Insegnamento a.a. 2021-2022

20278 - PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND FUNDING OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

Department of Social and Political Sciences

Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
DES-ESS (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07)
Course Director:
GIOVANNI FATTORE

Classes: 31 (II sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: GIOVANNI FATTORE


Suggested background knowledge

None

Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

Management knowledge is mainly based on organizational views: activities run by permanent organizations pursuing institutional goals. However, private and public organizations activities are increasingly managed according to projects pursuing specific objectives, by the means of defined sets of activities/tasks, in a given period of time. From a management perspective, policies, and their enacting strategies, are increasingly implemented through programs conceived as organized groups of projects enacted by public or private actors. The course exposes students to the main systems used to fund and evaluate projects conceived by companies, non-governmental organization and public institutions. Students also learn how to design and manage projects in a variety of challenging contexts (e.g. in poor countries after natural disasters, as well as in mature economies affected by social challenges).

CONTENT SUMMARY

The course is organized around three logical blocks:

  1. International actors and their policies about project funding
  2. Projects design and management.
  3. Projects evaluation.

 

  1. The first block presents the relevance of projects and project management in the field of international economic and social cooperation and development policies. Instructors present the main international institutions (EU, UN, international financial institutions) and private organizations (philanthropic foundations, NGOs) and the way they operate to fund, monitor and evaluate projects.
  2. The second block focuses on how to design and implement projects by providing students consolidated managerial approaches and techniques (project management, project cycle management, logframe, theory of change, public prrocurement, project budgeting and reporting).
  3. The third block provides students with applied analytical tools to assess project costs and benefits.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...

At the end of the course students will:

  • Know and understand the importance of projects in today’s public and private international organizations’ activities.
  • Acquire practical skills about planning, implementing and managing projects.
  • Know main project evaluation techniques.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Interpret international organization policy implementation strategies.
  • Identify effective approaches to work with calls for proposals and tenders issued by international organizations.
  • Write a project proposal.
  • Assess and evaluate a project.

Teaching methods

  • Face-to-face lectures
  • Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
  • Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
  • Individual assignments
  • Group assignments

DETAILS

  • Instructors use case studies or incidents to present real situations and activate class discussions.
  • The individual assigment consists of a critical appraisal of a Cost-Benefit Analysis submitted to the European Commision.
  • The Group assigment ask students to face a real-world situation where they are required to design a project in order to answer to a call for proposal.

Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
    x
  • Individual assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
    x
  • Group assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
    x

ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • Individual assignment (30%)
  • Group assignment (30%).
  • Written exam (40%).

Attendance is valid for all exam sessions of the academic year. The course is designed to keep involved also those students who cannot attend classes. In case of partial attendance, due to internship or other academic commitments, it is recommended to contact the instructors to arrange the participation to class' activities (even at a distance) and course evaluation.


NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • Not attending students are required to take a written exam on all the topics covered during the course (100% of the final grade).

Attendance is valid for all exam sessions of the academic year. The course is designed to keep involved also those students who cannot attend classes. In case of partial attendance, due to internship or other academic commitments, it is recommended to contact the instructors to arrange the participation to class' activities (even at a distance) and course evaluation.


Teaching materials


ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • Materials available on Bboard and listed in the syllabus
  • V. VECCHI, EU funds: Strategy and Management, Egea, 2012 (book).

 

  • One of the following books is strongly recommended:
  • E. JAQUES, The Winning Bid: A Practical Guide to Successful Bid Management, Kogan Page, 2013.
  • H. LEWIS, Bids, Tenders and Proposals: Winning business through best practice, Kogan Page, 2015.
Last change 04/01/2022 17:35