Abstract:

In late 2006, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was awarded a contract to work with the Australian Department of Defence’s Material Organisation (DMO) to design develop and deliver the Executive Masters of Complex Project Management (EMCPM). QUT was chosen for their commitment to supporting real customer requirements (ie demonstrated ability to supply solutions ‘for the real world’), and their willingness to collaborate with other universities and organisations at a global level to deliver unique customer requirements.
This paper describes how QUT successfully achieved international engagement with industry and government, to custom design and deliver this multidisciplinary Masters level program. Engaging with the Australian DMO, the UK Ministry of Defence, the USA Department of Defence, Lockheed Martin , Boeing, Raytheon, BAE Systems, The International College of Complex Project Management and other large corporate partners in teaching and research, QUT united academic and industry practitioner perspectives through the co-co-design of the Masters program and co-facilitation of its delivery.
The EMCPM was designed specifically for Government and industry project managers who are being groomed for the leadership of large and complex projects both nationally and internationally. The program was expected to develop participants with the capacities to lead their projects in complex and ambiguous situations with on-going and emergent challenges such as long technology development horizons, increasing global development interdependencies and constant change. Using a collaborative corporate education model for learning, the curriculum development was shaped by a set of competencies for complex project management (CPM 2006) developed jointly by an international group of senior industry practitioners, the client - a government agency, Defence Material Organisation (DMO), Australia, and in collaboration with the academic community in the defence sector.
The paper analyses the pedagogical principles and design of the education program to demonstrate the key qualities that it set out to achieve. Drawing on notions of ‘far transfer’, the paper describes the steps undertaken to achieve a design that ensures that programme and project leadership skills developed in the through corporate education programs become successfully embedded back in the organisation. In particular, the analysis focuses on the inclusion of workplace projects, personal development and coaching, role play and drama, industry guest speakers and an international tour as non-traditional strategies for developing the leadership skills of identified ‘high potential’ project and program managers.
Now in its 4th year, the EMCPM has undergone rigorous evaluation and has proven highly successful in achieving its goals as set by Government and industry. The Government sponsor of the program has described the EMCPM as ‘a benchmark for excellence in the delivery of complex project management training.’ The paper reports on the evaluation studies with a particular focus on the outcomes related to changed workplace practice. The program has been recognised as the global ‘first of type’ and the first to deliver real and profound change in individual complex project leadership capability and behaviour. The paper reports on the significant curriculum design and delivery models that contribute to success in university/industry/government educational collaboration.

Keywords:

Corporate education, executive education, industry engagement, workplace blended learning, learning transfer.