Unit Handbook

Risk and Procurement

Management BSS054-6

Block 2 – November 2021

UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE
Table of Contents
Department of Strategy and Management...................................................................2

Your unit delivery team.................................................................................................2

The Unit........................................................................................................................2

Aims and relevance...................................................................................................2

Syllabus Content.......................................................................................................3

Approach to Learning................................................................................................3

Cote text:...................................................................................................................4

Guided Reading:.......................................................................................................4

Assessment 1...............................................................................................................5

Assessment 2...............................................................................................................5

Your Timetable and Academic calendar......................................................................6

Student Record System (E-Vision)...............................................................................6

Student Information Desk (SID)....................................................................................6

Student Engagement & Mitigation Team......................................................................7

Careers.........................................................................................................................7

Health and Safety.........................................................................................................7

Equality and Diversity...................................................................................................7

Disability........................................................................................................................8

Students’ Union Contact Information........................................................................8

Skills Development – Learning Resources...................................................................9

Where to go for help with referencing?........................................................................9

AIR (Academic Integrity Resources).........................................................................9

RefWorks................................................................................................................10

Coursework Submission.............................................................................................10

Mitigating Circumstances...........................................................................................10

What are mitigating circumstances?.......................................................................11

Essential Advice:........................................................................................................12

Academic Offences.................................................................................................12

Plagiarism...................................................................................................................13

Collaboration or collusion?......................................................................................13

Protecting your work...............................................................................................13

Course Regulations................................................................................................14

Passing units and Progressing............................................................................14

What if I fail an assessment?..............................................................................14

What if I fail a unit?..............................................................................................15

Examination Boards............................................................................................15

Having Your Say.........................................................................................................15

Student Representation..........................................................................................15

Bedfordshire Unit Surveys (BUS)...........................................................................15

Tell Us.....................................................................................................................16

Complaints..............................................................................................................16

Useful contacts...........................................................................................................16
Department of Strategy and Management
The Department of Strategy and Management is committed to the practice-based
philosophy of the University of Bedfordshire Business School with innovative
teaching, strong links with business practitioners and a wealth of research expertise.
Vibrant, practice-based courses give you the best possible exposure to real business
challenges and to the learning which helps you tackle them in a rigorous, effective
way supported by the expertise and enthusiasm of our staff to engage you in the real
challenges of business.

Your unit delivery team

To deliver a practice-based education we have a range of staff: some bring the
academic rigour and theory which are essential to sound and insightful business
practice, others have a depth of experience in management and take it right into the
classroom for students. Finally, we have staff with real depth in teaching and
learning who bring research and imagination to the development of our courses. In
combination, these people are here to make a real difference to your future.

If you are based in one of our overseas partner institutions, your first point of contact
is your local lecturer and course management team.

Depending on which group you belong to, your unit will be delivered by:

Hana Mosavie [email protected]

Roger Garrini [email protected]

Piotr Wojtasiuk [email protected]

Your unit coordinator is:

Dr Jasmine Tehrani [email protected]

The Unit
Aims and relevance
This unit explores the theory and principles of Risk and Procurement Management
as well as quality issues in Engineering and Project Management contexts. The
emphasis will be on managing the issues (risks, procurement and quality) and
problems encountered within any project or operation and the difficulties of delivering
projects and programmes within the agreed objectives.The aim of this unit is to
enable you:•To understand and analyse the Risk and Quality Management using
necessary tools and techniques to ensure a successful engineering or project
management•To understand and evaluate distinguished features of negotiation
within contract and procurement management within variety of organisational
settings

Syllabus Content
This unit covers key aspects of risk, quality and procurement management,
including, but not limited to, the following:

 Introduction to risk and risk management process

 Different standards of project risk management including ISO standard
ISO:31000
 Risk analysis tools and techniques (quantitative & qualitative)
 Introduction to quality management
 Different quality frameworks, tools and techniques for quality assessment,
monitoring and control
 Introduction to Contract and procurement and legal terms and Conditions
 Procurement Planning and Administration•Contract types and administration
 International Considerations of contracts and procurement
 Project Cost Risk estimation as part of contract development and budget
setting
 Use of Industry Standard Software to model project risk and cost risk from
Palisade and Galorath
 Sustainability and Green in Risk and ProcurementISO 14001 standard impact
on risk and procurement•Impact of Enterprise Resource Planning Software on
Risk and Procurement

