Advanced Diploma in Project Management

The average age of learners who attend the College's Advanced Project Management Programme is 37 years. This places the College squarely in the domain of continued adult education. Approximate 70 per cent of learners are already in possession of first degrees or National Diplomas. The average age of 37 years confirms that our learners are generally well experienced and hold positions in middle to higher management.

The Cranefield College of Project and Programme Management's policy is to follow andragogic (adult learning) Outcomes Based Learning (OBL) curricula on all its learning programmes. Some advantages of OBL are: exposure to real-life situations; motivation to learn is self-imposed, because learners can see the practical application of knowledge, skills and attitudes they are acquiring during their studies; and the acquisition of various learning skills, which will assist them to become lifelong learners.

Specific evaluative tools have been developed and tested over time, which provide better measures of learning behaviour, knowledge and skills. Any modification or improvement in the curriculum needs to be based on sound reasoning and upon experimental evidence. On the Advanced Project Management Programme we have gained a significant amount of knowledge about the use of OBL in project management education since 1985, but further improvements and refinements are continuously required in order to meet the needs of the learners and that of society.

The approach taken by the Cranefield College of Project and Programme Management was to stay away from the standard building-block structure, where a lot of content is shoved down the throats of the learners, which they do not retain anyway, and adopt a system where learners are actively involved in the learning process. The end result was the establishment of learning programmes, with the emphasis on problem solving, and an integrated approach to management-through-projects and programmes. The key features of the learning programmes are: the analysis of project/programme management situations as the main method of acquiring and applying knowledge; the development of independent, lifelong learning skills by learners; and the use of syndicate groups, with five to eight learners, as the central educational focus. The curriculum structure consists of a series of interdisciplinary Modules. Management-through-projects and programmes skills, including communication skills, are learned through an integrated arrangement from the beginning of the programme. Improvement and changes in individual Modules and in the programmes are on-going. Another unique feature of the programme includes the continuous exposure of the learners to their work situations and environments.

In a small group learning environment, the ability to communicate effectively with other syndicate members is an essential skill. Learners should be able to provide feedback in a constructive and supportive manner to each other, in order to improve individual and group performance in a team setting. The ability to present materials, learned during individual study, back to the group in clear, articulate manner based on evidence, is an important asset in group learning.

To make effective use of OBL, it is important that syndicate members are cooperative and supportive of each other, and share knowledge and resources freely among themselves. This is in contrast with the traditional schools where the pursuit of personal achievements is often encouraged, which creates intense competition among the learners. How to make creative use of the energy of dominating members, and how to encourage the participation of quiet members in a group, are the types of group skills which are essential for a successful learning team. Syndicate members should be able to set individual learning objectives, while respecting and participating in the setting and fulfilling of the objectives set up by the group. Some project management skills are often learned in a group, so that consideration for other group members is necessary. These skills are useful, since modern management-through-projects and programmes requires team approach, which will require their inter-personal skills.

The Advanced Diploma in Project Management is a formal qualification that can provide access to further study Project and Programme Management at NQF level 7.

Rationale

The Advanced Diploma in Project Management provides a upgrading opportunity to the experienced Project and Programme Management learners to upgrade their qualification to NQF level 6.

This qualification assumes that the learner is competent in the English language as being the language of instruction by the Cranefield College of Project and Programme Management. It also assumes that in achieving a level 5 academic qualification that the learner will be well schooled in the outcomes for NQF level 5.

Recognition of Prior Learning and Articulation Possibilities

Prospective learners not in possession of a tertiary qualification , must be assessed for eligibility when entering the Advanced Diploma in Project Management learning programme. All relevant information and documentation related to recognition for prior learning (RPL) must be submitted to the Registrar (Academic) to be considered for eligibility. This category is designed to provide opportunities to those who meet the following:

• Have reached a minimum qualification of LEVEL 4 on the NQF; and
• Have been identified by their company as having leadership potenial;
• RPL in terms of experience is recognised as follows where learners do not meet the above requirements;
• Have been employed or active in the community for at least seven years since leaving high school, or have gained substantial experience in the work place and hold a position of authority and responsibility. (Submission of curriculum vitae describing a prospective learner's work experience is required).

