20329 - PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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Let us start by considering a few facts: - Product variety has more than doubled in the past 15 years; - In the same period, product life-cycles have shortened by about 25%; - 50 percent of annual company revenues across a range of industries are derived from new products launched within the past three years. What does that mean? It means that: - the number of projects is increasing, - companies have to recover the project investments in less time - project mistakes (e.g. over-time and over-budget) can disrupt the ability of the companies to return from their investments. That is, being able to manage projects successfully is not longer a nice-to-have but it is now a must-have.

The course addresses the most value-added topics in project management and related disciplines.

• Starting from defining projects and positioning them in the organizations, the course will go trough the different steps necessary to plan and manage successful projects.
• Project management will be discussed both in term of "traditional" and Agile project management
• Trends in project management will be discussed together with the distinction between myths and reality.
• Best practices, real examples and typical issues will be presented and discussed.
• A key characteristic of this course is the link between methodologies and human behaviors. In fact, many project management approaches are correct in theory but, when applied, they fail to provide the expected benefits because of human behaviors.

• Understand how projects fit in a broader management perspective
• Define a winning project strategy.
• Identify and manage the most relevant stakeholders.
• Describe the project scope and objectives in a clear, complete and effective way.
• Identify the work that has to be done in order to reach the project objectives.
• Assign responsibilities to the proper team members.
• Develop a realistic project schedule.
• Identify and manage the most relevant project risks.
• Monitor the project performance.
• Decide which project management approach (predictive or Agile) has the best fit with the project characteristics.
• Correctly apply Agile approaches, whit particular emphasis on continuous prioritization.

• Develop a professional and realistic Project Management Plan.
• Apply the project management approach that best fits to the project characteristics.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Interactive class activities on campus/online (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

• Guest speakers: durng the course Guest Speakers will show how project management methodologies have been applied in ther organizations and relevant project management trends.
• Exercises and case studies: almost every session be also supported by case studies or exercises.
• Simulation: a computer-based simulation will be used to address the topic of stakeholder management and project perfomance.
• Individual assignment. Every participant is asked to develop an individual project management plan (see next section).

• Written individual exam. It accounts for 40% of the total grade. It is composed on 30 multiple choice questions. It permits to test the knowledge on the main characteristics and aims of the most important project management methodologies and approaches.
• Individual assignment. It accounts for 50% of the total grade. Participants have to select a project and develop a professional Project Management Plan. The aim is to test the ability to apply project management in real case scenarios.
• Active class participation. It accounts for 10% of the final grade. The aim is to create engagement and a dynamic class environment.

• Written individual exam. It accounts for 50% of the total grade. It is composed on 30 multiple choice questions. It permits to test the knowledge on the main characteristics and aims of the most important project management methodologies and approaches.
• Individual assignment. It accounts for 50% of the total grade. Participants have to select a project and develop a professional Project Management Plan. The aim is to test the ability to apply project management in real case scenarios.

• M. SAMPIETRO, A. CANATO, F. PENNAROLA, The Tiscali UNIT Case (D), The Case Centre, 2006.
• R. Derakhshan, Stakeholder Management, SDA Bocconi, 2020.
• M. SAMPIETRO, The Project Scope Statement, SDA Bocconi, 2017.
• M. SAMPIETRO, The WBS, SDA Bocconi, 2017.
• M. SAMPIETRO, Responsibility Assignment Matrixes, SDA Bocconi, 2017.
• R. Derakhshan, M. Sampietro. Project Scheduling and the Critical Path Method, SDA Bocconi, 2020.
• R. Derakhshan. Resource Scheduling, SDA Bocconi, 2020.
• R. Derakhshan, Schedule Compression, SDA Bocconi, 2020
• M. SAMPIETRO, Poli M. Project Risk Management. ETAS (translated from), 2004.
• V. FIORILLO, R. SECCHI, S. ZAMBONI, 787 Dreamliner: Cleared for take off? The Case Centre, 2013.

• Rigby D. K., Sutherland J., Takeuchi, H. (2016) Embracing Agile, HBR.

• Schwaber, K., Sutherland, J. (2020). The Scrum GuideTM.

• How do you estimate on an Agile project? ThoughtWorks®, 2013

• M. SAMPIETRO. Project Management. Integrating Methodologies and Behaviors. Bocconi University Press, 2022. ISBN/EAN: 9788899902926