Approach to Learning
The unit will be delivered in lecture and seminar formats. Seminars will be student-
led, and will involve such activities as debates, role-playing, critiquing, simulation
exercises, etc. Lectures will be used to convey the essential elements of the unit,
and whenever possible, guest lecturers will be invited to give talks on specialist
topics. Seminars will provide the linkage between theory and practice by covering a
range of risk and procurement management issues. Many activities will involve group
work and informal presentations. The activities are designed so that you will acquire
such skills as search for information, participate and collaborate in team work
effectively, and make effective presentations within a given time limitIn line with the
University’s Cre8 strategy, the approach to leaning in this unit aims for it to be:
Meaningful – the Unit will develop your managerial and operational skills in tackling
risk and procurement management problems and developing workable
strategies.Active – Learning and activities are student centered and you will actively
participate in the learning process by participating and contributing to role playing,
workshops, team presentation, etc Reflective – Your learning will involve a
continuous reflection on current developments and relate build upon units you have
previously studied.Challenging – You will develop your knowledge and
understanding of risk and procurement management through considerations of key
theories and their applications. You will be supported through guided learning which
will make your learning creative and enjoyable.

Cote text:

 Cooper, D. Bosnich, P. Grey, S. Purdy, G. Raymond, G. Walker, P. and

Wood, P. (2014)

 Project Risk Management Guidelines: Managing Risk with ISO 31000 and
IEC 62198, Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN: 978-1-118-82031-5

 Lysons, K. & Farington B. (2016) Purchasing & supply chain management

[8th edn.]. Harlow: Pearson.

 Pinto, J. K. (2018). Project management: Achieving the Competitive

Advantage (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

 Oakland, J.S., (2013), Oakland on Quality Management, Elsevier Butterworth

Heinemann, Oxford

 Chapman, C., and Ward, S, (2011), Project Risk Management: Processes,

techniques and Insights, Wiley, Chichester

 Baily, P., Farmer, D., Crocker, B., Jessop, D. & Jones, D. (2015) Procurement
principles & management [11th edn.]. Harlow: Prentice Hall.
Guided Reading:

Gatti, S. (2018) Project Finance in Theory and Practice: designing, structuring and
financing private and public projects, (2st Edn), Academic Press

PMI (2021), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), 7th
edition, Project Management Institute, Pennsylvania, USA.

Gray, C. and Larson, E. (2017) Project Management: The Managerial Process (6th
Edition) McGraw Hill Education

AIRMIC-Alarm-IRM (2010) A Structured Approach to Enterprise Risk Management

(ERM) and the requirements of ISO 31000, AIRMIC, ALARM, IRM.

AIRMIC, Marsh (2020) Explained: Risk and Managing Risk, AIRMIC Explained
Guides, AIRMIC

Bailey, P. Farmer, D. Crocker, B. Jessop, D and Jones, D. (2015) Procurement

Principles and Management (11th Edn) Pearson

Oakland, J.S. (2018) Statistical Process Control, 7th edition, Elsevier Butterworth
Heinemann, Oxford.

APM Body of Knowledge 7, Princes Risborough, Buckhinghamshire

Assessment 1
Assessment 1 - You will work in groups/project teams to deliver a presentation
based on a client project/mandate. Although you will be delivering the presentation
as a project team, you will be awarded an individual mark for Assessment 1 overall,
based on your individual contribution and based on the Individual Mark Assessment
Criteria contained within the Assessment 1 brief.

Appropriate software will be used for all submissions and for plagiarism checking.
Before submission, you may be asked to discuss your progress with your tutor while
providing your draft work to indicate how the work has been undertaken.

Assessment 2
Assessment 2 - Based on the group work and the presentation your project team
carried out for Assessment 1, you will be required to write an individual consultant
report for the client. Guidelines regarding the structure of this consultant report will
be available in the Assessment 2 briefing document in conjunction with the marking
criteria. (2,500 words). Appropriate software will be used for all submissions and for
plagiarism checking. Before submission, you may be asked to discuss your progress
with your tutor while providing your draft work to indicate how the work has been
undertaken.

