International Project Management MSc

The international business environment provides a wide range of information for managers and stakeholders and an increasingly key skill for managers is the ability to identify scan, collect, analyse and synthesise sources of information to form the basis of communication and decisions. This module provides the foundation for international business research and the core analytical skills required by business professionals to maximise the value of information. Students will develop the skills to understand business information requirements, the veracity and validity of different sources of a variety of information sources. This module will help students to develop the ability to analyse and report on research findings.

This Module will provide students with a sound knowledge and appreciation of the various ways in which Business Law can impact on organisations and provide managers with the technical skills to manage this influence. This Module will focus on the nature and sources of law, dispute resolution, an appreciation of internationalisation and business organisations and how, for example, the EU principle of the right of establishment (Art.43 and 48) impacts on these issues. It will also consider specific examples to illustrate the context within which business law operates. This will include: managing the contractual process and issues relating to intellectual property (copyright, trademarks, patents, etc.) protection. One of the main focuses for the design of this module has been the further development of relevant employability and professional skills. Such skills are implicit in the learning outcomes.

A key requirement for successful business managers is a rational assessment of the external economic environment, and increasingly the forces that extend beyond national boundaries. This module emphasises how global and national macroeconomic trends influence almost every component of a company’s business strategy. Theoretical foundations are combined with real world applications to engage students in the contemporary problems and issues facing senior managers, demonstrating the relevance of current global economic trends for business strategy.

This module offers a critical evaluation of leadership theories by placing the evolution of American leadership theory within its historical and ideological context - examining the vulgarisation of social psychology by management writers and the difficulties inherent in their conceptualisation of power. Recent leadership theories are examined, notably transformational theory, and the reaction against charismatic leadership. An examination of cross cultural factors in power relations within organisations, drawing on comparative studies of managerial styles with particular reference to: socialisation and legitimisation processes, bases of obedience and independence, and cultural variations in predispositions to obedience. Insights into leadership as an element in decision making, problem solving and change management with specific reference to: experimenting and developing practical leadership skills in different contexts, coping with conflict, power and organisational politics, the morality of leadership: the ethical dimension in the exercise of power.

Operations Management (OM) involves all the activities, decisions and responsibilities for managing the production and delivery of products and services. Managing business operations is not only vital to implement and support any organisation’s strategic plans, but it can also drive strategic change and be a key source of competitive advantage. Operations strategy reconciles an organisation’s resources with international market needs by determining the right priority of the five competitive factors: cost, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility. A key part of the business operations is project management, and this module expands the theory of project management into a business context and integrates the practical tools and techniques required to manage projects successfully.

This module will enable students to document the assumptions/risks that have to be made while developing the project plan and budget, and assess their impact on achieving the project objectives. This will require developing a risk register, assessing the impact and likelihood of each risk, simulating the impact of the high priority risks on the project plan and then coming up with risk response actions to treat the impact of those risks. This will be followed with monitoring and controlling those risks as well as adding newly identified risks. The module will explore definitions of risk in different project environments as well as examining the required inputs to risk management and the risk management process. Risk planning, and various risk categories for the risk register will be developed and students will be exposed to a variety of information gathering techniques for identifying and assessing risks in the project life cycle. Both quantitative and qualitative risk analysis will be discussed and techniques such as Expected Monetary Value; decision trees; and financial investment appraisal techniques will be used to evaluate risks in projects. In addition to risk planning strategies, we will examine risk response strategies from avoidance to management and mitigation and risk maturity models.

This module has been designed to deliver applied project management knowledge and techniques beyond the standard material covered on comparable MBA level modules. The focus of the module will cover advanced tools and techniques across the entire project life cycle. This will commence with defining the project scope of work using Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). Analysing the project to determine feasible timescales and budgets will follow. The Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) will be covered to enable students to assess the probability of a project schedule achieving a stipulated deadline date. Resource levelling will be covered to enable project managers to manage their resources effectively, and resolve resource constraints. Earned Value Management (EVM) will then be covered to enable the accurate measurement of actual progress and expenditure. This will be compared with planned progress and budgets to derive incisive variance analysis and forecasts for completion (dates/costs). This will be finalised with the analysis of potential ‘crashing’ and acceleration options. There will be a choice of a number of formative assessments used from the following: analysis of project management journal papers, presentations, short one minute papers, ongoing class Q&As amongst others.

The more business becomes knowledge-based, the more there is need for expertise and business leadership around the management of intellectual assets, property and capital both domestically and internationally. A main challenge is to develop a new generation of international business leaders with modern skills and tools adjusted to analyse and manage the complexity involved in the creation and design of innovations, ventures and markets in a global context. The module will focus on the following core elements: Effective Project management, Human Capital, Relational Capital, Structural Capital and Leadership. One of the main focuses for the design of this module has been the further development of relevant professional skills, the advancement of technology, globalisation and political and environmental changes as well as the development of collaborative international leadership for effective project development.

This Module will focus on business processes and systems (hard and soft), which are critical to business success, and the benchmarking and refining of those processes systems. As such, students will be introduced to a variety of benchmarking tools and techniques measuring Key Performance Indicators, Critical Success Factors for specific firms in a variety of industries and business environments. The conceptual tools and models will introduce students to operational, financial, organisational and cultural conceptual frameworks that are used in practising business and consultancies, to diagnose, analyse and evaluate among alternative potential change scenarios giving a qualified estimate of potential success of managed programmes of change rather than “guestimating” the potential outcomes. As well as examining planned change efforts of firms, to improve their position, we will look at unplanned, emergent strategies of change.

In most industry sectors, project practitioners would not think of tackling significant projects without the deployment of modern computer-based project management applications such as Microsoft Project. This is because competence with such computer tools, combined with a thorough application of project management theory, can increase the productivity of a project management team many times over. Therefore this module has been designed to equip students with the knowledge and technical skills to develop and apply project management applications to a realistic and complex programme scenario involving multiple concurrent projects.

This module supports students in the preparation and submission of a Masters Stage integrative case study. This major case study is practical, desk based, and is designed to promote critical thinking. The module is designed to evaluate the deeper knowledge and understanding of students by assessing applied research skills within an international business environment and to assess their ability to assimilate new knowledge and facts and respond to these appropriately within defined time constraints.