The Registrar (Academic), in collaboration with the Admissions Committee, has discretionary powers to recommend that prospective learners first complete the Cranefield College's basic course dealing only with project management tools and techniques, as additional recognition for prior learning. Moreover, the Registrar (Academic), in collaboration with the Admissions Committee, may require that learners who are admitted to the Advanced Diploma learning programme achieve a mark above 60% for Module M1, as a condition to proceed with the remaining modules of the Advanced Diploma.

Those who meet the above criteria and are assessed of having made a satisfactory contribution to society, will be eligible for the programme.

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M 1: Project Management; Leading, Creating, Implementing and Improving

On completion of this course you should be able to demonstrate the following generic and subject specific competencies

• Recognize the pivotal role which project management plays in effectively and efficiently managing organizations in an increasingly competitive marketplace, utilizing the modern management functions of leading, creating, implementing and improving.
• Acknowledge the effective way in which management through projects and programmes enables the organization to cope with change in its internal and external environments.
• Utilize project management as the ideal tool for linking corporate strategy, marketing strategy and operations strategy, through a systems approach, to achieve organizational objectives.
• Understand how project management systematically integrates and coordinates the various functional components of the organization and outsourced components so as to achieve organizational objectives and to maintain a customer focus.
• Illustrate the vital importance of high-performance team creation in achieving effective and efficient project management results, coupled with other organizational architecture features, inter alia: establishing a system of authority, responsibility and accountability; setting appropriate policies and procedures; and establishing a project organization that incorporates structures and good communication, and an excellent information system to collect data and report on progress.
• Be mindful of the fact that a spectrum of risks in the external and internal environments persistently impacts on the organization and may have a detrimental effect on organizational and project activities. Project managers must continuously assess political, economic, socio-cultural, ecological, technological, and competitive factors in the external environment. Simultaneously they must also assess internal factors, inter alia human relations, logistics, quality, costs, schedules and priorities, to ensure success.
• Acknowledge critical success factors in the project environment, inter alia: the importance of top management support; cooperation and support from functional managers; having a competent project manager and team on board; having clearly defined goals and objectives; maintaining good interpersonal relations and open communications; being highly responsive to customer needs; and the vital importance of good leadership at all levels of management.

TOPIC 1: Principles of Project-/Programme Management

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Understand the principles of project management, including the importance of creating and implementing projects.
• Define a project and its attributes.
• Understand the systems approach to project management.
• Recognize the key constraints within which a project must be managed.
• Describe how a project is initiated, and the project life cycle phases.
• Identify the steps involved in the project management process.
• Illustrate the benefits of project management to organizations and society as a whole.
• Recognize that a programme is a portfolio of projects.

TOPIC 2: Organizing for Modern Management

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Define the modern management functions: leading, creating, implementing and improving.
• Recognize the skills exhibited by an effective manager.
• Illustrate the importance of "organizing" as an important component of "creating".
• Understand the essential factors of performance regarding creating high performance project teams.
• Understand authority in relation to responsibility and accountability.
• Recognize the importance of establishing good communications in the project system.
• Illustrate the characteristics and limitations of project management methodologies.

TOPIC 3: Conceptualizing Projects

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Illustrate the important components of the project conceptualization phase.
• Recognize the importance of creating and effective organizational architecture.
• Evaluate project risk.
• Identify needs and select projects.
• Develop a request for proposal.
• Understand the proposal solicitation process.(asking for tenders).
• Distinguish between the various life-cycle phases associated with projects.
• Acknowledge the significance of cost/benefit analysis throughout project life-cycle phases.

TOPIC 4: Designing and developing Projects

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Illustrate the important components of the project design/development phase.
• Understand bid/no-bid decision.
• Develop winning proposals.
• Understand the proposal preparation process and the elements that may be included in a proposal.
• Recognize pricing considerations.
• Evaluate projects.
• Identify the types of contracts between the customer and the contractor.

