GRA 8170 The Management of Projects

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016

GRA 8170 The Management of Projects


Responsible for the course
Jonas Söderlund

Department
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
2

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
In most sectors, the vast majority of improvement and innovation endeavors are carried out in projects. In that respect, projects are important for driving innovation and firm performance. As a consequence, the ability to manage projects is critical for competitiveness and growth. However, despite the importance of managing project successfully firms today continuously fail to deliver high value projects. This is a problem that more and more managers are becoming increasingly aware of – the ability to generate and implement projects should be of a top management concern.

This course will go beyond the standard and straightforward project management approaches but will deal with managing complexities that exist when you work in projects that are constrained in terms of time, budget, people and technologies. The course will address how companies can make better use of organizing activities as projects and the criticality for an increasing number for firms to develop project management as a core competence.

Projects differ in two respects: complexity (magnitude of the effort, number of groups and organizations that need to be coordinated, and diversity in skills or expertise needed) and uncertainty (predictability of the final outcome in terms of time, cost and technical performance). Many concepts, models, methods and techniques have been developed and applied to manage projects with respect to the main elements of these dimensions. In addition, most projects need to be managed simultaneously and in connection to each other.

The ability to make a sound contribution to project management presupposes in-depth knowledge and understanding of the theoretical and empirical bases of multiple dimensions of project management. In this course, students will be challenged to examine the appropriateness, usefulness and academic status of project management principles and methods that are generally applied in the field of process and product innovation.


Learning outcome

After taking the course students are able to:
- understand the theoretical and empirical basis of the management of projects;
- understand contemporary approaches to the management of projects;
- know the drivers of project success, and especially how to control, organize and evaluate for project success.


Prerequisites
Granted admission to the EMBA programme.

Compulsory reading

Articles:
Berggren, C., J. Järkvik & J. Söderlund. 2008. Lagomizing, organic integration, and systems emergency wards: Innovative practices in managing complex systems development projects. Project Management Journal. Vol. 39, No. 2. 111-122. 111-122
Dahlgren, J. & J. Söderlund. 2010. Modes and mechanisms of control in multi-project organizations: the R&D case. International Journal of Technology Management. Vol. 50, No. 1: 22
Eisenhardt, K.M., & Tabrizi, B.N. 1995. Accelerating adaptive processes: Product innovation in the global computer industry. Administrative Science Quarterly. Vol. 40. 84-110
Lyneis, J.M., & Ford, D.N.. 2007. System dynamics applied to project management: a survey, assessment, and directions for future research. System Dynamics Review. Vol. 23. 157-189
Perlow, L.A., & Okhuysen, G.A., Repenning, N.P.. 2002. The speed trap: Exploring the relationship between decision making and temporal context. Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 45. 931-955
Repenning, N.P., & Sterman, J.D. 2001. Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened: creating and sustaining process improvement. California Management Review. Vol. 43. 64-88
Rudolph, J.W., & Repenning, N.P. 2002. Disaster dynamics: Understanding the role of quantity in organizational collapse. Administrative Science Quarterly. Vol. 47. 1-30


Recommended reading

Course outline
- The current state of research into the management of projects?
- The current state of the practice of the management of projects?
- What are complexities and uncertainties in projects?

- How to unravel project complexities?

Computer-based tools
It's Learning

Learning process and workload
1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours.

The course is conducted as a teaching module divided into two days each. Students will have classes all day for two days, a total of 16 hours

Attendance to all sessions in the course is compulsory. If you have to miss part(s) of the course you must ask in advance for leave of absence. More than 20% absence in a course will require retaking the entire course. It's the student's own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/ It's learning or other course materials



Examination
The course evaluation will be based on:
50 % - classroom contribution (oral, individual)
50 % - Written assignment (written report, group)

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course.

Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation

Examination code(s)
GRA 81701 - Continuous assessment; accounts for 100 % to pass the course GRA 8170, 2 ECTS credits

The course is a part of a full Executive Master of Business Administration Program and all evaluations must be passed to obtain a certificate for the degree.


Examination support materials



Re-sit examination
Re-takes are only possible at the next time a course will be held. When course evaluation consists of class participation or continuous assessment, the whole course must be re-evaluated when a student wants to retake a exam. Retake examinations entail an extra examination fee.

Additional information