Block 2 Delivery Timetable

Student are put into three groups, Group 1, 2 and 3.

You will be scanned for attendance in your allocated groups. Failure to attend your
allocated sessions will have implications in terms of your attendance tracking.

Please login on to BREO from your PC for this unit- in the left side column you will
find “View Sets and Groups”- once you enter in this, you should be able to see which
group you are in. Based on your group no please see the below time and join the
lecture accordingly. We are looking forward to seeing you on Campus.

Your Timetable and Academic calendar

Your timetable will be made available to you in hard copy or on-line through the
Student Portal. Occasionally we may need to postpone a session, for example if a
member of staff is unwell or if weather conditions make travel dangerous, if this is
the case we will try and notify you BREO announcements.
The link for accessing the timetable is https://timetable.beds.ac.uk/sws2122/. Please
make sure to check your timetable regularly.

You can also access Academic calendar here: https://www.beds.ac.uk/timetable

Student Record System (E-Vision)

The student record system contains your results and also your contact details
access is from the e-Vision link on the BREO gateway. Please make sure the latter
are up-to-date so that we can contact you if we need to (details of how to do this can
be found in e-Vision after you log in).

You can log in using your Student Number as your Username and your Password
which will be provided by letter or e-mail. You will be prompted to change your
password the first time you log in. Please note that your password is not the same as
your BREO password in order to add an additional level of security for your personal
details.

Please note that the mark you see on E-Vision are not finalised until they are
presented and confirmed at the exam board.

Student Information Desk (SID)

SID is your first point of contact for a range of services. Whatever your question or
problem, the SID team can advise you. Amongst other things they are the first place
to go for:

 Mitigating Circumstances forms

 Interruption of studies forms
 Request to withdraw forms
 Student status letter
 Access to the Engagement and Mitigation Teams
 Counselling
 Disability support
 Dyslexia support
 Mental Health Support
 Professional Academic Development (PAD)
  Student finance advice
 And much, much more ...

Student Engagement & Mitigation Team

The Student Engagement and Mitigation Team is available to all students enrolled at
the University of Bedfordshire. The advisors are available to give you independent
and confidential advice if you are having difficulties with your studies. For more
information, see Student Support on the BREO gateway. If you need to contact the
Student Engagement and Mitigation Team, you can also do so via your Course
Team.

Careers
It's never too early to think about what you might do once you complete your course.
Employability is a key element within your course, but you may also find it invaluable
to contact the University's Careers and Recruitment Services team. They are
available to support you in your career planning before, during and after university.
Find out more from the Careers & Jobs link on the BREO gateway. If you need to
contact the Careers Team, you can do so via your Course Team.

Health and Safety

We are committed to ensuring that the University and is a healthy and safe place in
which to study and work. As a community of individuals working together, it is
important that we all play our part in keeping our environment safe. You can help us
(and comply with legal requirements) by ensuring that you understand and follow the
health and safety procedures and guidance, and by taking care of yourself and those
around you and reporting any issues that give you cause for concern.

Equality and Diversity

The University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to enable students
and staff to reach their full potential in an environment free from unfair and unlawful
discrimination. We expect students and staff to respect each other as individuals,
each with significant value and potential. This enables the work we collectively and
individually produce to benefit from a wide range of influences. The University's
Equality and Diversity policies are available from the Links on the BREO gateway.
Disability
The course team is aware of the requirements of the Special Educational Needs and
Disability Act 2001 and seek to ensure that the practices the Act seek to encourage
are followed. Concerning special educational needs (e.g. dyslexia) special provision
is made for assessment for course work depending on the individual needs of the
student. All formal teaching and learning is undertaken on premises that provide
reasonable access for you if you have concerns about mobility. Advice on the nature
of specific disabilities and the reasonable adjustments which can be made to
accommodate disabled students is available from the Disability Advice Team.
Further details can be obtained from http://www.beds.ac.uk/studentlife/student-
support/health/disabilities

If you have disclosed a disability (includes long term medical conditions and Specific
Learning Difficulties such as dyslexia) to the university, please contact your Course
Team for assistance in the first instance. At the appointment, the team will discuss
your learning support needs including examination access arrangements, where
appropriate. It is important to get this support in place as soon as possible so they
can support you to achieve your full potential. You can talk to the team in confidence
about any concerns you have about your learning support needs and they will advise
you how to obtain the support you need. You can access more information from
Student Support area via the BREO gateway.

