Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines
Unit Code	MN601
Unit Title	Network Project Management
Term, Year	T2, 2019
Assessment Type	Assignment 1, Individual
Assessment Title	Individual case study assignment
Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping)	The purpose of this assignment is to build a clear understanding of project management fundamentals and their application, specifically:  demonstrate project leadership skills; identify and assess risk in designing, executing a major project;  critically reflect on current project management ethics, research, and theory and practice;
Weight	15%
Total Marks	30
Word limit	1200-1500
Due Date	Week 7, 1 September 2019, 23.55 PM.
Submission Guidelines	 A draft of the report must be submitted on Moodle by the day before the Week-6 class, to get feedback from the tutor in Week-6. Updated version of the report must be submitted on Moodle the day before your Week-7 class.  The assignment must be in MS Word format, 1.5 spacing, 11-pt Calibri (Body) font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings.  Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using IEEE referencing style.
Extension	 If an extension of time to submit work is required, a Special Consideration Application must be submitted directly on AMS. You must submit this application three working days prior to the due date of the assignment. Further information is available at: http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and guidelines/specialconsiderationdeferment
Academic Misconduct	 Academic Misconduct is a serious offence. Depending on the seriousness of the case, penalties can vary from a written warning or zero marks to exclusion from the course or rescinding the degree. Students should make themselves familiar with the full policy and procedure available at: http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Plagiarism-Academic Misconduct-Policy-Procedure. For further information, please refer to the Academic Integrity Section in your Unit Description.

MN601 Network Project Management 2019 T2 MN601 Assignment-1 SYD MEL V1.3 2 of 5
Prepared by: DR Karthik Nagarajan Moderated by: DR Wanod Kumar
Acknowledgement: The following case study is taken verbatim from
https://www.theprojectgroup.com/blog/en/integrated-project-management-case-study/
(Full Credit is attributed to this source)
Integrated Project Management Solution for Automotive Supplier (Case Study)
Precision Engineering Company Alfmeier Präzision SE Completes Complex
Projects on Time and on Budget
“Precision engineering company Alfmeier Präzision SE refers to the tiny components it makes with the inspiring
phrase: “Small things set large ones in motion”. Starting with small steps, a change of system supporting its project
management organization has also moved the company forward, making it more efficient and competitive. A key
component of the enterprise project management solution is the bidirectional data synchronization between SAP
and Microsoft Project, making cost and resource planning simpler and more accurate”.

A Quick Overview of this Customer Story

“The Company: Alfmeier Präzision SE is a global manufacturer of precision system solutions using valves, actuators, pumps, and controllers. Based in Treuchtlingen (Germany) and with a global workforce of about 2,000 employees world-wide, its core competencies include plastic technology, electronics, mechatronics, fluid technology and industrial solutions. Alfmeier is a leading supplier to the automotive industry as well as medical technology and other sectors”.

“The Challenge: The company’s project managers were all using a mix of different project management solutions, including a variety of Microsoft Office applications. If a manager wanted an overview of project costs, he or she had to ask each project manager individually. This made cost and resource planning, as well as scheduling and reporting, difficult and time consuming”.

“The Solution: The project management solution is based on Microsoft Project Server, which TPG has customized with over 100 user-defined fields. As SAP is a central business solution at Alfmeier, the company has also implemented TPG PSLink to synchronize information between the project management and ERP systems. TPG ProjectLink is used for multi-level scheduling in the case of large-scale components with multiple sub-projects”.

“The Benefits: All aspects of project planning – including scheduling, resource planning, actual and planned costs, reporting and more – are significantly faster and more efficient since the company has been using the enterprise project management solution. It has saved time and money through across-the-board project visibility and accelerated reporting, while facilitating the firms’ capacity to complete even complex projects on time and on budget”.

