mpib

**1. Introduction**
This module offers students a systematic approach to the fundamental principles of global project management from theoretical and practical viewpoints. Students will develop a sound understanding of key issues in managing global business projects caused by different dimensions of physical and socio-cultural distance and learn how to shrink distance in order to facilitate effective collaboration and to close projects successfully.

Students will be exposed to state-of-the-art project management concepts and techniques for project planning, steering and controlling. Topics will be explored through a combination of lectures, assigned readings and interactive case studies. An important part of this course consists of a practical global project management assignment. This includes group work based on virtual collaboration software and data room management tools.

Alongside continuous globalization of business, managing global business projects becomes an ever more important skill across all disciplines putting students with excellence in that domain at a competitive advantage. The module trains students’ competences in managing and working on globally distributed project teams consisting of internal and external business partners with a high degree of international division of labour. Students will qualify to meet the challenges in project management induced by current global trends that reshape competitive parameters for business such as distributed business units, outsourcing and partnering. In particular, students will strengthen their ability to deal with complex matters in projects and business activities of widened geographical scope with embedded socio-cultural differences.

**2. Course structure**
a. Characteristics of global business projects b. Challenges of global business project management
 * 1. Overview of Global Business Project Management**

a. Global business opportunities & threats b. Criteria for selecting a global project c. Global project requirements
 * 2. Initiating & Planning Global Business Projects**

a. Implications of external and internal factors b. Organizational forms of business projects c. Norms and styles of negotiation
 * 3. Implementing Global Business Projects**

a. Project management organization b. Global business project controlling c. Complexity factors in controlling global projects d. Governance & compliance
 * 4. Steering & Controlling Global Business Projects**

a. Joint Ventures b. Strategic Alliances c. Network organizations
 * 5. Partnering in global projects**

a. Training with virtual collaboration tool Basecamp© b. Real-world project management assignment
 * 6. Practical global project assignment**

a. Classical pitfalls in global project management b. Competencies for managing global business projects
 * 7. The good, bad and ugly in Global Business Projects**

3. Case studies
The course includes various small case studies on global business projects.

4. Parameters
ECTS: 6 Hours of study in total:180 Weekly hours per semester: 4 Course characteristics: compulsory Course frequency: every year - winter semester Maximal capacity: 10 students Course admittance prerequisites: Modules of the first 2 semesters - the exams of 2 modules out of 10 can be open Skills trained in this course: professional, methodological, and personal skills Assessment of the course: Teaching staff: Prof. Dr. Jan-Philipp Büchler, (Prof. Dr. NN)
 * Contact hours: 60
 * Self study hours: 120
 * 75% contributions within the course (homework, group work, presentations, case studies)
 * 25% written or oral examination at the end of the course

5. Learning outcomes

 * 5.1 Knowledge**

The students can


 * explain core issues of global business projects
 * explain opportunities and threads of global business projects
 * explain criteria for selecting global business projects
 * explain requirements for global business projects
 * explain partnering concepts in global business management
 * explain competences needed in global business projects
 * explain the systematic development of a competitive brand strategy and business plan in cross-functional project teams
 * explain global and local management roles and tasks in brand strategy development and launch activities


 * 5.2 Skills**

The students are able to


 * analyse global business projects
 * determine impacts of global business projects
 * analyse partnering in global business projects
 * design a limited global business project
 * set up efficient team organization and processes for global business projects
 * establish effective business project planning, steering and controlling
 * utilize a professional project management software, e.g. basecamp®
 * apply concepts, methods and tools for the development of a competitive brand strategy and launch plan

in a given context in the course.


 * 5.3 Competence - attitude**

They are able to


 * analyse global business projects
 * determine impacts of global business projects
 * analyse partnering in global business projects
 * design and implement a limited global business project
 * work on globally distributed project teams with dispersed pieces of information
 * see possible conflicts of interest arising from socio-cultural distance manage efficiently conflicting interests between stakeholders of the project
 * communicate effectively in global business projects

in a new context / project.


 * 5.4 On scaling outcomes**


 * Analysis - assessed according to complexity and completeness
 * Models – assessed according to correctness, complexity and completeness

6. Teaching and training methods:
Lectures introducing concepts, methods and tools Group work to train concepts and methods, to develop skills and to work on case studies Home work to add individual contributions Presentations to communicate results

7. Course mapping
All courses of the first 2 semesters contribute to this course.

MP15 prepares MP30GB with contributions on cultures and intercultural communications.
 * MP15: Intercultural Communications - Cultures in Projects**

**8. Course readings**
CLELAND, D.I. / GAREIS, R (2006): Global Project Management Handbook – Planning, organizing and controlling international projects, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York. HOFSTEDE, G. (2005): Culture and organizations: Software of the mind, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York. LEWIS, J. (2002): Cultural Studies: The Basics. London: Sage. MILOSEVIC, D. Z. (2003): Project Management ToolBox: Tools and Techniques for the Practicing Project Manager, Wiley, New York. MINTZBERG, H. (1992): Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall. ORR, R. J. (2005): Unforeseen conditions and costs on global projects: Learning to cope with unfamiliar institutions, embeddedness, and emergent uncertainty, Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif.