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Managing Programmes and Portfolios (MPP) Module M32494
The Assignment for Academic Year 2021/22
- Submission deadlines for Assignment Report 80% and Multiple Choice 20%:
Group 1 deadline:
• Individual Report 4 March 2022,
• Close Multiple Choice on Management of Portfolios ILX e-learning 25 February 2022
Group 2 deadline:
• Individual Report 18 March 2022
• Close Multiple Choice on Management of Portfolios ILX e-learning 11 March 2022
Group 3 deadline:
• Individual Report 1 April 2022
• Close Multiple Choice on Management of Portfolios ILX e-learning 25 March 2022
Group 4 and any P/T Students deadline:
• Individual Report 20 April 2022
• Close Multiple Choice on Management of Portfolios ILX e-learning 8 April 2022
The release dates for the marks will be available on Moodle (in the online “Dropbox” section for this
module). Normally this is 20 working days following the date of submission. However, the release
date considers the end of term and the University shutdown for the Christmas vacation period. - How to submit your work
This is by electronic submission through Moodle (Turnitin) where you will upload the assignment in the
Dropbox set up for this purpose on the module site by 23:55 pm, otherwise the system will time you
out. When you upload your work remember to press the “submit” button which will then automatically
generate an electronic receipt as proof of the date and time of submission.
When submitting your assignment, please include your student number as the file name, for
example:”123456_report”. This is important to do as the work is marked anonymously.
PLEASE ONLY SUBMIT FILES IN WORD FORMAT
Please include your student number in the “footer or header” of your document. We’ve had
problems in previous years when the student ID could not be found anywhere in the assignment,
so we had no idea who to assign the mark to.
If you have any technical problems when submitting your work please take a screenshot of the issue
and send this to the Moodle technical team. Email: [email protected].
General IT issues should be reported in the usual way via Information Services (see: myport.ac.uk). The
telephone number is +44 023 9284 7777. Or you can email: [email protected].
2 - Assignment Case Study
Case Study: CROSSRAIL
The Crossrail project and programme, to be known as the Elizabeth line when operational, is one of
the most significant rail infrastructure projects undertaken in UK and Europe. The cost of the scheme
was originally estimated to be £15.9 billion however this rose to £18.8bn (Crossrail, 2020). A key
benefit of the new scheme is to improve passenger journey times across London, provide improved
connections and ease congestion on London Underground.
In terms of statistics Crossrail will be a new railway running form Reading and Heathrow Airport, West
of London, through to Paddington where it travels underground to Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road
and rises in Liverpool Street to travel out to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the East (see figure 1). The
railway will stretch over 100km or 60 miles in length and carry an estimated 200million annual
passengers (Crossrail, 2022a).
Figure 1: Crossrail Route Map (Crossrail, 2022b)
The final phase of the programme is Trial Operations and is fully underway and is the final step before
passenger service can fully commence. Crossrail is expected to be in operation in the first half of 2022
(Crossrail, 2021).
References
Crossrail (2022a) The Crossrail Project in Numbers, https://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/crossrail-innumber, date accessed 10 January 2022.
Crossrail (2022b) Crossrail Route Map, https://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/maps/, date accessed 10
January 2022.
Crossrail (2021) Crossrail Project Update, https://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/crossrail-projectupdate, 20 December 2021. Date accessed 10 January 2022.
Crossrail (2020) Crossrail Funding, https://www.crossrail.co.uk/about-us/funding. Date accessed 10
January 2022.
Useful website and Documents:
https://learninglegacy.crossrail.co.uk/about-learning-legacy/learning-legacy-framework/
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Whilst links to this project are included within this document and on Moodle to help develop your
assignment knowledge, you will also need to engage with further research and reading on the project
for further context. You will have the opportunity to critique current practice in project management
drawing on any of the concepts from this module to provide justification for your answers for this
assessment which must be supported by evidence from the literature (academic books and journal
articles). You may also cite from professional bodies and Institute websites e.g. Association of Project
Management (APM), Project Management Institute (PMI), Chartered Management Institute (CMI),
Government and Industry websites but there must be a balance with the use of academic references.
