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2016/2017  KAN-CSMCO1037U  Managing Knowledge, Projects and Teams

English Title
Managing Knowledge, Projects and Teams

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Karin Tollin - Department of Marketing (Marketing)
Main academic disciplines
  • Marketing
Last updated on 06-07-2016
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors: At the end of the course the excellent student is expected to be able to:1. Describe, classify and explain theoretical perspectives and strategies on knowledge creation and knowledge management in the literature.
2. Structure, discuss and explain socio-cultural issues related to the managing and sharing of knowledge in projects and in teams.
3. Describe and explain main issues, considerations and decision with respect to the initiation, the implementation and the termination of projects aimed to implement a strategy oriented on innovation.
4. Select, illustrate and discuss the contribution of different tools (constructs, frameworks etc.) in the field of knowledge and project management in order to successfully manage innovation processes at a project and team level.
5. Integrate the construct of knowledge management, as it is presented in the contemporary literature, with that of project management and thereby reflect, argue and propose on the implication from a corporate/strategic perspective and from the perspective of a project manager.
Examination
Managing Knowledge, Projects and Teams:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Spring
Aids allowed to bring to the exam Limited aids, see the list below:
  • Written sit-in-exam on CBS' computers
  • Books and compendia brought by the examinee
  • Notes in paper format brought by the examinee
  • Access to personal drive (S-drive) on CBS' network
  • USB key to upload your notes before the exam
  • Dictionaries (only some, see specification below)
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
Description of the exam procedure

Language dictionaries
Course content and structure

Corporate level managers of marketing are in most sectors of the industry pushed by their companies’ CEO to come up with new ideas for market growth opportunities, and to continuously find ‘better’ ways to organise and to lead projects. Due to this, they spend a great deal of their time, and effort, in identifying project managers, and in developing team-building models, tools and processes. However, the problem is that despite their effort, projects tend to be carried out in a traditional, a repetitive way. According to the contemporary literature in the field of strategy, learning and project management, one explanation to a reluctance to change ‘the way things get done’ lies in a failure to recognize that leading and managing projects are two different things, and that project management needs to become strategic, although it also consists of collection of management tools and practices. The overall objective of the course relates to this proposition. Additionally, it relates to the literature that proposes that managing innovation projects is in essence about knowledge management.

As indicated by the name, this course consists of two interrelated themes or fields in the literature. During the first part of the course, the aim is to establish an understanding (from a theoretical and practical point of view) of the concepts of knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge intensive firms and knowledge workers. Thereafter follows a second part within socio-cultural issues related to knowledge creation and sharing is discussed. Thus a broad selection of concepts and issues is taken up - of relevance when addressing project management from a KM perspective. As for example the implication of understanding power as a resource in KM processes, and of linking/addressing the features of the firm’s information and communication technologies (ICT), organizational culture, HRM practices, leadership styles etc. to KM and to PM.  In a third part, the focus is put on PM through the following issues: How to organise, lead and manage projects? How to manage teams and inter organisational relations? How to manage risk? How to audit projects and to learn during and from projects? Finally, within a fourth part of the course we return to the relatedness between KM and PM by discussing prerequisites for successful projects, as for example human aspects of sharing knowledge and implementing knowledge management initiatives (i.e. change management). During this part, we also recognize the organizational context of projects and of teams by discussing what characterizes project management in knowledge intensive, or learning, companies.
 
Progression
The course is linked to the course ‘Strategic Leadership and Brand Management’.
Teaching methods
The course consists of lectures, case-works and a 4 hour written exam.
Student workload
Lectures 33 hours
Readings and preparation for the exam 173 hours
Expected literature

Knowledge Management in Organizations.

Donald Hislop

Oxford University Press, 2013

ISBN 978-0-19-969193-7

 

Managing Complex Projects and Programs

Richard J Heaslip

Wiley

ISBN 978-1-118-38301-8

 

Plus: a selection of articles

Last updated on 06-07-2016