Early Project Phases Research Articles

Marketing Activities to Support ‘Moderately Novel’ Product Innovation: Insights from the Chemical Industry

Scholars often follow a contingency approach to study which marketing activities are suitable for a particular type of product innovation project, thereby making a distinction between incremental and radical innovation only. ‘Moderately novel’ projects, which have intermediate levels of newness, have therefore not been given due attention. This paper focuses on market intelligence generation and the creation of cross-functional linkages as marketing activities that are important in the context of moderately novel product innovation. In addition, the organizational position of the marketers involved in these activities is dealt with. Based on the analysis of four successful projects in the chemical industry, we argue, firstly, that moderately novel innovation projects have their own particular sets of marketing practices and, secondly, that differences exist between projects aiming at a new market segment and projects in which novelty is not related to market segment but to other market dimensions. These differences are especially salient in early project phases. These findings are pertinent to research on the role of marketers in product innovation, and to the study of organizational ambidexterity.

Establishment of design basis in the initial phase of critical infrastructure projects

For critical infrastructure, as for most other civil engineering and marine projects, the design basis of the project must be accurately determined in the early phases to ensure that the project is conducted safely and efficiently. The appropriate design basis developed in the early project phases will thus ensure that the infrastructure is constructed in a safe and efficient manner and that it will be operational over its intended lifetime and possibly beyond. The design basis summarises the requirements concerning the physical environment and the operating conditions. It also states all relevant accidental conditions which the designer must take into account as well as stating the selection of an appropriate safety level. It should also be noted that the design basis document, although being developed in the project’s early phases, must be kept updated with any new information that will be collected through the later project phases. In certain situations it may be necessary to redesign the infrastructure as it is always cheaper and easier to redesign rather than to tear down and rebuild. The objective of the paper is, therefore, to present a review and a check list for infrastructure projects so that no important aspect of the design basis is omitted.

How to create a space for stakeholders’ involvement in construction

The aim is to investigate how stakeholders can participate in the early phases of construction projects and how relevant insights can be gathered from stakeholders with very different backgrounds and interests. To gain these insights, it is important to understand how a space can be created to facilitate communication between professionals and stakeholders. The research draws on the literature of design and user-driven innovation in order to get a richer understanding of stakeholders’ involvement in construction. The method applied is research based on three stakeholder workshops, interviews and observations from a single case study. The findings provide valuable information on six aspects of who the stakeholders are in construction, what these stakeholders can do in construction when involved, how to involve these stakeholders in a construction project, how a space can be staged and facilitated for the meeting of stakeholders, and what kind of information can be collected from the stakeholders to influence the development process. The findings show how creating and facilitating a workshop as a socio-technical space across boundaries can overcome barriers and improve stakeholders’ involvement and thus provide better insights into their needs, values and concerns.

Common terminology, well established techniques and methods are key success factors of Requirements Engineering: the contribution of RE certification to project success

AbstractAs numerous studies, such as the well‐known Chaos report by the Standish Group, show it, Requirements Engineering (RE) is among the main key success factors of ICT projects. In order to improve project success a stronger focus has to be set on the early project phases, i.e. the Requirements Engineering. With several specialised international conferences series and scientific journals, the literature offers a wealth of research findings from novel methods, techniques and tools, to case study reports, surveys, experiment reports, literature reviews, etc. Many professional books have been published, and mature tools are available on the market. How comes with all this material, the profession does not get the appropriate attention? How comes people who need to practice RE lack so frequently of even the basic knowledge in RE? The position taken in this paper is that a common understanding of the terminology and of widely acknowledged techniques and methods can be established through certification, which in its turns shall contribute to better project success. Starting from an analysis of the salient problems, the paper describes the driving principles of certification, and shows its implementation with the IREB CPRE (Certified Professional in Requirements Engineering) scheme. Based on testimony by a sample from the 16.000+ IREB certified people shows the papers demonstrates the multiple outcome of being CPRE: improved project management, increased customer and user satisfaction, more innovative products and services among others.

