment, identify the processes associated with these residual risks in your project (those processes that cause your residual risks to occur), and follow the Six Sigma DMAIC method to fix/improve these processes. The bottom line – your residual risks should be greatly reduced, and the overall quality of your project should be greatly increased.

As a team, you are required to provide a 20 to 25 page report document and 12-15 slide presentation that represents your Quality Improvement Plan (using Six Sigma DMAIC). Your plan should include the following sections:


1. Executive Overview of your Project and Quality Improvement efforts and scope. This should be a high level summary that captures the essence of the entire plan.

2. Your DEFINE Phase, where you list the processes associated with your residual risks, map them, and define the goals/objectives for the improvement

3. Your MEASURE Phase, where you determine your Critical to Quality parameters and factors, measure them, and determine your Sigma Quality Level (if you can) for these metrics.

4. Your ANALYZE Phase, where you determine the root cause of the problem for the processes that are source of your residual risks.

5. Your IMPROVE Phase, where you evaluate the alternatives available as a solution, and select the best one, based on the criteria you set in your DEFINE phase objectives.

6. Your CONTROL Phase, where you set in place the controls that will prevent these processes from ever reverting back to being ineffective or inefficient.

7. Conclusion and Lessons Learned

8. References – APA style

9. Appendixes for your tables, charts, process analysis efforts, root cause identification, and any other supporting documentation. Note: The appendixes do not count toward the number of pages required for your plan.

Project Documentation and Presentation

The final deliverable for this course is to provide an overall Project Risk and Quality Management Plan cohesively. Such plan should be delivered in the format of an in-class team presentation with visual aides (PowerPoint slides) and project documentation in the form of a professional electronic binder. Please refer to the evaluation criteria for further instructions.

The essence of this Project Risk and Quality Management Plan is to streamline the outputs from Assignment #2 and Assignment #3 under ONE umbrella. This final plan, which the students will recommend for their real-world project that they worked on during this course should flow smoothly and logically, and reflect the relationships between the residual risks that resulted from the project, the processes associated with these residual risks, and the Six Sigma Quality Improvement methods that were used to reduce such risks by improving their processes.

Please note that this project requires very little beyond what was delivered in assignments #2 and #3. However, all of your efforts should be presented as one cohesive effort here in the final deliverable.


As each group progresses in defining and implementing their project, many questions will arise. You are strongly encouraged to collaborate with other individuals among your group (this effort requires a significant amount to teamwork). Groups are also encouraged to collaborate with other groups for the purpose of understanding and addressing issues common to all groups. The instructor is available to address any issues or questions you may have regarding your group project.


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Course Information