Managing Security Sector Projects and Programmes

Students’ own personal perspectives will be surfaced early on and used to inform discussions based on relevant experience and endeavour throughout the course. Fundamental elements of the UK Association for Project Management Body of Knowledge (APM BoK) (with reference to the US equivalent, PMBoK) will be introduced to establish the foundations for learning. The relationship between project and programme - and to a limited extent portfolio management - will be explored and the key processes, governing structures and individual roles associated with each will be drawn out through a number of case studies and plenary discussion. Ultimately, the course aims to demonstrate the practical relevance of PPM to students’ own organisations and areas of responsibility, and to highlight benefits associated with adopting and continuing to develop such management approaches in the context of the international Security and Development Sector.  Recent developments associated with UK defence reform will be used to illustrate how the UK has developed, and continues to develop, PPM and portfolio management in the context of enabling improved security capability. The aim of this course is to establish and reaffirm a baseline of student knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of project and programme management and explore the key principles, processes, tools and techniques underpinning project and programme management in the context of Security and Development Sector.