Investigation of stakeholders' awareness and adoption of Inherently Safer Design (ISD) principles in South African utility industry projects

The paper examines the level of awareness of stakeholders in adopting Inherently Safer Design (ISD) principles in the Project Life Cycle Management (PLCM) of South African Energy utility projects. It seeks to understand whether stakeholders in the latter stages of the Project Life Cycle are competent to make design change decisions on these projects. ISD principles are essentially useful for reducing risks and as such, safety experts have acknowledged it as an excellent approach in the design process. However, there are no known efforts to date that attempt to integrate ISD concepts into PLCM. This paper seeks to fill this gap. This study, through the review of extant literature establishes that ISD principles can be used in project procurement, and adopts a quantitative survey approach in obtaining information from stakeholders in the South African utility industry. Findings reveal that the principles of inherent safety are permeating into the management of South African utility projects but the level of awareness and its adoption are below optimal levels. It also emerged that there is a divergent awareness of ISD strategies amongst PLCM stakeholders and that the design engineers are better informed about the ISD approach of eliminating risks and hazards in the industrial systems studied than other stakeholders. The findings also indicate that the level of awareness of stakeholders of ISD principles is greater within earlier project phases. Based on these findings, the paper concludes that the hazards witnessed within the project execution and finalization phases could be as a result of the low levels of awareness, divergent views and lower use of ISD strategies by PLCM stakeholders. It is suggested that the level of awareness of the principles, concepts, basics and benefits of integrating ISD into PLCM be raised amongst stakeholders functioning within utility industry project procurement in South Africa and that design changes be limited to the earlier phases of utility project procurement.

Development of Time-Cost Models for Building Construction Projects in Bangladesh

Estimating time and cost is an important mission in the early phase of a construction project, especially in feasibility study. It provides a foundation for making decision whether or not the project is performed on schedule and within budget. Thus, reliability of this estimate plays a key role in measuring the success of a project. This study was carried out to investigate the time-cost relationship in building construction projects in Bangladesh. The mathematical equation used in this study is based on Bromilow's equation. The research data were collected from sixty-three completed building projects through questionnaire survey. Type of clients, type of projects, and tender methods are the project characteristics considered in this study. The results of analysis indicated that the Bromilow's time-cost (BTC) models developed for each project characteristic are appropriate due to quite high coefficient of determination and relatively small mean percent errors. Among them, the forecasted model for time and cost according to tender methods is the best fit model. It is concluded that the BTC model could be applied in building construction project to predict its time and cost in Bangladesh. Four different regression models were also developed in this study. The results of BTC model between some selected countries were compared to gain the comprehensive view.

Implementation of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic strategies in early research phases of drug discovery and development at Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research.

Characterizing the relationship between the pharmacokinetics (PK, concentration vs. time) and pharmacodynamics (PD, effect vs. time) is an important tool in the discovery and development of new drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. The purpose of this publication is to serve as a guide for drug discovery scientists toward optimal design and conduct of PK/PD studies in the research phase. This review is a result of the collaborative efforts of DMPK scientists from various Metabolism and Pharmacokinetic (MAP) departments of the global organization Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research (NIBR). We recommend that PK/PD strategies be implemented in early research phases of drug discovery projects to enable successful transition to drug development. Effective PK/PD study design, analysis, and interpretation can help scientists elucidate the relationship between PK and PD, understand the mechanism of drug action, and identify PK properties for further improvement and optimal compound design. Additionally, PK/PD modeling can help increase the translation of in vitro compound potency to the in vivo setting, reduce the number of in vivo animal studies, and improve translation of findings from preclinical species into the clinical setting. This review focuses on three important elements of successful PK/PD studies, namely partnership among key scientists involved in the study execution; parameters that influence study designs; and data analysis and interpretation. Specific examples and case studies are highlighted to help demonstrate key points for consideration. The intent is to provide a broad PK/PD foundation for colleagues in the pharmaceutical industry and serve as a tool to promote appropriate discussions on early research project teams with key scientists involved in PK/PD studies.

