1. National Centre for Project
Management (NCPM)
University of Hertfordshire
Hatfield
Hertfordshire
AL10 9AB
+44 (0)1707 284855
ncpm@herts.ac.uk
go.herts.ac.uk/ncpm
National Centre for Project Management

2. Contents
About NCPM 2
Qualifications 4
Executive Qualifications 6
Business & Corporate 8
Training 10
Publications 12
Research 14
Knowledge Transfer 16
Partnership

3. National Centre
for Project
Management
The National Centre for Project Management
(NCPM) is an inter-disciplinary centre of
excellence based at the University of
Hertfordshire, operating in collaboration with
industry, government, charities, NGOs and the
learned societies.
We foster a trans-disciplinary perspective that
covers all aspects of implementing successful
project and programme management,
regardless of sector.
Vision
NCPM is concerned with providing impartial
expertise and competence in the form of
studies, recommendations, advice, consultancy,
research, education and training in project
management.
• Vision statement: NCPM aims to set the
national agenda and establish project
management as a major profession and
discipline in the UK.
Mission
NCPM will promote the understanding and
appreciation of project management and
develop the foundation for championing
improvement and growth within the discipline. It
will endeavour to share insights gained within
smaller disciplinary constraints and make this
available to the wider community.
• Mission statement: To foster active dialogue
about the integration of successful practice
and theoretical research within project
management.
Strategic objectives
• To liaise with organisations interested in the
development and promotion of excellence in
project management.
• To undertake research and disseminate
findings to further the body of knowledge
and practice of project management.
• To deliver high quality education, training and
degree qualifications for the development of
excellence in project management
performance.
• To foster collaboration and exchange of
project management practice throughout
commerce and industry.
• To promote the University of Hertfordshire as
a centre of excellence in project management
nationally and internationally.
NCPM About NCPM
About NCPM
32

4. Successful projects are an important focus of the
NCPM.
We have developed a suite of programmes
designed to improve project management
capabilities.
Our part-time courses are specially designed for
working professionals from any sector, and blend
on-campus teaching with distance learning
activities and work-based projects.
Become a better project manager
Our Project Management Practice programmes
can help you become a better project manager
through reflection on how the techniques learned
solve real-life problems in your project
environment.
MSc Project Management Practice
This Master's programme is aimed at experienced
managers who are moving into project work, or
practitioners who have some experience and are
planning to take on more responsibilities.
Throughout the course you will gain exposure to
new perspectives, approaches, frameworks and
ideas. Assessment is based around how you
apply the learning to your professional practice,
making the learning highly relevant.
Another unique feature of the course is that it
encourages a high degree of peer learning and
sharing of best practice. Students consistently
report that they derive great value from the
extended discussions, multiple perspectives and
the sharing of previous and current experience
on offer.
The programme is based around monthly sessions
that encompass formal contact, group interaction,
group exercises, group projects and peer
feedback and discussion to support the
development of reflective practitioners. Each
module involves three sets of monthly contact
days (for example using the last Thursday and
Friday of each month as the regular meeting slot)
for a total of six contact days.
For more information on this course, visit
go.herts.ac.uk/PMP
Postgraduate Certificate
If you are new to projects or planning to move into
a leadership role, our intensive PgCert in Project
Management Practice focuses on the
management and leadership aspects of projects,
and will help you develop your knowledge and
learn new skills. If you want to go on to further
study, the programme structure allows successful
PgCert graduates to progress to the full MSc.
These programmes can be studied in Hatfield,
London, in-company, or at an agreed venue.
“The support for the course can only be
described as exceptional! Having been out
of education for nine or so years I find this
level of support very reassuring.”
Shane Dewhurst, Project Engineer, HSBC Rail
“In addition to the learning I got from the
whole course and assignments is the
understanding of the processes used in
management, leadership and project
management. As an engineer I am used to
dealing in facts and figures and I have
struggled with some of the more subjective
elements. However I have now realised the
benefit from valuing these approaches and
I will definitely pass this learning on to my
colleagues at work.”
Carl Connor, Control Systems Engineering Manager,
Sellafield
Qualifications
NCPM Qualifications 54

