COURSE SYLLABUS

OPRE 6372 Initiation

Mar 12 – May 20, 2007

This course covers project selection, interpersonal and organizational issues related to the initiation of projects. Specific topics
include investment criteria; project selection models; negotiation techniques and related interpersonal considerations.

Instructor’s Information:
Dr. Gerald Turner
Dr. Sue Freedman
Jim Newstead
Dr. Armin Brinkman
turner.g.a@att.net
suefreedman@sbcglobal.net
JRNewstead@aol.com
A.u.G.Brinkmann@t-online.de

Course Materials:

Textbooks:
1. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK)
2. Project Management: The Managerial Process, 3rd Edition: Clifford Gray and Erik Larson
3. PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide (Sybex), 3rd Edition
4. Translating Corporate Strategy into Project Strategy: Realizing Corporate Strategy Through Project Management
(Morris/Jamieson)
5. Organizational Behavior: Integrating Individuals, Groups, and Organizations,3rd Edition, Joseph E. Champoux
6. Classics of Organizational Behavior. Walter Natemeyer and J. Timothy McHon, 3rd Edition
7. Managing the Project Team: Vijay Verma

Cases:
The Strategy That Wouldn’t Travel (HBR 96602) Case Study

Articles:

1
The Team Process Observation Guide (excerpted from Arcono et.al. Organizational Behavior and Processes

DVD:
1. 12 Angry Men

CDs:
1. Systems Management documents and high level Petri Net simulators HPSim and VisualObjectNet
2. Colored Petri Net Simulator PACE
3. Process Flow Diagram simulator ARENA

2
 Course Schedule:
Date Title Description
Mod#
Project Selection In this module, we will review
Criteria the “thinking” and applicable
- Dr. Gerald Turner processes for initiating and
- Module 09 selecting projects. We will
thoroughly review the following
questions:
• Why launch projects?
• Exactly what is a projects
and how does this fit into
the strategic planning and
management process?
Mar. 12 – • Who cares? Who are the
Mar 18 key stakeholders and
beneficiaries of this
process?
• What “business value” does
the company derive from
successfully conceived,
planned, selected, executed
and managed projects?
• How do we ensure the
likelihood of success on key
corporate & business
projects?
Introduction to This session introduces you to
Organizational the study of organizational
Behavior behavior and the relationship
- Dr. Sue Freedman between OB and successful
- Module 10 project management.
Mar 19
Mar 25
Objectives
Our module objectives will be to:
• Explore the world of corporate & business
projects and initiatives
• Understand how projects are “conceived” and
why through qualitative and quantative
selection techniques
• Which techniques apply to certain business
environments, situations and scenarios and
which do not... and why?
• Review the rationale for financial and/or
economic justifying projects and programs for
the corporation, business or strategic business
unit – i.e., the “business case”
Our module objectives will be to:
1. Better understand organizations, by
summarizing key aspects and applying
accepted definitions of culture, structure, and
ethics to familiar organizations.
2. Recognize the complexity, challenge, and
opportunities in the people side of project and
enterprise management
3. Apply project leadership and change
management insights to case studies
representative of project and program
management challenges
Module Assignments
Required Reading:
1. Project Management: The Managerial
Process, 3rd Edition: Clifford Gray and
Erik Larson, Chapter 2, pp. 21-43,
“Aligning Projects with Organizational
Strategy”.
2. Translating Corporate Strategy into
Project Strategy, Chapter 2; Case Study
- “How a Global Aerospace Company
Moves Strategy in Projects”
Please Review …
3. PMBOK Chapter 3, “Project
Management Processes for a Project,” p.
37 – 70.
4. PMBOK sections 4.1.2.1, “Project
Selection Methods”.
5. PMP Project Management Professional
Study Guide (Sybex), Chapter 2, pp. 59-
65, “Using Project Selection Methods”.
Prepare…
6. “Film Prioritization” case analysis, pp.
48-51, for team teleconference
discussion only (i.e., not for submission)
(5pts)
Required Reading
1. Gray and Larson chapters 1-3
2. Champoux, chapters 1-2
3. Briefly review the following 3 articles in
Natemeyer’s Classics of Organizational
Behavior
ƒ Frederick Taylor: Principles of
Scientific Management) p. 3
ƒ Max Weber: Bureaucracy p351
ƒ Argyris: The Individual and the
Organization, p358
Read the HBR case, “The Strategy that
Wouldn’t Travel”
Written Assignments
Submit on Blackboard by March 24, midnight
3
 the 3 assignments listed below. See Instruction
Sheet 10 under assignments for more details. S.
1) Company Overview: Culture, Structure,
Ethics, and Project Management.
(Individual assignment, 4 pts)
a) Your company’s mission and/or vision
b) Objectives of your current project and
its relationship to the long term and/or
strategic objectives of your company
c) The project management structure of
your company
d) Your company’s written policy on
ethics and examples of anything that
you have seen or heard that supports
that policy.
e) An assessment of your company’s or
organization’s culture using the
definitions and chart in chapter 3, page
74, of the Gray and Larson textbook.

