Abstract
Abstract Despite the proliferation as well as great advances in the development of dynamic models applied to project management, research that applies system dynamics principles to program management does not seem to be as fertile. The objective of this paper is to obtain a more accurate vision of how the system dynamics theory is being used in the development of the program management field. The bibliometric-qualitative study confirms there is a robust use of system dynamics tools in the project management area, with a wide range of applications as well as solid results. The study, however, also shows that for programs, despite a noticeable increase regarding the interest in program management by organizations, clearly there is much less research uniting program management and system dynamics. More importantly, some dynamic models are being used to improve the performance of programs, however, few studies take into consideration the specific variables from program management. Thus, we conclude that current research on these two topics can only be viewed as fragmented and in its early stages, offering ample room for improvement.
Highlights
System dynamics (SD) is an effective method for modeling and analyzing complex variables, dynamic and non-linear interaction (Zhang et al, 2014)
The results presented in this paper show that despite the growing use of program management by the organizations (Shehu & Akintoye, 2010) and of the apparent necessity of the use of systemic thinking within the scope of program decision making, little research was developed to integrate these two fields
The objective of this paper was to obtain a more accurate vision of how SD is being used in the development of program management fields, including the identification of new paths that are absent in the current literature
Summary
System dynamics (SD) is an effective method for modeling and analyzing complex variables, dynamic and non-linear interaction (Zhang et al, 2014). Ford & Sterman (2003) discuss the mentioned syndrome According to this theory, the projects flow normally until they reach, approximately, 90% of their schedule, when they start to present delays and become, without any explanation, slower and slower. The projects flow normally until they reach, approximately, 90% of their schedule, when they start to present delays and become, without any explanation, slower and slower These authors show how common processes that occur in projects, such as the overlap of tasks and delays in the discovery of rework, can create non-planned iterations, generating delays, higher costs, and inferior quality. These iterations, through time, make the project work to generate more rework, which constitutes the cause of the mentioned syndrome
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