Project Management

Catalog description

A problem-based, interdisciplinary course in project management skills and techniques needed to manage projects in a modern business environment. IMBA 531 Project Management (2) Project management has been labeled by Fortune Magazine as the number one career choice for the coming decade. Increasingly, organizations are adopting project management techniques and structures within their business framework. Project management offers the twin advantages of allowing organizations to create products and processes efficiently, through optimal use of resources, and rapidly, to respond to rapid time-to-market demands. This course would give business majors a competitive advantage in the job market, as companies are in great need of a trained cadre of qualified project managers who can allow the business firm to operate to its highest potential. The role of the instructor in this course is to train students in the wide variety of demands and skills for which they must be qualified: the ability to exert leadership in managing project teams, an understanding of people and behavioral skills, and the ability to effectively use computer-based scheduling and tracking software to keep to timetables and schedules. The course will involve semester-long projects, either developed by the instructor or developed (in collaboration with the instructor) by students involved in business enterprises. As a result, students would have real-time experience in the challenges of creating a unified team, solving problems, tracking their projects, and presenting a final paper and presentation on the process.