Students’ Union Contact Information

Beds SU is available to listen to, and represent, the many voices of students at the
University of Bedfordshire. As a University of Bedfordshire student, you are
automatically a member of BedsSU. Please visit their website www.bedssu.co.uk or
follow the BedsSU link on the BREO gateway to check out all they have to offer.

Skills Development – Learning Resources

One of the particular advantages of studying with the University of Bedfordshire is
the specialised support which is available to enable you to develop your individual
skills and professionalism.

While your own individual involvement and approach to your studies is essential, the
way you study and learn is collaborative. During your studies you will learn to
develop particular skills or understanding. Learning will happen with lecturers, your
personal academic tutor, course or unit tutors, your peers, professional services
staff, and through your own research.

There will be times when you will be directed to seek advice from support teams or
specialist services, but if you feel that you need additional assistance with your
studies, you should not wait until someone refers you for help. You can self-refer to
many of the services provided by the University like Study Hub
http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/studyhub or

Learning Resources http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/help/ALLs/Subjects

Where to go for help with referencing?

AIR (Academic Integrity Resources)
Please make sure to fully familiarise your self with Harvard Refencing format. Please
visit AIR (Academic Integrity Resources). The AIR is a resource that has been
designed to make you aware of good academic practice. This includes an
awareness of plagiarism and referencing processes, among many other things. As a
University of Bedfordshire student, you will need to undertake research and use the
words and ideas of others in your assignment while following our regulations and
maintaining your own academic integrity.
If you do not follow the regulations, you might lose marks or end up facing charges of
academic misconduct. In many cases the rules are broken unintentionally through
lack of understanding of what academic integrity is all about.

We want you to be successful and to develop into a critical and coherent academic
writer. Working through this exercise will be your first step on the road to learning
about and understanding the fundamentals of academic integrity. However, the AIR
is not a one-stop shop that will 'teach' you all about academic integrity in one
attempt. More detailed sessions and guidance about this will be covered in your
teaching and tutorial sessions, as well as through liaising with the Study Hub.

Quality academic writing takes time to develop. While we do not expect you to be
perfect right away, we do expect you to follow the rules regarding academic integrity
in order that you and the University can satisfy ourselves that what you have written
has been written in accordance with the correct conventions.

You can access AIR through BREO Gateway (www.breo.beds.ac.uk).

RefWorks
Through Learning Resources you have access to an excellent web-based reference
management system called Refworks.

Coursework Submission
Each Unit's BREO area will explain exactly how your tutors expect you to submit
your assignments. This will usually be online through Turnitin, which is a tool that
checks submissions for matches to work on the Internet and to the work of other
students.

Each assessment brief will also carry details of the learning outcomes your work will
be expected to meet, how you will be expected to deliver your work, the format, the
presentation, the deadline date and information about how to receive the essential
feedback on your work (through BREO and possibly other means). These are all
provided to support you to succeed - but if you are unclear about assessment
requirements or submission procedures, ask your tutor in the taught sessions.

See the Mitigating Circumstances section below for advice about what to do if you
think you won't be able to meet a deadline. Do note that lecturers are not able to
extend deadlines.

Mitigating Circumstances
Coursework must be handed in by the date and time specified. This will be given to
you in your unit handbooks, on the assessment brief and/or on BREO.

Late work without formal agreement is not accepted, and will be deemed a fail and
marked at 0 (no work submitted). We are very firm about this because working to
deadlines is an important life skill which we encourage you to develop during your
studies.

Sometimes things outside your control can affect your ability meet a deadline. If you
believe that you are likely to miss a deadline for a valid reason (see below for
reasons considered valid under mitigating circumstances) then you should apply to
the Student Engagement and Mitigation Team (through SiD) for an extension. Only
they can make the decision. It is important to realise that your lecturers are not able
to extend published deadlines.

What are mitigating circumstances?

