The Project Management MBA: Four-Day Crash Course! with Gary Heerkens and Frank Saladis
What You Will Learn
Upon completion of this training, learners will be able to:
- Discuss strategic, organizational, tactical, and operations planning techniques.
- Identify techniques for making sound business decisions.
- Demonstrate applications of organizational agility.
Description
To compete in the future, project managers will need to connect the dots between projects, project management practices, and their company's business practices. In short, they must develop their project business savvy in addition to their technical savvy. In this informative, content-intensive training, learners you will gain a considerable head start on the path to enhancing their your project-related business savvy. Learners You will roll up their your sleeves with a comprehensive case study (including practice on their your own laptops) that is woven throughout the program. The hands-on competency-building and, business-centric case study activities include:
- Project portfolio evaluation and ranking
- Project business case preparation
- Project financial analysis (ROI calculations)
- ROI-based sensitivity analysis (business risk analysis)
- ROI-based scope change analysis
This training will also address a multitude of competency-building concepts, including but not limited to:
- Techniques for strategic, organizational, and tactical planning
- Organizational cost management
- Capital expenditures versus project expense
- Methodologies for process management and modeling, voice of the customer, and business quality
- Business communications, cross-cultural conduct, and ethics
- The legal environment of projects
- Applications of organizational agility
- An executive overview of agile project techniques
Prework
AGENDA
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- Introduction to the Program
- Knowledge Module: Understanding Business-Savvy Project Management
- Competency Module: Strategic Planning and Project Portfolio Development
- Case Study Activity 1: Develop a Complete Project Portfolio Analysis
- Debrief Case Study Activity 1: Present Your Portfolio Analysis to Martin’s PDBU
- Competency Module: Optimization and Maintenance of Project Portfolios
- Knowledge Module
- Organizational Planning
- Process Management
-
- Competency Module: Developing Project Business Cases and Template Tour
- Case Study Activity 2: Evaluate the F-21 Business Case
- Key Business Case Considerations
- Competency Module: ROI Analysis of Project Investments
- Case Study Activity 3: Perform a Financial Analysis of the F-21 Project
- Competency Module: Special Topics in ROI Analysis
- Knowledge Module: Product Management and Marketing
-
- Knowledge Module: Business Communications/Ethics/Conduct, Decision Sciences
- Competency Module: ROI Sensitivity Risk Analysis
- Cast Study Activity 4: Conduct F-21 Sensitivity Analysis and Demo of @RISK
- Knowledge Module
- Quality and Business
- Projects and Accounting
- Legal Environment of Projects
- Incremental Justification Concept
- Case Study Activity 5: Analyze Incremental Justification
- Knowledge Module
- Operations Management
- Project Benefits Management
-
- Knowledge Module
- Always “Think Business”
- Develop Personal Business Savvy
- Comprehensive Case Study
- Part 1: Read Case Study, Conduct Critical Business Analysis, and Class Discussion
- Part 2: Program ROI Analysis and Debrief
- Competency Module
- Implementing Organizational Business Savvy
- Personal Action Planning
- Wrap-Up
- Knowledge Module
Very informative and engaging. The tools shared can be easily applied in any field of project management.
May 2023 Attendee
The instructors really knew what they were talking about. The information was relevant and useful too.
May 2023 Attendee
PDU Allocation Table
Ways of Working | Power Skills | Business Acumen | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|
CAPM® / PMI-CP™ / PMP® / PgMP® | 17 | 4 | 7 | 28.00 |
PMI-ACP® / Agile* | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11.00 |
PMI-SP® | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11.00 |
PMI-RMP® | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11.00 |
PfMP® | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16.00 |
PMI-PBA® | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16.00 |
| | | |
Instructor(s)

Gary R. Heerkens PMP
Gary R. Heerkens, PMP, CPM, MPM, CPC, CIPM, MMC, CBM, CIPA, PEng, MBA, IAPPM Fellow, AAPM Fellow, is president of Management Solutions Group, which provides innovative project management educational programs and enterprise-wide project management services. Prior to founding Management Solutions Group, he spent over 20 years managing projects for Eastman Kodak. As staff assistant to Kodak’s director of project management, Mr. Heerkens developed and delivered project management training, designed and developed project process methodologies, and served as an internal project management consultant at Kodak.
Mr. Heerkens is a long-standing provider for Project Management Institute’s PMI Training, and was project management training provider for the Purchasing Management Association of Canada. He is a frequent speaker and training provider at international project management conferences and PMI chapters. He’s been invited to speak at 16 PMI global congresses, as was an “encore presenter” at the 2007 and 2008 global congresses. In 2015, he was invited to be the speaker representing the United States at the IPMA World Congress. He was one of just six people who were selected by PMI to develop a self-study PMBOK® Guide-based educational program.
Mr. Heerkens was a contributing editor of PM Network magazine from 2009-2015, writing a quarterly column on “The Business of Projects.” He has contributed articles to many popular project management newsletters and published many papers on a variety of project management topics. Mr. Heerkens authored the Project Management book in McGraw-Hill’s Briefcase Books Series; the second edition was published in 2013 and remains a leading seller today. His popular book, The Business-Savvy Project Manager was published in 2007.
He’s a member of several professional societies—PMI, IPMA (International Project Management Association), IAPPM (International Association of Program and Project Management), AAPM (American Academy of Project Management), and APBM (Association for Professionals in Business Management)—from which he holds several certifications, and has been honored as a Fellow of IAPPM and AAPM. In 2012, Solutions Network of Canada named him one of the 25 best project managers in North America. He served three terms as president of the PMI Rochester (NY) Chapter, from 1998 to 2001, and from 2005 to 2006. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State and holds an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Frank P. Saladis PMP
Frank P. Saladis, PMP, is the president of Blue Marble Enterprizes, Inc. He has more than 35 years of experience working in the IT, telecom installation and project management training environment at AT&T and Cisco Systems, where he was responsible for large telecommunications and IT projects with capital budgets ranging from $3 million to $450 million USD.
Mr. Saladis is now a leading consultant, instructor, motivational speaker and an author within the discipline of professional project management. He has been providing training to aspiring and experienced project managers for more than 20 years.
He is the originator of International Project Management Day and was recognized as PMI Person of the Year for 2006. In addition, Mr. Saladis was awarded the prestigious title of PMI Fellow in October 2013 and received the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award in October 2015.
Mr. Saladis has presented at many PMI® global congresses and other international project management events. He is a graduate of the PMI Leadership Institute Masters Class and has held several positions within The Project Management Institute including President of the NYC Chapter and President of The Assembly of Chapter Presidents.
Mr. Saladis is the author of Positive Leadership In Project Management, and a co-author of the book Value Driven Project Management with Harold Kerzner, PhD. He holds a master's certificate in Commercial Project Management from the George Washington University.