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Alan Harpham is Chairman of the APM Group, (http://www.apmgroup.co.uk),
and director and shareholder of P5 - the Power of Projects, (http://www.p5.co.uk).
He is also a former council member of the Association for Project Management
(UK), (http://www.apm.org.uk), former managing
director of Nichols Associates (now the Nichols Group) and a former director
of the MSc in project management at the Cranfield School of Management (now part
of Cranfield University). Before that Alan worked in the construction industry
for John Laing, a major civil and building contractor in the UK, where he progressed
from a site civil engineer to overseas contracts manager for the mechanical and
electrical division. His work there included construction of an early elevated
urban motorway; gas and oil pipelines; the first north sea oil rig; and a PVC
Plant in Wloclawek, Poland built with UK labor.
Alan's other interests include: MODEM - a charity promoting dialogue between
those interested in leadership and management and those interested in ministry
and theology (http://www.modem.uk.com);
CIPL (Christians in Public Life) exploring the role of the church in supporting
Christians at work; and exploring spirituality in the workplace (http://www.spiritatwork.com).
He is a keen rugby supporter, and enjoys the outdoors, walking and scrambling.
He is married to a non-stipendiary Anglican priest. They have two adult sons
who are in the water and facilities management businesses.
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Abstract
This paper explores the development of program management out of project management
and defines program management as "a set of related projects with a common
strategic goal or aim". The author sees this as a tool to bridge the gap
between corporate strategy and projects. He describes the reasons why program
management is so important, what it is, and the key processes and roles involved.
He makes reference to the literature and in particular to the guide "Managing
Successful Programs" (MSP), the most definitive work in the UK on the subject.
The MSP guide is available from http://www.theprojectshop.co.uk
and more information about its owner, the Office of Government Commerce can be
found at http://www.ogc.gov.uk. The MSP
guide describes program management as a pragmatic, robust management approach.
It helps organizations to deliver and realize the required benefits, innovation,
and new ways of working that will ensure success with major projects and programs
of business change. The paper is therefore about the implementation of corporate
strategy and the general principles of program management that have been developed
and applied in recent years.
Part 1 of this paper covers some of the wider
aspects of program management, as follows:
Part 2 of this paper will look at some of the specifics
of MSP and related issues such as:
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