PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR IBA

COURSE MANUAL

Course name Project Management for IBA

Course code 30J110
Number of credits 6 ECTS
Program B.Sc. International Business Administration
Position in Program Year 1, Semester 2 (Spring)
Academic Year 2020-2021
Language of instruction English

READ THIS MANUAL THOROUGHLY BEFORE THE START OF THE COURSE.

Minor changes are possible; these changes will be published on Canvas.

© 2020-2021 Tilburg University

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CONTENTS

Course description .......................................................................................................................... 3

Teaching staff ................................................................................................................................. 3

Course learning outcomes .............................................................................................................. 4

Position in the program .................................................................................................................. 5

Relation with international business....................................................................................... 5

Relation with other courses in the program ........................................................................... 5

Course material ............................................................................................................................... 5

Assessment ..................................................................................................................................... 6

Study Load ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Code of conduct .............................................................................................................................. 9

Course structure ............................................................................................................................ 10

Forms of tuition ..................................................................................................................... 10

Course schedule ............................................................................................................................ 10

Group Assignment: ....................................................................................................................... 12

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

The main objective of this course is to get students acquainted in a theoretical and in practical
sense with project management skills and techniques. These are needed to work successfully on
future assignments in the IBA program. To meet this objective, three teaching modes will be
employed. First, students will be provided through class lectures/tutorials with basic theoretical
knowledge about projects. Second, students will work on a practical assignment to apply their
newly acquired knowledge and to further develop their project management skills. Third,
students will be provided with several guest lectures and examples of projects in practice in order
to grasp the challenges and best practices in managing projects throughout various types of
companies and positions.

The course starts with the theoretical foundation of project management principles and practices,
based on Pinto (2019) 5th Edition, that will be provided in an introductory lecture and
instruction/tutorial sessions. In these mandatory sessions, multiple cases and exercises as well as
some basic (yet essential!) principles, pitfalls, and guidelines for the practice and reporting of
research will be discussed. The content of all sessions is mandatory learning material. While the
instructor presentations and slides will be shared with the students, the text book for this course
is the final source of all the learning. Students are expected to cover the text book and the topics
in the text book thoroughly. Already in the first week, students need to form teams for the group
assignment. The overall aim of the research project is to enable students to put into practice the
theory they learned during class and self-study.

TEACHING STAFF

Name: Dr. Eugenia Rosca

Contact: [email protected]
Role in course: Course Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutorials
Profile: https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/staff/e-rosca

Name: Dr. R. Jain

Contact: [email protected]
Role in course: Lecturer – Tutorials – Group Assignment Supervisor

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 Name: Dr. S. Park
Contact: [email protected]
Role in course: Lecturer – Tutorials – Group Assignment Supervisor

Name: Dr. H. Saeedi

Contact: [email protected]
Role in course: Lecturer – Tutorials – Group Assignment Supervisor

Name: Dr. Henry Wu

Contact: [email protected]
Role in course: Lecturer - Tutorials

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to:

 Define, characterize and evaluate various stages of Project Management and related
techniques;

 Gather relevant information for analyzing Project Organizations, critically assess it and use
it for your own project;

 Define and analyze a real-life business problem of limited scope;

 Execute a project in a systematic and timely manner with high quality by using various PM
tools;

 Apply project management skills and techniques, in combination with insights derived from
other courses, for instance accounting, marketing, statistics;

 Develop and adapt to working in a team in different roles for the successful delivery of a
project;

 Critically reflect and articulate ideas in practical assignments.

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POSITION IN THE PROGRAM

RELATION WITH INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Project Management principles are globally applicable, more so required in multinational

organizations and international businesses. Looking at various contexts and cultures and how
teams work and execute projects is an important take-away from this course.

 All cases and guest lecturers come from multi-national companies. In lectures we provide
examples from a variety of countries.
 Students read international scientific literature and international business magazines.
 Students must form multi-national groups for the group assignment.

