Posted: April 1st, 2015

Critical analysis of the use of project breakdown structures;

Critical analysis of the use of project breakdown structures;

Assignment 1 should be 2000 words approximately, exclusive of tables, figures, appendices, etc.
Title page: Ensure that your essay includes a normal cover sheet or title page that would be expected of a professional document to provide details of essay title, author, date, student number, etc. (this is in addition to the electronic mark sheet discussed above). This assignment is a professional academic paper so should be presented as one.
Critical analysis of the use of breakdown structures in a project case study chosen by you (around 2000 words)
•    Use one and a half line spacing with 12-point font, and pages must be numbered.
? Do not use ‘I, we, you, our’ etc. Reports and assignments should not be written in the ‘first person’.
Consider the following statement:
“Scope definition may be expressed by designated, clearly defined boundaries, such as:
? product breakdown structure (a cascade of products, sub-products, assemblies and components) ? organisation breakdown structure (a cascade of resource types, skill types or activities
? work breakdown structure (a cascade of the products and work activities),and/or
? some other form which comprehensively defines products and activities”.
Think about your chosen project for analysis. Write a critical analysis of the use of breakdown structures in your chosen project in the form of an essay, considering the topics raised in the statement above. Your discussion may differ depending on whether your project is completed, is under way or is yet to start. The focus of this essay is the ‘use of breakdown structures’. Make sure you clearly understand what a breakdown structure is before you try to complete this assignment. You may wish to include a table or a diagram in the essay – that is permissible.
IMP NOTE:
THIS IS A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF BREAKDOWN STRUCTURES IN THIS PROJECT AND NOT ANALYSIS OF THE ENTIRE PROJECT.
It is expected that you would provide an introduction, the body of your essay, a conclusion and recommendations, and a list of references. You may use headings for major sections if you wish.
As part of your analysis, ensure that you make reference to the relevant theory (or theories) covered in the study materials, text, selected readings and other relevant sources. Use any figures or tables clearly and concisely to support your analysis where you feel this is appropriate.
List of references – (using the Harvard AGPS system): Provide a complete list of references providing full details of all citations used in the body of the essay. For a postgraduate assignment, if you have done sufficient research, there should be at least 15 references, many of which will be cited more than once. Remember to use the e-Journals and e-Books available from the Library website to research the literature on the topic (especially Books 24×7 and eBrary).
You can also explore all of the professional journals to which the USQ library subscribes through
http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/lib/unisouthernqld/home.action

References must be cited using Harvard AGPS system (which is author/date). Please do not use footnotes, etc recommended version is AGPS 6.
In the Harvard AGPS references must be listed alphabetically by author in a single List of References at the end of each assignment. Do not put multiple lists of references at the end of each section or part.
The project/s should be from your workplace, personal experience, or from some source where you can obtain appropriate and sufficient information.
For the purposes of these assignments, a ‘project’ is any significant endeavour undertaken by an organisation. It may be internal or external, but should be of sufficient size or complexity to warrant detailed analysis. For example, it could be:
? an organisational restructure or company merger
? development of a capital asset (building, structure, etc.)
? development of intellectual property (software, website)
? development of some capability (Defence projects, information system)
? organisation of a conference or large event, or
? marketing/development of a new product range.

SOME USEFUL WEBSITES:
http://www.aipm.com.au/html/default.cfm
http://www.ipma.ch/
http://www.pmi.org/
http://www.pmforum.org/
Analysis: Scope definition may be expressed by designated, clearly defined boundaries, such as: product breakdown structure (a cascade of products, sub-products, assemblies and components)
?    organisation breakdown structure (a cascade of resource types, skill types or activities
?    work breakdown structure (a cascade of the products and work activities),and/or
?    some other form which comprehensively defines products and activities”.

–    Conclusions should be drawn from the analysis
–    Figures and tables are effectively and appropriately used and adapted in the analysis to clearly illustrate/ compare/contrast theoretical principles with project practices.