Examples of circumstances that would justify special consideration include:

 Serious personal injury, broken limbs, or a medical condition requiring hospital
attention or with an incapacitating effect.
 An acute illness that makes it impossible to complete the required task.
 Being a victim of a serious crime during the period immediately preceding
assessment.
 The serious illness or death of a close relative: normally a partner, parent,
child or sibling.
 Birth of a baby and/or unforeseen pregnancy complication.
 Requirement to travel abroad for urgent medical attention for yourself, or an
immediate family member
Normally not acceptable are:
 The death or illness of a distant relative.
 Financial problems, including payment of fees to the University.
 Difficulties with housing.
 Difficulties with baby-sitters, child-minders.
 Transport difficulties such as public transport strikes, road works or private
transport breakdowns.
 Confusion over time, date location of the examination, or assignment hand-in
date on the part of the candidate when this has been clearly notified, and has
not posed any problem to other students in the group.
 Work pressure if you are enrolled as a full-time student.
 Cases where medical certificates are retrospective, i.e. dated/issued after you
have recovered from the illness claimed.
 Any claim not supported by independent and reliable evidence.
 Computer problems such as viruses, memory stick failure/loss, printer
problems, and network problems.
 Problems with receiving/submitting referral work and results.
 Problems handing in an assignment to the designated place by the deadline.
 Collecting data/more data for an assignment.
You can find out more details about mitigating circumstances and how to apply via
your Course Coordinator.

Essential Advice:
If you submit a claim for mitigating circumstances, don't assume it will be accepted.
You need to do your best to get work prepared because it is your responsibility to
complete your assignments/sit exams in order to progress on your course.

Academic Offences
Academic offences include a range of actions designed to deceive and gain an unfair
advantage over other students. This is unethical and threatens the integrity of our
assessment procedures and the value of the University’s academic awards.

Your academic performance will be assessed on the basis that anything you submit
for assessment is your own work. Anyone thought to be gaining an unfair advantage
in any form of assessment is subject to formal investigation in accordance with
University Regulations (follow the link on the BREO gateway).

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are not vulnerable to any allegation that
you have breached these regulations (for example by sharing your assignments with
friends in such a way that they can copy your work and claim it as their own).

Penalties for students found to have committed an academic offence may include
failure in a unit or an element of a unit which may mean that you have to repeat the
year as a part-time student and bear the associated financial cost. In extreme cases
you may be required to leave the University.

During the course we will introduce you to correct academic practice to help ensure
that you know what we are looking for in your assessments.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the most common mistake. This is presenting the work or ideas of
someone else as your own. If you repeat someone else's words or images and claim
them as your own, or present someone’s line of thinking as if it was your own, you
will have plagiarised. You can use other people’s ideas, words and images, but it’s
important that you acknowledge them through appropriate referencing. Plagiarism
may be deliberate or accidental, but if it occurs within your work it will be considered
an academic offence by your tutor.

Remember that your examiners want to assess your ability, not those of others, so
it’s important that you interpret others’ work and that there is sufficient of your own
work in your assignments for your ability to be assessed.

You should keep a careful record of all the sources you use, including all internet
material, and ensure that you understand correct referencing practices. Following
'referencing conventions' will protect you against plagiarism (see the earlier section
on referencing).

Collaboration or collusion?
Collaboration - working with others is often essential.

Collusion - working with others to deceive is cheating and not allowed.

Discussing ideas with your fellow students is part of learning, and we encourage you
to do this, to exchange interesting and relevant sources and references. There is a
distinction between sharing ideas and collusion, which is an academic offence.

When completing an individual assignment you must not work with others to the
extent of exchanging written materials that you have prepared, such as notes or
assignments or drafts, unless you have been expressly told that this is permissible. If
these types of materials are shared and submitted it will be regarded as an offence
for the person who lends the material as well as the person who uses it.

