Advanced Project Management for Online Teaching: University of Cambridge Case Study

Advanced Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................3
A. Project Selection and Portfolio Management....................................................................3
B. The organisational context................................................................................................6
C. Project Governance.........................................................................................................10
D. Leadership.......................................................................................................................12
E. Advanced Planning and Scheduling................................................................................14
Project management methodology...........................................................................................14
Agile methodology...................................................................................................................14
PRINCE2 methodology...........................................................................................................14
F. Managing and leading change.........................................................................................17
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................18
Self-evaluation.....................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................20
Books and Journals:.............................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
Project management exam important process which uses specific knowledge, tools
and techniques, skills, etc. to deliver something of value to people. It is the process which
focuses on leading the work of a team to achieve the goals in objectives of the project with
him the given constraints. Project management is required in every type of project whether it
is a small or big project (Gertzen, van der Lingen and Steyn, 2022). It also involves effective
planning in the organisation of the resources of the company to know how to move specific
tasks. In this context, one important project will be discussed in this report of the University
of Cambridge that decided to move online. Due to COVID-19, the University of Cambridge
and other UK universities migrated their undergraduate and post-graduate teaching to the
online platform (Zwikael and Smyrk, 2019). Now they want that all the lectures will be
permanently online until the summer of 2021. It was a very big project for the university as
they needed to face a big change in the module structure and programs. It represents one of
the biggest projects of the University and that's why it becomes necessary for managing the
project. This report includes some important aspects of project management which include
project selection and portfolio management. In addition to others, it will also cover the
organisational context, project governance, leadership, planning and scheduling and
managing and leading change.
MAIN BODY
A. Project Selection and Portfolio Management
The University of Cambridge is found to be a very famous university and college that
attract many visitors from all over the world. They have museums and a collection of old
treasures which makes it exciting to visit. It is also found that the University of Cambridge is
one of the world's oldest Universities. It is also found that this university is a self-governed
community of scholars (Han, Zhang and Yi, 2019). They are popular and represented because
of their outstanding academic achievement. This is the reason that it becomes very important
for them to take the right decision related to their project. They have a project that they
announced the lectures should be online until the summer of 2021. It was a very big project
for the University of Cambridge that they run in the recent year. The migration to online
teaching is not an easy task for them because it requires a big change in the program and
module structure. It also provided an impact on digital literacy because it increases the
demand for the need to adopt software for online teaching and online exams.

This project was very important for the University of Cambridge because the
education department was the most impacted department or sector (Bjorvatn and Wald,
2018). It became very important for them to provide online teaching and learning to the
students because they are not able to take face-to-face lectures. In order to continue the
teaching in learning of students, this project is adopted and it was the right decision according
to the viewpoint of the University of Cambridge as well as for the student. The project is
about designing the platform for online teaching and learning that will be performed by
universities for students after the pandemic. University announced that they will provide
online teaching in learning so that the students maintain social distancing and can stop the
propagation of this virus. For that purpose, they are focusing on transforming all the activities
in functions of the University into an online platform which is not an easy project for them
(Farashah Thomas and Blomquist, 2019). It is a type of design project in which the university
needs to design the online platform application so that they will be able to provide teaching
and learning. The University is expecting to pursue design project that will design the online
platform for the online studies. There are some more important reasons mentioned below that
show why this project is selected:
 The education sector is one of the most important sectors of the country and they have
a purpose for the development of students as they are the future of the country. Due to
COVID-19, the University of Cambridge and other UK universities took the decision
regarding online lectures. It was a very big decision for them because all lectures on
online platforms require a big change in the system of organisation (Hansen, Too and
Le, 2021). That’s why this project is selected. But it is important for the company to
consider some suggestions before taking any decisions regarding for project
selections.
 It is necessary to understand that the company needs to select one important project
screening and selection models. It includes checklist model, simplified scoring model,
analytical hierarchy process, financial methods (such as payback, discounted payback,
NPV, etc.) and profile model. It depends on the nature of the project. In addition to
this, it becomes necessary for organisation to look at the specificity of company and
the environment in which organisation is operated. So, it is suggested to the company
that they need to use profile model. Profile method is found to be one of the important
and useful methods for the selection of the project as it focuses on each and every area
regarding the project and makes a wise decision for the organisation. The profile

model require some important steps in order to apply for the projects selection that are
mentioned below:
o This method is work on plotting the risk and return options for number of
projects. The first step includes in the profile model is to plot the risk and
return options. That means its focus is on plotting risk and return options in
every project so that they are able to evaluate each project in detail and
identify which one project is beneficial. This decision is based on analysing
the risk should be minimum and the return should be high than they will take a
decision.
o Then identify the project which stand on the efficient frontier. After plotting
the risk and return options now the second important step is to identify the
project by analysing the first step so that day is able to take a decision that
which project stands on the efficient frontier. This is possible by analysing the
risk and return options of each project and comparing them with each other.
o The last step is discharging of the projects which are not stand on the efficient
frontier. The last step includes exclusion of all other options and projects
which found to be not good for the organisation.
 This method is found to be very easy as it is the straightforward model. But there is
risk that company can take decision only on the basis of risk and return which
becomes sometime wrong (San Cristóbal and et.al., 2018). In addition to this, the risk
is generally subjective assessment and sometimes it becomes difficult to reach and
overall agreement.
 After selection of the project, it is very important for company to know the
management of project portfolio. Project portfolio management is an important
process in which a company needs to select, prioritise and control the programs of the
organisation with its strategic objectives (Mohammed, 2021). It is recommended to
the organisation that they need to understand the importance of project management.
For that purpose, they can use different frameworks that will be become beneficial for
organisation.
From the above discussion, it is very clear that University is expected to pursue a design
project where they need to focus on all the activities that they perform physically and should
be transformed into an online platform so that they will be able to provide teaching and
learning without physical appearance (Williams and et.al., 2020). For better screening and

selection of projects, University has conducted a model which helps them to screen the
project very effectively which results in the effective selection of projects.
B. The organisational context
After covid 19 the University of Cambridge suddenly migrated all graduation and
post-graduation offline programs into online teaching. University announced that all lectures
will be permanently online (Shaw, 2019). This migration is going to online teaching it's
required a big change in the program and modules, materials re-skilling of lectures and
students. When an organization thinks about online teaching it includes digital literacy or the
adoption of software for online teaching or online exam. It’s a big change so the University
wanted to make the organization structure for online teaching. The online structure includes
various things just like Tows (Kuntner 2021). Tows analysis diagnose the internal and
external strength and weakness. Tows analysis is very similar to Swot analysis but there is
some difference between them. So, it is important to understand the TOWS analysis and it is
mentioned below:
Tows analysis
INTERNAL FACTORS
EXTERNAL
FACTORS
Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities  As it is already known
by every person the
University of
Cambridge is well
known because of its
repetition in the market
so that's why they can
grasp the opportunity
to attract students to
their online coaching.
 They are also found to
be successful in many
change management
processes and due to
this they can easily able
 The University
of Cambridge
can lose the
opportunity
because of its
little
experience in
the process of
transformation.
This is the
main reason
that they are
decided to
migrate all
graduate and