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2018/2019  KAN-CINTO1810U  Advanced IT Project Management

English Title
Advanced IT Project Management

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory offered as elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 65
Study board
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and Information Systems, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Jacob Nørbjerg - Department of Digitalisation
Main academic disciplines
  • Information technology
  • Project and change management
Teaching methods
  • Online teaching
Last updated on 28-05-2018

Relevant links
Learning objectives
  • Select and explain key terms, definitions, concepts, theories and models covered in the course that are relevant to a specific case setting
  • Apply the selected key terms, definitions, concepts, theories and models to analyse project management in the specific case setting.
  • Identify and discuss practical implications and limitations of applying specific theories, models, and concepts from the course.
  • Present a clear and coherent argument for your choice of relevant theories and models and follow academic conventions in the written presentation
  • Based on a portfolio of own online contributions, demonstrate the ability to reflect on own activities, interactions and related learnings throughout the course and argue for their substantiveness and relevance for producing the exam assignment..
Course prerequisites
Familiarity with the basic concepts and techniques in IT project management, such as team composition, and techniques for project planning and control.
Please contact the teacher for advice if you do not know whether you qualify.
Examination
Advanced IT Project Management:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 2 weeks to prepare
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
An exam assignment will form the basis of the re-exam. Please note that the assessment will partly be made based on the student’s online activities/interactions made throughout the teaching period of the course. It will not be possible to make new online contributions. However, if the student – in accordance with the CBS rules on make-up exams – has documented that illness during the teaching period has resulted in his/her not making any online contributions during the teaching period, the student will be given the opportunity to make online contributions prior to the re-exam.
Description of the exam procedure

Note that online activities and interactions posted on Learn throughout the course form part of the basis for the assessment, as stated in the learning objectives.

No contributions to Learn will be accepted after the last week of the course.
Course content and structure

The context and conditions of contemporary IT software and systems development are complex and constantly changing. While the traditional large scale (in-house or vendor based) monolithic projects are still carried out, today's software and systems development range from small phone apps to large complex inter-organizational systems, and from embedded software to standard products. Projects may involve several teams and vendors from different continents. At the same time, development paradigms, principles, and practices have evolved from the traditional waterfall over agile to (current) explorations into continuous delivery and deployment.

Development and management technologies and tools are evolving at a similar pace.

The course supports students in learning how to understand and manage today's complex and diverse IT projects. Building on the students' knowledge about basic project management concepts, techniques and challenges, it will discuss IT project management theories, techniques, and practices within different organizational settings. The aim of the course is to improve the students' ability to plan, control and improve Information Systems Development in contemporary as well as future contexts and settings.

Examples of topics covered in the course

- Predictive and adaptive approaches to project management

- (Offshore) outsourcing

- (Beyond) agile project management

- The learning and adaptive software development organization

- Project management in small/start-up software companies

- Software Process Improvement

- PM tools and techniques
Description of the teaching methods
The course is taught entirely online in 10 sessions (10 weeks). Each session consists of online lectures and activities which students are expected to work through within the week. The learning content consists of asynchronous online lectures, discussions, quizzes, and individual and/or group assignments. In order to achieve the full outcome of the course, it is important that students are willing to participate in online activities throughout the course. Student participation will be targeted at producing insights that are meant to be covered in the final exam assignment. Note that online activities and interactions posted on Learn throughout the course form part of the basis for the assessment, as stated in the learning objectives. No contributions to Learn will be accepted after the 10th week of the course.
The students are expected to study a real project management case of their own choice as part of their on-line activities.

The lecturers will be available for asynchronous and/or synchronous online discussions throughout the duration of the course.
Feedback during the teaching period
Peergrading of assignments.
On-line discussions.
Student workload
Lectures 30 hours
Preparation 60 hours
Discussion 15 hours
Assignments 50 hours
Exam preparation and exam 51 hours
Expected literature

The course readings  consist of a textbook, which will be supplemented with selected research papers.

Example textbook: Sommerville, Ian (2015). Software Engineering (10th ed.), Pearson

 

Example articles:

Babb, J. J., Hoda, R. and Nørbjerg, J. (2014). XP in a Small Software Development Business. Adapting to Local Constraints. 5th Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems, SCIS 2014, T. H. Commissio, J. Nørbjerg and J. Pries-Heje, Ringsted, Denmark, Springer.

 

Conboy, K. (2009). Agility from First Principles: Reconstructing the Concept of Agility in Information Systems Development. Information Systems Research (20:3): 329-354.

 

Dennehy, D. and Conboy, K. (2016). Going with the flow: An activity theory analysis of flow techniques in software development. Journal of Systems and Software.

 

Fitzgerald, B. and Stol, K.-J. (2015). Continuous software engineering: A roadmap and agenda. Journal of Systems and Software.

 

Hertzum, M., Bansler, J. P., Havn, E. C. and Simonsen, J. (2012). Pilot Implementation: Learning from Field Tests in IS Development. Communications of the AIS (30:20): 313-328.

 

Kautz, K., Madsen, S. and Nørbjerg, J. (2007). Persistent problems and practices in information systems development. Information Systems Journal (17): 217-239.

 

Linberg, K. R. (1999). Software developer perceptions about software project failure: a case study. The Journal of Systems and Software (49): 177-192.

 

 

Lohan, G., Conboy, K. and Lang, M. (2011). Examining Customer Focus in IT Project Management. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems (23:2): 29-58.

 

Lyytinen, K., Rose, G. and Yoo, Y. (2010). Learning routines and disruptive technological change: Hyper-learning in seven software development organizations during internet adoption. Information Technology & People (23:2): 165-192.

 

Olsson, H. H., Ó Conchúir, E., Ågerfalk, P. J. and Fitzgerald, B. (2008). Two-Stage Offshoring: An Investigation of the Irish Bridge. MIS Quarterly (32:2): 257-279.

 

Persson, J. S., Nørbjerg, J. and Nielsen, P. A. (2016). Improving ISD Agility in Fast-moving Software organizations. Twenty-Fourth European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), İstanbul, Turkey.

 

Pries-Heje, J., Nørbjerg, J., Aaen, I. and Ellisberg, T. (2008). The Road to High Maturity. Software Processes and Knowledge, P. A. Nielsen and K. Kautz. Aalborg, Software Innovation Publisher: 165-194.

 

Schneider, C. and Sarker, S. (2005). A Case of Information Systems Pre-Implementation Failure: Pitfalls of Overlooking the Key Stakeholders' Interests. Journal of Cases on Information Technology (7:2): 50-66.

 

 

 

 

 
Last updated on 28-05-2018