Postgraduate MSc
Strategic Project Management
This programme starts in September, we also provide a January start so you can study at the time that is right for you.
Project Management is ever-growing and evolving as an imperative function to improve efficiency and transparency in modern businesses. Tomorrow’s project managers don’t only need expert organisational skills and the ability to manage conflicting tasks and pressures. They need to understand how to provide leadership of projects and enact organisational change in both a global, and sustainable way. Our MSc Strategic Project Management programme embeds these issues as a core part of out teaching, meaning our graduates are ready to go into the world and effect change.
Kent Business School is ‘triple crown accredited’ this puts us in the top 1% of business schools globally. There is no better place to take the next step in your career and realise your ambitions. Our MSc Strategic Project Management course at Kent Business School is delivered by academic experts and co-developed with industry leaders and experts. You will develop a detailed background of Project Management and strategic theory and the imperative tools and processes project managers use in the business environment. This accompanied with the global outlook and emphasis on an ethical and sustainable approach to project management, means you will be able to not only step into a career in project management, but be a leader in the field.
You will end your Master's with a detailed report on an independent research project with a dedicated expert supervisor. This is a fantastic example of your work, skills and knowledge to show employers after you graduate. Our graduates typically find work in consultancy and employed work both in the UK and globally. You will be well placed to either start you own business, or work in companies such as Deloitte, JP Morgan & Chase, BP and Huawei as examples of businesses many of our graduates have worked in. Whatever your goals are in business, our MSc Strategic Project Management programme is a great first step to get there.
Kent Business School is among the top 1% of ‘triple crown’ business schools worldwide following its European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD).
The ‘Triple Crown’ involves awards by the three leading business school accreditation organisations – EQUIS, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and The Association of MBAs (AMBA).
A minimum of a second-class UK degree, or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification in a variety of subject areas is accepted for entry into this course.
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
Please see our International Student website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, students who require a student visa to study cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.
The University requires all non-native speakers of English to reach a minimum standard of proficiency in written and spoken English before beginning a postgraduate degree. Certain subjects require a higher level.
For detailed information see our English language requirements web pages.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.
This module will provide students with a good understanding of key concepts and theories in the field of Programme and Project Management. Students will learn about key practices and techniques and gain a good understanding of how they might be applied in real business contexts.
Indicative topics are:
• Project, programme and portfolio management concepts.
• Bodies of knowledge and methodologies (APM, PRINCE2, P2M, PMP, MSP, MoP).
• Role of the project / programme support office/ Project Management Office (PMO)
• Project and programme organisation structures and roles.
• Life cycle, principles and processes.
• Business case and investment appraisal.
• Scheduling.
• Budgeting and cash flow.
• Earned value management.
• The use of MIS in project management
• Measurement, control and risk management in projects.
• International Project Management: Multi-cultural management.
• Agile project management versus traditional project management.
• Researching Projects.
This module will utilise domestic and international companies to shed light on change management issues, and models of change and therefore allows students to gain understanding of leadership and change in organisations and subjects covered will typically include:
• Understanding change management.
• The role of change agents including management consultants.
• Examine the core issues involved in leading change.
• Organisations and key stakeholders to deliver change and organisational success.
• Contemporary issues in change management.
The module content includes business consultancy skills that are transferable into the business consulting profession, internal consultancy positions within organisations, and senior management roles.
Indicative topics are:
• Approaches to management consulting.
• Negotiating a scope of work.
• Developing a client proposal.
• Data collection and analysis.
• Preparing and presenting a consulting report.
• Working as an effective team member in a consulting team.
• Managing client relationships and expectations.
• Consulting project management.
This module aims to provide an advanced understanding of the role of strategic management in organisations, relating to the strategic analysis, decision-making and processes within and between organisations in different business contexts. Through studying this module students develop critical awareness of current developments and new insights in strategic management and performance measurement.
Indicative topics may include:
Defining corporate strategy; the strategy context; strategy formulation; resource-based strategy; corporate and business strategy; performance measurement (tools and techniques).
Agile project management is an iterative approach to delivering a project throughout its life cycle, providing innovative solutions in a sustainable manner. This module considers the theoretical perspectives and the application of appropriate principles and techniques with regard to Agile Project Management. The module will consider aspects such as prioritisation and time boxing; controlling an agile project; anticipating and managing risk and building in quality.
