Development and Validation of Project Management Constructs of Security Door Access Control Systems: A Pilot Study in Macau

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Project activity sometimes encounters problems that cannot be solved using existing methods and models used in project and program management. This, first of all, relates to the management of interested parties in construction projects. The peculiarity of special construction cargoes (heavy road engineering, large-sized constructions and equipment, pipes, oversized capacities, complex elements of architectural compositions, etc.) is that, due to their technical characteristics, they cannot always be transported on public roads using conventional transport. In the implementation of such "transport" subprojects in some cases it is necessary to overcome the paths, raise the power lines or even change the landscape. All this requires the creation and development of fundamentally new approaches to managing interested and non-interested parties in projects whose participants are subject to mutually antagonistic decisions and actions. Therefore, the creation and implementation of an effective system of support for the adoption of optimal design decisions in the process of project management and programs in the construction industry, in which there is a conflict of interest between the various interested and unwelcome parties, is very relevant. The problems of management of the interested parties of the construction projects in the presence of special resources supply operations are analyzed. The basics of planning of the processes of management of interested or uninterested parties in the construction projects are developed. Methods of prevention and compensation of counteraction to uncertainty in the processes of management of the interested parties of construction projects are developed. The system of decision-making support in the proactive construction management "SOLINTR" has been developed. The practical tests of the "SOLINTR" system in the enterprise, which specializes in the transport of large-sized cargoes, with a positive technical effect are carried out. The possibility of efficient use of new project-oriented methods and models for successful proactive management of the construction process using operations of transportation of special cargoes in conditions of internal contradiction between groups of people from among the project implementers has been confirmed.

1 Introduction to the Challenge of Cost and Value Management in Projects. 1.1 Importance of Cost and Value Management in Projects. 1.2 Keys to Effective Project Cost Management. 1.3 Essential Features of Project Value Management. 1.4 Organization of the Book. 2 Project Needs Assessment, Concept Development, and Planning. 2.1 Needs Identification. 2.2 Conceptual Development. 2.3 The Statement of Work. 2.4 Project Planning. 2.5 Project Scope Definition. 2.6 Work Breakdown Structure. 3 Cost Estimation. 3.1 Importance of Cost Estimation. 3.2 Problems of Cost Estimation. 3.3 Sources and Categories of Project Costs. 3.4 Cost Estimating Methods. 3.5 Cost Estimation Process. 3.6 Allowances for Contingencies in Cost Estimation. 3.7 The Use of Learning Curves in Cost Estimation. 4 Project Budgeting. 4.1 Issues in Project Budgeting. 4.2 Developing a Project Budget. 4.3 Approaches to Developing a Project Budget. 4.4 Activity-based Costing. 4.5 Program Budgeting. 4.6 Developing a Project Contingency Budget. 4.7 Issues in Budget Development. 4.8 Crashing the Project: Budget Effects. Crashing Project Activities-Decision Making. 5 Project Cost Control. 5.1 Overview of the Project Evaluation and Control System. 5.2 Integrating Cost and Time in Monitoring Project Performance: The S-Curve. 5.3 Earned Value Management. 5.4 Earned Value Management Model. 5.5 Fundamentals of Earned Value. 5.6 EVM Terminology. 5.7 Relevancy of Earned Value Management. 5.8 Conducting an Earned Value Analysis. 5.9 Performing an Earned Value Assessment. 5.10 Managing a Portfolio of Projects with Earned Value Management. 5.11 Important Issues in the Effective Use of Earned Value Management. 6 Cash Flow Management. 6.1 The Concept of Cash Flow. 6.2 Cash Flow and the Worth of Projects. 6.3 Payment Arrangements. 7 Financial Management in Projects. 7.1 Financing of Projects Versus Project Finance. 7.2 Principles of Financing Projects. 7.3 Types and Sources of Finance. 7.4 Sources of Finance. 7.5 Cost of Financing. 7.6 Project Finance. 7.7 The Process of Project Financial Management. 8 Value Management. 8.1 Concept of Value. 8.2 Dimensions and Measures of Value. 8.3 Overview of Value Management. 8.4 Value Management Terms. 8.5 Need for Value Management in Projects. 8.6 The Value Management Approach. 8.7 The VM Process. 8.8 Benefits of Value Management. 8.9 Other VM Requirements. 8.10 Value Management Reviews. 8.11 Relationship between Project Value and Risk. 8.12 Value Management as an Aid to Risk Assessment. 8.13 An Example of How VM and Risk Management Interrelate. 9 Change Control and Configuration Management. 9.1 Causes of Changes. 9.2 Influence of Changes. 9.3 Configuration Management. 9.4 Configuration Management Standards. 9.5 The CM Process. 9.6 Control of Changes. 9.7 Change Control Procedure and Configuration Control. 9.8 Responsibility for the Control of Changes. 9.9 Crisis Management. 9.10 An Example of Configuration Management. 10 Supply Chain Management. 10.1 What Is Supply Chain Management? 10.2 The Need to Manage Supply Chains. 10.3 SCM Benefits. 10.4 Critical Areas of SCM. 10.5 SCM Issues in Project Management. 10.6 Value Drivers in Project Supply Chain Management. 10.7 Optimizing Value in Project Supply Chains. 10.8 Project Supply Chain Process Framework. 10.9 Integrating the Supply Chain. 10.10 Performance Metrics in Project Supply Chain Management. 10.11 Project Supply Chain Metrics and the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) Model. 10.12 Future Issues in Project Supply Chain Management. 11 Quality Management in Projects. 11.1 Definition of Quality in Projects. 11.2 Elements of Project Quality. 11.3 Total Quality Management (TQM) in Projects. 11.4 Quality Management Methods for a Project Organization. 11.5 Quality Standards for Projects. 12 Integrating Cost and Value in Projects. 12.1 The Project Value Chain. 12.2 Project Value Chain Analysis. 12.3 Sources and Strategies for Integrating Cost and Value in Projects. 12.4 Integrated Value and Risk Management. 12.5 The Project Cost and Value Integration Process. Index.

