Project Management

Course modality: lecture and virtual components

Course Description

The course is developed by following the logic order that any professional must follow when willing to study the possibility to open a new enterprise. After choosing an economic industrial sector where the intervention is decided, and after determining if there is a market conflict which will generate an investment idea, a detailed analysis of the environment is started and through this, participants will determine the possibilities and restraints offered by the environment. After that, the stage of operation is simulated at a feasibility level with a diachronic and prospective scope of the projected organization with the aim of collecting support information for decision making and resource assignment by different agents in the economy real sector.

3.    Justification

The generation of enterprises becomes an ideal solution to solve the problems related to unemployment and low economic growth in the economic environment, as is the case in Colombia where these problems outstand as fundamental characteristics.
New professionals must face labor market with the necessary tools to be able to design their own business plan and understanding the different stages of the successful consolidation of the idea of business they want o develop. 

4.    Competence to be developed

Institutional Basic Competence: Systemic thinking.

Professional competence: To elaborate, evaluate and manage entrepreneurial projects in different kinds of organizations.

5.    General Course Objective

This course will be oriented to:

Give the student techniques, methods and criteria to be taken into account when formulating and elaborating an investment project and to provide them the analytical elements to evaluate entrepreneurial initiatives.
 

7.    Course Program

a.    Introduction: Philosophy of the project. Introduction to system’s theory. Theory of systems and investment projects. The project’s life cycle (idea, profile, pre-feasibility or preliminary pre-project, feasibility or definitive project, project execution.
b.    Project identification: The logic framework (analysis of involved, the tree problem, the objective tree, the analysis of alternatives, generation of the investment idea, the matrix of the logic framework).
c.    The market studies: Environment analysis, determination of the interest variables, the provider sub-market (historical analysis, analysis of current situation, analysis of the projected situation) the consumer sub-market or study of the demand historical analysis, analysis of current situation, analysis of the projected situation), the competitor sub-market or study of the offer historical analysis, analysis of current situation, analysis of the projected situation), the distributor sub-market historical analysis, analysis of current situation, analysis of the projected situation), determination of the market price.
d.    Technical studies: Basic studies (choice/description of the process, determination of the convenient initial size, location decisions), complementary studies (Environmental studies, organizational studies, legal studies), determination of the technically possible price from the cost studies at the level of preliminary pre-project. 
e.    Financial studies: Construction of the representative cash flow (determination of investments and costs or the incomes or benefits during t, calculation of the indicators of the project horizon), determination of the pertinent discount rate, calculation of the financial goodness( the present net value, the modified internal return rate, the equivalent annual cost) risk management (sensibility analysis, simulations)

8.    Methodological options-Learning activities
a.    The learning-teaching model for this course is constructivist, applying a pedagogic strategy oriented to projects. The participants, in groups of three will choose an economy sector, identify a business problem/opportunity, generate and investment idea to later formulate an investment project at the level of pre-feasibility studies.

Evaluation

a.    A document and a presentation. Identification of the problem and generation of the investment idea.  30%
b.    A document and a presentation. Problem identification and market studies.35%
c.    Document and a Presentation. Pre-feasibility studies.  35%