7.1.1 Reduction of Late Design Changes Through Early Phase Need Analysis

AbstractContractors in the oil and gas industry are experiencing an increased pressure to deliver projects at a lower cost and at a shorter schedule. Extensive requirements combined with strict governing documents restrict project designs. Therefore, contractors need efficient governing processes that capture customers' needs and ensure that system requirements relates to these customer needs.In the execution phase of a project, the engineering degrees of freedom are limited. In the early project phase of concept and study, the basic design is established. The design freeze occurs in the tender phase, based on a best interpretation of customer needs. This causes any changes made in the execution phase to be costly and have the potential to impose severe subsequent consequences. Proper use of systems engineering ensures a minimal amount of late design changes. The most important systems engineering process in such a context, is the capturing of customer needs and definition of user requirements. We researched the processes used to capture system requirements today, and the potential impact of using systems engineering techniques for this purpose. We uncovered multiple gaps in the current process of capturing customer needs, which subsequently led to the definition of system requirements based on international standards and best practices, instead of actual needs. Our research also showed that with a process of capturing customer needs based on systems engineering techniques, as much as 92% of the costs imposed by late design changes are avoidable.

Strategic Procurement Practices for the Industrial Supply Chain

Early sourcing decisions have a critical impact on the performance of industrial construction projects. However, the industrial construction sector has been relatively understudied, especially the sourcing and supply chain practices typically implemented in early phases of capital projects. This study reports on how engineering-procure-construction (EPC) firms select suppliers in the early stages of the project. Particular focus involves the decisions firms make in sourcing process and the types and roles of supporting information. The paper reports on five case studies with large EPC firms. Data were collected from multiple individuals in each firm with extensive supporting documentation. A cross-case analysis describes similarities and differences between EPCs and helps to compare empirical findings with the broader literature. Findings contradict some areas of the literature, in particular the push for strategic supplier alliances. Other findings confirm the strategic importance of early procurement decisions to project performance and similarity across the types of decision drivers for supplier selection. Practitioners will find the case studies useful examples of current practice to compare with their corporate efforts. Researchers will similarly find details that extend extant literature, proposing new avenues for future research.

Research on the Testbed Framework of Spacecraft

Aiming at the characters and requirements of spacecraft design, simulation and test, The test-bed framework was studied in this paper. The framework architecture employ the Data Distribute Service (DDS) to provide communications abstractions and reduce software interface complexity. The time management strategy was studied to keep synchronic of all components. The CAN bus interface was designed to integrate the CAN bus components. The framework will allow rapid-prototyping of high-fidelity simulations of spacecraft during their early project phases, and help reduce the effort, time and expanse to evaluate the performance.

The health and safety impact of construction project features

Purpose – Despite the established significance of underlying accident causes to health and safety (H&S), and the persistent reporting of the underlying accident causal influence of construction project features (CPFs) which emanate from pre-construction decisions, no empirical research has focused on CPFs in terms of assessing their degree of potential to influence accident occurrence. The purpose of this paper is to, therefore, investigate this facet of the accident causal influence of CPFs. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method design was used involving semi-structured interviews, and a questionnaire survey of UK construction professionals. Findings – CPFs generally have a moderate or a high potential to influence accident occurrence, implying a fair or severe potential to cause harm in terms of the H&S of workers. The degree of potential of CPFs to influence accident occurrence is influenced by: the extent to which certain proximate causes of accidents are common/prevalent within CPFs;and the degree of potential of those proximate causes to influence accident occurrence. Originality/value – These findings provide insight into the H&S consequences of CPFs, awareness of which is essential if pre-construction project participants are to implement appropriate risk control measures especially in the early phases of projects to mitigate the accident causal influence of CPFs. The findings reinforce the contribution of clients and their design and project management teams to accident causation, the significance of the early planning of H&S in construction project delivery, and the importance of driving mechanisms such as the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

GMES4Mining: GMES-based Geoservices for Mining to Support Prospection and Exploration and the Integrated Monitoring for Environmental Protection and Operational Security