Benefits management defines benefits, implements the necessary change and ensures the benefits are realised. From an application perspective, this module combines a set of principles, processes and techniques for a student to master and execute when managing projects. This module proposes a definition of value that embraces both monetary and non-monetary benefits, and argues that the subjectivity of value increases the need for it to be actively managed. It provides a method, supported by techniques, for allocating scarce funds as effectively as possible. This module will cover real-life case studies on organisations adopted Benefits Management successfully and less successfully. This module will help candidate to take MoV foundation and Practitioner Exam. This module will cover hands on training on strategic benefits management dashboards for projects (e.g. Wovex and Amplify) and it will equip students with skills to design their own Benefits Management and Management of Value methodologies including their dashboards.
Project Management Office (PMO) is a group or department within the organisation whose job it is to define and maintain the standards for project management within that business. This module is aligned with P3O ® guidance and gives hands on training on The Portfolio, Programme, and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3). An advanced Project Management Office may have wide-ranging responsibilities for the setting up and development of the project management function within the organisation and this module will delve into how processes, procedures and other mechanisms are developed, implemented, monitored and communicated to enable the operation of common standards of project management within all projects undertaken by the organisation. This module will help learners to develop their PMOs. Students will study different real life case studies on successful PMOs in different international contexts.
Project risk management is the process used by project managers to minimise any potential problems that may negatively impact a project's timetable. This module covers the area of risk management in the strategic, tactical, and operational project contexts. It aims to help learners developing a new project management methodology aligned with Management of Risk (MoR) framework. The module contains essential risk management theory and concepts as applicable to project environments including project risk planning, preparation and response and will combine the professional body of knowledge with the professional and academic case studies applied in the real context. The areas of risk identification, assessment, monitoring and control will also be reviewed. This module is aligned with Management of Risk (MoR) guidance.
Strategic Portfolio Management enables senior management to create, define and manage the portfolio of strategic options that best delivers the organisation's vision, balancing short and long term objectives, risks and cost. This module aims to support students with an overview of portfolio management, the principles on which it is based, complex and best-in-practice techniques used, and how to get started and sustain progress. This module addresses the key concepts of portfolio management, its benefits to organisations and how it fits in with the organisation strategy development and implementation. This module is aligned with the Management of Portfolio Professional Certificate and its ethical aspects and will apply a mix of academic and empirical literature with the professional body of knowledge. World class real life case studies will be discussed.
Employers are in search for individuals who possess logical thinking, analytical capability, leadership, communication and the ability to work under pressure. This module develops the necessary research knowledge and skills for students to be able to successfully complete a piece of research in industry or consultancy contexts or academia.
Indicative topics are:
• Choosing the topic of interest and literature review
• Research process and Ethics in in business research
• Choosing your research design
• Preparing the research proposal
• Communicating the Research
This module equips students with in-depth understanding of the different aspects of and approaches to strategic project management. Students learn to apply project management tools and techniques in a systematic and analytical manner to solve practical problems that require an application-oriented thinking. This module prepares students for their respective independent research work in an organisational or industry context to provide a systematic argument and critical analysis and evaluation; and for undertaking management interventions in the workplace to provide innovative and commercially sustainable solutions. Students will make use of theoretical frameworks, secondary data, or primary data collection, where appropriate.
Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time.
This programme consists of 10 compulsory modules in Stage 1 with Stage 2 finishing with a piece of project management-related research.
The MSc Strategic Project Management programme is available with an optional industrial placement, which will require you to complete the Industrial Placement Report.
We use a variety of teaching methods, including:
Classroom-based learning is supported by the latest online technologies and learning platforms.
Your progress on this course is assessed through a variety of means, including:
Students wishing to undertake the optional industrial placement will be required to successfully complete all stage 1 modules. The Industrial Placement is assessed by the completion of the Industrial Placement Report.
Industrial placements are the perfect way for you to enhance your career prospects and deepen your understanding of a specific area of expertise. This MSc programme is available with the option to take an in-company or self-employed industrial placement of up to 12 months (visa dependent), allowing you to gain work experience in the UK or overseas.
Our lively and active postgraduate community is brought about in part by our strong research culture and by the close community between our staff and students. Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books and embed their research in their teaching.
Students have regular contact with their course and module conveners with staff on hand to answer any questions and to provide helpful and constructive feedback on submitted work.
