Welcome to Economic, Social and Environmental Analysis.

“Project management” is a generic area of study, where the principles and practices can be applied to projects of all types. These projects can range from, say, those of a domestic scale such as the management of a child’s party, or the construction of a barbeque, to those of national importance such as the redesign of the taxation system or construction of submarines.

All courses in the program have been written from a generic perspective, but include reference to four basic but fundamentally different types of projects, including

“Not for profit service activities”, e.g. “The provision of ambulance services to a new town”
“Not for profit manufacturing activities” e.g. “The re development of a University facilities”
“Profit driven service activities”, e.g. “The provision of consulting services for defence software”, and,
“Profit driven manufacturing activities”, e.g. “The development of new production facilities for a brewing company”
This Course is “Economic, Social and Environmental Analysis”, and broadly covers the theory and techniques used to determine the feasibility and choice of projects, particularly from a financial perspective. The fundamental processes can be applied to each of the four projects listed above, and which will be so described from time to time throughout the written material. 
 
 The course examines the relationship between business firms and society and presents issues in social and environmental responsibility. In particular, the relationship between social and environmental responsibility and corporate performance is explored.

Now, it is essential that students relate the material in this course to their organizations, the typical projects their organizations’ undertake, the management of those projects and the students’ individual role(s) within those projects.

Students will be required to describe the linkages between the material in this course and their experience through formal and informal “Online” tutorials, discussions and assignments.

To this  year's class undertaking the unit MPM 416 Economic, Social and Environmental Analysis, I welcome you all, and by means of introduction, I offer a short CV outlining my qualifications and experience below.

Qualifications 

• Masters of Business Administration, Murdoch University, WA, 1993
• Graduate Diploma in Property, University of South Australia, 1992
• Bachelor in Applied Science in Building Studies, 1990
• Associate Diploma in Civil Engineering, University of South Australia, 1987
• Certificate IV in Training and Assessment  2012

 Experience

I am currently the managing director and a founding member for the CUBO group of companies. CUBO has evolved into a property development and construction company, focusing on office, retail and industrial properties.

I have extensive experience in property development and project management and have been directly involved in a variety of commercial and residential projects.

Having a hands on approach to the business, I endeavour to involve myself in all facets of the development and construction process including:

• Investigating development opportunities
• Determining project scope and objectives
• Developing project strategies
• Risk assessments
• Preparing feasibility studies and cash flow projections
• Estimating and project scheduling
• Coordinating the development assessment requirements
• Assessing and executing the tender process
• Construction management
• Marketing of the project

Early in my professional career, I worked as a commercial property consultant and gained extensive experience in the commercial leasing and sales domain and I played an integral part of the project consulting team.

Through completing an equivalent course to Economic, Social and Environmental Analysis while undertaking my Masters in Business Administration, I have acquired an invaluable set of capital budgeting tools that I am able to draw upon on a daily basis to effectively manage the business.

I will do all I can to support you on your journey and help you overcome any obstacles to your success in this course.

I am delighted as unit coordinator, to welcome you to this online course and am looking forward to working with you in the next few months or so.
I hope that this course will be as significantly beneficial to you and your professional careers as it has been for me.

Cheers
Michael Ditillo

Michael Ditillo

Email: michaeld@cubo.com.au  or  Michael.Ditillo@unisa.edu.au

Mobile: 0412 823 822 

SCHOOL CONTACT DETAILS

University of South Australia
School of Natural and Built Environments
GPO Box 2471
Adelaide SA 5001

Telephone: (08) 8302 2227
Fax: (08) 8302 2252

Program Academic  Coordinator: Jacqueline Jepson 
 jacqueline.jepson@unisa.edu.au
 +61 8 8302 2445

UniSA Student Advisers
Tel: +61 8 8647 6145
Fax: +61 8 8647 6082
Tel: 1300 361 450 (local call cost - mobile and payphone extra)
Email: ouainfo@unisa.edu.au
Website: http://w3.unisa.edu.au/oua/

Online resources for this unit can be accessed from your unit homepage via your UniSA student portal https://my.unisa.edu.au. 

