B6348 - PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Academic Year 2025/2026

  • Docente: Riccardo Amato
  • Credits: 3
  • SSD: ING-IND/35
  • Language: English
  • Teaching Mode: In-person learning (entirely or partially)
  • Campus: Ravenna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Offshore Engineering for Energy Transition (cod. 6056)

    Also valid for Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Offshore Engineering for Energy Transition (cod. 6056)

Learning outcomes

During the course, the students will be introduced to the fundamentals of project management in the specific framework of the offshore industry. The students learn about the activities required to effectively manage large-scale offshore projects for the oil and gas sector and within the energy transition context.

Course contents

Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Understand offshore project complexity and lifecycle
  • Define scope and develop WBS
  • Plan schedules and identify critical paths
  • Analyze cost drivers and project economics
  • Identify and manage offshore risks
  • Monitor performance using KPI and reporting tools
  • Understand governance and stakeholder management
  • Apply integrated project management principles

Course Structure

  1. Nature of Offshore Projects (complexity, lifecycle, stakeholders)
  2. Initiation & Governance (bid phase, charter, Go/No-Go)
  3. Scope & WBS (deliverables, work packages, interfaces)
  4. Schedule & Critical Path (CPM, weather, marine spread)
  5. Budget & Cost Control (CAPEX/OPEX, EVM, cash flow)
  6. Risk Management (risk identification, mitigation)
  7. Monitoring & KPI (progress, dashboards, reporting)
  8. Leadership & Integration (decision-making, case study)

Readings/Bibliography

  • Lecture slides and notes
  • A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Project Management Institute
  • Guida ai temi ed ai processi di project management – Franco Angeli
  • Guida alle conoscenze di gestione progetti – ISIPM / Franco Angeli
  • Project Management: A Systems Approach – Harold Kerzner
  • Project Management – Marco Sampietro
  • The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management – Eric Verzuh
  • Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 – AXELOS
  • Agile Practice Guide – Project Management Institute
  • Agile Project Management with Scrum – Ken Schwaber
  • Teaching methods

    The course content will be entirely covered by the lectures. The course includes some laboratory sessions, which will cover the practical aspects of the lectures. The instructors will tutor the students.

    Assessment methods

    Group project presentation, written multiple-choice exam, participation.

    Teaching tools

    The teaching tools are projector and whiteboard.

    The course includes some laboratory sessions in which examples and problems are solved and analyzed.

    Office hours

    See the website of Riccardo Amato