RELATION WITH OTHER COURSES IN THE PROGRAM

This course builds upon Foundations of International Strategy, Economics, Organization

Behavior, Financial Accounting courses in general. It also teaches hands-on the students of how
to work in teams and how to successfully execute a project, in form of assignments, which they
will be conducting over the years in many different courses.

COURSE MATERIAL

Text Book: Pinto, J. K. (2019). Project management: Achieving competitive advantage (5th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Available via Canvas:

 Course manual and guidelines for the group assignment.

 Lecture slides including guest lectures.
 Exercises for tutorials
 Resources for the execution of assignments.

Key documents for group projects:

 Company and project selection criteria

 A list of project topics from past semesters
 Guidelines and structure for a project proposal
 Key deliverables in project report: proposal, intermediate progress and final report
 Evaluation form to be filled in by the project client (company), both in Dutch and
English

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For the group project, students can use primary and secondary sources of data to work on their
assignments. These could be in form of company reports, websites and blogs, media articles,
journal articles, surveys and interviews and discussion with industry experts. Assignments are
also based highly on the theoretical structure presented in the textbook. During the second
session of this course, more specific guidelines and resources regarding “basic research skills”
needed to successfully conduct the group assignment will be provided. Further details would be
provided in a timely manner via canvas and in-class discussions.

ASSESSMENT

Graded Weight Date/periods for Minimal Pass Possibility and

summative exams or grade assessment type for
assessments submission re-sit
deadlines
20% Exam weeks – 5.5 (rounded Multiple Choice – 25
Weeks 13 & 14 to 6.0) Questions with four
Midterm Exam* (March 29 – April 9) answering
categories.
Re-sit possible
50% Final exam weeks 5.5 (rounded Multiple Choice – 50
(June-July) to 6.0) Questions with four
Final Theory
answering
Exam**
categories.
Re-sit possible
30% Intermediate 5.0 Go/No-Go provided
deadlines in Week 13 by the
announced below. supervisor.
Group Final deadline for
Assignment the project No re-sit possible
submission is June
15, 2021. Late
submissions will not
be assessed.

*The final grade is a weighted average of the different components. Minimal grade per
component is required and therefore the different subgrades cannot compensate each other.

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The grades will be calculated automatically in Osiris based on the individual components and
announced via Osiris.

**According to official examination rules at Tilburg University, all multiple choice exams need to
incorporate guessing correction. The formula recommended by the official examination
guidelines is adopted in this course.

GRADE:

The overall grade for this course will be based on the following elements:

1. A written midterm exam, composed of 20 multiple choice questions.

To obtain an overall grade for this course, you are required to score a 5.5 or better for this exam
or the resit. This exam comprises 20% of the overall grade. As regards the gambling aspect
inherent to multiple choice questions, we will correct for guessing.

For the midterm exam, the following book chapters are relevant: Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and
10. All remaining chapters (4, 6, 12, 13, 14) will be relevant for the final exam. Please study these
chapters together with the lecture slides provided by each instructor.

Chapter 11 (Advanced Topics in Planning and Scheduling: Agile and Critical Chain) is not relevant
for this course.

2. A written final exam, composed of 50 multiple choice questions.

To obtain an overall grade for this course, you are required to score a 5.5 or better for this exam
or the resit. This exam comprises 50% of the overall grade. As regards the gambling aspect
inherent to multiple choice questions, we will correct for guessing. The pass/fail norm is 32
correct answers and can be calculated as follows:

In case of multiple choice questions with 4 alternatives, and assuming the correct answers are
evenly distributed among a, b, c, and d, you can produce 25% (=12,5) correct answers without
any knowledge whatsoever. Thus, the 5.0 actually represents 50% knowledge that can be
demonstrated in the remaining 37,5 questions: 50% of 37,5 = 18,75. Hence, 18,75 + 12,5 = 31,25 =
32 (rounded). Likewise, your grade for the exam can be calculated using the formula

Grade = ((# correct answers - 12,5) / 37,5) * 10

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During the last lecture, the course coordinator will organize an exam preparation session. For the
final exam, all materials used in this course are relevant and need to be studied. Specific guidance
regarding the guest lectures and group project (how are they relevant for the final exam) will be
provided during the exam preparation session.

