Coursecode: mt726

Course name: Project Management in the Maritime Industry

ECTS creditpoints: 4

Subfaculty of Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology

Lecturer(s): Prof. Dr. Ir. U. Nienhuis MBA

Tel.:  015-27 8 5306

Catalog data:

Project management basics, project management scope, goal and result definition, five PM control aspects, planning, critical path, work-breakdown.structure, organisational structure, information flows, quality, cost calculation, project risk analysis, decision making, leadership styles, negotiation, contract terms and basics, culture, team composition, proposal preparation.

Course year:

MSc 1^st year

Period:

1B

Class hours per week:

Variable: abt 3

Other hours:

Project work in groups of 2 to 4 students

Assessment:

Group report + participation + Written exam

Assessm.period:

(see academic calendar)

Prerequisites:

Ø       In view of the availability of real-life projects from industry and the available class hours the lecturer may adhere to a maximum number of 20 students. If this is the case, admission will be in the order of registration through BlackBoard.

Ø       For students of Maritime Technology: mt501 (geometry & stability), mt517 (introduction to ship hydromechanics), mt701 (maritime operations), mt802 (ship structures 1), mt702 (ship production 1)

Ø       For students of Civil Engineering:

-          basic ship stability (Archimedes, metacentric height, Scribanti, righting moment)

-          basic ship resistance & propulsion (resistance estimation, propulsive efficiency, speed & power estimates)

-          basic strength & stiffness (simple beam theory (forget-me-nots), buckling loads)

Follow up:

mt727 (Shipyard processes), mt724 (Ship finance), mt728 (Ship repair & salvage), mt729 (Maritime Business Game)

Detailed description of topics:

CLASSES ON WEDNESDAYS (5th, 6th, 7th and incidentally 8th hour).

Contents and order of lectures are indicative and subject to change without notice. Subjects are:

¨       Introduction to course, learning goals, expected deliverables, evaluation criteria, introduction to project work, division of  students in teams, assignment of project case work, provision of case contacts and/or material;

¨       General introduction to project management, work breakdown structure, review of planning, planning methods, planning principles, critical path method, planning tools, level of detail, shipbuilding planning, examples from practice;

¨       Cost calculation, costing methods, rules of thumb, introduction to decision making

¨       Introduction to project organisation issues, types of organisations and their pros & cons, role of project manager, project organisation design;

¨       Introduction to culture, definition, types of culture, strength & weakness of culture, examples of culture-induced preferences;

¨       Introduction to information flows, documentation needs, information flow diagrams, information use, standardisation of information;

¨       Introduction to quality, types of quality, formal quality structures such as ISO, QA/QC-systems, project quality definitions, liabilities;

¨       Introduction to risk analysis, definition of risk, risk assessment methods, types of project risk, categorisation of risk, risk control options, project risk inventory;

¨       Introduction to negotiation, types of negotiation situations, structuring a negotiation, negotiation phases, formalising negotiation results, a negotiation case;

¨       Guest lecture on practical project management issues on a shipyard;

¨       Short role play to taste real-life project management issues and problems.

PROJECT WORK

The project work comprises a collaborative effort of a team of students. Each team will comprise two to four students. The case material will be supplied by industry. Each case will cover a recent real-life situation. Examples of previously carried out cases are:

>         Conversion of two VLCC’s into two FPSO’s;

>         Replacing the auxiliary engines in a gas tanker;

>         Salvaging of a Japanese fishing boat in the Pacific;

>         Building an oil recovery/survey vessel;

>         Conversion of a bulk carrier into a rock dumping vessel;

>         Newbuilding of an ultra-heavy platform-removal vessel;

>         Conversion of two VLCC’s into an ultra-heavy platform-removal vessel;

>         Building of a buoy laying vessel;

>         Salvage of the Tricolor in the English Channel;

>         Enhancing cargo carrying capacity of a ship by adding sponsoons.

>         Development of the Queen Mary II by means of model testing.

Each team will receive documents such as the industry has received as well. The team is required to prepare a project plan and corresponding bid. The team will be able to interact with the company’s representative to prepare the project plan. The result of the team will be presented to the participating company and the lecturer.

NOTE

Typically the student is expected to distribute the available hours along the following lines:

>         Following class:                                           abt 22 hours

>         Participate in role play:                                 abt 8 hours

>         Executing the case work                              abt 90 hours

>         Preparing for and taking the exam                 abt 6 hours

Course material:

Author and title of book to be announced at a later date.

References from literature:

To be supplied during first class.

Remarks assessment, entry requirements, etc.:

While the course may be given in English, not all project case material may be available in English. Since the project cases are supplied by industry and cannot be translated, the lecturer reserves the right to provide foreign language students with a specific task other than an industry-provided project case.

Assessment will be on the basis of:

Case Report & Presentation

The report will deal with the project management case issued to the group of students. The group is required to prepare a project plan for the case in hand and prepare a bid to the potential client. The report will detail the following items:

¨       Problem statement & analysis

¨       Precise demarcation of the project (goal, result, etc)

¨       Work breakdown structure

¨       Cost estimate and consequences for financing

¨       Organisational, quality and information flow issues

¨       Risk analysis and risk control options

¨       Bid document and conditions

¨       Conclusions and recommendations

The case-work will be presented by means of a PowerPoint presentation to a representative from the company that has provided the case and to the lecturer.

Written Exam

The 2-hour written exam will mainly aim at testing if the student has sufficiently mastered the whole breadth of the material covered in the course.

Individual Participation

Learning goals:

The following learning goals are pursued. Upon completion of the course the student must be able to:

1.       Apply the presented theoretical framework to a particular, practical case;

2.       Detail the project phases, formulate goal and results, identify and analyse the critical technical project aspects, assess the associated risks qualitatively and possibly quantitatively and develop risk control options;

3.       Develop a work break-down structure and translate this into a cost estimate and a planning;

4.       Develop a project plan in terms of Time, Money, Quality, Information and Organisation;

5.       Formulate a quotation with corresponding conditions;

6.       Analyse, structure and carry out a (simple) negotiation situation;

7.       Evaluate the use and limitations of project management theory.

Computer use:

Planning tool: MS Project. Further Excel, Word, possibly basic maritime technology software

Laboratory project(s):

None

Design content:

None

Percentage of design:  0%