Programme Management goes to College

Reported by Miles Shepherd in London, UK

Announcing the launch of the BT Centre for Major Programme Management, BT Global Services UK CEO, Tim Smart, noted the need to a return to academic research to help overcome the problems of complex technological and social interactions on a global scale. The BT Centre for Major Programme Management is the first in the world focused on teaching and research in major programme management and is to be located at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.

Smart went on to explain that traditional tools and techniques of project management are not sufficient for the complex task of major programme management and there is a shortage of rigorous, empirically grounded and intellectually robust support for this discipline. The BT Centre for Major Programme Management will consolidate knowledge around this emerging and dynamic field which has considerable significance economically and often politically. It will foster a practical approach to the effective management of large scale programmes.

Dr Janet Smart, from Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science, been appointed Centre Director. Her research and teaching focused on manufacturing engineering and complex networks but she plans to carry out a programme of leading-edge and multi-disciplinary research, drawing together the expertise within the Saïd Business School and the broader University of Oxford, and eminent practitioners from the global business community.

The Centre is a first for the UK academic world although there are about 40 Universities with degree programmes in project management, mainly at Master’s level. There is also a vibrant research community based on project, programme and sector specific project delivery. In recent years, a new research trajectory has developed based on critical social theory and this has contributed to the recent Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council project (EPSRC) on ‘Rethinking Project Management’. It remains to be seen whether EPSRC will support further major research projects in project and programme management.

With nearly 140 course tracks at 40 UK universities, the academic scene is quite crowded with many seats of learning seeking to differentiate through sector specific programmes. Another key factor is the need to develop new and effective techniques for presenting Masters level courses to older, more experienced candidates. In a recent initiative aimed at addressing this issue, the Higher Education Academy, jointly owned by Universities UK and GuildHE and coincidentally located at Oxford Brookes has recently set up a Special Interest Group [www.PMnetwork.org.uk] to foster the development and dissemination of state of the art advances in teaching and learning in project management. With added research support now available from the Association for Project Management, the academic scene, and particularly the research arena, looks to be in good health.

Photos courtesy of Greg Smolonski – Photovibe.

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