Project Management & Professional Practices

• Class Activity
• Introduction
• Course Overview
• Course Breakdown
• Recommended Texts:
• Ground Rules - contract
• Group Constitution
• Prep Assignment:
•Q&A
• Discussion Class
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Class activity: 2 mins. Explain to the person next to you

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Introduction:
• Know each other

Kenobi Morris, PhD CEng MIMechE

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Course Overview:
• Project management is the practice of initiating, planning, executing,
controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and
meet specific success criteria at the specified time. The primary goal of
project management is to achieve all the project goals within the given
constraints. Your Experience: What are common examples of (your) project
constraints?
• Operations research (OR) is an analytical method of problem-solving and
decision-making that is useful in the management of organizations. In
operations research, problems are broken down into basic components and
then solved in defined steps by mathematical analysis.
• Professional practice - refers to the conduct and work of someone from a
profession. Includes application of ethics and codes of conducts to execute
assigned tasks and engineering projects – reflections of the body of
knowledge allow engineers to be aware of the ethical, environmental and
social implications of their activities with an organization and society at
large
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Course Breakdown:
Project Management
& Professional
Practices

Project Management Operations Research Professional Practices

(PM) (OR) – Ethics (PE)
60% 20% 20%

Kenobi Morris, PhD CEng MIMechE

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Recommended Textbooks

• PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

(PMBOK® Guide), 6th ed. Pennsylvania, USA.: Project Management
Institute, 2017.
• F. S. Hillier and G. J. Lieberman, Introduction to Operations Research,
10th ed. New York, USA: McGraw Hill Education, 2015.
• I. van de Poel and L. Royakkers, Ethics, technology and engineering:
An introduction. United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd., Publication, 2011.
• Additional material as will be recommended and posted on CAMU

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Prep Assignment (Deadline: 27 Jan. 2020) : Paper Review
• 1. R. J. Ormerod and W. Ulrich, “Operational research and ethics: A literature review,”
Eur. J. Oper. Res., vol. 228, no. 2, pp. 291–307, 2013.
• 2. S. Schoonwinkel, C. J. Fourie, and P. D. F. Conradie, “A risk and cost management
analysis for changes during the construction phase of a project,” J. South African Inst. Civ.
Eng., vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 21–28, 2016.

• The course is a melting pot of different disciplines. This assignment is designed to help students
appreciate this course from the start. Review the two manuscripts above and in a one page
• Briefly summarize the importance and applications of the cross-disciplinary marriage. State
examples of engineering projects that have benefitted from this cross-disciplinary marriage
• Returning home, Ashesi University, describe how the marriage could be useful in any of the
project you are currently working on. Stating clearly how it could impact on:
• Your project
• Decision making and project cost optimization
• How your project interact with the environment. What are the ethical and social implications of
this interaction
• What measure would you take to reduce the negative implications of your project, if any?

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Course Ground Rules:
• 5-min attendance rule
• Class Attendance & participation
• Attendance: AwP: 3 times – 0%
• 2 times – 50%
• 1 – 80%
• Participation:
• 1 Ab equivalent to 2 points out of 10 points
• Use of gadgets NOT allowed in class except permitted
• No extension to assigned tasks, except there is an extenuating
circumstance that calls for extension
• Late submission: 5% deduction for each day

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Group constitution
• 10 groups
• Maximum of 7 students per group
• Diverse
• Major
• Nationality
• Gender balance
• Encourage: Appoint team leader

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 Q&A

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