2024/2025 KAN-CPSYO1603U Project Management
English Title | |
Project Management |
Course information |
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Language | English |
Course ECTS | 7.5 ECTS |
Type | Mandatory |
Level | Full Degree Master |
Duration | One Quarter |
Start time of the course | Third Quarter |
Timetable | Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk |
Study board |
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and
Psychology, MSc
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Course coordinator | |
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Main academic disciplines | |
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Teaching methods | |
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Last updated on 25-09-2024 |
Relevant links |
Learning objectives | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Prerequisites for registering for the exam (activities during the teaching period) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of compulsory
activities which must be approved (see section 13 of the Programme
Regulations): 1
Compulsory home
assignments
Podcast made in groups of 3-4 students. |
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Examination | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Course content, structure and pedagogical approach | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Projects are vehicles to get visions translated into action and change status quo. They are therefore fundamental to address our grand challenges. For example, containing and responding to climate change requires a portfolio of projects such as the development of new technologies, mega infrastructure projects such as the energy islands, marketing campaigns to make us change our consumption habits, and many other. This course aims at enhancing participants’ knowledge about project management, while fostering a reflexive approach to the subject and its practice. The course will introduce two different theoretical perspectives on project management: one represents the traditional view on project management, clearly portrayed in international standards and most textbooks. This perspective represents a close connection with analytical thinking and data. The other perspective represents the so called ‘Scandinavian school’ of project management, which on the one hand acknowledges the need for classic planning tools and methods, but also reflects on the need for flexibility and co-creation to cope with the high uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of projects. We call them tightly and loosely coupled perspectives, respectively. We then bring the two theoretical perspectives into four
managerial levers that every project practitioner will
do:
The two perspectives and four project practices form a 2x4 matrix that will guide the course. Surrounding this matrix are three components. Project Society: Projects are part of our daily life - both our professional and private life, what we term a ‘Project Society’. Organizing life through projects creates ethical dilemmas, such as the ‘use’ of projects to accomplish other aims, or the misrepresentation of project benefits to deliver societal value. We will discuss these dilemmas and encourage the students to reflect on their values and stances to cope with challenging choices. Context: no project is an island. We will explore how projects are embedded in their local contexts, and what project managers can do to cope and create value in line with its context. Project Success: projects are plagued by tales of failures and disasters, some even say that being a project manager is a recipe to end one’s career. Yet, despite the apart failures, we, as a society, reply more and more in projects. Projects are indeed short-term vehicles to deliver long-term prosperity. Why are projects then considered to be such a failure? Are they really failing or are they being unfairly evaluated? We will discuss and critically engage with the important and ethical understanding of project success. |
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Description of the teaching methods | ||||||||||||||||||||||
We will use a combination of the following
teaching methods:
• Videos: videos introducing each theme and its respective readings. • Reading: Students are expected to read the material individually or in groups at home. • Lecturers: We will have classic lectures, discussing the material, contextualizing the texts and its potential application to contemporary challenges and illustrating it based on project cases. • Guest lecturers: Project managers and academics will present rich project cases, that will be discussed in light of the course material, and thereby encourage the students to leverage their analytical knowledge to create value to ‘real life’ issues. • Group work: students are expected to work in their groups in exercise classes, where they will capture core message and concepts of each text, contrast texts and apply insights into project cases. • Peer review: students will review each other's essays, fostering learning and relearning. • Quizzes to review the basic understanding of each text. |
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Feedback during the teaching period | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The students will receive feedback in three
formats
1. Peer feedback to group delivery: A draft of student's group assignment (the essay) will be peer reviewed. Peer review is structured around the course's learning objectives and aims to foster learning and releaning in the course. Specifically, it provides specific and constructive suggestions to improve the weak parts of the work and to identify the strengths of the essay. Peer review is used to 1) foster peer-to-peer learning; 2) provide formative feedback; 3) develop a good understanding of the course’s learning objectives; 4) expose students to different forms of writing the essay; and 5) have the opportunity to clarify expectations and improve their work. 2. Ongoing feedback: The lecturer will provide ongoing feedback on exercise classes when assisting each group’s development and discussing their analysis of the readings. The teacher will continuously challenge the students to capture core project management ideas, understand its assumptions and be curious about potential new angles and concepts. Such in-depth discussions aim to help students think critically and be curious about potential new angles and understandings of projects. 3. Quizzes will provide specific feedback on factual understanding of course's main concepts. |
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Student workload | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Expected literature | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Readings are available in Canvas (Course Reading function). They are a combination of journal articles and book chapters. Reading will follow the structure of the course and is detailed in Canvas.
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