• 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 management 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.

Preliminary assignment: Complete a pre-course survey, read a few short pieces on epistemology and method, come to class ready to present and discuss personal insight experiences.

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.

Course timetable is available on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams.

We reserve the right to cancel the course if we do not get enough applications. This will be communicated on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams end February 2018 at the latest.

Mandatory readings:

HBSP Coursepack: Alan MacCormack, Richard Mason, “The Fate of the Vasa.” Harvard Business School Case Study #605026 (2005). 

Readings for Preliminary Assignment: 

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.

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.

Additional relevant readings:

Vendantan, Shankar; Stein, Rob (April 25, 2003). Death rate for Global Outbreak Rising. Washington Post, pg. A01.

Tackney, C. T. (2008). Where would you like to work, and why? A Legal Ecology Instructional Model for the Comparative Study of the Modern Enterprise. Paper presented to the Management Education Division, the Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2008, Anaheim.

Brière, S., Proulx, D., Flores, O.N., and Laporte, M. (2015). Competencies of project managers in international NGOs: Perceptions of practitioners. International Journal of Project Management. 33: 116 – 125. 

Anantatmula, V., Thomas, M. (April 2010). Managing global projects: A structured approach for better performance. Project Management Journal. 60- 72.

Case: Tackney, Charles T. (2006). “To Whom Does This Company Belong?” An Instructional Case Unit Concerning Japanese Management and Comparative Corporate Governance in the 1988 Labor Union.

Case: Tackney, Charles T. (2006). “To Whom Does This Company Belong?” An Instructional Case Unit Concerning Japanese Management and Comparative Corporate Governance in the 1988 Labor Union Coup at Okuma Corporation, a Japanese Machine Tool Manufacturer. 
- This case is given in our Session 5 folder on LEARN. 

Additional readings: 
Tackney, Charles T. (2001). The Modes of Social Relation in Japanese Management Practice. Chapter 16 in Cary L. Cooper, Sue Cartwright, and P. Christopher Earley (Eds.). The International Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate (pp. 377- 390). London: John Wiley & Sons.

Packendorff, J. (1995). Inquiring into the temporary organization: New directions for project management research. Scandinavian Journal of Management. 11:4, 319-333.

Case: Brooks, C. (2016), Organizing Volkswagen: A Critical Assessment. WorkingUSA, 19: 395–417. doi:10.1111/wusa.12249 .

Juravich, T. (2016). A Year to Remember: Reviewing Labor Movement Highlights and Lowlights. New Labour Forum. 25: 2, 80-87.

Lewicki, R.; Elgoibar, P., and M. Euwema (2016). The Tree of Trust: building and repairing trust in organizations. Chapter 6 in Building Trust and Constructive Conflict Management in Organizations (Lewicki, R.; Elgoibar, P., and M. Euwema, Eds.). Pp. 93 - 117. London: Springer.

Distelhorst, G.; Hainmueller, J. and R.M. Locke (2016). Does Lean Improve Labor Standards? Management and Social Performance in the Nike Supply Chain. Management Science.