Project Management has always been a component of most MBA courses. IT, engineering and construction projects are becoming increasingly complex, long term and worth hundreds of millions of pounds – think of the NHS IT system, the Scottish Parliament and of course the 2012 Olympics.

In response to this, several business schools are offering courses specifically geared towards project management. Oxford Brookes University has since last year offered a two year par time MSc in project management which is aimed at meeting the growing need for multi disciplinary project managers who can oversee the entire lifecycle of large scale developments. Oxford University’s Said Business School has a slightly different offering from October 2008 – a two year part time MSc in major programme management.

What impact will such coursed have on the discipline? What is the value of formal project management training – whether it is a course such as either of the above or an alternative qualification such as Prince 2? Or…..is there no better training and qualification than learning through good old fashioned “on the job” training?