• Description

This course makes an introduction to two professional contexts which are strongly connected and with which professionals in Techniques of Software Development will have to deal with: organizations and projects. 

There is no doubt that it is necessary to understand some basic knowledge about the logic of the organizations (public, private, profit-oriented or not...) where TSD professionals will work on services/products. In fact, most organizations already use the "project-like'' approach to obtain these services/products regardless of whether they're outsourced or subcontracted or even managed internally by the organization itself. Besides, the organizations that usually work with projects, they end up having a structure adapted or oriented to projects. Therefore, taking into account the large amount of interactions between projects and organizations it makes sense to study them together.

Regarding the organizations and their context (the first half of the course), we will start the course presenting some important concepts: mission, vision, goals, area of activity, organizational structure, etc. The aim is to show the impact of these concepts when it comes to technology management in the organization, introducing examples of real organizations. Moreover, due to the strong link of these concepts to project management we'll also introduce Change Management. Following this, we present another perspective which is growing in importance in organizations: corporate social responsibility. This is related to the ethically oriented practices within the organizations and with their stakeholders or interested groups (workers, shareholders, customers, suppliers, etc). In addition, topics such as environmental sustainability will be introduced in this course due to its synergies with corporate social responsibility. Concerning this topic, some examples of the implementation of this corporate social responsibility will be discussed. 

Besides, we will introduce some main concepts about Economics, such as Supply and Demand and Finance (Risk, Net Present Value, etc...). These concepts have an impact on decision making processes concerning investments and funding of projects and they're naturally one of the pillars of project management.

Concerning the topics included in the second half of the course, we would like to highlight that projects are not only a technical issue (what is to be implemented, methodologies to be applied for developing the design of a software or for providing a service). They are also an organizational issue: they require applying tools and methodologies to make sure that the project is endorsed by the stakeholders inside and outside the organization and aligned with their expectations and all resources required to develop the product or service are in place. The body of knowledge related to project management activities can be applied in a wide range of fields or activities. In other words, it can be applied when building a bridge or when  making a scenic show. Currently, there are different methodologies and tools that provide guidelines and knowledge concerning project management such as PMBoK, PRINCE2 o PM2.  This course mainly follows PM2 (pronounced Project Management Squared or PM Squared) developed by the European Commission. It's quite simple and available to all organizations.

There are projects that have clear goals and a stated scope of the work since the starting phase of the project: they are predictive projects. In these projects, it's very easy to know what needs to be done at an early stage. This allows us to make predictions and create project schedules. However, there are other projects, especially in the software development area of activity, that usually don't have clear goals/scope/outcomes when starting the project. Therefore, we're not able to plan the schedule and/or anticipate the evolution of the project. These projects are adaptive or agile projects. In this scenario it's necessary to be flexible when determining the scope. An Agile framework has different tools and methodologies that are usually applied to these projects.

At the end of the course we will know the difference between activities related to developing service/products and all the activities related to project management. Concerning organizations, we will know how organizations impact on projects and vice versa.

• The subject within the syllabus as a whole

This is an introductory course of the Bachelor in Advanced Techniques of Software Development. It is a compulsory course, related with other compulsory courses such as Entrepeneurship, and other compulsory courses related to design and development (for instance: Advanced Web Programming, Database Design or Mobile Application Development).

Knowledge acquired in this course about organizations and projects which be also relevant in case the student conducted an Intership (optional).  Project methodologies introduced in this course will be useful, at least, when conducting Bachelor's Degree Final Project (mandatory).

• Professional fields to which it applies

The professional skills and competences of this course will be useful to have a general overview of the context of the organizations where the software developer conducts his/her job, or the organizations that use software. In addition, we will practice the basic skills of a team project member and we will gain basic knowledge of the project manager's role.

• Prior knowledge

This is an introductory course that doesn't require any previous knowledge.

• Information prior to enrolment

In order to pass the course the student must deliver all the mandatory activities (Continuous Assessment). Activities related to project management may require using project management software.