TOPIC 5: Creating and implementing Projects

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Illustrate the important components of project implementation and termination phases.
• Recognize critical success factors for project management.
• Understand the elements involved in creating a project plan.
• Identify the steps in the project control process.
• Consider the actions that should be taken when a project is terminated.

TOPIC 6: Organizational Structures in practice

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Describe the characteristics and different types or forms of organizational structures that are commonly encountered in project management.
• Describe the advantages and disadvantages of each.
• Illustrate the structural difficulties experienced by organizations.
• Identify the factors to be considered when a change in the organizational structure is anticipated.
• Recognize the modern trend of creating horizontal business processes in functional organizational structures in order to improve the customer focus.

TOPIC 7: Project Leadership

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Identify desired personal characteristics of effective project managers.
• Identify the responsibilities of the project manager/programme manager.
• Recognize the key concepts and factors in project management.
• Learn the skills needed to successfully manage projects and techniques for developing those skills.
• Grasp the importance of inter-personal and communication skills.
• Recognize the important role of psychological climate dimensions in leadership.
• Understand the approaches to effective delegation.
• Consider ways the project manager can manage and control changes in the project.

TOPIC 8: Creating High-Performance Project teams

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Recognize the importance of creating high performance project teams.
• Describe the procedure to be followed when establishing a project office or department.
• Identify the problems encountered when following the procedure.
• Distinguish between cognitive behaviour and conative creativity in persons.
• Explain the project management roles of the project manager, functional (line) managers and team members.
• Initiate the development and growth of teams.
• Define characteristics of effective project teams and barriers to effectiveness.
• Understand team building.

TOPIC 9: Conflict

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Define conflict.
• Distinguish between negative and positive conflict.
• Identify common sources of project conflict.
• Understand relative and mean intensity of conflict over the project life cycle.
• Distinguish between the conflict handling modes.
• Apply brainstorming correctly.

TOPIC 10: Time Management, Communication and Documentation

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Illustrate the importance of effective time management in a project environment.
• Identify the common mistakes made by Project Managers resulting in time management problems.
• Identify common time robbers.
• Recognize the importance of conducting effective and efficient meetings.
• Understand suggestions for enhancing personal communications, such as face-to-face discussions, phone conversations, letters and memos.
• Develop effective listening.
• Identify various types of project meetings and suggestions for effective meetings.
• Understand formal project presentations and suggestions for effective presentations.
• Prepare project reports and suggestions for useful reports.
• Establish project documentation and keeping track of changes.

TOPIC 11: Project Planning

Note that Topics 11, 12 and 13 are discussed in the context of a real world example in the class.

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Define the project objective
• Develop a work breakdown structure.
• Develop a network diagram.
• Utilize a project management methodology called systems development life cycle for information systems development projects.
• Recognize the importance of project management software in planning.

TOPIC 12: Project Scheduling

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Estimate the duration for each activity.
• Establish the estimated start time and required completion time for the overall project.
• Calculate the earliest times at which each activity can start and finish, based on the project's estimated start time.
• Calculate the latest times by which each activity must start and finish in order to complete the project by its required completion time.
• Determine the amount of slack for each activity.
• Identify the critical (longest) path of activities.

TOPIC 13: Project Control

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Perform the steps in the project control process.
• Determine the effects of actual schedule performance on the project schedule.
• Incorporate project changes into the schedule.
• Calculate an updated project schedule
• Control the project schedule.
• Illustrate how procurement and the procurement schedule fit into the project schedule

TOPIC 14: Resources

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Take resource constraints into account when developing a network diagram.
• Determine the planned resource utilization of a project.
• Level the use of resources within the required time frame of the project.
• Determine the shortest project schedule with the limited resources available.

