Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management

Purpose

The purpose of the qualification consists of four key themes namely preparing project managers to deal with complex projects, skilling project managers to manage projects of a variety of types of complexities, equipping managers to execute projects in their various management and leadership positions in private and public enterprises and the developing of project management skills for managers in all types and sizes of enterprises.

This qualification is further aimed at managers at senior, executive and middle management levels to enable the managers to exercise project management competencies in all their management and leadership roles, all economic sectors and all types of private and public enterprises. The qualification will also be of value to managers in small, medium, and micro enterprises, black empowerment companies, non-governmental organisations, large organisations, and multi-national global players.

Upon completion of the qualification, qualifying learners will be able to

• Plan and implement a project cognisant of the project quality and risk imperatives.
• Manage project financing, procurement, scheduling, costing and financial management.
• Provide project management and leadership inclusive of project stakeholder management, and project team management.
• Manage project management data, reporting information and related technologies.
• Demonstrate research competency by means of submitting a research proposal and a literature review.

Rationale

The institution aims at supporting individuals and organisations in achieving their goals and realising their potential. The various formal qualifications offered assist learners in their career progression from a higher certificate for school leavers to a doctorate at the apex. The emphasis is on providing general management education and application in a business or public management and/or administration environment.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management will provide a progression route for learners from the postgraduate level to master's and doctoral degrees. The long-term strategy is to widen the range of academic offerings to cover all aspects of management as well as provide specific educational entry points for suitably qualified and experienced graduates at the post-bachelor's level.

A project management programme offered at NQF Level 8 addresses the internal gap in the career progression offered by this institution for learners who do not have the immediate academic capacity to advance into an honour's degree upon completion of a bachelor's degree. The qualification also offers a one-year progression pathway for students who have completed an advanced diploma and who wish to specialise in project management.

The Rationale of this qualification is to prepare project management professionals in South African business and the public service to manage complex projects and programmes within a greater organisational portfolio. The qualification will further enhance the South African business and public management spheres with highly knowledgeable and competent project managers with the ability to initiate, plan, execute, monitor, control, and close projects of various complexities within an area of expertise in any organisation.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Recognition of prior learning access into this programme will be applied to learners who discontinued their postgraduate diploma or honours degree learners at the institution or other institutions.

RPL for exemption of modules

This assessment will only apply to learners who discontinued their studies at NQF 8 in project management and should it be determined that there is a 70 % correlation in modular content between the completed modules and the modules from the Regenesys modules, learners will be granted credit to a maximum of 60 credits of the programme.

The project module and the research module will not be considered for purposes of RPL. These modules will have to be completed as part of the Regenesys Postgraduate Diploma.

In exceptional cases, proven project management workplace experience at the senior management level that is equitable with the outcomes of the Regenesys Postgraduate Diploma and a bachelor's degree will be considered for an RPL assessment for access only. No credits will in other words be allocated.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Advanced Diploma in Project Management, NQF Level 7.

Or

• Bachelor of Business Administration, NQF Level 7.

Or

• Bachelor of Business Administration in Banking, NQF Level 7.

Or

• Bachelor of Business Administration in Retail Management, NQF Level 7.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory modules at Level 8 National Qualifications Framework.

Compulsory Modules, Level 8, totalling 120 Credits.

• Project Planning and Implementation, 20 Credits.
• Project Financing and Financial Management, 20 Credits.
• Research Methodology, 20 Credits.
• Project Financing and Financial Management, 20 Credits.
• Project Management and Leadership, 20 Credits.
• Project Management Project, 20 Credits.