Detailed Description of the Case:
The Company Alfmeier Präzision SE
“Alfmeier Präzision SE is a global high-tech company serving the automotive and other industries. With about 2000
employees worldwide, it is a recognized specialist in plastic injection molding and fluid systems as well as electronics,
mechatronics and car seat solutions. The Fluid Systems business unit develops intelligent solutions for applications
such as fuel supply, servo assistance, flap control, crank case ventilation as well as thermal management. The Seat
Comfort division focuses on a range of advanced solutions for car seats that adapt to the anatomy of the vehicle’s
occupants. The company is headquartered in Treuchtlingen (Germany) and has subsidiaries in the USA, Mexico,
Czech Republic, China and Korea”.
Patchwork of Different Tools
“With the implementation of SAP PS and other tools for project planning, the precision engineering company ended
up using a plethora of different systems. Each project manager had their own preference, so if management wanted
to know how a specific project – or even the overall project cost – was progressing, they had to ask each project
MN601 Network Project Management 2019 T2 MN601 Assignment-1 SYD MEL V1.3 3 of 5
Prepared by: DR Karthik Nagarajan Moderated by: DR Wanod Kumar
manager individually. This was a particularly complex undertaking in Alfmeier’s case as the company operates in
multiple different countries. Project managers would request and create projects in SAP PS, while documents
produced by the teams during the course of the project work were in other formats, such as Word and Excel –
particularly for cost estimates, proposal approvals and change requests”.
“The staff entered their timesheet information in SAP and managers produced reports in Excel, PowerPoint, Access
and Word as well as APIS and QlikView. This made it challenging to consolidate all the information as a basis for
planning and decision-making. As each project manager was using his or her preferred planning and scheduling
tool, there was no quick way to review the teams’ schedules and ensure optimal staff resource utilization”.
Centralize and Streamline Project Planning
“Erich Taube, Head of Project Management Office (PMO) at Alfmeier Präzision SE, headed up a team
tasked with finding a suitable solution for streamlining and standardizing project planning processes. With our fairly
intensive use of Microsoft Office products, we thought Microsoft Project Server would be the best fit, so we set
about looking for potential partners,” says Erich Taube.
“What really clinched it for TPG was their PSLink product for bidirectional data synchronization between SAP and
Microsoft Project Server, along with their ability to customize Microsoft Project Server to our needs.”
“Meeting specialists from The Project Group (TPG), Erich Taube and his team were impressed by their experience
and their quick grasp of the project management situation at Alfmeier. The team drew up a matrix comparing the
offerings of the various providers, and TPG came out clearly on top”.
“But what really clinched it for TPG was their PSLink product for bidirectional data synchronization between SAP
and Microsoft Project Server, along with their ability to customize Microsoft Project Server to our needs,” adds
Taube.
Customized Functionality
“The first step was for everyone involved to get round a table and define the project’s specifications and goals. This
was followed by the implementation of a test system to run alongside the production system on both the Microsoft
Project and SAP sides. The two teams worked together to implement over 100 user-defined fields in Microsoft
Project, mainly SAP-related. Alfmeier staff ran a sample project through the systems to test both sides, including
the planning process as well as schedules and costs”.
“TPG was then tasked with developing a custom function for Alfmeier’s project managers. “We wanted a
profitability indicator, updated in real time, to enable project managers to see at a glance how profitable their projects
were,” comments Erich Taube. That way, project staff could work with their familiar tool without needing any
expertise in the use of SAP. TPG developed the custom feature and implemented it together with the rest of the
system. On the Alfmeier side, Erich Taube and his team facilitated user acceptance by organizing multiple training
courses”.
“We’re really pleased with the new EPM system, as it standardizes the entire planning procedure. We’ve set up a
project cockpit that enables us to see the status of every project at the click of a mouse.”
They also designated individuals in the PMO who could intervene immediately in case of any problems in the field.
In addition, the team supports several power users in the local offices who are able to help their colleagues quickly
when queries arise”.
Result: Production System Running Well
“The production system has been running smoothly since May 2016 and supports all new projects. Although the
previous system is still being used to support some older projects, it will gradually be retired once these projects are