You can also get involved with extra-curricular academic and social activities with guest lectures, talks and workshops organised by our academic staff, research centres and the ASPIRE team. You can catch up with our most recent Open for Business Seminar Series.
Our Medway campus is full of history and offers a unique experience to our students. We have recently moved to the Pembroke site, our new Medway home. This move puts Kent Business School at the heart of the Medway Campus, a former Royal Naval base combining historic and new buildings. You can find the Drill Hall Library, the Deep End where Kent Union at Medway are based and the Oasis lounge right on campus.
Off campus, there is lots to do in the historic town of Rochester and nearby Chatham, with cinemas, theatres and good shopping. London is just 40 minutes away by fast train.
Kent Business School has close links with: ifs (Institute of Financial Services); dunnhumby, who partners the Consumer Insight Service in the Centre for Value Chain Research; Hong Kong Baptist University, with whom we offer a joint Master’s programme in Operational Research and Finance Business Statistics; University of Castellanza (Italy); Audencia Nantes Business School (France); Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences (Denmark); Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; University of Ingolstadt, Bayern (Germany); City University of Hong Kong; Renmin University of China, School of Business.
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.
Kent Business School is a research-led business school. Our research strategy is developed around the core theme of sustainable innovation which cuts across the entire School. This theme can be seen as being divided into two sub-strands of research aimed at answering these main questions:
Kent Business School advances knowledge through constant promotion and support of innovative research. We have an impact on wider society through extensive collaborations with external partners which range from other academic institutions to a variety of local, national and international businesses as well as the NHS. Within this wider context, our main strategic aim has been geared towards establishing ourselves as a leading institution for research in sustainable innovation.
Kent Business School is a global leader in research and develops a wide portfolio of research related activities including workshops, conferences and research seminar series. This has led to a large number of international collaborations and to over 200 co-authored papers with international partners.
Our MSc Strategic Project Management programme is part of the department of analytics, operations and systems. When studying with us you'll be joining a community that offers world class education and conducts internationally leading research in operational research, data analytics, operations management, information systems and sustainability.
Everything we do is informed by our top-level research, meaning the content of your course and the skills you develop are dynamic and relevant to the demands of the contemporary workforce. Our academics develop advanced problem–solving tools to help organisations improve their performance, efficiency, and sustainability, and after graduation, you will be prepared to do the same.
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Journal of Humanitarian Logistic, European, The International Journal of Project Management, International Journal of Human Resources Management, International Business Review, Journal of Business Research, Technology Forecasting, and Social Change.
Dr Ramesh Vahidi is the director of studies for our MSc Strategic Project Management programme. With a strong background in both academia and business she brings strong real world experience to the course. As well as this, Dr Ramesh has sat on various PG Boards and committees such as Research Ethics and Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability. Her experience leading change in ethics and business responsibility means these values are embedded into the teaching of this programme, ensuring our graduates are ready to go into the world and effect change. You can view her staff profile here.
Our Project Management graduates find work in project management positions in varying business, in the form of consultancy, freelance and employed work both overseas and in the UK in a wide range of companies and organisations, including:
Many of our students also stay local and find job opportunities regionally in small and medium firms or even set-up their own businesses as well-equipped entrepreneurs.
You gain much more than an academic qualification when you graduate. We enhance your student experience and accelerate your career prospects to help you achieve your ambition.
From the moment you start with us, our efforts are focused on helping you gain the knowledge, skills and experience you need to thrive in an increasingly competitive workplace. As part of the course, undertake an Industrial Placement or opt for an In-Company Scheme to work on a real business case study. Go on our Business Start-up Journey and transform your idea into a business through ASPIRE. Our qualified careers practitioners provide support for up to three years after graduation.
Our careers and employability support at Kent Business School is designed to make sure you are ready to hit the ground running when you graduate, when you study with us you can expect:
Additionally, the Postgraduate Employability Edge programme, available to PGT students at Kent Business School takes place from Welcome Week through to the end of the academic year and is designed to enhance your career prospects further.
The 2024/25 annual tuition fees for this course are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk.
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Find out more about general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
Next steps
Learn more about the application process or begin your application by clicking on a link below.
You will be able to choose your preferred year of entry once you have started your application. You can also save and return to your application at any time.
Supporting your success
Kent ranked top 50 in The Complete University Guide 2024.
Fees and funding
Kent has risen 11 places in THE’s REF 2021 ranking, confirming us as a leading research university.
Accommodation