Project management

‫المملكة العربية السعودية‬
‫وزارة التعليم‬
‫الجامعة السعودية اإللكترونية‬

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of Education
Saudi Electronic University

College of Administrative and Financial Sciences

Assignment 1
Project Management (MGT 323)
Due Date: 05/10/2024 @ 23:59
Course Name: Project Management

Student’s Name:

Course Code: MGT323

Student’s ID Number:

Semester: First Semester

CRN:
Academic Year:2024-25-1st

For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name: Dina Sharqawi
Students’ Grade: /10

Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low

General Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY
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The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via allocated
folder.
Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be reduced
for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover page.
Students must mention question number clearly in their answer.
Late submission will NOT be accepted. Peer-Reviewed Journals are required as
references.
Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other
resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No
pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.

• Do not make any changes in the cover page.

Assignment Workload:
• This Assignment comprise of a Case Study and Discussion Questions.
• Assignment is to be submitted by each student individually.
Assignment Purposes/Learning Outcomes:
After completion of Assignment-1 students will able to understand the
1. Defining the concepts, theories and approaches of project management. (L.O-1.1)
2. Estimate the project budget and cost control. (L.O-2.2)
3. Analyze to work effectively and efficiently as a team member for project related
cases. (L.O-3.1)

Assignment-1
Assignment Case Study Question:

( Marks 6)

Please read the Case-2.1 “Hector Gaming Company.” from Chapter 2 “Organization
strategy and Project Selection” given in your textbook – Project Management: The
Managerial Process 8th edition by Larson and Gray page no: 61 also refer to specific
concepts you have learned from the chapter to support your answers. Answer the following
questions with 500 Words limit.
Peters has hired you as a consultant. She has suggested the following format for your
consulting contract. You are free to use another format if it will improve the effectiveness
of the consulting engagement.
Provide a detailed action plan that attacks the problem. Be specific and provide examples
that relate to HGC.
1. What is our major problem? (2 Marks)
2. Identify some symptoms of the problem. (2 Marks)
3. What is the major cause of the problem? (2 Marks)

Discussion Question: (4 Marks)
4. What impact will artificial intelligence (AI) have on the field of project management?
(2 Marks) Refer Chapter-2
5. How are projects linked to the strategic plan? (2 Marks) Refer Chapter-2

Answers:

Patentometrics,” Journal of Technology Management Innovation, vol.
7, no. 3 (2012).
Raskin, P., et al., Great Transitions: The Promise and Lure of the Times
Ahead, www.gtinitiative.org/documents/Great_Transitions.pdf.
Accessed 6/3/08.
Schwartz, Peter, and Doug Randall, “An Abrupt Climate Change
Scenario and its Implications for United States National Security,”
Global Business Network, Inc., October 2003.
Shenhar, A., “Strategic Project Leadership: Focusing Your Project on
Business Success,” Proceedings of the Project Management Institute
Annual Seminars & Symposium, San Antonio, Texas, October 3–10,
2002, CD.
Swanson, S., “All Things Considered,” PM Network, February 2011,
pp. 36–40.
Case 2.1

Hector Gaming Company
Hector Gaming Company (HGC) is an educational gaming company
specializing in young children’s educational games. HGC has just
completed their fourth year of operation. This year was a banner year for
HGC. The company received a large influx of capital for growth by issuing
stock privately through an investment banking firm. It appears the return on
investment for this past year will be just over 25 percent with zero debt!
The growth rate for the last two years has been approximately 80 percent
each year. Parents and grandparents of young children have been buying
HGC’s products almost as fast as they are developed. Every member of the
56-person firm is enthusiastic and looking forward to helping the firm grow
to be the largest and best educational gaming company in the world. The
founder of the firm, Sally Peters, has been written up in Young

Entrepreneurs as “the young entrepreneur to watch.” She has been able to
develop an organizational culture in which all stakeholders are committed
to innovation, continuous improvement, and organization learning.
Last year, 10 top managers of HGC worked with McKinley Consulting
to develop the organization’s strategic plan. This year the same 10 managers
had a retreat in Aruba to formulate next year’s strategic plan using the same
process suggested by McKinley Consulting. Most executives seem to have
page 61
a consensus of where the firm should go in the intermediate
and long term. But there is little consensus on how this should
be accomplished. Peters, now president of HGC, feels she may be losing
control. The frequency of conflicts seems to be increasing. Some
individuals are always requested for any new project created. When
resource conflicts occur among projects, each project manager believes his
or her project is most important. More projects are not meeting deadlines
and are coming in over budget. Yesterday’s management meeting revealed
some top HGC talent have been working on an international business game
for college students. This project does not fit the organization vision or
market niche. At times it seems everyone is marching to his or her own
drummer. Somehow more focus is needed to ensure everyone agrees on
how strategy should be implemented, given the resources available to the
organization.
Yesterday’s meeting alarmed Peters. These emerging problems are
coming at a bad time. Next week HGC is ramping up the size of the
organization, number of new products per year, and marketing efforts.
Fifteen new people will join HGC next month. Peters is concerned that
policies be in place that will ensure the new people are used most
productively. An additional potential problem looms on the horizon. Other
gaming companies have noticed the success HGC is having in their niche
market; one company tried to hire a key product development employee
away from HGC. Peters wants HGC to be ready to meet any potential
competition head on and to discourage any new entries into their market.
Peters knows HGC is project driven; however, she is not as confident that
she has a good handle on how such an organization should be managed—
especially with such a fast growth rate and potential competition closer to
becoming a reality. The magnitude of emerging problems demands quick
attention and resolution.

Peters has hired you as a consultant. She has suggested the following
format for your consulting contract. You are free to use another format if it
will improve the effectiveness of the consulting engagement.
What is our major problem?
Identify some symptoms of the problem.
What is the major cause of the problem?
Provide a detailed action plan that attacks the problem. Be specific and
provide examples that relate to HGC.
Case 2.2

Film Prioritization
The purpose of this case is to give you experience in using a project priority
system that ranks proposed projects by their contribution to the
organization’s objectives and strategic plan.

COMPANY PROFILE
The company is the film division for a large entertainment conglomerate.
The main office is located in Anaheim, California. In addition to the feature
film division, the conglomerate includes theme parks, home videos, a
television channel, interactive games, and theatrical productions. The
company has been enjoying steady growth over the past 10 years. Last year
total revenues increased by 12 percent to $21.2 billion. The company is
engaged in negotiations to expand its theme park empire to mainland China
and Poland. The film division generated $274 million in revenues, which
was an increase of 7 percent over the past year. Profit margin was page 62
down 3 percent to 16 percent because of the poor response to three
of the five major film releases for the year.

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