Good Project Management Practices Research Articles

Science, objective knowledge and the theory of project management

Though there is reasonable agreement on most of the formal tools used for managing projects, there is still a range of views on what constitutes the discipline of project management.This paper examines the knowledge we have of the discipline and, in particular, how testable and public it is. It suggests that while the ‘hard systems’ approaches of systems engineering and decision support have had a seminal impact on the development of project management, ‘soft systems’ thinking also has an important role, particularly at the front end of projects.The human side of project management is also extremely important. The paper concludes that while we can certainly identify good project management practice, there will never be an overall theory of project management. Indeed, the very notion is mistaken.

Collaborative R&D and European Industry

OVERVIEW:A recent questionnaire on collaborative R&D reveals current thinking and actual experiences of a large fraction of the European R&D-intensive industry. There is general agreement on the main driving forces for collaborative R&D; namely, rapid technological change, globally accessing technology and more demanding customers. However, the perspective from various organizational layers on specific issues may differ considerably. A large majority of the corporate representatives expect an increase in volume. This is not the case among the business unit people. As the primary reason for collaboration, the corporate layer cited new product development, while environmental problems led the responses from business units. The strategic integration of collaborative R&D appears to be less than that of other R&D. Simple measures like formulating a policy and strategy for collaborative R&D, together with attention to good project management practices, enhance the chances for a successful collaboration considerably.