Engineering Project Management Research Articles

The Application of Game Theory in Engineering Project Management

The coexistence of conflict of interest and cooperation are two of the most significant characteristics in the process of construction project management. To maximize their interests, all parties involve and restrict each other in the process of management, resulting in the phenomenon of information asymmetry between Party A and Party B, passive slacking of contractors, project quality defects, and project claims in the process of project management. By applying game theory to the construction of engineering projects, it can facilitate managers from all parties to choose better decisions, thereby further improving the level of engineering management and expanding their own profits. Starting from the basic concepts of game theory and engineering project management, this article focuses on three perspectives: project bidding stage, construction stage, and engineering claim stage. It analyzes the game between owners and contractors under incomplete information conditions and concludes that both parties should realize the sharing of information resources and strictly abide by the principle of engineering contract equality. Several suggestions related to engineering project management are also proposed.

Extended IFC-based information exchange for construction management of roller-compacted concrete dam

Building Information Modeling (BIM) plays a pivotal role in the construction management of dam engineering projects, which face challenges in data interoperability due to the absence of standardized data formats. While Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) offer a standardized digital representation of the built environment, it lacks the capability to accurately model the semantics of roller-compacted concrete dams. Therefore, this paper presents an extended IFC-based information exchange for the construction management of roller-compacted concrete dams, incorporating the development and validation of a prototype through a case study. The results indicate a significant enhancement in standardized information exchange for construction management compared to traditional practices. The approach facilitates BIM-assisted information exchange automation among stakeholders involved in roller-compacted concrete dam construction projects. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into dam construction management system prototyping and cross-platform collaboration.

A Kotlin and Firebase Based Project Discovery Platform with Cosine Similarity-Based Recommendation

Abstract: In today's interconnected world, mobile applications have become integral to our daily lives, revolutionizing how we communicate, work, and collaborate. we present an Android application utilizing Kotlin, Firebase, and a cosine-based recommendation system to address the challenge of project collaboration and discovery. The application aims to provide users with a seamless and personalized experience, empowering them to discover, collaborate on, and contribute to projects aligned with their interests and expertise. By integrating Firebase, the application ensures real-time data synchronization, secure authentication, and cloud storage capabilities, enhancing user experience. The implementation of a cosine-based recommendation system further enhances project discovery by analyzing user profiles and project data to generate personalized recommendations. This paper offers insights into the architecture, methodology, and implementation details of the Android application, highlighting its innovative features and technologies for collaborative project management.

Risk Management in Agile Al/Ml Projects: Identifying and Mitigating Data and Model Risks

Purpose: This study addresses the crucial challenge of managing risks associated with data and models in Agile Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) projects. It aims to develop a systematic framework for effective risk control utilizing agile methodologies. Methodology: The research is grounded in an interpretivist approach and utilizes a deductive method. It constructs a comprehensive framework for identifying and mitigating risks, integrating risk management seamlessly into Agile processes for AI and ML development. Findings: The study introduces four technological themes critical for risk mitigation: dynamic distribution of resources, model robustness, risk integration, and quality assessment of information. These themes provide actionable strategies for reducing risks throughout the Agile AI/ML development lifecycle, ensuring that risk assessment and mitigation are integral to project planning and execution. Unique contribution to theory, practice, and policy: The study contributes to both theory and practice by offering a detailed, actionable framework for risk management in Agile AI/ML projects. It advocates for the adoption of adaptive technologies and tools, continuous stakeholder engagement, and adherence to ethical standards. Recommendations include validation of the framework through empirical research and ongoing longitudinal evaluations to adapt and refine risk management practices. This approach aims to enhance the reliability and efficiency of project outputs in dynamic environments, providing a significant foundation for policy development in technology project management.

Construction Management in the Amazon: Analysis of Performance Indicators and Impacts of COVID-19

Management failures in public construction projects result in significant resource wastage and delays in social development goals. This research aims to evaluate the management of contracts for public school construction projects using cost, schedule, and scope performance indicators, as well as investigate the influence of the characteristics of the Amazon region and the COVID-19 pandemic on project execution. The methodology involved document analysis of selected samples, describing the projects, geographical locations, contractual changes, and statistical correlation tests. Subsequently, the study surveyed the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the analyzed projects, along with an analysis of performance indicators. The results revealed that all projects experienced cost increases, with an average percentage of 24.36%. Regarding schedule extensions, 92.30% of the projects underwent contractual changes, with an average increase in time of 142.19%. Scope changes were present in all projects, with an average modification percentage of 61.84%. It is believed that this study contributes to a critical analysis of the management of public engineering projects, enabling the identification of problems and improvement opportunities.

