Alleviate critical risks Risk management

86 Chapter 4 n Project planning and risk management are not trying to do more than you can physically achieve using Gantt charts; and re-planning your project to fit the time available. n Project management software packages, such as Microsoft Project, can be used to assist you with planning and managing your project. While you can put together your own Gantt charts and activity networks by hand, such as those shown in Figures 4.5 and 4.6, project management software tools can automate this process for you. However, these packages do take time to learn and you can often find yourself spending more time planning and ‘tweaking’ your project with these packages than actually doing any real work. Remember – you should only spend around 10 of your time at most on project management. n Risk management is performed in parallel with project management and involves the following four stages: risk identification, risk quantification, risk alleviation and risk control . •

4.6 Further reading

Barker, S. and Cole, R. 2007 Brilliant project management: What the best project managers know, say, do, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, USA. Levine, H.A. 2002 Practical project management: tips, tactics and tools, John Wiley, New York. Lock, D. 2007 Project management 9 th Edition, Gower, Aldershot, UK. •

4.7 Exercises

1. Try to identify objectives for the example projects listed in Section 4.2.2.

2. Apply the SMART criteria to the remaining objectives in the example in Section 4.2.3.

3. Try to state whether the technical and non-technical risks identified in Section

4.4.2 are event-driven or evolving risks. 4. What are the risks associated with the ANN stock market project? Can you identify any triggers in this project? •

4.8 Action points

n Identify aims and objectives for your own computing project. n Apply the SMART criteria to your own project’s objectives. n Follow the six steps of planning to complete your project’s plan. n Apply the four stages of the risk management process to your own project. What are the three main risks to your project and what do you intend to do about them? •

5.1 Introduction

In virtually all computing projects especially at research degree level, you are assessed on what you submit at the end, be it a written report, a working program, a specification, detailed system designs, test plans or whatever. However, it is often your initial investiga- tive work that can make the difference between a good project and a borderline fail; even CHAPTER 5 Literature searching and literature reviews Aims: To introduce the skills needed to undertake literature surveys. Learning objectives: When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to: n Understand the process of literature surveys. n Define and conduct a literature search. n Manage information obtained during a literature search. n Understand how to conduct critical evaluation. n Write a literature review. n This chapter is particularly relevant for research degree projects. n The chapter is also appropriate for taught degree projects – especially those that are research-based. n This chapter provides useful material for all taught degree projects. 87 88 Chapter 5 n Literature searching and literature reviews Figure 5.1 The importance of the literature survey for practically-based programming projects in which the development of a piece of software is the main component. The initial foundation for your project is a literature survey . This survey has two main components; a literature search and a literature review. The literature search represents the mechanics of looking for, sorting, managing and digesting the available research material. The literature review represents your written understanding, critical evaluation, conceptualisation and presentation of the material you have obtained. A skill related closely to both of these components is referencing. How to reference material correctly will be discussed in Chapter 8. A literature survey acts as an introduction to your project and serves a number of purposes: n It justifies your project – i.e., it shows that your project is worth doing; the area that you are investigating is recognised and meaningful. At research degree level you will also be identifying that your project is not merely repeating the work of others, but has a contribution to make, perhaps by identifying a current gap in the literature of your field of study which you intend to fill. n It sets your project within context by discussing and critically evaluating past and current research in your area. Through this contextualisation you will identify how your project fits within and contributes to wider issues. This will depend on the level undergraduate or postgraduate of project you are undertaking. n It provides other researchers with a starting point from which they can understand how your project evolved and to identify what literature is relevant to your project in order that they can continue where you left off.

5.1.1 Justification

The importance of a literature survey within academic projects cannot be over- emphasised. For example, Figure 5.1 helps to illustrate a literature survey’s contri- bution within the context of a computing project by analogy to building a block of