The assessment is designed to cover the following learning outcomes (LOs) for this
Module. By the end of this module you will be able to:
1. Critically understand the business case and managing project budgets.
2. Understanding the project finance process, and evaluating project
sustainability.
3. Critically review the procurement; acquisition management processes, and
principles of contractual negotiations.
4. Critically review the contractual and broader legal issues with regards to the
customer/supplier relationship.
4. The Assessment details
Investigative Research
There are 4 objectives that you will need to answer for this assessment (see section 5).
Using the literature, you will need to critically engage with the literature for further context
and insight in order to write the assessment. For this assessment you will have the
opportunity to critique current practice in project management drawing on the literature
and any of the theoretical concepts, theories, models and examples in project management
including what has been covered from this module (BUDCOM), to provide justification for
your answers for this assessment which must be supported by evidence from the literature
(academic books and journal articles). You may also cite from professional bodies and
Institute websites e.g. Association of Project Management (APM), Project Management
Institute (PMI), Chartered Management Institute (CMI), Government and Industry websites
but there must be a balance with the use of academic references. Use of ‘wikis’ is to be
avoided.
5. Assignment Objectives (Your Task)
In order to meet the learning outcomes (LOs) for this module please answer all of the
following 3 points:
. Critically examine the business case and necessary requirements for providing
funding for Projects, with a specific focus on Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Financing
of large and complex infrastructure or similar types of projects.2
. Discuss the project finance process, including the Cost estimate & Budget
Monitoring; Include a critical review of Benefits realisation and consider evaluating
project sustainability.
3. Critically review the buyer/supplier relationship in an increasingly competitive and
sophisticated commercial environment, including contracting/tendering framework
and key aspects of the negotiating process in organisation(s) and/or industry
sector(s) with which you are familiar.
• Use suitable examples/references from the literature or projects/cases with which
you are familiar to support your discussion.
6. Assessment format:
This assessment will comprise of a report with a word limit of 3,500 words.
The Title
page, Contents page, List of References and Appendices are not included as part of the
wordcount. An Abstract/Executive summary is not required. There is no allowable
tolerance to exceed the word limit, so you will need to stay within the specified limit,
failure to do, so will result in marks being deducted.
Please use the following report structure:
6.1 Title page: Include your UP number UPXXXXX, Module number M20564, and title
“Budget and Commercial Management – Report”.
6.2 Contents page: Include the numbered headings and sub-headings from the main
body of the report to link with the corresponding page numbers. Include a list of
Figures and Tables used in the report and their page numbers, as well as a heading for
the List of References and Appendices.
6.3 Introduction: This should provide the context of the assignment and outline the
key topics that will be discussed (i.e. the objectives). Use up to 200 words for this
section of the report.
6.4 Main body of the Report: This should address objectives 1 to 4 as outlined in
Section 5 (use around 500 words as a guide to answer each objective). Use numbered
headings (e.g. 1, 2, 3 etc) which can be broken down into sub-headings (e.g. 1.1, 1.2,
1.3 and. 2.1, 2.2. 2.3 etc) to help structure your answer for each objective. These
headings should correspond with the information provided in the Contents page. The
writing style should be in the third person.