Please also check the OUA @ UniSA website for frequently asked questions and information on administrative processes for OUA students studying with UniSA. http://w3.unisa.edu.au/oua/

OUA students enrolled in UniSA units are eligible to use the Library to support their study. Regardless of where you live UniSA’s Off Campus Library Service can help you. Services include phone and online assistance, electronic document delivery to your desktop and postal delivery of loan items and documents. www.library.unisa.edu.au/services/oua/

Unibooks is UniSA’s preferred textbook supplier and textbooks can be purchased online at www.unibooks.com.au.

MPM 411 Principles of Project Management

There are no corequisite Subjects to be completed in conjunction with this Subject.

On completion of this Subject, students should be able to:

CO1. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of economic, social and environment contexts that influence and constrain typical projects.

CO2. Apply advanced skills in analysing trends and forecasting with particular reference to trends in sustainability.

CO3. Understand the corporate finance and decision making principles relevant for project selection and management.

CO4. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of financial and trend analysis at each phase of the project life cycle so that you can prepare the relevant documentation for the project

Upon completion of this Subject, students will have achieved the following combination of Graduate Qualities and Subject Objectives:

4.5 unit points

It is essential to integrate theory and practice in your study.
As you proceed through the course, you will be asked to use the activities as a way of linking theory and practice. The assignments also require you to do this. The activities and assignments are only prompts. You will constantly need to make these links for yourself. Knowledge gained through your previous study and your own experience will be useful in this regard.
You are expected to devote about 180 hours to this subject. This includes time for studying each topic—the readings and activities and for assessment. Remember, though, this is a general guide. The topics are not necessarily of the same 'size', that is, requiring the same amount of time! You must therefore plan your study time carefully.
We hope that you will find the study of Economic, Social and Environmental Analysis Environmental a satisfying experience.


To successfully complete this unit, students must:

• Complete all assessment requirements for the unit; and,
• Attain at least a P2 overall Grade.

A table outlining the unit structure and study schedule is printed at the back of this guide. Please refer to it for important information regarding due dates for assignments.

There are no textbooks listed for this Subject.

In addition to the materials provided as part of the study package, the following resources are available and you are encouraged to make use of them in your studies.

CUSTOM E-TEXT BOOK

A custom e-Text has been created for Economic, Social and Environmental Analysis
Students can purchase and download the e-text by going to the following link:

http://www.pearson.com.au/9781486003457
 

The eReader may be accessed through the course homepage.

No materials are dispatched for this unit. All materials are available online.

All other unit related materials can be accessed through your learnonline unit site which you will be able to access from the my Courses section in myUniSA.

All study related materials can be accessed through: https://my.unisa.edu.au

The feedback proforma is available on your course site.

Type – Individual assessment

Discussions and tutorials forums are available to students two weeks in advance. Submission of tutorials and discussion will close every Monday at 5pm. If you are unable to meet these deadlines, please advise Michael Ditillo in advance.

Group Assignment

Students are to choose an organization unrelated to their own and interview a senior executive(s) to determine :

• A general overview of the company
• The organisation’s ownership, core business, and the type and scale of its operations.
• Its External and Internal environment.
• Create a list of strategic factors facing the company facing the company at this time

External Environmental Analysis

Analyse the natural and societal environment to see what general trends are likely to affect the industry(s) in which the company is operating.
Develop a table showing, 8 to 10 external factors. These should be the most important threat facing the company. (Rank the factors from the most to least important).

Internal Organisational Analysis

Develop a table showing 8 to 10 internal factors. These should be the most important strengths and weaknesses of the company at the time of the case.