However, use of ‘wikis’ is to be avoided. - This assignment covers all learning outcomes (LOs) for this Module which are:
- Evaluate the significance of Programme and Portfolio management.
- Appraise the significance of developing and maintaining a comprehensive business case for a programme.
- Critically review the significance of benefits management and its impact on programmes
- Synthesise, the latest research on programme management and portfolio management.
- Assignment Objectives (Your Task):
a. Evaluate the significance of Programme’s and Portfolio’s and their management in relation
to the successful delivery of an organisation’s investment programme. Justify your answer
supported by evidence from the literature and links to the case study (LO1, LO4).
b. Appraise the significance of developing and maintaining a comprehensive business case for a
programme. Please ensure you relate theory to the case study (L02)
c. Critically review the significance of benefits management and its impact on programmes.
Support your answer by the literature and link this to the case study (LO3, LO4). - Assignment format:
Discussion paper of 2,200 words (excluding diagrams, references and appendices). Use a report
structure with a contents page, headings, sub-headings, page numbers, an introduction, main
body of the work covering objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4, conclusion, list of References and Appendices.
PLEASE ONLY SUBMIT FILES IN WORD FORMAT
All students should use APA 7 for referencing. Please seek help from the University library resources
and online help from library staff if unsure about referencing (this topic would have been covered in
Induction and will be additionally covered within the module). The email addresses for our librarians
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for the Faculty of Business and Law are as follows: [email protected] and
[email protected]
To avoid plagiarism which is an automatic fail, you must ensure that it is your own work
and all the sources you use within your work are fully cited. Do also ensure when
quoting directly from sources that you use indentation or quotation marks (as
appropriate) and cite the page number.
All assignment submissions will be checked for plagiarism and using ghost
writers/assignment contract writers, other students work or other sources. If an
assignment is found to be in breach of academic regulations – it will not be markerd
and referred for further scrutiny by the BAL Assessment Offences team who will
conduct an investigation.
All your sources should be listed in a reference list in accordance with APA 7th edition.
Students who fail to include a reference list will be penalised.
Appendix 1
ASSIGNMENT MARKING STRUCTURE - The table below will be used as the marking criteria guide for this assessment along with the University
Grade Criteria for Level 7 (see Appendix 2). - Students are advised to review their feedback in the first instance and may contact the tutor who
marked their work if they have any questions concerning the feedback and mark. Please note it is a
university policy that students cannot question the academic judgment of the tutors. However, if there
is a technical error this will be reviewed and corrected if it is a mistake. - The tutors will provide the provisional mark with feedback on your performance and some advice on
how your work can be improved to help with future assessments on this course. All marks will remain
provisional until confirmed at the Academic Boards.
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Appendix 2
University Grading Criteria Level 7
POSTGRADUATE LEVEL
80+ As below plus:
• Excellent work – able to express an original reasoned argument in a lucid
manner by reviewing and critiquing a wide range of material. Original,
critical thinking based on outstanding insight, knowledge and
understanding of material. Material contributes to current
understanding and is of potentially publishable quality in terms of
presentation andcontent.
• Wide reaching research showing breadth and depth ofsources.
70-79
60-69 As below plus:
• Clear, balanced coherent critical and rigorous analysis of the subject matter.
Detailed understanding of knowledge and theory expressed with clarity.
• Extensive use of relevant and current literature to view topic in perspective,
analyse context and develop new explanations and theories.
50-59 As below plus:
• Detailed review and grasp of pertinent issues and a critical contextual
overview of the literature. Thorough knowledge of theory and methods and
uses this to underpin arguments and conclusions.
• Confidence in understanding and using literature.
40-49 PASS
• Demonstrates grasp of key concepts and an ability to develop and support
an argument in a predominately descriptive way with valid conclusions
drawn from the research.
• Familiarity with key literature which is cited and presented according to
convention.
• Logical and clear structure, well organised with good use of language and
supporting material.
30-39
FAIL – Some knowledge of relevant concepts and literature but significant gaps
in understanding and / or knowledge. Little attempt at evaluation, conclusions
vague, ambiguous and not based on researched material. Limited or
inappropriate research. Deficits in length, structure, presentation and / or
prose.
0-29