Pangaea Academy increases Project Management Offerings
in South Africa

The Pangaea Academy, a subsidiary of the professional services company, Pangaea, allows project team members to gain knowledge from facilitators with many years of real-life project management expertise, says Pangaea Academy senior manager Luc Bauwmans (in photo).

The academy, which was established two years ago, trains project team members from Pangaea and from outside organisations, with a particular focus on project and contract management, says Pangaea Academy manager Marcolene Roach. She adds that all Pangaea facilitators have years of experience in their respective fields, and explains that participants, therefore, gain the expertise and practicality of first-hand facilitation and coaching.

The Pangaea Academy, together with Project Management & Con-struction, forms part of the portfolio of director Francois Bosch.

The New Engineering Contract (NEC 2 and 3) modules and project management courses attempt to replicate the environment of large multidisciplinary projects, through interactive role-playing and simulations. Participants include project managers, cost engineers, planners, supervisors, construction managers and contract administrators.

Bauwmans says that it was a strategic decision to focus on project management, as the project environment is distinctly different from the normal operating environment owing to its interactive, fast-paced, stressful and people-orientated nature.

Roach says that the skills development programme employs a three-tier approach. The first tier is the project management programme, in which the applied fundamentals of project management are examined. The second tier is the project control programme, involving cost engineering, and a scheduling and planning learning path. The final tier is the governance programme, which looks at the legislative framework of contracting, involving corporate governance, white-collar crime detection, prevention, reporting and prosecution.

General skills development was the main motivation behind Pangaea Academy’s implementation, owing to the acute skills shortage in South Africa, as well as globally, for the last few years. As a result of South Africa’s current economic growth targets, the requirements for skills in South Africa are even more overwhelming, according to Bauwmans.

Participants are required to pass the programmes, and undergo assessments in the form of knowledge tests, and summative assessments that comprise the participants’ personal accounts of the training programme. The course is mostly interactive, being constructed from an outcomes-based rather than academic-based approach. The programme emphasises practicality, with half of the course time spent on teamwork assignments. Feedback is then given to the group on their assignments, complemented by a model answer that the facilitators provide.

Over 400 professionals have successfully completed the programme, which can be completed in one-day modules or five-day sessions, varying according to the needs of a particular organisation. The abundant availability of project management courses in today’s market, says Roach, represents one of the main challenges for Pangaea, which is creating immediate value of its learning programmes to prospective participants and their organisations.

Academy offers a certification programme in which participants can attain different certification levels. In the near future, the company is aiming to offer participants the US Project Management Institute certifications, he says. Pangaea offers presentations to companies displaying interest in the course, explaining in detail what the programmes involve, says Roach. Pangaea currently offers some 24 different modules in project management, as well as contract management using NEC, in both second and third edition.

Based on an article by Guy Copans, edited by: Laura Tyrer, published by Engineering News on July 20, 2007 at http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=112211

 

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Capella University Launches Online PhD in Project Management

Capella University, an accredited, online university based in Minneapolis, USA, has announced that it has added Project Management specializations to both its PhD in Organization and Management (OM), and its PhD in Information Technology (IT) online degree programs. The online university also announced a new Information Security specialization within its PhD in Information Technology program.

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PMUni Education & Research Network Launched in Europe

Reported by Renate Prantner in Vienna

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New PhD Graduates from ESC Lille Announced

The week of 20-24 August 2007 saw 5 new PhD’s in Project & Program Management graduating from the highly regarded “Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lille” (Lille Graduate School of Management) http://www.esc-lille.com/site/www/en/home_page_en/phd.aspx.. The program is accredited by both the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and EQUIS in Europe.

From left to right in photo:

Dr. Paul GIAMMALVO, who defended his thesis, “IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT A PROFESSION? IF YES, WHERE DOES IT FIT IN AND IF NOT, WHAT IS IT?”

Dr. Robert MARSHALL, defending his thesis, “A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT TO PROJECT SUCCESS ON EXTERNAL PROJECTS UNDER CONTRACT”;

Honorary Doctor, Hiroshi TANAKA, PMP, Founder, JPMF, Representative to ENAA;

Dr. Mahamouda SALOUHOU having defended his thesis on “GLOBAL LEADERSHIP EDUCATION AND PROCESS ADMINISTRATION”;

Honorary Doctor, Russ ARCHIBALD, PMP, PMI Fellow;

Professor Christophe N. BREDILLET PhD, D.Sc., MBA, Ingénieur EC Lille, CPD IPMA Level A, PRINCE2 Practitioner, CCE, Dean of Postgraduate Programs /Professor of Strategy, Programme & Project Management;
Dr. Philippe RUIZ, who defended his thesis on INFORMATION THEORY AND COMPLEX PROJECTS: TOWARD AN ABSOLUTE SCALE FOR MEASURING DECISION-MAKING SKILLS;

Dr. Ravikiran Venkatasesha DWIVEDULA, who defended his thesis, “COMPARING MOTIVATION IN COLLOCATED AND VIRTUAL
PROJECT TEAMS”;

ESC Lille is a private, not-for-profit business school. ESC Lille stands for Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lille”. It is a French "Grande Ecole", (French Ivy League School) accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research as well as the first European University to be accredited by PMI’s Global Accreditation Center for Project Management. (GACPM). ESC Lille is also accredited by European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), holding the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) accreditation.

Founded in 1892, ESC Lille is one of the oldest Business Schools in France. For over 114 years it has broken new ground especially in the field of entrepreneurship and project/program management. The school offers a wide range of management programs and enjoys two state-of-the-art campuses in Lille and Paris. Because the program represents EXCEPTIONAL value for money and offers both traditional face to face and distance learning modes for both Masters and PhD’s the University is fast becoming the school of choice for people in the US and developing nations as well as the EU.

Please join us in offering our sincere CONGRATULATIONS to these professional leaders

 

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