Transforming an organisation starts with connecting teams.
Within any organisation, there exists the full range of subject specialisations: operations, marketing and sales, accounting, human resources, information technology, warehousing and distribution.
One subject specialisation pulls all these departments together: project management.
If you are the sort of leader who sees themselves aligning every team to the company’s strategy to optimize customer value, you will benefit hugely from a qualification in project management.
The EU Business School Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a pathway in Project Management provides the skills that you need to succeed in the field.
What is Project Management?
All projects share one common characteristic – the projection of ideas and activities into new endeavours. The coursework in project management has been developed to plan, coordinate and control the complex activities of modern industrial and commercial projects.
Managers who want to lead projects should be able to understand the nature of project management, life cycles and phases. This includes an appreciation of the roles of human resource and communications management, and the importance of quality management, project time planning and cost management. A project management curriculum will also include modules on risk management, project procurement and contract management.
As in most specialized fields of learning, understanding terminology is crucial. Terms such as project, deliverable, stakeholder, programme, due date, cost account and work package are key to this field.
Did you know that project management is one of the most in-demand sectors in business today?
According to PMI’s 2021 Talent Gap report, 2.3 million new project management employees will be needed each year to meet global talent demands by 2030.
Nature of Projects and Project Management
Project managers must be able to differentiate project management from programme management and functional management, and from production and operations management. More recent research has tended to focus on the “three-dimensional” goal of projects, incorporating the cognitive, emotional and spiritual intelligence aspects of project management. These are interpreted in terms of:
- Expertise (know-how and know-what)
- Management knowledge (know-where, know-when, and know-who), and
- Leadership knowledge (know-why)
In an age of multidisciplinary, complex and uncertain projects, an understanding of the trade-offs between the objectives of cost, schedule and performance – and the need to combine these factors – is evident.
Modern Project Management
In the 1980s, management activities were often explained in terms of four functions:
- Plan: set objectives and actions to achieve them
- Organise: develop an organisational structure and staff the structure to achieve the objectives
- Lead: sources of influence that the manager uses to inspire action in others
- Control: ensure that performance does not deviate from standards
While these functions may still be a useful descriptor of what a manager does, they do not accurately reflect the day-to-day complexities of project management. This will include a detailed understanding of and skill in project life cycle planning and phases, using, for example, Gantt charts in conjunction with Agile Project Management principles.
Agile Project Management
Agile project management, highlighting flexibility and adaptation, arose back in the 1940s from Toyota’s lean manufacturing principles, and gave rise to the four core values stated in the Agile Manifesto of 2001:
- individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- working software over comprehensive documentation
- customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- responding to change over following a plan
Combined with its Twelve Principles, the Agile Manifesto is widely applied to project management in the tech and software industry, encompassing many other key project management skills:
- Human resource management: identifying work, responsibilities and roles
- Communications management: tools and techniques for project information distribution
- Quality management: quality control, assurance and planning
- Project time planning and critical chain project scheduling
- Cost management
- Risk management
- Project procurement and contract management.
Finding Work
By now you are probably asking yourself: how could I manage any part of the business without understanding project management? It’s a good question. Project managers are at the heart of innovation and a business that does not innovate does not have a bright future.
EU Business School’s MBA with a pathway in Project Management is in high demand. Statistics show that 93% of alumni accepted a job offer within six months of graduating, and 48% of graduates commanded a salary in excess of €100k. Almost one-third of graduates find work in Europe, with others taking up positions in the Americas (18%), Russia & CIS countries (17%) and Asia (15%).
International Accreditation
The EU Business School MBA in Project Management is widely recognised, not just for its content focus but also because of our partnership with Dublin Business School (DBS).
This Dublin Business School state-recognized degree is fully accredited by the Irish government through QQI, the Irish state body for quality assurance of all education and training services. On successful completion, students earn a state-recognized Dublin Business School Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree awarded by Quality & Qualifications Ireland (QQI).
Meeting Employers
At EU Business School’s Munich campus, students regularly go on company visits to the headquarters of global enterprises like BMW, Siemens, Paulaner, Coca-Cola, MAN Trucks, Audi and Porsche. These visits offer students an opportunity to gain unique insights into the way that successful businesses operate. Senior-level employees regularly visit the EU Munich campus to share their knowledge and provide case studies for students.
Taking the Project Management pathway through your MBA at EU Business School may be the best career decision you’ll ever make!