5. Improve your executive level
management skills
Choose from a range of MSc courses aimed at
experienced practitioners wanting to improve their
project, programme and change management
skills.
These programmes run in partnership with award
winning industry experts, and include modules
focusing on change management, decision-
making, organisational problem-solving and the
management of major projects and programmes.
You will also study research methods and
conclude the course with a 60-credit dissertation.
MSc Managing Organisational Change
MSc Managing Major Projects
The executive programmes are designed for those
managing challenging business transformations or
major product developments who wish to develop
their professional value. The programmes are
provided jointly with CITI, a company which
specialises in change management through
project and programme management consultancy
and development.
Overview
Emphasis is placed on topics that are critical to
the success of transformational change initiatives
and major product delivery, managed using
projects and programmes. The subject areas that
make up the MSc have been identified through
applied research and consultancy services carried
out by CITI, the National Centre for Project
Management and other expert bodies. Since
1989, CITI has profiled over 14,000 programme
and project managers and reviewed well over
1,000 programmes and projects, carried out in
government organisations, multinationals,
engineering, IT, financial services and utilities. The
findings from this applied research have helped
shape a highly practical programme developing
high performance behaviours and focused on
delivering value from the first module.
PgCert Delivering Organisational Change
The programme is designed to provide practitioners
with the knowledge, skills and insights to
successfully run major change projects. The
programme contains a mixture of academic and
practical elements and, through its modular
structure, enables students to take highly practical
techniques and tools back into their workplace.
The PgCert can be studied independently or can be
used as a bridge to further learning at MSc level.
“Anyone completing this course will come
out a better project manager and have
more confidence in project success.”
Gavin Ross, BT
“The course has helped me progress at
work by understanding different levels of
leadership and management. It has also
helped me understand the importance of
monitoring, and also issues around
performance and how this is measured. It's
helped me understand how to plan for the
journey in planning a project. My work is
now more structured and more organised,
and both I and my team are really
benefitting from this.”
Obstetrics/midwifery manager, NHS
Executive
Qualifications
NCPM Qualifications 76

6. Business &
Corporate
8 NCPM Business & Corporate
Project management has become a key
competence for most organisations in the public
and private sectors. Driven by recent business
trends such as fewer management layers,
greater flexibility, increasing geographical
distribution and more project-based work,
project management has grown beyond its roots
in the construction, engineering and aerospace
industries to transform the service, financial,
computer and general management sectors.
NCPM provides a variety of services to
business, including:
• Access to our expertise in research and
development
• Work-focused degree programmes which
can be run in-company
• A wide range of short courses which can be
adapted to suit the needs of your business
• Tailored workshops and masterclasses
• Research studies and reports
• Consultancy services
• Project rescue services
• Corporate research services
• A programme of business-focused events
and talks
National Project Management Library and
Resource Centre
We host the National Project Management
Library and Resource Centre in collaboration
with the Association for Project Management
(APM). This resource can be consulted by
businesses, researchers and practitioners. We
offer research, background bibliographies and
consulting services.
A selection of organisations that we
work with:
“Connecting up with the NCPM at the
University was a no-brainer for us. We really
support their vision of helping organisations
overcome key challenges and together we are
stronger in supporting business growth.”
Shane Suter, Commercial Business Manager,
Mitsubishi Electric
9

7. Training
10 NCPM Training
Short courses on key project
management skills and competencies
Our non-conventional courses cover many key
project management skills and are designed to
bring fresh insights, new approaches and a
broader prospective.
All of our training can be tailored to suit the
individual requirements of an organisation wanting
to improve the skill-set of its project staff.
Our courses include:
Project management fundamentals
This course provides delegates with insights to the
basic ideas, concepts and techniques of project
management.
Leading projects
Determine and develop the core leadership skills
and competencies required to lead project teams
effectively.
Project auditing
Designed to look at ways of performing project
audits in order to maximise benefits to the
organisation.
Making decisions
This masterclass will focus on some of the
prejudices, influences and predispositions that
reduce the effectiveness of decision making and
the quality of the resulting decision.
Project risk management
This course covers key topics in current risk
management thinking, introducing leading-edge
concepts in a practical framework.
Reality risk management
Concentrating on simple techniques that can
enable a project to reduce both the likelihood and
impact of risks, but at the same time minimise the
overheads of managing these risks. This course
concentrates on sample standard risks common
to most projects.
Earned value management
Understand the principles and practicalities of
earned value management and get an up-to-the-
minute perspective on how government and
industry are/will be using EVM.
Reality time management
Understanding and implementing the principles of
time management into daily life can bring dramatic
improvements to the quality of life. This course
provides practical time management principles
that can be easily implemented.
Stakeholder management critical
success factors
Why are you undertaking this project? This course
is designed to help with the identification of
stakeholders and their critical success criteria, how
to use this information to manage expectations
and formulate meaningful key performance
indicators for your projects.
New trends in project management
This one-day masterclass is aimed at practicing
project managers interested in the latest
developments in PM thinking.
Managing externally funded projects
Learn how to deal with the unique issues posed
by managing and coordinating externally funded
projects.
Requirements engineering
The most difficult task in many projects is getting
the specification right. The next most difficult is
keeping it so. Learn about the principles and
practice of successful requirements engineering,
with tools and techniques that are relevant to all
projects in every sector.
“My capacity in managing projects has
been enhanced in terms of developing and
producing project proposals, and in
implementing them. My performance has
improved, which was commented on by
my boss and my colleagues.”
Project Manager, overseas development sector
“The course is very good and I believe it
will benefit me in the future. The sessions
are all about solutions - a practical
approach - not all about theory, which
interests me more.”
Project Manager, Royal Mail
11

