Project Management
Subject Area
Management Science & Operations
Lecturer
Bert De Reyck
Course Code
E139
Term
AUT07 / SPR08
Credit Value
1
Aims & Objectives
Projects are the wave of the future in global business. Increasingly complex products, processes and
services, vastly shortened time-to-market windows, and the need for cross-functional expertise make
project management an important and powerful tool in the hands of organisations that understand its
use. The increase in project-based organisations in areas such as consulting, information technology,
product development, advertising, education, health care, infrastructure and engineering, places
project management in the centre of attention. Project management provides organisations with a
powerful tool that improves its ability to plan activities, controls the ways in which it utilises resources,
and minimises risks. It is no surprise that recent years have been marked by a rapid growth in the
use of project management as a means by which industrial, commercial and governmental
organisations achieve their objectives, with the service sector accounting for the largest increase of
project-related activities. Membership in the Project Management Institute has quadrupled in the last
decade, and Microsoft recently claimed to have over five million users worldwide of its project
management software.
With the globalisation of our enterprises and the penetration of technology into virtually every
business activity, projects have become more complex and demanding regarding time, cost and
performance. Professionals managing these projects must understand the concepts, methods,
techniques and tools that support modern project management. Therefore, in this elective,
frameworks, methods, techniques and tools will be presented for coping with the three principal
dimensions of project management: time, cost, and quality. In computer workshops, the participants
will get hands-on experience with state-of-the-art software tools for project management (time
planning, resource allocation, and risk analysis), although emphasis is also placed on organisational
and strategic issues.
The acquired skills are sought after by many organisations, especially those working in multinational
organisations, consulting firms, dynamic innovative project-based environments, and new business
ventures.
Topics Covered
The topics covered include:
00Project Planning
00Project Risk Management
00Project Resource Allocation and Budgeting
00Project Monitoring
00Programme Management
00Project Portfolio Management
00Critical Chain project Management
Format & Teaching Methods
The course consists of a mixture of lectures, guest lectures and computer workshops. In the lectures,
a variety of cases will be discussed, most of which are written by the lecturer. In some of the lectures
and workshops, we will use Microsoft Project, the most commonly used tool for project management,
and the add-on @Risk for project risk analysis. The computer workshops take place in the School's
PC lab, and will give the participants the opportunity to apply the frameworks and tools discussed in
class.
Pre-Requisites & Input Required
Some of the concepts introduced in this course build on the frameworks introduced during the core
courses "Decision & Risk Analysis" and "Decision Models". The course will also follow a similar
format.
The preparation for the lectures will consist of the cases that will be discussed in class. For each
workshop, a report of approximately three pages will have to be submitted, and submitted during the
same week. For the 10-week format, participants will be working on a group project, to be presented
in the last session. For the block-week format, all assignments are due during that same week; this
means that the week will be very intensive, but the course will be completely finished after the last
session, with no assignments due later.
Assignments & Assessment
The assessment is based on the workshop reports and group project (for the 10-week format).
10-week format
Individual Group
Workshop 1 Report
25%
00/span>
Workshop 2 Report
25%
00/span>
Project Report
0050%
Block-week format
Individual Group
Workshop 1 Report
33.33%
00/span>
Workshop 2 Report
33.33%
00/span>
Workshop 3 Report
33.33%
00/span>
The only work prior to the start of the course is preparation the of the first case.
A Note on the Instructor
Bert De Reyck is a globally renowned expert on project management and project portfolio
management. He has been at London Business School since 1999, where he has taught the courses
"Decision & Risk Analysis", "Decision Models", and "Project Management", as well as executive
education courses in Decision Making and Project Management. He was the recipient of the London
Business School Teaching Award in 2001, 2003 and 2006. He has worked with a wide variety of
organisations in the pharmaceutical, energy, aerospace and IT industries, and has written several
award-winning cases. He has also published numerous articles in international scientific and
professional journals.
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