• Learning objectives and results

The course aims to provide a basic knowledge about organizations (broadly speaking: business companies, public administration, non profit-oriented organizations...) and provide a general overview of the internal function and the interactions with other external agents. Secondly, it aims to gain knowledge about the main skills of a project manager and what it's expected from him/her to be able to act as an active member of a project team. It aims to give shape to the intuitive knowledge that everybody with some professional experience has about what is an organization and what is a project.

Therefore, according to the official course plan of the Bachelor, the key competencies gained throughout the course are:

• CT1. Express ideas in writing clearly and correctly, to show mastery in terms and expressions that are specific to areas of software development in both academic and professional contexts.

• CE1. Identify the features of different organizations and the role played in them by ICT.

• CE2. Evaluate software solutions and draw up proposals for software development projects taking into account resources, available alternatives and market conditions.
• CEGC. Act honestly, ethically, sustainably, socially responsible and respectful of human rights and diversity, both in academic practice and professional practice.

• Content

The subject is organized into four challenges / content blocks:

- Challenge / Block 1. Organizations and technology. Organizations have relevant features that allow us to classify them: we will learn the key elements to understand this context where technology is also crucial.

- Challenge / Block 2. Corporate social responsibility, finance and technology. Ethical principles, environmental sustainability, or gender equality are as important to organizations as their technology. Moreover, this block will cover some key elements about analysis of financial states and financing/investment decisions.

- Challenge / Block 3. From intuition to formalization of Project Management. This block introduces project management, key concepts such as life cycle methodologies and the role of the project manager. It also introduces the structure of the PM2. 

- Challenge / Block 4. Adapting to change: being agile. This block introduces predictive and adaptive (or agile) approaches and the different scenarios where they are applied, and it also presents some of the main agile tools and techniques.

• View the UOC learning resources used in the subject

• Additional information on support tools and learning resources

The learning resources for each challenge / block that you will find available in the specific area of the classroom interface below the schedule are:

• Mandatory content. Mainly in textual format but, in some cases, in video format.Their study and review is absolutely necessary as it will allow you to understand the theoretical contents of course and to be able to successfully address the deliverables of each challenge / block.
• Optional / complementary content. Mainly in textual format. Their aim is to expand the knowledge of the block or go deeper into the topic. Reading these materials is not mandatory.
• Software. A minimum level of understanding and practice of some of the most popular project management tools (such as planners and kanban boards) may be required.
• Other complementary content that may eventually be provided by the course instructor.

For each item of the schedule you will also find the Study Guides, which are the instructions that will tell you how to read and study these resources.

• Guidelines on assessment at the UOC

The assessment process is based on students' own work and the assumption that this work is original and has been carried out by them.

In assessment activities, the following irregular behaviours, among others, may have serious academic and disciplinary consequences: someone else being involved in carrying out the student's assessment test or activity, or the work being not entirely original; copying another's work or committing plagiarism; attempting to cheat to obtain better academic results; collaborating in, covering up or encouraging copying; or using unauthorized material, software or devices during assessment.

If students are caught engaging in any of these irregular behaviours, they may receive a fail mark (D/0) for the assessable activities set out in the course plan (including the final tests) or in the final mark for the course. This could be because they have used unauthorized materials, software or devices (e.g. social networking sites or internet search engines) during the tests, because they have copied text fragments from an external source (internet, notes, books, articles, other student's projects or activities, etc.) without correctly citing the source, or because they have engaged in any other irregular conduct.

In accordance with the UOC's academic regulations , irregular conduct during assessment, besides leading to a failing mark for the course, may be grounds for disciplinary proceedings and, where appropriate, the corresponding punishment, as established in the UOC's coexistence regulations.

In its assessment process, the UOC reserves the right to:

• Ask the student to provide proof of their identity, as established in the university's academic regulations.
• Request that students provide evidence of the authorship of their work, throughout the assessment process, both in continuous and final assessment, by means of an oral test or by whatever other synchronous or asynchronous means the UOC specifies. These means will check students' knowledge and competencies to verify authorship of their work, and under no circumstances will they constitute a second assessment. If it is not possible to guarantee the student's authorship, they will receive a D grade in the case of continuous assessment or a Fail in the case of final assessment.

  For this purpose, the UOC may require that students use a microphone, webcam or other devices during the assessment process, in which case it will be the student's responsibility to check that such devices are working correctly.

• View the assessment model