3. The grade for the execution and reporting of the project.

Your supervisor will take into account criteria related to the content of the project, as well as
criteria related to the presentation of your results, such as work attitude and writing style. The
process will be also taken into consideration: attending meetings, handing in drafts on time,
good communication etc. The final document will be assessed based on the following criteria:
structure, logical reasoning and argumentation in writing, justification of the problem, and
systematic use of research methods to collect data and guide the development of the solution,
formatting, spelling and grammar.

Important Notices:

1. Late Submission Policy: Failing to submit the document on time will result in a final
deduction of 1 point grade for each of the assignment for that component, for that day
of presentation.
2. Please follow carefully the guidelines for the feedback meetings with the supervisor:
prepare the presentation as required (e.g. if it says 3 slides and 3 minutes presentation,
stick to that) and provide feedback for the team allocated to you beforehand.
3. Your file name will always be in GROUP <NUMBER> <MEETING X> (e.g. GROUP 34
MEETING 2). Submission procedures will be announced later by your allocated
supervisor.
4. There is a template available for your preliminary proposal, progress and final report. The
template includes basic aspects which need to be covered, but you as a team are free to
customize it according to the project context.

Repeaters: Repeaters will need to re-do the entire course and no component of assessment can
be carried forward to next year, nor can any component from previous years be brought into this
course.

STUDY LOAD

Activity Assessed number of hours

Class hours 12 hours plenaries + 4 hours tutorials

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 Guest Lectures – In-class 4 hours
Group meetings with the supervisors 5 hours
Assignment meetings with your team 10 hours
Reading Course Material 40 hrs
Prepare for Group Assignments 45 hrs
Prepare for Midterm and Final Exam 48 hrs
Total 168 hours

CODE OF CONDUCT

Communication in English

 All instructions in class will be in English;

 Students should speak in English with the lecturer and with each other while being in the
classroom;
 No emails to be sent directly unless in case of emergency to instructors. Instead use the
relevant channels and links provided, and to be written in English;
 Speak English with each other when working on assignments as much as you can.

Behavior in (online) classes

 Be punctual and quiet during lectures! Because we are in a very large group, talking in class
easily leads to a lot of noise.
 Follow up the instructions of your lecturer or instructor. The lecturer can ask you to open
your camera, mute yourself, answer a poll in Zoom, answer a question, put your electronic
devices away, etc.
 Do not be absent for mandatory classes where a grading component is involved. This can
directly affect your grade.
 More specific instructions for our online lectures in Zoom will be provided during the first
session.

Group or Team work: Avoiding free-riding

 Should any free-riding or social loafing occur during your group work, it is crucial to
address this issue early on. In such cases, (1) address your concerns with that group
member as early as possible via canvas while keeping the instructor in copy. (2) Agree
upon a way in which that person can contribute to the group and notify the instructor
of your resolution by email. (3) If the problem persists, make an appointment for your
group to meet with the instructor. We will attempt to resolve the issue together. (4) If
this attempt fails, leave the person’s name off the title page of the class project. (5)

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 We will inform the group member that s/he will fail the team project. Note that we
will only give a fail if steps 1-4 have been followed.

Fraud and Plagiarism

 Having unauthorized notes at your exam, cribbing from a fellow student, manipulating
results and copying text from others without references are examples of fraud. Once fraud
is suspected, the Examination Board will be informed accordingly.
 Plagiarism is carelessly or without proper acknowledgment copying data, texts, arguments
or lines of thoughts of others. According to Article 21 of the Rules and guidelines of the
Examination Board, this is seen as a fraud.
 https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/students/studying/regulations/fraud/economics

COURSE STRUCTURE

FORMS OF TUITION

Plenaries: The course uses lectures where the topics of the week are introduced and the
expectations for the group assignment are also laid out.