Tools for monitoring software quality in information systems development and maintenance: five key challenges and a design proposal

As software grows in size and complexity, organizations increasingly apply tools to automatically assess software quality of information systems during development and maintenance. Software quality assessment tools (SWQAT) promise fast and actionable insights into the technical state of software through various quality characteristics, such as maintainability, reliability, or security. These tools have been used to support a wide variety of Information Technology (IT) project management decisions related to system development, contract negotiations, project terminations, and even settling legal disputes between suppliers and clients. However, despite their rising importance, questions regarding how they function and how reliable they are to support decision-making have so far escaped scholarly attention. This paper conducts an evaluation of widely used SWQATs and analyzes how they rate the quality of software systems of varying sizes, functionalities, and programming languages. Our results reveal five key challenges for using SWQATs in IT projects. To address these challenges, we propose a design for tailorable SWQATs that allows for more conscious and prudent software quality assessments that better reflect the socio-technical aspect of software systems and the context-specific nature of software quality.

Project managers: old, grumpy and suspicious or just “once bitten, twice shy?”

PurposeThis research aspires to contribute in the area of exploration of the psychological traits evolving by practitioners within the project management profession. Specifically, it investigates whether there is any difference in optimism levels among experienced project management practitioners and newcomers in the profession.Design/methodology/approachThe research used the life orientation test-revised (LOTR) (Scheier et al., 1994) to calculate respondents’ optimism scores. With these scores at hand, the researchers could then apply inferential statistics in order to deduce any differences observed among optimism score and the respondents’ characteristics (age, years of experience etc.).FindingsBased on the results of this research, several demographic variables were shown to be statistically significant with optimism. These were (1) the number of years of experience the respondent had in managing projects, (2) working in a government organisation and (3) possessing specific project management certifications, all of which were found to adversely affect the respondent’s optimism score.Originality/valueThis research was unique in applying a well-known psychological test instrument (LOTR) to provide insight into the psychological impacts of a career as an information technology (IT) project manager. It is also highly likely that this correlation between the length of time working as a project manager and the adverse impact on their optimism would also apply to not just IT project managers but all experienced project managers.

Decision support framework for IT project manager recruitment

Information technology project managers (IT PM) have a critical influence on IT project success while attracting and selecting the right IT PM is challenging. We followed a four-level research design and firstly developed a taxonomy as an input for a cluster analysis to identify patterns in IT PM job advertisements. Based hereon, we developed a decision support framework for IT PM recruitment. We evaluated our findings in an online survey. We identified multiple design elements for IT PM job advertisements within five perspectives and deduced five IT PM archetypes. The decision support framework uses five questions to assist IT PM recruitment. We expand the knowledge base and consider not only IT PM requirements but also benefits. Our decision support framework is the first to holistically support IT PM recruitment, supports recruitment managers in structuring job interviews, identifies potential matches between applicants and recruiters, and assists in the final selection.

On the Current Situation of Safety Management in Civil Engineering Construction

Civil engineering information management is a mature and young subject, mature is civil engineering, civil engineering practice has been carried out for thousands of years, such as Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall. The youngest is the information management of civil engineering, which ensures that the cost, quality, schedule and safety of the project are fully controlled through information management. Civil engineering information management is an emerging discipline that has only been proposed in recent years with the modernization of project management. Although some results have been received, there are still some problems. In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to clarify the significance of information management, discover problems in a timely manner, solve problems, and realize the informatization of construction project management as much as possible. Therefore, this paper discusses the practice of information construction of engineering project management.

Construction process control and management of geotechnical engineering projects

Construction process control and management of geotechnical engineering projects

Theoretical and Empirical Research on Improving the Quality of Higher Vocational College Enterprise Cooperation Based on PDCA Cycle

The quality of school enterprise cooperation in vocational colleges is one of the important indicators for the quality of teaching practice in vocational colleges. Applying project management methods, technologies, and tools to school enterprise cooperation construction projects has significant advantages, which helps to ensure the quality of school enterprise cooperation construction projects under the “Double High Plan”. In this context, this article takes the construction project of the School of Finance and Economics Cooperation of Chengdu Vocational and Technical College as the research object, applies the PDCA cycle improvement theory of project quality management to the school enterprise cooperation of the School of Finance and Economics, analyzes the problems in the construction of the school enterprise cooperation project of the School of Finance and Economics, and proposes improvement suggestions, in order to explore an effective path for higher vocational colleges in finance and economics to promote the quality improvement of school enterprise cooperation projects.

Risk Assessment and Coping Strategies in Power Engineering Project Management

Risk Assessment and Coping Strategies in Power Engineering Project Management

Research on Informatization Project Management and Implementation Strategies in the Context of Digital Technology

With the rapid development of the new generation of information technology, the enterprise's business model and internal and external environment have undergone a sea change, the traditional information technology project management and implementation mode has been unable to adapt to the rapid innovation of digital technology, to meet the development needs of enterprises, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth study of the enterprise information technology project management and implementation strategy, to explore the new mode of enterprise information technology project management. This paper is mainly from the perspective of information technology project management and implementation of common problems in information technology project management and put forward a series of reflections and suggestions, aimed at providing experience for information technology project management and implementation.