The functional limitations of modern corporate project and program management systems are presented. It is shown that the main limitation of such systems is connected with the weak implementation of organizational and methodological components, especially in the processes of project and program portfolio management. The structure of project and program portfolio management system, focused on the management of project portfolios in project-oriented companies, is proposed. The necessity of creating project and program portfolio management system in the companies involved in the implementation of a significant number of complex projects is justified. It was shown that since such systems combine organizational and methodological components, they are highly dependent on the construction of the project-oriented company itself. On its organizational structure, company management processes, peculiarities of the production process and its management. The consequence of this is the uniqueness of project and program portfolio management system. Description of organizational, methodological, and technological components of such system is given. The distinctive features of these components in different companies are described. It is shown that the organization of 3P-management is based on the creation of a service engaged in the implementation of project management in the company. The methodological component of project and program portfolio management system should be based on project management meta-methodology. And information technology should be based on a matrix model of interaction between company management tools and projects. The ways of integration of organizational, methodological and technological components of project and program portfolio management systems based on the implementation of a system-forming project of creating a project and program portfolio management system are presented.

This thesis aimed to reduce the delay and unnecessarily accelerated or crashed activities of the project by improving the project control system of an interior decoration company. To reduce the delay and unnecessarily accelerated or crashed activities of the project, the network analysis technique is applied in the proposed project control system. In the proposed project control system, four stages in planning and control the project are introduced in the closed loop feedback control system. They are project planning, project scheduling, resource allocation, and project control. In the proposed project control system, a project management software, Microsoft's Profect 98, is applied in the conbination of the four-mentioned stage to aid calculation and to display the results. After tracking a case study project, it is found that the project delayed from the due date 17 days. And the actual total working time is about 29.29% more than the planed total working time; whereas, the actual total wage cost was estimated to more than the plan by 45.41%. However, these failure results were, partly, because of the limitation of the usage of the proposed project control system caused by three principal causes as follows: 1. The lack of the commitments to the proposed system from the involving groups due to poor communication with the other involving group including the subcontractors and other involving groups, and the low role of the researcher in the case study project. 2. The lack of uncerstand and familiarity with the proposed system of the involving individuals the network analysis, and the computer usage. 3. The lack of studying the project before starting of the company-the site constraints and the details of other activities of other activities of other involving groups. Anyway, the researcher believes that if these limitations mentioned mentioned above are solved and there is the application of the proposed system in the case study project, theoretically, the project will be finished on the due date leading to no paid fine. Moreover, no more project managers will be allocated to the project than expected. As the result, at least, the company will save about bath 160, 400; whereas, the project managers can be allocated to more projects. And the overall working time of the company's subcontractors at the project site will be reduced by 38% from the actual usage leading to the reduction in the total wage 44%.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to presents a new modeling approach that provides a measurement tool for evaluating the effectiveness of Project Control Systems (PCS) and the improvement of the project control capability as a part of an organization's project management processes.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a project management maturity approach to develop a measurement model of PCS success. The key elements in this model have been identified using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method to analyze data from a case study involving contractor companies in Saudi's petroleum and chemical industry.FindingsThe results identified six critical elements for PCS success: (1) Change Management, (2) Earned Value, (3) Baselined Plan, (4) Resource Loaded, (5) Progress Method and (6) Governance Program. In addition, Project Forecasting and Corrective Action Verification were identified as the main areas where clients and contractors need to focus for the effective deployment of a PCS.Practical implicationsThe results of this study were used to create a PCS Maturity Model (PCSMM) and a PCS Success Index (PCSSI). The value of this index can help project managers to identify the maturity level of their PCS and improvement areas that lead to enhanced project performance.Originality/valueThis research presents an alternative maturity model for PCS assessment that provides a practical tool to identify areas for improving the critical elements of PCS success. The study draws a clear distinction between overall project success and the success of the PCS.