TOPIC 15: Project costing, Pricing and Performance

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Apply an appropriate pricing strategy for a specific competitive situation.
• Identify items to be considered when estimating project cost.
• Prepare a baseline budget, or plan, for how and when funds will be spent.
• Cumulate actual costs.
• Determine the earned value of the work performed.
• Analyze cost performance.
• Forecast project cost at completion.
• Control project costs.
• Manage cash flow.

TOPIC 16: Investment Decisions (Wealth creation)

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Demonstrate the practical significance of life cycle costing.
• Understand Capital Budgeting and Time Value of Money as applied to project and programme investment decisions.
• Recognize the importance of financial techniques in investment decision making.
• Calculate NPV and IRR and interpret the significance of the results from an investment perspective.

M 2: Organizational improvement through programme management

On completion of this course you should be able to demonstrate the following generic and subject specific competencies

• Master the art of management through projects and programmes, which constitutes integrated modern general management of the organization, and signals the end of bureaucratic practices.
• Have a clear perspective of the important influence which corporate strategy exercises on the way organizations are managed in the new economy and its chaordic environment.
• Utilize management through projects and programmes as the vehicle to integrate corporate strategy, business strategy and operations strategy.
• Acknowledge the profound influence of organizational behaviour on key success or failure factors in management through projects and programmes. Moreover, understand the link between an organization's success and a learning organization culture.
• Recognize that the management through projects and programmes approach encourages organizational flexibility, decentralized management responsibility, an holistic view of problem solving, goal orientated problem solving and a learning organization culture.
• Have an integrative perspective regarding the scope of project portfolios (programmes), and the way that functional-, outsourced-, and customer activities are coordinated to deliver effective and efficient systemic management.
• Recognize that management through projects and programmes is applied to the organization as a whole, comprising portfolios of strategic transformation projects, innovative continuous improvement projects, capital expenditure projects, as well as, portfolios of business and production processes.
• Understand how increased organizational benefits can be achieved through programme managing the project and process portfolios. Moreover, that the organizational benefits are: increased effectiveness related to strategic transformation project portfolios; increased effectiveness and efficiency related to innovative continuous improvement project portfolios and process portfolios; and finally, increased efficiency related to capital expenditure project portfolios.
• Recognize the profound influence a suitable leadership style has on achieving increased organizational benefits. Moreover, that participative leadership styles are proving to be more successful in the new economy, where leaders have to be agile and flexible to cope with rapid change in the internal and external environments of organizations.

TOPIC 1: The strategic link: Managing the Organizational Value Chain

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Explain how systems, projects and programmes are linked.
• Describe what constitutes a systems approach to management.
• Define programme management in the context of project portfolios.
• Illustrate the key differences between projects and programmes.
• Recognize that managing organizations through projects and programmes is the integrative implementation link between corporate strategy, business strategy and operations strategy.
• Utilize the Balanced Scorecard for understanding the organization's vision and mission; prioritizing resource allocation and projects; facilitating organizational improvement; and tracking organizational benefits.
• Understand the importance of values, beliefs and guiding principles in formulating the organization's strategic vision and mission.

TOPIC 2: Programme Management Fundamentals

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Understand the programme management life cycle approach, ie, Definition, Planning, Implementation and Appraisal.
• Recognize the modern general management trend to "manage through projects and programmes".
• Identify elements of the programme approach and criteria for managing programmes.
• Distinguish between a portfolio of strategic transformation and change projects, a portfolio of continuous improvement (innovative) projects, a portfolio of capital expenditure projects, and a portfolio of business- and operations processes.
• Recognize that the programme approach is ideal for managing organizational improvements (both strategic- and innovative change).
• Recognize that the programme approach is also ideal for managing portfolios of business- and operations processes.
• Illustrate the strategic organization benefits, which can be derived by applying management through projects and programmes.
• Take cognizance of the dangers involved in having an over reliance on project management methodologies.
• Recognize the importance of creating a learning organization.