completed. Erich Taube believes this stage will be reached by the end of 2017. “We’re really pleased with the new
Microsoft PPM system, as it standardizes the entire planning procedure. We’ve set up a project cockpit that enables
us to see the status of every project at the click of a mouse,” he says.
MN601 Network Project Management 2019 T2 MN601 Assignment-1 SYD MEL V1.3 4 of 5
Prepared by: DR Karthik Nagarajan Moderated by: DR Wanod Kumar
“The bidirectional synchronization between Microsoft Project and SAP, based on TPG PSLink, is also running
satisfactorily. It sends project information, WBS elements, actual hours and planned costs from Microsoft Project
to SAP; and actual costs, profitability information and resource updates from SAP to Microsoft Project. TPG
ProjectLink is used for multi-level scheduling. As a Microsoft Project Server extension, this product enables crossproject links. These are used for large-scale components handled in a master plan and several sub-plans. The master
plan contains the requirements which the sub-project managers have to observe. The information from the subplans is reported back to the masterplan”.
Benefits of the New Solution
“The solution’s main benefit to our business is clearly better and more efficient planning, which in turn helps us
ensure we complete our projects on time and on budget,” notes Erich Taube.
“We also save a lot of time on reporting, as we no longer need to ask each project manager individually to produce
a report – we simply roll them all up together as everyone’s using the same system.”
“These reports compare actual costs, profitability information and completed milestones. They also visualize the
differences between target and actual values with a traffic light display. The PMO also has more visibility into the
workloads of project managers and teams, another factor that contributes to better planning”.
“We also save a lot of time on reporting, as we no longer need to ask each project manager individually to produce
a report – we simply roll them all up together as everyone’s using the same system.”
“Alfmeier has about 100 projects in the new system, of which approximately 60 are running in parallel. Around 80%
of the projects comprise 300-350 tasks”.
“The larger ones can have up to 1000 tasks, so the new enterprise project management solution is essential to help
us ensure these complex projects are completed efficiently from a cost and resourcing point of view,” adds Taube.
Next Steps
“Erich Taube and his team are expanding usage of the project management system to more users – there are
currently around 35 people using Microsoft Project Client and 150 using Project Web App – while increasing the
number of projects running on the system”.
“We’ve started with fairly small steps to ensure we got things right before extending it to a large group of users,”
concludes Erich Taube. “As we say at Alfmeier, it’s small things that set large ones in motion!”
Assignment task
Write a report on the above case study that addresses the following issues; and carry out research on project
management practice and discuss the ethical implication. In your report, you must use the headings given
in Table 1. We encourage you to use 5- 10 key peer reviewed sources for your analysis (a combination of
journals, conference papers, website links or any other reliable source to support your analysis).
MN601 Network Project Management 2019 T2 MN601 Assignment-1 SYD MEL V1.3 5 of 5
Prepared by: DR Karthik Nagarajan Moderated by: DR Wanod Kumar
Table 1: Report headings with description and marks distribution

Heading	Description	Marks
1. Executive Summary	Include executive summary providing a succinct overview of the case, issues and your analysis of the case	5
2. Key issues	Explain the key issues described in the case. In your opinion why do you believe these issues need to be resolved? Review it from a business risk management perspective	5
3. Leadership characteristics	Explain the leadership characteristics that Erich Taube exhibited in the case. Use relevant examples from the case in your analysis	5
4. Project Success	Explain the key factors that led to this project success. What benefits were achieved by implementing the new solution	5
5. Ethical issues	As a project manager what PMI ethical values does Erich Taube need to adopt to build reputation to his team and his organisation	5
6. References	List all references and give in-text referencing using IEEE referencing style.	5
TOTAL	30

Marking Rubric:

Grade → Mark →	HD 80-100%	DI 70-79%	CR 60-69%	P 50-59%	Fail <50%
For ↓	Excellent	V. Good	Good	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory
All questions	All points discussed are pertinent and covered in depth. Demonstrated the ability to think critically and make good use of the source material.	Points presented are relevant and soundly analysed.	Points presented are generally relevant and analysed.	Points presented are somewhat relevance and briefly discussed.	Points presented are not relevant to the assignment topic.