MANGT 515: Cost and Value Management

Textbook Information

  • Textbook: ISBN: 978-1-119-93356-4, Cost and Value Management in Projects, 2nd edition, Venkataraman and Pinto, 2023, Jon Wiley & Sons
  • This textbook will be readily available through the Penn State Libraries E-Book program at no cost to the student. Students do not need to purchase a physical copy of the book. Instructions for accessing the E-Book will be provided in the course.

Published Remarks

  • None

Hardware Requirements

  • None

Software Requirements

Proctored Exams

  • None

Course Description

A problem-based course that emphasizes project cost control and teaches students to apply techniques to control projects in business. 

Course Overview

MANGT 515 is a problem-based, interdisciplinary course that places project and product controls, particularly in respect to cost, at the center of the project management process and ensures that students understand and can specify and apply appropriate techniques to control the overall project in a modern business environment. During your study, it is expected that you will draw on your own work experiences to further enhance your understanding of the subject matter. Therefore, many of the course assignments may be completed by using real situations and instances from your experience. We ask only that you maintain the integrity of private information in these assignments by changing any names such that individuals are not able to be identified.

MANGT 515 materials include a textbook and online course content lessons available through Canvas. There are 13 content lessons or topics of study. There are also readings from the Penn State Libraries which you are expected to have read and understood by the time you take the final exam.

You may study this material at your own pace, meaning that you will be able to read and work through this information at a rate that works best for your learning style. A course schedule is posted later in this document to help keep you organized over the course of the semester. Canvas was designed to help facilitate your understanding of the content. It contains a link to discussion forums that you can use to ask questions or discuss content issues with your professor and fellow delegates, e-mail access, a chat room, and other materials to aid you in your study.

What will be expected of you, the student?
As a student in this course, you are expected to read the material in the workbook and textbook and complete any self-assessments and your coursework assignment. You may work through this course at your own pace, but at each stage, you should

  • conscientiously read and reflect on the material
  • ask questions (via the Web, e-mail, phone, or in person) of your instructor and fellow delegates on issues you don’t understand
  • complete your midterm assignment
  • complete other assignments as required by your instructor
  • prepare for your final exam

Objectives

MANGT 515 is a problem-based, interdisciplinary course that places project and product controls, particularly in respect to cost, at the center of the project management process and ensures that students understand and can specify and apply appropriate techniques to control the overall project in a modern business environment. The course focuses on the use of methods for effective cost control in the project environment. How can an organization implement projects while maintaining control of its costs and value? The specific objectives of the course are:

  • To learn the importance of cost and value management on successful project ventures.
  • To understand “cost” and “value” as these terms apply to project management
  • To understand the nature of budgeting and financial analysis for project selection and control
  • To learn about the types of forecasts that are needed in a project environment and some of the important techniques that can be used to generate such forecasts.
  • To develop skill in using project management reporting mechanisms to estimate project costs and investments, schedule and control resources, and track the progress of their projects.
  • Enhance the ability to interpret control information as it allows for change (configuration) management of mid-stream projects
  • To develop a multi-disciplinary outlook for operating on project teams, recognizing the dual (and sometimes competing) demands of managing the technical and cost-related sides of a project.
  • To understand why managing cash flow is vital to project success and the various payment arrangements and plans that influence cash flow in projects. 
  • To understand how effective management of the project supply chain can enhance value in projects
  • Provide a framework for integrating cost and value in a project environment.

Course Requirements and Grading

The following are the major assignments for this course:

Assignment

Value

Final Exam

30%

Midterm Assignment

15%

Homework

40%

Participation

15%

Total

100%

Evaluation of Your Contribution to online participation:

For selected lessons, I will offer a series of questions to spark the online discussion. Student contribution to the discussion forums will be evaluated based on the substantive (value-added) nature of the posts, not just on the number of posts made to the board. The more you apply the information from the text and the lessons the better! To learn the material in this course, you must READ and APPLY. I would like to see the integration of the theoretical concepts and frameworks provided in the text and lessons. I suggest that students “go digging” to support their ideas. Move beyond merely offering your opinion. Think about your life or work experiences that support your positions. Please see the following chart with GUIDELINES for your performance on the online participation assignments:

Poor (20/40) Acceptable (30/40) Exemplary (40/40)

Overall, posts show:

  • No or little integration of theoretical concepts and frameworks from course content (text materials, assigned readings, and/or lessons).

In addition,  posts fit into one or more of the following categories:

  • Merely opinion statements – “shooting from the hip.”
  • Repeat a point made by another person.
  • Do not enhance or promote the discussion.
  • No evidence that student has “gone digging” to find secondary sources that support ideas.
  • Very short – ranging from a few words to one/two sentences that do not include “the WHY.”

Posts include:

  • Some integration of theoretical concepts and frameworks from course content (text materials, assigned readings, and/or lessons).
  • Does not show evidence that the student has “gone digging” to find secondary sources that support ideas.
  • Includes comments that enhance or promote the discussion.
  • Include comments that specifically address issues raised in other posts.
  • Does not include comments that specifically address issues raised in other posts.
  • Does not include comments that offer work or life experiences that support ideas.

Overall,  posts include:

  • Integration of theoretical concepts and frameworks from course content (text materials, assigned readings, and/or lessons).
  • Evidence that student has “gone digging” to find secondary sources that support ideas.
  • Comments that enhance or promote the discussion.
  • Comments that specifically address issues raised in other posts.
  • Comments that offer work or life experiences that support ideas.

NOTE: I am looking more for the value-added nature of your posts, not at the need to add sheer quantity to the board. After the due date, I will post my take or comments on the announcement page for each online participation set.

A maximum of 40 points can be earned for participation for each interactive session on the discussion board during the semester. These sessions will be initiated and facilitated by your instructor. In addition to the major assignments, you will be asked to complete other activities throughout the course. These homework assignments will be posted every two weeks to the course discussion forum. For a list of assignments, see the course schedule.

Course Grading Scale

Your final grade for the course will be based on the following overall percentage breakdown:

A 93.0 – 100%
A-  89.0 – 92.9%
B+ 85.0 – 88.9%
B 80.0 – 84.9%
B- 75.0 – 79.9%
C+ 70.0 – 74.9%
C  65.0 – 69.9%
D 60.0 – 64.9%
F <60%