Assignment 1

This assignment is to be completed individually.

Assignment Instructions

1. Complete a procurement plan for the project described in the case study below.
2. You must create your procurement plan based on the course materials. Do not
use a template from an external source.
3. Use multiple sources to develop your understanding of the project procurement
process. Recommended starting points
a. Kerzner eText
®
b. PMBOK Guide
c. Course material
4. Create a professional looking document that includes a title page, table of
contents, and bibliography. APA standards must be followed.
5. Assignment length: minimum 2 pages excluding title page, table of contents and
bibliography pages.
6. Submit your assignment to the drop box: Assignment 1. Only one submission is
permitted. Therefore, ensure that you create your own work before it’s submitted
to the drop box.

Weight: 30%

Rubric: Assignment 1 - Procurement Plan

Late Assignments
 Reduced mark of 10% per day
 If more than 3 days late, the grade is zero.

Case Study – UN & Association of Global Insurers

The United Nations has a project portfolio dedicated to developing business expertise in
underdeveloped countries. Each project will develop business expertise that can be used by the
country to attract investment and employment.
One such project has been funded and created by a partnership of the United Nations and the
Association of Global Insurers. The project will develop expertise in Information Technology (IT).
Insurance companies can then procure IT from companies in the underdeveloped nations.

Companies in the underdeveloped nations must score highly in the following criteria:

 Indigenous representation at senior and middle management levels;

 Visible minorities as shareholders with a minimum 35% ownership;
 Demonstrated commitment to ethical business practices;
 Demonstrated commitment to sustainable activities.

Successful companies in the underdeveloped countries will have demonstrated expertise in one or
more of the following services:

 Developing and building various types of financial services technology covering insurance,
investment and savings products;
 Implementing the technology in the insurance company’s applicable business area(s);
 Creating training materials for key personnel in the insurance company;
 Delivering periodic upgrades to the technology;
 Providing ongoing support to users of the technology.

To obtain all the services noted above, contracts could be awarded to one or multiple companies.

Project implementation is scheduled for January 1, 2027.

Grade exceris 1

Identify your current or most recent employer. What products or services do they provide? What was
your role with the company?

Identify at least 5 goods and/or services that the company procured. For what reasons does the
company procure those goods or services?

Be specific to your employment. You will lose grades if your submission is general or not specific to
your situation.

Minimum word count: 500

Submit your assignment to the following drop box: W2 Graded Exercise 1. Only one submission is
permitted. Therefore, ensure that you create your own work before it’s submitted to the drop box.
There will be no reason to use external sources for this submission. Using external sources, cited or
not, will decrease your grade.

The late assignment policy applies. Refer to the Instructional Plan for details.

Rubric: Graded Exercises

Exercise 2

Based on the information you provided in Graded Exercise 1 about procurement with your current or
most recent employer, identify a recommended practice from the course material that your employer
uses or should use.

Describe in detail how this recommended practice is applied or not applied.

Be specific to your employment. You will lose grades if your submission is general or not specific to
your situation.

Minimum Word Count: 500

Since you're describing your experience, there will be no need to use external sources. The use of
external sources, cited or not, will reduce your grade.

Submit your ideas in a MS Word document. Link to drop box: Graded Exercise 2. Only one
submission is permitted. Therefore, ensure that you create your own work before it’s submitted to
the drop box.

The late assignment policy applies. Refer to the Instructional Plan for details.

Rubric: Graded Exercises

Assignment

Assignment 2

Case - Project Governance at Numan Inc.

Vandalay Enterprises is a medium-sized software development company. They specialize in
creating custom solutions for corporate customers in various industries. Vandalay is a projectized
organization, with projects focused on small-scale applications. However, they do provide some
large enterprise systems. Each project involves a team of developers, designers, testers, and project
managers.

Vandalay has recently merged with Numan Inc. Numan is a larger firm providing similar services but
focused primarily on large enterprise solutions. Senior management in both firms expect the merger
to be complementary.

One major goal of the merger is to save costs by eliminating duplication and improving
management. Four months before the merger, Virginia was promoted to the role of Director, Project
Management Office (PMO) at Vandalay. She assumed she would lose her position as the Vandalay
PMO would be absorbed into Numan’s PMO. However, a month after the merger, Virginia received a
request to interview with Gerald Howald, the Vice President, Integration (in charge of merging the
two organizations). Virginia spent days preparing for the interview. When the time came for the
interview, Virginia was well prepared to discuss her professional accomplishments, management
and leadership skills, and to show her potential value to the new organization.

Early in the interview, Virginia described her accomplishments in her role as Director, PMO at
Vandalay and her accomplishments in previous roles. After Virginia finished, Gerald thanked her and
stated “I appreciate your past accomplishments and I was aware of some. I’m more interested in
your possible future accomplishments. Currently, our projects cost about 40 percent of annual
expenses. We need to reduce those expenses by $10 million. Can you tell me how you would do
that and how you would monitor and control the reduction.”

After thinking it over, Virginia replied “I can reduce the merged company’s costs by $5 million. $10
million is too ambitious for 1 year.”

Gerald replied, “Can you reduce costs by $5 million in 8 months?”

Assignment Instructions
Use course materials to explain in detail how Virginia can meet her cost reduction goal.

A detailed submission with multiple approaches is required.

Use the course materials to develop your answer. This assignment is to be completed individually.

APA format applies to the assignment, including a bibliography.

Ensure that sources are properly cited within the text and in the bibliography

The minimum word count is 1000 words.

 Submit the completed assignment via the assignment drop box: Assignment 2. Only one
submission is permitted. Therefore, ensure that you create your own work before it’s submitted to
the drop box.

Weight: 30%

Rubric: Assignment 2 - Governance Tools

Late Assignments
 Reduced mark of 10% per day
 If more than 3 days late, the grade is zero.

Exercise 3

Think of a project that you have worked on or have studied in the PM program. In that project
example, how does or would a comprehensive project methodology affect the role of the project
manager?

Use the course contents to answer the question.

Your answer must be specific to the project example and the course content.

Ensure that sources are properly cited within the text and in the bibliography.

Minimum Word Count: 500

Submit a MS Word file to the drop box: Graded Exercise 3. Only one submission is permitted.
Therefore, ensure that you create your own work before it’s submitted to the drop box.

The late assignment policy applies. Refer to the Instructional Plan for details.

Rubric: Graded Exercises

Exercise 4
After you have read the content for this week, think about what types of project portfolios are used
by companies you know of, or you are interested in.

Then, perform a web search to find examples of project portfolios used by companies. Choose one
that interests you and provide a link. Then summarize the key points. Add comments about the
project portfolio from what you have learned in this course.

Minimum word count: 500

Ensure that sources are properly cited within the text and in the bibliography.

Link to drop box: Graded Exercise 4. Only one submission is permitted. Therefore, ensure that you
create your own work before it’s submitted to the drop box.

The late assignment policy applies. Refer to the Instructional Plan for details.

Rubric: Graded Exercises