Contemporary organizations strive to meet the objectives that the UN: Project Management Assignment, UOL, Ireland

Part A: Environmental, Social and Governance [ESG] performance: A critical analysis [40% Final Grade]

Contemporary organizations strive to meet the objectives that the UN has set in 2015 – namely, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In recent years, the EU has mobilised more than €1 billion for the Green Deal (EU Commission, 2020), and the UN initiative alone more than $100 million (UN Joint SDG Fund, 2021).

In the past two years, global corporations have responded with $50 billion in 2020 and more than $100 billion in socially-responsible investments (Visram, 2021). In this landscape, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria play a fundamental role. Furthermore, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CRSD, Dir. 2021/0104), a game-changing initiative launched by the EU was finalised in April 2021. By coming into force in 2023, the Law will require companies to disclose further ESG-oriented, more detailed information through reporting. This proves once more the reality of multi-level governance by now in the sustainability realm.

You and your team are senior project managers in MESS4GE a consultancy firm that aims to build the analytical and reporting competencies of businesses in Europe. The objective of MESS4GE is to increase the capabilities of business consultants and SMEs to prepare and deliver insightful reports on organisations’ ESG performances.  Your team is tasked to lead this initiative.

The goal of your project is to create a framework for the reporting of Environmental, Social and Governance [ESG] performance in European SMEs. The development of a new framework for reporting ESG performance will increase the pool of information from which organisations can make informed decisions and promote sustainability. This new knowledge can be to generate an improved monitoring system as well as more conscious policies and initiatives at all levels for the protection of the environment.

In order to do this, you must first prepare a critical analysis of the following

1. Identify ESG trends in the workplace and the drivers and need for ESG reporting [30%]
2. Analyse established frameworks or schemes for reporting ESG performances available in the market (GRI etc.) [40%]
3. Discuss the necessary skills needed by project managers to report ESG performance [30%]

Please consider the following:

Focus on critical analysis of literature rather than descriptions

Logically progress a compelling argument

Keep your language short and concise rather than not long-winded and verbose

Reference all material from high-quality peer-reviewed journals and/or relevant consultant’s reports using the APA referencing format

Part B: Prepare a plan for the development of a Software Tool to manage Environmental, Social and Governance [ESG] Performance for clients of MESS4GE [60% Final Grade]

Instructions and Learning Outcomes

• Prepare a report that demonstrates the application of all the relevant theoretical concepts that you have learned to this specific real-world setting.
• The intention is to assess your understanding of the use of project management tools NOT your ability to develop an ESG framework.
• Synthesise relevant tools and methods into a professional plan.
• Demonstrate the ability to justify strategies and decisions when implementing best practice project planning methods.
• Demonstrate the ability to organise yourself, conduct independent work and manage progress, and output as well as any potential conflict.

Steps in completing the project

1. Generate a project AND a team charter. You may define the template that you feel is appropriate to demonstrate how you are going to work together as a team, what you intend to do in the project and how you intend to do it.
2. Define critical requirements. Identify stakeholders, explain their roles and what success means to them analyse areas of potential conflicts and suggest ways in which stakeholder interests can be aligned
3. Develop a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the development of the new framework. Define the deliverables of the project (including non-concrete outputs such as reputation) and clearly articulate the schedule and time needed for completing various activities. Using the activities in the WBS, identify dependencies and produce a network diagram. Analyse the network using the critical path method (CPM)
4. Develop the budget. Using activities in the WBS, produce a cost estimate and baseline for the project
5. Status reporting. Produce a template that can be used for status reporting on this project–identify measures and link this to stakeholders and their needs where appropriate.
6. Identify roles and competencies required for the successful implementation of this project.
7. Comment on what you would do to ensure that this project is completed in accordance with Agile concepts and methods.
8. Each person should produce a personal reflection highlighting what they contributed to this project and what they learned from completing it.