• Define the concept of a “project” and the essentials involved in the leadership practice of “project management” from the different perspectives developed in the literature over time, and explain the differences between those perspectives
• Specify the roles, task, and interests of project participants and stakeholders, and be able to assess aspects of team dynamics, power relations, and organizational strategy in relation to the task of leading and managing projects
• Define and compare the concepts of project risk, uncertainty, and complexity, and present the key conventional and alternative approaches to managing these factors in leadership and management of projects
• Evidence knowledge of financial and statistical literacy essentials in respect to Project management as these were presented in the course and case discussions
• Analyze and explain how intercultural project leadership and management functions within the larger context of complex organizations, with particular attention given to the variance characterized by national or regional employment ecology models and how this variance can influence project leadership and management outcomes

This course will take up project leadership tools and knowledge necessary to design, manage, and evaluate project work by exploring the conceptual foundations for successful project management in today’s globalized, complex organizations and societies.

We go beyond simple, and simplistic, “how-to” or best practice approaches to the subject of project management in several respects. First, case analysis will offer detailed study and class discussion on leadership and management of projects. Second, the epistemology of project leadership will be steadily developed from case analysis and research literature on project management. Third, a historical sense of the project leadership and management literature will offer essential context to explore the course premise that Lean Management has fundamentally changed traditional notions of corporate strategy. Regional and national variance in the comparative employment ecologies of modern organizations will ground the analytical framework. Japanese sources of Lean Management development will be introduced and explained, as adaptive appropriation of key factors in project leadership are essential for the successful deployment of lean management practices.   

Participants will consider how to manage uncertainty and risk associated with project work. We will explore how the human elements of power, politics, and interrelationships play into the success and/or failure of projects.

Class 1: Personal insight and Project leadership: the basics.
- Term paper proposal and process described.
Class 2: Comparative ecologies of employment: regional and national variation.

Class 3: Project Management (PM)1: Managing Projects Large and Small

Class 4: PM 2: Managing Projects Large and Small

Class 5: Project Management 3:  To whom does this company belong? A case from Japan
Class 6: From Projects to Temporary Organizations

feedback activity: Term paper proposal evaluations returned.

Class 7: Lean Management as Corporate Strategy - Toyota

Class 8: PM in Corporate Strategy: a case from the E.U

Class 9: PM and Corporate Strategy: Volkswagen in the U.S.

Class 10: PM and Corporate Strategy: a Latin America case

Class 11: Course Summation and Review

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

Feedback Activity: A feedback activity defined by the course instructor will take place approx. half-way through the course.

Course timetable is available on http://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/summer-university-programme/courses.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Harvard Business School Press. 2004. Managing projects large and small. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press.

 (Not included in the HBP Case Coursepack because this text is separately available at much lower cost).

HBP Case Coursepack: Harvard Business Publishing.   

RECOMMENDED FOR THE COURSE:

Yin, R.K. (2003). Case study research: design and methods. New York: Sage.

- for term paper and case-specific research, this text is the standard reference.

Lonergan, Bernard J.F. (1992). Chapter 1, Elements, pp. 3-6, Chapter 4, The Complementarity of Sessionical and Statistical Investigations, pp. 126 – 139, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding. Volume 3 in the Collected Works. Toronto: Toronto University Press.

Available in the LAMIP LEARN Folder

Lonergan, Bernard J.F. 1967. ‘Cognitional Structure’, in F.E. Crowe & R.M. Doran (eds), pp. 205–221, Collection, 2nd ed. Volume 4 in the Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Available in the LAMIP LEARN Folder

Information on cases and articles for each session will be posted on LEARN.