Protecting your work

Your own work should be regarded as your own property and you should protect it.
 Always submit your own work rather than asking a fellow student to submit
work for you.
 If you are working in a shared space, log off from the computer you are using
whenever you take a break so others cannot access or copy your work.
 Take care to destroy printed drafts or copies of work, rather than merely
discarding them.
 Don't give your work to others in any format unless this is part of a set task.
  If you are working on a group or team assignment, make sure you understand
the allocation of responsibilities between yourself and the other members of
the team.
 Make sure that you correctly label your work files so that the version you
submit is the correct and final version.
Course Regulations
This section summarises what you need to do to pass and progress through your
studies. The full and definitive version is provided in the University's Regulations.
You can find them through the BREO gateway.

Passing units and Progressing

To pass a unit you must attempt all the assessments unless otherwise specified.
Non-submission may lead to you failing the unit and prevent you from progressing.

Each assessment you undertake will have a weighting towards the overall grade for
the unit. This will be given in the assignment brief.

To pass a unit you must gain an aggregate grade of 40%. The aggregate may
include an individual assessment mark at 35 - 39% but it should not normally include
an individual assessment grade of less than 35%.

What if I fail an assessment?

Students who submit all elements of assessment and do not successfully complete
the unit have a further opportunity to pass the unit by undertaking a referral of all
failed elements of assessment at the next opportunity. All referrals, including for non-
submission, must be taken at the next scheduled opportunity. The grade for the
referral element is capped at the minimum pass mark.

Students who do not pass a unit on referral may normally retake the unit at the next
scheduled opportunity. Students who retake must normally be assessed in all the
elements of assessment in a unit. The retake marks override any previous marks for
the unit.

What if I fail a unit?

If you fail a unit you will be required to retake that unit. If it is a minor fail, you may be
able to progress under the progression rules.
Examination Boards
Courses have two levels of formal decision-making on your progression and awards:
Portfolio Boards and the Scheme Boards. Portfolio Boards involve internal and
external examiners (experienced academics from other universities who ensure that
our standards are correct). The Board helps ensure that the marks you have been
given are accurate and appropriate to the standard of work you submitted. Scheme
Boards ensure consistency across the university and confirm final awards.

Having Your Say

Student Representation

Student Representatives
 give a voice to students on your course (Course Reps)
 are an important part of the development process of the University for courses
and units;
 help to resolve course/faculty related issues;
 talk to fellow students and make their views known in departmental meetings
to ensure the course is as good as it can be;
 work with course teams to make courses deliver the best student experience
possible.
Course Reps are valuable individuals who get training organised through the
Students' Union to help develop their skills. It is an important job and one which
carries weight on a CV. To become a Course Rep put your name forward in course
sessions which will be held either during Welcome or in the first two weeks of the
course.

Bedfordshire Unit Surveys (BUS)

Your views on your learning experience are extremely valuable and will help the
course team make improvements in future years. You will be asked to complete a
questionnaire for each unit, so please ensure your feedback relates to the specific
unit only. Your tutor will not be able to identify you directly from your answers, so
please be open, honest and constructive. You should see the results of previous
surveys in your BREO units and this is also where you find the outcomes of your
views once the data have been collected and analysed.
Tell Us
The Tell Us process allows you to raise issues immediately and get a response
(providing you give us your contact details). You can use Tell us to identify things
that we can do better or to recognise the things we are doing well. Follow the link on
the BREO gateway to find out more about this process.

Complaints
We do everything we can to ensure that you have a high quality learning experience
whilst studying at the University but sometimes we may get things wrong or might do
things better. If you have issues please do inform us. In the first place we would
rather that you raised this with us directly (contact your tutor or course coordinator)
but there are additional routes for you to raise issues. You can use your course rep,
raise issues through the ‘Tell Us’ scheme or, as a last resort, raise concerns through
the University’s complaints procedures. You can find details of all of these via the
Complaints & Appeals link on the BREO gateway.

Useful contacts
 If you're facing complex problems, having difficulties attending classes or
thinking of interrupting or withdrawing from your studies

[email protected]

 Need an extension on assessment deadline

[email protected]

 Support with a range of disabilities

[email protected]

 New and on-going mental health support

[email protected]

 Financial difficulties and budgeting advice

[email protected]

 Pastoral and emotional support

[email protected]

 Professional and one-to-one counselling support

[email protected]

 Issues or questions regarding your tuition fees

[email protected]

 Help with writing assessments and improving your grades

[email protected]

 Other enquires please contact Student Information Desk (SiD)

[email protected]