About Dr Serhiy Kovela
Serhiy is an educator, scholar and practitioner with over 21 years of experience in project management and business IT. He delivers educational and training programmes for university and executive audiences and provides advisory services for businesses in the UK and internationally.
Serhiy’s educational background is in Electrical Engineering (MSc), Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PG Certificate), Computer Science (PhD) and Business Administration (MBA).
As a professional educator and scholar, Serhiy is a Certified Management and Business Educator and Fellow at Higher Education Academy. As a project management and business IT practitioner, he is an Accredited AgilePM Trainer and Chartered IT Practitioner. Dr Kovela also has a range of professional qualifications in Project Management (classic and agile), Information Systems Design, and Facilitation. As a business advisor, he works with international clients looking to benefit from the improved project and product delivery processes, enhanced organizational culture, and information technology solutions.
In his transnational educational role at Northeastern University London, Dr Kovela supports establishing and delivering the MSc Project Management programme as part of the larger Northeastern University network and represent the programme in College of Professional Studies events and activities. The role entails:
- developing and delivering various courses in Project Management
- establishing and developing co-curricular and extra-curricular student activities
- establishing relationships and defining engagement with Co-op and experiential learning sponsors
- creating modularity guidelines and recommendations for programme content integration across the programme and regional campuses of Northeastern
- ensuring the UK-based programmes meet license/accreditation requirements
- collaborating with the University of Professional Studies Faculty Lead to create and manage industry advisory boards and develop professional networks within the UK and Europe.
Dr Kovela also leads the design of the new innovative MSc Sustainability Analytics programme.
Dr Serhiy Kovela's Research
Serhiy’s scholarly interests and areas of specialism include the following:
- IT integration in mergers and acquisitions (Financial Services sector)
- Project Management
- Business Resilience
The list of notable publications includes:
- Burke, Declan and Kovela, Serhiy (2017) ITMA – IT integration in mergers and acquisitions. International Journal of Business and Management, 12(11), pp. 16-40. ISSN (print) 1833-3850
- Heaton, Karen Macdonald, Skok, Walter and Kovela, Serhiy (2016) Learning lessons from software implementation projects: an exploratory study. Knowledge and Process Management, 23(4), pp. 293-306. ISSN (print) 1092-4604
- Kovela, Serhiy and Skok, Walter (2015) Mergers and acquisitions in banking: a framework for effective IT integration. International Journal of Business and Management, 10(3), pp. 279-294. ISSN (print) 1833-3850
- Kovela, Serhiy and Skok, Walter (2012) Mergers and acquisitions in banking: understanding the IT integration perspective. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(18), pp. 69-81. ISSN (print) 1833-3850
He is also a co-author of the following book (release date 2 April 2022):
Robert, D., Choudhury, I., Kovela, S. and Tanvir, J. (2022) Business Resilience: A Practical Guide to Sustained Progress Delivered at Pace, Kogan Page, ISBN13: 9781398604643
Available online at https://www.waterstones.com/book/business-resilience/david-roberts/islam-choudhury/9781398604667
Dr Serhiy Kovela's Teaching
During his 21 years in Higher Education career, he delivered undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive courses in the UK and internationally. The key disciplines include:
- Project Management
- Management Consultancy
- Strategic Information Systems Management
- Data Analytics for International Business
- Security in Computer Systems and Networks
- Management Research Project
At Northeastern University London he teaches the following course:
- PJM5900 Foundations of Project Management
The course offers insights into various project management methodologies while providing a structured approach to understanding key principles, models, and methods required to manage various project types through a complete project life cycle.
- PJM 6175 Project Resource Management
The course focuses on Procurement Management and Human Resource Management and how these two knowledge areas are key to success.
- PJM 6205 Leading & Managing Technical Projects
The course discusses leadership, management skills and strategies needed to succeed in a demanding technical project environment. Key topics include understanding the technical environment, managing and motivating team members, understanding organizational culture, interpersonal strategies, and developing a personal leadership approach.
He is also an External Examiner at the University of Bedfordshire, where he oversees the “Management and Administration of Projects and Operations” unit delivery for several international partners as part of quality standards assessment on the BA (Hons) Business Administration Top-up programme.