The GMES4Mining R&D project started in summer 2011 with the purpose of supporting management in all phases of a mining cycle. In most states of the European Union, the mines are in phases of operation or reclamation, but in other countries there is an interest in prospecting and exploring new areas for mining. In order to support the implementation of legal responsibilities, GMES4Mining investigates the potential of innovative remote sensing technologies for mining monitoring, prospection and exploration. In an early phase of this GMES4Mining project, a detailed query on the users’ requirements on remote sensing was performed. Currently, spaceborne radar data and ground measurements are tested for an early detection of slope slides in operational mines, slope stability in dumps, surface ground movements and subsidence. Satellite- and air-borne optical remote sensors are meant to monitor changes in ground water depth, directly through the estimation of soil moisture or indirectly by mapping changes in vegetation, both in the exploitation and the reclamation phases. For the scope of the GMES4Mining project two study sites were selected in the northern part of the German Ruhrgebiet. An important scope of the project is to report the quality of data and methods. Moreover, the results of the research will be integrated in a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) and disseminated via a web portal. This paper gives an introduction to the project and its different parts.

Efficient waste management in construction logistics: a refurbishment case study

Large-scaled construction projects with their complex logistical processes of transport, handling and storage material to site, on site and from site bear significant environmental impacts. Such impacts include use of land, production of waste and emissions. In this paper, we investigate—by using a case study approach—how a well-planed implemented material management can affect efficiency in construction logistics focusing on logistics of disposal. The motivation behind this research is to examine the ecological and economic impact of construction logistics on waste management on site, when construction logistics is planned and determined in the early planning phase of a refurbishment project. We find that the implementation of a waste management plan can reduce environmental impacts, specifically increasing the efficiency of logistics of disposal by approximately 9 %, but it is associated with higher costs. The findings gained from this single case study research lead to case-study-specific recommendations for practitioners and regulators in the construction logistics area.

Use of Social Network Analysis in Early Phases of ICT Projects

According to results of our surveys in 2011 the ICT project managers operating in the Czech Republic would like to have wider possibility of influencing the selection of team members in their projects. The article focuses on the psychological and the sociological aspects of the ICT project teams’ structure, analyzing the existing social networks within a company as well as the concept of the team roles when setting up the project team by mapping the existing relationships among the team members and the possible personality divergence of each employee. The first part of the article summarizes the important milestones for mapping the social networks, the possibility of mapping the network of social relationships, communication channels and relationships in the company, it is focusing on the differences between a team and a work group and the consequences on their functioning. The article represents two surveys results. First one took place among 36 ICT project managers and the second one among visitors of international conference Systems integration 2011. Based on these results, we are presenting a brief description of process design that supports and is important for the ICT team leader’s nominations, as well as for the ICT team members, respecting their relationship structure, results of past cooperation and psychological team roles. The process includes a mapping of a subset of social networks, recommendations of competent managers for the approved project charters based on the output of the analysis, progress and outcomes of finished projects and other relevant business information. The following stage carries the selection and recommendation for individual leaders in regards of the appropriate team members. To ensure the continuous process improvement and preservation of knowledge for the next cycle, the last part is completed by the feedback and evaluation. The proposed process cycle should stress the importance of psychological and sociological factors when setting up the ICT teams in order to speed up the team development and achieve maximum team performance as soon as possible.

Site layout optimization for caisson structure prefabrication

Purpose As the volume of international trade increased, the needs for large concrete caisson breakwaters, which can accommodate the bigger vessels, increased accordingly. However, due to the size of the caissons, the constructions of large-scale maritime infrastructures often face challenges about how to manage the construction site, improve the construction processes, and enhance productivity. Method This paper presents a methodology to optimize the caisson structure fabrication process by controlling the locations of construction equipment and prefabrication facilities using genetic algorithm (GA), coupled with the functions of a Delmia-platform. First, a virtual construction site layout is established with a set of required facilities and equipment on the Delmia-platform based on the spatial information of the construction site. Site layout constraints and requirements are then determined to properly reflect the nature and conditions of the projects. Lastly, a genetic algorithm is employed to find out the optimal construction site layout for the construction processes. Results & Discussion The proposed GA-based methodology is expected to assist construction engineers in determining optimized construction site layout for caisson structure prefabrication in the early project phase and further identifying the potential risks of projects.

