GBEN4006 Project Management Module Handbook | OBU

GBEN4006 Purpose of this Handbook

This module handbook provides you with specific information that underpins the design, delivery, and management of this module. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the contents of this Module Guide and to talk to your module leader if you have any questions.

This isn't the only handbook available to you. Alongside this handbook, you will also have access to the Programme Handbook, which will provide you with information that is central to your studies, including policies and regulations, student support and wellbeing and all the services available to you through Student Support. It also details the design, delivery principles and management of your programme, and provides you with an overview of your key contacts for your programme of study and lists all the modules you will be / might be studying throughout the duration of your award.

Table of Contents

Purpose of this handbook

1 Introduction
1.1 Module Details...
1.2 Academic Team Contact Details
1.3 Changes to the handbook

2 Module Learning, Delivery and Planning...
Module Aim
Module Learning Outcomes
Mode of Delivery
Lesson and Assignment Schedule..

3 Module Reading....

Reading: Textbooks & Journals...
Reading: Websites....

4 Module Assessment
Overview
Task
Summary Information...
Assessment details..
Formatting Guidelines (Mark 10%)
Submission instructions
How your work will be marked...
Feedback

GBEN4006 Introduction

Module Details

Module Name: Project Management
Credit Value: 20
Total Study Hours: 200

There are 9 hours per week of time spent in the classroom for 5 weeks. In addition to this, there are another 130 hours of self-study time and 25 hours of assessment preparation. Therefore, in addition to coming to class each week, you must make sure that you are able to study for another 31 hours per week.

You must make arrangements to attend each session on time and engage in all the learning activities so that you can pass and achieve great results. Please contact your SST and inform your lecturer in the event of an attendance issue. Refer to the programme handbook for SST contact details.

This module builds on the foundational knowledge you acquired in your level 3 studies, particularly in modules such as "Introduction to Business". This module introduces you to the fundamentals of project management. You will be able to develop knowledge, techniques and skills required to develop, plan, manage and control projects successfully in today's complex business environment. The module will also focus on preparing you to identify and manage risks associated with business start-up projects.

GBEN4006 Module Learning, Delivery and Planning

The module will outline the need for managing projects and its significance in the modern world. The content will explore key introductory principles, analytical techniques and practical applications of project management in the context of a business enterprise.

The content will explore key definitions, structures and frameworks that underpin the study and practice of project management. The following broader topics inform the content of this module:

• Project management - business case; scope and work breakdown
• Planning - Gantt charts
• Design a project plan
• Planning a project, including activity networks and cost estimation and resource scheduling
• Risk management
• Execution and performance measurement
• Post-project review
• Leading the project and the project team, including skills
• Project Methodologies

GBEN4006 Module Aim

This module introduces students to the fundamentals of project management. Students will be able to develop knowledge, techniques and skills required to develop, plan, manage and control projects successfully in today's complex business environment. The module will also focus on preparing students to identify and manage risks associated with business start-up projects.

The module aims to:

• Provide an understanding of project management concepts, tools and techniques.
•  Develop students' understanding of problem-solving, decision-making and project management methodology and its limitations.

Module Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

LO1 Describe the value of project management and its methodologies to an organisation.
LO2 Identify the main factors and performance requirements of project management.
LO3 Apply the principles and practice of project management to a chosen project

GBEN4006 Module Reading

Reading: Textbooks & Journals

Core reading:

• Ang, S. H. (2021). Research Projects for Business & Management Students. Sage.
• Clegg, S. R., Skyttermoen, T., and Vaagaasar, A. L. (2020). Project management: A value creation approach. 2nd edn. London: Sage.

Recommended:

• Pinto, J. K. (2013). Project management: achieving competitive advantage. 3rd edn. Boston: Pearson.
• Davies, A. (2017). Projects: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Maylor, H., and Turner, N. (2022). Project Management. 5th edn. Harlow: Pearson.

GBEN4006 Module Assessment

Overview

The assignment should be submitted as a single Microsoft Word document in the Assignment Template, which contains the cover page and assignment structure. Make sure to proofread your work before submission to avoid spelling or grammar mistakes. Ensure that referencing is correct and ensure that your work draws on online resources, including eBooks, articles, and credible secondary data sources for all parts.

Task

Summary Information

 GBEN4006 Assignment Details

This assignment requires you to write a 2,500-word project plan and report based on a fictitious fundraising event taking place on your campus.

You have been asked to advise the senior management team of GBS on a fictitious fundraising project to raise donations for disadvantaged children living in your local community. Provide information on Stakeholder Analysis, Planning and Risk Management as important project management factors that contribute to the successful delivery of this project.

Your analysis should be performed from the perspective of a project management professional.  Give examples from practice to illustrate your account.

Further details and additional information for the fictitious fundraising event are included below in the case study.

GBEN4006 Case Study:

Global Banking School (GBS) is a fast-growing higher education provider in the United Kingdom. The institution has 10 campuses across the UK and is expanding further due to its popularity amongst education-seekers. Recently, the CEO of GBS has received a request from your local council to participate in a charity event to raise funds for underprivileged children living in your local community. The event is scheduled to happen in 20 weeks. To help raise maximum donations, the CEO has instructed the senior management team to organise a fundraising event at your campus within that time frame. Doing so can help the GBS senior management team in its goal to raise awareness amongst the enrolled students and collect as much funding as possible for the social cause contribution.