The Interactive Effects of Communication Network Structure and Organizational Size on Task Performance in Project-Based Organizations: The Mediating Role of Bootleg Innovation Behavior

A PBO is a temporary organization formed by assembling members with diverse experiences and backgrounds, aimed at achieving specific innovation goals. Constructing a reasonable communication network structure and enhancing organizational synergy are effective ways to promote the sustainable development of the system. This study, based on the Input–Process–Output (IPO) model and social network analysis, utilized a group collaboration platform to conduct a three-stage communication experiment on 685 construction project managers. Under two organizational sizes, the internal mechanism of how communication networks with two levels of centralization influence task performance were tested. The results indicate that in the case of a smaller organizational size, PBOs using a decentralized communication network tend to achieve higher task performance. However, as the organizational size expands, PBOs employing a centralized communication network may surpass in task performance. Additionally, we found that with the expansion of organizational size, bootleg innovation behaviors of organizational members are continually stimulated, further enhancing collective task performance. This study, based on the evolution of communication network parameters, explores the structural characteristics of organizational communication networks and the mechanisms underlying the emergence of bootleg innovation behaviors. It delineates the key pathways for improving collective task performance. The findings can provide a scientific reference for the organizational evolution and development of engineering project management.

Project management for sustainable development: Critical determinants of technological competency for project managers with smart technologies

AbstractTo achieve sustainable development in the construction industry through effective management of projects implementing smart technologies, the technological competency of project managers (PMs) has become increasingly important. This study aims to: (i) investigate the significant attributes of PMs' technological competency when implementing smart technologies for effective project management; (ii) develop a Technological Competency Framework (TCF) for PMs; and (iii) assess critical determinants in the TCF. To achieve these objectives, the attributes of PMs' technological competency and their relative importance were investigated and assessed through a comprehensive literature review, expert interviews, a structured questionnaire survey and statistical analyses. The results showed that the identified attributes in TCF were statistically significant, with project management knowledge, personal characteristics, and skills in managing projects having the highest priority. This study enriches the knowledge of technological competency for PMs in project management and provides guidance for the industry to implement smart technologies for sustainable development.

Research on Risk Management of Engineering Projects under EPC Mode

As a typical type of general contracting model, EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) refers to the full process general contracting carried out by the contractor on behalf of the owner, in accordance with the agreement, for the design, procurement, construction and other stages of the engineering project. Compared to other modes, the EPC general contracting mode also faces more risk, with risk factors in each link. This article conducts research on the risk of engineering projects under the EPC mode, mainly analyzing the characteristics of the EPC mode and the risk problems existing in the EPC general contracting mode. It proposes relevant countermeasures to strengthen the risk management of EPC general contracting projects from four aspects: contract, design, procurement, and construction, providing a certain reference for the risk management of EPC projects in construction enterprises.

Problems and Countermeasures in the Application of Computer Technology in Project Management

In the context of rapid socio-economic development, engineering projects have gradually achieved remarkable results, for engineering projects, the project volume is relatively large, the overall construction period is long, the management of the implementation of the management work is more difficult, and at the same time for engineering projects, the quality of the project is often more stringent requirements. Therefore, when carrying out management work in engineering projects, computer application technology should be actively utilized to promote the overall level of project management to ensure management quality and management efficiency. In this paper, the importance of computer technology in engineering project management and the use of elaboration, at the same time, in the process of engineering project management deficiencies in the analysis and put forward the corresponding measures.

Retracted: The Influence Mechanism of BIM on Green Building Engineering Project Management under the Background of Big Data.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2022/8227930.].

Application of Improved Frog Leaping Algorithm in Multi objective Optimization of Engineering Project Management

The development of information has promoted the development of various industries, and the development of industries will inevitably lead to intensified competition, including the construction industry. To enhance the competitiveness of construction enterprises in the industry, a multi-objective optimization model for construction project management has been proposed. At the same time, carbon emission was included as one of the optimization objectives in the experiment. This can also align the construction industry with the concept of modern green development. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm with elite strategy was proposed to improve the hybrid frog leaping algorithm, and the improved hybrid frog leaping algorithm was used to solve multi-objective optimization problems. The improved hybrid frog leaping algorithm performed better in solving multi-objective optimization problems. The improved hybrid frog leaping algorithm found a total of 132 Pareto solution sets, while the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm with elite strategy only found 23 Pareto solution sets. And the solution set of the improved hybrid frog leaping algorithm is closer to the optimal position. The optimized duration and cost of the improved hybrid frog leaping algorithm are lower, with an optimal duration of 135 days and a minimum cost of $20,000. A multi-objective optimization model for engineering project management incorporating carbon emissions was successfully constructed in the study, and the multi-objective optimization problem was solved.

Impact of Machine Learning on IT Project Management

This paper comprehensively examines the effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically machine learning on IT project management in the context of technologically advanced surroundings. The study emphasizes the importance and advantages of incorporating machine learning techniques to simplify project management procedures and effectively implement IT projects. In providing a thorough review of machine learning applications in project management, the paper emphasizes how these technologies can completely transform decision-making, resource allocation, risk assessment, and overall project performance. This paper provides insightful information on the transformative potential of machine learning in enhancing technology project management methods through a thorough literature review and detailed analysis.