Assignments
The two-part assignment will be to develop a research approach and final report on a topic to be provided and disucced
during the early part of the semester. Assignment details will be available in Blackboard in the “Assessments” section. The
assignment is to be done individually, and students are encouraged to collaborate with other members of the cohort to gain a
deeper understanding of the subject matter.
Part 1: Research Approach and Information Gathering Brief
Word limit: 1000 words
Mode: collaborate during preparation, submit individually
Marks: 15
This group-collaboration based, and individually submitted assignment requires you to develop a research approach and gather
information to support your report in Part 2 of the assignment, which requires you to research, identify and document an
approach to managing the quality of a major project.
To achieve this, it will be necessary to develop an understanding of the concepts of quality and project quality management.
This information will be acquired through interviews, collaboration and scholarly research practices, and supported through
peer exchanges and networking. You will need to consider quality planning, design, assurance, monitoring and control, reporting
and strategies for enabling continuous improvement.
You are encouraged to consult at least one project practitioner (this can be done via email, telephone or in person), to get a
practical understanding of project quality in the workplace and to supplement the theoretical knowledge acquired. A sample
question sheet will be provided to guide the consultation process and to gather targeted information aligned to your research.
The findings will be used in the report developed in Part 2.
Specific information to be gathered includes, but not limited to:
• the industry type;
• the project practitioner’s experience and qualifications;
• the project complexity;
• details of project staffing, use of outsourcing; and
• organisational structure and type
Your interview aims are:
1. Start by asking them to define project quality;
2. To be able to describe and explain each respondent’s actual/current quality management practice;
3. To obtain a picture of their concept of ideal /desired practice; and,
4. To discover what prevents them from a) implementing their ideal quality process and b) achieving the
quality results that they would like. They may cite problems with measurement, compliance, standards,
The format is a structured interview which must allow for the collection of qualitative (descriptive/explanatory) data as
well as quantitative (numeric) data. Information gleaned from the project practitioner should be shared with other members of your group.
Please note that you will be required to have the practitioner sign a release form to enable you to use the material as part of your research. This document will be supplied to you.
You will submit a brief of no more than 1000 words on the approach you developed and implemented (through collaboration and your own research) to understand project quality. The brief will also include at least: an introduction, the information gathering activities and techniques (e.g. interviewing), that you used to obtain the data for your report in Part 2 of the assignment, a summary and any appendices to demonstrate your activities. The brief should be in a scholarly
writing style, including APA referencing.