2) Respond in writing to the following

questions regarding The Strategy that
Wouldn’t Travel Team assignment, 3pts)
a) What elements of the “new” model did
Jimenez introduce at the Wichita plant?
b) What are the key issues she now faces
in Lubbock?
c) What are the root causes of her
dilemma?
d) What actions would you recommend to
get things back on track?
e) What skills should Jimenez Develop?

3) Respond to each of the questions associated

with the Moss and McAdams Case, pages
84-87 of Gray and Larson, and the Orion
Case on page 87-91 (Team assignment, 3
pts)

Team and Team Explores the research and tools • Identify and provide strategies for generating Reading Assignments:
Processes Process for participating in and the characteristics of successful project teams. 1. Chapter 10, Champoux
Mar 26 – - Dr. Sue Freedman managing effective groups. • Analyze a functioning group in terms of: 2. Review the following chapters in
Apr 1 - Module 11 Practice identifying and o Membership & Organizational Natemeyer:
applying the principles and tools Context a. Edgar H. Schein: Groups and
of group process to both internal o Communications Intergroup Relationships p. 145

4
 and external groups.
Project Team Building Explore basic aspects of initially
- Jim Newstead building an effective project
- Module 12 team, focusing on key elements
as follows:
1. Sponsorship alignment
2. Team competency and
influence
3. Assimilating the team
members into the project
Apr 2 –
4. Launching the project as a
Apr 9
cohesive team
Systems Management Systems Management is
Apr 10– - Dr. Armin Brinkman designed to get the complexity
Apr15 - Module 13 of big systems or processes
under control. For this, a clearly
Systems Management structured description of the
Apr 16 –
Apr 22
- Dr. Armin Brinkman examined system has to be
- Module 14 found. Based on that, everyone
o Influence
o Task & Maintenance Functions
o Decision-Making
o Conflict Management
o Atmosphere
o Emotional Issues
• Recognize and describe successful strategies
for building and exerting influence in a group.
• Apply group process knowledge to the project
management environment
1. Effectively align the project, the project
manager and the project sponsor
2. Establish a self-discovered (team) set of key
competencies and influences that will be
required to successfully complete the project.
3. Effectively measure each team member
against those competencies and influences
required to determine if the “right” team is in
place or if a different mix is required.
4. Help frame the project to the team to affect
buy-in and comprehensive understanding.
5. Provide the platform for the team members to
move from individual agendas to adopt the
project as the objective
6. Provide the tools necessary to identify each
team members’ expertise, concerns, how the
team will function and other critical people-
skills required to operate in a high
performance environm
• Accepting that it is a must for successful
project management to bring structure to
complex systems and how to do it
• Modeling the structure of systems or processes
by using Agent Nets
• Modeling the behavior by using State
b. Bruce Tuckman and Mary Ann
Jensen Stages of Small Group
Development, page 241
3. The Team Process Observation Guide
(provided article)
4. Chapter 11, Gray and Larson
Written Assignments
Submit the 2 assignments listed below on
Blackboard by midnight, March 31,
1. Team assignment based on the 12 Angry
Men film. See Module 11 Instruction sheet
and 12 Angry Men Worksheet for details
(Team assignment, 5 pts)
2. Completed Project Team Characteristics
Worksheet 11. See Module 11 Instruction
sheet and worksheet under Assignments.
(Individual assignment, 5 pts)
Reading Assignments:
• Chapter 3 in Managing the Project Team by
Vijay Verma
Teleconference:
• Appoint one team member to report the
outcomes of your “tool” applications
(5 pts)
Solve exercises #1 (Order Processing) and #2
(Cigarette Machine) – No Submission required.
