BT and theSaïd Business Schoolat the University of Oxford are to establish what is
claimed to be the world’s first research centre for major programme
management.
The new BT Centre for Major Programme Management will 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 (within departments such as
engineering, computer science and law), and practitioners from the
global business community.
As well as carrying out research in this field, the centre will
also develop a teaching programme which will lead to an MSc in
Major Programme Management to be launched in Autumn 2008.
BT said major programmes, such as the Olympics, which are
characterised by being complex, high value, long-term projects,
have proliferated in recent years.
Yet there is a shortage of rigorous, empirically grounded and
intellectually robust support for this discipline, said BT.
BT said the traditional tools and techniques of project
management are no longer sufficient for the complex task of major
programme management.
The BT Centre for Major Programme Management is intended to
consolidate knowledge around this field, which has significance
economically and often politically.
The BT Centre is expected to be fully operational in 2008. A
director of the Centre and a BT Professor of Major Programme
Management will be appointed and further research appointments will
follow.
Tim Smart, president of
BT Global
Services UK, said, “We will see an increasing number of these
huge programmes as a result of rapid technological change and the
effects of global connectivity, so there has never been a greater
need to create a world-class research centre focused on improving
overall predictability and performance.”
Colin Mayer, dean of Saïd Business School, said, “There is a
professional need for high level research and education in
programme management which is not currently being served by any
global business school.
“The field of Major Programme Management is emergent and dynamic
and requires leading-edge research which takes into account the
latest understanding of best practice in the area.”
Last week,
Cambridge University announced a new technology
research department in partnership with Nokia.
Related article:
Cambridge University joins forces with Nokia on
research
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