The senior management of GBS has shown interest in your capabilities but wants to ensure that you understand the principles of project management. Therefore, you have been requested to prepare a project plan for organising a fundraising event at your campus.

GBEN4006 Additional Information:

• Assume that you have been selected to lead the fictitious project.
• Assume that you will have a total of 20 weeks to complete the project after submitting the project plan.
• You can select 5-10 hypothetical team members from the GBS community (staff and/or students to join you in the completion of this fictitious project.
• The budget allocated for the project in your campus would be £20,000.
• The total capacity of students who could attend your fictitious event would be 500.

Assignment Structure

GBEN4006 Part 1 (2000 words | Mark 70%| LO1, LO2, LO3)

Project Plan

Provide a project plan and analysis of the fundraising project. You must address the following points in part 1 of this assignment:

• Provide an overview of the structure of the report and introduce the fundraising project to be evaluated.
• Choose an appropriate methodology for the fundraising project and give reasoning for your choice.
• Discuss the importance of project planning and link to the project you have chosen.
• Include time planning for your project with the use of a Gantt Chart.
• Identify the stakeholders for the fundraising project and the significance of stakeholders’ analysis.
• Create a Stakeholder matrix.
• Briefly describe risk management and discuss its significance with relevance to your project.
• Create a risk register to identify the risks that can arise in your project and categorise them in terms of the impact.
• Discuss the importance of team building in projects, specify how many team members you will require, and provide a rationale for the number of students incorporated into the team.

GBEN4006 Part 2 (500 words | Mark 20% | LO2, LO3)

Strategic Conclusion

Provide a strategic conclusion to summarise the following:

• How your planning, stakeholder analysis, and risk assessment will contribute to the successful delivery of this fundraising project.
• How your plan would help GBS senior management reach their goal to raise funds and awareness.

Note: You can discuss how the use of models, theory, and project management tools (that you wish to incorporate into your report) can help you with making this project a success.

Formatting Guidelines (Mark 10%)

This assessment should be submitted as a single MS Word document, including the cover page available on Moodle.

• The MS Word template document must be used.
• Use Arial font.
• Set the font size to 12pt for the main text.
• Apply 1.5 or double spacing throughout the document.
• Clearly indicate each part of the assessment, following the template structure.

Submission instructions

This assessment should be submitted before 23:59 on Monday, 11th August 2025 via Turnitin on Moodle.

You should submit all work for summative assessment by the above deadline. Work not submitted by the deadline will be marked as 0% RN (refer, no work submitted) unless there is a valid reason for the late submission (i.e. having been granted an extension to the deadline or a deferral via the Exceptional Circumstances procedure). For information on exceptional circumstances, additional support and assessment guidance, please refer to your programme handbook.

Work marked as 0% RN can be resubmitted as per below.

For guidance on Poor Academic Practice (PAP) or breaches of Academic Conduct (AC), including the misuse of AI, please refer to the relevant policy document online at GBS Academic Good Practice and Academic Conduct: Policy and Procedure.

Feedback and marks for this assignment will be available within three weeks of the deadline 

Resubmission date and time

The Oxford Brookes University Regulations for Study (6.9) set out the rules governing your entitlements to resit assessments and retake modules. You can make your resubmission by Sunday, 21st September 2025, by 23:59.

Key Principles that students should be aware of in making resubmission.

A reassessment task will normally take the same form as the original assessment.

The mark that you achieve for a resit will be capped at the pass mark - this means 40% for this module. The only exception to this will be where you have made a successful claim for exceptional circumstances, in which case, the mark achieved at resit would not be capped.

How your work will be marked

Once the submission date has passed, your module lecturer will begin to mark your work. There are a number of phases to this, which ensure fairness is maintained across the whole team, including a pre-marking calibration meeting, marking and post-marking internal moderation of grades. Following internal moderation, a sample of work is reviewed by a Subject Expert at Oxford Brookes University and an External Examiner for the programme to ensure that the standards applied are comparable to those at other institutions. For further details on how your work is moderated, please go to your programme handbook.

Your work will be assessed on the extent to which it demonstrates your achievement of the stated learning outcomes for this assignment and against other key criteria, as defined in the University's institutional grading descriptors. If it is appropriate to the format of your assignment and your subject area, a proportion of your marks will also depend upon your use of academic referencing conventions.

This module will be marked according to the grading matrix provided in the assignment brief.

Feedback

Feedback on your work will be provided in a range of ways at various times throughout this module, and different feedback will serve slightly different purposes. Feedback is designed to support your learning and help you to improve subsequent work, so you need to engage and get the most out of the feedback provided.

Please note that feedback is provided throughout the module, not just on formally assessed tasks. It will be provided on your work and contribution in class, on the formal assessment tasks and, in some circumstances, during student office hours.

Assessment feedback will normally be provided within three weeks of submission.

If you would like further information about feedback, or how to use it, please talk to your module leader on this module or your level leader.

Please note that all marks are provisional until they are ratified by an Examination Committee.