8. NCPM publishes two book series, Advances in
Project Management and Fundamentals of
Project Management. The Series Editor is
Professor Darren Dalcher (HonFAPM, FRSA,
FBCS, CITP, FCMI) Founder and Director of
NCPM.
Advances in Project Management provides
short, state of play guides to the main aspects
of new emerging applications, comprehensive
monographs and edited anthologies
summarising key developments, including
sustainability, human factors, project capability
and organisation improvement.
The companion series, Fundamentals of Project
Management, provides short guides to a set of
key aspects of project management, including
risk, governance, stakeholder management,
costing, and programme management. Each
guide aims to provide the fundamentals of the
subject from a rigorous perspective.
Practising professionals and project students
alike will find the books authoritative, based on
current research but immediately relevant and
applicable.
The books are written by acknowledged experts
and leading thinkers in project management
from all over the world, and have received wide
critical acclaim.
“This is a little gem of a book, bursting
with information on every page.... I
believe there is a wide audience for this
book, ranging from those governing
projects through to those managing and
supporting projects. Anyone interested in
improving their current approach to risk
would also find this guide a useful
addition to their library.”
John Fisher, Risk Management professional, on
'Managing Risk in Projects' by David Hillson
“This book provides a complete analysis
of project excellence and a unique
means of measuring it.”
Daniel Keeling, Head of Quality, Crossrail UK, on
'Managing Quality in Projects' by Ron Basu
“This book takes project risk
management firmly onto a higher and
wider plane. For a book which tackles a
complex subject with breadth, insight
and novelty - it’s remarkable that it is also
a really good read.”
Dr Martin Barnes CBE FREng, President, The
Association for Project Management on ‘Tame, Messy
and Wicked Risk Leadership’ by David Hancock
“For me, Program Management simply
and concisely explains how realising
strategies and bringing in the benefits to
the organisation is achievable. This is a
first - a theoretical text which really
understands what I do.”
Anne Boundford, Program Manager, Thomson Reuters,
on 'Program Management' by Michel Thiry
Publications
12 NCPM Publications 13

9. Project management research is normally
conducted from within traditional disciplinary
areas, such as business, IT, engineering or
construction. NCPM is the first inter-disciplinary
forum fostering synthesis in research and driving
the national research agenda.
NCPM undertakes research and disseminates
findings, studies and reports to further the body
of knowledge and established practice of project
management. We focus on emerging areas in
which many businesses are increasingly seeking
advice.
We have an active multi-disciplinary research
network, with a growing group of researchers
working on innovative and thought-provoking
projects.
Take your study to the next level -
Research in Project Management
PhD Project Management
Our PhD students focus on expanding the
boundaries of project management knowledge
whilst solving practical problems. NCPM
researchers work on a wide variety of subject
areas which are cutting-edge and have practical
relevance to the profession. We welcome new
applications for study at PhD level.
Professional doctorate in project
management
We are developing a professional doctorate in
project management (DPMan) for experienced
practitioners. This programme is group-based
so will give you a thorough understanding of
group dynamics, people, and the way in which
they affect change in organisational projects.
Areas of ongoing research:
• Trends in project management
• Project success and failure
• Evidence-based practice in project
management
• Project management maturity models
• Agile, extreme and lean project management
• Project management competence
• Knowledge management in projects
• Project management benchmarking
• Leadership in projects
• Risk and opportunity management
• Change management
• Reflective project management practice
• Ethics in projects
“I've been working in industry as a
project manager and I wanted to
enhance my skills with greater
knowledge by following a research route.
I chose the National Centre for Project
Management because I felt it was a
major repository of project management
knowledge and expertise, and would be
able to offer me all the expert knowledge
and guidance I need to complete my
PhD successfully. I'm doing a research
degree partly for my own sense of
achievement but also because I felt the
whole adventure might open new doors
and provide new opportunities which I
hadn't previously contemplated.”
John Onuga, PhD student at NCPM
Research
14 15NCPM Research

10. Knowledge transfer is the process of transferring
know-how, technology and skills from a higher
education institution to external partners for
commercial benefit.
A Knowledge Transfer Partnership
(KTP) is a 3-way collaboration
between:
• a business
• the University
• an exceptional graduate (KTP Associate)
KTP gives you access to the University's ideas,
expertise and technologies so you can tackle a
strategic project with the latest insights and
innovation.
NCPM will work with you to embed new
capability in projects, solve your business
problems and improve your organisation's
performance. KTPs are an excellent funding
mechanism for companies to work with
Universities on a project that has competitive,
strategic value to the partnering company.
“Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)
are about co-creating the right solution
for business. Through collaboration a
KTP can help to embed new knowledge
and skills in an organisation and drive
innovation and strategic change in
projects.”
Dr Phil Fiddaman
Knowledge Transfer
Partnership (KTP)
16 17NCPM KTP