Online PhD in Project Management
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A project manager is the organizational magician charged with turning great ideas into reality. He or she is the go-to person who plans, executes and assesses the development of a new product, the launch of a new service, a marketing campaign or an event, often with the help of Project Management Software that documents the project’s progress in terms of objectives, time lines, resources, constraints and budgets. In the U.S. alone, the public and private sectors spent 12 trillion dollars last year launching new projects and seeing them through to completion, according to the Project Management Institute, project management’s professional organization.
There’s a shortage of qualified project managers at the top. An Online PhD in Project Management is designed for ambitious individuals who already have experience as project managers and want to be recognized as leaders in their fields. Candidates must already possess a business degree. Successful graduates of accredited Online Doctorate Programs in Project management command large salaries when they work inside a company, even in today’s ultra-competitive employment market. But many Online Project Management Doctorate Holders also strike out on their own, forming lucrative consultant firms that let them name their own price.
Online PhD in Project Management Requirements
In order to be a successful Online PhD Project Management candidate, a student must already have a sound grounding in business principles and practice. The successful candidate will be ambitious, hard working and able to perform well under the pressures that will inevitably arise as part of this very demanding job. Students of accredited Online PhD Programs in Project Management must be prepared to work hard at learning the necessary knowledge and skills in order to achieve their goals, but the best online PhD programs pace learning objectives in a way that does not overwhelm learners who make a decision to keep up.
Most Online Project Management PhD candidates already have one of the following master degrees:
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Business Administration in Project Management
- Master of Science: Project Management
- Master of Science in Management with an emphasis in Project Management
- Master of Business in Applied Computer Science. This degree is particularly recommended for candidates who want to pursue careers as Software Project Managers.
Online PhD in Project Management Education
An Online Doctorate in Project Management generally takes between three and five years to complete, according to other demands on a candidate’s time. Successful completion of an Online PhD in Project Management will require intensive coursework including survey courses, seminars and colloquia, as well a lengthy, well-researched dissertation. Students in Online PhD Project Management may also be required to do a short internship or residency program.
Information on Project Management Courses
Project management is a cross functional skill, and the curriculum of the best Online Doctoral Programs in Project Management are designed to give candidates an understanding of project management’s vital importance to every aspect of a business or organization. In addition to specific skills relating to project management, students will also be provided with an overview of business and organizational theory that includes accounting and financial management, marketing strategy, and organizational theory. Coursework specific to a Project Management PhD Online may include:
- Project Risk Management:
A course that teaches candidates how to factor uncertainty into their planning, and how to achieve project success despite the failure of individual components. - Setting Up a Project Management Department or Office:
A course that teaches students how to choose and implement successful project design infrastructure. - Project Management Financial Overview:
An overview of corporate finance and investment analysis that teaches students how to conduct successful financial analyses of proposed projects by assessing business performance, reading key financial statements, and generating alternative project scenarios to increase the likelihood of project success. - Managing Stakeholder Commitment
This course develops skills in managing stakeholder investment in a project without compromising internal objectives. - Organizational Analysis
This course prepares students to shape the projects they manage in terms of structure, culture, and processes to align with various types of businesses and organizations.
Specializations and Concentrations
Project management is a functional discipline with application across a wide variety of areas throughout businesses and organizations. Some areas Online PhD Programs in Project Management prepare students to work in include:
- Information Technology (IT):
Online PhD Degrees in Project Management with an IT emphasis give students specialized expertise in dealing with computer systems, databases, and digital security issues. - Health Care:
Online Doctoral Degrees in Project Management with a health care emphasis prepare students to manage the many clinical trials underway at health care facilities, universities, and federal and local health agencies across the nation. - Logistics Technology:
Online Doctorate Degrees in Project Management with an emphasis on logistics teach students how to administer complex projects involving the distribution and procurement of different types of goods and services.
The last decade has seen a trend towards specialization within the field of project management. Online Project Management PhD holders may work as administrators charged with the reporting, tracking, budgeting and other administrative components of a project, as specialists in specific industries or project management models, or as technologists responsible for the design and implementation of a particular technology throughout a project.
Careers in Project Management
On average project managers make $96,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compensation comes not just in the form of salary, but also as a bonus – which can be many thousands of dollars for a job well done.
Students graduating from the best Online Doctoral Programs in Project Management have no dearth of exciting career options. Some of the career options open to the employment seeker with an Online Project Management PhD include:
- Construction Project Management:
The construction industry was one of the very first industries to employ project managers. Online Doctoral Programs in Project Management qualify graduates to help build highways, bridges, water treatment plants, hospitals, and other commercial structures, as well as individual homes and residential developments. - Retail Project Management:
Procurement and distribution of inventory is a very complicated task. Online PhD Programs in Project Management qualify graduates to manage the supply chain in a way that ensures the right product will get to the right shelf in a timely fashion. Project managers also help companies decide where to relocate, purchase, and construct new production facilities or factories. - Software Project Management
Software project management is perhaps the most lucrative field for someone with an Online Doctorate in Project Management to find employment. Project managers in this area are responsible for application development, the logical and physical design of the supporting database, and necessary computer networking infrastructure as well as other, more standard aspects of project management.
Project management is an exciting career with many rewards, both financial and personal. All businesses and organizations are defined by successful enterprises, be these products or services. Online Doctoral Degrees in Project Management prepare graduates to be the leaders of the processes that develop these enterprises. Project managers’ work helps define the 21st century.
