| Module | Credits | Compulsory/optional |
|---|
| Principles of Project Management | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| Organisations in many sectors invest heavily in project-based activities to achieve strategic business objectives, improve operational effectiveness and enhance their competitive position. The importance of projects and their successful delivery has become one of the main priorities for organisations. The aims of this module are to provide students with knowledge of qualitative aspects of project management theory and philosophy. In this module, students will have an opportunity to explore the values which have superseded the traditional values of budget, time and quality. Different organisational structures are examined to discover their effectiveness in supporting project delivery and the role of the project manager is examined in relation to these structures. This module examines the role of projects within the organisation as a means of achieving strategic capability. |
| Project Scheduling and Budgeting | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| This module will develop in-depth knowledge and understanding of both classical and current project scheduling and budgeting techniques used in business today. Students will be guided into selecting, formulating, building, solving, and analysing project management scheduling and budgeting problems. They will be shown how to manipulate and solve these problems using a variety of techniques, and interpret the solutions. They will also learn to recognise the difficulties and limitations associated with the results given by the model(s). Students will use appropriate project management tools and software to solve problems. |
| Project Management Simulation | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The focus of this module will be on group based learning where students, plan and manage a project in a simulated environment. Students will be expected to participate in team working and will be supported with facilitated seminars. |
| Project Leadership and Communications | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The importance of leadership and communications are increasingly acknowledged within the field of project management. Project Managers must manage performance with both direct and indirect forms of authority, control and influence. Students will explore the influence of people in the project environment, whether team members, sponsors or stakeholders, the need for building and leading effective teams and the need for building and maintaining relationships between key roles in the project environment.
Students will investigate underlying theories of leadership, motivation, power and influence, communication and conflict management, related to project management and explore strategies for managing people and of projects. |
| Dissertation - Project Management | 60 Credits | Compulsory |
| The MSc Dissertation in Project management provides an opportunity for students to integrate and apply learning from the programme's taught modules to complex problems from the project management practice, through the application of suitable research methods and analytical techniques. The students will be allocated a dissertation supervisor who will provide guidance and support throughout the development of the dissertation from the feasibility of the research question to the validity of the conclusion. Despite the collaborative work between the student and the supervisor, students will need to invest considerable effort in self-discipline and independent work in order to study and analyse knowledge related to the research problem. The dissertation is also supported by a research methods training, and sessions organised by the HBS academic support office. The research methods training will take part within the dissertation module, and its assessment will constitute 30% of the marks for the dissertation. |
| Project Risk and Commercial Management | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| Risk and uncertainty are inherent in projects due to their unique and temporary nature. The degree of certainty of project outcomes are a significant concern to the parent or client organisation. Students will explore project risk management, within the business context, as a f unction of project management, as a project management process and as an area of know ledge, underpinned by existing and emerging theory and practice.
The module content will include the fundamentals of risk (and opportunity), initiating the risk management process, risk identification, risk analysis, planning risk responses, implementing risk responses and risk ownership and management responsibilities. Students will explore attitudes to risk and the relationship between risk attitudes and behaviour and the identification, analysis and management of project risk. Additionally students will explore commercial aspects of projects that include contract types, structure and risk allocation and procurement |
| Agile Development for Managers | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The agile approach has gained in popularity in recent years as a strong alternative to the traditional waterfall-like development processes. The experience from successful agile projects highlights the importance of customer collaborations, face-to-face interactions, focus on working products and openness to change.
This module is designed to provide students with a hands-on experience in agile development, and to offer them an opportunity to reflect on that experience from a management perspective.
The module will explore the relationship between agile development and project management processes and techniques and how the two can co-exist and lead to projects that deliver on time and budget but also on customer and employees' satisfaction. Students will gain theoretical and practical knowledge of various agile methodologies (e.g. XP, Scrum) and they will be expected to apply the knowledge, typically on a live project, and through in-class and online discussions and evaluations of the related research.
Indicative topics covered include:
- Agile practices, including XP planning game, Scrum, user stories, pair programming, and continuous integration
- Agile principles and theoretical background of agile methods, including TPS, CAS, and PDCA,
- Techniques for estimating, planning, scheduling and tracking of agile projects
- The role of project managers in agile teams
- Managing risk, quality and stakeholders on agile projects
- Agile in practice e.g. analysis of selected case-studies or discussion with the guest speakers from industry. |
| Systems Approaches to Managing Change | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| In organisations, projects are a vehicle for improving aspects of business performance and a sound initiation is the basis for effective project implementation. However, the problems or opportunities they are to address are often complex and 'messy' organisational situations. Even before the project starts, how it is framed and how it is perceived by different stakeholders, influences its management.
Taking a systems perspective, interpretive modelling approaches are used to help people think through complex and 'messy' organisational situations, understand one another's perspective, focus on the desired ends and identify appropriate changes. Such thinking enables projects to identify changes that are more likely to be embedded in the broader organisation and experience fewer negative unintended consequences.
Implementation includes managing and adapting to boundaries and interdependencies, for example between projects and operations, understanding and managing the impact on people and related processes and linking 'hard' and 'soft' aspects of projects. |
| Projects and Society | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The identification of a trend towards the 'projectification' of society, where every process of change is driven through projects, has drawn attention to (and consequently developed) the discipline of project management (PM). PM is also being considered a plausible tool to translate vague policy maker statements into practical actions and, moreover, as a vehicle for implementing sustainability. While PM is quite well studied and established as a field of research, its linkage with society in general is to be understood.
This linkage between the two concepts is relatively recent, however, a fundamental paradox arises by associating projects and society: how does a time-bound activity, such as a project, that by its definition is 'temporary' and 'unique', become important for the achievement of typical societal objectives that are directed more at continuity and long-term growth?
This module focuses on the understanding of the importance of (mega-) projects in global economy, with the ambitious aim to solve this paradox. |