TOPIC 3: Managing Organizational Change

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Discuss the external and internal forces that create the need for organizational change.
• Recognize that change in organizations are achieved through behavioural strategies, structural strategies and technical strategies.
• Describe Lewin's change model and the system model of change.
• Discuss Kotter's eight steps for leading organizational change.
• Demonstrate your familiarity with the four identifying characteristics of organization development (OD).
• Discuss the 10 reasons employees resist change.
• Identify alternative strategies for overcoming resistance to change.
• Define a learning organization.
• Discuss the process organizations use to build their learning capabilities.
• Review the reasons organizations naturally resist learning.
• Discuss the role of leadership in creating a learning organization.

TOPIC 4: Leadership in Modern Management

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Define the term leadership, and explain the difference between leading versus managing.
• Understand the importance of utilizing psychological climate dimensions as profound motivators in Leadership.
• Review trait theory research, and discuss the idea of best style leadership.
• Explain, according to Fiedler's contingency model, how leadership styles interact with situational control.
• Discuss House's path-goal theory, and Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory.
• Define and differentiate transactional and charismatic leadership.
• Explain how charismatic leadership transforms followers and work groups.
• Summarize the managerial implications of charismatic leadership.
• Explain the leader-member exchange model of leadership.
• Describe the substitutes for leadership, and explain how they substitute for, neutralize, or enhance the effects of leadership.
• Describe servant-leadership and super -leadership.

TOPIC 5: Organizational Effectiveness and Design

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Describe the four characteristics which are common to all organizations, and explain the difference between closed and open systems.
• Contrast the following organizational metaphors: military/mechanical, biological, and cognitive systems.
• Describe the ecosystem model of organizations, and define the term postmodern organization.
• Describe the four generic organizational effectiveness criteria, and discuss how managers can prevent organizational decline.
• Explain what the contingency approach to organization design involves.
• Describe the relationship between differentiation and integration in effective organizations.
• Define and briefly explain the practical significance of centralization and decentralization.
• Discuss the effective management of organizational size.
• Describe horizontal, hourglass, and virtual organizations.

TOPIC 6: Implementing Organizational Improvement (Transformation and Change) through programmes of project-portfolios

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Illustrate that managing organizations through projects and programmes is the integrative implementation link between corporate-, business-, and operations strategy.
• Recognize that planning and implementation of transformation and change actions based on strategy, are best achieved through programme management.
• Illustrate the process of strategic change management.
• Understand the importance of generating a Vision, Mission, Values, Beliefs and Guiding Principles for an organization as the basis for strategic transformation and change.
• Grasp the importance of identifying a preferred organizational culture as part of specifying the to-be paradigm.
• Recognize the importance of the results of an organizational behaviour survey in defining the as-is paradigm.
• Generate and implement strategies based on SWOT results and the preferred organizational culture, as an integral part of programme management.
• Apply programme management in creating and implementing innovative continuous improvement projects in the organization, including business process re-engineering, information technology and other systems design, product design and improvement of services.

TOPIC 7: Key Success Factors in Project-portfolio Programme Management

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Understand driving and restraining forces and the implications for programme management.
• Describe the various driving and restraining forces commonly encountered.
• Grasp the significance of the terms: parent-, outsourced- and client organizations.
• Identify the variables and related actions that contribute to the successful completion of a programme.
• Illustrate the important impact of organizational behaviour factors on programme success or failure.
• Illustrate the impact of leadership on project success or failure.
• Identify "key success factors" in project and programme management.
• Illustrate top management's role in project and programme failure,

M 3: Total Quality Management of Projects and Programmes

On completion of this course you should be able to demonstrate the following generic competencies

• Contextualize operations and Total Quality Management issues, with particular reference to customer satisfaction, in the broader scope of management-through-projects and programmes.
• Have an integrative view of the scope of projects and programmes, and how multi-disciplinary operational components coordinate to deliver effective and efficient systems management.
• Recognize the importance of applying systems thinking based on sound strategy, for achieving success in coordinating and integrating capacities and schedules of an organization's functional departments, outsourced units and programme offices.
• Understand holistically the profound reliance on logistic value chains for project and programme success.
• Manage continuous improvement of products, services and processes in the organization through the application of project and programme management.
• Grasp that management through projects and programmes constitutes modern general management, moreover, that progressive organizations are rapidly transforming themselves towards this management paradigm.

