Project Management Trend Report (15 points)
Purpose:
You will write a high level scholarly trend report (approximately10-12 pages double-spaced,
including title page and reference list) on a current trend or issue of your choice related to
information systems project management. You will use a combination of resources from academic
research and industry research. This assignment gives you the opportunity to read industry reports, current events, and the
scholarly literature; identify issues and trends in which you are interested; and write about them. A
minimum of three peer-reviewed journal articles (refer to the following Partial List of Journals
Related to Project Management) and three additional sources (e.g., book chapters, conference
proceedings, government documents, web sites, magazines, blog posts, editorials) must be cited
within the paper and included in your Reference List. The sources must be relevant to your topic
and context and have a date of 2011 or later (unless it is a seminal article – one that is a “classic”
and has served as a seed to other useful research in the field).
Guidelines:
Select an emerging topic or trend in project management that you would like to investigate
further. Your paper should include the following:
• • • • Title Page – (1 page) See sample paper template for format. Include a creative title for your
trend report that clearly describes your research topic. You may want to begin your title
with: Trends in . . ./Best practices in . . ./Issues in . . ./Technical aspects of . . ./
Future of . . .
Thesis Statement and Key Words– (1 page) In one paragraph (three to four sentences),
clearly and concisely state what the paper is about. List three to five key words or phrases
that you used to acquire sources that address your topic. For example, if your topic is
“Agile Project Management in Information Systems” your key words/phrases might
include: agile, project management, information systems, and information technology.
Introduction – (1/2 page) Engage the reader by introducing the topic and context. That
is, what are you writing about? In what context are you addressing the topic (e.g., higher
education, business and industry, healthcare, military)? Provide the reader with a preview
of the structure of the paper (i.e., how it is organized). (e.g., “Following this introduction,
research questions are presented to guide a discussion about…Finally, conclusions are
drawn and suggestions for future research are offered…”).
Research Questions – (1/2 page) List 3-4 open-ended research questions. These questions
should guide your investigation on the selected topic. For example, if you selected the topic
of cloud-based project management tools, your questions might include: What are cloudbased project management tools? What are examples of cloud-based project management
tools and how are they being used to manage information systems projects? What are the
advantages and disadvantages of using cloud-based project management tools? What
opportunities exist for future research in this area? Avoid closed-ended questions that can
be answered with yes or no. •
•
• D iscussion – (4-6 pages) Discuss the issues that are relevant to your topic and research
questions. Make sure to support your discussion with relevant sources. Use subheadings
(see APA manual) to organize your thoughts.
Conclusion and Future Research – (1-2 pages) Summarize the discussion and provide
recommendations for future research related to the topic.
References– (1 page) Include a list of references using APA format. Remember that only
references that you cite in the report should be included in the reference list. Remember, A
minimum of three peer-reviewed journal articles (refer to the following Partial List of
Journals Related to Project Management) and three additional sources (e.g., book
chapters, conference proceedings, government documents, web sites, magazines, blog posts,
editorials) must be cited within the paper and included in your Reference List.