PurposeThere is growing recognition that effective project control systems (PCS) are critical to the success of projects. The relationship between the individual elements of PCS and successfully achieving project objectives has yet to be explored. This research investigates the enablers and barriers that influence the elements of PCS success and drive project objectives.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a mixed approach of descriptive analysis and regression models to explore the impact of six PCS elements on project outcomes. Petroleum and chemical projects in Saudi Arabia were selected as a case study to validate the research model.FindingsData from a survey of 400 project managers in Saudi’s petroleum and chemical industry reveal that successful PCS are the key to achieving all project outcomes, but they are particularly critical for meeting project cost objectives. Project Governance was identified as the most important of the six PCS elements for meeting project objectives. A lack of standard processes emerged as the most significant barrier to achieving effective project governance, while having skilled and experienced project team members was the most significant enabler for implementing earned value.Practical implicationsThe study offers a direction for implementing and developing PCS as a strategic tool and focuses on the PCS elements that can improve project outcomes.Originality/valueThis research contributes to project management knowledge and differs from previous attempts in two ways. Firstly, it investigates the elements of PCS that are critical to achieving project scope, schedule and cost objectives; secondly, enablers and barriers of PCS success are examined to see how they influence each element independently.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze the interaction between the enablers and barriers to successful project control system (PCS) implementation in petroleum and chemical projects and to provide a knowledge-based foundation for the evaluation of the dominant factors of PCS success.Design/methodology/approachAn integrated approach of interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement) were used. An expert group of industry professionals and academics was consulted at the initial stage as an input for the ISM methodology to explore the contextual relationships among the critical factors to PCS implementation in petroleum and chemical projects.FindingsThis study identifies three dominants enablers of PCS success: the technical skills of the project controller; explicitly defined roles of project team members; and an accurate work breakdown structure. Additionally, six dominant barriers to successful PCS implementation have been identified: lack of standard processes, vague contract deliverables, unclear project goals, unclear project milestones, disparate control system between owner and contractor and lack of information communication. Organizations in the petroleum and chemical sectors should put more effort into the development of these factors to optimize the implementation of PCS.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this current study is its focus on the petroleum and chemical sectors in Saudi Arabia. It is expected that the findings will have wider applicability, but further studies in different sectors and geographic regions should be undertaken to validate this assumption. In this study, a second validation expert group was used to ensure the reliability of the results as much as was possible. However, further studies could be completed to evaluate alternate classification schemes and to test the robustness of the expert consensus and techniques reported, in this study, including an increased number of experts.Practical implicationsThe present study makes some practical contributions to the project delivery process. It provides different project stakeholders with a better understanding of the factors that improve PCS outcomes and helps project owners and contractors to evaluate the PCS used by both parties to understand how they might be aligned for successful project execution.Originality/valueThe successful implementation of PCS is a key contributor to the total project delivery process. Although there is growing attention on PCS as a critical project management tool in petroleum and chemical projects, the literature in project management shows that PCS implementation has not been taken up as much as originally anticipated. This paper will address this gap by focusing on improving the take-up of strategical PCS implementation through the identification of six dominant enablers and nine dominant barriers as driver factors of success.