Object Oriented Software Effort Estimate with Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy use Case Size Point (ANFUSP)

Use case size point (USP) method has been proposed to estimate object oriented software development effort in early phase of software project and used in a lot of software organizations. Intuitively, USP is measured by counting the number of actors, preconditions, post conditions, scenarios included in use case models. In this paper have presented a Adaptive fuzzy Neural Network model to estimate the effort of object oriented software using Use Case size Point approach. In our proposed system adaptive neural network fuzzy use case size point has less error and system worked more accurate and appropriative than prior methods.

Absorptive, innovative and adaptive capabilities and their impact on project and project portfolio performance

This study explores how absorptive, innovative and adaptive capabilities within early project phases affect project and portfolio performances in pharmaceutical and biotechnology R&D organizations. A sequential qualitative–quantitative mixed method was used with 18 interviews and 80 responses to an online survey. The results show effects of absorptive, innovative and adaptive capabilities on short- and long-term project performance and portfolio performance. Absorptive and adaptive capabilities are the primary contributors to the performance outcome, whereas innovative capabilities are a minor contributor. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.

Rapid assessment and selection of engineered equipment suppliers

This paper describes the development and implementation of a decision support system to aid the selection of engineered equipment suppliers in the early stages of capital projects. Procurement of equipment is a complex process, which requires the evaluation of multiple suppliers against project targets. Analysis is usually performed manually, is time consuming, and certain tradeoffs may be overlooked. A consistent and applicable tool to support procurement decisions has been missing. The results of this research take significant steps to fill this gap. The system integrates historical data, market assessment, and bid information to aid commercial assessment and recommendation of suppliers. The supplier selection module uses the Aspiration Interactive Method (AIM) to analyze the information. Results of two selection cases were compared against firms' recommendations. The system enables rapid evaluation and comparison of several supply alternatives, thereby improving the consistency and quality of commercial analysis in the early phases of projects. ► Computer-based tool to support analysis and selection of Equipment Suppliers. ► The system integrates suppliers' data to support selection. ► A new method for analysis and selection: Aspiration Interactive Method. ► Rapid evaluation and comparison of several supply alternatives. ► Support recommendation of suppliers in the early phases of capital projects.

Co-production of knowledge in transdisciplinary doctoral theses on landscape development—An analysis of actor roles and knowledge types in different research phases

Transdisciplinarity as a new paradigm in research on societal, landscape and environmental change is characterised by the integration of scientific and non-academic knowledge for complex problem solving. Less information has been published on the specific challenges for implementing coproduction of knowledge in doctoral studies. Based on a structured ex-post reflection of PhD-students and their advisors and on the comparison of four transdisciplinary doctoral projects completed in the “Doctoral School Sustainable Development” at BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria, this article analyses what types of actors contributed what kind of knowledge in which research phase. The results indicate certain patterns which could form the basis for further research but also for the planning of transdisciplinary projects. Professional practice experts, for example, had a key role in structuring the problem and the selection of case study areas in early project phases. Strategic case actors had an essential role as gatekeepers to local case actors, whereas local case actors contributed mostly context-specific, phenomenological and experiential knowledge. Furthermore, we identified the following challenges of transdisciplinary doctoral projects: shared responsibilities, originality versus continuity as well as dependence on commitment and schedules of actors. Actor integration, however, provides opportunities and learning effects going far beyond a traditional doctoral project, due to social competences gained and knowledge accumulated by interacting with different groups inside and outside academia.

Balancing human and technical reliability in the design of advanced nuclear reactors

The strong influence of human factors (HF) on the safety of nuclear facilities is nowadays recognised and the designers are now enforced to consider HF requirements in the design of new facilities. Yet, this consideration of human factors requirements is still more or less restricted to the latest phases of the projects, essentially for the design of human-system interfaces (HSI's) and control rooms, although the design options influencing at most the human performance in operation are indeed fixed during the very early phases of the new reactors projects. The main reason of this late consideration of HF is that there exist few methods and models for anticipating the influence of fundamental design options on the future performance of operation teams. This paper describes a set of new tools permitting (i) determination of the impact of the fundamental process design options on the future activity of the operation teams and (ii) assessment of the influence of these operational constraints on teams performance. These tools are intended to guide the design of future 4th generation (GEN4) reactors, within the frame of a global risk-informed design approach, considering technical and human reliability exigencies in a balanced way.