LBUSI7246 Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of stakeholder engagement and effective communication skills in the context of project management. Students will explore the theories, strategies, and practical applications of stakeholder identification, analysis, engagement, monitoring and communication throughout the project life cycle. Emphasis is placed on managing scenarios involving rapid change and the need to bring stakeholders along in the process, particularly where different groups have different needs, preferences, and/or expectations. Students will develop the skills necessary to foster positive stakeholder relationships, identify and alleviate potential conflict situations in a timely manner, and communicate project objectives clearly and persuasively to a wide range of audience types.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable, Employability, or Professional Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and a range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, and discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

A range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, and discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

Teaching and learning strategies for this course will include:

• Lectures: Instructor-led classes.
• Seminars/workshops: Interactive sessions on project management principles, focused on applying theoretical concepts.
• Experiential Learning, which may include an impact challenge,simulations and/or role-playing for hands-on experience, guest speakers for insight from professionals, and/or real-world case studies.
• Online Resources: Flexible learning with study materials.

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups.

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150, including 40 scheduled hours.

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessments are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Formative

The formative assessment in this course could be, for example, a series of set assignments (which could be either written or oral), reflective of the elements of the summative assessment, to accustom students to the types of ideas they will need to process, synthesise, and communicate for the summative assessment.

Summative

The Portfolio could consist of, for example, a mix of academic writing (e.g. short pieces demonstrating theoretical knowledge); communications written for different audiences and toward different strategic or tactical goals as relevant to the audience, such as people management, change management, and/or sustainability, potentially also including some reflective writing to illuminate the decisions made in the other pieces, and/or a short oral presentation to develop presentation skills.

Further information can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or during office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is used as part of the approval/modification process only.

• Freeman, R. E., & Martin, K. E. (2004). Stakeholder Theory: Concepts and Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Bourne, L. (2014). Effective Stakeholder Management: Organizational Efficiency through Relationships. CRC Press.
• Agarwal, Y., & Gunn, L. J. (2017). Stakeholder Engagement: Achieving Sustainability in the Construction Sector. Routledge.
• David, F. R., & David, F. R. (2020). Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases (16th ed.). Pearson.
• Eskerod, P., & Jepsen, A. L. (2013). Project Stakeholder Management. Gower Publishing Limited.
• Campbell, M. (2009) Communications Skills for Project Managers. Amacom.

Journals

• Journal of Business Ethics
• Project Management Journal
• International Journal of Project Management
• Journal of Organizational Behavior
• Harvard Business Review

Indicative Topics

Students will study the following topics:

• Stakeholder Identification and Analysis
• Stakeholder Engagement Strategies
• Communication Skills in Project Management
• Conflict Resolution and Negotiation
• Cultural and Ethical Considerations in Stakeholder Management

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