The Project and Finance Management System is a web-based application designed to streamline the management of organizational projects and their associated financial activities. This system aims to provide a comprehensive solution for project tracking, resource allocation, task management, and budget control, all integrated into a single platform. Developed using PHP and MySQL, the system enables project managers, team members, and financial officers to efficiently collaborate and track real-time project progress and financial transactions. The application includes project creation, status tracking, financial transactions (income and expenses), budgeting, and financial reporting, allowing for clear insights into project performance and financial health. The system also supports user roles (admin, manager, employee) to ensure appropriate access control and data security. Admins can add, modify, or delete projects and manage user roles, while project managers can update project statuses and track associated financial data. Users can input financial transactions related to each project, ensuring accurate tracking of funds, while generating reports that provide detailed overviews of income, expenses, and overall project financial status. By integrating both project management and finance tracking into a unified system, the application enhances organizational efficiency, reduces the risk of errors, and provides clear visibility into project timelines and budgets. This design facilitates better decision-making, ensures that projects are completed within financial constraints, and provides historical financial data to inform future projects. Additionally, the system's use of PHP and MySQL ensures scalability, reliability, and ease of maintenance, making it an ideal solution for organizations of various sizes looking to improve their project and finance management processes. Is a web-based application designed to streamline the management of organizational projects and their associated financial activities. This system aims to provide a comprehensive solution for project tracking, resource allocation, task management, and budget control, all integrated into a single platform. Developed using PHP and MySQL, the system enables project managers, team members, and financial officers to efficiently collaborate and track project progress and financial transactions real-time. The application includes features such as project creation, status tracking, financial transactions (income and expenses), budgeting, and financial reporting, allowing for clear insights into both project performance and financial health. The system also supports user roles (admin, manager, employee) to ensure appropriate access control and data security. Admins can add, modify, or delete projects and manage user roles, while project managers can update project statuses and track associated financial data. Users can input financial transactions related to each project, ensuring accurate tracking of funds, while generating reports that provide detailed overviews of income, expenses, and overall project financial status. By integrating both project management and finance tracking into a unified system, the application enhances organizational efficiency, reduces the risk of errors, and provides clear visibility into project timelines and budgets. This design facilitates better decision-making, ensures that projects are completed within financial constraints, and provides historical financial data to inform future projects. Additionally, the system's use of PHP and MySQL ensures scalability, reliability, and ease of maintenance, making it an ideal solution for organizations of various sizes looking to improve their project and finance management processes.

All significant construction projects involve the project owner and the contractor, as well as their project managers. Following upon recent research into the multiple principal-agent problem, which was applied to the minimization of communication risk in construction projects, the focus here is on communication issues between the four project parties. Recent research has shown that the relationship between the project owner and the contractor is paramount for risk minimization before the contract between them is signed. However, the relationship between project managers is dominant for risk minimization after the contract is signed. To further explore risk minimization at this stage of the project, the Delphi method was employed. A panel of highly-experienced project managers working for both project owners and contractors was asked several rounds of questions in an attempt to arrive to a consensus concerning the most important relationships between project parties in terms of risk minimization after the contract is signed. The relationship between the two project managers tops the ranking, thus focusing further research. As they are both agents, and as there is no contract between them, this offers a fresh challenge for the principal-agent theory.

Based on the concept of project management, the traditional management object, the main work and deficiencies, we give the definition and significance of generalized project management. Combined with the traditional project management maturity definition and classification of project management maturity, we determine the definition of the generalized project management maturity and the level, build the evaluation index system, and expound the general project management maturity common calculation method.

