BUS 504 Marketing Management

Project management holds immense importance for companies. Companies initiate projects for different reasons. The type of projects also vary from company to company. It also differs from industry to industry. The projects which a company takes up depend upon its internal factors like its financial strength, the skills of its employees, the level of technology to which the company has access to and its nature of operations. For example, a fast moving consumer goods manufacturing company can initiate projects to gradually make its products more and more environment friendly by reducing the chemical content in the products like soap and food products. Although project of making products more environment friendly by gradually reducing their chemical content looks like a standalone project, it is actually driven by several other projects. Global FMCG companies carry out continuous research and development projects to develop goods made largely from natural ingredients. These companies carry open innovations by combining their internal knowledge and external knowledge. A pharmaceutical company on the other hand carry out projects to develop drugs to treat diseases. A construction company may carry out projects to develop new ways of building of houses which would take less time and require less materials. A hotel company on the other hand may initiate a project to restructure its layout. Thus, it is clear the projects hold high importance to a company irrespective of its industry of operations and scale. A company invests immense amount of financial resources according to its capability to execute a project to get certain project goals. Now, it will definite want the project tp be successfully executed in order to gain positive returns on the amount invested. That is why companies employ experienced and trained project managers holding degree in the area

BUS 504 project management is a project management course which focus on project management. The course provides knowledge on the process of project management and the application of project management. The trainees undergoing the course can gain deep knowledge on project life cycle stages, management of life projects, project control and project evaluation process. The course also provides knowledge on human resource management and negotiation with the parties involved in the projects. The following are the learning outcomes which the course aims to achieve: 1. Description of key concepts, process and constituents of project management. 2. Analysis of the interrelationship among the main elements of project management including time, cost and resources in execution of projects. 3. Evaluation of the general factors affecting the performance of particular projects like labour market factors and social factors. 4. Designing of an organisational structure, staffing of a project office and establishment of communication systems to maintain continuous communication with the stakeholders to the project. 5. Analyse the role of executive management in the life cycle of a project. 6. Application of the key skills of a project manager like leadership skills, team building skills, team management skills, conflict management skills, time management skills and communication skills. 7. Uphold ethical considerations while managing projects. 8. Evaluation of quality of planning through the life cycle of a project. 9. Construction of project schedules by applying network techniques and reports for both internal and external presentation. 10. Development of project estimates in terms of pricing. 11. Creation of project control procedures. 12. Assess and develop actions to manage project risks. 13. Assess the quality of performance of a project on the grounds of the project contract, performance measurement tools, key performance tools and implementation of the above mentioned skills. 14. Using technology and information resources to research issues in project management. Project managers in order to carry out their daily responsibilities and roles have to have several skills and knowledge in several areas. For example, they are expected to have knowledge on management of projects. They should be able to form budgets and make estimates on costs related to each component of the project. They have to have knowledge on project life cycle stages and how to manage each stage of project life cycle. They have to have skills like leadership skills, project management skills, conflict management skills, decision making skills and communication skills. They also need to comply with laws and ethics. It is clear that the course would instil several skills and knowledge among the graduates which would enable them to function as efficient project managers. The learning outcomes show that the course covers all these skills and knowledge requirements. This means that an aspiring project manager by undergoing the BUS 504 project management course would be able to groom himself into a project manager. He would get an upper hand in interviews to positions involving engagements in projects. He would thus get employed with reputed companies and earn high salary.

Considering the vast expanse of the course, it is clear that it deserves a 100% weightage. It can be concluded that BUS 504 project management is a good course. It is extremely market oriented and would get the graduates passing out good jobs. However, it would be mentally and physically demanding owing to its huge content.