Management 440

MGNT 440: Project and Event Management  

Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor

Credit Hours: (3)

Provides both technical and behavioral management skills for projects and the experience-based sub-category of projects called “events.” The content deals with planning, scheduling, organizing, implementing, and controlling projects using software tools, project management methods, and team leadership behavior.  Significant class emphasis is placed on the project management process applied to a semester-long event/project plan and implementation.

Note(s): Applied Learning designated course.


Detailed Description of Course

Content: The course focuses on the following topics:

1) How organizations go about evaluating and selecting projects. Special attention is devoted to the importance of aligning project selection to the mission and strategy of the firm.
2) The organizational environment in which projects are implemented. The discussion of matrix management and other organizational forms is augmented by a discussion of the role the culture of an organization plays in the implementation of projects.
3) Developing a plan for the project including defining the scope of the project and developing a work breakdown structure (WBS), the challenge of formulating cost and time estimates, and utilizing the information from the WBS to create a project plan in the form of a timed and sequenced network of activities.
4) Project Risk: How organizations and managers identify and manage risks associated with project work.
5) Resource allocation with special attention devoted to how resource limitations impact the project schedule, time-phased budget development, and strategies for reducing ("crashing") project time either prior to the initiation of the project or in response to problems or new demands placed on the project.
6) Project implementation and the sociocultural side of project management which focuses on the role of the project manager as a leader and stresses the importance of managing project stakeholders within the organization.
7) Project Team Leadership including team dynamics with leadership skills/techniques for developing a high-performance project team.
8) Managing project stakeholders by discussing how to outsource project work and negotiate with contractors, customers, and suppliers.
9) Monitoring project progress with special attention devoted to the key concept of earned value.
10) Project life cycle which covers closing out a project and the important assessment of performance and lessons learned.
11) Implementation of project management in multicultural, international environments.
12) Organizational oversight and how it impacts the management of projects.
13) The emergence of agile project management, a more flexible team approach to managing complex projects where requirements cannot be clearly defined before the project beings.
14) Coverage of career issues in the field of project management.


Detailed Description of Conduct of the Course

1) Assigned readings
2) Classroom application exercises based on content of readings
3) Project management software assignments applying these tools to a multi-part case based on an actual company.
4) Team-based event project which requires the application of concepts, tools, and frameworks from the readings, application of the project management software tools; team leadership and coordination including task assignments, activity responsiblities milestone planning, team member feedback activities; budgeting; event rehersal; legal due diligence; execution of the event; partnering with community client benefitting from the event; and generation of a paper documenting all event-related actions and planning.


Goals and Objectives of the Course

1) Apply the concepts, techniques, and decision tools available to project managers.
2) Develop work breakdwon structures and networks for planning, scheduling, and controlling projects.
3) Manage and negotiate potential personnel and technical conflicts and problems that can occur on projects.
4) Develop appropriate team leadership skills for successfully managing a project.
5) Develop a framework for a complete computer-based system for managing a project.


Assessment Measures

Embedded course measures - Exams, project management software exercises, presentations, paper.


Other Course Information

None

 

Review and Approval

April 21, 2017

March 01, 2021