“Cost Monitoring and Control Systems” (CMCS), are important for every construction project, in order to keep cost at completion, within budget. Uniqueness of every project requires a corresponding uniquely planned, organized and operating CMCS. Perception and realization of content and context of the CMCS are affected by experience and knowledge of the project manager (PM). This paper examines the influence of PMs' stereotypes on the CMCS. A prototype questionnaire was designed and a following survey took place. Statistical analysis highlighted several PMs' properties and conceptions that correlate with the setup and implementation of the CMCS.

“Cost Monitoring and Control Systems” (CMCS), are important for every construction project, in order to keep cost at completion, within budget. Uniqueness of every project requires a corresponding uniquely planned, organized and operating CMCS. Perception and realization of content and context of the CMCS are affected by experience and knowledge of the project manager (PM). This paper examines the influence of PMs' stereotypes on the CMCS. A prototype questionnaire was designed and a following survey took place. Statistical analysis highlighted several PMs' properties and conceptions that correlate with the setup and implementation of the CMCS.

Conceptual approaches to the formation of gender sensitivity of the project and program management system are analyzed according to global gender equality principles in business (Gender Equality Principles, GEP). The organizational and structural specificity of integrating gender components was identified and their relational impact on the level of organizational maturity of project management of companies was highlighted.The conceptual model of integrating gender components in the architecture of the organizational capacity of companies was offered in the context of the mission, strategic planning; structure and management style; adaptability; partnership and cooperation; role in the sector; provision of services; financial viability and resource mobilization.Gender maturity assessment model was developed on the platform of the project management maturity model (PMMM). The need to use gender mainstreaming technology to improve organizational maturity, including at the level of “benchmarking” is emphasized. The gender maturity assessment model of organizational processes was developed as a result of integration of two dimensions: organizational capacity (seven system blocks) and gender sensitivity (five principles) of companies. It is noted that the responsibility for centralized coordination of integration of gender mainstreaming in the project and program management is assigned to Gender-responsible Project Management Office (G-PMO).Cognitive causal model of gender maturity of the project and program management system was proposed based on the principles of gender equality and maturity model of project management. The stages of gender maturity of the project management system were outlined: (“knowledge of gender terminology”, “mastering specific techniques and tools by the project team”, “gender mainstreaming technologies integration into a single project and program management system”, “gender mainstreaming technologies benchmarking”, “achieving more gender-sensitive values of projects and programs”. The proposed assessment tool can be used to measure the gender maturity of both a separate unit, and the organization as a whole.

Background: This research aimed to examine the interrelations between ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry in Enterprise System implementation projects and determine how ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry affect the management of such projects. Enterprise System projects are a subgroup of knowledge-intensive business service projects. Literature regarding knowledge-intensive business service firms acknowledges ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry between the supplier and the client as essential characteristics of their relationship. However, insufficient empirically grounded research has been made to date to determine the interrelations between the two phenomena and their impact on the project management of knowledge-intensive projects. Method: The research was based on a multiple case study method. Five cases of Enterprise System implementation projects were selected using literal replication until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data collection methods involved participant observation and analysis of documentation. Results: Knowledge asymmetry was identified as a factor significantly increasing ambiguity in the projects subject to this study. As the project parties had different knowledge bases, the information transmitted by the sending party could not be appropriately interpreted by the receiving party. Co-production, i.e., joint synchronous work of the client and the consultant, was the means to overcome knowledge asymmetry and ambiguity. The phenomenon of problem-solution entanglement was also observed: the proposed solutions impacted the definition of the problems and vice-versa, which led to a revision and revisiting of problems considered to be already solved. Conclusion: This research showed that knowledge asymmetry and resulting ambiguity had consequences for project definition, contracting, planning, and execution. Due to different knowledge bases, project parties could not interpret the information they received correctly. Therefore, synchronous work, resulting in an incremental reduction of knowledge asymmetry and ambiguity as well as constant reconciliation, revision and revisiting of problems and solutions, were necessary during the whole project life-cycle.