CHAPTER 1: "Operations Management: Introductory Concepts."

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Identify the general focus of operations management, regarding transformation processes.
• Understand contemporary emphasis on quality, teams, partnerships, and customers, including the customer as the next process.
• Define the six basic requirements of the customer regarding goods and services.
• Understand the importance of competitiveness and productivity.
• Distinguish between Value Chains, Supply Chains and Customer Chains.

CHAPTER 2: "OM Strategy: Dynamic Competitiveness"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Understand the integrating elements of corporate-, marketing- and operations strategy.
• Explain what is meant by distinctive and core competencies.
• Relate to continuous improvement as a TQM / Operations strategy.

CHAPTER 3: "Principles of Operations Management"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Understand the 16 TQM based operations principles as a formulation and implementation strategy in operations management; including project management.

CHAPTER 4: "Demand Management and Forecasting"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Define demand management and briefly explain its short-, medium- and long-term purposes.
• Explain the short-, medium-, and long-term purposes of demand forecasting.
• Explain how customers' allowable lead times vary by industry and how that affects demand management and forecasting.
• Show how a set of demand data may, through use of mean and trend projections, yield very different forecasts.
• Explain the uses and limitations of the various projection techniques.

CHAPTER 5: "Capacity Planning and Master Scheduling"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Explain how a business plan cascades into a capacity plan, a production plan, and a master schedule.
• Distinguish between aggregate demand forecast and item demand forecast and explain the role of each in master planning.
• Grasp the importance of teamwork in master planning.
• Distinguish between chase-demand and level-capacity strategies.
• List and explain various capacity policies for dealing with demand ups and downs.

CHAPTER 6: "Order Fulfilment and Purchasing"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Understand the purchasing and order fulfilment process.
• Contrast the traditional "black box" view of purchasing with the more aggressive probing approach.
• Explain why decentralised purchasing teams are preferable to central, functionally- oriented, purchasing departments in modern buying situations.
• Contrast the adversarial view of supplies with the partnership view.
• Explain advantages of having fewer suppliers.
• Cite disadvantages of a policy that mandates buying from the lowest-priced supplier.
• Explain why a partnership approach should reduce information processing costs.
• Understand outsourcing and related strategic issues.
• Describe the benefits of, and procedure for conducting value analysis.

CHAPTER 7: "Designing for Customers' Needs"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Explain why products, services, and the processes to create them in industry, get product and process designers, customers, and suppliers to work together in project teams.
• Grasp the concept of designing to target market and target cost.
• Explain how knowledge of process capability in the product/service design phase can lead to better output quality.
• Understand how standardisation in product/service design can lead to better output quality.
• Grasp the importance of design objectives for improved customer service.
• Understand how to design for reliability and serviceability.

CHAPTER 8: "The Quality Imperative"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Define the pillars of TQM.
• Explain the concept "quality is everyone's job."
• Describe the broad view of quality and suggest dimensions of quality that might apply to services and to products.
• Identify and discuss attributes common to successful organizations.
• Explain the primary contributions to the quality movement by the following individuals: W E Deming, J M Juran, A V Feigenbaum, K Ishikawa, P B Crosby and G Taguchi.
• Demonstrate how the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle might guide continuous improvement efforts.
• Explain how the practice of connecting with the customer helps ensure quality in long supplier-customer chains.
• Trace the logic underlying the cost-route and market-route benefits of TQM.
• Grasp how the cost of a defect escalates as it moves along a provider-customer chain.
• Define benchmarking and identify key steps in the benchmarking procedure.
• Explain how quality certifications, registrations, and awards have affected operations strategy.
• Understand what is meant by "ISO 9000 registration"
• Differentiate between "gangs" and "teams" in the formation of quality circles.