Tutorials: Tutorials are used to further deepen the knowledge and practice exercises and more
complex topics discussed in class.

Guest Lectures: Industry experts will be invited as the course progresses, based on the topic of
the week to address in a plenary format the various topics and live examples from industry and
their jobs and roles in their respective organizations.

Group Meetings with the supervisor: After you formed a group and have been allocated a
supervisor, you will have four meetings with your supervisor and several other groups. The
schedule for the group meetings is presented below.

COURSE SCHEDULE

In Spring 2021, this course will be offered fully online due to government restrictions around
COVID-19 and the decision of the Executive Board of Tilburg University to offer all education
online in unit 3 of the academic year 2020-2021. The course will employ interactive live sessions
via Zoom and the sessions will not be recorded (unless clearly specified by the instructors in
case of events which a large group of students need to attend). Please follow Canvas
announcements for more information and updates.

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All lectures in Spring 2021 will take place online via Zoom, on Monday morning. Below, you can
find the Zoom link for the lectures: the same link will be used for the entire semester for all
Monday morning sessions. The Zoom links for tutorials and meetings with your supervisors will
be announced later via Canvas for the respective groups.

Lecture Series Zoom Details

Monday Join Zoom Meeting
– All semester https://tilburguniversity.zoom.us/j/98923992032?pwd=R2x3QkJ6eVkrKz
ViNEhKS3paL3h4UT09

Meeting ID: 989 2399 2032

Passcode: 8347649802

Below you can find the preliminary schedule for the course in Spring 2021. Please note that
minor changes are still possible – any changes will be announced via Canvas. In that case, the
schedule announced via Canvas will prevail.

Week Lecture Topic Tutorial Responsible

Instructor
5 Feb 1 - 5 ● Introduction of Instructors - ER
● Introduction of the Course and Course
Structure
● Ch 1 (Why project management?)
● Ch 2 (The organizational context)
6 Feb 8 -12 ● Introduction of Group Assignments: - ER, SP
Guidelines, schedule, expectations
● Research Skills – What you need to
know to successfully conduct your
group assignment
Week 7: Self-Study Week
8 Feb ● Ch 3 (Project selection, portfolio Tutorial Lecture: HW
22 - 26 management) 1* Tutorials: HW,
● Ch 5 (Scope management) ER
9 March ● Ch 7 (Risk Management) - RJ
1-5 ● Ch 8 (Cost estimation and budgeting)
10 March ● Ch 9 (Project scheduling 1) Tutorial Lecture HS:
8 - 12 ● Ch 10 (Project scheduling 2) 2 Tutorial: RJ, HS
Week 11: Lecture-free week - Focus on your group project and study for the midterm.
12 March ● Guest Lecture: Philips – Project - ER
22 - 26 Management in a manufacturing firm
Weeks 13 and 14: Midterm

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 15 April ● Ch 12 (Resource Management) Tutorial Lecture: SP
12-16 ● Ch 13 (project evaluation and control) 3 Tutorial: SP, ER
● Ch 14 (Project Closeout)
Week 16: Lecture-free week - Focus on your group project.
17 April ● Ch 4 (Leadership and the project ER
26 - 30 manager)
● Ch 6 (Project team building, conflict,
and negotiation)
18 May 3 - 7 ● Guest Lecture: Erns t& Young – Project ER
Management in a consulting firm
19 May ● Guest Lecture: TNO – Experiences ER
10 -14 from a project manager
Weeks 20 and 21: Lecture-free week - Focus on your group project.
22 May 31 – ● Final session: Wrap-up, feedback, ER
June 4 exam preparation
Final exam weeks

Lectures: To make the best out of this course, it is important to be prepared for each lecture.
For the lectures with theory components (as announced in the schedule), you need to read the
respective chapters beforehand. This can significantly enhance your learning. For the guest
lectures, any preparation for class will be announced via Canvas.