Exit Level Outcomes

1. Plan and implement a project cognisant of the project quality and risk imperatives.
2. Manage project financing, procurement, scheduling costing and financial management.
3. Provide project management and leadership inclusive of project stakeholder management, and project team management.
4. Manage project management data, reporting information and related technologies.
5. Demonstrate research competency by means of submitting a research proposal and a literature review.
6. Apply knowledge and prepare a project report based on the completion of a work-based project component.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Investigate the evolution of project management, its origin, historical development, business environment, status, and contribution to organisational development.
• Design, analyse and demonstrate understanding of programme management - its rationale, relationship with portfolio and projects, the practical allocation of projects into programmes and its effects on the business organogram and its process.
• Explore and document project management processes - the vertical articulation from the organisation`s vision to project vision, the purpose, the process, sub-processes, constraints, and the stage gates.
• Critically interpret project objectives, feasibility, and scope statements, showing evidence of sound principles and critical judgements.
• Analyse real-life situations to demonstrate knowledge of principles of project management decision-making at various phases of the project lifecycle.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Explore and justify how a given project can achieve various business strategies in dimensions such as funding, revenue, profit, market share, and sustainability.
• Apply the principles of project costing and budget control for successful project execution.
• Analyse various models for the project, programme, and portfolio analysis to determine the viability of projects in the context of the organisation, and, based on this analysis, recommend the appropriate points throughout the project life cycle where there should be a decision to proceed.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Evaluate common contract and labour issues that can impact projects through the regulatory environment, and recommend how project managers can use various tools, methods, and approaches to accommodate these constraints positively throughout the project.
• Analyse the points where information and information systems may be vulnerable to certain threats, or where stakeholders' privacy may be impacted through the handling of information and recommend best practices for maintaining the protection of data integrity, access, and privacy throughout the project.
• Analyse the contracts, assess the way each deals with various procurement issues and recommend how the contract can be an instrument through which the project manager can better coordinate and manage project resources ethically.
• Develop a vision for team members and inspire them to achieve the target and manage resources (equipment, man, machine, money, etc.) including legal aspects of project management and communications throughout the project lifecycle.
• Project and describe the impact on the traditional stages of team development, especially with reference to multicultural, intergenerational, hierarchical, or virtual teams.
• Analyse the nature, interest, communication, and impact of stakeholder groups on project performance.
• Assign teams and communicate using virtual platforms such as Office 365 and MS Project and describe the impact on the traditional stages of team development, especially with reference to multicultural, intergenerational, hierarchical, or virtual teams.
• Analyse the nature, interest, communication, and impact of stakeholder groups on project performance.
• Evaluate the importance of ethics and professionalism in every aspect of the project's operation and examine the factors that influence moral conduct.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Appraise the features, advantages, and disadvantages of typical Project Management Information Systems (PMIS), from simple spreadsheets to enterprise systems, and demonstrate which project contexts may be best suited for certain types of projects and the reasons.
• Critically review and evaluate IT tools, techniques and methodologies that impact the successful implementation of projects and specify the project management technology characteristics/features necessary to execute computer-based execution of project management.
• Illustrate how collaboration and communication tools that are provided in PMIS can be used in various types of projects and defend the best practices in the use of these tools.
• Critically review methodologies, techniques and tools that underpin the successful implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems through project management software.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5

• Illustrate understanding of the research process in relation to the enquiry, and of how to access, process and manage information in interrogating an identified problem.
• Formulate a clear and concise research problem statement relevant to the topic and field of study and develop an appropriate research tool to help in solving the identified problem.
• Prepare and present a proposed plan for an integrated, inquiry-based research project for a real-world Project Management problem.
• Develop data-collecting instruments appropriated for a given or identified real-world problem to facilitate the acquisition of relevant data and identify a suitable data analysis approach.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6

• Solve a project management problem that is inspired and crafted in collaboration with industry partners and communicate the research results convincingly to a range of audiences.
• Produce a report or portfolio of evidence of activities that document the ethical and professional execution of all phases of the project.

INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT

The Regenesys assessment strategy broadly includes formative assessment and summative assessment.

The assessment strategy for this qualification will be aligned with the current assessment strategy of the institution, namely one online assessment, one formative assessment and one summative assessment in the form of an examination for each module.

Formative Assessment

For purposes of the formative assessment segment learners are required to complete and submit two formal formative assessment tasks per module, i.e:

• Objective tests such as multiple choice (weighted at 20%).
• Cognitive assessment, such as traditional assignment (weighted at 40%).

Learners who receive less than 50% for their formative assessment may request a re-submission after improvements are made.

The weighting of these components of assessment will adopt the applicable ratios.

• The Research module will be assessed via a rubric that will assess the level of competency of the student in demonstrating skills in the various areas of a research proposal and will not be assessed by means of an examination and carries a weight of 100 %.
• The project will be assessed with a project schedule assessing the level of competency of the student against the specific outcomes of the module in terms of the various elements of a project that should be completed.

The module also carries a 100 % weighting.