CHAPTER 9: "Process Control and Improvement"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Trace the sequence of actions for total quality and distinguish between process design and control, inspection and early warning, and process improvement efforts.
• Describe the changes that are occurring in the quality assurance roles of operating personnel and quality specialists.
• Define a transformation process, explain why a process approach is useful in quality control and improvement, and identify transformation process outputs and components.
• Define quality characteristics and explain its role in quality control and improvement.
• Explain what process control and process capability accomplish in quality improvement efforts.
• Construct a flowchart for operations processes.
• Prepare and use checksheets, Pareto charts, fishbone diagrams, and histograms in process analyses.
• Explain the conditions under which a scatter diagram would be useful in process improvement.
• Conduct an SPC analysis using run diagrams, X and R charts, p charts, and c charts.
• Distinguish between inherent capability and capability to meet specifications.
• Compute and explain the process capability index, Cpk.

CHAPTER 10: "Flow-control: Eliminating Process Wastes"

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Explain, with examples, how operations system variabilities can pile up and detract from customer service.
• Explain how effective inventory management leads to effective flow control.
• Identify the two recognized elements of inventory carrying cost, as well as several less obvious and hidden carrying costs.
• Contract parent and component demand dependency and independency with examples.
• Compare and contrast just-in-time (JIT) with quick-response program (QRP), with examples.
• Explain how JIT and MRP may work under the infinite capacity assumption.
• Define what is meant by a bottleneck process, and give examples from real organizations.
• Understand the measuring of flow-control system performance.

CHAPTER 11: "Timing - Another Imperative" (Self study)

After completing this topic you should be able to

• Explain the value of JIT in reducing average throughput time in contrast with reducing variation in throughput time.
• Explain why Kanban's essence is queue limitation and cite methods of queue limitation in operations/projects.
• Explain how queue limitation may be used in offices and human services.

Integrated Assessment

Learner assessment and achievement

General

The scope and period of programmes and examinations for the Diploma in Advanced Project Managment are determined by the College Council. A learner will not be allowed to sit for the examination in a module unless the prescribed curriculum has been followed and satisfactory progress has been shown during the course of the module. A learner's module mark will depend on class attendance and the quality of assignments. After completion of a prescribed learning programme a learner shall complete an examination in a relevant module. All examinations in Project and Programme Management, being an applied discipline, shall be outcomes-based.

In order to qualify for examination a learner must achieve a minimum module mark of 50%. In order to pass an examination, a learner must receive a minimum examination mark of 50%.

Re-evaluation and examination submission

A learner who fails a module examination may, by paying a deposit of R120.00, apply to the Registrar (Academic) for a re-examination by the internal examiner and, should the original result be upheld, by the external examiner. This application must reach the Registrar (Academic) within 14 days of the results being released.

Should a learner, on the basis of an assigned examination mark be of the opinion that the mark is not a true reflection of his or her ability, such a learner may request a discussion session with the relevant lecturer. The aim of such a discussion would not be to change the assigned mark, but rather to provide insight for the learner regarding, for example, an incorrect approach.

Recognition of examinations by other Higher Education Institutions

Where learners have successfully completed examinations in relevant subjects at other recognized Higher Education Institutions, the College will recognize these subject to certain conditions. Applications will be considered on merit.

Supplementary examinations

It is the policy of the College of Project Management that supplementary examinations are allowed in all modules. In the case of dissertations resubmission of an improved manuscript is allowed only by special permission of the College Council. Where improvements to a dissertation are recommended by the external examiner such improvements must be made within six weeks of notification and resubmitted for perusal. This would be applicable only in the case of minor improvements.

A learner shall achieve a minimum mark of 50% in any supplementary examination in order to pass.

Should a learner fail a supplementary examination in any module, the module may be repeated in the following cycle, with the learner again liable for the full fee.

A learner shall be awarded the Diploma once all the examination requirements have been fulfilled. The Diploma is obtained with distinction if an average mark of 75% is achieved for the learning programme.