Tutorials: There are three tutorials in this course and each tutorial is dedicated to guiding you
to solve specific exercises with a higher degree of complexity from the respective chapters. Any
preparation for the tutorials and the exercises addressed will be announced via Canvas. You
have been assigned already a tutorial group and time slot – please check your schedule in MTT.
The Zoom links for each tutorial session and group will be announced via Canvas few days
before the tutorial.

GROUP ASSIGNMENT:

For your group assignment, you are required to develop hands-on project experience by doing a
practical assignment (your “project”) for a real-life company/client. In principle, you are free to
choose a company or a single entrepreneur (in short: a client) to do this assignment for. We
strongly recommend that you tap your personal network of friends, relatives, acquaintances, to
see if there are entrepreneurs/firms that could benefit from your assistance to help solve a
practical problem. During the second session of the course, we will provide more information on
what constitutes a “project” and more tips on how you can find a client.

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Requirements for team composition

As most alternatives will be drawn up in Dutch and the projects are situated in the Netherlands,
it is imperative to have students in your team who master the Dutch language! An additional
strong argument for mixed teams is that it emphasizes the international context of the IBA
program.

Hence, the following requirements for the composition of the project teams apply to all teams:

1. The team size is 5.

2. Each team should host at least one non-Dutch speaking person.

Team Self-Enrollment

Teams formation will be done via Canvas via self-enrollment. Toward the end of the first week of
the semester, the self-enrollment will be open on Canvas. This will be announced via Canvas –
please follow carefully the announcements.

Writing a Project Proposal

Upon having formed a team and contacted your client company for your group assignment, all
teams are required to develop an initial (written) proposal for the project. There is a template for
the project proposal – you can find it later in Canvas under Course Documents. The final version
of the proposal needs to be approved by your supervisor before you are allowed to proceed. In
addition, and to avoid any potential miscommunication or conflicts, we also require evidence in
writing that the main elements of the proposal, such as the problem statement, the scope of the
project, and method(s) used to investigate the problem statement, have been discussed with and
are approved by your client company before you are allowed to proceed.

Supervision Meeting Schedules

Overall, there will be four meeting points with your allocated supervisor. Please find below the
schedule for the meetings and what needs to be prepared by the teams for each meeting.

Week Group Assignment Activities Student Preparation

5 Feb 1 - ● Group formation: Self- Self-enrollment.

5 enrollment via Canvas

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 ● Deadline for self-enrollment is
Monday, February 8, noon.
6 Feb 8 - ● Allocation to supervisors  Start looking for a project and a
12 announced via Canvas. client.
● First meeting – getting to
know your supervisor.
Weeks 7, 8, 9, 10  Groups are searching for a project and prepare the preliminary
proposal.
Deadline preliminary Proposal: March 15, 2021
12 March ● Second meeting with your Proposal submitted on time.
22 - 26 supervisor: date, time and One slide per team – to be prepared
Zoom link will be announced and presented during the meeting.
later by your supervisor. Feedback for the proposal of an
● You will receive feedback on allocated team (you will be informed
your proposal from your which one).
supervisors and your fellow Go/No-Go from the supervisor.
class-mates.
Weeks 13, 14 and 15 and  Groups are working on the final report.
Deadline progress report: April 15, 2021
16 April 19 ● Third meeting with your Progress report submitted on time.
- 23 supervisor: date, time and Three slides per team – to be
Zoom link will be announced prepared and presented during the
later by your supervisor. meeting in a maximum of three
● You will receive feedback on minutes.
your progress from your Feedback for the proposal of an
supervisors and your fellow allocated team (you will be informed
class-mates. which one).
Weeks 17, 18 and 19  Groups are working on the final report.
Deadline final draft report: May 10, 2021
2o May 17- ● Fourth meeting with your Final draft report submitted on time.
21 supervisor: date, time and Five slides per team – to be prepared
Zoom link will be announced and presented during the meeting in
later by your supervisor. a maximum of five minutes (approx.
● You will receive feedback on 1 min per slide).
your progress from your Feedback for the proposal of an
supervisors and your fellow allocated team (you will be informed
class-mates. which one).
Deadline final report: June 15, 2021

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