Solve exercises #3 - #7 – No Submission
required
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 Systems Management involved in this system or
- Dr. Armin Brinkman process should be able to get all
- Module 15 the information he or she needs.
Apr 23 –
This is essential for successful
project management.
Apr 29
To achieve that, a model of the
system has to be designed. This
model is a description of the
Systems Management system that can be understood
April 30 - Dr. Armin Brinkman by all people involved in the
May 6 - Module 16 project. It is the basis for the
specialists who have to
Systems Management transform this model into a real
- Dr. Armin Brinkman system, but it is also the
- Module 17 foundation for the generalists for
the requirements definition,
planning and decision making.
A model should be as clear and
May 7– unambiguous as possible but on
May 13 the other hand - in order to be
understandable by everyone - it
must not contain any technical
realization aspects. For this,
graphical methods are used
which describe the structure and
the behavior of the system or
process in an abstract but also
May 14 – Systems Management meaningful way and enclose
May 20 - Dr. Armin Brinkman some kind of formalism.
- Module 18
Although the presented methods
may be used to describe any
kind of systems, these modules
will concentrate on business and
technical systems and processes.
As these modules will mainly
have influence on the ‘way of
thinking’, the focus will be on
many examples and exercises
including some process
simulations.
Transition Diagrams 1. Compare your solution of exercise #5 - #7
• Modeling processes by using Petri Nets and with the given audio and slide presentations
Process Flow Diagrams 2. Read Introduction to PetriNets PDF file
• Learning the principles of computer supported and work through the exercise – No
process simulation submission required
• Verifying and optimizeprocesses by 3. Compare your solution with
simulation and analyzing the simulation Warehouse_1.hps – Warehouse _5.hps and
results efficiently Warehouse_3_OUT.xls and
Warehouse_4_OUT.xls
1. Simulate the process in the HPSim file
SM_Solution_9_OrderProcessing.hps
Topics to be covered 2. Complete exercise # 10 (Traffic lights) -
No submission required
• Basic concepts of structuring 1. Compare your solution of exercise #10 with
• Analysis and synthesis of economical and the given audio and slide presentation
technical systems SM_Solution_10_TrafficLights
• The static structure of economical and and HPSim-files Traffic Lights_4.hps -
technical systems Traffic Lights_7.hps
• The behavior of economical and technical 2. Optionally look at solution of exercise #16
in PACE-files
systems
Velo_Ltd_0.im - Velo_Ltd_2.im
• Modeling of business and technical processes
3. Solve exercise #12.1 – 12.4 Jet Engine
• Simulation of business and technical processes
Mounting
• Analysis and interpretation of the simulation
4. Optionally solve exercises #13 and #15
results
5. Compare your solutions with the HPSim-
files Jet_Engine_Mounting.hps,
Grade_Crossing.hps, and
Car_Production.hps and the corresponding
Word files
1. Simulate the process in the Arena file
Velo_Ltd.doe
2. Work through exercise #12.5 Jet Engine
Mounting – read remarks to that exercise in
the PDF file
SM_Remarks_Jet_Engine_Mounting
3. Compare your solution with the Arena files
Jet_Engine_Mounting_0.doe -
Jet_Engine_Mounting_5.doe
Assignment:
Solve and Post exercise #14 BikeDeale,Midnight
May 20th (20 pts)
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Major Assignment:
#2: Covers modules 9-18
Released: March 12, 2007
Due: June 22, 2007 midnight
Graders: Dr. Armin Brinkman & Dr. Sue Freedman
Format: Program Format (posted under syllabus information on Blackboard)

Grading Information:

Major Assignment #2 Dr. Brinkman and Dr. Freedman 50%

(Graders)
Module #9 Dr. Turner 5%
Module #10 Dr. Freedman 10%
Module #11 Dr. Freedman 10%
Module #12 Mr. Newstead. 5%
Module #13- #18 Dr. Brinkman 20%