IT Management assignment

Purpose:

This assignment aims to develop students' understanding of the Rational Goal management model through the integration of theory and practice. It also highlights to students the value of periodically reflecting on their work and career experiences.

Task

Students are to write a reflective essay (max 750 words) which details how one of the Rational Goal Management Competencies (MCs) has been 'experienced' in the workplace. As part of this task students should clearly and accurately identify how their experience of the chosen MC is consistent with the characteristics of the Rational Goal model. 

Note: students need not have direct involvement with the management competency but simply observed its development, implementation or outcome in an organisational setting.

Students with no workplace experience on which to base their essay will need to identify and interview someone who can provide the required first-hand insight. A friend or family member would be suitable for this purpose.

The Assignment is divided into the following two stages. 

Asmt 1a

In stage 1, students complete and submit the Asmt 1a worksheet (located in the Asmt 1a folder on BB) by the due date. Answering the questions will help students identify the key components of their essay. 

Asmt 1b

The single document submitted for this stage of the assignment is to contain the following components and formatting features:

1. Assignment 'Coversheet' (document is available in the Assignment file on Blackboard).
2. Assignment 'Coverpage' identifying the unit name & code, assignment title, student name & ID, and the essay word count (note: Reference List content does not contribute to the word count).
3. Content; i.e. your Reflective Essay.
   • Both in-text and reference list skills must be demonstrated (students should follow the SCU Library's Harvard Referencing style Guide. The use of any other referencing style guide may result in the loss of marks).
   • The essay is to include at least two distinct references from academic journal articles. It is each student's responsibility to ensure that their articles are from a 'peer reviewed' academic journal; i.e. not a trade journal or magazine. Referencing newspapers, web pages or 'non- peer reviewed' content appearing in such sources is not permitted. You may cite your textbook and sources identified in it but they do not contribute to the reference count. Quoting is also not permitted. Paraphrase the information obtained from the various sources.

Time is critical for measuring the success of any activity. Being an IT major, I wanted to gain firsthand insight on how time is effectively managed in software development projects. So, I interviewed a project manager who had recently delivered a software solution for a global mining company. He worked with ACN, a global IT and consulting company with operations in Australia and involved in the development of software solutions and IT implementations for a varied client base. 

The manager told me that, at the corporate level, managing time is considered as a technique to effectively utilise resources – equipment, human and money, within a specified time frame to achieve the targeted goals successfully in the given project or assigned tasks. Time management is defined as one of the management behaviours with the intention to ensure that time is being used effectively in carrying out tasks to reach a set of goals (Claessens et al. 2007).

During the discussion, I found that a software development project comprises of various tasks which are carried out at the same time and the manager has to ensure that there is proper coordination in order to complete the task perfectly and roll out the solution on time. I understood that a team of software developers would work on several tasks which have different deadlines and have to incorporate other tasks they are assigned at the same duration. For example, in the development of a customised ERP solution, various developers, architects, database and network administrators and testers are involved. Each individual is assigned a task with deadlines, one task may be the input to another task, and they have to work in cooperation and coordination to meet the project goal (Clarke & O'Connor 2012). The manager told me that they prioritise tasks based on urgency and importance. He told me that, time is considered as an asset as it is used in the planning, measurement and evaluation of a project performance which is maintained through a set of deadlines, milestones and project goals.

I found that if there is any reoccurrence of delays while conducting the project, it results in conflicts between the team members, client and ACN and affect the individuals as well as the companies involved in the project. The extended duration of the project results in increased cost overheads and affects the expected revenue. Also, the reputation of the company would be harmed when projects are not completed on time and act as an impediment in gaining new contracts.