Project Management Course: PMBOK and IT Projects

This course addresses the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements by covering the key areas encapsulated in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) with an emphasis on issues that differentiate information technology projects. Students will also demonstrate competency in the use of project management software tools.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Describe and discuss the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

• Evaluate the processes and various approaches used in implementing project management.

• Demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed in controlling project scope, schedule, and budget. 

You will be assigned a group of 5 to 7 people to work with on this project. (Research topic selection per group will be discussed during the residency)

The research paper consists of three distinct assignments:

1. Write a research paper on a selected topic of project management (example topics are listed below). Submit the topic and outline in a presentation

2. Utilize the project management skill you learned so far, update your project schedule and print a dashboard export, remaining work report, and Gantt Chart, etc. using Microsoft Project to a PowerPoint/Word/pdf file. Include a short paragraph summarizing the status and remaining activities of your group project in the report. Submit the updated project schedule and report files.

Groups will select a topic from the following list on which you would like to conduct an in-depth investigation: 

Analyzing the project delay causes and how global construction companies are coping with it

1. Assessing the importance of communication in maintaining quality and timely delivery of project activities.

2. Identifying the factors of project selection: A drastic shift project benefits approach towards customercentricity

3. Assessing the importance of project management soft skills in the context of project success rates

4. Investigating project management success for project oriented business organisations from the perspective of technical capacity, organization structure and leadership

5. Understanding the role of project management soft skills to increase project success rates – Review of statistically meaningful and documented evidence

6. Understanding the role of project management methodologies to increase project success rates – Review of statistically meaningful and documented evidence

7. Does the “Triangle model” of project management accurately represent the PM process? – Why do project managers across the globe continue to cling to the triangle as a model for project management despite the obvious problems?

8. Should “project exit strategy” be part of the project management philosophy? An empirical investigation to conclude to what extent projects have an “exit strategy”

9. “Learning from History – Does general management have established theories that support it? If so, presumably the originators faced the same challenges of legitimacy as project management research faces to day. In which case, what can be learned from the original emergence and growth of general management?”

10. Investigating various career paths available to project managers in light of relative evidences

11. To validate and test principles supporting the concept of PMI’s Project Management Maturity (OPM3) to suggest improvements

12. Discussing the relative merits of different project management certifications

13. Examining the differences between process groups and project life cycle – Potential problems for PM practitioners

14. The importance of PMBOK in improving project management performance – Why and how project management complexity affects projects

15. Why there are substantial differences between project management theories and practices? The role of users and tutors

16. To identify and discuss the differences between project management and operations management

17. What is the most suitable time to develop project plan and how detailed it should