COURSE IN PROJECT-BASED ORGANIZATIONS: DESIGN AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

LUISS  MSc in Economia e Direzione delle Imprese

Course Instructors: Paula Ungureanu & Andrew Davies

 

Convenor: Paula Ungureanu

Email: paula.ungureanu@unimore.it

Office hours: After each class and/or by appointment. For communications please use this e-mail, NOT the luiss e-mail

 

Co-instructor: Andrew Davies

Email: a.c.davies@ucl.ac.uk

Office hours: After each class and/or by appointment 

 

Tutor:  Rehab Iftikhar

Email:  riftikhar@luiss.it

Office hours: After each class and/or by appointment 

 

COURSE OVERVIEW:

 The purpose of this course is to increase your ability to understand, navigate and improve the organizations within which you will work. A particular emphasis will be given to organizations in the creative industries and to fashion and luxury sectors in particular. This is a course in applied behavioral science. By this I mean that we will analyze real organizational situations and carve out some fundamental behavioral science concepts. Although the emphasis is on project based organizations, and on luxury, fashion and creative industries, some of the course material applies to organizational dynamics in general, while others are tailored specifically for project based organizations.  

The cases we will approach come from a wide range of sectors such as luxury fashion, haute cuisine, movie industry, the performing arts, public heritage. We will examine both young and/or short term organizations looking for long term market impact, and long term organizations that create project task forces to the benefit of the core organization. We will address some of the main challenges and dilemmas of these organizations, and of organizations with a creative edge, in general. We will also draw insights from emergency businesses to learn how to deal with fast-paced activities, uncertainty and swift coordination in project organization.

 

FORMATIVE COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to successfully meet the following management course learning outcomes:

1. demonstrate understanding of the core concepts and processes related to the design, implementation and evaluation of project based organizations
2. demonstrate understanding of the core concepts and processes related to managing teams, projects and networks of project based organizations
3. comprehend and apply the principal concepts of the course at the individual, group, and organizational levels of analysis and identify how these concepts affect organizational and individual performance
4. demonstrate critical thinking skills by extracting core concepts and mechanisms from real situations without the instructor’s assistance
5. learn how to navigate and exploit disruptive, extreme situations
6. use concepts learned in classroom or derived from readings to  define, model, analyze and evaluate complex business problems.
7. demonstrate effective interpersonal communication skills in classroom
8. identify how course content relates to your personal development and future career
9. show an improved ability to effectively communicate complex business issues, both in written and oral form

 

PREREQUISITES:

There are no prerequisites for this course

 

COURSE CONTENTS:

The course will help you understand some of the challenges involved in designing, implementing and taking forward project based organizations. It will also focus on challenges of both managing people and being managed by people in project based organizations. Examining organizational processes at various levels of analysis will help you learn how management practices change as you progress through your careers and how others’ expectations of you change too. The course will greatly emphasize the importance of group and intergroup dynamics for project based organizations. Throughout the course, we will look at how our own goals, assumptions and courses of action get mixed with those of colleagues, bosses, clients, suppliers and other stakeholders at large, to influence significantly the trajectories of project based organizations. We will thus analyze typical behaviors, expectations and biases of collaboration and will comment on the risks and opportunities they bring in the evolution of project based organizations. We will look at challenges for leaders and self-managed teams, at team dynamics in temporary and in permanent project-based organizations, and connect them to the search for organizational creativity and authenticity. We will also comment on the increasing tendency of organizations to think about project networks, rather than isolated projects. We will conclude with a reflection on what it means nowadays to be an employee of project based organizations and what it takes to build a career in the creative/luxury industries. We will consider a set of tips aimed at helping you orient on the job market and prepare you to manage your career effectively.