• The procedures used to determine project priorities,
• The management structure usually used for project delivery,
• The typical projects it undertakes,
• The project selection criteria, viz the economic, social and environmental criteria,
• How such criteria from each category are established and measured, and the relative importance of each area,
• How the final decisions are usually made, particularly when there is conflicting outcomes from different criteria,
• How the analysis outcomes are linked to the feasibility studies,
• How the organization’s feasibility material is documented,
• What sources of data are used in the studies,
• Details how project risk is assessed, and included in the studies
• How the accuracy of the assumptions made in the study material, is monitored, and assessed,
• The sources of funds to execute project(s),
• How they are generated,
• The repayment mechanisms and when economic criteria is involved in the selection process,
• The financial techniques used ( viz, Net Present Value or others),
• The reasons for their use,
• The monitoring of their effectiveness,
• What protocol exists or what methods are used by the company in order to terminate a project.

Linking theory with practice.

It is important that your group relates the material gathered from the interview/s and links it to the theory and techniques covered in this unit. This can be achieved by utilising the teaching material provided and/or other academic references that you may consider relevant. The assignment should be a critical comparison between the theory covered and what has been adopt in practice.

Requirements

a) Create a group agreement. A simple agreement setting out online collaboration strategies and techniques. The group agreement should provide the following information:

a) The role of each group member.
b) Clearly identify the work required.
c) Establish who is accomplishing what in the assignment.
d) Establish procedures for sharing progress updates via the forum.
e) Provide a schedule of works
f) Develop a communications plan- establishing reliable communication procedures

b) Minutes to meetings

Regular meetings should be held and a record of actions and decisions should be recorded.
The group agreement and minutes must be submitted with assessment 3. Note that the group agreement and group minutes do not form part of the word count.

  
Examination Details
Examination Duration: 180 minutes
Reading Time: 10 minutes

Examination Conditions:
The examination is  part open book

Materials Permitted In The Exam Venue:
3 x A4 double sided handwritten notes permitted
Any calculator permitted
No electronic aids are permitted e.g. laptops, phones

A penalty of 5 percent per day will be deducted from your marks for each day your assignment is late without approval.

Supplementary assessment is not available for this course.

All students must adhere to the University of South Australia's policies about assessment:
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp.

Students with disabilities may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements.

Policy for students with disabilities is available at:
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/policies/corporate/C07.asp.

If you indicated you have a disability when you enrolled through Open Universities Australia, you will be sent a letter about UniSA services for students with disabilities. UniSA encourages you to develop a Disability Access Plan with the UniSA Disability Service.

http://www.unisa.edu.au/Disability/Current-students/Open-University-Australia/ 

Variation to assessment methods, tasks and timelines can be provided in:

Unexpected or exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement, unexpected illness (details of unexpected or exceptional circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clauses 7.8 & 7.9 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.

Special circumstances, for example religious observance grounds, or community services (details of special circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clause 7.11 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variations to assessment in expected circumstances must be requested within the first two weeks of the course (or equivalent for accelerated or intensive teaching).

More information about variation to assessment may be found by consulting the relevant policy: http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp (section 7).

UniSA is committed to fostering and preserving the scholarly values of curiosity, experimentation, critical appraisal and integrity. Students are expected to demonstrate high standards of academic integrity.

Academic integrity is a term used at university to describe honest behaviour as it relates to all academic work (for example papers written by staff, student assignments, conduct in exams, etc) and is the foundation of university life. One of the main principles is respecting other people's ideas and not claiming them as your own. Anyone found to have used another person's ideas without proper acknowledgement is deemed guilty of Academic Misconduct and the University considers this to be a serious matter.

The University of South Australia wants its students to display academic integrity so that its degrees are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens and that students adhere to high standards of academic integrity and honesty at all times, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct for all students. Work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be tested using the text comparison software Turnitin.

More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in Section 9 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM) at: http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/ or on the Learning and Teaching Unit website at: http://w3.unisa.edu.au/ltu/integrity/default.asp

The Course Evaluation Instrument (CEI) is an online software program used to construct, administer and aggregate student feedback on course delivery. This course will be evaluated by students towards the end of its
delivery cycle.

Conceded and Terminating passes are not available in this Subject.